2019 Reading Challenge Pt. 2

So far so good.. I was getting nervous for a while as I was several books behind, but then the semester ended, papers came due. Between text assignments and side readings I did in conjunction with my research papers, I was able to stay on track.



We'll see what the Summer Reading accomplishes!

18 of 50:

2019 Reading Challenge

Hurray! I managed my 5 books in 5 weeks challenge.. (from the 18th of December to the 18th of January 2019) these also included a few that got counted to last year's reading challenge.. Between books I started at the end of the school year, as well fresh books at the end of the year.. I got a total of 10 books finished over the break.. 5 in the old year, and 5 in the new..





I went ahead & upped my reading challenge for this year to 50 which I was unable to do last time I tried, so we'll see. I don't seem to have near as many texts to read for my courses this Spring (but I also have a short thesis paper (20pgs) to do so we'll see!)


I'll also try to post more here than just reading challenges. I broke my toe around Thanksgiving and only now starting to talk some walks and get out & about.. I definitely need the exercise.

2018/2019 Reading Challenge!

So I got in about 52 of my 40 book challenge for 2018:






Several were for school of course.. and while I have a few I am reading right now on break (I hope to do 5 books in 5 weeks which should work as I've read 3 already) I am being ambitious or crazy and upping my count to 50 for 2019.. Maybe I'll have better luck in getting some Summer reading in...

**

I am currently reading
"The Land of Orange Groves and Jails: Upton Sinclair's California" edited by Lauren Coodley
"Why I am a Hindu" by Shashi Tharoor

and hope to read:
"Incarnations: India in 50 Lives" by Sunil Khilnani (fwiw I enjoyed "The Idea of India" very much! I thought it explained the politics of India better than a text I had to read for one of my classes, so I'm keeping it to read again)

"The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity" by Amartya Sen

and hope to finish Diana Eck's "India: A Sacred Geography" (it's a bit of a slog for me honestly, and I'm not retaining much) but I may have better luck with John Keay's "India: A History" which I also left stranded over the Fall semester. This book reads much better and has a lot of the cross-discipline research that I appreciate. Am unsure if 'finishing' books you start last year (that weren't started in the last week) count but what the heck. I need all the help I can get.

I notice it's become harder for me to just relax and read unless it's for an assignment. There's a guilt attached to pleasure reading I never used to have.

2018 Reading Challenge IV

Where did the time go??


I am about 10 books ahead of schedule, (not sure if GRE vocab cards should count as a book so not really counting that) but I barely put a dent in the STACKS of books I had waiting for me to read this Summer break. I can't say I spent the weeks doing much of anything but relexing and catching up on all the sleep I was missing out on this past school year.

I don't expect that I will get to read much outside of school-related things for a while here on out, but I will keep at it!

2018 Reading Challenge / Summer Reading III

I'm about 4 books ahead right now..


I am several in right now. School kept me busy (many of these titles are things I read for school or because of papers I was writing.

Most books below I've acquired at book sales over the last year and picked up at used bookstores when shopping for other books. I don't have them all gathered in one spot, but there's enough to give one an idea of what I'll be keeping busy with the next couple months:

My current reads (including a library book):

current reads...


and several of the books I hope to read:


Right now I"m having trouble relaxing enough to feel comfortable reading. I keep thinking I have homework I should be doing, so there's the relaxing and not feeling guilty for reading for pleasure right now. Hopefully, I can get it together & hurry up & relax!

Summer Reading

The Bay Area Festival of Books is happening this weekend. I don't plan to attend (originally I did, so we'll see) as I have way too much to get done this weekend. I have Midterms next week. I was thinking I would at least walk the tables but then I gathered up the books I randomly purchased (intending to read when I have more time) and realized I have my summer reading stack:



I probably don't need to pick up more books at the Fest. I should read the ones I have and then send them back out into the world. Several of these I found on "The wall" at Half Price Books, and several I picked up at $1 Book Sale at the Doe Library. I think of all the titles I am looking forward to reading "The Disappearing Spoon (and Other Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World From the Periodic Table of Elements)" which I picked up at the campus bookstore for like $4. Last summer I read "Radium Girls" which was about the radium dial painters. This is totally different but it fills that niche for me I think: informative and fun ...science stuff.

