kkunker's 12 in 12 Challenge

A little bit about me: I’m a history and library science grad student, so part of my reading will reflect class requirements. I have one full semester left, and will hopefully finish off the history degree by May and then have a summer course to finish off the library science side.

I joined the 75 group last year I managed to read over 110 books. I've got my 2012 thread started, it also has more info about me.

Its: http://www.librarything.com/topic/129872

I'm currently reading 6 books, one of which is A Study in Scarlet. I've never actually read the Holmes canon and will try to work my way through it during this year.

I'm currently trying to come up with my categories, and will probably start of as a 6 in 12 challenge, since I'm new to this. I hope to post categories in the next day or two. Some categories will no doubt far surpass the 6 mark, but not all will. I know the fun part is interacting with fellow readers, but I don't want to set a challenge that's way too difficult. So we'll see how things go.

Happy New Year to everyone, and happy reading in 2012!

Just added my categories (more details in the lists):
history
fantasy
Inklings
books about books
alternate history and steam punk
graphic novels
Sherlock Holmes
urban fantasy
library science/archives and public history
dramatic works, plays, poetry
LibraryThing Early Reviewer/Member Giveaway

I've decided to add a couple of stats:
books acquired this year : 82
books read this year from the TBR piles : 22

books read which don't fit the challenge : 19
total books read this year : 148

History
will probably focus on London, UK, colonial America, and medieval Europe
(will also have several titles for my history comprehensive exam as I begin studying: American and French Revolutions, American Civil War, and the Crusades)

1. London Under by Peter Ackroyd 1/12/12
2. London: The Autobiography by Jon Lewis 1/31/12
3. Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire by Roy Moxham 2/3/12
4. Why the North Won the Civil War by David Donald 2/15/12
5. Nothing But Freedom by Eric Foner 2/20/12
6. A Short History of Reconstruction by Eric Foner 3/10/12

7. The Invasion of Canada by Pierre Berton 3/15/12
8. Civil War Soldiers by Reid Mitchell 3/19/12
9. The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction by William Doyle 3/26/12
10. The Vacant Chair: The Northern Soldier Leaves Home by Reid Mitchell 3/26/12
11. James Madison by Richard Brookhiser 4/13/12
12. The Civil War of 1812 by Alan Taylor 4/17/12

13. Fort Ticonderoga: Key to a Continent by Edward Hamilton 5/29/12
14. A Favorite Place of Resort For Strangers: The King's Garden at Fort Ticonderoga by Lucinda Brockway 6/7/12
15. Hacks, Sycophants, Adventurers, and Heroes by Colonel David Fitz-Enz 12/15/12

fantasy
will probably be mostly swords, magic, and dragon related

1. Ranger's Apprentice: The Lost Stories by John Flanagan 1/5/12
2. A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin 1/12/12
3. At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald 1/24/12
4. Theft of Swords by Michael J Sullivan 2/25/12
5. Coveted by Shawntelle Madison 7/23/12
6. The Kingdom: A Novel by Brian Litfin 9/2/12

7. Here, There Be Dragons by James Owen 9/20/12
8. The Search for the Red Dragon by James Owen 10/10/12
9. The Spirit Well by Steven Lawhead 11/20/12
10. Cyndere's Midnight by Jeffrey Overstreet 11/23/12
11. Geist by Philippa Ballantine 11/30/12

On the Inklings and their writings

1. Mere Humanity: G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien on the Human Condition by Donald T Williams 1/5/12
2. Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays by Jason Fisher 1/10/12
3. C. S. Lewis, My Godfather: Letters, Photos and Recollections by Laurence Harwood 1/16/12
4. The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy edited by Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson 1/21/12
5. Tolkien Bestiary by David Day 1/24/12
6. Romantic Religion by R. J. Reilly 2/24/12

7. Light Beyond All Shadow: Religious Experience in Tolkien's Work edited by Paul Kerry 3/10/12
8. Following Gandalf by Matthew Dickerson 5/7/12
9. Ents, Elves, and Eriador by Matthew Dickerson 7/6/12
10. The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien 9/4/12
11. The Road to Middle Earth by Tom Shippey 9/21/12
12. The Gospel According to Tolkien by Ralph Wood 12/14/12

