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 / 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!

End of Year/ Summer Reading II

*looks at calendar* Where did the time go??

It's the end of my first full year at the new school. I've been busy reading but not much else. I have a whole 'to do' list of things I want to catch up with this summer since I won't be taking any classes but here's s short list including finishing the books I am currently reading:


(haven't updated my Goodreads status in a bit but at least the titles are accurate)

00. Update my GoodReads status! (LOLz)
01. Finish "Rebel Lawyer" (it's not a very long book but had to temporarily set aside for papers & finals!)
02. make a to-do list of Spring Cleaning projects
03. schedule & take my GRE exam
04. sort through/organize my bookshelves (again) to find some space for new books
05. get at least 10 of my 'summer reading' titles read, (nothing too academic)
06. sort through/ organize all the photos that have auto-uploaded onto my Flickr account the last year.
07. Share (via back-dated blogger posts) anything interesting maybe.
08. attend a few History talks
09. catch up/ delete some ancient things off the DVR.
10. Get some walks in!! (got to lose that end of Semester binge weight!)
11. post new things/adventures
12. Walk the Golden Gate Bridge
13. Try some new cafes/ new food places.

I'm sure there's more... that's it for now.

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. 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 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!

Heyday!

Heyday on University


Today was the annual Heyday Books holiday sale.. I think this might be a regular thing for me (what with attending 2 years in a row now!) and since they publish some really great books, whatever you get will be a good choice. SeanYoda went with me, thinking that he'd keep me from over-shopping, but he found some titles he wanted too.. Suffice to say I walked home with a nice haul of books to read in the new year..



I went specifically to pick up a copy of LAtitudes and So Far From Home: Russians in Early California but as you can tell, I ended up with a lot more to add to my little home library of California interests! I'm especially happy to finally have my own copy of All of Us or None as I have really enjoyed reading all of Lincoln Cushing's poster art books previously, including this one.)

currently reading..

TBR, read or reading..

Dead Wake is done.. & reading Earthquake Exodus & Saving San Francisco simultaneously because.. you know, subject matter.. and hey, one has a LOT of images in it.. It can be done! Taking another hiatus from Bad Indians 'til I get my energy back from that..(It's funny in pieces and heavy in others.. and a whole hodgepodge of interesting.)

Summer Reading

Managing to just squeek through another semester of school has me frustrated, but determined to not let the summer holiday go without getting some reading & study done. Yes, there are many things to look forward to, but time formerly used for school can be used for study:

I. Maths! to read through my old math notes, work through some of my old homework (like flossing, I suppose I will do it but not as often as I profess to.. but will give it an honest go!) I also want to find a book or two on math theory if there's such a thing.. something to help me to understand the history, creation & usage of math formulas.

II. pleasure reading! a few of the random things I want to read or (re-read/finish**)this summer!

01. "Dead Wake" (Erik Larson)
02. "Lathe of Heaven" (Ursula LeGuin) a book long on my 'to read' list...finally! summer!
03. All the Wrong Questions series (Lemony Snicket)
04. "Gold Mountain" (Lisa See)**
05. "Bad Indians" (Deborah Mirandah)**
06. "The Country in the City" (Richard Walker)** [..now that I have my own copy, no excuses!]
07. "Alfred Kroeber: A Personal Configuration" (Theodora Kroeber)
08. "The Bohemians" (Ben Tarnoff)
09. "Wherever There's a Fight" (Elaine Elinson,)
10.



III. Linguistics! Gratefully, I've gotten a list of some intro linguistics books/ authors to run down and read.. while it's for my own pleasure, it's also edification..


Along with some fun events, festivals, and panels, (not to mention D23 Expo in August!) I'm looking forward to the time being restful too. This last semester really wore me out.. and rather than dwell on why it may have done so (I cut out a considerable amount of volunteering and other pleasurable things and still felt I was a day late and a month behind most of the time..) I plan to move on with refreshed vigor.. ie: a new semester means new opportunity!

