Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Final for 2009

I guess this will be my last posting for 2009. Let me run through a few things, kind of end of year stuff.

--I read 81 books this year. This is my best year by far, 2008 had the title at 30 before this year. I am not expecting 80 something to happen again in 2010, but who knows at this point. Right now I am thinking 50 to 60 a more likely goal.

--PBS or PaperBack Swap has to get a lot of credit for my stepped up reading. I found lots of books at library sales that people wanted, but I tried to read many of them before mailing them off.

--Goodsearch.com is probably my 2nd favorite website that influenced what I did in 2009. I picked a local charity and forced myself to get to at least $2.00 a month for them. Then I switched to other small charities around here or in NE. It was kind of fun & I expect to continue this in 2010.

--Running. I ran 2 5ks in 2009, well one 5k and one informal 3.3 mile run. I also kept up running throughout the year with a decent amount of consistency considering I didn't really train for anything. I would like to do a longer race in 2010 but I have been saying that the last couple of years and just haven't gotten it done yet too.

--Weight loss. Other than the biggest loser contest at work last spring, I really didn't focus on losing weight this year. In 2010, I hope this changes. I would like to drop some pounds and keep them off. I would like to get from around 170 to instead around 160 or even lower. I know that means stop eating all the junk and 2nd helpings that I do so this will be tough.

--Facebook? I am not on facebook but am considering getting on it. Debbie is on it and have talked to several friends that are also on it. I can see this happening in 2010 also.

I am sure there are other things but this should about do it. Have a good New Year.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Cold Run

I haven't typed up much about running lately because it has only been spotty running. A kind of here and there thing, not much consistency. Last Sunday, I was able to get 3 or 4 miles in, I think 4. Today I was able to get 4 miles in. Both days it was cold, but I bundled up and got it done. Since I am off work this coming week, hopefully I can get a couple of runs in but Monday is Debbie's birthday and Thursday is the 31st so there will be stuff going on. Tomorrow we are busy in the afternoon and probably not home till dark, so maybe getting runs in might be tough.

Oh well, today was good, 4 miles at around 12 min pace. First mile was quick, like 11:10, I guess it was cold & I just wanted to get going. Second mile was then the slow one around 12:35 and 3rd and 4th were around 12:05. All in all not too bad I guess especially considering I overate the last couple of days.

Friday, December 25, 2009

A Moveable Feast--#81 finished

I realized a few weeks ago that I hadn't read a Hemingway book yet this year so I grabbed this one. I am kind of mixed on it though after reading it. It talked about his Paris years and his contact with the other expatriates especially F Scott Fitzgerald & Gertrude Stein as well as mentioning others like Ford Maddox Ford and James Joyce. It also goes into some of his relationship with his first wife and at the end kind of mentions how he ended up cheating on her.

I guess the real focus of the novel is on his writing and how he transitioned at this time from being a reporter to an independent writer of short stories and then novels. He talked about how he worked in cafes in Paris and how at times he would be interrupted or how he would take walks. He also talked about being poor at the time and fighting to meet bills. From the sounds of it, it was a time of struggle but also a time of growth and sometimes pure fun. He was surrounded by many other creative people and even short of money was able to experience much of Europe like vacations to Spain for bullfighting, skiing in the Alps and the Riveria in France.

To me though the novel wasn't effective in that it merely touched on a lot but missed much of the detail that would have really added to it. To me it seems it could have been so much more and there is a real feeling of too much missing after each chapter in the book. I know it was written towards the end of his life and published after his death so that could be the main reason for this but still I can't really get past it. I am glad I read it because I really enjoy Hemingway's novels but next time I will re-read another one before picking this one up.

It is on 17 WL but I think right now this is a keeper for me. If I get desperate for credits then maybe but I really can't see that happening. I have 37 credits now with 5 books in the mail so I will be at 42 once they are delivered so should have more than enough for the near future.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

"A" is for Alibi--#80 finished

Kind of neat that I have hit 80 books read this year. Not sure if this will be my high water mark or not. I am thinking I might try reading some longer books next year instead of focusing on trying to read so many. I still might get one or two read yet this year since still have what 10 days or so to go--and some of those will be vacation days also.

As far as A is for Alibi, it was fun to read the first book in this series after I had already read about 5 or 6 others. It was nice to step back and see what the beginning was all about. There are story lines that haven't been developed yet and characters that played little role in this one that play much larger later. I will probably try to pick up the B book in the next few weeks and read it as well. This was a good little quick mystery/investigation like all of the books of hers. A fun read with enough action and suspense to mix with plan old investigation stuff. I really do like this series, not sure I could really read all of these back to back to back, etc but to mix in during the year is good.

I will be keeping this book around, no sense in posting it. I might see if I can get the series and maybe loan out to others rather than put on PBS where I wouldn't expect it to move for years.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Annie Duke--#79 finished

The books is actually called Annie Duke, How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker. A good read with both some good advice on poker and also some very good insight into herself. It was a quick book to read and chapters flipped from about her life and then to about her winning 2 tournaments at the WSOP in 2004.

I have to say I wasn't a big fan of hers from watching her on the various poker shows from the WSOP mostly and also a reality show with Phil Hellmuth that I saw a few episodes of as well. After reading this book though, I really have to appreciate where she is at and the struggles in her life both before poker and during her poker life. I thought this would be a book I would just read the one time & then post it to mail off, but right now I may keep it and see if some others would want to read it. I probably should go back and look at some of the different pointers the book offered and think about them a little more. I really enjoy watching poker on TV and playing in a little family game once in a while. The family game had been about every weekend for a couple of years but this past year it has been very few and far between for the games--everyone is too busy with other stuff it seems. I haven't ventured off to playing poker on the internet yet or hitting one of the nearby casinos, not sure I am up for gambling with real money. I do think it is fun to watch on TV, lately the NBC series Poker After Dark has been my favorite, of course I have to set the DVR to catch it.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Blow--#78 finished

This is a true story of a man, George Jung, who became a big time player in the movement of illegal drugs into the US. It is a well written with plenty of background and in depth information into his life and his career as a transporter of first marijuana and then later cocaine. It was sickening to read about actually how with no guilt these drugs were moved to the US and how countless lives were screwed up with them. Now of course those using the drugs plays a large responsibility for the actions but the people providing them are guilty as well. It is really too bad because George was obviously a smart person with a lot of ability that could have been successful in many other lines of work but instead got into the drug trade and stayed in his whole life, or at least his life outside of prison. Per the internet, George is in prison, not due to get out until 2015 at age 72. Too bad but that is what happens when some one chooses to go against the laws of the land.

Now an interesting argument could be made and has been made that some or all drugs should be legal. This book really never presented that idea because it was not what this book was about. It was really about the life of George Jung and how he helped enlarge the drug trade in this country in the '70s & '80s. Good book, good read. I think most people will enjoy this if they are at all interested in the drug trade.

I cannot post this book on PBS because the spine cracked on it while reading. It is still readable so I will probably put it on my unpostable list where I will throw it in with a book order.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Kind of Funny

It was just yesterday that I was saying about PBS that I was just going to wait for my WL books to come in. Well today was a new day. When I got home from work tonight, I had an order for one of my books, one that I really wasn't expecting to be ordered anytime soon. So I figured I would throw one of my other books that I don't want to read on my bookshelf that had 8 people wanting it so I could mail 2 books at once. Well after posting it, you have to wait an hour for the website, a kind of poster's remorse time before it shows up. I checked it a couple of hours later and it was accepted and a 3rd book was also being requested. That means I would have been at 44 once these were all delivered so I figured I could check out the Book Bazaar and maybe order something.

Well, I kind of talked myself into doing a 3 for 1 from a lady moving to Europe who wants her books to go away by then. Now a couple hours after that, I again went to the Book Bazaar and found a lady in Puerto Rico that had an interesting book and an interesting old unpostable book so I ordered them as well. No problem with the credits, I have plenty with the potential of many more once I post them. It is just so much for my statement yesterday of waiting for those WL books, but maybe now I will wait. No promises though. Well, I need to get back to reading, I have too many books that need to be read.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Running & Reading

Well, it had been over a week since I had gotten a run in but on Wednesday after work I finally did. I went to the community center & hit the walking path above the gym for a nice 3 miles. It was good. Somewhere around 12 minute per mile average maybe a little more. It has been cold here all week so running outside in the cold and the dark just isn't going to happen so it will probably be the community center for a while to get some runs in.

Right now I am reading 3 books, working my way to 80 for the year. I have 77 completed so these 3 should get me to 80 and I might even have time for another 1 or 2 as well. I am reading Blow a true story about a big time drug runner in the '70s and maybe '80s--I have only been reading about the 70's so not sure when it all comes crashing down for him. Actually can't come soon enough. Reading this book just makes me realize how scummy these guys, how they really need to take a lot of the blame for screwing up this country as well as the many lives it affected. Interesting book with some info on drugs that I really had no idea about. Just wish people would be able to quit this stuff.

Also reading A Moveable Feast by Hemingway. It is about his time in Paris in the 1920s. He wrote it or put it together in the late 50s and early 1960s right before he killed himself. I am about 60 pages in and not really sure what to think of it. I like his writing style but not really sure where this is going, if there is really a point to this book or not--I will just have to work through it and see.

Finally the 3rd book is A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton, the first of her Kinsey Millhone alphabet mystery books. I haven't read it yet, but have read probably half a dozen others in this series. Figured it was time to go back and see how it all started.

