Ireadthereforeiam. #10. The End of 2014!

Ben Ohau Range, South Island, New Zealand. By Andris Apse.

I am currently reading the following books:


Beneath the Wheel, On Photography and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Read so far 2014:

Completed books: December
61. The Noble Lie by Gary Greenberg (230p)
62. The Prodigy by Herman Hesse (157p)
63. On Photography by Susan Sontag
64. From the Mixed up Files of... by E. L. Konigsburg (174p)
65. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach (93p)

Completed books: November
52. Townie by Andre Dubus III (389p)
53. The Leopard by Guiseppe de Lampedusa (222p)
54. Comradely Greetings by Nadya Tolokonnokova and Slavoj Zizek (106p)
55. Every Secret Thing by Gillian Slovo (282p)
56. Erewhon Calling: Experimental Sound in New Zealand Edited by Bruce Russell (190p)
57. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis (208p)
58.The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer (267p)
59. Rabbit, Run by John Updike (264p)
60. The Pesthouse by Jim Crace

Completed books: October
47. The Library Book, essays on books
48. Stoner by John Williams (288p) BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
49. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (280p?)
50. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki by Haruki Murakami (295p)
51. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (318p)

Completed Books: September
41. Memoirs by Elie Wiesel (418p)
42. Paradoxical Undressing by Kristin Hersh (319p)
43. The High Price of Materialism by Tim Kasser (127p)
44. Herzog by Saul Bellow (320p)
45. Fear of Freedom by Erich Fromm (256p)
46. I Know why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Completed Books: August
38. The Trial by Franz Kafka (250p)
39. The Inequality Debate: An Introduction by Max Rashbrooke (76p)
40. Purgatory/Paradise by Kristin Hersh (less than 1oop)

Completed Books: July
35. Tigers at Awhitu, by Sarah Broom (poetry)
36. Moral Relativism by Steven Lukes (158p)
37. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

Completed Books: June
34. To Save a People by Alex Kershaw (230p)
33. Story of a Secret State by Jan Karski (421p)
32. David Golder by Irene Nemirovsky (158p)
31. Affluenza by Oliver James (510p)
30. The World According to Monsanto by Marie-Monique Robin (314p)

Completed Books: May
29. Why be Happy when you could be Normal by Jeanette Winterson
28. The Second Plane by Martin Amis (200p?)
27. Night Fall by Joan Aiken (185p)
26. Miramar Dog by Denis Edwards (294p)

Completed Books: April
25. Year by the Sea by Joan Anderson (195p)
24. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (178p)
23.Making the most of your Time, essays from The School of Life (34p)
22. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (184p)
21. Corporate Social Responsibility by Martin Wolf (20p)
20. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie (172p)
19. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (324p)
18. Sustainable Value: How the World's Leading Companies are Doing Well by Doing Good by Chris Laszlo (196p)

Completed Books: March
17. How Late it was, How Late by James Kelman (374p)
16. Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler (112p)
15. Never Go Back by Robery Goddard (459p)
14. The Fair Society by Peter Corning (194p)

Completed Books: February
13. American Gods by Neil Gaiman (620p)
12. On Equilibrium by John Ralston Saul (234p)
11. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (230p)
10. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (220p)

Completed Books: January
9. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (290p)
8. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston (233p)
7. Other Halves by Sue McCauley (283p)
6. An American Childhood by Annie Dillard (250p)
5. Crossing Open Ground by Barry Lopez (209p)
4. Clandestine in Chile by Gabriel García Márquez (105p)
3. The Body Artist by Don DeLillo (126p)
2. The Great Degeneration by Niall Ferguson (152p)
1. Portrait of a House by Simon Devitt

BOOKS BOUGHT IN 2014
JANUARY
1. Clandestine in Chile by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (biography?) $15 (new)
2. An American Childhood by Annie Dillard (autobiography) $3
3. The Glass Room by Simon Mawer $7
4. The Leopard by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa $1
5. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler $4
6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, $4
7. Crossing Open Ground by Barry Lopez $4
8. House of Meetings by Martin Amis $5
9. Monkey Grip by Helen Garner $3
10. The Industry of Souls by Martin Booth $5
11. The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer $4
12. To Die in California by Newton Thornburg $3
13. The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano $4
14. Other Halves by Sue McCauley $4
15. Gullliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift $3
16. The House Gun by Nadine Gordimer $2
17. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie $2.50

FEBRUARY
18. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank .50c
19. As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong $2
20. A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler $2
21. Amongst Women by John MaGahern $2
22. Dream Story by Arthur Schnitzler $2
23. Mercator by Nicholas Crane $1
24. Novel About my Wife by Emily Perkins $1
25. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond $1

MARCH
26. The Collapse of Globalism by John Raulston Saul $1
27. The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi $3
28. Remembering Babylon by David Malouf $1
29. Goldeneye by John Gardner $4
30. Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai $3
31. A Year by the Sea by Joan Anderson $2

APRIL
32. The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (new, gift)
33. Affluenza by Oliver James (gift)
34. A Child's Book of True Crime by Chloe Hooper $4

MAY
35. Why Social Justice Matters by Brian Barry $26 (new) CURRENTLY READING
36. Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr. $13.99 (new)
37. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne $12.99 (new)
38. Domestic Manners of the Americans by Frances Trollope $2 (Folio Soc!)