Free Summer means renewed energy for projects and other things I enjoy.. but especially reading... maybe some walks, parks & better sleep. We'll see!

overwhelmed..

Mirror of the World.. it will be my best friend today.. We will have many adventures.. and then I will move on to something else hopefully.. a bit of reading for US History.

Wedging relationships with various books between other things on-going, and going on. I feel I am abusing the books and not giving them the attention they deserve, but what can you do? I think that often is the way with education. So much to go into the process, everything gets granulated into the mix to form tasteless biscuts of facts. This is where the love for learning is lost. This is where I wish I had 30hrs in a day to tell you how much everything is truely connected to each other.

The age of reason and art. Truth no matter how ugly. Passion and storytelling. Love with no illusions. Justice.

Heyday..

Today was the holiday book sale at Heyday Books.. They were offering 25% off books online as well at their HQ on University. Added bonus was a table with selected titles at 75%.. Of course I had to go! I was hoping to pick up a couple books for my 'keeper' shelf..

today's book purchases..

A couple I've previously read & loved.. and a couple are newly published work I'm looking forward to reading for the first time. =)

We're rather limited on bookspace these days, so I have to be careful about what books I invest in. Heyday has so many fantastic titles though, it was difficult to narrow down my selections! I have several of their books already and I've enjoyed every one. I think I would have gladly picked up another half dozen titles if I thought the spouse wouldn't be annoyed with me for going crazy at the sale. ;) We have a pretty good California travel/history shelf but I'm always looking for titles I can adopt and keep forever.. things that will be of pleasure and a useful resource as time goes on. I think I managed to do that, and I picked up a couple titles to be inspired by perhaps. All books are fun (the pleasure & knowledge one acquires from the process of words).. even moving, inspiring and intense books. I already have a large selection of books I would like to finish reading (re-start at this point) and now I have several to add to the list..

As an aside, I'm so grateful for publishers like Heyday.. While I'm persuing lower level studies at the City College, I still have access to really great writers of California history and cultural studies whom I can read at my leisure (even while I wait to take the type of classes I really want to take.)

Poetry at Mrs Dalloway's

Thursday night we headed over to Mrs Dalloway's for a poetry reading with Matthew Zapruder & Dean Young:

On Track to Excelsior

Tonight was a talk on SF streetcars with Rick Laubscher, author of On Track: A Field Guide to San Francisco's Historic Streetcars and Cable Cars.

The spouse was interested so we BART-ed in together to the Glen Park station and walked the 15 or so minutes to the Excelsior Branch of the SF Public Library.


Rick Laubscher about to give his talk.

The event was filmed so it should be posted to the SF Public Library's "You Tube" account ..at some point in the next couple weeks.

**edit** here's a link to the video posted back in September..

Finding the Little Free Library!

Today I had a mini adventure in North Berkeley trying to locate the Little Free Library on Shattuck & Rose.. oh! Scratch that.. Rose & Henry! Wait.. what?

First you might be asking: "What is a Little Free Library??"

If you are, I can tell you it's a neat little book exchange place! A little library, often a little box or cabinet placed on a street corner or in someone's own yard, or even a park-like place.. but only by the people who maintain that property..

Sometimes decorated rather sweetly, they'll have a shelf or so, that one may place some books for folks to 'take a book' and/or 'leave a book'... These are not commercial ventures really.. They are created by and promoted in the community... Someone, most often a neighbor, or perhaps a community group.. will build and put one up, helping to maintain it, and sometimes register the location with the Little Free Library website.. Doing so makes it easier for people to locate a Little Free library in their area.. Neighbors can see if there's a book they'd like to read.. and perhaps also leave a book for others to enjoy! Sometimes there are many that aren't registered.

One such un-registered location is the Little Free Library at 2095 Rose St..


I thought I'd come across it on a previous walk to Live Oak Park.. So heading up Shattuck, beyond Rose Street I looked and didn't see it.. Maybe it was at the entrance to Live Oak Park? No, no! Definitely not!

