I have been keeping track of my annual reading for about 10 years now.
In 2015, I read 50 books. This compares to 55 books read last year, 66 in 2013, 75 in 2012, 84 in 2011, 73 in 2010, 80
in 2009, 110 in 2008, and around 140-150 in the few years before that.
This decrease from the mid 2000s is because I listen to an absolute ton
of podcasts, which cut into my reading time. The continued decrease of
my reading in 2014 I blame on the amount of podcasting I did in 2014. I
hope that I can again read 50 books in 2016. That seems a reasonable goal.
I have always been a fan of
audio, and 31 of the 50 books I consumed this year were via unabridged
audio. 18 were traditional dead-tree books, and 1 was on my Nook.
The 39 novels I read break down as follows: (note that the total exceeds 39, as many books fit into more than one category)
Mystery/Thriller -- 23
Fantasy/SF -- 10
YA -- 7
Religious/Christian -- 5
Historical -- 1
Contemporary -- 1
The 11 non-fiction works I read break down as follows: (note that the total
exceeds 11, as many books fit into more than one category)
Christian/Theology -- 7
Memoir/Biography -- 5
Entertainment/Comics -- 3
Friday, January 1, 2016
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Review of The Enchanted April
This 1922 novel finds a pair
of English ladies planning to flee the rainy environs of London for a month-long
vacation in Italy. The women are members of the same social club, but have never
spoken a word to each other. Their first conversation ensues after they both
see the same notice for a medieval castle on the Riveria.
When they learn the cost of the
excursion, they realize they need two more women to share the costs. So the
four of them (Mrs. Arbuthnot, Mrs. Wilkins, Mrs. Fisher & Lady Caroline)
find their ways to San Salvatore.
The women have little in
common, save that they are all struggling to make the best of troubled
marriages. But their relative social standing, different worldviews, and diverse
attitudes add enough conflict to add drama to the story. And yet they manage to
achieve their goals of rejuvenation.
The ladies have such a good
time that the married ones invite their husbands. Mr. Arbuthnot appears within
a day of his wife’s telegram, which confuses her, until it is revealed that he
was in fact invited by Lady Caroline, with whom he was conducting an affair.
And even the lovely
surroundings cannot completely handle this level of drama.
Source: The Classic TalesPodcast
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Review of Searching For Sunday
Rachel Held Evans has
developed a following for herself as a blogger and author. She is a leading
voice of progressive evangelicalism and the current state of the church.
The structure of the book is
terrific, arranged into seven sections corresponding to the seven sacraments of
the Catholic and Orthodox churches (baptism, confession, holy orders,
communion, confirmation, anointing of the sick, and marriage). This
structure allows her to mix short reflective pieces with stories of others that
reflect the theme, before moving to longer memoir pieces. This enables her to
sustain a narrative, while also addressing a range of themes.
The most interesting part of
the book for me was an episode I did not know about, her year-long attempt to
plant a church with her husband and another couple. She discusses the struggles
of this, and the pain of the effort’s failure. There was not as much “lessons
learned” as I would have liked, but perhaps the wounds are still too fresh for
Evans to have fully processed those events.
This is her most vulnerable
and personal work, although all of her books have a good share of that
material. Here, she talks about drifting away from the evangelicalism she grew
up with, and then from the habit of churchgoing following the failure of the
church plant. But it also recounts her return to church, her finding a
community of believers where she can thrive. I’ll be interested in reading her
future reflections on this new community, as I’m sure she will be writing about
her experiences as time goes by.
Given the number of
Millennials and Gen X-ers who have made church changes, or have become “nones”
n recent years, I definitely think that this is a work that is “of the moment.”
Evans speaks to the longings, disappointments, and issues of many young adults,
and perhaps this book can help them process their own experiences.
Source: birthday present
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Review of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar
As Sherlock Holmes’ popularity grew into the early 20th century, French novelist Maurice Leblance wrote stories featuring a protagonist equal to Holmes in every detail, except for the side of the law he operated on. The gentleman burglar and man of a thousand disguises was nearly as successful as the great detective, appearing in more than a dozen novels and almost 40 short stories.
This 1907 publication is the first collection of stories to see print, consisting of nine stories that saw print in periodicals in the few years preceding. The collection opens with two very storng stories, “The Arrest” and “In Prison,” showing how being in captivity merely gives the great thief the best alibi possible. It does not keep him from masterminding criminal acts.
Similar to Holmes, Lupin shows extraordinary skills in disguise, dressing up both himself and others when needed. His attention to detail and fast-moving mind help him commit crimes, and when his sense of justice is insulted, to deliver a criminal to the police. This “Robin Hood” approach aids to his legend among the Parisian populace.
The volume includes a story that actually features Holmes, and in it the two men are presented as near-equals. Of course, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did not appreciate another author using his famous creation. The law was on Doyle’s side, so Leblance changed the name of “his” character to Herlock Sholmes. No, really.
Now that these stories have fallen into the public domain, Holmes’ name has been restored to the story for recent publications. I enjoyed these stories, although they did fall short of both Holmes and of Agatha Christie’s great detective, Hercule Poirot.
Source: The Classic TalesPodcast, which produces high-quality audio versions public domain literature.
Saturday, December 26, 2015
This Week in Reading
Searching For Sunday, by Rachel Held Evans, pages 160 – 236.
Warheart, by Terry Goodkind, COMPLETED. Reviewed here.
DC Bombshells 5 – 7
Doctor Who: Four Doctors 1 – 5
Gotham by Midnight 12
Justice 17
Micronauts (Devil’s Due/Image) 1 – 11
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Review of Warheart
Almost ten years ago, Terry
Goodkind brought to an end his 11-novel Sword of Truth series. I was satisfied
with that ending, and thought the final three books in the epic series were
very strong.
After producing one contemporary
novel, The Law of Nines, Goodkind found himself drawn back to the characters
that he wrote for nearly two decades. Branded “Richard and Kahlan” novels, he
began a new series. And with Warheart, he (supposedly) has ended this second
fantasy series. Once and for all.
At least for now.
In this finale, Richard and
Kahlan face down the ultimate Evil that is coming to claim the D’Haran Empire. And
at the start of novel, Richard is dead, lying on his funeral bier. So things
don’t look good for the heroes. But since Kahlan was dead for a while in the
last novel, the fact Richard does not stay dead in this novel is not a
surprise.
Goodkind ends the series on a
strong note, bringing in past characters where appropriate, and fulfilling
Goodkind’s goals in writing fiction. He has strong feelings about notions of free
will and prophecy and similar tropes of epic fantasy, and those themes come
into play in the final resolution of the storyline.
I trust that Goodkind intends
to not write more about these characters, but he has said that before. These remain
among my favorite fantasy series, and if he chooses to revisit this world years
from now, I’ll be here to read what he produces.
Source: public library
Monday, December 21, 2015
Podcast Guest Appearances
Over the last few weeks, I have had the privilege of appearing as a guest on some fine podcasts. There are a few more
to be recorded and released in the near future, but here are two that
have come out recently.Luke Jaconetti invited me to team up with him on the excellent show, Long Play. In episode 15 of that terrific podcast, we spoke about the excellent progressive rock album The Turn of a Friendly Card, by The Alan Parsons Project.
I also recorded recently with a roundtable of hosts from the Crossover Nexus. We talked about our favorite holiday episodes of TV, as well as "made-up" holidays in sci-fi shows. Yes, we did talk about Life Day, but also Babylon 5's Day of the Dead!
I thank these podcasting friends for their hospitality. It is always a pleasure to podcast with such good buddies.
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