I am up to 40 credits with PBS right now and actually have one more book to be delivered to get me to 41. I haven't had a Wish List book pop up in a long time so I think I am just going to wait a couple of weeks and see if any do. A lot or probably too many of my WL books are the hard to find variety so I know I will need patience but also realize that some will probably never show up too. I will not be mailing off any of these 3 books. Blow was one I got from PBS but while reading it the spine cracked in one place so it is not postable now. I will be keeping my Hemingway books and will probably keep the Sue Grafton books for now as well. I have many, many books that need to be read so I will be busy in the coming year as well.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Judge & Jury--#77 finished

This was my first James Patterson book, he actually wrote with Andrew Gross also, and I liked it. I have seen many of his books at book stores & listed on PBS and from the write ups figured they would be up my alley, but just hadn't read one yet. This is a good book, good action, good characters but the whole romance end of it seemed forced. Also the mafia parts of it were interesting but the crimes and control of the bad guy just seemed too far--just not likely. Like I said though a good book. I will not be scared of looking for other Patterson books, but nothing about this one made me bust out & have to read them either. Probably good books to look for on the Book Bazaar page on PBS.

There are around 470 some copies of this already on PBS so might not move for awhile. I did see where on the Book Bazaar someone is looking for deals on Grisham and Patterson so I might shoot a PM out & see if I can mail some of these off.

I am still working on Blow and just started reading Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Might look for a 3rd book yet tonight to get started on. Eighty is looking like a real possibility for the year right now also. Will probably pick something that I know I can finish in a week or 2 just to make sure.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

A Lost Lady--#76 finished

This is a Willa Cather book, one that I hadn't read before. It was interesting and I do enjoy her writing style for the most part. I like her characters and also the town and the surroundings where this story takes place. Cather is a very good writer that seems to present her stories in interesting and different ways. This is mostly about obviously the Lost Lady, Mrs. Forrester, who enchanted nearly everyone in town and especially Niel who tells the story. Being in a small town, the Forresters are almost the kind of royalty for the town and they host important out of town guests. Mr Forrester was already in diminished health being forced into retirement after being thrown from a horse and his health steadily got worse throughout the book till his death. Through the book it seemed as though Mrs. Forrester was being held back by her older and in poorer health husband but at the end we see it was really he who held their relationship together. Once Mr. Forrester passed away, Mrs. Forrester made several poor decisions before she was able to afford to leave the town altogether. Before leaving the town though she burned the relationships that she & her husband had long held with some townspeople including Niel.

Niel at the end of the book reflects back on this & sees this as the end of the pioneer in the passing of Mr. Forrester. After this it will be the next generation taking over that didn't build or appreciate the land as the pioneers had. In Mrs. Forrester he sees her as part of this new generation, and has contempt for her in that she moved easily from the older to the new generation. She became a person of the times, unlike her husband. I thought this was interesting perspective on this and can see how it does sort of fit in. The character of Mrs. Forrester is more complex than what is written in the story and that is kind of the genius to Cather for me, in that she does not spell out everything about her characters but instead forces the readers to think about them and come to their own conclusions. Like a said a good and interesting read. It makes me want to read some more Cather before long. Of course I also want to read some Sandoz books as well.

This book is a keeper so it will not be getting mailed off. I will put it with my other Cather books and hope my kids enjoy them someday.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Last of the Old Guard--#75 finished

Last of the Old Guard is a nice kind of easy read about a couple of lawyers during the turn of the century into the 1900s. A lot of talk of old money and how things were, but interesting in general. No great amount of detail in the book, it is only 212 pages long, but what detail is there really helps the reader learn about the 2 main characters. I enjoyed it.

I am also surprised to see before the book started, it had listed two pages of books the author, Louis Auchincloss, had written. This kind of surprised me because I am pretty sure I hadn't seen his name before finding this book at a library sale. A prolific writer and I hadn't heard of him at all, seems kind of weird, at least to me. Now I do tend to mostly want to avoid this type of book, ones about the Northeastern, old money class, I just don't have much interest in them so maybe that played a part in not recognizing the author, but who knows. I will checkout other books by him if I see any but I doubt I will seek them out.

This is a book that is on 3 people's WL at PBS. I have one book to mail tomorrow already but if I post this one it could take a few days for it to be accepted. I think I will go ahead and just post it tonight and see what happens, if it is a quick acceptance, it will go out tomorrow. If it takes longer it will be towards end of the week or even next week.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Dog Days--#74 finished

A kind of good political book by Ana Marie Cox, originally from Lincoln, NE--the real reason I bought the book. Have to support my Nebraska writers. I will call it an alright read, parts funny, parts interesting and parts that drug on and others that just didn't seem very much at all. Some kind of tidbits about some behind the scenes stuff going on in DC, but even that wasn't all that interesting, at least to me.

I did enjoy the ending where Melanie takes the high road and gets out of town. Gives you some hope for her to where she might lead a more normal life. The life in DC was not good for her. I do have to say some of the characters were pretty good, the lady campaign manager, Skoloff or something like that, Heather the slut recruited the help out their blog problem were two that seemed to stand out.

I have already posted it on PBS, there are 4 books ahead of mine so there is going to be some kind of wait. I am not sure if Ana Marie Cox has a 2nd book out yet, if not whenever another does come out it will probably help this one to move, or maybe just another election cycle.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Running

Well, I got a couple runs in these last 2 days. First, on Thursday, Thanksgiving, I did a run at Creve Couer Park for the St Vincent DePaul at the parish the kids go to PSR. It was a 2 mile walk and a 3.4 mile run. My garmin said it was 3.3, so I think I will believe that. My time was 33:45 or something around there, very happy with my time. I think the average mile was around 10:09 which is very similar to the last two 5ks I ran. There were only 7 or 8 people that did the run portion and maybe 30 or so that did the walk. I came in last of the runners, there was a young boy that started the run but dropped at some point along the way. I did catch a college age girl toward the end but she re-caught me near the finish. I might have been able to punch a sprint in but thought she deserved to finish ahead of me--I am not a big fighter I guess. I have to give her some credit though in that with her in front of me, I did push myself that last mile in trying to catch her, that in itself was worth more than finishing in front or behind her.

Today, I was off work and it was a nice day out so I decided to get a long run in. I went to Forest Park and was going to just do a lap but after 4 miles decided to extend it 2 more miles for 8 total. I wasn't running all that great but I was trying to keep my pace up while running. I was trying to keep a pace below or just around 11 minutes a mile, to do this though meant that I was taking more walk breaks too. I averaged 12:05 for the 8 miles so like I said not very fast in total, I was happy with both the effort in run harder and the effort to go a little longer and do 8 miles. My right leg is a little sore tonight around the knee and just below it, I kind of felt it during the run but thought it was just muscle stuff. I still think it is just muscle stuff but probably won't even consider running tomorrow.

Monday, November 23, 2009

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas--#73 finished

A very good and moving read about two boys on opposite sides of a fence at a concentration camp in Poland during WWII. It is very sad in a way, especially the ending but also kind of hopeful in the sense that 2 children could get along so well without really knowing or understanding the what the adults were thinking. The Holocaust is one of those subjects that I know that I don't know enough about but I also know that it is just painful and emotional that makes it hard for me to learn more on. I really need to go to the local Holocaust museum here probably in the next couple of years with Rose when she is a little older and better able to understand and maybe not have nightmares about it. Of course the whole understanding part is the tough part, I don't think I will ever be able to understand the whys or hows of it happening. It forces one to look inside oneself to see how you would react in situations like that. Would you go along with the crowd, would you fight it and probably die trying, would you simply ignore it, those are uneasy questions. Obviously I like to think that I would not have stood for it but I also know that in a way I am blessed for never being put in that kind of situation.

I am glad that I have read this book and will enjoy posting it to mail for the next person as well. There are a couple of different versions of this book, this is the library binding so not as many WL for it, but it should still move kind of quickly.

Running Stuff

I haven't typed up anything about my running in a while now so here is something. I was able to get in 4 runs last week for around 18 miles in total. I think all but 1 of the miles was under 12 minutes too so seems my speed is improving some or at least my effort is improving some. Saturday I was able to do kind of a long run of 6 miles at Creve Couer Lake Park, that was nice, I do miss the long runs on weekends. Hopefully I can do one of my 7 or 8 mile routes from home again, I haven't done that route in months--maybe almost a year.

I did a nice 2 miles tonight, I would have liked another mile but had to drop something off afterward and Thomas didn't want to be at PSR so I was with him for a few minutes at the beginning. My legs felt stiff and of course I had a hard time breathing on that first mile, 2nd was better but then it was over.

Thursday, Thanksgiving, the parish where the kids go to PSR is having a run, 3.4 miles. I don't understand the distance other than it is at Creve Couer Park and I think that is the distance around the lake the shorter way. I am guessing the people putting it on are not normal racers, but I could be wrong. They are also have a 2 mile walk. The ads in the bulletin about it don't mention a price, just a donation hoped for--will have some cash & maybe grab a couple of canned goods since it is the St Vincent DePaul org putting it on. The weather is probably going to be cold and maybe rainy but it is only 3.4 so should be able to just get it done.

