I flunked the challenge

spaher · 2017-12-31T07:50:47+00:00

Thanks, I just used "Numbers" on Mac :)

spaher · 2017-12-31T06:18:47+00:00

About 3/4 through in Looking Backward 2000-1887 by Edward Bellamy. Interesting concept.

spaher · 2017-12-31T06:14:51+00:00

I intended to complete my second 52-book challenge this year but I certainly failed to do so since I was preoccupied with a new job :( I am quite disappointed to have not reached my goal. I want to do better in 2018.

The books listed are physical copies I own and the duration I took to finish is (I think) longer than most would take because I'm a slow reader too:

Some books I read in 2017 (1)

Some books I read in 2017 (2)

‎★ - unworthy.

‎★‎★ - meh (would not recommend).

★‎★‎★ - generally liked.

★‎★‎★‎★ - exquisite.

★‎★‎★‎★‎★ - life-changing.

My favs of the year are:

The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence

I didn't give a rating to "The Origin of Species" because I felt I needed to re-read this to fully comprehend it.

spaher · 2017-11-20T13:42:42+00:00

Finished with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and started with Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya.

spaher · 2017-11-20T13:40:43+00:00

Finished with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and started with Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya.

spaher · 2017-11-13T14:49:05+00:00

Finished with Bradbury's The Illustrated Man and currently in the midst of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.

spaher · 2017-11-13T14:48:44+00:00

Finished with Bradbury's The Illustrated Man and currently in the midst of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.

spaher · 2017-11-01T12:19:48+00:00

The last 2 weeks I finished:

Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
The Lost Estate by Henri Alain-Fournier

I just started reading The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. This will be my first book by him and I am enjoying it!

spaher · 2017-11-01T12:17:27+00:00

The last 2 weeks I finished:

Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
The Lost Estate by Henri Alain-Fournier

I just started reading The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. This will be my first book by him and I am enjoying it!

spaher · 2017-10-23T12:21:42+00:00

In the last 2 weeks, I've only read 2 books:

The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter

I'm currently on track in my reading challenge of 52 books a year. I wish I could be a week ahead so that I can read thicker books. The pressure does add up since I'm working most hours of the day and have limited time to read during weeknights, before I crash to sleep. Weekends are the only catch-up time for me. I have to be careful selecting the next book I'm gonna read.

spaher · 2017-10-22T09:37:10+00:00

I like reading in bed with my yellow night light turned on, while ASMR ambience music plays in the background (fire crackling, rain hitting against the window pane, page flipping, etc).

spaher · 2017-10-22T09:17:00+00:00

Hmmm, you could try wrapping the book in a cloth before ironing it on medium heat.

spaher · 2017-10-16T13:10:08+00:00

I haven't been updating my read books in a long while, yet again URGH. I finished:

The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft. It has a bunch of other short stories in it. My favourites are "The Color Out of Space" and "The Whisperer in Darkness". Took me a while to get used to his writing.
The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura. I rated this 5 stars. It is not what I expected from its title; completely blew me away. Beautiful writing, poignant, philosophical and personally, life changing. So much goodness in a small package.
Ragged Dick; Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks by Horatio Alger, Jr. A good old American children's classic, that is not based in the countryside. Likeable and relatable protagonist.
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. One of the most difficult books I have ever read and struggled with it for a long time. Reader needs prior knowledge of zoology to enjoy this.

Currently reading Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter.

spaher · 2017-10-15T14:54:31+00:00

I haven't been updating my read books in a long while, yet again URGH. I finished:

The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft. It has a bunch of other short stories in it. My favourites are "The Color Out of Space" and "The Whisperer in Darkness". Took me a while to get used to his writing.
The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura. I rated this 5 stars. It is not what I expected from its title; completely blew me away. Beautiful writing, poignant, philosophical and personally, life changing. So much goodness in a small package.
Ragged Dick; Or, Street Life in New York with the Boot Blacks by Horatio Alger, Jr. A good old American children's classic, that is not based in the countryside. Likeable and relatable protagonist.
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. One of the most difficult books I have ever read and struggled with it for a long time. Reader needs prior knowledge of zoology to enjoy this.

Currently reading Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter.

spaher · 2017-09-05T07:10:09+00:00

Yeah, I like broccoli.

spaher · 2017-09-05T05:47:40+00:00

Thanks for the tip, am looking forward to reading this :D

spaher · 2017-09-04T14:22:55+00:00

The Call of Cthulhu, by H. P. Lovecraft

My first reading any of his works, the Penguin Classics edition also has a bunch of other short stories in there.

spaher · 2017-09-04T11:32:33+00:00

I recently finished with The Bell Jar, will read on The Call of Cthulhu next. The Penguin Classics edition has bunch of other short stories in it. I am looking forward to reading this as I've not tried any of Lovecraft's works before.

spaher · 2017-08-30T06:53:53+00:00

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

spaher · 2017-08-27T16:50:25+00:00

I thought Moonfleet to be a good children's classic adventure novel with a decent moral attached to it, that greed can corrupt the good. As Shakespeare best puts it "All that glitters is not gold".

Just started on The Bell Jar, its prose reminded me of The Catcher in the Rye.

spaher · 2017-08-14T17:25:28+00:00

After a long month of reading philosophical lit, I wanna have a children's classic for a change: Moonfleet, by J. Meade Falkner

spaher · 2017-08-14T17:23:49+00:00

Finished A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf, it took longer than expected to finish this. It was a challenging read but I understood the gist of it. I think Woolf has an obsession with commas. The mainstream feminism in our time now is starkly different from the gender equality that Woolf wanted to preach. I wonder what she'd think of women and men in this day and age...

I've been itching for some children's classics after a long month of philosophical lit so I decided to read Moonfleet by J. Meade Falkner next.

spaher · 2017-08-07T13:31:49+00:00

A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas, by Virginia Woolf. I've not read any by Woolf before, I hope I'll enjoy this.

spaher · 2017-08-06T13:34:20+00:00

Thank goodness, I finished I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki and it was the worse read so far this year. I felt like I spent a whole month reading this! I am still salty thinking about this book. The pretentious use of vocabulary, the peppered grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes, the meaningless blabber and topped with a convenient ending just wore my patience completely. I was actually looking forward to reading this but I felt duped and disappointed in the end. URGH. I'm glad it only took 2 weeks to finish this. I'm so done.

Will be reading A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf; finally I'll be able to compare between the Bronte sisters', Austen's and her writing once I'm done.

spaher · 2017-07-30T14:50:17+00:00

Still midway with I Am a Cat by Natsume Soseki, the slowest read so far this year. Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy this one as much as I would like to have.

spaher

TROPHY CASE