Friday, October 7, 2011

Third Quarter Wrap-up: 114 and counting!


At the beginning of the year, I set a goal of reading/reviewing about 150 books- about 3 per week. I'm running only slightly behind that pace, but I didn't aniticipate being named the Library Director either.

I'm skimming a lot more books to make selection decisions, but I'm not reading quite as many as I intended to be able to do full reviews. I'm also finding I'm not willing to invest a lot of time in a book that doesn't grab me either in the first 50 or so pages, or by the end of the first hour of audio.

This recent quarter I decided to slow the brain pace a bit and dive into a pile of 'cozies' that had been accumulating over the past two years. I'm glad I did. I found some gems for our library, found some new series to follow, and also found that while I can enjoy some of this lighter reading, I cannot take a full diet of it. So I'll be sprinkling some throughout my reading from now on.

There's been a great upsurge of interest in e-books and e-readers here in town, and in September I attended a great full day workshop sponsored by the wonderful supportive team at the Maine State Library: E-Books and the Library.
We had a chance to play with the toys, we heard from very dynamic speakers from around the country, and we heard from our peers how they were using, buying, lending, and loading up the e-readers for their patrons. It was an eye-opening day for our staff, and one that has given us lots of new items on our 'to-do' list.

So here's the recap of Tutu's reading from July-September

40 Books completed:
  • 17 print
  • 10 ebooks
  • 13 audio
31 Fiction
  • 1 short story collection
  • 18 cozies/mysteries
9 Nonfiction
  • 3 memoir
  • 4 cookbooks
  • 1 graphic format - history
Best Fiction of the Quarter:
  • The Beautiful One has Come
  • Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore
Best Non-Fiction:
  • I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
So what's on tap for the last quarter?
There's a partially read fon-fiction I hope to complete  on the Nook:
  • Absolute Monarchs - A History of the Papacy
Some great audios are awaiting including:
  • A Trick of Light by Louise Penny
  • Turning the Tide: How a Small Band of Allied Sailors Defeated the U-boats and Won the Battle of the Atlantic
And then I have good fiction including:
  • The God of Small Things by Arandhati Roy and
  • Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga --both for my Book club. 
Several other great new mysteries/novels, and literary fiction await me both on my nook, and piled up on my bedstand....I think I'll suprise you (and maybe myself) when it comes time to choose what comes to the top.

So stay tuned, Tutu's going on a short road trip to Western Maine late this month, and will be reading all the while.  I might not make the 150 benchmark, but I'm having a good time on the way to wherever I land.

7 comments:

  1. Wow! You have been really busy! What do you think? Will you get an Ereader?

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  2. Oh Eva...I have an e-reader...sorry I didn't make that very clear. I have the original NOOK and love it, although I admit to lusting after the new Simple Touch NOOK.

    I also have the Kindle for PC and Nook for PC apps on my computer..often use them to look at the sample of a book to see if I want to buy it in print, read it at all, or whether it will work in an e-reader format. I find that cookbooks in e format work best on a bigger screen - the PC app or an Ipad size, and the color ability of those apps makes them quite workable.

    If you're thinking of getting one, check out your public library because several are now offering the devices to check out so you can give them a test drive before you buy. They are also offering workshops to show how they interface with library books.

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  3. My goal for this is 100 books and 90 are done. I agreed with your choice of the best non-fiction book, that was a great little book.

    Carol

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  4. while I admire your reading, I envy the empty space on those shelves.

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  5. Caite...obviously, I took that picturre awhile ago...there is no such thing as an empty shelf at chez Tutu any longer.

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  6. Congrats on your being named Library Director.

    Terrific on the number of books read.

    Elizabeth

    http://silversolara.blogspot.com

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  7. I don't think a steady diet of any one genre is too good. I love my cozies, as I'm sure you know, but I do like to read a lot of other things in between.

    Enjoy your trip to western Maine! Be sure to take lots of photos and share with us.

    ReplyDelete

Welcome, thanks for stopping by. Now that you've heard our two cents, perhaps you have a few pennies to throw into the discussion. Due to a bunch more anonymous spam getting through, I've had to disallow anonymous comments. I try to respond to all comments posing a question, but may not always get to you right away.