Spinning the Classics

I'm getting this Classics Club Spin list posted just under the wire, but the number hasn't turned up anywhere I have seen it yet so I'm in. 

1. Aesop's Fables
2. The Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck, 1931
3. Song of the Lark, Willa Cather, 1915
4. A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens, 1859
5. Come and Get It, Edna Ferber, 1935
6. Howards End, E. M. Forster, 1910
7. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1967
8. Riders of the Purple Sage, Zane Grey, 1912
9. Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales
10. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein, 1961
11. Dune, Frank Herbert, 1965
12. Profiles in Courage, John F. Kennedy, 1955
13. Steamboat Gothic, Francis Parkinson Keyes, 1952
14. Russia House, John le Carre, 1989
15. The Razor's Edge, W. Somerset Maugham, 1944
16. True Grit, Charles Portis, 1968
17. 3 Lives, Gertrude Stein, 1909
18. A Tale of a Tub, Jonathan Swift, 1704
19. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh, 1945
20. Delta Wedding, Eudora Welty, 1946

Most of these are books I have on my shelves (or should be easily obtained at the library) so whatever number comes up I should be able to get it read by the April 11th deadline.

January 2025 Book Report

Feb. 2021, but it captures
the feel of Jan. 2025

I finished 10 books last month.

A quote from this month's reading:

I finished 10 books last month. 

“There are no happy endings in history, only crisis points that pass.” ― Isaac Asimov, The Gods Themselves

Here are the books I finished in January 2025: 

1. Find Your Why by Simon Sinek (3-stars)
2. The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov  (4-stars) Classics Club
3. Eggs Benedict Arnold by Laura Childs (audiobook, 4-stars)
4. The Voignier Vendetta by Ellen Crosbie (4-stars)
5. Sugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke (4-stars)
6. Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+ by Suze Orman (3-stars)
7. Snow by John Banville (4-stars) - from my obnr shelves
8. Unsolicited by Julie Kaewert (3-stars)
9. Leave it to Cleaver by Victoria Hamilton (3-stars)
10. Living in a Nutshell by Janet Lee (4-stars)

I finished several mysteries this month from the various series I have been working my way through. I also finished a book each from my owned-but-not-read shelves and my Classics Club list. I feel like I am off to a good start with this year's reading.

My Best Books of 2024

These are the 5-star books that I read in 2024.

FICTION:

• The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
• The Tuesday Club Murders by Agatha Christie 
• Search by Michelle Huneven
• The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
• Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe by Dawn Tripp
• Among the Mad (Maisie Dobbs #6) by Jacqueline Winspear

NONFICTION:

• All It Takes Is a Goal: The 3-Step Plan to Ditch Regret and Tap Into Your Massive Potential by Jon Acuff
• Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 3: The War Years and After, 1939-1962 by Blanche Wiesen Cook -- I enjoyed the first 2 volumes as well
• Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant: Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone by Jenni Ferrari-Adler
• A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload by Cal Newport

The Gods Themselves

The Gods Themselves 

by Isaac Asimov
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Against stupidity the very gods themselves contend in vain." -- Friedrich Schiller

Told in three parts, this novel features a society where scientific findings are controlled by politics and human vanity. Each of the narrators, a different one in each part, is well drawn as an individual and a full picture of what is happening develops as the narratives build on each other. Overall an excellent novel!

This book is on my Classics Club list. 

Reading Plans 2025

These are my goals for my reading life in 2025:

• Read 11 books from my Classics Club list so I stay on track to complete 50 books within 5 years. 
• Participate in #ReadingAusten2025, including hosting Mansfield Park
  
• Participate in Nick's Chapter-a-Day Readalongs of Roots and Lonesome Dove
• Read at least 4 books from my Readers' Advisory Reading List. 
• Read at least 4 books from my Nonfiction November TBR list.
• Read one book for my Century of Books project. I have 3 years left to cover: 1901, 1903, and 1909. 
• Get my owned-but-not-read shelf down to fewer than 100 books. It is currently at 135 titles, but I have a pile of new books that haven't been integrated yet. I need to both read from this shelf and stop adding to it.
• Read a total of 100 books (my usual GoodReads goal).
• Continue posting a Book Report the first week of each month.

During 2024 I read a lot (27,932 pages according to GoodReads) but I wasn't reading for the various challenges I had signed up for. In 2025 I am going to skip most of my usual reading challenges and just see how things go. I do want to focus on reading through some of the book lists I have made in recent years. 

