How to read the Five Virtually Exchanged Books from Five Well Read 43Thingers. by Josh

"Reading books that I normally I wouldn't read was a very enlightening experience... an eye opener."

How I did it: I created this goal to get a chance to read books that I normally wouldn't read, to read books that are important to other people, and to get exposed to new authors.  I asked for five people to recommend one book each that was important to them in some way (funny, profound, fiction, non-fiction... it didn't matter as long as it wasn't a text book).  In return, they would agree to read one book of my choosing (my first pick was Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, but a few people had already read that, so my second pick for them was The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho... and one person had read both of those, so my third pick was Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse).  I made it fair, I agreed to take the first five books recommended to me requardless of who recommended it. The agreement was that I would read all five books before 2009 ended and they would each read the one book I recommend before the end of 2009.  And... we all made it.  :)

The books that I read are as follows... and I recommend them all.

1. – The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
2. – A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
3. – Globetrotter Dogma by Bruce Northam
4. – Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
5. – The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Lessons & tips: I almost didn't make it... I've had a very busy year, and I read more books than just the five on my list.  I just finished The Handmaid's Tale today.  I kept my word, but I should have gave myself more time to read the books. 

Resources: Just ask... it really was a great experience.  I even think I'll do it again for 2010.  :)


3 people found this helpful
 

Dec 30, 2009, 10:45AM PST | 9 comments | 51 cheers


Comments:

goddessglendonia I can feel the love all around me...

thx

for helping me add to my reading list!

Jul 02, 2010, 03:48PM PDT | Thread | Respond to this

(This comment was deleted.)

May 29, 2011, 06:36AM PDT

Josh ...and life just rolls on like a river.

You're welcome...

...they were all amazing books. :)

Jul 03, 2010, 02:14PM PDT | Thread | Respond to this 2 cheers

(This comment was deleted.)

May 29, 2011, 06:36AM PDT

octoberclovered I'm a clairvoyant babe listen if you will.

Great idea for finding new books that might not be on your radar!

Jun 03, 2011, 12:03PM PDT | Thread | Respond to this 2 cheers

Josh ...and life just rolls on like a river.

That was my line of thinking, too. This is my third year in a row doing the exchange. It’s been a lot of fun. :)

Jun 09, 2011, 12:23PM PDT | Respond to this

funchilde is improving. daily.

you have

such great ideas! i love this.
and power of one is one of my all time favorite books. i had forgotten….

Feb 22, 07:54AM PST | Thread | Respond to this

Josh ...and life just rolls on like a river.

I loved...

...The Power of One. It was a very powerful book. Have you read the sequel, Tandia?

Feb 24, 03:57PM PST | Respond to this 1 cheer

funchilde is improving. daily.

i didn't

know that there was a sequel. how was it? i don’t want to ruin my love affair with the first book. did you see the movie? I even bought the soundtrack. lol.

Feb 24, 04:39PM PST | Thread | Respond to this

Josh ...and life just rolls on like a river.

I actually...

...haven’ t seen the movie. Was it good? I don’t watch a lot of tv or movies (the only thing I actually have access to is Netflix, other online sources, and DVDs/Blu-rays… no tv channels).

I really liked Tandia, as well, but it’s not as good as The Power of One.

Feb 24, 04:42PM PST | Respond to this 3 cheers

funchilde is improving. daily.

it was

surprisingly good and the music really captured the mood/tone of what was described in the book. I’ll add Tandia to my list but will prob have to read Power again first :-)

another book(s) I recommend that you might like:
1. Emergency Sex and other desperate measures…title sounds crazy but not about sex.

2. Honeymoon with my brother.

I could list more as I’m sure could you. But I really like your goals and the effort and thought you put into everything. Very inspiring!

Feb 24, 05:32PM PST | Respond to this


Josh has gotten 51 cheers on this entry.

 

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