JUNE
39. Canada by Richard Ford $6
40. Moral Relativism by Steven Lukes $13 (new)
41. The Inscrutable Americans by Anurag Mathur .50c
42. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins $10 (new)
43. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins $10 (new)
44. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins $10 (new)

JULY
45. My Friend Leonard by James Frey $1
46. The Complete Poems of Hart Crane by Hart Crane $1
47. Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs $1
48. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter $1
49. Maigret in Court by Georges Simeon $1 woops, accidentally took it back to the library, it must have been an ex-library one!
50. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die $4
51. Outsiders by Gerard Hindmarsh

AUGUST
52. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters .33c
53. Memoirs of an Anti-Semite by Gregor von Rezzori .33c
54. Herzog by Saul Bellow .33c
55. Travels in the South of France by Stendhal $3
56. The Dead Republic by Roddy Doyle $2
57. Monster Love by Carol Topolski $2
58. Purgatory/Paradise by Throwing Muses (Kristin Hersh) $34 (new, including 32-track CD)
59. The Inequality Debate by Max Rashbrooke $14 (new)

SEPTEMBER
60. I Love a Broad Margin to My Life by Maxine Hong Kinston. $3.99 (new)
61. Townie by Andre Dubus III $14.99 (new)
62. Walden by Henry David Thoreau $14.99 (new)
63. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (free)
64. The Beautiful Ones are not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah (free)
65. This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein (present)
66. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki by Haruki Murakami (present)

OCTOBER
67. The Summer Before the Dark by Doris Lessing $2
68. Stoner by John Williams $2
69. The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver $2
70. Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro $2
71. Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth $2
72. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy $2
73. Ransom by David Malouf $2
74. The Temptation of Jack Orkney by Doris Lessing $2
75. The History of Love By Nicole Krauss $2
76. The Good Parents by Joan London $2
77. The Selfish Capitalist by Oliver James $2
78. The Prodigy by Herman Hesse $1
79. Exit Ghost by Philip Roth $1.50
80. Love by Toni Morrison $4
81. For the Time Being by Annie Dillard $4

NOVEMBER
82. The Tax Inspector, by Peter Carey $3
83. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge $12 CURRENTLY READING
84. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie .50c
85. First as Tragedy, Then as Farce by Slavoj Zizek (philosophy) $25 (new)
86. Comradely Greetings letters to/from Slavov Zizek and Nadya Tolokonnikova $15 (new)
87. I am Right you are Wrong by Edward de Bono $10CURRENTLY READING
88. The Best American Travel Writing 2006 edited by Jason Wilson (meetup gift from Nittnut)
89. The Pesthouse by Jim Crace $8.90 (new)
90. The Smell of Apples by Mark Behr (gift)
91. Underworld by Don deLillo $3
92. A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute $3
93. State Ward by Alan Duff $3
94. The Snow Geese by William Fiennes $5
95. The Noble Lie by Gary Greenberg $4
96. Jonathan Livingston Seagull $3
97. God's Mountain by Erri De Luca $2
98. The History of the Siege of Lisbon by Jose Saramago $2
99. Treading Air by Jaan Kross $2
100. The Burn by James Kelman $2

DECEMBER
101. Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink $27 (NEW!)
102. The Silent Takeover: Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy by Noreena Hetrz $1
103. Davey Darling by Paul Shannon $5

At the Movies:
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
August: Osage County
Frozen
American Hustle
Labor Day
The Dallas Buyers Club
Tracks
Lego: The Movie
Star Wars: A New Hope
Lawrence of Arabia
Like Father Like Son
The Two Faces of January
How to Train your Dragon 2
Boyhood
Into the Void
Get on Up
Hector and the Search for Happiness
Paddington
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
Night at the Museum III

And I am not getting very far with my remaining Reading BINGO squares :)

Lenny giving it best shot pulling cousin (on roof) and Wilbur (in car, on wagon) across his cousins lawn. He tells me he landed on his bottom after this photo!

Happy New Thread, Megan! Love the NZ topper. I can not see the photo in #6.

Are you going to join us for Carson McCullers in January? Have you read her?

Nice view up there .....

Happy new thread!

Nice new thread and opening image, Megan! I can't see the photo in #6 either.

#7 hi Mark. Just casually winning first place there I see :)
Carson McCullers is her??? You see how out of touch I am!!? But I would like to read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, so I will be looking out for her book. I am still, of course, looking out for Montana, 1948 for the December challenge ;)

#8 not bad is it, Alex? I am fond. I am not really sure which angle this was taken from, but the view of the ranges from over Lake Ohau is also beautiful, and easily accessible from the minor road that goes alongside it.

#9 thanks Megan :)
I thought I might be able to squeeze one more in before the end of the year!

#10 hi Darryl, I have tried posting the link again, I hope you can see it this time??!
I have been to Lake Ohau (as seen in the distance of this image on the left) a few times. It is not that far from Mt Cook/Aoraki (NZs tallest mountain) and it is a spectacular region. Hardly touristed at all, either.

Happy New Thread, Megan! Love the photos!!

Love your dad's photo up there - gorgeous!

How is On Photography coming along?

Fun photo reminds me that it is summer at Christmas time in New Zealand!

Just read your thread title as the End is nigh.... I may be cracking up slightly under the Xmas stress!

>15 BekkaJo: Hah! Who knew Christmas is going to be the end of the world. Bet the Mayan calendar didn't predict that one.

Happy New Thread, Megan. The images are lovely!

Hi Megan!

Love the photo of Lake Ohau. Dad used to go there quite a bit when we lived in Dunedin (he worked for the electricity department and was in charge of the hydro schemes so lots of trips to Central Otago.)

When does Wilbur finish school for the year? Ours are off on Wednesday, yay!!

