03 January 2012

We read to know that we are not alone

Happy New Year!

I've pretty much established the fact that I don't have much use for New Year's Resolutions in general. But, for 2011, I did set a resolution-like goal for myself: To read a minimum of 60 books.

Based on recent years, that seemed like a realistic, but challenging goal.

I'm pleased to say I made it to 61. Though, I have to admit, I know I could have read more. There were a few times this year when I went weeks without any "pleasure reading" at all - which is very unlike me and is probably a testament to just how crazy 2011 was. (As is the dearth of posts here on the ol' blog-front, I know.) In fact, about 45 of those 60 books were all read in the first 6-7 months of the year. So, fall and winter were obviously pretty lacking in "me-time".

Still, I've set the same goal for 2012 ... but (shhhh!) I'm secretly hoping to beat it buy a greater margin than my stunning one-more-than-planned in 2011. ;)

Like my reading lists for the last few years, 2011 was chock full o' brain candy and speculative fiction. But there are a few exceptions.

One notable standout - for me - is an actual best-seller! I almost never read those. I guess I'm something of a ... what's the opposite of a books-snob? Wait, I think that's still a book snob. Just a different kind. ;)  But, in general, if it's "popular", I'm almost almost instinctively averse to reading it. Strange, I know. But, still true.

And yet, something about this one appealed to me ... so, for one of my last reads of 2011, I got a copy of The Hunger Games on Kindle ... and read it straight through (virtual) cover to cover in about 4 hours. And then I did the exact same thing with it's two sequels. (Those are on my 2012 list.) I have to admit - they were really good books. You should read them.

What did YOU read that was pleasantly surprising this year? :)

Happy Reading,

Zen

"We read to know that we are not alone." ~ C.S. Lewis 

Good Reads 2010  |  Good Reads 2009  |  Good Reads 2008



2011 Reading List


Kick Ass


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Black Magic Sanction


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Blameless


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Bayou Moon


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Storm Front


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Unshapely Things


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Beg For Mercy


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


How to Traumatize Your Children


2 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011, funny, non-fiction, and parenting


Curran


5 of 5 stars




tagged:
urban-paranormal-fantasy and 2011


Hunter


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and sf


Serenity: Those Left Behind


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011, graphic-novel, and sf


The Guild


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and graphic-novel


Better Days


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011, sf, and graphic-novel


Fool Moon


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
urban-paranormal-fantasy and 2011


Grave Peril


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
urban-paranormal-fantasy and 2011


Wicked Appetite


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
funny, mystery-suspense, and 2011


Sizzling Sixteen


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
funny, 2011, and mystery-suspense


Summer Knight


5 of 5 stars




tagged:
urban-paranormal-fantasy, mystery-suspense, and 2011


Kitty Goes to War


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
urban-paranormal-fantasy and 2011


Angel Of Mercy


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
urban-paranormal-fantasy and 2011


Cry Mercy


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
urban-paranormal-fantasy and 2011


A Girl's Guide to Guns and Monsters


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Sherlock Holmes in Orbit


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
sf, 2011, and mystery-suspense


A Girl's Guide to Guns and Monsters


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Hard Magic


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
urban-paranormal-fantasy, mystery-suspense, and 2011


Secrets of the Demon


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011, mystery-suspense, and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Spirit Dances


0 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Magic Mourns


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Indulgence in Death


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and mystery-suspense


The Atlantis Complex


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011, fantasy, and kids-ya


Fathers and Sons


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


You Suck


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011, urban-paranormal-fantasy, and funny


River Marked


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Magic Slays


5 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Pale Demon


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Death Masks


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Blood Rites


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Dead Beat


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Mysteria


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Phenomenal Girl 5


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Proven Guilty


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
urban-paranormal-fantasy and 2011


Smokin' Seventeen


5 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011, mystery-suspense, and funny


Treachery in Death


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and mystery-suspense


The Electric Church


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and sf


White Night


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Small Favor


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


The Digital Plague


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and mystery-suspense


Good Eats: The Early Years


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and non-fiction


Good Eats 2: The Middle Years


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and non-fiction


Blood Work


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Necroscope


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Silver Shark


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Explosive Eighteen


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011, mystery-suspense, and funny


Down These Strange Streets


3 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


Shady Lady


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
2011 and urban-paranormal-fantasy


New York to Dallas


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
mystery-suspense and 2011


Heartless


4 of 5 stars




tagged:
urban-paranormal-fantasy and 2011







goodreads.com


23 December 2011

Dear Buddha, Please bring me a pony and a plastic rocket ...

Happy Holidays!

This is normally the time of year when this agnostically atheist Taoist with Buddhist leanings goes on a bit of a tear about things like the ridiculousness of people getting offended by the use of "Happy Holidays" vs "Merry Christmas" or the differences between secular and religious holidays of the season.