Welcome to the challenge! Definitely the fun part is interacting with fellow readers, so you can arrange your challenge to look pretty much however you want it. I mowed through the Sherlock-stories and novels on a summer break a long time ago and I loved it - I really want to do that again, but I should be reading off Mt. TBR! :)

ETA: Oops - I broke your thread. Sorry, I started writing the comment before there were any categories listed. :(

Science Fiction
will probably end up with a lot of Star Wars

1. Citizens by John Ringo 1/31/12
2. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Conviction 2/16/12
3. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Ascension 5/6/12
4. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse 5/8/12
5. Star Wars: Allegiance 8/1/12
6. Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit 8/12/12

7. Star Wars: Jedi Trial 8/18/12
8. Knight Errant by John Jackson Miller 9/26/12
9. The Price You Pay by Ashley McConnell 9/29/12
10. Stargate by Pauline Gedge 10/22/12
11. Stargate SG-1 #2 Sacrifice Moon by Julie Fortune 11/8/12
12. Stargate SG-1 #4 City of the Gods by Sonny Whitelaw 11/25/12

Books about Books
books about authors, libraries, book collecting, literary history

1. English Literature: A Very Short Introduction 5/7/12
2. Shakespeare and Co. by Stanley Wells 6/8/12
3. C. S. Lewis in a Time of War by Justin Phillips 7/20/12
4. J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey 8/19/12
5. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter 10/6/12
6. Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" by Corey Olsen 10/9/12

7. On the Shoulders of Hobbits by Louis Markos 10/29/12
8. The Hobbit and Philosophy by Gregory Bassham 11/16/12
9. J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator by Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull 12/17/12
10. The Shakespeare Thefts by Eric Rasmussen 12/17/12

Alternate History and Steam punk

1. The Hunter by Theresa Meyers 3/13/12
2. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik 6/16/12
3. Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik 6/20/12
4. Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine 6/21/12
5. Black Powder War by Naomi Novik 6/26/12
6. Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik 7/4/12

7. Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik 7/12/12
8. Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik 7/16/12
9. Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik 7/28/12
10. Jack 1939 by Francine Mathews 8/5/12
11. The Janus Affair by Pip Ballantine 10/3/12
12. Dead Iron by Devon Monk 11/21/12

Graphic Novel
I own a couple, but this is a new genre for me

1. Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen 1/4/12
2. Northlanders Vol. 1: Sven the Returned by Brian Wood 1/11/12
3. Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 by David Petersen 1/14/12
4. The United States Constitution A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey 2/4/12
5. Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman 5/14/12
6. The Trial of Sherlock Holmes by Leah Moore 5/15/12

7. Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard by David Petersen 12/15/12
8. The Hobbit: A Graphic Novel 12/19/12
9. Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere by Mike Carey 12/27/12

Sherlock Holmes
because I've not read the canon, and this needs to be remedied

1. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1/4/12
2. The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1/7/12
3. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1/10/12
4. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1/16/12
5. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1/29/12
6. The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 2/9/12

7. The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 2/29/12
8. His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 3/8/12
9. Sherlock Holmes and Philosophy by Josef Steiff 3/22/12
10. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 6/28/12
11. A Study in Sherlock by Laurie R. King 8/2/12
12.

Urban Fantasy

1. Nightlife by Rob Thurman 1/26/12
2. Moonshine by Rob Thurman 2/9/12
3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman 2/18/12
4. Madhouse by Rob Thurman 4/24/12
5. The Minority Council by Kate Griffin 5/8/12
6. Deathwish by Rob Thurman 7/2/12

7. Roadkill by Rob Thurman 9/5/12
8. Blackout by Rob Thurman 10/13/12

Library science/archives and public history and Mythgard Institute
will focus on grad school coursework

1. Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper 2/16/12
2. Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts 3/6/12
3. Historic Preservation by Norman Tyler 3/13/12
4. Preserving Archives and Manuscripts by Mary Ritzenthaler 4/2/12
5. Keeping Time :The History and Theory of Preservation in America by William Murtagh 4/13/12
6. A Richer Heritage: Historic Preservation in the Twenty-First Century edited by Richard Stipe 5/1/12