#12 photoS? So that means the offending one that was hiding is now visible? Good :)

#13 hi Kerri, that one is lovely, isn't it? So warm (apart from the cold sky) and yet so vast....
On Photography has been put on hold for Hermann Hesse's Beneath the Wheel - although my copy is called The Prodigy. It is a short-ish one that has grabbed me. But I will be back on the essays next, they are fascinating to think of being from the 1970s, considering the proliferation of the image now!

#14 summer indeed *can you hear my eyeroll?*
It s cold today! As was yesterday. I have had the heater on seeing as my lovely other has beer brewing inside of the fire guard region so I cant light the fire without lugging two large plastic keg things about the place.

#15 well, the end is nigh. Only just over 2 weeks til next year!! January here we come...there is such a huge disconnect between the month of December and the month of January, I reckon. They somehow dont seem like they flow on form each other...what with having that pesky **new year** stuck in the middle. :)

#16 heh. They Mayan calendar didn't predict a lot of things! Like me being cold in the middle of December for one ;)

#17 hi Connie, thanks! I thought there might be just time to squeeze in a new thread before 2014 is up. I don't know about there being time for me to squeeze in 14 more books though :(

#18 Hi Cushla-
Mine finish the end of next week. Wilbur cuts out at lunch time and Lenny already has a short day at kindy Fridays anyway. So we are free from then! I will be arranging outings as far as is possible, and I dont mean to malls :)
Ohau is a great place, and I love the little ski field there. It is so sweet and old-school.The last time I skied there I got whacked in the back of the thigh with the chair lift and on account of my (then) arthritic hip I shuddered with pain all the way to the top! thank goodness that is a distant memory now, but the ski field is still amazing.

Hi Megan, happy new thread my dear and a fab photo to start it, hope everything is well with you and the family my dear.

>19 LovingLit: Heater ? Really ? Has it been cold down there ?

>22 roundballnz: Alex, we've got the heater on here in Wellington too! It's freezing.

>19 LovingLit: >23 cushlareads: Definitely still T-shirt & Shorts weather up here .... Don't believe that "Cold weather front" has a Auckland passport so it will be stopped at the bombays :)

Happy new thread Megan. Good action shot of the boys and their, probably terrified cousin, prior to bottoms down.

Have a wonderful weekend and I am hoping you can get a spurt on in the next few weeks to bridge the 75. xx

Happy Pretty New Thread, Megan! Gorgeous photo and charming kidlinks!
I'm sorry that you're not getting seasonal warmth. It gets down to freezing every night here but then warms up to almost 60°. I can live with it.
ENJOY the holidays!

Hey Megan. I love the images of your dad's art. The photos (right?) are gorgeous!

#19 Oh lord. January. Wah! Husband is away for the first weekend, then it's his birthday, following weekend my niece and my daughter and I have not even started thinking about her birthday party *brain explodes*

*wave
Seriously. Cold. We got soaked at cricket this morning. We have apparently adapted so quickly to our new Kapiti coast climate that we were completely unprepared for rain in Karori this am. Silly us. lol

>19 LovingLit: I've come to the conclusion that if the Mayan calendar didn't predict it, it won't happen. So, in fact, you being cold is simply some kind of hallucination and not real life ;)

Or maybe it's the other way round. And if the Mayan calendar predicted it, it's a hallucination, and everything else is real life. Seems more plausible but alas, it leaves your chilly feelings in reality.

#21 hi John, I can report that all is well with family this visit :) I have been through my sleepless nights now hopefully (for now anyway) and they are sleeping well, eating like horses and generally gadding about like the boys they are.

#22 #24 yes Alex, that cold. Today was at least sunny and clear and lovely, but then the Easterly wind came and knocked whatever heat there was all out. :) Typical early summer weather really. It never settles down til late summer.

#23 ah ha So not just me then! A friend of mine had to move her Christmas tree to light her fire the other day.

#25 no way I am going to have a reading spurt, Paul! Last night I stayed at my sisters with all our kids running about causing havoc, and intermittently being entertained by Lenny singing Christmas songs....and I didn't read much of my book at all. Well, I tried to at the end of the night, but my eyes were a tad blurry from the wine.

#26 hi Peggy, the seasonal warmth doesn't usually come this early, and if does it doesn't stick around. Typical for changeable NZ I am afraid. We can be one thing one minute and the opposite the next. It catches people out a lot (who aren't used to it).

#27 hi Ellen, photos- yes :)
He would be quite flattered maybe to think his work was thought of as a painting though. I just realised that my sister has that print framed and up in her newly built house. Previously it was in her bedroom so I didn't see much of it, but now that they have the space it is on display, and is even better larger and framed.

#28 oops
*mental note*
Don't talk to Bekka about January :)

#29 wow, so you are Kapiti Coasters already!!? I think my defacto step sister and her husband live there. She is about 6 foot tall and skinny as a rake, he is the same only not skinny. You'd probably recognise them if you saw them! They also have a 5 year old boy.

#30 OK, now I am not only confused about if I am cold or not, but, whether I was even cold when I thought I was or just imagining it! *damn Mayan calendar shenanigans*

>32 LovingLit: Yup, those darn Mayans. They cause all kinds of trouble and we can't even shout at them for it. It should be a new slogan to live by: If in doubt, blame the Mayans.

>19 LovingLit: Ok, got it (regarding the delay in starting On Photography.) It's interesting, because she sort of disagrees with some of the stuff she wrote in it in Regarding the Pain of Others, which was published in 2003ish.

