I’ve abandoned 43things a long, long time ago and thought I’d just update my goals for 2008 – a way to keep myself focused and not be distracted by life-destructing behaviours. :p

Okaaayy… Let’s see… I’ve read:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2. My Sister’s Keeper
3. Blink
4. How To Kill Your Husband (and Get Away With It)
5. His Dark Materials (considered as 3 books, haha)
6.
7.
8. The Quickie
9. Double Cross
10. Cross

.......

I can’t think of more books that I’ve read at this point. Will update this later tonight. :p 5 years ago

I started reading this some time last December, so I’m going to include it here anyhow. Yes, as I said before, I’m all about technical loopholes.

I enjoyed reading this though it felt like a much longer version of text book from my Corporate Strategy course. Still, very entertaining and provoked a few thoughts here and there. The business cases quoted are fresh and timely, so I was able to relate to the events described adequately.

Highly recommended for those wanting to learn about how success seduces businesses into a false sense of security or permanent greatness. 5 years ago

At the least few pages of this book, I had to fight the urge to cry. It felt oddly cathartic reading this book as it describes some of my worst fears where love and longing is concerned. Very vivid and descriptive, verbose and rich in imagery and wonderful detail. If only all of us could have the endings like the one penned for Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza. 5 years ago

Didn’t seem to have the motivation 5 years ago

I’ve been busy with tons of other things lately, too. I am going to have to try again this year. Instead of reaching a quota, I think that I will just try to keep track of all of the books that I do read each year. I enjoy looking back and remembering. 5 years ago

This book was written in parable form. Essentially it teaches the key concepts of Engaged Leadership which consist of the following:

• Directional Leadership
• Organisational Leadership
• Motivational Leadership
• Character Core

I found this very relevant since I’m encountering some challenges related to employee engagement. Am hoping to see how I can convert the key learning points into action items which can be practised and facilitated amongst the managers. All in all, a timely read and hopefully this leads to a feasible and effective implementation. 5 years ago

I did read a lot, but forgot to count. Time’s up. 5 years ago

19 – The Secret – Rhonda Byrne
20 – A New Kind Of Christian – McLaren
21 – Real Ultimate Power – Robert Hamburger
22 – Mixed Martial Arts – BJ Penn 5 years ago

Well, after reading or finishing up reading four books in last two days of 2007, I did reach my goal of 30 books. Not all of them were great, but most of them were good. As a capper, I want to list my top five reads of 2007, as suggestions for anyone who needs reading and because I love making lists. So, in no particular order, they are:

1. The Brothers K by David James Duncan
2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Pere)
3. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
4. Monster of God by David Quammen
5. Neuromancer by William Gibson 5 years ago

A book that’s made up of a number of lists of books you should read. It’s like having a hand-sized librarian you can pull out whenever you need book suggestions. It’s not meant to be read front to back, but pulled out and flipped through at random when you need inspiration, which is pretty much what I’d been doing until last night when I ploughed through the remaining sections in an hour just to get this goal complete. This one might be a cheat, as I skipped a few sections I had absolutely no interest in, but I have a list of over 50 books on my “should read” list now, many of which I wouldn’t have heard of before reading this book. So I think the book did what it set out to do. 5 years ago

I love Warren Ellis’s comics work, but it took me a long time to get around to reading this, his first novel. I was worried that it would be awkward and clunky, that his talent with writing comics wouldn’t cross over to prose. I was wrong. This book is typical Ellis: a charismatic antihero going through a series of bizarre, disgusting circumstances, getting deeper and deeper over his head and desperately trying to figure a way out. Narratively it’s pretty much what I expected from him, but it’s still good and shocking, and it’s a SHORT read, so I was pleased with it. 5 years ago

This is my first Bernard Cornwell book, he of the Sharpe series, and it’s based on the life of English king Alfred the Great. The book’s told through the eyes of Uhtred, a young Ealdorman whose family was killed in a Danish raid. He is raised by the leader of the army that led the assault on his castle, and this is the story of how he grew to be a man and the difficulties he has between choosing the Danish and English sides of himself. The story is well-told but ultimately it’s the fascinating character of Uhtred that made me keep reading it and enjoying it as much as I did. There are at least three other books in this series, and I’ll definitely be picking them up. 5 years ago

The Fourth Bear cements my admiration of Jasper Fforde as a clefer, punny, ambitious British writer in the same vein of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. This book, the second in the “Nursery Crimes” series, was better than the original, with more real-world satire and more fictional looniness. Really enjoyable read. More here. 5 years ago

writing for 30 consecutive days…reading 30 books this year seemed so easy…but it wasn’t. I had a lot of reading for my classes which really pushed me pretty far towards the goal.