Still thinking about the Frostbite series and also about a marathon in the Spring. Hasn't gone beyond just thinking about both though at this point.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Suspension--#72 finished

It started out kind of slow and indifferent. I wasn't too interested in the story much at the beginning but once the main character Andy, was beaten up and the locked himself in his apartment, the story changed. Throw in it is New York and 9/11 happens and a minor character suddenly becomes a major character with a good back story and it really becomes fun. I was really impressed with this abrupt change in the story and all of the twists that seemed like a paranoid mind at work. The writer seemed to really take a chance with this because it was kind of confusing and certainly not the normal flow of a novel. It was enjoyable reading because it seemed as if it was being written by the seat of your pants.

The ending was okay, never really answered everything but you kind of have to go on the belief that things will work out at least for the main character. The minor or secondary characters left many unanswered questions that I wouldn't mind reading about in the future if a followup novel occurs. Of course it would be hard to duplicate or re-surprise the readers again in a followup.

Well, there is 1 person out there with this book on their WL so I will post it & see if it goes anywhere. The Louisiana Purchase was requested once the only WL person timed out. I am not sure how people find out about these, but there must be something on the system telling them of recently posted books of few copies or something like that. I obviously don't watch for that so no idea if that is the case or not.

I am reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Dog Days right now. I will probably look for a 3rd book tonight to get started on as well.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Books--PBS

Well, I am waiting for the 1 person that has The Louisiana Purchase on their WL. I am not expecting it to be accepted though since that person has no books posted and no other books on their WL. I am guessing just an inactive account so it will just time out & be waiting. I did get another book requested though, The Saffron Kitchen. This is one I recently finished but their were 2 or 3 books in front of it. Well, there are still 2 other books listed and I don't recognize the person requesting so it must be a book that is moving in and out right now. It is headed to Virginia.

I had to run by the library today to return some DVDs we had out and of course checked their for sale table. There really wasn't much there, maybe 20 MMB and some picked over HB books. I found a Harlan Coben book that is about 10 years old or so and since it is buy 1 get 1 free for $.25 per paperback, I picked up a romance novel. The title is Passion Untamed, A Feral Warriors novel, I am sorry but that is almost embarrassing, but I was hoping to move it. I saw that it was a newer book, 9/09 so hoped it would be on WL. It is on 77, so I have posted it and hope to mail with The Saffron Kitchen later this week. I am still stuck with To Seduce a Texan so I have my reminder that not all romance books are good to pickup but at least I will get to mail this one soon.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Louisiana Purchase--#71 finished

A very good and easy to read book about everything going on leading up to the sale & ratification of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon and France. I remember learning about some of this in school but no where near the details and the back and forth dealings and intrigue that was going on to get this done. I knew Napoleon was the leader of France at the time but wasn't really aware of his advisors like Tallyrand and others and the amount of influence they had or in fact how little influence they had. Also interesting that Napoleon made the sale to get money to invade Britain but through other circumstances that never happened.

This book also touched on the happenings on Santo Domingo, now a days Haiti and where the French army suffered many losses as well as eventual defeat and how this influenced France's decision to sell the Louisiana territory. I have ordered the first book in a 3 part series about the leader of the blacks on Santo Domingo, should be an interesting read--I already have the 3rd part. More to read but that is a good thing.

This book is on one person's WL so I will be posting it, will have to see if it is accepted or not. I hope if not it still shouldn't take long, but really don't know.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Venetian Betrayal--#70 finished

A good book, some action some good history and some leaps of faith stuff. Good read with interesting and even somewhat believable possibilities. I have a few of these Steve Berry books and figured this was a good one to read first. I think I jumped into the middle of a series or at least ones where the main character was introduced prior to this, because there were references back to other things. It didn't take away from the book, but it is sort of a pet peeve of mine when reading a book, oh well. Still a good read and does make me want to read some of those other books I have laying around.

It was about a unified Asian country of basically the foreign USSR Asian provinces that is now ruled by an elected tough woman. She is obsessed with Alexander the Great as well as going to war with neighboring countries. The Venetian guy is a corrupt scientist that found a cure for AIDS but has held it back until it would make him more money. Through in some US spies and various other characters and there you are. Some good stuff in here and some things that kind of make you scratch your head but not really so bad to take much away from the book. Overall a good read, I enjoyed it.

There were already 22 copies on the system so I knew it wouldn't be going anywhere soon, but figured if I get it read it will be in the pipeline for hopefully getting mailed off at some point in the future. I am right now reading The Louisiana Purchase and am looking to start one or two more in the next day or two.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Phi Beta Bimbo--#69 finished

Well another chic lit book, this one more romance though and another not very good book. Hot & Bothered and My 15 Minutes were the two that were decent to good. This one, Phi Beta Bimbo falls in line with The Spy with the Silver Lining and Au Pairs and probably Chasing Harry Winston falls here too. Now that I am looking at it, I am not sure why I am even reading this many chic lit books. I guess when I am at 69 books read for the year, I need to keep an expanded list of types of books I will read, but I expect far fewer of these next year and beyond.

Phi Beta Bimbo was really just not very good. I was almost insulted at times for how stupid and just basic lacking creativity this book showed. It has a catchy title and a somewhat interesting premise but that is about all it has going for it, the story, the dialogue and the characters are very two dimensional at best. This is just not a good book.

I have already posted it on PBS, there are somewhere around 60 other copies ahead of it. Not sure when or if it will move at all, but with the catchy title there is hope right. Will probably end up being a give away book at some point.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

The Rider--#68 finished

This is a short book written back in the late '70s by Tim Krabbe' a writer, chess player and a cyclist. I really enjoyed it with all of what is going through a cyclist's mind during a long road race. I enjoyed the back and forth between the competitors as well as within the rider himself. For a small book, only 148 pages, it packs a lot into it. If into cycling at all, I would think you would enjoy it. While I rarely ride my bike and never competitively, I do enjoy watching the Tour De France each year on TV. Of course Versus has been kicked off Direct TV for now so not sure if I will be watching it next year or not yet, still plenty of time for them to get it sorted out.

The Rider is on 2 WL & I have posted it just waiting for the first person to accept it. I also have that Bill O'Reilly book Culture Warrior to mail. It is going to Norfolk, NE, just down the road from where I grew up, about 45 minutes. That was the nearest big city with a mall and movie theaters when I was growing up. It will be my first book to NE also. Hopefully The Rider will be accepted so I can mail them together.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Saffron Kitchen--#67 finished

An interesting book, certainly not a page turner but one that makes you think and feel for the characters inside. The mother in the story, Maryam, had wanted a life outside of being married in Iran to a village type life. She wished for instead to study and become a nurse. She was also best friends with and maybe loved in a way Ali. Well circumstances forced her to spend the night with Ali at age 16, where once this became known in the closed society, it was a family scandal. Her father disowned her and forced her to move to Tehran where she eventually ended up in England. Ali was beaten to near death and was allowed to live in the primative village, their hometown.

The story is about how late in life Maryam's feelings that she lived with all her life about what her life would have been and with Ali are forced out and she decides to travel to Iran. She leaves behind her daughter, Sara, a nephew from one of Maryam's sisters that recently died and her husband. I think the book did a very good job at trying to get inside the heads and feelings of those left behind in a way that allowed the reader an understanding but didn't spell everything out either. It let the reader kind of understand the very complex feelings each person was having and the really not knowing Maryam as they thought they did as well.

Well Sara travels to Iran and stays with Maryam and meets Ali and does come to a kind of understanding of her mother. While there is still a part of her that seems to wish for a return to a happy family reconciliation with her mom & dad, she realizes that is not going to happen. Her mom will stay in Iran to live out her days while Sara returns to her life and to start her family. Like I said a good book that really allows the reader to feel some of the emotions and uncertainty the characters are experiencing. Not a great book and parts were tough to keep me interested to keep going but overall a good book.

It is not a WL book on PBS now, it was a month or so ago but a couple other copies are now on the system. Oh well, I expect it will move in the coming months, patience is certainly needed for a PBS account.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Sunday small recap

Well I did 26 for 21--didn't make 31 posts, but 26 is by far tops for this year.

I got a nice run in of 3 miles late Sunday at 12 per mile average. I forgot about daylight savings change so when I left I thought I had some daylight left but I didn't. No problems though just running in the dark. I was at a park so didn't have to worry about traffic issues.

Rams won a game, now 1-7. Good for the coach & team but that just makes getting the #1 overall a little less likely. Not a great win but team has been showing some improvement.

Fell asleep during the World Series & haven't looked it up to see who won last night.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Halloween

Here it is after midnight now on Halloween. Kids are all asleep. I think most had fun today. Rose & Angie went with their uncle & cousin to a pumpkin patch and had lunch and picked some apples. Thomas hung out with me today, hitting the library, the optical shop to have a pair of his glasses repaired, the hardware store--they gave him an extra pumpkin they had, to an oil change place, a park, and then a couple of grocery stores. Thomas didn't like trick or treating though. Not sure of the reason but it was the same thing last year, maybe need to try to do with a smaller group instead of all of his cousins, not sure. Rose & Angie were fine. Rose went with cousins to more places while Angie & Thomas helped hand out candy at home. A good day all in all.

Missing entries

I am running behind my 31 for 21 and have been pretty much from the start which I kind of expected anyway. No really big deal but I might try to get a few extra entries in today and maybe get close to 31 for the month. It is Saturday morning, Halloween, so it will be a busy day of doing stuff around the house & grocery shopping. Figured I would get this quick one in now & maybe get back here later too.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Seasons In Hell-The 1973-1975 Texas Rangers--#66 finished

I grew up as a Texas Rangers fan and have stayed a fan throughout the years, sometimes more of a follower than a fan but still my AL team at least. These years were prior to me following them though, I first started collecting baseball cards around 1978 so a lot of these players mentioned in the book have moved on. I still recognized their names though from other teams and just kind of being a baseball junkie.