#33 haha, that's right, blame the dead guy(s) ;)

#34 I am actually half way through On Photography, but stopped to finish Beneath the Wheel seeing as it was grabbing me more at the time. From what I have read of Sontag's essays, they raise some really interesting ideas, but I didn't agree with all that she has said so far, so I am glad that in retrospect she didn't either! I don't know how old she was when she wrote it, but some of the ideas screamed of youthful exuberance, I remember those feelings ;) But it is still very relevant and I love a good rant, so am heading back to finish that next.

BOOK 62
The Prodigy by Herman Hesse (157p)

The back of this book talked about traditional education being counter-productive to learning and childhood well-being. It piqued my interest.

The story was written in 1905 so 'traditional' means something very different from todays education. This was my problem with the novella, that I wasn't sure which parts I was reading were contextually 'normal' educational aspects, and which parts were over the top for education, even by 100-years-ago standards. But fear not, the author soon tells you and in a few sentences neatly wraps up what we should think. At which point I felt both at bit relieved and like a dumby. :)

The student in question is very smart and has almost as high a standard for himself as his teachers and father do. He is expected to work at his studies at the expense of almost any enjoyment. He looks down on people of manual employment and aspires to the highest educational position possible. He is sent off to a prestigious college and the same rigid structure he had at home is in place...until...he meets and befriends someone who is a bit different from the pack. From here, his mindset and actions change. All very interesting, even if a few segments seemed to be plonked down in the middle of what was a smooth running novella.

FYI - today it was summer. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

New thread, new thread! :)

I like your idea of rating the movies you've watched. We finally have time now in the evenings to enjoy a movie or two on the weekends after the boys are in bed. A whiff of parental freedom totally gets to my head...ha!

Yesterday I had a duvet-day. My first in a long long time. I was basically on strike for the day. When I picked up Wilbur from school and he asked me what I did today, he was incredulous when I replied "nothing". I did, however watch Back the the Future II on DVD, and have a wee nap. But he was very surprised and asked me "not even washing?" Hehe. Nope. Not even washing. I was out of sorts indeed. Just as my lovely other reckons he needs an "end of year sleep", I needed my hunker-down day.

#37 great to hear. Me too today, but with the pesky wind (grrr). At least it is still shorts and t shirt weather though.

#38 Movies in the evening just take up so much valuable time. As much as I love them....unless I am at the movies I feel like I could/should be doing something else when I watch at home. (unless I am so in need of a hunker down say that I disregard all household chores altogether, see above!)
And it is so true about a whiff of parental freedom, once you get some all you can think about is more!

Megan, a duvet day sounds lovely. The other thing I can think of that would be more lovely is several duvet days in a row … yay for the upcoming holiday!

^my duvet days are limited now that school is out for summer! I was talking advantage while I could :)
What a luxury they are, I don't even necessarily get one when I am sick! *Woo hoo* for hunker-down-days.

End of year sleep or hibernation - now that is something I wish for .....

Book funk!? Now? Really?
Hmph to the book funk. I am getting through none.

#42 Alex, I am ready for more hibernation already! Even after a rad day out in the sun (yes, people still say 'rad', some of us anyway).

>43 LovingLit: Got a few days off, hope to get a couple of days just reading before I go back, am one of the lucky ones who is back working on the 29th :)

Hi Megan! Just checking in with my pal. I hope you had a good week. I know we both love our DARK books, so have you heard of a sweet, little book called Geek Love? I am not sure literature gets any darker than this. OMG!

Hi Megan--I've never been able to get into Susan Sontag's books. I did see an HBO bio-pic sort of thing on her last week, and I will say she seemed to have a huge ego, and frequently seemed way out there. Maybe I'm not just intellectual enough for her. I hope you're finding her views on photography of interest.

I love your dad's photo at the top--and all the others of his I've seen--and I can't believe how big Lenny is--it seems to me he was born on a 75'ers thread.

I've enjoyed following your reading this year, even though I've mostly lurked everywhere on LT this year (including my own thread). Best wishes for the holidays, and hope to see you in the new year.

#44 the lovely other is working through this hols too. Just having the stats off, we are taking our summer holidays at the end of January. Camping! Yay!

#45 yes, Mark, I definitely have heard of Geek Love. It is even on my library WL. I guess we are similar in that we like our beer and books dark!

#46 Susan Sontag I am finding highly intellectual. Not that that is a bad thing, but a few of her ideas feel too far-fetched. I am wondering if it was just me that didn't get it, but upon reflection I feel that it is her ideas that don't (all) fly!

Lenny was born on a 75 thread! The first photo I put up on my thread was me very pregnant with him. :) And now he is nearly 3 and a half. And, by the by, today he learned to ride a bike!! Talk about time flying.

Hooray for the duvet day - although I have mixed feelings about your choice of film lol. Poo to the book slump! Hope you're through it quickly.

I can't do Susan Sontag either. She's exhausting.

I think a video of Lenny riding his bike would be good fun. *hint, hint.

>47 LovingLit: Now that is a much better time to take your holidays ( for sun lovers) You shd have great weather too ... am hanging onto my ability to work thru, many of the depts on on forced annual leave.

>48 nittnut: my choice of film was not very thought out. I just grabbed it and put it on. It was not good. :| Haha, next time I will be better prepared.
Video?? You are lucky I even have a photo! I got several good blurry ones, and he is looking at the camera smiling each time. This is instead of looking at the way ahead!! Seriously, he has zero fear. And perhaps little brain ;)

>49 roundballnz: I used to do that, before I started my 24/7 parenting job that is- working through is great. It is quiet and relaxed, and then you take time off when everyone else is back. *win win*

STILL NOT READING ANYTHING!
*brain on a go-slow*
:(

"STILL NOT READING ANYTHING!" Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?? I hope you get that brain turned back on quickly, my friend. Is there an old stand-by that you can pick up, for a little kick-start?

