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In a Sunburned Country Finished 1/6/09 which reminded me of all things Australia that I miss from the land down under. :(
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A Room of One's Own Finished 1/9/09

The Horse and His Boy Finished 01/12/09

The Lost Continent Travels in Small-Town America finished 1/19/09

Dope Finished 1/21/09

The Secret Life of Bees Finished 1/31/09 on the plane coming back from Italy. Absolutely amazing. It made me want to buy a jar of honey..or something.

Under the Duvet Shoes, Reviews, Having the Blues, Builders, Babies, Families and Other Calamities Finished 2/22/09 A bit of light reading at a busy time in my life when I can't commit to anything that causes too much thought.

Without Reservations The Travels of an Independent Woman Finished on a long hellish flight across country to Seattle complete with mechanical delays 2/23/09. This book did nothing for me. I started it, and can't stop reading a book once I've started.

Revolutionary Road Finished 2/28/09

Angry Conversations with God A Snarky but Authentic Spiritual Memoir Finished 3/5/09. This makes 10 for the year so far.
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A Man Without a Country #11 Finished 03/08/09

#12 When You Are Engulfed in Flames finished 3/14/09

I learned something about books in the last few months since taking this challenge. Does anyone else feel like this is homework? I think I'll drop my goal down to 35 from 50. Seriously. I'm getting married, work full time, moving into a house and the year is almost a quarter of the way over. This feels like I'm trying to cram for a final exam and has taken a great deal of pleasure out of my reading. I don't absorb the words and the story anymore. I just try to read so I can update my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ list. 35 books will make that less of a homework type assignment and more of a "Let's read for pleasure" not to see who can outdo each other. Isn't that what reading is all about?
I'm currently reading Inkheart and I enjoy it. I'm just not going to cram to get through it or any other book worth my time. Anyone have any thoughts?

I think that your goal seems reasonable. :)

I am a really quick reader, so the goal isn't going to be that hard for me to hit (I'm already 1/2 way done), but I can totally understand how you feel.

However, I don't think most people in this group are trying to "outdo each other." I think most of us think it is a reasonable goal, and want to hit it, as well as keep track of our books read. I think those are the points of this group. However, I think it is totally reasonable to cut your goal and just enjoy your books!

Inkheart is an amazing book! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I agree with you. Last year I made up a table with all my books and I had a column that was for goal date to finish the book and then an actual date to finish the book. I had to get rid of that goal date, because I felt like I was working instead of enjoying the book. I may or may not hit 50 books. I don't take it so literally, I'll just see how many I can read in the year. Don't stress and enjoy your reading and planning your wedding!

This has been mentioned before. I agree with you - when I get caught up in my "count" I tend to find things less enjoyable.

I use this group as a way to motivate me to read when I might otherwise be lazy watching junk on TV, I use it to keep track of what I have read since I like to make lists and refer back to them, and to find out what everyone else is reading - I've come across some great recommendations - and some great Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ friends!

I've never hit 50 before and doubt that I ever would. But I read a lot more than I ever have before and take my time doing so. I'm on my 7th book and proud of it :0)

HOMEWORK!!!! God forbid...stop right now. Even when I was teaching English I hated giving reading as homework. Read for fun. We will cheer for every book you read...life is not a race!

Totally agree, Don't force yourself to read, I've been feeling myself more excited about updating my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ but after a while I figured out it was because I LIKE keeping track of my books like that, gives me an accomplished feeling.

But that's very amazing of you to drop your goal to a reasonable 35, instead of quitting the reading all together.

I'll definitely be there cheering you along!

It's all about reading...not necessarily attaining a goal. 50 is just a number, but reading is an end in itself. So...
...if you get to 50--huzzah!
...if you get to 35--huzzah!
...if you get to five--huzzah!
It's the turning of the page not the number of pages turned. The joy--and the journey--is all :-)

Cheers!

#13- Inkheart Completed 3/31/09. Since the year is a quarter over and I'm on track to finish 50, I may take a break and read shorter books. Reading some long ones lately and maybe that's why it feels like homework. :) Maybe I'll make 50 after all. ????????

I loved Inkheart!!!!

#14- Notes from a Small Island finished April 11th. This one took me forever and it was not Bryson's best work.

#15- God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian also finished April 11th. If anyone needs a short book to read, this only takes about 30 minutes if that.

#16 10 Habits That Mess Up a Womans Diet finished 4/20/09 I picked this up at the library because nothing else was flipping my skirt up at the moment. Diet books are not usually my genre, but I just needed something to keep me motivated to eat right at that moment.

#17 Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl
Finishes 4/23/09 This was so weird to me. I mean, this girl is writing and we know that her last diary entry is her last and she doesn't. It's surreal. Also, I did a bit of research. Miep Gies is still alive and living in Amsterdam at age 100+. Amazing.

#18 Neither Here nor There Travels in Europe finished April 25th..

#19 The Time Traveler's Wife Finished May 5th on the flight home from Vegas. That seems like the only time I can find to read large quantities lately...flying. Interesting side note: For any fans of the TV show Lost, this book was recommended by producers for summer reading. They say that if you can understand the time jumping and implications of this book, you can understand Lost.

#20 Holidays on Ice finished May 6

#21- Love and Marriage finished May 8

This is an easy read. I told my new husband that he needed to read it...because it's just so darn right on!

#22- My Life as a Furry Red Monster What Being Elmo Has Taught Me About Life, Love and Laughing Out Loud finished May 9 This was also a pretty easy read, but I enjoyed the memoir by Kevin Clash! God bless him and what he does for children.

#23 The Screwtape Letters finished May 10
I've been reading a lot lately since I've been sick.
:(

#24 Michelle Obama finished May 12. I'm almost halfway there! I'm totally on track to finish 50 this year! Whoot whoot.

#25 Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

Finished May 14th.

Half way to goal!!!

#26- Botchan by Soseki Natsume finished May 19th.

#27 Moose A Memoir of Fat Camp finished May 23, 2009.
This was a pretty great memoir and I read a lot of them.
Pick it up if you get a chance.

Congrats on being over 1/2 way there!

#28 - The Boy in the Striped Pajamasalso finished May 23. I've nothing to do today but read. It was fantastic to just sit and do nothing today. Ahhhh

#29- Of Mice and Men finished May 24.

#30 Certain Girls finished May 29.

Tori wrote: "#28 - The Boy in the Striped Pajamasalso finished May 23. I've nothing to do today but read. It was fantastic to just sit and do nothing today. Ahhhh"

How did you like this? I have it on my TBR list, but haven't see/heard too much about it.

Mandy wrote: "Tori wrote: "#28 - The Boy in the Striped Pajamasalso finished May 23. I've nothing to do today but read. It was fantastic to just sit and do nothing today. Ahhhh"

How did you lik..."

It's ending was definitely not expected. It was ok and a quick read if you need to finish some books to make goal.

#31 The Bell Jar finished May 31. I'd been wanting to read this for awhile. I'm glad I got the chance.

#32 - The Last Lecture finished 6/2/09. I figure I can take my time from now on. If I finish one book a week, I'll still be done in Oct. and I'm averaging about 3 a week lately.
Whoo!
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#33- The Beach Housefinished Sunday, June 7th.

#34 Bread Alone A Novel finished June 11.

#35 The House on Mango Street finished June 12.

#36 Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me June 17.
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#37-How Sassy Changed My Life A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time finished June 20, 2009.

#38 - The Time Machine finished June 21.