I just finished in one sitting:

Ellen Emerson White’s “Long May She Reign” which is a follow up to “The President’s Daughter” (but that one I didn’t read). I need to pick up the first book now and there are other books coming out next year too. Can’t wait – haven’t found an author that I really really liked in so long. :D 5 years ago

This isn’t hard because I’m a total bookworm but the hard part is finding the time to do it. I am an English major so….I get sick of reading outside of the texts already required of me.

But I read tons of fantasy that year and I still do, till this day. I’ve been reading a lot more nonfiction too. :) 5 years ago

Ugh, let’s try this agian 6 years ago

fell short in 2005, but got to a very good year in 2006, though some of the books I will definitely have to postpone until 2007. 6 years ago

Είμαι μια βιβλιόψειρα και έχω αποφασίσει να διαβάσω έξω όλα τα κερδίζοντας μυθιστορήματα βραβείων booker. 6 years ago

Im in college what more can I say 6 years ago

I have always been an avid reader and since the beginning of the year I have read 64 books. If anyone is looking for someone to help motivate themselves to do this – Feel free to ask. 6 years ago

I was a couple short, but last year I really upped my reading.

Quality books make you feel really good. 7 years ago

I did just barely complete this in 2005. My last book was Dr. Budds and another one, I had it written down at one time. But this year, I will most likely get close to this again, but it wigged me out some and I read when I had more pressing things to do. I will not worry about this one so much. I need to be reading scholarly journals more. 7 years ago

Don’t have my list of read books here, but its not 30. Maybe a more realistic goal for next year? 7 years ago

there just aren’t enough books! 7 years ago

I came so close. Was on book 29 when the New Year hit…. I will be better about reading this year. 7 years ago

I managed 13 this year. I hope to complete this goal in 2006 and more, though! 7 years ago

1)The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (reread)
2) The Promise by Mildred Cram
3) The Dream Of Gerontius by Cardinal Newman
4) My Belief by Hermann Hesse
5) A Boy Called “It” by Dave Pelzer
6) Mans Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl
7) The First Man by Albert Camus
8) Darkness Visible by William Styron
9) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Ron Persig
10) On Vital Reserves by William James
11) Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut
12) A Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
13) Bless The Beasts and Children by Glendon Swarthout
14) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
15) Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
16) The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
17) Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
18 Go Ask Alice anonymously written
19) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
20) A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
21) Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
22) The Sound And The Fury by William Faulkner
23) The Lady’s Not For Burning by Christopher Fry
24) The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
25) Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
26) Diary by Chuck Palahniuk
27) Prayer Can Change Your Life by Dr. William R. Parker & Elaine St. Johns
28) Perpetual Peace an essay by Immanuel Kant
29) House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
30) The Portuguese Letters by Mariana Alcoforado 7 years ago

Be Our Guest: Perfecting the art of customer service by the Disney Institute

A great little book about customer service from the organizational perspective. I’ll use it to see if I can create a little magic in my new workplace. 7 years ago

Midlife Orphan: Facing Life’s Changes Now That Your Parents Are Gone by Jane Brooks

This was helpful. Lots of stories reminded me that I’m not the only person who ever experienced this. About half way through, I started skimming stories, looking for the ones that were most like me. Of course, I didn’t find any exactly like mine which is comforting in its own way, too. Every one has a unique experience and, therefore, unique responses. We all find our own paths. 7 years ago

This book is look at the 2004 Oakland A’s and, specifically, the Big Three of Barry Zito, Tim Hudson, and Mark Mulder. A nice, brisk read that had me reliving that tumultuous season. If I hadn’t just finished up A Million Little Pieces, I might agree with my friend, Anne, who says that it’s the most depressing thing she’s read, this year.

It’s filled with great quotes from all three and various others around the A’s.

