re: 2022 Reading Challenge

Last year's goal was 60 and I read 81. This year I'm going for 52.

Thanks to you, one of my life goals is to retire near a public library. Good luck with 125 this year!

I used to be an avid reader and have always been a very fast reader. One of my New Years Resolutions this year is to get back to reading more. The past couple of years have seemed to have been busy, and I haven’t had as much time to read as I would like.

Some of my goals in no specific order:

1. Dune Saga (Frank Herbert)
2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
3. 1984 (George Orwell)
4. Animal Farm (George Orwell)
5. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
6. Decision Points (George W. Bush)
7. The Stand (Stephen King)
8. Under the Dome (Stephen King)
9. The War of the Worlds (H.G. Wells)
10. The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes (Suzanne Collins)
11. Charlie and the Choclate Factory (Roald Dahl)
12. Dracula (Bram Stoker)
13. The Great Brain Series (John D. Fitzgerald)

If I can get all those down I would be thrilled with myself.

Bump.

First fully completed book on the board for me on the year.

Gotta love those easy to read thriller types.

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I admire you. I’d finish this or any other Michener book around mid-April. Damn, some of y’all read fast.

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I'll probably finish it tomorrow night.

Goal 35

1) The Complete Odes and Epodes, Horace, 131
2) The Apocrypha, Various Authors
-Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Epistle of Jeremiah, Song of the Three Children, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, Maccabees I-IV, Prayer of Manasseh.
3) The Early History of Rome, Livy, 435.
4) Rome and Italy, Livy, 356.
5) Gardens of the Moon, Steven Erikson, 656.
6) The War with Hannibal, Livy, 676.
7) Deadhouse Gates, Steven Erikson, 836.
8) Rome and the Mediterranean, Livy, 648.
9) The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis, 81.
10) That Hideous Strength, C.S. Lewis, 380.
11) Metamorphoses, Ovid, 636.
12) Memories of Ice, Steven Erikson, 913.
13) Plutarch's Lives, Plutarch, 1183.
14) On Obligations, Cicero, 126.
15) Tusculan Disputations, Cicero, 274.
16) De re publica, Cicero, 94.
17) On the Laws, Cicero, 77.
18) The Heroes, Joe Abercrombie, 541.
19) Moralia - Loeb Classical Library Volume I, Plutarch, 228.
-The Education of Children, How to Study Poetry, On Listening to Lectures, How to Tell a Flatterer, and Progress in Virtue.
20) Red Country, Joe Abercrombie, 451.
21) Moralia - Loeb Classical Library Volume II, Plutarch, 247.
-How to Profit by One's Enemies, On Having Many Friends, Chance, Virtue and Vice, A Letter of Condolence to Apollonius, Advice about Keeping Well, Advice to Bride and Groom, Dinner of the Seven Wise Men, and Superstition.
22) House of Chains, Steven Erikson, 1015.
23) The Acharnians, Aristophanes, 62.
24) A Little Hatred, Joe Abercrombie, 463.
25)Moralia - Loeb Classical Library Volume III, Plutarch, 290.
-Sayings of Kings and Commanders, Sayings of Romans, Sayings of Spartans, Ancient Customs of the Spartans, Sayings of Spartan Women, and Bravery of Women.
26) Moralia - Loeb Classical Library Volume IV, Plutarch, 263.
-The Roman Questions, The Greek Questions, Greek and Roman Parallel Stories, On the Fortune of the Romans, On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander, and Were the Athenians More Famous in War or in Wisdom?
27) Moralia - Loeb Classical Library Volume V, Plutarch, 250.
-Isis and Osiris, The E at Delphi, The Oracles at Delphi No Longer Given in Verse, The Obsolescence of Oracles
28) Moralia - Loeb Classical Library Volume VI, Plutarch, 258.
-Can Virtue be Taught, on Moral Virtue, On the Control of Anger, On Tranquility of Mind, On Brotherly Love, On Affection for Offspring, Whether Vice be Sufficient to Cause Unhappiness, Whether the Affections of the Soul are Worse than those of the Body, Concerning Talkativeness, and On Being a Busybody.
29) Moralia - Loeb Classical Library Volume VII, Plutarch, 303.
-On Love of Wealth, On Compliancy, On Envy and Hate, On Praising Oneself Inoffensively, On the Delays of Divine Vengeance, On Fate, On the Sign of Socrates, On Exile, and Consolation to His Wife.
30)Moralia, Loeb Classical Library Volume VIII, Plutarch, 258.
-Table Talk Books I-III and Table Talk Books IV-VI.
31)Moralia, Loeb Classical Library Volume IX, Plutarch, 220.
-Table Talk Books VII-IX and the Dialogue on Love.
32) Meditations, Marcus Aurelius, 122.
33) The Histories, Tacitus, 249.
34) The Annals of Imperial Rome, Tacitus, 397.
35) Agricola, Tacitus, 33.
36) Germania, Tacitus, 25.
37) The Trouble with Peace, Joe Abercrombie, 497.
38) The Wisdom of Crowds, Joe Abercrombie, 511.
39) Letters from a Stoic, Seneca, 231.
40) The Discourses, Epictetus.
41) Enchiridion, Epictetus.
42) The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien, 345.
43) Mindset, Dr. Carol S. Dweck, 264.
44) Phalaris, Lucian.
45) Hippias or the Bath, Lucian.
46) Dionysus, Lucian.
47) Heracles, Lucian.
48) Amber or the Swans, Lucian.
49) The Fly, Lucian.
50) Nigrinus, Lucian.
51) Demonax, Lucian.
52) The Hall, Lucian.
53) My Native Land, Lucian.
54) Octogenarians, Lucian.
55) A True Story, Lucian.
56) Slander, Lucian.
57) The Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Sextus Empiricus.
58) The Shijing, 323.