The book itself is really very good, a lot of funny stuff and real characters of the game. The writer followed the team for those 3 years and had great insight and obviously connections to the players, manager and owners back then. Also the descriptions of the cities and especially the spring training site were very good. I really enjoyed this book and it is a keeper for me. In other words, I am not posting it on PBS even though there are a couple of people that have it on their WL. I am pretty sure I will be re-reading this book at some point, but it would be a keeper anyway just because it is about my Texas Rangers.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Parent Teacher Conferences

We had our parent/teacher conferences tonight. All is good with the kids & school. Rose is getting all As and teacher just loves her & the work she does. We had Thomas' IEP yesterday so this was just a little rehashing and a little about what we heard after we absorbed the IEP stuff. He is doing good and working hard, but he has his days where he is a challenge and/or just doesn't want to do much. I guess that is kind of typical in my mind except other kids might be better at hiding it. I guess I don't really want to go over all of that now, just don't feel like it--so I guess I know where he gets it.

Kind of fun though, I was going over geography with Rose beforehand and somehow got into that the US is involved in 2 wars right now. For some reason she said she didn't know this. I am sure she knew it on some level but I guess didn't know or hadn't heard it put that way. Anyway that eventually led to a discussion of WWII and the Holocaust and Hitler. After the parent teacher conferences, she asked to hear more about this so I talked for another 1/2 hour on it before it got past bedtime. Sounds like she wants to hear more still on it. It is fun when she takes an interest in something I like.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Books

I know it was just yesterday where I was saying I was going to slow down on ordering books from PBS & just kind of wait for things to happen. Well, that didn't last long. I did have an order come in for A Shadow in the City, this was a WL book that timed out twice and sat here for about a month. Then I checked the Book Bazaar, just to see if anything jumped out. Well a person was on there looking for a deal on Angels & Demons so I offered a 2 for 1 & it sounds like it is going to happen. Then I also found a 4 for 1 deal with a person who only had 40 books on their bookshelf but with some interesting ones, so I placed an order. What can I say, I certainly didn't slow down at all. Once the 2 for 1 order comes in that will be 3 packages to mail this week, probably best not to let my wife know. I think she is wondering about all of this.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

World Series

A world series of the Yankees and the Phillies, okay two very good teams so could be an exciting series. I am a little burned out on baseball right now, probably because I am a Yankee hater and really wanted to see them lose at some point. Yankees have home field advantage also, thanks to that stupid All Star game rule. I am sure I will watch some of these games but I doubt I will be glued to the TV watching them. I didn't want either of these teams really but now I guess I will have to cheer for the Phillies so that probably means the Yankees in 6.

The Legend of Bagger Vance--#65 finished

I wasn't really impressed with this. I sort of remember the movie, a Will Smith one, and liked it. The movie from what I recall was probably better. The book was good with the golf parts, really pretty interesting with Hagen and Jones and the stuff about the golf course itself. It was the mystical or god like person/entity of Bagger Vance that I didn't really understand and seemed to me to take away from what would have been a good story. I guess golf doesn't have that otherworldly feel to me so I see no connection with make Vance a timeless god like person who jumps into peoples lives and uses golf to him them live a better life. It makes no sense to me. It is really too bad because like I said the golf story was really very good.

I have already posted this book on my bookshelf. There are a hundred and something already in front of it but I will hold onto it for now to see if it moves in a few months or a year. I really have more than enough books right now and enough credits to cover any of my WL books that come up so I have no big desire to move books right now. If my account on PBS is quiet for a few weeks that will probably be for the best. I am reading The Saffron Kitchen that has 1 WL for it so that might be the next one I post. I do have to mail the T Boone Pickens book yet this week also.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Potty issues

I don't think I have mentioned it for some time but we are still dealing with potty training with Thomas. Today though he went #2 on the toilet after telling me he had to go and he told me early enough that his underwear was clean. This is a big day. It is only the 3rd time he has gone on the toilet. First being a year & half ago, an almost by accident one after he had already started going and had messed his underwear--long story on this one that maybe I will tell sometime or maybe already have & need to check back on this. About 1 week ago, Debbie got him on the toilet after he messed a little and he finished up there. This is his first real one though. We are so proud of him & have let him know it. Well getting ready to take him grocery shopping with me in a minute, he will basically get what ever he wants tonight. I have been waiting for this day for a very long time.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The First Billion is the Hardest--#64 finished

This is a book by T. Boone Pickens, who was most recently in the news during the last election cycle pushing for wind energy. Before that I really hadn't paid much attention to him. I am sure that I would have seen his name regarding his big donations to Oklahoma State for both athletics and academics as well as some of his corporate raider activities in the 1980s.

It started off interesting because I really had little knowledge of him. I was certainly impressed with much of what he has done in his lifetime. After a while though, reading page after page of his accomplishments, it really wore on me. That is fine, if I am 80 and have accomplished what he has, I am sure I would kick out a book about it as well. The end of the book talked a little more about energy independence and getting into wind technology. Before that much of the book talked about his commodity trading and corporate stuff that just wasn't really interesting to me. An okay read overall. I do want to follow wind technology more since reading it as well as alternate energy sources in general. I agree with much of his final chapters about how a true energy policy has to be formulated and pushed from the top down. I guess I wish the book had been 200 pages about these alternate energies and 50 pages about his life, but still a good read anyway.

I have posted it on PBS, I think it was on something like a dozen WL so it should be moving soon. I hope it gets accepted quick since I am just wrapping up the 2 earlier ones tonight to get into the mail Thursday.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Good Day

It has been a pretty good day. I was able to get into a class tomorrow that had been filled up. It is a kind of continuing education type thing for work. Normally the classes are only offered in evenings or weekends so you have to go on your own time. There were a couple of classes this week during the day, but were filled. I put myself on the wait list & got a call today that they could fit me in.

I ran 4.15 miles tonight while Rose was at VB practice. Was a little stiff after yesterday's run but all was good. I think it was around 12 minute per mile pace again.

Thomas went number 2 on the potty for Debbie today after school. I hope this is a kind of break through, but we will have to see. He was pretty excited and happy about it also.

The weather these last 2 days has been great. I think the afternoon highs in the 70s and the evenings in 60 or high 50s. After a few cold rainy weeks it is kind of nice to have some fall days again. I think rain is coming later this week though.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Fantasy Football

I just scored a big victory tonight with Tony Schiefler's TD reception. I beat the guy I was playing this week and won the week overall also. I really wasn't expecting this. Schieffler is my 2nd TE, I have Dustin Keller as my main starter, but after Keller was ignored last week with Braylon Edwards joining the Jets, I felt it was time to switch to Schieffler. I guess if I am going to start playing him I better learn how to spell his name also. Not sure yet if this week is going to put me in first place or 2nd place in the league, but doing much better so far than I had in recent years.

8 miles today

It was a beautiful day today. We were supposed to have Thomas' IEP, but his special school district coordinator is out sick. I had 1/2 a day off, the afternoon, so I instead went to Creve Coeur Lake for a run. I ran 8.1 miles, averaging a little more than 12 minute miles. It felt really good, and I felt good the rest of the day as well. Since tonight was also PSR, I didn't run. Just went to the library and read. I also picked up 4 books that are on WL too.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

The Lace Reader--#63 finished

The Lace Reader is kind of a confusing read. It is done purposely in that the main character, Towner, has a pretty screwed up life and it is mostly written in her perspective. I am still not too sure about everything that was going on, because for the longest time I believed Towner had a twin sister Lindsley, but at the end come to find Lindsley died at childbirth, so not too sure who all of those memories were really associated with. Like I said kind of confusing.

Overall, not too bad, some kind of interesting things done. I didn't really like the religious simpletons playing such an easy put down group that eventually became almost evil cult at the end. To me it was kind of a slam on religion but I guess it was more just that group and not all Christian religions. It did seem to make all the cool people in the book witches or "readers" of some sort. This was really more of a mild complaint that I noticed, it really didn't stop my enjoyment of the book. The confusing stuff is the bigger negative in my mind. Not that I don't mind being confused while reading the book, but to me it didn't really make sense in the end. Oh well, I still overall thought it was a good book, especially when I keep in mind it is the first book for the writer Brunoni Barry.

It is a book that has around 60 some WL for it so I should be able to post it & mail it off pretty easily. I might hold off on it & instead wait till I finish the Boone Pickens book & mail it with the Infidelity Pact saving the Lace Reader for the next mail out or not. I will decide later. Looking at a couple different books now, but no decisions have been made yet.

Trivia Nights

We did a trivia night tonight with friends. It was a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Foundation, I think that is the name. A very good organization and a disease that unfortunately with our(America's) lifestyle it is hitting more and more people. The trivia night was fun, our team came in like 4th out of 10 tables. It was a small trivia night, the first year it was put on so it will probably grow in the future. For a first time event, it was good, well organized and went pretty smoothly. Like what seems to be the theme for the trivia nights we have gone to lately, there is always 1 or 2 categories where we do terrible & that is what keeps us out of the lead or being close. Oh well. I am off to do some reading, I hope to finish The Lace Reader tonight so I might even have a 3rd blog today--do a little catching up.