7. Cultural Landscapes by Richard Longstreth 5/15/12
8. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll 8/8/12
9. Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne 8/20/12
10. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald 9/7/12
11. The Marvellous Land of Snergs by E. A. Wyke-Smith 9/10/12
12. The History of the Hobbit Part One: Mr. Baggins by John Rateliff 10/11/12

13. The History of the Hobbit Part Two: Return to Bag End by John Rateliff 11/4/12
14. The Annotated Hobbit by Douglas Anderson 11/7/12
15. Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach by Beverly Serrell 11/14/12

Dramatic works, Plays, and Poetry
Shakespeare will be a theme, as I've only read a few of his plays

1. Narrative Poems by C. S. Lewis 2/10/12
2. Walking to Martha's Vineyard by Franz Wright 2/17/12
3. London in Poetry and Prose edited by Anna Adams 3/28/12
4. The Mabinogion by Anonymous 6/11/12
5. Hamlet 8/19/12
6. What's Wrong With Ordinary?: Poems to Celebrate Life by Donna Merritt 12/15/12

7. Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare 12/29/12
8. Cardenio by William Shakespeare 12/30/12

LibraryThing Early Reviewer/Member Giveaway
and any other old favourites I want to re-read

This assumes I'll keep winning books (I have a pretty good track record). I do have a couple from 2011 that I've not received/read yet so that gives me a starting place. If I all of a sudden stop winning books I'll just use this category for re-reads.

1. Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno LT Early Reviewer December win 3/19/12
2. Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms by Lissa Evans LT member giveaway ARC 3/20/12
3. Picayune by John B DeJordy Goodread's First Reads giveaway March 3/31/12
4. The Slayer by Theresa Meyers Goodread's First Reads giveaway March 4/13/12
5. A Common-Sense Platform Goodread's First Reads giveaway April 5/8/12
6. Unstuck: Your Life. God's Design. Real Change. by Michael Ross LT Early Reviewer Feb win 5/15/12

7. First Friend: Thomas Jefferson by Kathleen Reid LT Early Reviewer Jan win 5/20/12
8. Fare Forward by Wendy Dubow Polins LT member giveaway Jan win 5/24/12
9. Star Wars Scourge by Jeff Grubb Goodread's First Reads giveaway April 5/29/12
10. The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillps Goodread's First Reads giveaway January 6/1/12
11. Berlin Cantata by Jeffrey Lewis LT member giveaway March 6/8/12
12. A Thousand Bayonets by Joel Mark Harris Goodread's Firstread giveaway May 6/13/12

@ Eva: don't worry about breaking the thread, I don't mind. I'm glad you stopped by.

A few categories for me to keep an eye on here. Welcome to the challenge and have a good one!

You have two categories that have peaked my interest - Alternate History and Steam punk and Dramatic Works, Plays and Poetry. I look forward to seeing how you fill those categories. Welcome to the challenge!

@ AHS-Wolfy and lkernagh thanks for stopping by. I hope I read some stuff that interests you both.

I've finished off two books already, both pretty short. But I figure it's good to get a head start on the non-academic categories before the semester kicks in.

A Study in Scarlet and Mouse Guard: Fall 1152

Good luck with your classes. You have reminded me that I have never read all of Sherlock's cases. It will be nice to dive into them one of these days.

Two more books finished this week, one YA fantasy and one Inklings. I plan on posting short reviews/comments over on my 75er thread later this evening.

Looking forward to your thread. You have quite a few categories that I'll be looking forward to.

@ jillbone: thanks for stopping by, hope some of the things I read interest you

Finished The Sign of Four last night, and just started The Hound of the Baskervilles. Also currently reading a couple of short Tolkien related books, a London history, and Clash of Kings by George R R Martin, which is 1000 pages. Hoping to finish them all before the semester starts in a week.

I finished The Hound of the Baskervilles this morning. Hoping to watch the Sherlock episode in the next couple of days.

