Latest Reads

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There seems to be a bit of a self-improvement angle to most of my latest reads. And that's cool. Never hurts to improve oneself, even when you're Practically Perfect in Every Way.

3. What I Know Now: Letters to my Younger Self - Ellyn Spragins
4. Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer
5. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
6. Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl
7. Who Moved My Cheese? - Spencer Johnson, M.D.

Breaking Dawn was good, but a bit too clean and neat an ending. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the book, as I did the other three in the Twilight series. Total easy reading, total fluff, but enjoyable, suck-you-in fluff.

The Great Gatsby took a little getting into, but I have to say I really enjoyed it. I can't believe that I had never read it before.

What I Know Now was a collection of letters that famous written would write to their younger selves. I found Camryn Manheim's letter to be the most applicable for me, and the most impressive, but I also jotted down words from Barbara Boxer, Olympia Dukakis, Macy Gray, Jane Kaczmarek and Nora Roberts.

Man's Search for Meaning. Read this book. Do it. The first half is about the author's time in concentration camps during WWII, but it's peppered with so much wisdom and perspective that it's mind-changing. The second half is about his approach to psychotherapy, which he called logotherapy (logos is Greek for meaning). Logotherapy "considers man as a being whose main concern consists in fulfilling a meaning and actualizing values, rather than (as psychotherapy does) in the mere gratification and satisfaction of drives and instincts."

Frankl believes that suffering is noble and has meaning in and of itself. That the meaning of life is found within the world, not within the individual, that man needs tension and disequilibrium to motivate him toward a goal and that "... each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible."

There was so much in this book that I found myself nodding about and recognizing in myself and in my own core beliefs, yet there was still more that I found myself realizing I *don't* achieve or recognize.

Who Moved my Cheese? is a small, quick-reading book that hopes to change how we look at and feel about change. Cheese is used as a metaphor for what each of us wants out of life, and the Maze that the Cheese is found in represents where we spend our time looking for the Cheese. Change happens, it's how we react to the change that determines whether we stay in one place waiting for our Old Cheese to come back or whether we venture back into the Maze to find New Cheese.

It's perfect for me at this juncture because I've had a lot of change over the past year, and I have a lot more coming. There's a phrase from the book: "What would you do if you weren't afraid?" that I need to incorporate as a daily mantra. I usually embrace and am inspired by change, but the big change coming - my returning to work outside the home and putting my kids in full-time care - scares the heck out of me!

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Hello 2009

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Staring 2009 off with a bang are two books by Christopher Moore, who may be my new favorite author. His writing is fast-paced and funny, his turns of phrase downright hysterical and his books are like standing ankle-deep in the shallow end of the crazy pool. Carl Hiaasen (one of my other favorite authors) loves Moore, and I do too. With lines like: "In order to hold off the Forces of Darkness, you will need a number two pencil and a calendar, preferably one without pictures of kitties on it." How can you go wrong?

1. Practical Demonkeeping
2. A Dirty Job

Stay tuned for more of Moore, and here's to another 100+ books in 2009

2009 100 Book Challenge

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Since I managed to complete the challenge last year, I'm definitely in again. Life this year might make it a bit harder to hit 100, but if I don't try I probably won't be as motivated to read. I'll use this post to keep my main list, and other posts for reviews/raves/updates.

1. Practical Demonkeeping - Christopher Moore
2. A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore
3. What I Know Now: Letters to my Younger Self - Ellyn Spragins
4. Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer
5. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
6. Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl
7. Who Moved My Cheese? - Spencer Johnson, M.D.
8. Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
9. Fluke - Christopher Moore
10. The Courage To Be Single Mother - Sheila Ellison
11. Dust to Dust - Tami Hoag
12. How to Parent With Your Ex - Brette McWhorter Sembler
13. We Thought You Would Be Prettier - Laurie Notaro
14. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz
15. Discipline Without Shouting or Spanking - Barbara C. Unell and Jerry L. Wyckoff
16. Bloodsucking Fiends - Christopher Moore
17. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
18. Survivor in Death - J.D. Robb
19. Out Stealing Horses - Per Petterson
20. The Single Parent Resource - Brook Noel
21. The Bonesetter's Daughter - Amy Tan
22. Nature Girl - Carl Hiaasen
23. The Pagan Stone - Nora Roberts
24. Justice Denied - J.A. Jance
25. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal - Christopher Moore
26. Naked Conversations - Robert Scoble, Shel Israel
27. A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
28. The Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Paterson
29. Until Proven Guilty - J. A. Jance
30. Suite 606 - J.D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Ruth Langan & Mary Kay McComas
31. The Known World - Edward P. Jones
32. A Perfect Spy - John LeCarre
33. Desert Heat - J.A. Jance
34. Tombstone Courage - J.A. Jance
35. Undead and Unwed - Maryjanice Davidson
36. The Salmon of Doubt - Douglas Adams
37. Hello, Gorgeous - Maryjanice Davidson
38. No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers & Preschoolers - Elizabeth Pantley
39. Raising Children Compassionately - Marshall B. Rosenberg
40. Your One-Year-Old - Louise Bates Ames
41. Gentle Discipline - Dawn Lighter
42. Injustice For All - J.A. Jance
43. Trial by Fury - J.A. Jance
44. Taking the Fifth - J.A. Jance
45. Improbable Cause - J.A. Jance
46. Undead and Unemployed - MaryJanice Davidson
47. Run - Ann Patchett
48. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
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My 2008 Book List

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Here it is - all 122 books I read last year. I've bolded my favorites.

