Monday, January 16, 2012

52 Books for 2012




I used to read.
For pleasure.
A lot.

Hard for me to throw away a book.
And even in this technologically advanced
day and age
I can't help but to pick up books here and there.

Time has come to stop hoarding and start reading.

I'm committing 
right here,
on this blog,
to reading 52 books in the one - two (aka '12).

Which means it won't happen
because there are four people who read this blog,
one person who comments (I think she's a stalker)
and the rest of ya'll are only looking for pretty Pinterest pictures.

So much for public accountability (smile).

Here's my list.
Care to read (or re-read) any of these with me?

LOVELY.


I could write a post called "why I #&$^& hate Firefox right about now.
Because it is really fun to wake up early to type up a long post
only for Firefox to crash for the 97th time in 12 minutes.

Just. Saying.

  • Live Happy (unless you blog with Firefox.  Then live pissed)
  • The Dirt Cheap Green Thumb (Freecycle plant swaps.  And that is all.)
  • The Art of Non-Conformity (Especially once you've decided to Orbit the Giant Hairball)
  • Getting to Yes (I suck at mind chess and really need people at work to do what I say already)
  • Sometimes I Dream in Italian (gotta figure those Italians out)
  • History on a Personal Note (honestly, it is a short book)
  • Dreaming in Cuban (on the bucket list of places to go, someday)
  • Salt Dancers (another short book)
  • Little Bee (pretty orange book...I pick them with substance don't I?)
  • The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke (rich just trying to get richer)
  • Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster (for the Junior League summer break *smile*)
  • How to Buy a Love of Reading (intrigued)
  • Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening (March garden impatience lullaby)
  • April 1865 (I used to love Civil War history)
  • The Average American (gotta read up on ya'll.  Just kidding)
  • I Don't Know How She Does It (chick lit moment)
  • The Conscious of a Liberal (Gotta know what makes 'em tick)
  • What Happened (Gotta know what the hell happened there)
  • One Fifth Avenue (more chick lit, but NYC fantasy style)
  • Never Eat Alone (as I almost always do, gotta up my game to make the real big bucks)
  • Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University (intrigued)
  • Around the World in 80 Dinners (wish it came complete with recipes. still. love to "readtravel")
  • Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Bad Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism (yep)
  • A Hole in Texas (I'm Texan, it's a pretty yellow book)
  • PostSecret (coffee table book cheating...but the secrets are fascinating to read)
  • The Political Mind (in case you have not figured out, I'm ready for November)
  • The Number: A Completely Different Way to Think About the Rest of Your Life ($$$$)
  • All the Tea in China (wanderlust to go back there; economic reading = fun)
  • Bright Shiny Morning (love reading about places I've been...this is LA insider stuff)
  • The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History w/the President (fascinating perspective and concept)
  • Misconception (because I need to know the true nightmare of paying $$$$ to conceive)
  • Spending (actually, a novel - I think)
  • When Genius Failed (because I hang out with a lot of finance smarties)
  • Hot, Flat, and Crowded (the original was so good I can't remember most of it)
  • The World is Flat (People keep saying I buy in to this theory...so I should probably know it)
  • Gaming the Vote: Why Elections are Unfair (no duh)
  • How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind (for my conversations w/Merry)
  • Listography 2011 (bit late, but the lists are still good)
  • Game Change (love Halperin and gotta admit that 2008 was quite the election, for both sides)
  • The Audacity to Win ( historical perspective of becoming the first black president)
  • Carry Me Home (Civil Rights movement, after reading The Help, I had to get myself right again)
  • Plentitude ($$$$ again.  I've gotta get smart about it now that I have some)
  • Sarah Palin - Going Rogue (one of the most fascinating people alive)
  • How to Raise the Perfect Dog (this, before we knew that she was just born perfect)
  • The Nanny Diaries (provided we pop some out already, I'd like to know what the help is saying)
  • How to Wow (in a good way, hopefully)
  • This is Not a Book (something artsy or another)
  • Three Cups of Tea (wanted to read this for a while)
  • Happens Every Day (another short book)
  • The End of Poverty (so that I can brush up on my relative poverty dogma)
  • When You Are Engulfed in Flames (a cool AMEX exec hipped me to D. Sedaris. Love. Him*)
  • No Safe Place (more political reading, of the semi-fiction sort)
* David Sedaris, not the AMEX exec.  Though he was pretty cool to hang out with.

So what say you?
Read along book club style?
Or just check out my reviews here on the bloggity blog?

Keep in mind that I also have to read for work.
Currently we are reading
Pedagogy of Hope and
Using Data to Improve Learning for All


I'm also reading with my mom.
She's in Texas.
Books are how we hang out together.
We are reading Stephen King's 11 22 63

When not watching way too much tv,
I'm actually a decently fast pleasure reader.

When I lived in upstate NY
and read admission files as an Assistant Director of Admission
at Cornell University,
I would go home, read my 30 or so files for the evening
and then break out my book and breeze through.

Of course, I had no tv then
(well, I had a tv, but no cable and no cable in Ithaca means no tv)
and I didn't have internet
or a smartphone
or really anything to entertain me other than a good book.

Man.
Life was SO MUCH
simpler then.

I think I'm trying to get that back
via reading again.
Any of these titles strike your fancy?
or are you just trying to figure out if I'm a liberal or a conservative?
or what kind of dog I have?
or how much money I make?

Just. Wondering.

**

Loving b3HD? 
Have a life and can't view the whole blog in one sitting? 
Then stalk us already! 
Promise not to stalk you back. Unless you want us to. 

***




7 comments:

  1. Now that I've commented (more than once I think), does that make me the stalker!? I just came by to ask what your imagine the impossibilities challenge is and see if you are still avoiding. After reading your post I am going to guess you might be...
    Too funny!
    Thanks for stopping by...and good luck reading all of those books...that's a lofty goal. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for stopping our blog. We appreciate it. Now I have a question about Firefox...did you recently upgrade? Because I was notified to upgrade but I don't want to if it's causing you this much problems.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I DID just recently upgrade. Wish I hadn't because the crashes just wouldn't stop. Just finally went back to explorer for a while until I can get that figured out. I reported the error each time. added some not so friendly comments the last time. Not nice of me...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh ok. Well I haven't upgraded as of yet. I guess I won't lol. As Renee mentioned chrome is a nice browser. I'm using that right now as I comment

      Delete
  4. Wow, what a list!!! I can't imagine getting through 52 books but maybe I could if I turned off the TV and the internet!! :)

    Have you tried chrome? I used to love firefox, but then I tried chrome and it's my new fave! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, that's a lot of books! Even though I love to read my time is occupied with a 2.6 year old these days so my goal is to read 15 books this year. I love chic lit and young adults, but this year I am trying to read more about time management and my business. I did like few book titles from your list such as "I don't know how she does it" and "One Fifth Avenue".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah...I don't have kids (just a puppy who is kinda demanding but I can release her to the puppy playpen for the day and call it good...reality and all).

      I just finished Nanny Diaries which was HILLARIOUS. I'm hoping How She Does it and One Fifth will be just as easy reads. Which reminds me...I need to update with the books I've completed.

      Delete

You KNOW you have an opinion about it, already. So spill it. Spark up a conversation...