I also finished Tolkien and the Study of His Sources edited by Jason Fisher. This was an early reviewer book from October, but since it's on Tolkien I've decided to post it in the Inklings category. Here's a brief summary of the contents. Three introductory chapters (written by Tom Shippey, E. Risden and Jason Fisher) address source criticism itself, to give the reader a better understanding of the topic. The rest of the book is about specific sources for Tolkien's works: Biblical and Mesopotamian sources, ancient Greek myths and stories, Byzantium and Gondor, Anglo-Saxons and the Rohirrim, William Caxton's "ring" stories, the influence of H. Rider Haggard and John Buchan on Tolkien's writing. Each chapter is footnoted and contains a list of sources, for those seeking more information.

I posted a full review on the books page, and also on my 75er thread.

Hoping to watch the Sherlock episode in the next couple of days.

*jealous*

I watched Hound last night. I enjoyed the modern setting, and really enjoyed seeing Benedict and Martin add some layers to the Holmes/Watson friendship. The pub scene with Sherlock doubting himself was really well done. Not so sure how I felt about the whole chemical and DNA experiments, but I knew they couldn't keep it to just a regular old hound. The twist on Baskerville was interesting too.

I loved how Sherlock used Mycroft's ID to access the lab, and then called him directly to get in a second time, when the ID clearance was pulled by security. The episode definitely made me feel as unsettled as the story did, the characters' psychological tensions really shone through. I couldn't wait to see how Sherlock solved it.

To compare: I liked the original story character interactions, the criminal and hound attack aspects, and Sherlock's secret investigation using one of his Baker Street irregulars to keep him supplied. In the episode both Sherlock and Watson headed up to the moor together, and no one was attacked while they were investigating. Overall though I did really enjoy it and maybe I just really noticed the differences because I had just read the story. Looking forward to next week's episode.

Finished my second graphic novel last night Northlanders Vol. 1: Sven the Returned Vikings ~980 AD.

I also just finished reading London Under which seemed to me to be a unique history of London. Ackroyd looked at London from beneath street level exploring the rivers, graves, sewers, tunnels, pipes, Tube, and bunkers which exist hidden from the eyes of most Londoners. He offers a new angle on the City and it's history. He includes drawings, photographs, and eye witness accounts of the events and locations he relates.

I love any history related to London and this book did not disappoint. I learned quite a bit, especially about the advances made in Victorian England. I really enjoyed his chapters on the Tube and it has made me want to look for a more comprehensive history of the London Underground.

Finished A Clash of Kings last night. The plot is thickening as all the Houses are fighting for control of the land. Lots of people and places to keep track of. I probably won't get to the next book for a while since they are so long and involved. Need to finish up a couple other books before the semester starts.

London Under has been on my wishlist a while. I've been wavering because people say it's too short and brief - did you not feel any of that?

@ Eva: I can see why people would say that. It is pretty short compared to Ackroyd's Thames. I have a pretty good general knowledge of London, having visited twice and being a history student. Ackroyd's Thames gave me a lot of London detail, simply because much of the history of the river is bound up with the city. I'd view London Under as more of an introductory source for the topics covers. I don't think it's meant it to be a detailed study given it's short length. I felt it gave some good broad brushstrokes to areas of London that I was previously unfamiliar with. I found it easy to read a couple of chapters in one sitting, and I enjoyed the topics.

If someone who's completely new to London history wanted to read it, I would say it's not a good starting point, due to the short chapters and chronological jumps. Some familiarity with the city is necessary.

Hope that helps.

Yes, very helpful indeed - thank you! I think I'll try and find a library that carries it rather than buy it.

@ Eva: Glad I could help

Currently working my way through The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and a couple of Inklings related books. We'll see what I can finish up before the semester starts on Wednesday.

Finished The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and also C. S. Lewis, My Godfather. Tomorrow I'm having some friends over to watch Sherlock season 2, I've not yet seen yesterday's episode. It should make for a fun evening, one last hurrah before the spring semester starts.

A 4.5 hour Sherlock marathon was a great experience; if rather emotionally draining. I thought Reichenbach Fall was a really good episode. Even though I knew what was going to happen, the way it was portrayed was even intense and emotional than in the story. For those who are unfamiliar with the story, that's all I'm going to say. Not looking forward to waiting a whole year for season 3, but at least I have plenty of time to finish the Holmes canon. I've also purchased a couple of modern spin-off/alternate collections of stories which I look forward to reading at some point.