Anna Karenina is the only book I’ve ever read and then hated my decision about reading it. Took me forever. Couldn’t connect with it. Still hate Vronsky for some reason.

GOAL: 36 books

COMPLETED

1 - The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo (539 pages) - slow start but it was awesome. Trudge through the first 100 pages and it takes off from there.

2. The Fire Next Time - James Baldwin (117 pages). Great read on racial injustice.

3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino (400 pages). This was excellent, much better than anticipated.

4. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins (384 pages). Pretty good. Not as good as The Hunger Games, but still quite enjoyable.

5. The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank (351 pages). Excellent. Poignant. Somber. It vacillated between intense hope and bleak despair. Highly recommended.

6. The Neon Rain - James Lee Burke (275 pages). This was my first Burke read. Not bad. I loved the Louisiana angle, but the story itself seemed a bit forced at some points. Not bad.

7. The Hunt For Red October - Tom Clancy (641 pages). Flat out awesome. I’ve never seen the movie. The book was fantastic and I will continue with more Clancy. I’m very happy to have read this book.

8. Light in August - William Faulkner (507 pages). Spectacular. Loved everything about my first read by Faulkner. I've been missing out! Just a magnificent work of fiction.

9. The Abolition of Man - C. S. Lewis (81 pages). I couldn’t get into it. I’ll give it a re-read another day. But I didn’t get much out of it.

10. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (85 pages). Excellent read. This is a great reminder to enjoy the moments as they come.

11. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction - Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic (163 pages). Very interesting overview of CRT. Historical origin, current status, and predictions for the future. I enjoyed it.

12. 1984 - George Orwell (328 pages). Incredible read and I'm sorry I missed it in my younger days. Shockingly relevant still.

13. Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account - Miklos Nyiszli (246 pages). Wow this one was tough. It was worth the read, but the details are really tough.

14. Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere - Julie Lamana (327 pages). I loved this book. It's the story of Hurricane Katrina told from the perspective of a young girl living in the Lower 9th. Highly recommended.

