2011 Book Reading Challenge Update

We are quickly approaching the middle of the year. At this point I've finished reading 27 books out of 100 for the year.... falling a bit behind schedule on that challenge.

The new MP-3 player I have is helping me get through a few extra audio books, which for the 'reading' challenge count towards the total (Heck, even 'graphic novels' count). Unfortunately magazines, newspapers, and other periodicals don't count. I don't want to neglect the various magazines and journals I read just to get a couple of extra novels finished.

Still, there is a chance I'll reach 100 at this point. The summer should be good to get in some extra reading and get some more miles logged on my out-of-date e-book.

I would do some reading at the gym, but the new machines they've installed have limited room for books now that they have put in shelves and ports and crap for peoples' Ipods. I have to bring shorter books (by height, not page count) so they will fit in the reduced area. I would bring my MP-3 player and listen to more audio books, but I know it will be too noisy in the gym and I'd have to crank up the volume, which is something I don't want to do. I've been two machines down from people where I can hear the music coming from their little head phones over the sound of our machines. That's got to be murder on the ears.

Are any of you participating in any book reading challenges? If so how are you doing now that we are reaching mid-year?

Third Sentence Thursday #7

"For us in England it came too late." (The Battle of Dorking by G.T. Chesney)

Something for the people in England came too late. Dorking is a city in southern England. The warning must be of foreign invasion. Question is wether it is the French, Russians, Germans, or Martians that are invading.

This story has been collected with other examples of 'Invasion Literature' in a book called Before Armageddon.

Here's how Third Sentence Thursday works:

1) Take the book you are reading now and post the third sentence
2) Review this sentence anyway you want (funny and silly reviews encouraged)
3) Post a link to your sentence to Sniffly Kitty's Third Sentence Post for this week.

Review – The Wind Whales of Ishmael

Here we have a sequel to Moby Dick. Now I have to admit I never read Moby Dick. I carried it around in my backpack for a few weeks during high school but could never read very much of it. It seemed long and boring, and I'm sure now that I'm older I might appreciate it more. All I knew about Ishmael was the “Call me Ishmael” line.

Philip Josė Farmer wrote a very different story as the 'sequel.' Ishmael is the lone survivor of the sinking Pequod. He is rescued by another ship. Not long after that the rescue ship slips through reality. It arrives in a possible distant future of Earth, long after the oceans have mostly evaporated away. The rescue ship falls thousands of feet to the slimy salt below destroying a sky ship in the process. Ishmael manages to be the only survivor of this second disaster.

The rest of the book is about Ishmael's explorations of his new world and learning to deal with the strange creatures and natives. He uses his now unique knowledge to help the native tribe that adopts him. The whole story has the feel of something written by Edgar Rice Burroughs (including a beautiful high priestess).

Format:
The format of the book is unusual in that it is not broken up into chapters. It is one long non-stop adventures without and breaks. It is also much shorter than Moby Dick, making it a very quick read.

Cools Stuff:
Strange creatures inhabiting the sea of air. Trap filled dungeons. Airships. Pulpy goodness.

Final Analysis:
If you are a fan of Burroughs you'll probably like this book. If you loved Moby Dick you might not, but then again it is a quick read and might end up surprising you.