Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts

Feb 22, 2013

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Read 20 Books: Abandoned

Mission Level
Abandon all hope.

The Challenge
Well, you can read about how I don't really read in my Read 20 Books and my crash and burn while I was trying to read 20 books in my Read 20 Book:Update.

I am officially abandoning this mission. I still haven't finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and that's pretty sad.

Reflection
My reader
The stuff I actually have been reading are blogs. A number of my friends have blogs and I enjoy reading about what they are up to and what they are interested in. There are also some blogs I found by chance that I like to read.

However, hardly anyone updates on a regular basis - maybe one or two.

As redemption, here is a list of the blogs I have programmed into my reader and which I keep up-to-date on:
Help Me Out
Do you have a blog or know a blog I should follow because it is awesome? I only like awesome things and part of "awesome" means it is updated on a regular basis.

Let me know by commenting below and I will program the blogs into my reader.

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.


Jan 23, 2013

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Read 20 Book: Update

It’s not going well, faithfully followers and random people who came to this page. It is not going well. If you remember, I said I was going to read 20 books in 10 months in my Read 20 Books challenge.

I have estimated I have a good chunk of free time during the week. This time is sucked up with some volunteering I do, wash, getting food, crying, hanging out with friends and cleaning out the cat box. It’s still a good chunk of time and I should be able to get some reading done.

By this point, I should have already finished a book. I have not. Ok, I did read one of these free books of Amazon. I mean, I read it. And it was horrible. I don’t want to count it. 

I am actually 50% of the way through my first book, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. You would think it would have all the elements in it to get me hooked – interesting narration, unique writing structure, Nazis. . .and yet.

I was really into in for a section or two but then I started to lose interest in it. I think it is because I am waiting for action to move more swiftly. I think Zusak does a great job of using few words to describe a lot of stuff and now I feel like I have been reading the same thing over and over and over again.

I am waiting for some event or action to move the story along.

I even like the “spoiler alerts” plastered in the book. I like the character of the narrator. But, I have no desire to continue reading it so it has been a little bit of a struggle. 

Shame, I am not sure why. 

I feel like a failure a lot these days.

My New Toy
So, where is my time going?

After months and months of debate, I did go out and buy a Galaxy Tab 2 for myself. This might be another reason I am not getting any reading done. The idea was that I would have a portable device to help me get some writing done and keep in touch. I'm never that far from wireless and the people I know who have them rave about them.

So, I am now a member of Big Fish Games Unlimited and am tearing through the Dark Parables series in hopes it soothes my heart until Mystery Case Files releases their next game. I'm a sucker for a good puzzle or hidden object type game. I even have been playing some card games to try to keep my mind sharp for when I sit down and play my boyfriend.

Anyhow, all these things are not reading.

What I Have Been Doing
While I have not been reading that much, I have been writing. Here’s sort of what I have been doing in place of reading: 
  • Moved my blog to AdventuringAmanda.blogspot.com (have more to do).
  • Worked on my series short stories. 
  • Caught up on blog post – I don’t just write them the day before, you know. 
  • Beat Dark Parables: The Frog Prince (seeking other games).
  • Set up my Galaxy Nexus Tab 2. 
Right, busy.

What I Will Do
I’m going to finish this book. I really am. I am still shooting for 20 books in 10 months. I just need to either hunker down and do it or find books that better keep my interest. 

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Image Credit
Book from npr.org

Jan 11, 2013

Posted by Maddie Labels: , , 0 comments

Read 20 Books


Time to accept an adventure or challenge - whatever you want to call it.
Read more books! A lot more books!
What's a lot? I consulted a friend and a lot was determined to be 20.

Reading is Fun
I never disliked reading. Back in high school (that's four years) I ended up reading 100 books. That's about 14 books a year, a little more than one book a month. I ripped through those things and read everything and anything I could. When I was in high school, there were no electronic books, by the way, only physical books. Acquiring them could be a little difficult so I just focused on reading everything I could find.

Must consume words
My Book History
My Mom read mysteries so I got into the whole Brother Cadfael and we had a bunch of classics like the Prince and the Pauper and the complete works of Shakespeare, and I did read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, the dictionary and the Thesaurus. I read all of Sherlock Holmes and more informational items like Bananas B-Guide to School Survival and the Anarchist Cookbook and the Book of Lists.

I stopped reading in college when I had to do more stilted reading of text books and things for research papers and whatnot.

I think a lot of people lose their love of reading when they are they have read a lot of stuff with heavy constrains  pressure and little freedom.

I couldn't find anything that really impressed me. I use to sit and read and lose time when reading - the words effortlessly translating into a movie in my brain.

Sickness also stole my reading habit. There was a point that the infection in my brain was taking up so much space when I tried to read words, my vision was bouncing around due to the pressure of my brain on my eyes. I also began losing my short-term memory so books didn't make sense.

Current Reading
I think some of that is based on your own enjoyment of the material and the quality. I think the last two series I read were Warlock of Gramarye and the Anita Blake series and the last single books I read were The Lovely Bones and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Oh, and, Hunting Down Amanda and Animalia,which was too much fun. And a friend gave me Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin which was surprisingly good.

I don't own many books.

I always kept maybe one or two books myself or a couple to prop up lamps. I would always give away books I finished reading or donate them to the Universal Library (something like Book Crossing). I never understood people who hoard books, many they have never read, just to prove they have books.

The Challenge
Anyhow, reading 20 books shouldn't be that hard these days, right? 20 books at 2 a month will take me 10 months. I will start counting as soon as I acquire a book. I don't have a fancy reader or anything - old fashion books will have to do.


I might have to get some type of tablet or something - an e-reader. I can get some free books on my phone, but, that is a bit of a strain. I have wanted to get a tablet.

So everyone knows I am doing this, I will write a little review for each book and post it on my blog.

The did decide to apply one rule - I cannot count books I already read even if I cannot remember the story. Books I read when sick, like the Brief History of the Dead  or Geek Love, and would like to read again since the brain infection made it hard to understand, cannot be counted as a book read.

The List
I asked people what books I should read and, frankly, vetoed a lot of them.

M: I'm not reading crap. I maintain my veto power.
R: Isn't the point of this exercise to expose you to new things?
M: A lobotomy would be a "new thing," but I'd probably veto it.
Here is my current list in no particular order. The first books I vetoed where upwards of $20:
Since this is the sum total of my list, I found myself a site that tells me where I can get free digital books - that would be Free Book Sifter

Be Part of the Adventure
Do you have a suggestion or want to see me attempt something? Drop me an email at AdventuringAmanda@gmail.com with your suggestion.

Image Credit
Books from harvestbooks.com
How to Read from funmeme.com

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