15. The Giver - Lois Lowery (195 pages). Second time I have read this book. First time I didn't enjoy. This time, I really liked it. Clever story, great foreshadowing all over the place. Kinda reminded me of 1984.

16. Animal Farm - George Orwell (112 pages). First time. Very good read. I liked 1984 better, but this was still quite enjoyable.

17. All The Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr (531 pages). SPECTACULAR. This is top five all time for me. It's a historical fiction piece set in WWII. Protagonists are a French girl and German boy, whose lives intersect. Highly highly highly recommend.

18. The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway (127 pages). Started really slow. Got good in the middle. I didn't love it, but I don't regret reading it.

19. Three Mystics Walk Into a Tavern - James Harrington (166 pages). Great, interesting read about the overlapping theories surrounding the mystics of the three Abrahamaic religions.

20. The One Man - Andrew Gross (431 pages). I enjoyed this one. It’s a neat story about sneaking a scientist out of a concentration camp. A little forced at times, but very enjoyable.

21. Talking to Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell (388 pages). Typical deep thinking from Gladwell. It’s about communication, bias, perception of strangers. Thought provoking.

22. 1776 - David McCullough (386 pages). My first McCullough read and I enjoyed it. Very nearly seemed like historical fiction in the style of writing. Excellent historical synopsis of the time.

23. Foundation - Isaac Asimov (244 pages). Did. Not. Enjoy. I couldn’t get into it and it took me a long time to finish it.

24. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho (175 pages). What a cool story. Quick read. A boy in search of treasure goes on quite a journey to find it.

25. Night - Elie Wiesel (115 pages). This is a first hand account of surviving Auschwitz. Deeply moving.

26. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (376 pages). Wow! I loved this book from start to finish. I am rather surprised and how much I enjoyed it. Austen's writing is beautiful and flawless. This is a masterpiece!

27. Wonder - R. J. Palacio (315 pages). This was such a great book. Inspiring story of a young boy with facial deformities trudging his way through school. Great book!

28. Project 1065: A Novel of World War II - Alan Gratz (320 pages). Interesting story centering around a young boy’s experience with Hitler Youth.

29. The Problem of Pain - C.S. Lewis (162 pages). Another Lewis book that I did not get much out of. Maybe I need to re read it.

30. Black Cherry Blues - James Lee Burke (366 pages). Now this one was great! Much better than the first Burke book I read this year. This one was a page turner from the beginning. Very enjoyable read, especially if you grew up in South Louisiana.

31. Nyxia Unleashed - Scott Reintgen (393 pages). This is book two of the series and was really well done. The dystopian saga continues.

32. Acadian Redemption: From Beausoleil Brossard to the Queen's Royal Proclamation - Warren A. Perrin (175 pages). Fun little read about Beausoleil and his impact on Louisiana culture.

33. My Louisiana Sky - Kimberly Willis Holt (208 pages). The story of Tiger and her Louisiana family.

34. Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent: Sacred Teachings - Annotated and Explained - Richard Rohr (336 pages). I am so glad that I finally was able to read this one. I picked it up several times but couldn't get motivated to read it. This is a book that is very spiritual, yet not very religious. Thought provoking.

35. The Kingdom of Back - Marie Lu (313 pages). An interesting fantasy surrounding Mozart growth and development as told from the perspective of his sister.

36. Cimmaron Rose - James Lee Burke (406 pages). This one was awesome. A texas lawyer who gets mixed up into all sorts of small town drama.

37. Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr (626 pages). Spectacular. Just like in All the Light, Doerr's character development is unmatched. His style takes some time to get used to, but once you get it, his stories just fly.

Goal 12 Books.

I figure a book a month should be doable

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Completed:

Bernal Diaz: The conquest of New Spain

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That's such a cool book. I always get fixated on that section where the Tlaxacans show the Spanish all these gigantic bones and then Diaz just moves on.

Finished Caribbean and Believe the Lies by Elizabeth George.

Started Centennial by Michener last night.