1. The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman
2. The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
3. The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman
4. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
5. Innocent in Death - J.D. Robb
6. Seven Up - Janet Evanovich
7. Hard Eight - Janet Evanovich
8. Unconditional Parenting - Alfie Kohn
9. To the Nines - Janet Evanovich
10. Tourist Season - Carl Hiaasen
11. The Secret Life of Bees - Sun Monk Kidd
12. Crazy Time: Surviving Divorce and Building a New Life - Abigail Trafford
13. Ten Big Ones - Janet Evanovich
14. Guilty Pleasures - Laurell K. Hamilton
15. The Ruby in the Smoke - Philip Pullman
16. Double Whammy - Carl Hiaasen
17. The Accidental Tourist - Anne Tyler
18. Blood Brothers - Nora Roberts
19. Eleven on Top - Janet Evanovich
20. The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Melissa Bank
21. Zlata's Diary - Zlata Filipovic
22. The Reading Group - Elizabeth Noble
23. Heartburn - Nora Ephron
24. The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
25. Twelve Sharp - Janet Evanovich
26. Girl, Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen
27. Lean, Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich
28. Plum Lovin' - Janet Evanovich
29. The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-Time - Mark Haddon
30. Skinny Dip - Carl Hiaasen
31. Metro Girl - Janet Evanovich
32. Native Tongue - Carl Hiaasen
33. Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer
34. Morrigan's Cross - Nora Roberts
35. Dance of the Gods - Nora Roberts
36. Valley of Silence - Nora Roberts
37. Strangers in Death - JD Robb
38. The Mermaid Chair - Sue Monk Kidd
39. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
40. The Laughing Corpse - Laurell K. Hamilton
41. Flush - Carl Hiaasen
42. The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks
43. Bare Bones - Kathy Reichs
44. Sick Puppy - Carl Hiaasen
45. Plum Lucky - Janet Evanovich
46. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim - David Sedaris
47. Lucky You - Carl Hiaasen
48. Stormy Weather - Carl Hiaasen
49. Necessary Losses - Judith Viorst
50. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
51. Holidays on Ice - David Sedaris
52. Blue Dahlia - Nora Roberts
53. Black Rose - Nora Roberts
54. Red Lily - Nora Roberts
55. The Little Book of Letting Go - Hugh Prather
56. Twilight - Stephanie Meyer
57. How to Survive the Loss of a Love - Peter McWilliams, Harold H. Bloomfield, and Melba Colgrove
58. New Moon - Stephanie Meyer
59. Mom's House, Dad's House - Isolina Ricci
60. Naked - David Sedaris
61. The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
62. The Raw Shark Texts - Steven Hall
63. Wicked Nights - Nina Bangs
64. To Bed a Beauty - Nicole Jordan
65. Key of Light - Nora Roberts
66. Pictures of Hollis Woods - Patricia Reilly Giff
67. Ellen Foster - Kaye Gibbons
68. Key of Knowledge - Nora Roberts
69. Key of Valor - Nora Roberts
70. Auriel Rising - Elizabeth Redfern
71. Break No Bones - Kathy Reichs
72. Open House - Elizabeth Berg
73. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - Ishmael Beah
74. Kafka's Soup - Mark Crick
75. The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
76. Strip Tease - Carl Hiaasen
77. Death du Jour - Kathy Reichs
78. Charlie Wilson's War - George Crile
79. Bones to Ashes - Kathy Reichs
80. Drowning Ruth - Christina Schwartz
81. Go Ask Alice - Anonymous
82. The Pilot's Wife - Anita Shreve
83. I Love Everybody (and Other Atrocious Lies) - Laurie Notaro
84. Deadly Decisions - Kathy Reichs
85. Fatal Voyage - Kathy Reichs
86. How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk - Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
87. Grave Secrets - Kathy Reichs
88. Rise and Shine - Anna Quindlen
89. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
90. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
91. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Dave Eggers
92. Positive Discipline - Jane Nelsen
93. Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
94. Autobiography of a Fat Bride - Lauri Notaro
95. Nights in Rodanthe - Nicholas Sparks96. Running with Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
97. The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson
98. Confessions of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella
99. Siddhartha - Herman Hesse
100. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
101. Eclipse - Stephanie Meyer
102. Split - Suzanne Finnamore
103. Astrid and Veronika - Linda Olsson
104. A Million Little Pieces - James Frey
105. The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club - Laurie Notaro
106. The Eagle's Shadow - Mark Hertsgaard
107. A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby
108. Beloved - Toni Morrison
109. Cross Bones - Kathy Reichs
110. An Open Heart - The Dalai Lama
111. There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell - Lauri Notaro
112. Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
113. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
114. Icy Sparks - Gwyn Hyman Rubio
115. Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer
116. Rare Birds - Edward Riche
117. Blessings - Anna Quindlen
118. Monday Mourning - Kathy Reichs
119. Straight Up and Dirty - Stephanie Klein
120. Bringing Out the Dead - Joe Connelley
121. Your Three-Year-Old - Louise Bates Ames & Frances L. Ilg
122. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
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