Friday, May 17, 2019

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:


Graduation 2019



Wow! Been a little busy.. Finally done with my last semester up on the Hayward hill and all I need to do is survive the trial by rain tomorrow.


Got my Mortar Board decorated as best as I can considering I'm not a crafty person... I still need to find a shower cap for it, (they plan to have us walk in the rain).

So, what next?? I've been accepted into the 2 programs I applied for: the History MA program at CSUEB and the MLIS program (iSchool) at SJSU. It's important to me to know I have bigger, solid goals in my near future. Things to look forward to.. to push me forward. 



"never tire to study... and to teach others.."  ...Confucius

Summer plans include:
1. sleeping
2. getting some much needed exercise/walking in
(too much stress eating this last semester!)
3. making as much of a dent in my TBR piles
4. cleaning the house.. basically used home as a crash pad this past semester.
5. organizing my bookshelves & updating my "Delicious Library" inventory
6. Volunteering at the library or Historical Society
(if they'll have me after 2yrs off)

Not sure how much of this I'll do.. but it's good to have goals!

Monday, January 21, 2019

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..

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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.

Tuesday, January 01, 2019

2018/2019 Reading Challenge!


So I got in about 52 of my 40 book challenge for 2018:
2018 Reading Challenge 1

2018 Reading Challenge 2

2018 Reading Challenge 3

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.