But, frankly, it's all been said.

And I'd rather spend the very few minutes I have free for blogging today to just wish *everyone* a jolly holiday - whichever one or two or six you choose to celebrate and whichever way you choose to celebrate them.

We observed the Winter Solstice earlier this week, and today, we're baking cookies and pies and other yummy things for the first of two Christmas feasts this weekend.

Personally, I'm kinda looking forward to Boxing Day, too. Any excuse to celebrate works for me. ;)

Take a minute to tell me what and how YOU celebrate this time of year?

Happy Chrismahanakwanzayulestice,
Zen



14 October 2011

Seven (give or take a few)

SeattleDad over at Luke I am Your Father - one of my favorite Dad Bloggers - posted this fun little meme the other day and "tagged" me to suggest I might like to try it, too. You know what? He was right. This is kinda neat. And, hey, it's not like I have a lot of fresh content on here lately. Might as well delve into the archives for a bit of fun, eh?

MOST BEAUTIFUL: This is a tough one to start with. I'm not sure that anything I write is "beautiful". Still, if anything comes close to it, I suspect it must be this: Moments in a Life Well-Lived - the eulogy I delivered at my Grandfather's funeral.

MOST HELPFUL: I'm not so much with the helpful. Unless you find sarcasm to be therapeutic? But I suppose You Must Be This Tall to Ride - my Disneyland-in-a-Day plan - must have something useful for some people, because I still get a ton of hits on it every week. Or maybe people just like the picture. *shrugs*

MOST POPULAR: Going by visitor stats, I get tons of hits on this post every single day ... but I suspect that is because it has the word "chicks" and a three-letter word for your posterior in the same sentence. (Didn't post the title because I already feel bad enough for accidentally diverting people looking for hot bums to my post about fictional heroines. Sorry guys, I'm not intentionally misleading your pr0n searches, I swear!) BUT ... going by comments, this post is probably one of my more popular posts: I'm not an extrovert, but I play one on the interwebs

MOST CONTROVERSIAL: I'm about as non-confrontational as they come. But I do have opinions about controversial specific topics and I don't mind sharing them. I'd like to think I usually do so in a rational manner rather than in a trollish tone. Whatever the reason, I can't say as I've ever had any real "controversy" about a post. Maybe it's just because my readers are all so nice? ;) Still, if there were any controversy to be found, I suspect it would be either in my annual Xmas Rant or one of my numerous posts in support of Same Sex Marriage.

MOST SURPRISINGLY SUCCESSFUL: This little meme surprised me not only because it just seemed to flow so easily that it almost wrote itself, but also because it turned out that other people seemed to like it too: Where I'm From

MOST UNDERRATED: This is a tough one. Because saying a post is underrated is like saying it "deserves" more attention. I don't write for attention. I write because I love to write. Because it helps me process my thoughts. And sometimes just because it's fun. I do enjoy interaction with readers: Those "oh-wow-we-have-something-in-common" moments are great. But I don't think my posts "deserve" attention or comments. Still, if I have to choose ... I quite like this post, which I don't think many people have seen: I know it's here somewhere

MOST PRIDEWORTHY: Next to my post about my grandfather's death, this is probably my favorite. Again, this one just seemed to flow with no effort. It's simple and yet, I like to think, somewhat poetic. But if life were made of moments, then you'd never know you had one

(Yes, I know I totally cheated and linked up more than one post for couple of those topics. I'm indecisive. Sue me. ;) And now I'm going to cheat again by linking to my Best Of page and suggesting that you might find other interesting reads there or elsewhere in my archives. Ooo, I feel like such a meme-rebel.)

Now, the rules of this meme are that I should pass this along to seven other Bloggers. Well, I think I've just proven I'm not much for following rules. But, in this case, I'm happy to oblige, because I'm always happy to help point people to blogs I enjoy. I don't know if they'll want to play along and post their own 7x7 links. But, even if they don't, these are seven links that are worth clicking over to. Good reads. Seriously. :)
  1. TheOneSFD
  2. DaddyGeekBoy
  3. Brutalism
  4. Didactic Pirate 
  5. Honea Express
  6. Pet Cobra
  7. HipMamaB

Oooh, that was harder than I thought to just list seven! Let me channel my inner rebel again and suggest that you should check the "Blogs You Should Read" section in my sidebar for more links to smart folks. AND, if you are so inclined, I invite you to try this meme, too, even if I didn't "tag" you! If you do, please share the link! I'd love to read it!

Resting on my laurels,
Zen

PS: You really should click over and visit LIAYF, too. Not only is he a great blogger, he's a great dad and a great husband and that really shines through in his writing. I'm absolutely terrible about leaving comments (anywhere) lately. But I still love reading his posts. Plus: He and his wife are planning to adopt and YOU just might be able to help! So go say "hi" to him and the Missus and their adorable son, will ya? ;)