I haven’t been able to get much reading done since I’ve been in India, but I thought I’d post an update none the less.

It’s 6 weeks into the new year and I’ve only managed to read the following books:

1. A Dirty Job – Christopher Moore
2. The Last Juror – John Grisham
3. Goal Analysis – Robert F Mager
4. River’s End – Nora Roberts
5. Rebellion – Nora Roberts
6. Don’t be Afraid – Rebecca Drake – I’ll be posting a book review for this one as part of the Debut a Debut contest this weekend. I know, I read it a bit early, but better early than late 😉
7. Who Moved My Cheese – Spenser Johnson
8. On The Run – Iris Johansen
9. Every Which Way But Dead – Kim Harrison

Despite being on track for my goal, I’m pretty disappointed with myself. Normally I’d have read many more books by this point in the year. Work is really cutting in on my down time for reading while I’m in India. I’ll have to work harder when I’m in Manila to get some more books under my belt. On the bright side, I do have 10+ Christopher Moore books waiting to be read when I return home *yippee*

Technorati Tags: books, reading, debut a debut, 52books

Go me, I helped inspire a reading contest. Susan, of West of Mars fame, is co-hosting the Debut a Debut contest along with Rashenbo from Writing Aspirations. The idea is to pick up a book by a new (first time) author, read it and write a book review. A lot of new books come out each year and we often never have a chance to learn about a new author if their books aren’t highly promoted. In addition, it’s not always advertised if a book is by a first time author on the cover, so sometimes it’s hard to support new writers.

I printed off the list and managed to find a few of the books at the Borders in SEA/TAC airport. Using my amazing powers of deduction – I chose the book that weighed least (paperback). It just so happens that the author is a friend of Susan’s. Rebecca Drake’s suspense thriller Don’t Be Afraid is some pretty good bedtime reading. I’m about a third through the book and I’m enjoying it immensely so far.

Technorati Tags: books, reading, Rebecca Drake

Hot on the heels of Zoe’s Read-a-ton contest (I came in 3rd) I’ve decided to attempt to read 52 books in 52 weeks. I’ve seen a lot of references to this concept and am not 100% certain who to attribute the original idea to – but there’s at least one book club that’s got their own blog dedicated to reaching this goal. Check out 52 books, 52 weeks for more information.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I’ve already got a few books under my belt this year.

1. A Dirty Job – Christopher Moore
2. The Last Juror – John Grisham
3. Goal Analysis – Robert F Mager

It’s the beginning of the 3rd week in January and I’ve already read 3 books (that I’m willing to admit too – my embarrassing romance novel reading has yet to be included in the list). Looks pretty promising if I can keep up this pace. I’ve updated my Shelfari reading list to include the books I’ve read this year and help me keep track of my goal of reading 52 books in 52 weeks.

Technorati Tags: shelfari, books, reading, 52books

It seemed like such an easy challenge. I read 4 or more books each week and fully expected to continue on this path for the 21 day Read-a-ton challenge. Unfortunately life seemed to intervene. I did manage to slowly wend my way through 10 books and a short story before the clock ran out on New Year’s eve.

On the bright side, based on Zoe’s updates to her own blog, I don’t think I’m the only one whose plans were waylaid by the holidays.

I made it to page 274 in Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child’s Book of the Dead before we headed out to celebrate the New Year with our friends. The hubby was extremely sweet for allowing me to read the book he received for Christmas before he had a chance to read it himself. I’m quite enjoying the book and will be returning to it as soon as I’ve posted this entry.

Technorati Tags: read-a-ton, books, reading, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

I’ve just finished Lauren Weisberger’s The Devil Wears Prada and enjoyed every minute of it. Well written chic lit can quickly evolve into a great guilty pleasure.

The only mistake I made after finishing the book early this morning was in immediately running out and renting the video version to see how similar the movie storyline is to the book. It was a huge mistake on my part. If you’ve seen the movie, you should really read the book – it’s a bazillion times better than the movie could have ever hoped to be. If you’ve read the book but haven’t yet seen the movie – don’t waste your pesos. At this point, I wouldn’t even suggest watching it if you have access to free tickets/movie rentals, etc. If you’re on a flight and this movie is playing, cover your eyes and plop your iPod earbuds in your ears. Avoid it at all costs.

What’s so bad about the movie? Characters names are randomly changed. Jobs are changed. Something as simple as the university the heroine graduated from is different. The changes made to the characters did nothing to enhance their roles in the movie. Characters who, to me, seemed larger than life in the book (such as Lily and Alex) are merely cardboard cutouts in the Hollywood version. In celluloid, there seemed no point in keeping the characters on screen, yet in the book they’re major players.

*sigh* I know better than to watch a movie version of a book I liked. It always ends badly. When will I ever learn?

Technorati Tags: read-a-ton, reading, books, The Devil Wears Prada