Then there's my other things,(keeper books on my shelf):



So many titles (& a random library book) I'd like to read including the biography of August Vollmer. He was the Berkeley Chief of Police who brought many things that people take for granted in their local police department: the use of lie detector tests, bicycle (and later motorcycle) patrols, and he required his police officers to have college degrees. And he was born in New Orleans but made Berkeley his home. But no, I haven't read the book yet. This is just a few things I've learned about him over the years. So many books.

We'll see what I actually get done. I won't be taking a Summer course, so I have plenty of time to read, right? I had thought to put together a list of true crime/noir titles like Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, James Elroy and Dashiell Hammett of course along with some other random shorts to check out from the library or read what titles I have here. I imagine there must be a literature course somewhere where you read stuff like that, but since I don't have space in my life for any literature classes, I would create my own reading list. Unfortunately, I may need to wait another year!

I have enough to read for now.

Reading Challenge 2017 Pt. 3

I know the year isn't quite over, but I am so happy to have time to read, to finish things I started. Here we are:

I read "Blink" for a speed reading class outside of school but at school. Not a fan of the book. Maybe someone else will like it, but I thought it and the class were tedious. Maybe I read faster at the end of class, but it was some valuable time I lost over two weekends. I think something like this is better in the Summer when you don't have classes or deadlines.

I read "Ishi's Brain" for my "Intro to History" class. I have a lot of thoughts on this book, this class, and the experience for another time but the book was frustrating. It did more to make me not trust historians than anything else I've read. You can easily blow off old writers as colonizers or people from an old school of thought, but when history does damage to a people, why do we keep that stuff in print? If the writer has some kind of personal angle, not an academic one, can you take them seriously? Should you consider it a legitimate work? I dunno. I'm being a bit vague, but I'm going to keep thinking about it.

I finally finished "The Heyday of Malcolm Margolin" which was a relief and happiness. It's one of these books I picked up and set down twice or so because I had other things and school to distract me. But I finished. It made me think about what good it does to work for a good company: a place where you get along with most everyone, that you are happy with your work and you look forward to the projects you get to do. I can only hope to find work like that one day again. Anyway, it's cool. It's good to have good work and I appreciated reading all the great stories that Heyday folks shared. I loved the stories Malcolm shared about his life in the Bay Area and in publishing. It was a good book. A keeper, (especially if you love books, the making of books.. or even California... or outdoors.. or...)

Of school things, I want to say "Colony in a Nation" and also "The New Jim Crow" (which I have yet to finish) was the best. "Colony in a Nation" reads super fast. It kind of compares the situation in Ferguson, MO. (and the rest of the country) to in the pre-American Revolutionary experience. There's a couple nice Franz Fanon quotes too. It was used for the Philosophy class I took but would have fit in any most any other class: American History, Political Theory, African American Studies (of course,) and others I guess. It's about Democracy and how there are two systems of justice. It talks about colonialism but it's also very relevant and current. There's a final chapter on campus policing which I thought was kind of out of place, but it too has a point to be made. The book is worth reading by everyone. It's written in a conversational style that is very approachable, so no deep academic rambling or words to look up. It won't change your life or make you lose 20 pounds, but it's cool. It'll give you some thinks to think on, maybe.

Reading Challenge 2017 Pt. 2

20 books read.. 4 books ahead of schedule.

So far so good with the reading.. My last semester at BCC pursuing my History AA-T had me reading a LOT for my various courses. So now that summer is here I am hoping to read more things for pleasure if I am able. I plan to be taking an intro drawing class as a present to myself for getting my Associates for transfer..

For now I am relaxing my brain with some beautifully descriptive scenes of Southeast Alaska (Sitka into Wrangell Island) by John Muir.. "Travels in Alaska" seems like just the thing I need after pouring over Machiavelli and Nietzsche!



I haven't figured out what is on my Summer Read TBR list yet but I think besides a mix of some of the many Heyday titles I've had waiting for me, I'll get to a couple books I purchased at the Cal Day Book Sale, and random books I've found or picked up on my walks:



We'll see, right?