Sending hugs and biblio-vibes.....

Oh no! Quick grab anything. A comic? A cereal box? Anything to get out of the book funk. ;)

All kidding aside..I hope you do find a good book next that will suck you right in and leaves you gobsmacked. :)

oh I hate reading slumps, it may be a good time to go to the bookshop and see if anything grabs you?? There are also a lot of 'best of the year' book lists popping up right now too. There are so many it could actually replace reading at this time of year.

#51 #52 #53
Thanks guys!
I need the support :(
Reading funk be damned.

There are a few that I am "reading" but have not read anything of them in at least two full days! I am Right you are Wrong, On Photography, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankenweiler and Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I am actually liking them all (!!) but haven't got the gumption to make reading time happen. Maybe its too hot, or it could be that evenings have all but disappeared with Wilbur (all of 6 years old!) deciding that evenings are for galavanting about in rather than for sleeping, I don't know. But life without reading *ahem* sux.

I'm stuck in the middle of a reading funk at the moment but I don't have kids as a good excuse for my lack of concentration. Hopefully you can find an old favourite or an easy book to break the cycle.

I sympathize with the reading funk. I'm not exactly in a full-on funk, but I just can't find the time right now for my books. Sadness.
Also, I *loved* From the Mixed-Up Files! Excellent book!

#55 howdy :)
Unfortunately, a good old fave is not a method I can use to break a funk for me. I need to start a brand new one, with all the high hopes and expectations that go with that. And the current past (!!) funk is was mood related I think. I just haven't been able to concentrate/persevere long enough to get reading any decent chunks. Gggrrr. The busy silly season!

#56 well, when I finished On Photography last night (did someone say *book funk be gone*???), I got stuck in to From the Mixed-up Files and it was all I could do to tear the book from my hands at 11:37pm. It is delicious! And un-intimidating in size :) I am scheduling myself some home evenings til Christmas for reading.

From the Mixed-up Files is a great book, although I always preferred the first two thirds to the last little bit. Still very enjoyable though. I'm glad to see the book funk is on it's way out. I managed three pages of my current book today and that's quite an achievement at the moment!

BOOK 63
On Photography by Susan Sontag

This is a collection of related essays, on the topic of photography. Photography as a practice, as an art, as a cultural phenomenon. It was written 40 years ago, and for that reason I could not help but wonder the entire time I was reading it, what on earth would this author think now? With all but the most rudimentary mobile phones having photographing capabilities, the practice of capturing images (let alone the display of them) is becoming ubiquitous.

Sontag takes a critical view of the proliferation of photography. The higher and higher ownership of cameras, the way cameras dictate the scene and become the focus of an event, the way photography has become art, the voyeuristic nature of it, the removed and passive way images can be 'taken' of people with or without their knowledge. It does go on and on and felt at times like a rant, however intellectually presented. And given that I have a problem with the way art is discussed already- some pretty far fetched things are assumed by the reviewers and the art crowd- I found the musings on whether or not photography should/could be art, rather....well, pointless. (My answer would be yes, its art, but let's not make a big deal of it.)

But, it presented some great starting points for thinking about how cameras and photos have and are changing our lives. In spite of being rather a critical observer myself, I found myself starting to stick up for photography and its value and promise. I look forward to reading her follow-up from this one, Regarding the Pain of Others, where I might find some reflection on how she thinks it stood up.

Oh Megan, we have all been there, when the brain just goes into coast mode and concentration goes out the window. Well, maybe we haven't all been there, but I have been there. It is frustrating. When even a mystery novel won't override the temptation to just stare out the window.

Interesting comments on On Photography. I really want to read Regarding the Pain of Others but I'm not sure about this one. I wonder if they "must" be read together and in sequence.

#58 3 pages is not to be sneezed at! I am liking the feeling of being into reading again- I mean it was only 2 days (that's 48 hours) of not, but you know. That is a lot of potential pages ;)

#60 it is so frustrating to not feel like reading. Although this time it has been mood (as previously confessed) and Christmas busy-ness and a newly up-late 6 year-old. Luckily staring out the window is also a not un fun activity!
I wonder if they "must" be read together and in sequence.
Kerri would know about that, seeing as I got the hot tip from her thread. I only read On Photography first as the other was unavailable, but i am sure she said they are both stand alone books.

2 days of book funk, not too bad, just meant you were needed elsewhere & the universe made it so .....

Huzzah - glad you broke the streak. I hate book-funk!

Alex: right you are. I am glad to say I have now worked through it :) My brain was needed in la la land, and it dictated that.

Bekka: I admire the fear that a book funk generates in this group. I was panicky about the thought that I didn't want to read! And of course, in true to me style, I projected that forward to "oh my goodness, I am never going to want to read ever again!!!"
*calm down Megan*
It's OK, we are all good again now :)

BOOK 64
From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler by E. L. Konigsburg (174p)

What a delightful book. 12 year old Claudia masterminds a runaway from her middle class NY home, and recruits her 9 year old brother to come along as money source and companion. They establish a daily and nightly routine in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and encounter a mystery and some purpose along the way.

Well, I'm glad the book funk seems to be gone!

>59 LovingLit: Great comments! Of course, I haven't read this yet, but if I remember correctly, Regarding the Pain of Others focuses on our reaction to images of horror (in multiple forms), and she does question her assertion in On Photography that relentless exposure to these images causes ethical complacency. Or something like that. Since I haven't read this, it's hard to totally grasp what she was referring to, because she assumes the reader has read On Photography.

