24. Brunelleschi’s Dome (Ross King)
A great book. I’ve been meaning to read this since I went to Florence over Easter two years ago (so long ago already!). It tells an amazing story and though it is non-fiction (which I tend to find dull), I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it to be very entertaining.

25. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman (Richard Feynman)
I agreed to read this book if a friend read Hamlet (very different books, of course, but Hamlet is one of my favorites and Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman is one of her favorites). It turned out to be a very enjoyable read. It was easy to read (I read 250 pages of the 350 page book over a period of a day and a half in airports and on planes) and the stories were all interesting/enlightening/entertaining. I highly suggest this book!

And now I reached my goal! Time to get a head start on book no.1 for next year (Silent Spring, I think…). Yay!

23. Mexico: A History (by Robert Ryal Miller)
This book is written to be informative, not entertaining. That having been said, I found this book very interesting if somewhat dry. I probably wouldn’t suggest getting this book outside of an academic setting, although it is pretty self-contained so if you did decide to read it on your own, you would still learn something from it.

Two books away from my goal! And I know which two!

21. Engines of Creation (by K. Eric Drexler)
I read this book for one of my classes. I didn’t specifically enjoy Drexler’s writing style, but I found his arguments interesting. I’m still not entirely convinced that nanotechnology will be the Deus Ex Machina (or destruction) of humanity, but I guess to each their own. I would suggest reading this book if you are interested in nanotech, but otherwise skip it.

22. Nano (by John Marlow)
Wow. This book was comically overdone. I have never really read any science fiction before, or even any “save the world” type fiction, so it may just be me. This book had every cliche (both in terms of plot elements and also writing quirks). That having been said, the pure “one-step-too-far”-ness of this book made it hilarious. I would suggest reading this book if you have nothing else to do and are looking for a bit of a laugh. It may be hard to find, though-after 3 years it went out of print!

18. The Aztecs (by Richard F. Townsend)
19. A War of Witches (by Timothy J. Knab)
20. Religions of Mesoamerica (by David Carrasco)

Have I suddenly developed an intense interest in Aztec metaphysics? Yes and no—I am taking a class which is focusing (at least right now) on how pre-Columbian Mesoamerican peoples understood life. The first book is in general about all things Aztec. My professor was talking about how it is a book written for the general public, but I actually thought it was written on a higher level then “Religions of Mesoamerica” (the book he said was more specific). Both were a bit dry for my liking, but extremely informative and the information was interesting. The middle book is based on real events and draws from actual concepts which developed among Aztec peoples during conquest, colonization, etc. all the way up to the present. It is an interesting story, but unless the reader has at least some basis in Mesoamerican cultures, they may find themselves a little bit confused. I definitely recommend it overall, though.

And besides those 3 I’ve read tons of bits and pieces of other books for other classes. I should easily finish this goal this year using only books I’m already going to be reading for classes this semester! Yay!

15. A Good Man Is Hard To Find (By Flannery O’Connor)
Flannery O’Connor can be an amazing writer and I have found myself thinking about (or even quoting) passages from her stories long after I finished reading this book. That having been said, some of the short stories in this book (there are a total of 10) are very bizarre. I also found that some stories had long sections which were uninteresting. Also, each of Flannery O’Connor’s stories has a meaning, but sometimes that meaning is so well hidden (or oddly presented) that it seems as if the entire story is pointless. Overall I don’t regret reading this book. My favorite story was “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.”

16 & 17. Books 1 and 2 of the His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife) (By Philip Pullman)
To be honest I started reading these books out of spite. When the movie based on the first book (The Golden Compass) was released, my [Catholic] school sent out fliers about how the story is anti-theistic. I’m the type of person who rolls my eyes when people tell me that a fantasy story is purposely allegorical. After completing the first two books, however, I can confidently say that my school was at least partially right. The story does seem to be headed in an interesting direction and is using organizations (specifically “The Church” and “The Magesterium”) and terms/names (specifically “The Authority” and “God”) which seem purposely to correlate to real-world groups/concepts. The books are very well written and I am enjoying them more than most other young-adult fantasy books I have ever read (I’m not big on, for example, the Harry Potter books though I do intend to re-read them at some point). I’m looking forward to reading the third and final book—The Amber Spyglass. In fact, the book is next to my computer right now. I think I’ll go read it!

13. 41 Short Stories By O. Henry
Overall good, but because of O. Henry’s penchant of the twist ending, the stories were actually predictable after the first few. I enjoyed O. Henry’s writing style, though. Worth the read.

14. The Poison Belt (by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A very short read (I read it in well less than 24 hours), but a very good story. It seems to dwell a bit more on philosophy and introspection than The Lost World (the other Sir Arthur Conan Doyle book I’ve read). I actually slightly preferred The Lost World to The Poison Belt. At any rate, a top-notch story!

11. The Omnivore’s Dilemma
I did not specifically enjoy this book. It was long, it was repetitive, and the writer is a bit interested in cooking than I am (which made certain sections extremely slow and tedious). The information is interesting but I found that some statements were much more journalist-y and not very scientist-y at all. That wouldn’t be a problem if the book presented itself as an opinion type book, but it presents itself as a factual survey of what American’s eat. The facts were mostly correct as far as I could tell (I did find a few incorrect statements), but they were definitely spun. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have bothered finishing this book if I didn’t have to for school.

12. The Ghost Map
This is perhaps the best non-fiction book I’ve read so far this year. It is a nice balance of history and biology, teaching you about Cholera (specifically the outbreak in London in the 1850’s) and walking through the investigations of John Snow, a scientist who worked on identifying how Cholera is passed from person to person. It is an interesting read!

9) Under the Black Flag
Overall a good non-fiction book about the reality of piracy. Not much about the pirates off the coast of Asia, but I guess that is true for most nonfiction pirate books. Well written and interesting to read.

10) From the Two Rivers (Wheel of Time book 1)
This is actually a re-read, but last time I read it was at least 6 years ago and by now I remember very little beyond odd names and places. The writer just died less than a year ago and the series is unfinished, so I wonder if I’ll ever know how the entire thing ends…(I think there is someone finishing up the last book). At any rate, a top-notch fantasy book involving magic, evil demon-like creatures, and a savior.

Hamlet by Shakespeare
The first time I read this through I hated every second of it because it was so tedious, but as I re-read portions to get ready for a test (I read it for an English class), many of the lines grew on me. My favorites are Hamlet’s first soliloquy (1.2.133-164), a few of Polonius’ sayings (namely 3.1.47-49 ”’Tis too much proved—that with devotion’s visage/And pious action we do sugar o’er/The devil himself.”), and Hamlet’s “What a piece of work is a man” bit (2.2.303-310).

Retorno a la Libertad by Carlos Villanes Cairo
This is the first book I read in Spanish (and it was read for a Spanish class). I wouldn’t really have chosen it to read on my own because the story wasn’t all that interesting to me, but it is nice to know that I got through an entire book written in a language not native to me.

8 down, 17 to go!

-Asmithar

5 Unlearning to Fly (Jennifer Brice)

This is the first memoir I’ve ever read and I found it very enjoyable. I was also reading Glass Castle at the same time (I always read more than one book at a time) so I could compare a few things (such as each person’s relationship with their father) which allowed me to better understand each book and see how the events in each book helped shape the author into the individual they have become.

6 Glass Castle (Jeannette Walls)

I got this book because of my school’s book club, so I was expecting not to enjoy it a ton (it seemed a bit like a “girly” book by the description). I actually thought it was a very good read and look forward to the next book club meeting where I can dissect it.