Friday, October 16, 2009

The Infidelity Pact--#62 finished

Not a very exciting book. Just another kind of chic-lit romance lite book that is really just not that good. It has some good parts and some kind of funny parts and maybe a twist or two but overall just not that good. I won't, but I would guess if I look back on the others: Chasing Harry Winston, The Spy with the Silver Lining, The Au Pairs and there was probably another one in there somewhere, I probably typed about the same things. Story is so so, characters are so so or less, it was almost to the point where I wished the worst on each of them and everyone else involved in the story. Nothing really great here at all.

It is still on something like 24 WL at PBS so I will be posting it and mailing it off in the coming days, which is always a good thing. Still working at the other 2, The Lace Reader and the T. Boone Pickens book. I will be getting a 3rd book started but no idea at this point which one.

Runs Tues & Thurs

I know I have been missing my "daily" blogging so I am going to do this one right now & maybe a 2nd or more later tonight.

Tuesday I was able to get 5 miles in, I don't remember the pace but pretty sure it was under 12 minute pace. Then Thursday I was able to get 6 miles in. The first mile was slow around 13:35 but that included a bathroom stop so maybe a minute for that and then after that it was about 12 minute pace. The last 2 miles were at 11:42, the fastest of the night. It was cold and misty. All in all very happy with these runs. It puts me at 14 miles for the week so far. Not sure if I will get a run in Saturday or not yet.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Missed Monday too

Another missed day, oh well at this point it is just about doing my best. At least that is what I am saying today. Busy at work. It is raining again but at least it is not snow. Got a good run in tonight of 5 miles. Did a very slow 3 miles on Sunday. Kids didn't have PSR Monday, I guess the Columbus Day gave them the day off. Still plugging away at my books, no 4th book yet.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Sunday stuff

Just a few quick lines about some things.

--Yes I am still running behind on the 31 for 21 by a couple of posts. I will probably try to make these up, just not today.

--Ran 3 miles, pretty slow, but I have eaten too much last few days & it was very cold. When I started my run I wasn't sure I would do a mile and then I talked myself into 2 and then 3. So just glad I got it in.

--Today's run starts this week. Last week I ran 8 miles & week before it was 12 miles. Not too bad on the mileage I guess. Really only thing missing is no long run of 6+ miles on the weekends.

--Started reading T Boone Pickens book, The First Billion is the Hardest. He is the former gas & oil guy who has been pushing wind technology. It is time to get this book read since the numbers of WL is dropping also.

--Still working on The Lace Reader & The Infidelity Pact. All 3 books are WL books, this is probably a first for me. I might add a 4th yet, but probably not for another day or so.

--I have 27 credits now at PBS and 2 books mailed last week and 2 to be mailed. The credits are adding up, just waiting on some of my WL books to come in. I think my WL is now up to 39 but quite a few of these(at least a dozen), I am not expecting for at least a year.

--I won my fantasy football game this week, but it was really close to this point. I still have a couple of players going tomorrow so maybe I can to my total points, which also come into play in the standings as well. It is a little complicated how so I won't be providing an explanation on this today.

--From little I watched & heard of the Rams game, it seems they moved the ball, but turnovers really killed the game today. Oh well, this team needs talent and another high draft pick will be a good thing. I am guessing not too many more home games will be on TV, the blackout rule will probably come into affect.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

The Brethren--#61 finished

The Brethren is a Grisham book that was published in 2000, so a pre-9/11 book that talked about some interesting things. First off it is about 3 ex-judges that are now in a minimum security federal prison running a scam trying to snare in the closet men and extort money from them. One of the men they snare is a Congressman just before the CIA director talks him into running for President as a strong on defense candidate. The CIA director promises him money & basically the election.

The kind of interesting parts to me were, that the book was written as if Clinton was leaving office--surplus money, weakened army/defense, VP running, etc. It was somewhat enjoyable to think back to that time and be reminded throughout the book of what that election of 2000 was like and also some of what the mind set was then.

Also interesting in that this was basically a sex coverup and thinking of how many there have been of these in the last few years--Foley with the interns, Craig with wide stance, Stafford and Argentine mistress, NY governor with his mistress, New Jersey governor with his gay boyfriend and others that I am just not coming up with yet. Of course I have just remembered Edwards and Sessions too, wow it has been a lot it seems.

The Brethren is not one of Grisham's better works--the ending seemed a little to quick and the small surprises were just a sentence or two. The premise itself also seems unlikely, especially with the internet around back then also. Also the CIA director knew about everything going on in the world, but some how didn't find out about a secret mailbox the Congressman had rented in an assumed name. Not a bad book, but not really that good either.

I have posted it on PBS, but there are like 1800 copies on the system already so I am not expecting it to move. Maybe if I ever run a 2 for 1 or some kind of deal--that is how I got the book in the first place. I did get the person to accept my ex-library copy of The Boy of Good Breeding after I had already mailed 2 other books. But then I also had someone request the Brooke Shields book I had down so I will be mailing them early next week. That will get me up to 31 credits. I really need some of my WL books to come in. I am trying to stay away from the deals because I already have enough books here to read.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Eating too much

These last few days I have been eating too much. I think the same thing happened last Fall too. I know as I am eating that I shouldn't take as much as I do, but I don't stop myself. Maybe by putting it down in words here it will help me reflect on this & stop some of my over-eating. I need to lose some weight but I am not in terrible shape either. But losing 10+ pounds would probably help my running quite a bit as well.

Tonight was a rehearsal dinner, yesterday NE football and Wed was baseball. Throw in some free food this week at work and here I am typing up something on eating too much. Tomorrow is the wedding so that will probably be another day, but maybe after that I new me will emerge, at least on eating.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Missed a couple of days

I am just not getting the hang of this typing something up each day. I missed Tuesday & Wednesday now also. I guess in the grand scheme of things it is not a big deal since I don't think I have anyone following this blog anyway, so no real harm.

Tuesday was VB practice & I got my run in. It was a very good 5 miles. Not sure after that what I did at home, but I guess I didn't make it downstairs to the computer.

Wednesday I had a meeting at church and after getting home I stayed up and watched the Cardinal game. I eventually fell asleep on the couch and then woke up and went to bed.

Tonight was VB again but it was raining all day long so no run. I instead did some grocery shopping and then watched some of the VB practice. Once home watched the end of the Cards game and just now finished watching Nebraska beat Mizz. That was good.

Well, I am not worried that I am running behind. I may try to make them up later but not doing it tonight.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Ex-Library Books

I had to reject another WL offer because the person has requestor conditions stating among other things they do not want an ex-library book. I understand that they are free to have an RC, I just think it is unfortunate that they don't want my copy because in general my copies are in very good to almost excellent condition--excluding library stamps. Now if they want it as a keeper book and don't want the stamps okay but for just reading it is very good. Oh well. At least in the case of A Boy of Good Breeding, there is a 2nd person wanting the book so it now goes to them to request. Of course it is possible they will also have an RC, but will just have to see.

The Marcia Brady book is all accepted and just needs to be wrapped up and mailed. Just waiting to see if I can mail the two books at the same time or not--hopefully this next person won't take almost 2 days before deciding.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

a boy of good breeding--#60 finished

This was a quirky, good book. I noticed that I have been kind of attracted to these types of books, the Poe Ballantine and the Ivan Coyote among others. Books with normal type back grounds doing things in quirky manners, not the outlandish or action packed adventures. While I still like the adventure and other type books, these quirky character books are kind of fun. This one, A Boy of Good Breeding certainly qualifies. Set in a small town, or the smallest town in Canada--to be a town you have to have 1500 people and the mayor Hosea is obsessed with keeping his town right at 1500 throughout the book. Interesting people come and go and just kind of normal small town things going on. It is a fun book with characters that certainly come alive and grow somewhat, as much as possible in a 237 page book. I will probably be looking for other books by this author.

It is a book that is on 2 WL on PBS. It is different than others though because when I first bought the book, I don't think it was on any WL and then it even had a copy or two on the system for a while. It is kind of funny in that there has been some movement on the book. I find this really interesting about PBS. I also like passing along these small in number books to others who might enjoy them as well. Of course, it might end with the next person since it might be that person's keeper--kind of like me at the Poe Ballantine books, but I do sort of feel bad about this. Not bad enough yet to mail them on but bad enough that I still think about this once in a while.

Debbie had finished My Story by the original Marcia Brady and so I have posted it also. There were around 40 people still waiting for this book. I hope to get both mailed later this week, if all goes well. A Shadow in the City was on WL hold twice and timed out both times and is now just sitting there, I hope it moves also, but now it is a waiting game. I feel I probably have about 7-10 books of my 50 posted that should move in the next few months but will just have to see.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Missed on 2nd day

I just realized I missed on the 2nd day of the 31 for 21. I am looking at a calendar we got from MO Recycling and it shows Sept having 31 days, so I thought Saturday was the 2nd. Oh well, I guess that is what you get when you depend on something from the state.

Oh well, so I am doing a quick double post for Saturday. I don't think I had anything important to say yesterday that I missed out on either. I am struggling trying to think of something to type about and really nothing is coming up. I was almost asleep earlier so I would have been 2 days behind. I have a feeling, I will be doing these catchup double post things quite a bit this month. Well, I will try to come up with something interesting next time at least.