^she does question her assertion in On Photography that relentless exposure to these images causes ethical complacency.
That was one of her assertions that I didn't question! Haha, I am here and there with Sontag's reasonings. I reckon that exposure to more and more violent disturbing images does lead to a sort of immunity to them.
I am going to check out the next one soon! It is at a library way across town (a 25 minute drive) but I will get to it one sunny day when I want to kill two birds (as it were) and take the kids to the beach too.

27 out of 102
That is the number of books I have read that I bought this year. Not bad! That is a quarter of my purchases that I actually read.

Oh, and while I am on a maintenance thing...here are my top 5 for the year!! They are in order. What are your top reads for 2014?

http://www.librarything.com/list/10028/all/Top-Five-Books-of-2014


Stoner, Things Fall Apart, Townie, How Late it was, How Late, and An American Childhood.
3 fiction, 2 memoirs.

Nice list Megan. Of course I cannot resist seeing such things.

Plainsong, The Gathering Storm, The Guns of August, True Grit, Magician : Apprentice

Oh it's so hard to narrow it down to 5!! These were mine:



honourable mention:

oooh oooh! Pretty covers, and lists of books too? I am happy.

#70 Paul, great to see you!
Obviously, first of all, I need to re read Plainsong (I read it as a novice and it only narrowly escaped the donation box in last years clear out *gasp*). I recall really liking it and the ravings about it here make me think I would get a lot from another look. The others? I have barely heard of. I do get excited about peoples faves, so thanks!

#71 hello to you too! Long time no see ;)
I loved the Warmth of Other Suns! And I hope to love Five Days at Memorial which I purchased at great expense the other day ($27- a bargain really). Oryx and Crake my dad raved about and I usually like his recs, but this one, I did not. And Ancillary Justice features on many peoples top 5! I guess it'll go on my list.

Hmmm ( sorry can't remember how to add book images)

Five favourites (no particular order)

The Night Circus
The Housekeeper and the Professor
The Machine
The Bone Clocks: A Novel
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Simmering under:
The Blackhouse: Book One of the Lewis Trilogy & Strange Weather in Tokyo & The Children Act

Interesting, Alex! The Night Circus I read 3 Christmasses ago and couldn't stomach it! hehe, but my sister loved it- as did so many, many 75ers. The Bone Clocks is sounding familiar.....might have to go look at the boko page to see if it rings any bells. The others? never heard of 'em!

eta: aaaah *penny drops* The Boooone Clocks :)
I loved Cloud Atlas and still really want to read that one he wrote about a dystopian cyber future? (am I on the right track?)

>74 LovingLit: Sounds like Number9 Dream ? - With Bone Clocks I thought he was back to his brilliant best.

I have rather eclectic tastes .... not that you didn't already know that ....

Plainsong, Watership Down, Moon Tiger, Middlemarch, The Son

>65 LovingLit: YES!! An old favorite of mine. I should give it to my daughter.

My top five for the year - OK six. Because I had another little slot.

Wow! I love seeing all these incredible lists. I am not prepared, so I will be back.

Love seeing Haruf and Plainsong represented. What a wonderful memorial.

>69 LovingLit: Love seeing Townie on there, Megan. Smiles.

This was so hard! I read so many amazing books this year. But with much wailing and gnashing of teeth, here are my top 5. For today. Or at least for the next 10 minutes.
Orlando - Cryptonomicon - The Thorn Birds - Stoner - Odd and the Frost Giants

Loving all the book covers on your thread Megan. If that doesn't help someone out of a book funk, I don't know what would. Thank goodness yours was short lived. ;)
So many books here that I want to read.....2015 can't come soon enough!

I'm waiting till closer to the end of the year to come up with my top 5, just in case ya know.

>75 roundballnz: uh oh, I got my writers mixed up. I was actually thinking of The Circle by Dave Eggers, not a David Mitchell one at all! But now that you have me looking at Number9Dream....
*watch this space*

>76 lit_chick: oooh la la. Nice list :)
I like Moon Tiger (I read the same edition), and Plainsong (ditto) and Watership Down was my 2nd bookclub's first book. Ah, memories ;)

>77 nittnut: oooh, another pretty post!
I have not even heard of any of them- bar Jerome K. Jerome that is. Is the last Day of the Incas a NF one? I bet it is violent, if so!

>78 msf59: Lists are great, aren't they? I am glad you are putting some thought into yours and coming back with a masterpiece top 5! You have had about triple the books I have to choose from this year, thanks to your voracious appetite for the written (and spoken) word!

>79 evilmoose: hi Megan :)
We share Stoner as a favourite for 2014- go us!!! I got over excited about my copy of it and promised it to three friends to read- oops. Now I am busily coordinating everyones reading time-slots to get it about to everyone (lest I become known for a promise-breaker)
Happy Christmas!

>80 jolerie: still time to sneak in a top read for 2014 you reckon! I wish you the best of luck! I hope you squeeze one in.
All the covers are inspirational, aren't they!?

Megan- I started compiling my best of list and it is quite a task. I have read a score of amazing books and whittling it down to 5, is difficult. I think I am close though. Whew!

This sent me running for my book list... and worryingly it's easier to pick my least favourite this year :/ don't get me wrong, I've read some great books - but for once, my 1,001s seem to have let me down. Lot of bleugh in them this year.

Whereas this year was a GREAT year for series. The Chronicles of St.Marys series, The Knife of Never Letting Go trilogy, The rivers of London series, the latest Hearne...

