Year in Review: 2012

A lot happened in 2012. But not much has changed. Still working at the same place, still living at home, still coaching, still hanging out with the same guys at the same places, still single. I made it out to Wichita, Mount Washington, Chicago, Bloomington, and Louisville. Plus the local places like Philly, Boston, Saratoga, and Rhode Island. And I got a Jeep. Enough personal stuff though. Onto books and blogging...

This year I finished 34 books, compared to 23 books last year. Considering I only read for 6 months last year and I set a goal of 50 books this year, it's a slight disappointment. I also attempted to read 5 books but couldn't stand to finish them...most of them ended up in the junk box. In addition to books, I reviewed 3 movies and 1 CD. Add in a mid-year review, a book battle, a Nook experience, and a few others, and I wrote 44 blog posts this year (including this one)!

Evaluation of Last Year's Priorities:
No spoilers - There weren't any, right?
Consistency - Wheels fell off these past few months. Whoops.
Focus - Read more of what I want to read.
More previews - Eh, I tried to mention when a book recently came out.
Mobile - Does anyone view the blog on their phone?

Top 5 Books of 2012:
The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom
Fooling Houdini by Alex Stone
Breaking Night by Liz Murray
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

Honorable Mention:
A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
No Easy Day by Mark Owen
Born to Run by Chistopher McDougall
Personal Foul by Tim Donaghy

Things to look forward to in 2013:
1) Celebrate 100 posts (currently at 68) and 100 books read (currently at 57)
2) Nick's Library's 2nd birthday
3) Meet 2 authors in 2013
4) A new rating system. I said this in July, but I mean it; I want something new
5) Favorite books of all time? Favorite authors?
6) E-reader reviews (Santa got me an e-reader)

Lastly, as with every "Year in Review", I want to tell you about my Christmas giveaway. Each year, I give away books I previously read to friends who would enjoy them. I spend hours matching up each friend with a book, wrapping, and delivering each book either in person or by mail. This year I set a personal record by giving away 18 books! I was happy to hear many friends who received a book last year were looking forward to receiving one this time around. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

P.S. I'm trying to take a count of how many followers I have. Click the "thumbs up" box below if you're visiting! Thanks!!

Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

One my of favorite things to do is borrow a book from a friend's bookshelf when I visit. Not gonna lie, usually I don't return it so it's not really borrowing. But I can guarantee they will receive a book during my Christmas giveaway (see below). Recently, I "borrowed" Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand.

Seabiscuit is the story of the thoroughbred horse from the late 1930s who enthralled the nation. In his younger days, he was a below average racing horse who rarely did as told. With a change in ownership and a new trainer, he is given a second chance. Seabiscuit transforms into a great racehorse as his trainer understands how he behaves and what he reacts to and uses this to their advantage. He takes the country by storm and becomes a sensation. It is a marvelous story of whom many consider to be the greatest horse ever.

Laura Hillenbrand is near the top of my list of favorite authors. While she has only written two books (Seabiscuit and Unbroken), both have been on the bestseller lists for at least a year. She does an incredible amount of research to provide background on all of the characters. Most impressive is her storytelling ability and the way she is able to create suspense, making the reader want to turn the page quicker and quicker to find out what happens. If I had to have one person write my biography, I would choose her.

I didn't know Seabiscuit's entire story. Not sure why I didn't know it, especially considering this book is a decade old. But I am really glad I read this book. Really glad.

My rating for Seabiscuit: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. The Christmas giveaway is in progress. I mailed out some books last week and will be delivering the rest. Next week I'm going to write up my year end review and go into further detail about the Christmas giveaway. Happy holidays!!

Movie Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Last year, a friend recommended I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I had no idea what it was about, but I trusted her judgment and blogged a review about it. At the time, I wasn’t overly optimistic about the book. In fact, it didn’t even show up on my list of the best books of2011. But for some reason when I heard there was a movie coming out, I had to see it. I re-read the book, but it took a long time to watch it because it wasn’t showing in any theaters around me.

