50 books?
A book a week (almost). Hrmmm.... I figure that I'll give it a shot. I haven't yet checked how many I ended up finishing last year, but 50 seems like a worthy challenge. And I've already started, thanks to a late-night hospital trip in which I did a lot of lying in a bed waiting:
1) Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
One of the good things about work recently is that the kids discovered that the library has DVD's which they can rent for free! DVD rentals are only a week, so that means I'm now going to the library once a week (sometimes twice). On one of our recent trips, this was sitting on the shelf, and I thought "Well, it's supposed to be good... and it will get me out of my Sci-fi/Fantasy comfort zone. Why not?"
As it turned out, it is a delightful book in which the author is sometimes completely self-absorbed, and not afraid to say so. She recognizes that sometimes, we need to be, and that at the same time, taking the time and effort for ourselves does not necessarily mean that others cannot or will not benefit.
2) Agent to the Stars - John Scalzi
Yes, back to my sci-fi roots. However, this one was chosen by the book club I joined last fall (we're relaxed: one book per month. Which reminds me - I need to figure out what April's book will be), and it still wasn't one that I likely would have picked up on my own, and so I am glad it was recommended. The quote from Booklist on the back of the copy I have sums it up nicely: "With a plot that starts out as the rough life of a young agent in Hollywood and rapidly metamorphoses into B-movie territory as a remarkably intelligent first-contact yarn, this book is absurd, funny, and satirically perceptive." That, and well, it was just a fun read.
1) Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
One of the good things about work recently is that the kids discovered that the library has DVD's which they can rent for free! DVD rentals are only a week, so that means I'm now going to the library once a week (sometimes twice). On one of our recent trips, this was sitting on the shelf, and I thought "Well, it's supposed to be good... and it will get me out of my Sci-fi/Fantasy comfort zone. Why not?"
As it turned out, it is a delightful book in which the author is sometimes completely self-absorbed, and not afraid to say so. She recognizes that sometimes, we need to be, and that at the same time, taking the time and effort for ourselves does not necessarily mean that others cannot or will not benefit.
2) Agent to the Stars - John Scalzi
Yes, back to my sci-fi roots. However, this one was chosen by the book club I joined last fall (we're relaxed: one book per month. Which reminds me - I need to figure out what April's book will be), and it still wasn't one that I likely would have picked up on my own, and so I am glad it was recommended. The quote from Booklist on the back of the copy I have sums it up nicely: "With a plot that starts out as the rough life of a young agent in Hollywood and rapidly metamorphoses into B-movie territory as a remarkably intelligent first-contact yarn, this book is absurd, funny, and satirically perceptive." That, and well, it was just a fun read.