Will Read for Food

In and Out Reading Program
In and Out Reading Program

Reading programs are fun for everyone.  And even though mom and dad are vegetarians we still love that the kiddos are reading on their winter break, so we are just fine with getting them some free burgers to enjoy.  And even vegetarians can enjoy their french fries!

This is one more reason I love our local libraries.  It is also very frustrating to see how little they are utilized.  There are many, many reasons to go to the library, and yes free stuff is one of those reasons.  During the summer there is a reading program that the kids get gifts.  Don’t have kids?  That’s fine there are adult reading programs too.  I won a grill this summer doing a summer reading program.  On a previous summer, I won two free bags of Trader Joe’s groceries.

We usually go to the library every weekend.  Sometimes a bit less when we are really busy or the kids have gotten some books from relatives (Always a good gift).  Emily who is 4 enjoys reading anything that is related to what she is watching on tv.  Samantha who is 9 likes to read the Who is…  and What is… non-fiction books from her school library.

I look forward to each summer because that is when I get the majority of my reading done.  I look for short books that I have an interest in.  There are a lot!  Using this method I’m able to read a lot and get lots of entries into the sweepstakes that the libraries usually do for the adult reading programs.

On Schedule to 100 Books

Book Stack
4 books from the library on my to read list

Here is the short list for the rest of the month.  I hope to read these all by the end of the month.  I’m starting The Stranger today.  The rest will follow in the order they are in the picture.  Most of these are from my reading list, but The Stranger is a suggestion from a great virtual book club on goodreads called Catching up on the Classics.

Here I am going on and on and totally forgot to get to the point.  I just finished my 9th book of the month (review coming soon).  You know what that means?  I’m on track to read 100 books this year.  I need to read at least 8 books each month (8.2 really).  So I am very excited to be on track and can’t wait to dive into The Stranger.

The group does a few reads every month.  They have a new school read, which is a modern classic.  An old school classic which is what you think it is.  They also have a long read, usually over 500 pages and a short read under 200.  February’s short read is The Stranger, weighing in at only 123 pages in the paperback pictured above.

I hope they can forgive me for starting it early, but I have already read The Little Prince which is January’s pick.  By the way, if you haven’t seen the 2015 movie, you should.  It is really fantastic and lets you re-think the book entirely.  I’m putting the trailer in here below.

I have another review coming soon, but for now, I really need to get back to my reading.  See you in the stacks!

The Best Books I Read in 2015

Book Lust
Book Lust. Sums 2015 up well.

Just as in previous years I’m writing a post about the books I read in 2015. I read 87 books in total, below is the breakdown. This year I’m adding a few metrics which I think will be interesting. Like, how much I saved by borrowing books from the library ($807.40) and what percentage of the authors I read were men (67%).

Fiction was the majority of my reading at 60%. Fantasy (20%) and Science Fiction (21%) being the largest portion of all genres. Read a few series this year, meaning I read 8 books by Holly Black (Spiderwick Chronicles), 3 from C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia), 2 from Timothy Zahn (The Thrawn Trilogy) and 2 Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson). Paperback was the least popular binding at on 17% of my reads.

Most of my books came from the library (37%). Longest audio book I listened to was Capital at 1,503 minutes (25 hours), shortest was The Hamburger: A History at 180 minutes (3 hours). Total audio listening was 11,751 minutes (196 hours, 8.2 days).

Longest book I read was Hadoop in Practice (536 pages), which was for a class and I didn’t read every page. Next was All the Light We Cannot See at (530 pages). Shortest was 30 pages, a short story called Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo. In all I read 14,560 pages.

The longest it took me to get through a book was Capital (195 days), Michelle and I listened to it in the car. Shorts books included a lot of the Spiderwick Chronicles, in all I finished 12 books the same day I started them.

I finished the most books in July (20). The most popular book (according to goodreads) I read was The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The least was Valkyrie.

So how does this year compare to previous years? Well, I read the most I have in the past 3 years, but still not as much as 2011, when I read 96 books. That big 100 is still just out of reach. Maybe this year…

Some of my favorite books of the year were:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Dracula

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader

Falling Up

Tuck Everlasting

The Nixie’s Song

How Reading Changed My Life

The Wrath of Mulgarath

Siddhartha

The Field Guide

Departure

Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason

The Read-Aloud Handbook

Dark Force Rising

The Last Olympian