Buddy Walk--St Louis

Today, Saturday was the Down Syndrome Association's Buddy Walk here in St Louis. This is the one at the ballpark with the Cardinals. Last year because of my wife's tremendous fundraising Thomas was able to throw out the first pitch at the game. We had around 60 people there and it was just crazy. Also, Thomas wasn't on his medication for ADHD, so he was basically an emotional wreck. In the end he had fun or so he says and he remembers it, but it was a battle that day.

This year was much lower key. It was our family, with Debbie & Rose coming late because Rose had a VB game, Debbie's parents and a friend from work & his girlfriend. It was nice not having any pressure of making sure finding everyone, getting Thomas in the correct place and everything else. This year the only thing was it was cold. Our tickets ended up being behind home plate but at the very top row, so we had the wind all day long. We bundled up best we could and managed. It was good, too bad they didn't win but it was close enough to keep our attention at least. It was a good time.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

31 for 21

October has been the month of 31 for 21, a kind of blogger movement to increase Down Syndrome Awareness. The idea is that you will try to post 31 times or once a day for the month of October. I am not too sure about everything on this. I know I tried/did this last year but most days were just about the regular day, not much Down Syndrome talk here. I might try to increase that this time around but will just have to see.

Last year I know I didn't make a post every day so I doubled up a few days to make up so I think I had at least 31 postings during October. I will probably try that again this year. It should be a good exercise to help me expand beyond what I normally type about--books reading & running. Well it is time, actually past time to get the kids in bed so let me go fight the good fight. I might be back and try to post something else later tonight also.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Can't sleep

I got woken up around 3am and wasn't able to go back to sleep so here I am at 4am typing something up. That happens I guess. Well Monday was PSR night so I dropped off the kids and hit the library nearby to check on the for sale books, found 3, none on a WL but still should be good reads. Then I went for a quick 2 mile run at the nearby park. Both miles were around 11:30, so pretty happy with that.

Right now I am reading A Boy of Good Breeding by Miriam Toews, a quirky book based in a small town in Canada. Just under 50 pages read and so far so good, not a real page turner but still kind of interesting. Also reading The Brethren by John Grisham, so far a kind of typical Grisham book in a good way. Easy to read and keeps you interested. Kind of funny though that it was written pre 9/11 and some of the political stuff so far seems ahead of its time, will have to see as I get into it more--only 120 pages in. Finally just started The Lace Reader by Brunonia Berry about women that can read lace and see the future or something along those lines. Just started so who knows what I have here.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

The Ride of a Lifetime--#59 finished

Wow, 59 books read so far this year, that still just shocks me when I see it and actually take a minute to realize what that means. Oh well, I won't type all that up now since it is still Sept & who knows what the final end of the year number will be, I am sure I will wax poetic on it more then.

The Ride of a Lifetime was a book I almost didn't read, it is about the Orange County Choppers that also has a TV show about making Choppers--customized motorcycles. I watched very little of these shows and what I saw was a bunch of arguing by guys with a lot of tattoos. The final end product bikes were neat looking but since I am not a bike guy, I didn't spend much time watching this show. I picked up the book thinking I would just mail it off since it is a very new book, only published in Spring of '09. I eventually though gave in and decided to read it. On page 34, there is one sentenced underlined which makes in unpostable on PBS so it will have to send it with another book to make it go away, oh well that happens.

Kind of funny though because I almost didn't read it and probably would have never caught that underlining, of course the next person that got the book would have been stuck with it or moved it when they shouldn't so ethically it all worked out.

As far as the book itself, not earthshattering and really nothing special at all in the book. It was kind of about his life, but the real focus was on giving advice to business owners based off his life experiences. I really didn't care for this book much at all. His advice that he repeated about a thousand times throughout the book as be passionate about what you do, hire good people, don't sell out and plenty of other cliches that are basically common sense. I would have enjoyed a biography more, his advice was just not very interesting. So why did I keep reading it, well it was only 173 pages and had short chapters and even inside the chapters had short segments. In other words it was a pretty easy read, easy to put down and pickup while doing other things. Unless you are a fan of the show, I don't think you will enjoy this book much. Now it does have some nice photos in the middle of the bikes they made, some are pretty cool so I guess there is that too.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

A Shadow in the City--#58 finished

This was an unusual book, hard to follow and really hard to understand. It is supposed to be a true story of an undercover drug detective. It talks about deals and arrests but it is put together in a piecemeal type way that makes it hard to follow. Real details seem to be missing. It is almost like you, the reader, are supposed to get an emotional feeling from the reading instead of just a more straight forward understanding like from a normal book. I am not sure about this one. At times I liked it and it seemed to make a lot of sense, but other times it just seemed to fragmented and almost not worth the effort. I guess overall, I would have to say I didn't really like it.

There were some interesting parts, like talking about Viktor Frankl and his book Man's Search For Meaning--a book written about his time in WWII concentration camps. The cop questioning the whole bureaucracy of the drug war and how the drug dealers are harder working and had more in common with the undercover detective. Overall though it was not my cup of tea.

It is one 1 person's WL on PBS. I have already posted it, will have to see if it is accepted though. If not I would think it would move at some point.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Running

I had about a week off from running again. I need to stop that and keep on 2 to 3 or even 4 times a week, but just can't seem to make that happen. I ran Tuesday at the little track at the community center, 11 laps to a mile. I put in 3 miles that night. Tonight, Thursday, I ran 5 miles at a park.

Tuesday's run was somewhere around 13 minute miles, can't really use the Garmin indoors, at least I don't use it then. Thursday was around 12 minute miles until the last one which was just under 13, so pretty happy with that. The park is flat so I really should get out and do some hills but figure just getting the runs in is probably more important at this point.

I can't remember what we have going on this weekend, but it seems like there is a lot of stuff so not sure yet if I will be able to get a weekend run in or not.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Culture Warrior--#57 finished

This is one of Bill O'Reilly's books. Not too bad since I am pretty conservative, many of the things he talked about kind of fit with my beliefs. His dividing the two sides into a Traditionalist vs Secular Progressives was kind of uncomfortable to get used to throughout the book. I am not sure if that is an accurate way to divide things up, but O'Reilly went into his reasons and made his argument.

Overall kind of good but there were some problems that I saw. He kept mentioning how he has been attacked and he certainly has, but that is really part of his business. While he mentions this also, I think he was playing this up too much. Also, I believe that he does take on issues for their possible ratings boost, not just because he believes he is fighting a "cultural war". Let's face it, even if you completely agree with him, you still have to admit that the ratings are his real barometer on how is is doing.

I have posted it on PBS, there were already 6 other copies, but I am the optimistic sort so I am hoping they move kind of quickly. Maybe a month or so I this one could be getting mailed out.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

A Perfect Evil--#56 finished

I really enjoyed this book and it had enough twists & turns to keep the reader guessing throughout. It is about a murder investigation in Platte City, NE where a good looking FBI agent with a haunting past comes in to help the local sheriff, who is a good looking playboy. So maybe not great literature but a good read. This is book one in a series and I have book two somewhere around here also.

I actually found book 2 first at a library sale so ordered book 1 through a PBS deal. The NE connection made it an easy reason to get and the author being from NE is also kind of nice. I have posted this first book and I think there are like 40 some copies already on the system so probably won't be moving anytime soon but that is alright too.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Hot and Bothered--#55 finished

Surprisingly this was actually a pretty good book. I enjoyed the characters and liked the funny descriptions of how the lead character sees things. It is a story about a divorced woman trying to get her life together while raising her 2 kids. Her ex is still in the picture and takes his turns with the kids, so as a dad not so bad, but as a husband he failed cheating on her for several years before the marriage was ended. She does not really know who she is or what she should be doing with herself. A situation that seems to be common I would think, but unlike most women, she has her ex paying alimony so money is never a problem in the book.

Again though this book has some serious working through the problem type things going on, but mostly this is light-hearted kind of fun book to read. It has a happy ending and even her kids seem to turn around and like her too. I guess that ending is a little fluffy but was expected. A good read and certainly the best of any of these so called "romance" or "womens" type books I have read this year.

There were already a couple of copies on PBS so it is now on my Posted List, I would guess a couple of months or so. It should move since like I said it is a good clever book.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Climate of Fear--#54 finished

This book was actually a series of lectures by Wole Soyinka and it basically reads like a series of college lectures. Kind of dry and unexciting, but of course it is talking about terrorism both state sponsored and quasi-state terrorism. I really had a hard time concentrating while reading this book. It was unusual for me it seems, that the author mentioned very few names, it was almost like the listeners should have already known many of his stances so naming names wasn't necessary.

He made some very good points regarding a person's dignity and how that kind of ties into the whole terrorism idea. Also in the last chapter talked about fanatics mostly religious that were the most dangerous terrorists today. Again though, he mostly talked in general with little mention of individuals or groups acting today.

This book is a very short read, only 142 pages so it didn't take that long but I don't really think it was worth the time it took me to read anyway. Maybe in a lecture setting it would sound much better but just reading it left much to be desired for me. It is a PBS WL book, but only on 1 WL. That means there is a very good chance it will not be moving anywhere anytime soon if this 1 person out there doesn't want it. Of course it will also be the only copy in the system so maybe it would move eventually. Still waiting on Stolen Innocence to be accepted, 1 more day to wait for this person before it moves to the next.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Stolen Innocence--#53 finished

This book is about the FLDS, the fundamentalist Morman sect that still believes in plural marriage with most or at least many members living on compounds. It is a moving and very hard to comprehend book. I am still basically shocked to have read how these people let themselves be controlled by a few heads or one prophet. The brainwashing that goes on should be a crime in itself. I really cannot understand why there wouldn't be some kind of revolt, but I guess these are people raised from early on to only be thinking about the afterlife and not what this life is about. It is a really sad story, but also uplifting in the sense the author and many in her immediate family were able to get out.