Had my first class yesterday. I think it will be rather challenging, but really good. It's an archives class which has hands-on practical experience. We each get to process a small collection from start to finish: arranging, making finding aides, using MARC and EAD, and providing web-access. It will involve a lot of time spent at a local institution outside of class time. Tonight I have my first Historic Preservation class.

I'm still trying to finish off a few fun books before the semester gets involved, but I know my reading pace is going to slow way down from now until May. Let the academic stress begin!

I probably should have stuck my fingers in my ears and chanted, "Nya, nya, nya..." so I couldn't hear what happened but I couldn't. The good/bad news is that I probably will forget everything I heard.

The episode was very good, I'm glad it had less of a cliffhanger ending than the first season. Bombs and snipers were rather stressful.

Just finished another Inklings related book, Lord of the Rings and Philosophy. It's part of the Popular Culture and Philosophy series, which also has a book on Sherlock Holmes. I just ordered the Sherlock book from Amazon, should be here in a week or so. Can't wait to read that one.

I'm currently reading Terminator and Philosophy: I'll be back therefore I Am. I think it's in the same series. It's quite interesting!

@ VictoriaPL: I really enjoyed the LoTR book in the series, so when I saw the Sherlock one and skimmed the table of contents on Amazon I just had to get it. I might buy more books in the series, depends on what other titles they offer.

Just finished reading At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald. It was actually a SantaThing gift from last year, which I finally got around to reading. Very enjoyable children's fantasy. I've got another couple of books I'd like to finish off this week, and then it's time to really buckle down and start course work for the spring semester.

Finished my first urban fantasy of the year, Nightlife by Rob Thurman, which was a SantaThing gift this year. I enjoyed the book, and I'm pleased to see that there are several more books in the Cal Leandros series. I've added a couple to my Amazon wishlist and will hopefully either find them in a library or purchase them soon.

I finished my first full week of the semester and have started reading several required textbooks. The historic preservation class has had the most reading so far. The archival representation course will be more work than I was expecting, but it will be a lot of fun to actually process a collection and get some hands on experience. Still not thrilled by XML.

I'm not looking forward to my history comprehensive oral exam. Thankfully it's not been scheduled yet, and may very well come at the end of the semester, since one of the professors is currently in Florida. However I will take all the time I can get since I will probably have to review 29 books and a 1.5 inch binder of primary sources. Broad topics will be the American and French Revolutions, The American Civil War, and the Crusades. The craziness of my last semester has begun.

I just finished London: the Autobiography by Jon Lewis.

(full review posted on my 75er thread and for the book)

This was a really enjoyable read. Lewis has compiled a collection of really good primary sources for this collection. His forward opens with Dr. Johnson's line "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." The sources truly reflect this statement.

He starts off with Tacitus in AD 60 and ends with three passages from the 2005 terrorist bombings. The sources included are from all across society, many big names and events, but also a decent bit of the common London experience. 2,000 years of London triumphs and tragedies are recounted by the people who saw it all firsthand. Jack the Ripper, the Crystal Palace, the Gunpowder Plot, the Blitz, Swing London, Princess Diana, it's all here in snapshot style. This is an excellent collection of primary sources with a good bibliography and index.

->39 kkunker:
Thanks for that review - thumbing. On the wishlist it goes!!

This book is a collection of 15 military sci-fi short stories. I like some sci-fi and I like military history, so I thought the combination could be interesting. Each of the contributors is a military veteran, several are well known sci-fi authors. The stories include military engagements, genetic mutations, alien invasions, and self-sacrifice for the highest cause. There was a good balance between serious, sad, and humorous stories. I think my favorite had to be "The Question" by Patrick A Vanner. Basically inter-galactic relations with a new species were ruined due to human allergies. Overall an enjoyable book.