A hesitant 5, outside of all the series and heavily influenced by AAC = Sanctuary, I, Claudius, The Ocean at the end of the Lane, God Bless you Mr Rosewater and Orchard.

I ramble...sorry

#82 oooh, Mark. You keep me dangling ;) I take it you have more than 5 books that are five-stars then? I had 3 five-star reads this year, and the last two on my list were close.

#83 ramble away! That's what I'm here for. Book rambling is the greatest kind.
Sorry the 1001 list hasn't come through for you this year, there is always next year though- I take it you have some off the list left!!?

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Megan.

Ooh - lots of book bullets here from everyone's favourite books this year, because I have missed so many individual threads this year!

Here are my 2 favourites. When you manage all of 20 books all year, sticking to 2 is easy.





Have a lovely day tomorrow with the family.

Merry Christmas, Megan. Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas Eve and Day!

Independent People, Middlemarch, Lila, The Book of Strange New Things & All Quiet on the Western Front

^This was exceptionally hard to do, since I read so many stellar books this year. Many in the 4.5 to 5 star range. These are knockouts!

#85 thanks! Just been for a swim at the local school pool, and now firing up the pizza oven in readiness for this evenings dozen of so pizzas.

#86 I noticed on your thread how few you managed to get through this year, shows how much you have been putting into teaching! Nice to get a couple of faces from them though, I see one has featured on a few lists this year (your 2nd)

#87 thanks Nancy! We are so far (having fun that is). Baking, assembling the gingerbread house soon. THe kids have been pre-loaded on fruit and at least some healthy foods in prep for the junk food abundance.

>88 msf59: Mark! You came through :)
What a list. I hold stock in it and will be exploring some of these titles further…like Lila and The book of Strange New Things for starters. Thanks for doing the homework on that one :)

Blood Will Out, Endurance & The Boys in the Boat.

Yes, I am cheating a little. I did not include any NF in my top 5, so I thought I better include an additional 3. More knockouts.

>90 LovingLit: I am always amazed, when I go back and start combing through what I have read. So much quality. I listed at least a dozen major contenders, so whittling them down was not easy. I think these top 5 have really stuck with me.

I hope everyone knows that this top 5 thing is a feature on the LT Blog at
http://www.librarything.com/list/10028/all/Top-Five-Books-of-2014

Megan, it's Chrismas Eve's eve, and so I am starting the rounds of wishing my 75er friends the merriest of Christmases or whatever the solstice celebration of their choice is.

>91 msf59: >92 msf59: *but wait there's more*
:)
it is fun when you are asked to go back and look at the years reading. It brings up some gems for sure and some good memories.

>93 ronincats: yes, I know. It is what made me think to ask. It is fun to have to come up with a list. I loved making mine. And I can tell you for sure, my latest read Jonathan Livingston Seagull, did not make the list ;)

Have a great day tomorrow, drink, eat & be merry

Hi Megan. I found your thread thru Mark. Better late than never for the 2014 group. Here is my top 6 (yeah I know I'm a rebel) books that I enjoyed this year. In no particular order...

Hi Megan - Wish you and your family a Merry Christmas.

I have only read one of your top five Things Fall Apart, but that was a very good one - and one I have to reread.

#95 nearly there now…have eaten drunk and been merry already ;)
Pizzas in the recently built pizza oven…for 12 (at least) kids and as many adults. And deserts by moi (chocolate cups with mousse and garnishes of mint and raspberry). Its looking good for tomorrow!

#96 hi there! I am a bog one for better late than never, after all, I joined the AAC this year at November (and only didn't participate for Dec for lack of book). And hey, there's always 2015!! Thanks for the top 6….even if 5 was the plan. Haha- a rebel huh?

#97hi Carsten, I loved Things Fall Apart- I was stunned by it actually. Loved it, heaps. I absolutely love reading a title that i have heard about - and having it live up to the expectations. Thanks for the greetings, Merry Christmas to you too!

Doing the rounds with a festive Connie to wish you a very Merry Christmas full of joy, love and books.

Happy Holidays, Megan, to you and your wonderful family. Hugs!

Hi Megan, just posting to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and have a fabulous day my dear from John and Karen. Sending love and hugs to you.

Happy Christmas, Megan!! Is there any pizza left? If so, I'll be right over...

From our family to yours!

Megan have a great Christmas and New Year!

Merry Christmas Megan!

Merry Christmas, Megan, and a joyful Happy New Year!

Megan, I'm so happy to have made your acquaintance this year. Your stories about life with Wilbur and Lenny always make me giggle. I'm so grateful to have you in my life.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!!

Stopping by to wish you and your loved ones a happy holiday season and all the best in 2015!

Happy holidays, Megan!

Dear Megan, best wishes to you and your family for a very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Megan! It's 8 am on Christmas morning here, so I'm a couple of hours late in my greeting there, I think. I'm glad that you had a good time with your family, and I look forward to your friendship and good humor in the New Year.

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Megan!

Let the madness begin!

http://www.librarything.com/groups/75booksin2015

Love the mini lists above, Megan. To you, The Significant Other, Wilbur and Lenny - have a wonderful festive season. xx

Oh my goodness, I leave LT alone for 12 seconds (read 3 days) and I have heaps of messages and *freaking out* news of a 2015 group!!!!! Dr Neutron, you are an evil genius ;)

Thank you to everyone who dropped by to wish me a Merry Christmas. Srsly, (learned that term from RD), I appreciate you lot more than others can imagine. Thanks for making 2014 a great reading and conversing-about-books year. Can't wait for 2015!!

BOOK 65
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach (93p)

Well, at least I can say I have read it, right?