Now, how many in 2008? 5 years ago

What buckles the back is the added weight of the past’s mistakes and the future’s fears.

I had to learn to close the front door to tomorrow and the back door to yesterday and settle down to here and now.”

Anonymous in The Big Time by Fritz Leiber 5 years ago

My job is just to finish it not to defend it. My job even more is to be sure it is well done in my own term and forget the rest.”

John Steinback, Journal of a Novel
(#29) (Loved it.) 5 years ago

Eat, Pray, Love-by Elizabeth Gilbert
(#28) 5 years ago

I discovered this book a few years ago when my then-fiancée, now-wife, had it on her bedside table. It was a favourite of hers when she was a kid, and I decided to read it during the Christmas holiday. L. Frank Baum, who wrote the Wizard of Oz books, crafted a wonderful, magical story about how Santa Claus came to be, removing him from a Christian context – which could have gotten a little sticky, narratively speaking – and given him a fairy-tale, almost pagan background. It’s beautifully-written and perfect to read aloud, and I’m sure children would love it. A great book and one I hope to re-read a few more times in the future, when the snows gather and the multi-coloured lights start to twinkle. 5 years ago

I heard about this on one of the podcasts I listen to; the story of the high school valedictorian declaring his love for the head cheerleader and the fallout of that event that takes us through the rest of that night. It’s fun, fast, and really engaging, and would definitely recommend it. Longer review here. 5 years ago

This book was recommended to me by one of my colleagues. I’m glad I picked this up. Very interesting and thought-provoking. The whole change management topic, which can be very dry at times, was described in a very delightful manner, complete with cute illustrations. The narration was witty and concise, which made this book a very quick read. I finished it in three seatings, within 2 days.

Highly recommended for everyone who deals with change, especially the change agents who are responsible for making things happen.

^{p/s: Doubt I’ll make it to thirty books by 31 Dec, but am trying my darndest best.. :p}5 years ago

Talking to Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles) by Patricia C. Wrede

I started and finished this today. The last of the series, so far anyway. I made it to 30, let’s see how many more I can manage! 5 years ago

Just for Elephants by Carol Buckley

Much shorter and easier than I realized it would be but it’s a book so it counts. Plus, it’s one I’ve been meaning to read. 5 years ago

I thought The Disappointment Artist would be a series of essays about Jonathan Lethem’s pop culture obsessions, and I figured that sounded like a book I wanted to read. It was more, though. It was him analyzing and telling stories about his life, in particular his relationship with his father and coming to grips with the death of his mother, using these obsessions as a backdrop, a jumping-off point, a thread holding them together. It wasn’t the book I was expecting, but it was still good. Longer review here. 5 years ago

The Blank Slate is a book about evolutionary psychology, and its main thrust is that the notions of the human brain being a “blank slate”, infinitely malleable and without any innate abilities, is a ridiculous concept. I completely agree with that. The rest of the book goes over that point over and over again, in more detail and across various concepts, including sex and race differences in the brain, the biology of violence and rape, and the heritability of personality. I’m not too sure I buy into the book’s entire message, but there are a lot of interesting points in it, and it lets you see sides of an argument that you might not have before. Some people might be put off by the science, but it’s actually very readable and not dry at all. I’m glad I read the book, and it certainly made me reconsider some of my ideas about human nature. 5 years ago

I was looking at my list here and I thought, “I have only 22 books read this year? I can’t read 8 books in 6 days!” But I kept feeling like I’d read more than that this year, so I double-checked against my list and luckily I had forgotten to include entries for two books. And when you add the book I finished yesterday and the one I finished today, I’m at 26 books read, which makes it much easier to complete. So I’m not giving up on this one yet. I’ll put up capsule reviews in a few more days, but getting through thirty books is definitely possible. 5 years ago

28. Calling on Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede 5 years ago

Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You’d Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg 5 years ago

Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede 5 years ago

A collection of short stories containing bits and pieces from history, leadership tributes and poignant quotes. A nice and easy read, simple to digest and pretty thought provoking. 5 years ago

10 Double Your Dating – David DeAngelo
11 Guerilla JiuJitsu – David Camarillo
12 Attraction Isn’t a Choice – David DeAngelo
13 Venusian Arts Manual – Mystery
14 The art of Approaching – Thundercat
15 Destroy Approach Anxiety – Lance Mason
16 JuJitsu – Techniques of the Gentle Art – George Kirby
17 Tae Kwon Do Basics, Techniques and Forms: The Indomitable Martial Art of Korea – Park, Schein
18 Taekwondo: A Step-By-Step Guide to Korean Art of Self Defense
– Kevin Hornsey, Laura Knox 5 years ago