Good Reads

If you like to read, but have found that you don't have a decent place to connect with other readers, to talk about the books you are reading and to get and give recommendations please check out Good Reads, and be sure to add me as a friend.

I didn't think I was very interested in the site at first, but after a month or two I went back to it and poked around a bit only to find that it is actually pretty cool. I find that I've got a number of friends and family members who read a lot but we never seem to talk much about what we're reading. I don't often give or receive recommendations.

Let me know what you guys think.

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More New Stuff

The real upside of blogs being so incredibly popular now is that people are developing a ton of cool widgets for them.

New at the top of my sidebar is a Good Reads widget. It turns out that Good Reads, has also created a blog widget, which is displaying the books I am currently reading.

Now in addition to tracking what movies I am renting and what music I am listening to, you all can see what I am reading. As you can see I am currently reading "When You Are Engulfed In Flames" by David Sedaris and "The Expectant Father" by Armin Brott (which I've been slowly perusing throughout the entire pregnancy).

For now (not sure if I will leave them there) you can also see widgets displaying the books I've read and the ones I want to read as well.

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Dropping Hints

This may not be your typical baby gift, but check this out:



The Sonnier Name in History is a book which is part of a new series at Amazon.com detailing the history of family names. I think this would be a great baby gift for Sam so that he can learn about his family name, don't you?

I'm really just kidding. This seems like a really great idea but I think it falls short of what many people might hope it to be. Apparently these books are compiled by Ancestry.com, each containing general statistics and other information about your family name. Reading the reviews on Amazon.com, it appears that some people are extremely disappointed while others are tremendously pleased. For $29.99 it may be a bigger gamble than it's worth.

Have any of you guys read one? Are they helpful? Interesting? Useless and Pointless?

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A Long Shear of Light and Then a Series of Low Concussions

I read a good bit these days, and often enjoy the books that I read. I don't always feel compelled to recommend them when I'm done. Tonight I finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and I recommend it now.

Maybe it's just because I'm on a hardcore post-apocalyptic and bleak reading kick right now (lots of zombie books and other books about the end of the world like The Walking Dead, I Am Legend, Rant, etc.), but I really enjoyed it.

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News!

This is the kind of news I like to wake up to. If I could wake up to news like this every morning, my life would be a lot brighter.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to be released on July 21

Pre-Orders Available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble

It looks like I need to get started re-reading the first six books. I can't wait.

Full story after the jump.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling, the seventh and final book in the best-selling series, has been scheduled for release at 12:01 a.m. on July 21, 2007, it was announced today by Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education and media company.

In making the announcement, Lisa Holton, President of Scholastic Children's Books said, "We are thrilled to announce the publication date of the seventh installment in this remarkable series. We join J.K. Rowling's millions of readers -- young and old, veterans and newcomers -- in anticipating what lies ahead."

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," J.K. Rowling's sixth Harry Potter book, was released on July 16, 2005, and was the fastest-selling book in history, selling 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours. All six "Harry Potter" books, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" have been number one bestsellers in the United States, the U.K., and around the world. There are currently over 120 million copies of the "Harry Potter" books in print in the United States alone.

Scholastic will publish "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (ISBN: 0- 545-01022-5 ; Price: $34.99) in hardcover under the Arthur A. Levine imprint with interior and cover art by Mary GrandPre, who has illustrated the previous six books. The deluxe edition (ISBN: 0-545-02937-6; Price: $65.00) and reinforced library edition (ISBN: 0-545-02936-8 ; Price: $39.99 ) will be published simultaneously.

Source: ComingSoon.net

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Recommended Reading

If you're looking for a book recommendation and an incredibly well written post on the topic of love, I urge you to please read Scott's most recent post at On the Rocks. You won't regret it.

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2006 Book Log

Rather than make a whole list of what I read in 2006, I'm going to summarize here in this post.

Overall I'm a little disappointed to look back at the number of books that I read this year. As I look at the list however, I realize that this may be in part because I didn't read enough of anything all that wonderful.

There were a few great books (namely, Salaam Stanley Matthews, The Zombie Survival Guide and The Total Money Makeover) and few good books (Flat Tax Revolution, Everything Bad is Good For You, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, Factotum, Lord of the Flies), but the rest were nothing special.

Here's to hoping that 2007 is a much better reading year.


The Turn of the Screw - James, Henry
Flat Tax Revolution - Forbes, Steve
Lost: Endangered Species - Hapka, Cathy
Lost: Signs of Life - Thompson, Frank
Lost: Secret Identity - Hapka, Cathy
Lord of the Flies - Golding, William
Why New Orleans Matters - Piazza, Tom
Unlocking the Meaning of Lost - Porter, Lynette
The Bad Twin - Troup, Gary
Lancelot - Percy, Walker
Everything Bad is Good For You - Johnson, Steven
The Zombie Survival Guide - Brooks, Max
How To Survive A Robot Uprising - Wikson, Daniel, H.
X-Men, Volume 01 - Lee, Stan
The Total Money Makeover - Ramsey, Dave
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman - Murakami, Haruki
Factotum - Bukowski, Charles
Women - Bukowski, Charles
Getting Lost - Card, Orson Scott
Salaam Stanley Matthews - Dasgupta, Subrata

Statistics:

Books Finished - 20.00
Pages Read - 4,476.00
Average Pages per Day 12.30

Novels 7 - 35.00%
Non-Fiction 7 - 35.00%
Graphic Novels 1 - 5.00%
Short Stories 1 - 5.00%
Finance / Business 4 - 20.00%

Total 20 - 100.00%

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That Old Familiar Feeling

I'm getting all excited with that butterfly feeling in my stomach again.

The title for the seventh and final Harry Potter book was announced today. Find out after the jump if you want to know.


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

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Long Time Coming

I finally updated my book log.

It hasn't been the best year for me reading. I haven't been nearly as active. I've read far fewer books this year than last year.

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Mystery Solved

Whew.

So glad that question was answered. It turns out that my good friend Kim in Portland saw that the book had been released, thought I would enjoy it (it just so happens we were on vacation together when I was obsessing over the first book) and sent it to me.

THANKS KIM!!! That was really thoughtful and wonderfully nice. I really appreciate the gift.

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A Serious Mystery

Hey everyone, I need some help solving a mystery.

On Saturday I checked the mail and there was a package in the mailbox. A few days ago I ordered a hardcover book from Amazon.com and was surprised that it had arrived so quickly.

I walked into the house, sorted through the rest of the mail and then opened the package. I was surprised to find that the book in the package was not the book I had ordered. I checked the packing clip to see if there had been some mistake, perhaps my book was mixed up and another was sent in its place? The packing slip had my name all over it and the book I received was the book on the slip. There hadn't been some mistake.

Well, upon closer inspection the mystery took an exciting turn. The book I received was actually a book I hadn't heard of, but was a book I was very glad to have in my hands.



You see, a few months ago I read Max Brooks' parody survival guide, The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead. I simply LOVED the book, and who wouldn't? Zombies are awesome and when the invasion happens I would like to count myself among the prepared who will survive and live to repopulate the planet. Plus it was hysterical.

I didn't even know that Brooks had written a new book, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, yet that is the book that showed up in my mailbox.


So what I ask of you dear readers is, does anyone know who sent this to me and why? I would certainly like to thank whoever had the wonderful insight to do so because that package certainly made my weekend.

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