Age-Appropriate (from Booking Through Thursday)
Do you read books “meant” for other age groups? Adult books when you were a child; Young-Adult books now that you’re grown; Picture books just for kicks … You know … books not “meant” for you. Or do you pretty much stick to what’s written for people your age?
As an adult, I read whatever interests me, regardless of target audience. If a picture book has an interesting title, appealing illustration, or a great story, I will read it. I have read juvenile fiction and Young Adult titles. Basically, I will read anything that appeals to me for whatever reason it does so.
In other news, I have set my goal for the 2015 Goodreads Reading Challenge. I decided to keep it at the same goal as last year (50) with the great hope that I will fly past it now that my reader's block has passed.
Read on,
Paula
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Year-end book review 2014
1. Best book(s) I read in 2014: "The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry" by Gabrielle Zevin
2. Most disappointing book of 2014: "The Art of Sleeping Alone" by Sophie Fontanel
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2014: "Redshirts" by John Scalzi
4. Books I recommended most to people in 2014: "No Relation" by Terry Fallis
5. Best series I discovered in 2014: The 'Measure of Devotion' series by Caethes Faron
6. Favourite new author(s) of 2014: None this year
7. Most thrilling, unputdownable book of 2014: All three books in the 'Measure of Devotion' series by Caethes Faron
8. Book I most anticipated in 2014: "No Relation" by Terry Fallis
9. Favourite cover of a book I read in 2014: "The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry" by Gabrielle Zevin
10. Most memorable character in 2014: Earnest Hemmingway from "No Relation" by Terry Fallis
11. Most beautifully written book of 2014: None this year
12. Best book that was out of my comfort zone or was a new genre for me in 2014: "Invisible Chains: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking" by Benjamin Perrin
13. Book that had the greatest impact on me in 2014: "Do Less: A Minimalist Guide to a Simplified, Organized, and Happy Life" by Rachel Jonat
14. Book I can't believe I waited until 2014 to FINALLY read: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving
15. Book I read in 2014 that would most likely be reread in 2015: "The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality" by Julie Sondra Decker
16. Book that had a scene in it that had me reeling and dying to talk to someone about it? (A WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. No spoilers!): "Flee, Fly, Flown" by Janet Hepburn
Some fun stats:
Books completed: 54
Books by male authors: 19
Books by female authors: 35
Fiction: 29
Non-fiction: 25
Children's books: 3
YA books: 0
E-books: 24
Did not finish (DNF): 3
Re-reads: 1
Translated books: 2 (one Swedish, one French)
Big fat books (more than 500 pages): 0
Doing this year-end recap made it completely clear how much my reader's block affected my reading. There are questions I just can't answer. That hurts, actually. It makes me wish for a 2015 with much more reading that I did in 2014. I still haven't decided whether or not to participate in the 2015 Goodreads Reading Challenge. I want to because it keeps track of my books for the year for me and their data makes it easier to fill in my recap. Unfortunately, they don't provide as much data (book length, overall page total, etc.) as they used to. And although I want to read more than 50 books in 2015, I do not like failing at a challenge and don't want to have to edit my goal down from my original (something I had to do this year). I can always join it at a later date so I will continue to mull it over for now.
Here's to a merry book-filled year!
Read on,
Paula
2. Most disappointing book of 2014: "The Art of Sleeping Alone" by Sophie Fontanel
3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2014: "Redshirts" by John Scalzi
4. Books I recommended most to people in 2014: "No Relation" by Terry Fallis
5. Best series I discovered in 2014: The 'Measure of Devotion' series by Caethes Faron
6. Favourite new author(s) of 2014: None this year
7. Most thrilling, unputdownable book of 2014: All three books in the 'Measure of Devotion' series by Caethes Faron
8. Book I most anticipated in 2014: "No Relation" by Terry Fallis
9. Favourite cover of a book I read in 2014: "The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry" by Gabrielle Zevin
11. Most beautifully written book of 2014: None this year
12. Best book that was out of my comfort zone or was a new genre for me in 2014: "Invisible Chains: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking" by Benjamin Perrin
13. Book that had the greatest impact on me in 2014: "Do Less: A Minimalist Guide to a Simplified, Organized, and Happy Life" by Rachel Jonat
14. Book I can't believe I waited until 2014 to FINALLY read: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving
15. Book I read in 2014 that would most likely be reread in 2015: "The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality" by Julie Sondra Decker
16. Book that had a scene in it that had me reeling and dying to talk to someone about it? (A WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. No spoilers!): "Flee, Fly, Flown" by Janet Hepburn
Some fun stats:
Books completed: 54
Books by male authors: 19
Books by female authors: 35
Fiction: 29
Non-fiction: 25
Children's books: 3
YA books: 0
E-books: 24
Did not finish (DNF): 3
Re-reads: 1
Translated books: 2 (one Swedish, one French)
Big fat books (more than 500 pages): 0
Doing this year-end recap made it completely clear how much my reader's block affected my reading. There are questions I just can't answer. That hurts, actually. It makes me wish for a 2015 with much more reading that I did in 2014. I still haven't decided whether or not to participate in the 2015 Goodreads Reading Challenge. I want to because it keeps track of my books for the year for me and their data makes it easier to fill in my recap. Unfortunately, they don't provide as much data (book length, overall page total, etc.) as they used to. And although I want to read more than 50 books in 2015, I do not like failing at a challenge and don't want to have to edit my goal down from my original (something I had to do this year). I can always join it at a later date so I will continue to mull it over for now.
Here's to a merry book-filled year!
Read on,
Paula
"101 Letters To A Prime Minister" by Yann Martel
From the author of "Life of Pi" comes a literary correspondence — recommendations to Canada’s Prime Minister of great short books that will inspire and delight book lovers and book club readers across our nation.
Every two weeks from April 16th, 2007 to February 28, 2011, Yann Martel mailed Stephen Harper a book along with a letter. These insightful, provocative letters detailed what he hoped the Prime Minister may take from the books — by such writers as Jane Austen, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Stephen Galloway — are collected here together. The one-sided correspondence (Mr. Harper’s office only replied seven times) becomes a meditation on reading and writing and the necessity to allow ourselves to expand stillness in our lives, even if we’re not head of government.
Review:
-I found these letters to be presumptive literary snobbery. I believe these letters were not written FOR Stephen Harper even though they were addressed TO Stephen Harper; I believe they were written specifically to be published as a book. This becomes more apparent when Martel sends Harper a copy of the book in which the first 55 letters were published. Martel also published the letters on a now-defunct website (formerly www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca). And Martel wonders why Stephen Harper never replied in person to any of these letters?!
-Almost every letter, I feel, has some sort of slight or subtle insult at the Canadian government. This is more overt in the letters that mention $45 million in cuts to arts funding in 2008. To me, these letters are political whining disguised as literary criticism.
-I enjoyed Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" when I studied it in high school. Of all of the reviews and criticisms I've heard or read about it, Martel's is the first to call it a Christian allegory.
-Sometimes a photograph of a group of people is just a photograph of a group of people and not some intentional representation of a book's title (get over yourself, Martel!)
-Of the 1o7 actual books that were sent to Harper, I have read only 11. Perhaps my reading tastes not aligning with Martel's is also a reason that I did not like the book as much as I was hoping.
-I read this book because I liked Martel's "Life of Pi" and am always looking for interesting reading material. I wanted to finish it because it's a book about books that I may or may not have read. I got 294 pages in (of 426) before I just couldn't take any more of (my perception of?) Martel's tone and I had already been mentally cheering myself on just to keep going. However, I have far too many other books I want to read to bother forcing myself to finish this one.
Read on,
Paula
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