I started the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Book Project in July of 2007, and while I did miss a few weeks here and there, I’m considering it complete! What I really enjoyed about participating in this challenge is that it reminds you to keep reading. Sometimes when life gets busy you forget to pick out new books or even make time to read at all. The downfall of this project is that the structure is fairly intense and doesn’t account for 944 page books like Shantaram: A Novel, which was the best book I’ve ever read. It’s simply brilliant! Read more…

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia just didn’t do it for me. The title is probably the best thing about the book, but I guess that’s why you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s title (or featured destinations). I really tried to be interested in this book, but the author’s perspective just really rubbed me the wrong way. It was too whiny and forced, and it’s not like I couldn’t have identified with it, I just didn’t. I wish I would have checked this out at the library instead of purchasing it. Now Read more…

The Glass Castle is an emotional, but exceptional book. Yes, many families have their own Rex Walls, and the accuracy of the author’s childhood memories could be questioned, but that really wasn’t the point of the book for me. This memoir is about family and acceptance. While I can’t claim to have had such a harsh childhood as the author, I could identify with the book. There’s a lesson to be learned of distancing and accepting family, and in that order. The Glass Castle: A Memoir

Knocking out a classic this week. Shocking as it sounds, I had never read Orwell’s Animal Farm. I liked it. It was short and full of intended symbolism and political “humor.” Yes, it belongs on the classic list. Animal Farm (Signet Classics)

You either love or hate GTD (Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity). Although the Allen-ite way of productivity seems to have lost it’s best-seller momentum, it’s still a decent way to get things accomplished. So I decided a re-read was in order. I hadn’t read this book in a few years, so it was nice to have a little refresher of how not to waste time thinking about all the stuff you have to do. But I had forgotten how time consuming some of the “lists” are. Last year, I stopped using 3-4 different lists (waiting for, someday/maybe Read more…