^The saddest words one can say in review of a book...

>118 LovingLit: Oh my. That is desperation. Sigh.

Well dang....that is sad. Hopefully not too many of those in your future.

aaagh I *LOVED* that book when I read it in Form 1. I think I wrote a sequel to it. Too scared to look back now...

I hope you have a zinger of a book lined up to finish 2014 with!

Yay! There is life in the old thread yet ;)

#119 yes, well. I can't say I loved the book. But I was really glad to have read it. I couldn't figure out if it was religion, or self-help or new-age or pseudo-bird-talk....but I couldn't really say I was too taken ;)

#120 I was desperate to have read it already. And I have now accomplished that. Today, however, I started The Frackers and am really liking it. Hoorah!

#121 2.5 stars is about as low as I rate without actually fully hating a book. Which is odd, considering that only one full start more means I quite liked it.....

#122 I think I should have read it in form 1. It would have saved me $3 for a start!! ;)
Plus, I may have liked it then too. The Frackers is shaping up to be a gem, I shall report back! And, in other book news, I am actually working on The Scarlet Letter again after discovering that I have been reading it for 1 year and 3 months now. I am so close to the end and cannot wait to actually *be* there.

Library Haul!


The Frackers and The Burgess Boys (2x 400+ pages books, I am aiming high!)

Book Haul!


Davey Darling by Paul Shannon, $5 (quite the price for a second hand book, but her, it's Christmas-ish)

It's funny how certain books speak to us at a time in our lives, and then leave us cold at others. I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull as a fifteen year old and loved it, yet tried to read it again when I was 22 or 23 and rejected it as a load of codswallop.

#125 sounds like a theme. I think Cushla thought the same. I recall that book being in most home I visited with my parents in the early 80s. I had to read it to be sure, and now I am sure. It isn't really for me.

20 movies this year!!! I do love going to the cinema :)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
August: Osage County
Frozen
American Hustle
Labor Day
The Dallas Buyers Club
Tracks
Lego: The Movie
Star Wars: A New Hope
Lawrence of Arabia
Like Father Like Son
The Two Faces of January
How to Train your Dragon 2
Boyhood
Into the Void
Get on Up
Hector and the Search for Happiness
Paddington
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
Night at the Museum III

Library Haul: I vote you must read The Burgess Boys first, Megan! Fabulous!

^ I wanted to too, but then I also wanted to start with The Frackers, so I did that. It is way too hard deciding, isn't it?! Talk about the story of my life!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

I am happily back at my sister place for the evening, back for more pizzas on the pizza oven (which were LOVELY at Christmastime). A few wines and a quiet time of scrabble and snacks after the kids are in bed.

Happy new year Megan!! Sounds like a great plan for the evening. Ours is wine, Big Bang Theory (with the kids...will make them dive under blanket for the dodgy bits) and numerous games of Monopoly Deal.

Happy New Year Megan! Your evening sounds nice. Except the Scrabble. Scrabble is a little rage inducing for me. Not sure why. I am so not competitive at games, generally. We are having homemade pasta, root beer floats and watching a series called Granite Flats that we've been watching with the kids. It's a 1960's cold war drama, but family appropriate. :) I also might set the clocks forward. Just a couple hours...

Happy New Year everyone ...

Happy New Year from Atlanta!

Happy New Year, Megan!! Big Hugs from Marky-Mark!!

I recently saw the film Boyhood. It might be my favorite film this year. What an achievement.

Lawrence of Arabia is probably in my top 5, of best films ever!

Hi Megan, just a quick post to wish you and your family a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year my dear and have an enjoyable reading and study year in 2015. xx

It has been such a pleasure to meet you this year, Megan! You have brightened my days in so many ways.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Megan didn't see over in the other group yet even though it is well into 2015 in CChurch



Happy New Year from your friend in Kuala Lumpur

Happy New Year Megan! Looking forward to your 2015 threads already. Hope this year comes with lots of happiness, friends and books.

*running around LT looking for Megan's 2015 thread...*

>131 cushlareads: yes! Good plans all around I think. Big Bang Theory is so fun, I love watching it when I remember to look out for it. I wonder how the kids went staying up thaaaaat long!

>132 nittnut: Scrabble and me have a love hate relationship. i used to go on online scrabble far. too. much. Then I gave that up and took up LibraryThing! Aaaah, much better.

>133 roundballnz: thanks Alex!

>134 kidzdoc: Hi Darryl, thanks for the greetings :)

>135 msf59: hi Mark, glad you got to see the the behemoth that is Boyhood. I loved it too. And it was a real treat for me to see Lawrence of Arabia on the MEGA-tronic huge screen this year :)

>136 lunacat: thanks Luna :)

>137 johnsimpson: thanks John, and all the same to you and yours too

>138 michigantrumpet: hi Marianne, love the receipt. From a bookshop methinks!! Great idea. Happy NY to you too, and here's to a great one.

>139 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, we have been away away away this summer. Here there and everywhere. But, I am back :)
Happy New Years to you and yours too, Paul. Glad to see you back already blazing in 2015 group.

>140 Berly: you share my hopes, Kim! See you on the 2015 group threads.

>141 nittnut: YIKES, I am late for 2015 :)

Well....???

Just wanted to tell you that I finished Change of Heart this morning. It was fabulous. I'm lending it to Cushla. I will definitely be reading more of her writing. So THANKS!!!

^oh yea :0

https://www.librarything.com/topic/185865

Here is my new thread. Hoorah! 2015: I have arrived

Glad you liked the book I found for you. I was going mainly on the cool cover and the NZ author.