read 20 books in 2012

The Nonrunner’s Marathon Guide for Women – Dawn Dais

There’s really nothing that makes this specifically for women, other than that it was written by a woman who occasionally throws in lines about sports bras.
It’s pretty funny though, and was fairly encouraging until the end, when I discovered that Dawn did not in fact run a marathon. It had made me feel better throughout when she talked about her training and how it seemed like she was doing relatively little, and that I could easily do better in comparison, but then I got to the end when she revealed that she only ended up being able to run the first half of her marathon (and walked the other half). So… not really someone I want to be taking advice from, then.
Whatever. It was still kind of funny, and at least once it was enough to motivate me to stop sitting in my room reading and go start my run.

End of Exile – Ben Bova

Probably the best out of the trilogy. There were a couple of small details that really nagged at me the whole time though – like, why were there rats on the ship?
But still, I enjoyed reading this series and I’m glad I picked it up. Bova is of course one of my favorite authors so it’s hard to go wrong with him.

Flight of the Exiles – Ben Bova

I was right, it was better than the first one. Looking forward to the last one.

Exiled From Earth – Ben Bova

I don’t know if this book was really as good as it feels like it was right now, or if I’m just so elated at having had the chance to read a book for pleasure for the first time since I moved nearly four months ago.
I picked this up at a used bookstore, in a volume that contains the whole trilogy. I do think it was at least decent so far, and I think the next two parts will be more interesting than the first, which was mostly setup. I’m hoping to finish the whole thing before the end of the week (or else who knows when I’ll have time for it again).

The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton is just phenomenal.

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I seem to be on track with this goal, which is unusual. I’m planning on knocking out several shorter works in succession in the coming months. I currently own 10 books that I haven’t read yet, and I don’t really want to be lugging a bunch of books across the country with me, so I hope to read most of them before then. I get a fair amount of reading time at work, and as I mentioned, many of the books I have left are fairly short (plays and whatnot).

Metamorphoses – Ovid

Like, every Greek myth ever collected in one place? What more could a girl want?
Took me aaages to read but I feel really well-educated now.

Div, Grad, Curl, and All That – H. M. Schey

Well. I hated this text. I’ve heard good things about it, but I really hated it. I was reading it for review and I think I know less now about vector calculus than I did before. I think he just confuses everything by introducing a bunch of non-standard notation and roundabout explanations in an attempt to be “informal.”

Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music – Marisa Meltzer

I read this primarily because I’m interested in the riot grrrl movement, although it also covered later developments like Britney Spears and the Spice Girls. Overall an interesting and worthwhile read.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court – Mark Twain

What a wonderfully ridiculous book.

The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett

Loved it!