read 25 books in 2008

I set this goal, and then never read anything. I was so preoccupied with things, I told myself that I probably wouldn’t even read anything till the end of summer. That pretty much held true, but now I’m on my way to completing this.

1. The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom
I read this super fast, and couldn’t put it down. It leaves you taking a happy sigh by the end, and the whole idea itself is pretty unique.

2. Sundays at Tiffany’s – James Patterson
This one too, had a unique idea to it that I enjoyed, and fell in love with the characters. The ending was anti-climatic, but at the same time, exactly what I wanted to happen.

3. Paddle to the Sea – Holling C. Holling
I know it’s a children’s book, but I came across it, and decided to read it. It kind of started slow for me, but by the end, I thought it was pretty good, and would recommend it to kids of all ages. I’ll probably be reading a lot more younger books, seeing that my new job is in an elementary school library. :)

4. The Bell Jar – Silvia Plath
This, I’ve wanted to read for a while, and finally did. It was VERY well written, and the story is pretty intense. It really showed a side of story telling that I was unfamiliar with and knew little about. I loved it.

5. The Devil Wears Prada – Lauren Weisberger
I wanted to read something a little lighter after The Bell Jar, and picked up this one. I saw the movie when it came out, which I enjoyed, and kind of always wanted to read the book since then. I enjoyed the book, but because I’m not that into specifics of fashion, some of the descriptions were rough to get through. I don’t recall the movie that much, but I do know that some things were quite different between the two. I’ll have to see the movie again to decide which I like more.

2007: read 20 books.

I read 17. I could have done much more, but I kinda stopped all together for a good 4-5 months in the middle of the year. that was the time when I focused more on my movie making.

I started the year with the Series of Unfortunate Events books. I read the first 7, plus the 2 Mary Jane books. Then stopped.

When I returned to this goal at the end of summer, I read Bridge to Terribithia. Then copped out by reading Wayside Stories from Wayside School and The Mouse and the Motercycle. Easy reads just to increase the number. Then I went to read Books 6 and 7 of the Harry Potter series. (AMAZING) After those, I finally returned to the Series of Unfortunate Events. Finishing off the series would have brought me to 20. I read 8, then 9, then 10, and I finished 10 pretty much as the year ended. So I was close to 20, but not close enough.

I know I can do better, so I’ve decided to up it to 25 for 2008. However, I am going to finish Books 11-13 in the series, and then start my 25 for the year. After those, next on my list is The Bell Jar.

So I think that one of my big problems is that I make such a big deal about things, that I unwillingly start to feel overwhelmed or something like that. I’ve always told myself that I was a slow reader, and that it takes me forever and a day to finish a book. I love reading, but it seems that I don’t as much as I should because I automatically start with the mindset that it will take me a long time to get through it. What I’m getting at, is that our family took a trip to Disney last weekend, and I read #2 of A Series of Unforunate Events on the plane to Florida, and I read the sequel to the Mary Jane book I read (simply titled ‘Mary Jane 2’) on the plane ride back to Michigan. The ride was only about 2 1/2 hours, and I was able to finish an entire book. That series is definetly an easy read, but even for me, I’m a little surprised. I think that if I just don’t think about how long it’s gonna take me to finish, and I just set time aside to actually focus on the book, I would be able to read much better and faster. So…4 down!

Well it’s now February. I have read….Two.

I was thinking about what books I wanted to read this year, and anyone who knows me, I love to read, but I am one of the slowest people ever at it. At least that’s how I see it. The first book I read was called Mary Jane. It was just like a junior novel about the teenage life of Mary Jane and Peter Parker. haha. I really liked it a lot. There are definetly the longer large books that I have in mind to read this year, but there’s a lot of shorter books I wanted to do too, and the shorter ones I can actually read pretty fast. The second book I read was the first book of “A Series of Unforunate Events” I only read the first three and that was right before the movie. Basically, what I’m trying to figure out is, I was thinking of reading all 13 of that series. Then the 7 Narnia books (I’ve only read the first 4 before) And just from that I’m already at 20. Is that like selling out or anything? Add the Harry Potters’, and the other one I already did, and I’m just short of 30! Do I count all 13 of the series as 13? Books are books, right? Maybe, I’ll just do that and see where I’m at in the year when I finish and maybe I’ll add more to the goal?! Talking about it to myself sure helps sometimes! ..and with that I give a virtual thumbs up.