(bold means ‘complete’ and italics means ‘in progress’):

1. The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell
2. Getting Things Done by David Allen
3. The Last Season by Phil Jackson
4. Scrolling Forward by David Levy
5. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
6. Winners Never Cheat by Jon M. Huntsman
7. Dress Your Family in Courduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
8. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
9. Blink by Malcom Gladwell
10. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
11. I’m Okay You’re a Brat by Susan Jeffers
12. Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
13. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
14. Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins
15. Aces by Mychael Urban
16. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (232 of 471)
17. 101 Ways To Be a Terrific Sports Parent by Joel Fish (55 of 293)
18. How To Talk So Kids Will Listen… by Faber and Mazlish
19. Chicken Soup for the Father’s Soul by Canfield et. al.
20. Brief Interviews With Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace
21. More Than A Game by Thad Williamson
22. Momentum – Letting Love Lead by John-Roger
23. The Games Do Count by Brian Kilmeade
24. Designing With Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman
25. The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand
26. PHP Web Development with Macromedia Dreamweaver MX by Kent, Powers and Andrew
27. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
28. Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow
29. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert J. Kiyosaki
30. Digital Photography Hacks by Derrick Story 7 years ago

The Everything Paganism Book by Selene Silverwind

I learned a lot reading this book—things I didn’t even know enough to ask questions. It was very helpful to me on a personal/spiritual level, too. I’m fascinated by the cycles of the moon and the seasons. I keep thinking maybe I would get something more from the various Celtic and Wiccan spiritualities that incorporate those cycles. With this great overview, I learned that is not the direction for me. I want to keep mining for ideas in those areas, but I can quit thinking that I’m missing something because I now know that the other aspects aren’t going to work for me. 7 years ago

The Cluetrain Manifesto by Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, and David Weinberger

This is a sequel to a website:
http://www.cluetrain.com/

Published in 2000, the technology is a bit dated, but the ideas about conversation, interaction, and human voice are even more relevant now that we have blogs, RSS, wikis, and sites like 43T! 7 years ago

Best Fiction Book

We Don’t Live Here Any More, Andre Dubus

The movie of the same name was based on one of Dubus’ stories; this book includes that eponymous novella, plus two other tales featuring the same characters. Why was this one my favorite of the year? For one thing, Dubus puts several particularly apt descriptive turns of phrase in the mouths of his characters. They say cutting, gasp-inducing things to one another. The book is so enjoyable because it contains stories about the sort of everyday chaos that can overwhelm regular people like you and me. Anybody who’s been through a nasty breakup will find a few familiar lines in here.

Best Non-fiction Book

Agile Web Development With Rails, Dave Thomas and David Heinemeier Hansson

It’s not often that I describe a technical book as a page-turner, but I really did have a hard time putting this one down. Ruby on Rails is the Web engine that drives may sites, including 43things.com. It’s a pleasure to use, because it encourages writing clear, readable, and concise code. A lot of IT commentators bemoan the fact that today’s CS students aren’t assigned programs to read, the way literature students must peruse novels. I submit that an instructor could do a lot worse than to teach his students the code in this book and the ideas behind it.

The Thirty

• Traveling Music, Neil Peart
• Stormy Weather, Carl Hiaasen
• Dhammapada
• Contents Under Pressure, Martin Popoff
• The Incredible Shrinking Man, Richard Matheson
• Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
• Branching Streams Flow in the Darkness, Shunryu Suzuki
• Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering, Robert Glass
• The Pleasure of My Company, Steve Martin
• The Book of Three, Lloyd Alexander
• Getting Things Done, David Allen
• We Don’t Live Here Any More, Andre Dubus
• Tinker, Wen Spencer
• How We Got Here, Andy Kessler
• Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott
• Metal Cowboy, Joe Kurmaskie
• The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, Alan Deutschman
• Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
• Selected Stories, Andre Dubus
• Dancing After Hours, Andre Dubus
• Code Complete, Steve McConnell
• Agile Web Development With Rails, Dave Thomas and David Heinemeier Hansson
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Mark Haddon
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey
• The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini
• High Stakes, No Prisoners, Charles Ferguson
• Fugitives and Refugees, Chuck Palahniuk
• Spoonerisms, Sycophants, and Sops, Donald Chain Black
• Heartsongs and Journey Through Heartsongs, Mattie Stepanek
• The Princess Bride, William Goldman 7 years ago

