Books

I like books.  I wouldn't say I love books, only because I'm pretty selective about what I like to read, I almost never read the same book twice, and it is easy for me to get stuck in the middle of a book if it doesn't strike me as very interesting.  But when I read I like to hold the actual book.  I rarely read anything on the iPad.  And I've got what I'm starting to consider to be a bad habit of having to own every book that I read.  When you're married to an English teacher and then you like to own a copy of each book you read, that ends up meaning you have lots of boxes of books in your basement.  One day we'll have a large library in our own home; just not this home.

I kind of set a goal in January to try to read 3 books each month this year.  I'm not great at setting goals, nor do I write them down.  But I thought I'd take an inventory of books I've finished so far to see how close I've come a little more than halfway through the year.

Brain Candy
Brain candy is a term I stole from a friend to describe books that are easy to plow through with fictional topics of law, governmental agencies, military, or science fiction.  I'd easily meet that goal if this is all I read.

Darkness More Than Night - Michael Connelly
The Poet - M.C.
Angels Flight - M.C.
Trunk Music - M.C.
Hell's Corner - David Baldacci
American Assassin - Vince Flynn

"Classics"
I'm using that term fairly liberally.  Some books I would throw in this category just because I know they were assigned reading in my schools or when Stefanie taught in Memphis.  Others are books I see listed on some of those "100 books you must read" on Facebook.

Cather in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
My Name is Asher Lev - Chaim Potok

Non-fiction
A Million Little Pieces - James Frey
Seal Team Six - Howard E. Wasdin
Where Men Win Glory - Jon Krakauer

Fiction
For One More Day - Mitch Albom

Religious
The Peacegiver - James Ferrell

 So...not yet to the 21 books that I should be at by the end of July.  The problem is I figured 3/month would happen because at the end of 2011 I was reading books while doing cardio workouts on the treadmill or elliptical.  Now I don't exercise as much and I watch something on Netflix when I do.  I am currently working on The Infinite Atonement, The Kite Runner, and Dream Team.  We'll see how close I can get to a total of 36 by Dec. 31.