Can I just start by reiterating how much I love the age of technology we're in? I'm writing most of this post on my phone while taking a walk, and I'm wearing a digital watch that's tracking how far I go. It's just awesome. (Also, update on the exercise goal: 10/10 days so far, and this will make 11/11. For the first week it was 10,000 steps a day, but since I was getting so close to 5 miles with that I just made that the goal instead.)
For the reading resolution I made, I've chosen twelve books and assigned them each to a month. Here's what I've got for now (summaries from various places around the internet):
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| Some of the books I've got on the list |
February: Surprised By Joy, C.S. Lewis. "This book is not an autobiography. It is not a confession. It is, however, certainly one of the most beautiful and insightful accounts of a person coming to faith. Here, C.S. Lewis takes us from his childhood in Belfast through the loss of his mother, to boarding school and a youthful atheism in England, to the trenches of World War I, and then to Oxford, where he studied, read, and, ultimately, reasoned his way back to God."
March: An Experiment in Criticism, C.S. Lewis. "Why do we read literature and how do we judge it? C. S. Lewis's classic An Experiment in Criticism springs from the conviction that literature exists for the joy of the reader and that books should be judged by the kind of reading they invite. He argues that "good reading," like moral action or religious experience, involves surrender to the work in hand and a process of entering fully into the opinions of others: "in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself." Crucial to his notion of judging literature is a commitment to laying aside expectations and values extraneous to the work, in order to approach it with an open mind. Amid the complex welter of current critical theories, C. S. Lewis's wisdom is valuably down-to-earth, refreshing and stimulating in the questions it raises about the experience of reading."
April: The Art of Manliness, Brett and Kate McKay. "While it's definitely more than just monster trucks, grilling and six-pack abs, true manliness is hard to define. The words macho and manly are not synonymous.
Taking lessons from classic gentlemen such as Benjamin Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, authors Brett and Kate McKay have created a collection of the most useful advice every man needs to know to live life to its full potential. This book contains a wealth of information that ranges from survival skills to social skills to advice on how to improve your character. Whether you are braving the wilds with your friends, courting your girlfriend or raising a family, inside you'll find practical information and inspiration for every area of life."
May: The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown. "In this stunning follow-up to the global phenomenon The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown demonstrates once again why he is the world's most popular thriller writer. The Lost Symbol is a masterstroke of storytelling—a deadly race through a real-world labyrinth of codes, secrets, and unseen truths . . . all under the watchful eye of Brown's most terrifying villain to date. Set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C., The Lost Symbol accelerates through a startling landscape toward an unthinkable finale."June: The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell. "The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas."
July: Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand. "In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when World War II began, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to a doomed flight on a May afternoon in 1943. When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a foundering life raft. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will." (Yes, this is the one that was recently made into a movie, and a quite good one at that.
August: The Continuous Atonement, Brad Wilcox. "This book offers valuable insights about God, Christ, and our relationship with them. Each chapter contains clear examples that will uplift and motivate. Profound doctrine is made accessible and difficult concepts are presented in such simple ways that over and over the reader will say, 'I've never thought of it like that before.' That kind of change of belief will help bring about a change of behavior."
September: The Casebook of Forensic Detection, Colin Evans. "This well-organized compendium by Evans (Killer Doctors in Britain) covers cases from 1751 to 1991, arranged according to the methodology by which they were solved. Fifteen areas are listed alphabetically, ranging from ballistics through DNA typing, fingerprinting, odontology, serology and toxicology to the still-disputed voiceprint analysis."
October: The Great Snape Debate, various authors. "Love him or love to hate him, Snape has become the pivotal character in the Harry Potter series. There are plenty of reasons to believe he killed Dumbledore at the end of Half-Blood Prince at Dumbledore's behest -- but plenty of reasons not to, too. So is Snape on Harry's side, or is he on Voldemort's? Is he bad to the bone, or just a little misunderstood? Only after Deathly Hallows will we know for sure . . . but we can make some educated guesses now. Designed as a flip book, half the book provides the case for Snape's innocence and when flipped over, the other half provides the case for Snape's Guilt. In The Great Snape Debate, you'll get all the facts on our favorite Potions Master so you can decide for yourself."
November: The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, Akria Himekawa. "Hyrule Historia is, in essence, the “Zelda Bible.” This 274-page collector’s item was created by Nintendo and published by Shogakukan on December 21, 2011 for Japan and in January 2013 by Dark Horse Comics for the west."
December: The Great American Bathroom Book, various authors. "The Great American Bathroom Book is the perfect companion for the burgeoning intellect on the go. Whether you're an avid reader in need of a refresher course or a novice who wouldn't know his Longfellow from his Dickens, The Great American Bathroom Book: Volume 1 provides nearly 120 comprehensive summaries and thought-provoking commentaries on the literary world's finest classics. By offering a unique combination of intellect and efficiency, The Great American Bathroom Book provides you with the perfect opportunity to obtain a wealth of knowledge while only sacrificing a tiny portion of your time. In one short trip to the lavatory you can learn the intricacies of Henry David Thoreau's Walden or John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Finally, your days of answering, "Maybe we should split some nachos" to a question like "Who's your favorite character in To Kill a Mockingbird?" will be over."
Some of these are books I've had in my collection for years, some are more recent recommendations from friends and family. Seeing as how this is still January, this is just a tentative list. I could easily get other books, or even just add more to the list since some of these are much shorter than others. So... Anything you'd recommend? I'm down for most anything; in the past I've read fantasy, non-fiction, science-fiction, comedy, suspense, you name it and there's a good chance I've heard of it. Maybe a good graphic novel... I've never been much into comic books* because, knowing me, I'd want to invest tons of money to get all the issues for the full stories. However, from my understanding of graphic novels, they're basically comic books but longer, with stories confined pretty much to the physical book they're in.
So if you have anything you'd like to recommend, I'll happily take a look at it and see if it interests me. I could probably fit three or four more decent-length books in this year, based on this initial list.
*By this I mean I haven't been into getting comics just to read them. Anyone who knows me well probably knows that I love the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Dark Knight is my favorite movie, and I have a huge respect for collectors and special collector's items. And I even own a near-perfect condition Iron Man comic book signed by Stan Lee, thanks to my awesome older brother. (I say near-perfect because I'm not actually sure what its official grading would be; it's new, and since receiving it I haven't taken it out of its packaging. I'd love to get it sent in somewhere to get it graded some day.)
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