Mathew’s Comments (group member since Sep 27, 2011)

Mathew’s comments from the The Bookworm Challenge group.

I've found the same thing - last year and this year have been records for me, but with things going back to 'normal' my reading stats will suffer :(

I was inspired by the list to start reading Atlas Shrugged.
It a book near the top of the list that I'd never even heard of. I probably would have never read it either, since it is over 1000 pages and I found it in the literature section of my library (not on the 'regular' non-fiction shelves that I normally peruse, the shelves with writers like Stephen King, John Grisham, Sue Grafton, etc).
I'm glad I found it b/c it is so good!

This year, from that list, I've read:
1) Harry Potter (Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix. Bedtime reading to my little guy who is 8 and can't get enough of it)
2) 1984 (Haven't read since High School, but totally get it now)
3) Dune (I stopped at the first book, not as good as it was hyped up to be)
4) Call of the Wild (Reminded me that I've like every Jack London book/story I've ever read)
5) The Wheel of Time (restarted the series - Eye of the World is the best book of the series I think)

What a great list, so many books it looks like I need to read.

Great timing, I just started the book Norm Abram's New House: America's Favorite Carpenter and His Wife, Laura, Build Their Dream Home
It's Norm Abram's from the PBS shows...it's his account of building his dream home. I'll let you know when I'm done, but so far it's pretty interesting.

Competed!

I've been on an Agatha Christie kick this year:

1. The Mysterious Mr. Quin - Agatha Christie
2. Elephants Can Remember - Agatha Christie
3. Sleeping Murder - Agatha Christie
4. Cards on the Table - Agatha Christie

I read a mystery by Stephen King...the book started out okay, with a dead body and some clues...but then the mystery was never solved at the end. Apparently it was like a solve-your-own-mystery kind of book?! Not cool.

5. The Colorado Kid - Stephen King

Bookworm's Sci-Fi list

1. Space Odyssey: an Anthology of Great Science Fiction Stories
2. Star Trek: Log One

I just read a wonderful story that took place in France.

I would describe it like a bad 80s action movie mixed up with a James Bond novel. Surprisingly, it worked!

Finished a Max Brand (not a big fan of his writing, find it too slow). I read Tenderfoot. It was ok. I was the first one on Goodreads to review it!

I have a L'Amour book on the go too.

I'm going far too - to the US, New York City to be precise. Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip-Confessions of a Cynical Waiter
A nice memoir from a whining waiter with a bad attitude.

Rebecca wrote: "Really? You didn't ever even get to the 14-year-old brain that uses invisibility to visit the girls' locker room?"

No comment.

Melki wrote: "Yesterday, I finished The Best Bizarro Fiction of the Decade. Pretty good introduction to the genre."

Praise Jebus :) Bizarro fiction sounds like a fun thing to read.

Yippee, finished a book -

Takes place all over the world - the Caribbean, Italy, Ukraine, Germany...they are on a worldwide treasure hunt for some long lost gold.

I've never read Clive Cussler, my daughter picked this book for me. They have this Christmas store at school where they can pick up a present or two for family members for free. It is all donated stuff and gives them a chance to have a surprise gift. My daughter thought it looked like 'all of the other books I read'.

Wow, didn't even think about not wearing clothes! I'm still stuck in a 10 year old brain. I used to think about this question when I was a kid, as I would fall asleep at night. Back then I envisioned myself going to the corner store and taking a bunch of candy without being seen.

I think I would just listen to other people's conversations.

I like to ponder this question on my spare time - What would you do if you were invisible?

Hmm, gardening and bike riding...we skated outside and froze. Sad when we say the hockey arenas are warm (the stands are above freezing!).

We also continued decluttering our house. It was our New Year's resolutions. This weekend was the dreaded 'craft cupboard'.

I'll revive this thread:

Last weekend was full of birthday parties. My middle boy turned 6, and my youngest turned 2.

We took the party out of the house for the 6 year old and had a birthday at one of those indoor playgrounds with the climbing castle things. It was wonderful - four hours of little boys running laps around this place.

My littlest one, now 2, had a couple of friends over for a game of "put the equipment on the hockey player" (our northern version of pin the tail on the donkey) and some cupcakes. Only one toddler had a temper tantrum (not ours hooray!) and ended up locking herself in our linen closet by mistake. Oh the fun of a two year old's birthday party.

Rebecca wrote: "Bookworm, it's a tricky place for L'Amour, with his vision of the Western man as some sort of noble savage. He had to create an outlaw who didn't really mean to be."

Love that character. An outlaw with a good heart. Forced, through no fault of his own, to commit a crime. Just trying to make things right.

Oryx and Crake was a hard book to get into. I thought it was pretty good overall. Luckily when I read it I was part of bookclub and I didn't want to be the only one who hadn't finished it.

365 books - wow. I'm aiming for a mere 25 this year.