I am still having a hard time understanding how the author's parents got involved in this whole thing, they were practicing Mormans and one of their sets of parents looked into the FLDS and that is what caused them to do so also. I just don't understand how a person with a college degree like their dad was able to be suckered into this organization and stay in it for the rest of his life especially watching all of the bat-shit crazy stuff going on. I just cannot comprehend that. I kind of understand those that are 3rd, 4th, 5th etc, generations of people involved in this, they don't know any other life and are brainwashed into thinking everything outside of FLDS is evil. I just don't understand how someone could join up unless they were sick people looking for plural marriages or underage girls or something along those lines.

It is certainly a moving book or maybe more like shocking in that I just cannot understand the mind sets in the book. I am glad that I am passing it on because more should know about what the reality is within this movement. I remember the news of the raid in Texas, same group FLDS. I also remember being somewhat sympathetic to them because it is their life to live, but now I see it is a brainwashed cult and the leaders deserve no sympathy. Maybe the individuals, like women and children but certainly not the leaders. I will be sure to follow this group in the future.

This is a WL book and I have already posted it, just waiting for it to be accepted. I have also received a request for the Johnny Cash book I had just finished reading too so I will be mailing some books out this week.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Run Thursday & Reading Update

Well, it was over a week but I finally got a run in--does this sentence even make sense, oh well. On Thursday Rose had VB practice and I was able to go to the nearby park to run. I did 5 laps which made a total of 4 miles. My times were pretty consistant as well, I think they were 12:23, 12:22, 12:11 and 12:33. I am very happy with these times. With a 3 day weekend now, I hope to get 2 runs in at least.

Crows Over the Wheatfield timed out on the first person's WL so it went to the 2nd person who immediately accepted it. That person is in Hawaii, my first book going to that state, kind of exciting in a nerdy mapy PBS sense. It was mailed with 2 others books. Once all delivered I will be up to 25 credits. I don't really want to order more books though because I already have so many that I need to read but I will still probably check out the Book Bazaar for deals anyway.

I am still reading Stolen Innocence, a book about a girl raised as a FLDS--the Morman sect that still believes in plural marriages & was forced to marry at age 14. So far this book just makes you sick in the brainwashing going on and you just want to slap the adults until some sense kicks in.

Also reading Climate of Fear a book that is actually published lectures of Wole Soyinka about basically terrorists and other governmental and as he says quasi governmental groups acting in the world. Kind of interesting but also pretty dry, but making my way through it.

Finally I am also reading Hot and Bothered, a kind of funny romantic type of thing. It is one of those books that I am keeping in the basement, don't really want to take upstairs and have everyone see that I am reading it, again kind of embarrassing. So far, and I am only 70 some pages in, it is a much more clever and actually funny book than the other romantic type books I have read earlier this year. I will have to see if this continues through to the end though.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Crows Over the Wheatfield--#52 finished

This is a very good book about an Art Historian who on the way home from work strikes & kills a teenager on a skate board that darts out in front of her. The author goes between her current life and the life of Van Gogh who she is researching for a book particularly the last few months of his life before he commits suicide. Claire the art historian, is also separated from her husband Richard, but because of this accident he has to return to her life. While everything is going on, their relationship is in the background redeveloping to where there is a renewal for them.

While it is a shorter book, only 278 pages, it is also complex in that several things are being touched on. I also really enjoyed that it is a realistic type book, no where did it get the sense of something just sort of being thrown out there, well maybe some of her Van Gogh research stuff but as far as characters go, very realistic. I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, I had been meaning to read it because it was on a couple of WL, but didn't know much about the book. Adam Braver is an author that I will have to try to remember and check out some of his other books as well.

I have posted it for WL on PBS and now just waiting for it to be accepted. I already have 2 other books to mail out this week so figured might as well add a 3rd.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Johnny Cash--#51 finished

This is Johnny Cash's autobiography. I saw his movie, Walk the Line and both myself & Debbie really liked it. We have been listening to a CD of his for several years now also. I have also caught some old TV footage of his Folsom Prison Blues and other concerts. I really enjoyed reading this book also, lots of insights into his life. While the movie was very good and entertaining, a movie will never come close to providing all the information a book does. Johnny Cash certainly lived an interesting life and while this book doesn't attempt to answer everything about his life, it gives the reader an idea of his remarkable life.

Things the movie didn't get into that I really liked was the different houses he owns. Also the whole timeline of how things happened seems like the movie took a few liberties there. The connections to the many people in country music and music in general also. Of course the movie basically ended in the late 1960s so some of this just couldn't be covered.

Like I said I really enjoyed this book. I have posted it on PBS. Right now there are a couple of other copies on the system but it seems like this book has been moving some so it might be getting mailed in a few months or could be longer but I expect it to move at some point.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Wrong on Race--#50 finished

Bruce Bartlett a former advisor to Reagan and the first George Bush wrote Wrong on Race to show the racist history of the Democratic Party. It is a very interesting read and introduces quite a few political characters that I had not heard of previously. I thought the book was very effective at showing the Democratic Party's history of slave owners to KKK to Jim Crow laws to plan old white supremacists through time. The book though was weak on explaining why blacks now favor the Democratic Party, when was the real break and why.

I remember one sentence to the effect of Goldwater was against the Civil Rights Act for political reasons, but really it seems that from that point onward the Republican Party had little support from black voters. Was Goldwater's position and LBJ's Great Society together enough to make Republicans also rans in attempting to get black voters. Bartlett also mentioned though that the Republicans took black voters for granted to some degree and didn't push for legislation that they favored. This contradicts his earlier credit he gave Ike for his Civil Rights bills and for several attempts at anti-lynching bills that were filibustered under FDR and earlier presidents.

So overall a good and interesting read especially with the very racist characters that played a pretty large part in our country's politics. Not so great about explaining todays issues and concerns and the whys of black voters. Also the elephant in the room is there is no mention of Barak Obama, not that there really would have been with the book being published in Jan of '08, Obama was at time being written just a candidate who was lagging behind Hillary Clinton. It is unfortunate though because I think the election of Obama changes or would certainly influence the conclusions Bartlett has at the end of the book. I guess I should look to see what else he has written lately to see if anything of this most recent election has been addressed elsewhere.

This is a WL book on PBS by only 3 people but it has been steady at 3 for quite some time. I wanted to get it read so it could get mailed while it was still on some WL. I guess I should also mention that this is my 50th book read so far this year. As I have mentioned earlier it really is shocking to me that I have finished so many books already. Again credit goes in large part to reading several(2, 3 or even 4) books at one time, instead of as in past plodding along with only 1 book at a time. I really don't know what that end number will be for this year, but I will just keep at it.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

2 Things Today

Just a couple of things today.

First, I did get a run in today of 4 miles. First mile around 11:55, then 12:44 & 12:44 and finally a 12:12. So actually pretty happy with those times considering my running has only been spotty. Was only thinking about doing 2 or 3 miles but extended myself to 4 so all is good.

Second, a library near me had a book sale going on today. I ended up bringing home around 22 books for $11. Even though I know they want to sell these and make room for others, it still feels almost like stealing some of these. Not all 22 are on WL but about 1/2 are and several more only have one or two copies on the system so I should be able to move the majority at some point.

Child 44--#49 finished

A very good & interesting book. It is about a serial killer in the old USSR in the years after WWII under Stalin. How the killer acted without anyone knowing since local officials solved the cases ASAP so they would not been looked at too closely even if the wrong person was convicted. Also some good insights on just the insanity of the time for the people there, it really was a scary time and place to be.

The main character Leo went through several obstacles and setbacks in his life & investigation of these murders but also received some revelations that let the reader believe he will lead a better life. The turn at the end was it was actually Leo's brother that was committing the murders as a way to bring his brother back to him. The brothers were separated during a time when everyone was starving, Leo was kidnapped for food but ended up replacing the child the other family was trying to save. Leo was raised by this new family and became a star of the USSR in WWII and afterwards in the Secret Police.

Andrei, the brother left behind, was clumsy and could hardly see. His mother blamed him for his brother leaving them, Pavel(Leo's real name) was his mothers favorite. Eventually Andrei somehow survived the winter and received glasses so he wasn't the clumsy kid of youth. He obviously had several issues and turned to killing kids and butchering them as a way to lure his brother in. Not sure that I really believe this, but since Andrei was in a very real sense insane, I guess I can see how he might have believed this.

Like I said a good book and very interesting stuff going along with the main story line as well. It is a WL book on PBS so I should be mailing it off in the next few days as well.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Birthday, yesterday

Yesterday was my birthday, 40. It is kind of funny because I still think it is not that big of a deal but it does make you reflect a little. I think I am in the ballpark at least of 1/2 done, in other words 80 is probably pretty close to my ending age if I even get that far. So half of my life is lived. Also my thoughts were on how I don't really feel older, I still stay up too late, but get to work and function the next day. I still eat too much of stuff I shouldn't but have cut down on the fatty fast foods a lot also. I guess I don't know, I don't see where this birthday is really any different than the last few that I have had but I guess they are adding up.