December Book Report

Lincoln, NH, December 2024

I finished 13 books last month.

A quote from this month's reading:

“The less we cement ourselves to our certainties, the fuller our lives can be.”
― Kim Fay, Love & Saffron

Here are the books I finished in December 2024: 

1. Rainbow's End by Martha Grimes (3-stars)
2. Retirement Reboot by Mark Miller  (3-stars)
3. Start with Why by Simon Sinek (3-stars)
4. The Postscript Murders by Ellie Griffiths (4-stars)
5. Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie (4-stars)
6. Mastering AI by Jeremy Kahn (5-stars)
7. What Time the Sexton's Spade Doth Rust by Alan Bradley (3-stars)
8. Love & Saffron by Kim Fay (4-stars)
9. Eggs in Purgatory by Laura Childs (audiobook, 3-stars)
10. Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos by Donna Andrews (3-stars)
11. All Fishermen are Liars by John Gierach (4-stars)
12. The Life Brief by Bonnie Wan (4-stars)
13. Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (4-stars)

I finished up 2024 without making my annual goal of 100 books read. I was very close (96) and in the last few years I have read more than 100 books annually so I am giving myself a break. Overall this was not a great year for meeting reading goals. I did read a lot of good books though, so that's a win.

Mastering AI

Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future 

by Jeremy Kahn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Too often we mistakenly view technological development as deterministic, as if technology were a force of nature immune to our actions. This attitude robs us of agency and turns us into mere subjects. It is a dehumanizing pose, for one of our defining characteristics as a species is our ability to bend the world to our favor. And AI is bendable. It is a protean technology. We can still sculpt its final form. The decisions we make, individually and collectively, over the next few years will determine AI's fate, and our own. If we do nothing, humanity is careening toward a cliff edge; the fall may not doom us all, but it will injure us in countless ways We can act now to avoid the precipice and steer toward a brighter future that AI will help deliver. In trying to pull off this maneuver, our greatest impediment is not AI. It's us." (p. 245-6)

This book is both terrifying and encouraging. Kahn looks at how AI is developing, what it actually is and can do right now, and what it could become (good and bad). I found the deep dives into specific areas where AI is being developed, such as education, especially fascinating. Kahn is not giving us an objective view of AI, he has a very definite message about the dangers it poses and the opportunities it offers if we (both individually and as a species) can harness this technology instead of letting it harness us. 

I rarely feel like any book is one "everyone should read," but this one is an exception.

November Book Report

Stillwater, OK, November 2024

I finished 4 books last month.

A quote from this month's reading:

“A dog will wag and lick your face and just about knock the door down waiting for you to come in at the end of the day. But are they really thrilled? Or are they running the world’s longest con, a scheme developed over thousands of generations for better chow and a warm place to sleep?”
― Tommy Tomlinson, Dogland

I finished 1 book from my Classics Club list, which was on my owed-but-not-read shelf (currently at 135 books). 

 Here are the books I finished in November 2024: 

1. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (4-stars)
2. Dogland: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show by Tommy Tomlinson  (4-stars)
3. The Year of Less by Kate Flanders (audio, 3-stars)
4. Earthly Remains by Donna Leon (audio, 3-stars)

Not a big month for reading. I have some solid reading time planned in December which I am looking forward to.

NonFiction November 2024 - Week 2

Week 2 of Nonfiction November is hosted at Volatile Rune. Technically week two ended on 11/8, but I am ignoring that fact and posting about it anyway. 

Before I answer the prompt I encourage you to go read the host post at Volatile Rule which talks about the freedom to read. I totally agree with what Frances has to say. It is an important message we should all be thinking about. Please read it.

Q: What are you looking for when you pick up a nonfiction book? 

A: When I pick up a book I am looking for good writing that fits the subject matter; to learn something I didn't know, or think about something in a new way; and to enjoy the reading experience. I'm looking for these same things regardless of fiction or nonfiction.

Q: Do you have a particular topic you’re attracted to? 

A: There are some topics that consistently appeal to me: biography (esp. of writers and powerful women), personal finance, organization and project management, history of specific things (bananas, board games, brewing, etc.). Almost anything might jump out at me from the library shelves though and pique my interest. 

Q: Do you have a particular writing style that works best? 

A: The writing needs to match the topic--a light airy tone is great for a memoir about doing everything Oprah suggests for a year, but a serious, scholarly tone is called for with a history of Islam. 

Q: When you look at a nonfiction book, does the title or cover influence you? If so, share a title or cover which you find striking.

A: I don't think covers have a big influence on my book choices.