Goals

I set a reading goal this year of 100 books. I KNEW that was ambitious, but I wanted to push myself to read more. I am certainly *capable* of reading 100 books in a year. I have the time, if I choose to use it that way.

It’s not happening. My goodreads says I’m at 50 books, and I counted up the books I haven’t entered there yet (8) for a total of 58 books so far this year. I’m in the middle of a couple more that will most definitely be finished before the end of the year, but 42 more? Haaaa. Not so much. And 58 isn’t bad! That is many more books than I read last year! I was going somewhere with this, but now I can’t remember the point I was trying to make. Pretty sure I didn’t come here just to write about my reading failures.

Anyway. Now I’m considering next year’s reading goal. I need to find a goal somewhere between “I could read this many in a month if I tried hard” and “technically possible but highly unlikely”

Books and stuff

It’s after 10 here, because there’s nothing that inspires me to write like last minute panic!

Actually, I was at book club this evening which is why I didn’t write sooner. And book club put me in the mood to write some bookish thoughts this evening (night.)

First, my Goodreads goal. My goal for this year was 50 books. It seemed totally doable! I mean, I belong to 2 book clubs so that’s already 2 books a month, so all I needed was to add 2 books a month of my own. Except then I got pregnant and basically quit reading. Now, if I want to make my goal I’d need to read like 17 books before the end of the year and you know what? Not happening. With Brian graduating and us moving and everything else going on I’ll be surprised if I read ANY more books before the end of the year. Oh well. Try again next year!

Related: 2 book clubs. Have I talked about this before? I’m in 2 book clubs. The first is more serious (and much longer running.) We take turns hosting, and the host provides some information on the author and the book to go with our discussion. The host also provides some sort of treats. (Because what’s a book club without treats, RIGHT?) This book club reads a little of everything. Classics, contemporary fiction, non-fiction, all kinds of stuff. We all have a say in what we read, we pick the next years worth of books in December, and then set up hosting based on who is most interested in what. The second book club is much more relaxed. We meet at Barnes & Noble, nobody has any info on anything, and those of us who have read it mostly discuss whether or not we liked it. (Often more people DON’T read the book than do.) This book club reads exclusively young adult stuff. And you know what? They’re both fun! I’m gonna have to find some new book clubs (at least one) when we move.

I love recommending a book that somebody else ends up loving. As a result I feel bad if I don’t love a book somebody else recommended to me. There’s SO much that factors into whether or not I like a book or not. And yet! I always WANT to like the books that get recommended to me.

I have a kindle app, and I’ve read books on a reader, but I still prefer actual books. I love the convenience of electronic reading, but it won’t be replacing books for me any time soon.

Any book thoughts from you?

Ambitious

At the beginning of the year I set a goal for myself on Goodreads of reading 50 books this year. I figured a book a week was plenty doable. I am in two book clubs, after all, which should mean I read at least two books a month anyway. But I guess that whole “having a baby” thing slowed me down a little because I’m behind. 12 books behind. So if I want to keep my goal I have to read 20 books by the end of the year. Here’s my to-read stack:

That’s actually only 17 books, so technically I still need three more. That’s about 5200 pages for me to read, so if I average 100 pages a day I should be just fine. No problem, right? We’ll see.

P.S. I *did* re-read 7 books at various points this year. So even though I won’t re-rate them on Goodreads, if I get through 13 of these books I’m totally counting that as hitting my goal. Even though I really wanted to read 50 NEW books.

Some favorite books

Today’s fact: Down syndrome doesn’t uniformly affect learning abilities. So while people with Down syndrome struggle with spatial and contextual information, they are much better at remembering information linked to sensory cues like colors, or sounds. (Check out this study if you want more info on this.)

Way back in 2010 I wrote this post about some of Kalena’s favorite books. Those two are definitely still in our regular rotation, but we’ve added some more favorites to the list.

The Little House is one of Kalena’s current favorites. And since it was one of my favorites as a kid, I’m glad she likes it. (Although, as a grown up it does get a little tedious when she wants to read it every day.)

 

{photo credit: amazon.com}

 

Will is still obsessed with dinosaur books, but he’s also a big fan of Eric Carle these days. The Foolish Tortoise, in particular, gets read often.

 

{photo credit: amazon.com}

Even Daniel has a favorite book these days. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library sent him Look Look! last month and he LOVES it. If you set it in front of him he will zone right in.

 

{photo credit: amazon.com}

I mean, I know babies are supposed to like the contrast of black and white, but MAN, I have never seen it in action like this.

What are the favorites at your house these days?
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