I headed back down the street where I knew a cafe that had good wifi.. looked it up again.. I had seen an article on the Little Free Libraries dated January 2014 from the Contra Costa Times that mentions a few in Berkeley and El Cerrito. Then there's "Quirky Berkeley" A fun site that has a page on the Free Speech Movement posted from 2013 that includes pictures and locations of several Little Free Libraries in Berkeley.. Including the one here at the Better Homes & Gardens location on Rose:


It's the folks at Better Homes & Gardens Mason-McDuffie kindly providing the conveyance to your Little Library Euphoria.. Fantastic! Thank you!!

Here is a look-see on the current offerings (as of about 4pm?) at this particular Little Free Library:


..I heard childrens books are popular, so as we're in the process of moving (and my book real estate is at a premium.. Oh please pardon the pun! I really had no idea this was a sponsored location 'til I found it!) I wanted to be sure and leave a couple books that I've enjoyed in the past for potential reader(s)..


Hopefully someone will snap them up for some fun Summer reading..

I can't recommend The Mouse and the Motorcycle enough! (also Beverly Cleary's Runaway Ralph was a favorite of mine when I was very little.. (you can find that one at your local Public Library most likely..) I haven't owned that one or my original personal copy of The Mouse and the Motorcycle, for that matter in ages but they're lovely books!)

I also left a copy of the 1995 Newbery Award-winning Walk Two Moons which is really a YA (young adult) or tween-appropriate book perhaps.. It's a story in a story.. and deals with subjects like divorce, family abandonment, death, struggles of growing up, childhood friendships, family social structures, love, and dealing with your cultural identity.. It sounds rather grey and dreary but it's actually a road trip tale told from the point of view of a young lady to her grandparents. There's funny bits and sad bits.. just like real life. Highly recommend!

What We Leave Behind

I had an overly emotional moment in an independant bookstore last evening when I found another copy of a certain history book for sale signed in a personal way to the author's uncle dated 1982; I mean WtF people? Don't you have any respect for your own friends/ family?

I know it's just a book, but books have life in them by those that wrote them and those that loved them. There's a reason I call something a 'keeper': the item is worth keeping and cherishing. Certainly not all books are keepers to all people, but there are some, that depending on the person, they hold and cherish and love and read and their finger smudges and dna get all over them and in them (and yes,that sounds gross) but it is so with any object. You are infusing your possession with your energy and emotions, (or cigarette smoke at the least!)

Getting back to this, I couldn't breathe. I immediately thought again of an incident my dearest friend had when he discovered his nephew had sold off some valuable things my friend had given his sister over the years; signed books and art.. whatnot.. why had the nephew not given these items back to his uncle when his mother had passed on?? I don't have an answer for it and I will never know.. except that it hurt my friend very much.

I had just come from another store where I'd found a couple French translations (one my Honorary Uncle had done) and it had made me happy in a bittersweet way, knowing he was still alive through print and relevant.. "When you write you live forever and" what was I babbling this morning? .."your soul is bound through your words", and the works you leave behind as well, I would think.

It was all I could do to just leave the shop and keep from crying in public. I really hate that sort of thing, but I ended up walking down Bancroft, hands in my pocket with my face continually leaking.. I went to the Central Library at that point thinking I might have some sort of luck finding the book I was actually after (nope!) The library actually calmed and centered me so that was something. Maybe Ray Bradbury was right about surrounding yourself with books, sniffing the pages and climbing the stacks, (which I did not do!) I left still unhappy but at least not threatening to leak out my eyes anymore, instead I think I was sadly annoyed. What is that? frustrated? I'm sure there's a better word.

It's had me thinking about what we leave behind. I know most things aren't important. Your clothes, your shoes, most of your things.. everything is replaceable. The 5 or 10 items that are YOU or that you hold dear, however are not and go with you regardless of where you end up, and when you can no longer move on.. those are the things you don't want to end up in some used bookstore or auction or whatever. Give them to someone trusted, that will cherish the item too, and not see it as so much waste. Have some respect for people's things. Don't hold on to what isn't yours, but certainly don't just give it to the next person along the way. Find a home for it.