(bold means ‘complete’ and italics means ‘in progress’):

1. The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell
2. Getting Things Done by David Allen
3. The Last Season by Phil Jackson
4. Scrolling Forward by David Levy
5. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
6. Winners Never Cheat by Jon M. Huntsman
7. Dress Your Family in Courduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
8. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
9. Blink by Malcom Gladwell
10. Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
11. I’m Okay You’re a Brat by Susan Jeffers
12. Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
13. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
14. Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins
15. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond (232 of 471)
16. 101 Ways To Be a Terrific Sports Parent by Joel Fish (55 of 293)
17. How To Talk So Kids Will Listen… by Faber and Mazlish
18. Chicken Soup for the Father’s Soul by Canfield et. al.
19. Brief Interviews With Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace
20. More Than A Game by Thad Williamson
21. Momentum – Letting Love Lead by John-Roger
22. The Games Do Count by Brian Kilmeade
23. Designing With Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman
24. The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand
25. PHP Web Development with Macromedia Dreamweaver MX by Kent, Powers and Andrew
26. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
27. Eastern Standard Tribe by Cory Doctorow
28. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert J. Kiyosaki
29. Digital Photography Hacks by Derrick Story 7 years ago

so in the last half of a year i had such a lot of things to do, that i haven’t had enough time to achieve this aim. So i quit for this year. But in 2006 i want to do it 7 years ago

Fish! by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen

This is a quick read (a good thing if you’re trying to complete your 30 books…). It’s a kind of parable about improving the environments we work in. If you can manage to keep your cynicism at bay while reading this book (not an easy task for many of us), I think it really is useful. It’s a parable with four easy-to-remember, common sense, principles. Arguably, this approach is likely to be much more effective than a quality service initiative with dozens of measurable objectives, not to mention more fun. 7 years ago

Out of the Flames by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone

This book was on the reading list for the “History of Books and Print” class that was offered in my library school last fall. I didn’t take that class, but put the book on my Christmas list last year and have finally got around to reading it. It’s a well-written historical piece that talks about the violence (both physical and intellectual) of the Reformation, the slow process of understanding the workings of the human body, and the strange story of a book related to both of these that disappeared from history and slowly came to the surface again.

This book inspired many more thoughts, more than I usually write here, so I wrote a longer entry on my blog7 years ago

A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg (author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe)

This story puts a wonderful cast of chracters, most with good hearts and special dreams, in a tiny town that makes an art of holiday celebrations, the kind of place that can make a few dreams come true. 7 years ago

by Janet Burroway

Helpful with some common sense tips, but it’s nice to be reminded. I need to go back and try the exercises. 7 years ago

Is it do-able I ask myself? At the moment I’ve got 19 down, although I’ve nearly finished Himalaya and the Kafka, so we could pretend that only leaves nine.

I think I fell off the wagon, so to speak, after the summer and my Ph.D. started – so much other reading to do. However, with some time off around Christmas, I think that it may just be possible to reach the goal.

Fingers crossed, and good luck to anyone else trying to do it! 7 years ago

by George R.R. Martin

The fourth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. It might not have been wise to read all four books one after the other with little pause, but the story was gripping although I was not as fond of the characters he chose to highlight in this latest installment. There was also a lot more description and flowery prose, I thought, than action compared to the other books. I also thought that the Cersei chapters were a bit weak. I felt Cersei was much stupider and grating after I read her chapters rather than before. Jaime however is a good character and I’m interested to see what happens to Arya. However, I can’t wait to see what has been happening with Jon Snow, Dany, Tyrion, and Bran when the next book comes out. 7 years ago

Silver Bells by Luanne Rice

This is a charming holiday tale—perfect for the season. Especially a snowy day like we had yesterday in Missouri. 7 years ago

by George R.R. Martin

The third book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. It’s very satisfying with some good twists and turns and some interesting changes in the characters. Will start on A Feast for Crows soon. Hopefully, the next book will have more stuff on the Night Watch and Dany. 7 years ago