2011 Reading and Blogging Resolutions

To read 200 books. This will not include audio books as I am Deaf and cant hear them anyway. It will include good old fashioned books.

To try a book from each genre. Becoming involved with the book blogging world has exposed me to new genres and I have no idea what they are talking about so I want to correct this.

To be more consistent with my blogging. I have really gotten lazy with blogging. I want to try and post 3 to 4 times a week.

To comment on other blogs more. I lurk at a number of different blogs and never comment. If I don't comment then I cant expect no one to comment on mine. Right?

Become more proactive in getting interviews and such on my blog. I know reviews is a big part but other stuff make a blog more exciting.

Become adept with social networks. I am still learning how to interacting well with people on twitter and such. I want to become even better.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

You remember while you was in collage, your friends that majored in something such as business administration talked about books such as this one and how much it has helped them over the years? While you who majored in a liberal arts degree who thought themselves above such books scoffed as such nonsense. Fast forward 5 years later and it is clear who is making more money and stuff and you start to wonder if there were a timeless piece of wisdom in such books, so you finally get it from the library and see what you may have missed.  This was one of those books.

The idea is there are seven principles of highly effective people. By effective it seems getting people to see things your way or as Covey describes it, an agreement that works for both people.

He outlines each step as a stepping stone to true independence which is really interdependence. By completing each step you supposedly become more and more effective at achieving your goals.

The one thing that surprised me was that Covey states in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is he advocates sticking to a principal centered pardagram. I was under the impression that most “business” books was all about getting ahead but I was mistaken.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It not a literary masterpiece but it does have some good advice.

Room

Room is a novel set in a 11 by 11 foot soundproof cell. The cell used to be a garden shed before it became a prison by witch 5 year old Jack and is Ma became imprisoned. Jack was born in this room and thinks that everything he sees on TV is made up. He is unaware that Outside is real.

Then his Ma tells him about the things that are on the Outside. He understandably at first does not believe it but the his Ma comes up with an escape plan that is crazy enough to work.

After they both escape they are unprepared of the work they have to do to get reacquainted with the Outside.

I have to admit at first the book which is written solely from 5 year old Jack point of view grated on me. Then I realized I was reading a work of art. How many authors could pull of a pretentious 5 year old voice for a whole book. It did not deviate from his voice even once. That to me was impressive.

The author in the first part of the book did an excellent job in setting the stage in how Jack and his Ma set up routines that they did everyday. We would have though jack would have been more traumatized than he was but as we see his trauma comes mostly from having to adjust being Outside.

Earlier in the book the idea that Jack came from a rape was not central to the story. It wasn't until the second part when people the family had a hard time accepting Jack that the full reality sets in. Again the author set the scene beautifully in describing Jack as solely Ma’s child. The actual rapist and the man that imprisoned them is a secondary character.

The first part of the book was slow going. It wasn't until the second part of the book that things sped up and I realized how essential the first part was to the rest of the plot. I am glad I decided to stick with the book. I almost didn't but I heard so many good things that I decided to stay with it and see what all the fuss was about.

This is one of those books that you need to look at the whole to see what a wonderful piece of art it really is.

Buddha

This is a fictionalized account of Buddha and how he became enlightened. When one envisions the enlightenment phase one tends to think that the people who have attained came to it easily. It is ones personal struggles that seem insurmountable. As this story illustrates however, this is not the case.

Buddha in this story started out life as a wealthy prince. He had every imaginable luxury. Yet he was still unhappy so he abandoned that life and became a holy man. What follows next is his journey to become enlightened. It is fraught with danger and risks that most humans would not take in this lifetime. He is rewarded when one night he finally breaks free of this world and awakens.

This book was well written and encompassed the philosophy of Buddhism. If you are just coming to Buddhism then you will have a difficult time of realizing where he is demonstrating a concept. If you have a basic understanding the this book provides a wealth of information. I have to say that I learned a great deal from this book. For example I think problems are to be defeated. I hate when something stands in my way. He describes that once you let  of the issue and just let it be then it will most likely resolve itself. It also illiterates that Buddhism principles are easy to learn but hard to follow through which is why so many fail to attain enlighten.

There was a previous book by this author that I reviewed, Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. That book I didn't like much but after reading this book I am tempted to go back and reread the first one. This goes support my theory that you should never give up on an author on the first try.

Literary Blog Hop

What is one of your literary pet peeves?  Is there something that writers do that really sets your teeth on edge?  Be specific, and give examples if you can.
 
 
One of the things that I hate the most is authors going on and on and on in pretentious language that seems to serve no other purpose than to show how many words they know.One example for me would be Steven King. I mean how many ways can he describe a scene that is essentially some one going crazy and committing a deranged crime. I know I may be stepping on some toes here but that's the way I feel. I fell his editor could do a better job of editing and cut some of that crap out.

Booking Through Thursday

Do you ever crave reading crappy books?

Yes I read crappy books. I will admit it. I am hopelessly addicted to self-help books. I still cant fathom why. Every time I see one I think, maybe this is the one that has the answers to life in it.

It is sad to admit but even at my age of 30 I am still easily moved buy peer pressure. Left to my own devices I generally stick to literary fiction. If every one else and their mother is reading a book though, I must read it too. After all, I don't want to be the loser at a party who has never read Twilight. I hated that series, yet I stuck through all the books just to see what everyone else was raving about.

Sunday Salon

Yesterday I heard we was supposed to get a lot of snow so I risked going to the library to stock up on some books. Not that I needed to but going to the library always makes me feel better so off I went. I had originally planned to get only 2 books but came back with this:

Which was good because I woke up to this

 

And it is STILL snowing!

So I have enough books to last me until next year.

As I announced yesterday I wanted a place where I could share the rest of my thoughts and stuff but I wanted to keep this strictly for book reviews. I created a tumblr account. You can see it here. If you have a tumbr account feel free to add me.

On the book review front I reviewed Super Sad True Love Story which I loved. I also did a semi review of Seven Spiritual Laws of Success. That book is just OK to me. However I recently finished Buddha the path to enlightment but the same author and I liked it better. Look out for a review this week.

I am now finally reading Room. I think it will live up to its hype.

I am off to do some reading.. What are you reading today?