We went out to eat last night to a decent little restaurant that advertised kids eat free on Tues & Wed. I kind of figured this encourages families and would also discourage those that don't want to be around families. It was a busy night at the restaurant so it took quite a while to get our orders in and wait for the food. The kids of course were okay at the beginning but got worse over time.

Once the food got there the worst happened, Angie touched something hot that Debbie had and Angie screamed for 30-45 seconds. Not too good inside a small restaurant. Thomas was making noise throughout the night, we are kind of used to his background noise but come to think of it later, the other diners probably were not. Oh well, it was a good attempt and the food was good. It will be sometime before that is attempted again and probably not at that restaurant, will need to find something a little more open maybe, who knows but more thought will have to go into it.

3.5 miles

Well I got a run in tonight. It was while Rose had VB practice. I found a park & did a few laps with quite a few other people. It was around the parking lot/drive in the park, there wasn't a path just for runners/walkers/bikers, oh well like I said there were quite a few others there also. It was an okay run, something like 13:05 first mile, 12:48 2nd mile, 11:50 3rd mile and around 12:30 for the last 1/2 mile. Nothing great but since I hadn't done anything since Saturday I will take it.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Running Update

Just a quick note on my running. Since I was sick, I took some extra time off from running. I did finally get a run in last Thursday. I went to my normal park, Woodson Park and it was full, both fields in use and the tennis courts all being used--probably by a high school team. So I drove to another nearby park, Fogerty Park in U-City and ran there. I thought I would only do 2 miles with mostly walking, but I actually did 3.25 miles at all under 12 minute pace. I was really surprised about this. There are a couple of slight hills, more than Woodson Park so that is also to the good.

On Saturday, I went to Creve Coeur Park and did the shorter route of 4 miles. I went around 1:30 in the afternoon when it was very hot. The first 2 miles were good, the 2nd two miles were much slower with a water break on one of them. Still glad that I got the 4 miles in though.

Not sure when this week I will get a run in. Wednesday is my 40th birthday, no real plans but probably something going on so no run expected. Tuesday Rose has VB practice and there is a meeting at school. Thursday is probably VB practice again so who really knows yet.

PopCo--#48 finished

This is a really good and interesting read. I really liked the way the author, Scarlett Thomas bounced back and forth between Alice's(the main character) current life and her life growing up. There was mystery or at least not normal happenings running with both story lines. I especially enjoyed her growing up time and the pressures and attempts to fit in that she really struggled with, it really added much depth to the character. The end got a little preachy with a kind of anti-capitalist rant but not enough to keep the book from being enjoyable overall.

I have another Scarlett Thomas book in my stacks of books, The End of Mr Y. I will be looking at getting this book read much sooner since finishing PopCo, Scarlett Thomas will be a writer I will try to follow.

The book is on WL at PBS but is a little rough in condition, I think it is still fine to post, but hopefully it won't go to someone too picky. I am still reading Child 44 and Wrong on Race and will probably add a 3rd book tonight as well.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Dirty Jokes and Beer--#47 finished

This is Drew Carey's book, not too bad. Some funny parts and some kind of shocking parts--being molested at age 9 being the biggest. Also he finished the book off with 4 of his own short stories, 2 or 3 of them became episodes of his shows or at least parts of them. For a quick read, not too bad. It kind of makes me wonder though why I can't find his show in syndication now though, I really did like his show. I know the last year or two weren't good in that ABC was almost trying to kill it off so I don't know if that has something to do with why it can't be found now. Of course it is also 8-10 years old so maybe it is just timeliness too.

I am still working on PopCo, I am somewhere past 200 pages so still have a ways to go, 500 pages in total. I am not sure what my next book is going to be, I had 3 picked out a few days ago so will probably look them over and try to decide tonight. This Drew Carey book is one that I got from PBS & I have already posted it but there are something like 60 others already ahead of it in line so I doubt it is going anywhere soon.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

What Next--#46 finished

This book written by Walter Mosley was supposed to be a kind of conversation starter about how to achieve peace in this world from a black perspective. I found the book to be way to simplistic and frankly naive in it ideas and thoughts. He comes out blaming US corporate interests as the real power behind the US government and the cause for most of the problems in the world. He wants a brand of democracy removed from capitalism, don't know what this is, but sounds like socialism of some sort. Rarely mentioned are dictators and oppressive leaders of these foreign nations.

I was actually expecting a Bush bash book, but this book is not that. I can tell from the tone of the book that he is not a fan of Bush, but Bush is rarely mentioned. As I was finishing it, I checked Amazon for reviews and most reviews were positive and I am not sure why. This book has huge gaps reality and scanty understanding of the world. I am actually surprised the book was even published in the first place. Oh well, I guess I see things differently.

There was already one copy in PBS, but my copy is now out there as well. It might move eventually or I might get tired of looking at it & send it off somewhere else. Right now reading PopCo, was also reading Late Night Talking but have gotten 25 pages in and cannot stand to read anymore. Late Night Talking is also now on my PBS bookshelf.

Sick

Wednesday morning I woke up sick, as in throwing up sick. The throwing up part ended a few hours later and now it is recovery stuff. It is just taking too long. I am stiff & sore and don't really feel like eating anything. I missed work Wed & only went in for 3 hours today. Tomorrow I was supposed to leave work a little early & drive to NE to pick up Rose who has spent the week on the farm. I hope a good nights sleep and all will be better or at least good enough to get me through this weekend.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

D is for Deadbeat--#45 finished

This is another Kinsey Millhone book. It is a good read, like all of these books that I have read so far. I have not read these in any kind of order and it has sometimes been a few years between the books as well so I might be missing some things in an overall storyline but each book by itself seems to stand well on its own. This being one of the earlier books, obviously, the secondary or returning/recurring characters are few compared to the later books I have read. I did a quick glance through my Books Read lists & don't see where I have read her A, B or C books yet. Probably should go back and read them. I know I have a few others sitting on my shelves right now also.

Like I said earlier, or wanted to, it is a good read. A good mystery with good step by step detective work being done. I think I probably need to get my hands on those earlier books and then try to introduce this series to my wife, I think she might enjoy it.

I don't think my copy is going to get posted on PBS, the cover is a little rough. Might put it as an unpostable or just hold onto to see if Debbie interested or for the free table at the school booksale this Fall. I just got a request for 2 books on my Posted list, this will take me to 22 or 23 credits. My WL is really not moving much at all but since I already have a ton of books to read, I am not looking to add more to it right now. I might start looking in the Book Bazaar for a deal to use a credit or two but that is probably it for now.

I started reading Popco but only around 40 pages into the 500 page book--long way to go. Not sure yet what my 2nd book will be, have a couple looking at and might start a 3rd book as well.

Monday, July 27, 2009

The Tourists--#44 finished

This was a really different kind of book for me. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not when I started reading it. It has a lot of themes that I am not really interested in for the most part, Ivy league, gay relationships, east coast or specifically New York and the narrator is unnamed, are the major ones. It took a while for me to really get into the book. It wasn't the easiest book to enjoy especially early on and the characters certainly were people I was sympathetic to either.

A lot of sleeping around and screwing over supposed friends in this book make it tough to really care about any of the characters. I think this was actually what the author wanted though, the unnamed narrator is the only kind of sympathetic character but he seems to be there just to be run over by one of the other characters. I did come to enjoy the book though, the story and the back and forth chapters made it a good read, which actually surprises me because as I said earlier I hadn't expected to like this book once I figured out what it was about.

It is on 1 person's WL over at PBS so I will get it posted but will have to see if it gets accepted or not. I figure it will move eventually because like I said it is a good book.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

The Woman Who Knew Gandhi--#43 finished

This book was not what I thought it would be. I imagined I would learn more about Gandhi's life but was instead treated to the life of a 73 year old British woman and her relationships. It was still a good book. I liked that it was a reflective book in that the woman and her husband both in their 70s had to come to grips with her long distance relationship with Gandhi. It was interesting to see how even after spending 50 some years married that they struggled to communicate and really express their feelings to one another. Also how their children really didn't know how to react to everything going on as well.

Good characters, interesting time(few years after WWII) and overall just a good story. It was a good read. There is only 1 other copy on PBS so I have already posted it and hope it should go in the next few months but who knows. It was published in 2003 so not exactly a newer book though.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Need a post

It has been a while since I posted anything & I need to post something to keep up my at least 10 posts a month. So this is probably a good time to just rattle off some stuff so here it is:

--Running--not much. Two weeks ago I ran on Sunday & Monday and felt sick afterward with chills & stuff. I took a week off and ran on Monday afterwork. It was really pretty terrible, but I just wanted to get something in. Well I haven't run since then. I need to get something in this weekend if possible.

--Reading. I am working on 2 books and just starting a 3rd. I am reading The Woman Who Knew Gandhi, farthest along with it. Not what I expected at all but still not bad. Also reading The Tourists, which I am having a hard time getting into. I am 100 pages in & it is 320 some pages long so a long way to go, will keep at it. Just barely started reading D is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton another one of those Kinsey Millhone mysteries/detective stories--good light reading.

--Wife is having a garage sale tomorrow. Wow how I hate these things. I am really hoping for rain & that she does it some Saturday where I already have plans to be gone.

I know that I am pretty boring about not opening up and talking much on other topics or feelings, etc, but I guess that is the way it is for now. But I guess since no one is really reading this except myself what does it really matter anyway.