Reading Challenge 2017 Pt. 1

the results of my goodreads challenges from the last 3 years..

Another year, another reading challenge! I barely made my goal of 40 books last year. It was pretty difficult getting to my goal, despite all the reading I seemed to have been assigned. This year may be no different. I'm taking 4 classes this semester, of which half require 4 different books. I tried to get a head start during the holiday break in the early part of January and that seemed to have helped. I find it hard to find time to read for pleasure when I have several assignments converging, so many of the things I seem to be reading are related to the things I'm studying, and then of course, there's poetry. Thank goodness for poetry!


My 2017 GoodReads Reading Challenge

I'm 1 book ahead according to the challenge. The above include the 2 books from for my Political Theory class (The Republic, and The Prince), The Hero Twins book is a fun graphic telling of the Popol Vuh (which I'm studying in my Native Amerian Culture & Lit. (HIST33) class. The rest are things I kept myself busy with in early January while I was waiting for classes to start up again. The Hafiz and Rumi I came across at the Oakland Public Library, and were very nice decompression from classes.

I'll need to do papers on The Prince, and on Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian (not included in the count because I already read the book some time ago..) but I'll be reading Nietzsche and Foucault for the Political Theory class. I have a Political Thought of Hannah Arendt I'll take a look at on my own, and I'm currently reading Leonard Peltier's Prison Writings for my HIST33 class,(as well Tribes, Treaties, and Constitutional Tribulations by Vine DeLoria, Jr. for myself.) Along with my other history texts, I'll definitely have almost 20 books by the end of May, so totally possible, yes?

I guess we'll see!

Reading Challenge 2017

This year I'm sticking with 40 books.. I have about 10 books I'll be reading this semester so that's 1/4 right there!

Reading Challenge 2016 Pt. 4

A few more books read since the Summer..

With school in session, there's not a lot of free time to read, but I've managed to pick up a few 'slender' titles that seem interesting (to me) and we'll see how many of these I get finished!

Reading The Artist and the Mathematician (among others!) re-ignited my curiosity about India, its history and rich culture. The Badass Librarians of Timbuktu is a 'hold book' from Berkeley Public.. I put a hold request on the book as soon as I heard it was coming out.. it's an exciting story of preservation I'm looking forward to finishing!

I hope to finish Shah of Shahs first.. It attracted me as relevant to the experience of people I have met in my life growing up as a kid in the 70s..


Da! I found when looking for a Russian grammar book I enjoyed from the SF Public Library. I got into a Russian 1 class at Cal (concurrent enrollment) but I'm not doing that great. If I end up dropping, (which is likely) I'll keep working on the Russian just the same..

I love learning about words, word origins and how language works.. not enough to change my major.. but enough to try and learn Russian on my own and then to go through the red tape to get in this class that I'm sucking in. Yes, everyone is right. I should have stuck with Spanish! Fine.

Heyday's Sidewalking ..I've been wanting to read but BPL hasn't had it.. SF Public finally did, so woot! 132 pages.. I can do that!

I guess we'll see where I get in the next few weeks. I have my school textbooks I'm reading but those are required, of course.. and will only add 2 more titles to my list by October & December, respectively. The challenge for me has been finding the time, the titles that interest me that also aren't too time consuming.. Small volumes that can be read in-between and on BART.. or books with short chapters that can be finished before exhaustion sets in. I don't get many naps these days..
😏


current reads..

Reading Challenge 2016 Pt. 3

The Spring semester has had me behind in my reading challenge, and when I *did* manage to read anything, it seems it was mostly school related. I have 2 weeks before Summer classes start.. so we'll see how much I get read before then.. I am (as always) amid at least 10 books, (many of them being library books I've had to return after renewing as much as I could.)


a few of the books I'm hoping to actually finish sometime this Summer..

I just started reading Orlando Figes' Just Send Me Word (which I thought sounded interesting while reading Revolutionary Russia for some side-reading in my World History class..) I checked it out Sunday during Bay Area Book Fest so I've not gotten into it yet. Some of the source material are some 1500 letters that were written (& left uncensored) while imprisoned in Stalinist gulag. Sounds romantic,yes?