I finally found it in a small, rundown theater near me where admission is five dollars, the chairs don’t recline, and the floor is cement. There were three people there to watch the movie – myself and these two girls. They said it was their fourth time watching it…it was their favorite book. I’m not going to explain the plot too much in this blog because I thought I gave a good description in the book review.

The author wrote the screenplay and was heavily involved in making the movie. As a result, the movie resembled the book almost to a tee. The book was written as letters from the main character, but the movie did a great job acting out the letters while also sharing some of the main character’s thoughts. I would go so far to say that this is the best adaption of a book made into a movie that I have ever seen.

I also thought this was an incredibly tough movie to watch. I felt the same way reading the book. The subject matter is deep. Mental health, bullying, homosexuality, sex, drugs, abuse, love. The story covers it all.

I'd like to end with some quotes from the movie/book. As I watched, I realized how good the story really is. And I’m big on quotes. There’s two short ones, then one that needs a little background…

“But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we came from, we can still choose where we go from there.”

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”

There's this exchange at the end of the story, when Sam asks Charlie, “Why didn’t you ask me out when the whole Craig thing happened?” He doesn’t have an answer. She starts to lecture him on how he should be himself and he’s only being a friend when he’s being honest. Then she says, “If somebody likes me, I want them to like the real me, not what they think I am. And I don’t want them to carry it around inside. I want them to show me, so I can feel it, too. I want them to be able to do whatever they want around me. And if they do something I don’t like, I’ll tell them.” Re-read that. It's perfect.

My rating for the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower: 4.5 stars out of 5. Get the book here!

 

 

Book Battle: World War Z vs The Fault In Our Stars

A few weeks ago, I was roaming around Barnes and Noble looking for a book someone at work asked me to read, and I stumbled upon another book that sounded interesting. I didn’t want to buy both and I had some extra time on my hands, so I decided to start reading both books. I went back to Barnes & Noble a few days ago to read a bit more from each book before deciding which one I liked more.


World War Z by Max Brooks:

First trip: Sometimes we need to step outside our comfort zone. That is what I was doing by agreeing to read World War Z. It’s about zombies. If you know me, that’s enough for me not to pick up the book. But I gave it a shot. The story begins with news reports from all over the world of illnesses and disappearances, but no one can offer an explanation. Things seem to be worse in third world countries, but whatever is wrong is spreading all over the world. The storytelling is wonderfully written, almost like it’s for a movie script (in fact, the movie World War Z just came out). At the beginning of the book, the reader is not overwhelmed with zombies. Maybe that is why I was tempted to keep reading.

Second trip: I only read another fifteen pages before putting the book back on the shelf. There were more reports and opinions of the problem at hand. It was getting repetitive. I kept flipping the pages expecting something different to happen. I also thought it was becoming a bit too descriptive for my liking. Frankly, I got bored.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green:

First trip: This book is about a teenage girl, Hazel, who is struggling to survive cancer. She meets this guy in one of her group therapy sessions and they begin a high school type relationship (even though she doesn’t go to school anymore). As a gift, she gives him her favorite book to read (by the way, the book is not a real book).

Second trip: The boy, Gus, loves the book. It turns out the book she gives him is about a girl who has cancer. The book abruptly ends when she presumably dies. Literally the book ends in a middle of a sentence. Hazel has been writing to the author for years, with no response, asking about all the other characters in the book. After reading the book, Gus writes an e-mail to the author and gets a response. Hazel makes contact with the author who invites them to visit him in Amsterdam. Gus, is able to use his Make-A-Wish for this trip. That's where I stopped reading because it isn't real life anymore. Somewhat annoyed because the beginning was fairly good.

The Winner:
The purpose of the battle was to take one book home. Neither was outstanding and I left empty-handed. If I had to pick a winner, it'd be The Fault In Our Stars (but not by much). I have no intention of finishing either book, which is a better indication of my true thoughts.

P.S. I like this concept of “Book Battling”, so maybe we’ll do it more often. Who knows.