Belarus (Mathew Wilson) is another book I'm having to return to the library after renewing three times.. I'm about 65% through it and up to the 'modern era' but I'll have to wait to check it out again on another visit. So far it's been interesting from a linguistic and geographic point of view, and helped me understand a couple things about 'self identification' (but also brought up a few questions.. ah well.)

Not pictured, The Philosophy of Mathematics (David Bostock.) I'm about halfway through, but have been sharing it with unknown entities as I've had to return it a couple times due to it being 'on hold' for someone else,(when it's not on hold for me!)

Country in the City (Richard Walker) and The Heyday of Malcolm Margolin (which I started twice already) I am having to re-start from the beginning.. Basically I start a book, something happens, I have a different book (for school or otherwise,) getting priority and then I come back to previous book a week later, (if I'm lucky.) Otherwise things get re-shelved, and library books get priority because I have to return them, or I have a paper to write, something.

I spent 20+ hours weekly working on Statistics and feel lucky to pass it (which is a total bummer because I was actually enjoying most of it.. but enjoying it and 'getting it' in a timely manner are different things.).. Therefore reading, unless class related, got pushed aside for much of the semester.

I guess we'll see where I'm at after Summer Session.. Mainly due to my short-comings in Maths, I'll be taking a couple classes this Summer for the first time. I'd like to have my History AA-T at the end of Spring 2017 semester. It can happen!

Reading Challenge 2016 pt2

6 books! Titles include:


Beautiful Geometry
Edgar Allen Poe: The Fever Called Living
Futurism (fun picture book)
Bad Indians (yes! I finished it!)
In the Garden of Beasts
A Strange Wilderness (I really did love this book..)


This week's mixed bag of titles:


Currently Reading for pleasure:
Latinos at the Golden Gate
Koolaids: the Art of War

also:
Silencing the Past (source book for a reading assignment)
Bananas (reading assignment I started a month too early)
Complete Idiot's Gde to Statistics (about 1/2way through.. not picking up much)
Rediscovering the Golden State (for my Ca. Geo class.. got through most of Ch.4 now)

To Be Read,(maybe):
Russian Fairy Tales (includes "commentary by Roman Jakobson" so we'll see..I may just read the commentary & take it back to the library)


Now that the semester has started, I don't expect I'll get to read as much or what I'd like so much. The titles are going to be random and more schoolwork-related. Kind of a bummer, but at least I'm reading something! Yay!

Reading Challenge 2016

Yep! That's 40 books for this year (last year I challenged myself with 24 books and managed 43..

I have several books started (but not quite abandoned.. and some I didn't manage to finish before the new year rang in..).. Rather than stacking up all my TBR (to-be-read) books, we'll just take a look at this week's plan:

1."A Strange Wilderness" by Amir D. Aczel **FINISHED**
2."In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson **FINISHED** (8 January)

Hopefully starting Today (most are TBRs for my Stats Class later this month):
4. "TI-84 Plus Graphing Calculator for Dummies"
5. "Statistics Demystified"
6. "Understandable Statistics: 8th Edition" (we'll be using the 11th edition I think)

Pleasure Reading:
7. "Latinos at the Golden Gate" by Tomas F. Summers Sandoval Jr. (FINALLY! This I had to get a copy from the SF Public Library)

I managed to get a lot read during the semester as I read a lot of classwork related titles to round out what I'm learning in school. In the case of maths, I ended up reading some probability books and math histories, which I found helps me 'get' the why if not the how of maths. People need tools, for me reading about something is a complement to showing me how to solve something. Reading "A Strange Wilderness" was a bit of a muddle in many places, but learning about the lives of people and what drove them to find the answers to questions they had (even if it's things that I don't puzzle over) was enjoyable time spent, and totally relatable! I loved Aczel's book "Chance" also.. that one was fun. yes. I said that, (aloud, even!)

For pleasure I like reading history, quasi-history, the occasional mystery or sci-fi/fantasy book, or random things related to things that interest me.. whaling, true-life adventures (think Mallory or Shackleton), a bit of true crime (like "Devil in the White City" or "Empire of Sin") but pleasure reading seems to be harder to come by when school is in session. We'll see how this year goes!