I'm going to try to remember to do monthly summaries. Here's the January Summary

monthly stats:
books read: 21
total pages read (using Goodreads stats): 6480
average pages read per day: 209

Category: Progress
history: 2
fantasy: 3
Inklings: 5
Science Fiction: 1
Books about Books: 0
Alternate History and Steam punk: 0
Graphic Novel: 3
Sherlock Holmes: 5
Urban Fantasy: 1
Library Science/archives and public history: 0
Dramatic works, plays and poetry: 0
LT Giveaways and Re-reads: 0

Books read that don’t fit a category: 1

Just finished my first book for Feb. Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire. It was an enjoyable read. The author actually worked in Africa for 13 years, and has personal experience as a British manager of a tea plantation. He book is a brief history of British tea trade with China, India, and Africa. He relates personal stories in the opening and closing chapters.

Interesting review on the tea book.. it sounds right up my alley and will be added to my wishlist now. Thanks!

The tea book really was quite a nice read. It provided good introductory information, which remaining short. The author's personal experiences gave it an added touch and made it hit closer to home.

Just finished off another graphic novel The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey. An interesting way to present the Constitution, hopefully it will get more people reading it. The artwork was well done, and the explanations of some of the finer details seemed really well done. It laid everything out in plain ordinary language.

This sounds like something good for my library! Thanks for your comments.

Finished two books today. My first book for Fantasy Feb Moonshine by Rob Thurman, urban fantasy book 2 in the Cal Leandros series. The plot line of this book was as good as the first book. Cal and Niko take what appears to be a simple detective job but they wind up in far deeper water than they expected. Their friend Georgiana get kidnapped, Cal is forced to go undercover with the werewolf mafia, they have a second run in with Abaggor the troll, threaten some Gypsies, and Cal begins to master his Auphie ability of creating gateways (time/space portals). The brothers make some new allies and enemies as they try to get to the bottom of the werewolf plot. This book contained more violence than the first one, and also more of Cal's mental introspection/coping mechanisms. A good solid second book.

I also finished The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Finished by first collection of poetry, Narrative Poems by C. S. Lewis. Really enjoyed it.

Finished Why the North Won the Civil War today. In order to finish my masters program I'll be doing my comprehensive exam in history towards the end of the semester. In addition to all my coursework I will be reviewing about 20 books from history courses I took in 2010-11. In addition to that I also will be reading 5 new books on the Civil War, assigned by the instructor. This was the first one, thankfully it was a collection of essays only 150 pages. 1 down, 4 to go.

I'm curious. Did you know when you read those 20 books that this would be necessary? I hope you took good notes on them!

Good luck on your masters!

Thanks. I'm almost done with the history degree. The information science part will be finished in August. When I started the program I thought I would be doing a thesis, but neither of my ideas were accepted, so I've switched to the exam option.

For two of the classes we were required to write short review/analysis papers. I still have my copies with the professor's notes. I also have my class notes, mostly of group discussions, which I will be re-reading as well.

Well done! Keep plugging away at it!

Thanks.

I finished two books today, one academic and one for fun Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Conviction and Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper. I enjoyed them both, if for totally different reasons.

Double Fold exposes some of the US library faults from the past 50 years, mostly in regards to the microfilming industry. Books and bound newspapers by the hundreds of thousands were disbound, photographed, and discarded all in the name of preservation. Several librarians invented wacky methods for testing paper, including the double fold test, from which the book gets it's title. Many of the largest institutions in the US no longer have their paper copies of city and national newspapers, because most people got caught up in the microfilm technology craze. Nicholas Baker explains the slippery slope that led to the loss of a lot of cultural resources. I read this book for my library and archival preservation class, now I need to go start the paper that's due in a couple weeks.

I plan on working my way through Theft of Swords as my next free time book, since it's Fantasy Feb.

Finished my second book of poetry, Walking to Martha's Vineyard by Franz Wright.

This short collection of poetry was published in 2003 and won the Pulitzer. I'd read a Wright collection in undergrad and enjoyed it, so thought I'd try another collection. Wright focuses on renewal and hope in the midst of despair and struggles. Some poems are prayer-like and solemn, others more raging and emotional. An enjoyable quick read.

3rd Urban Fantasy down, American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I've read a few books by Neil Gaiman and I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Took me a few chapters to really get into it, but then I was hooked. My favourite book of Neil's is Neverwhere but that's probably because I love London, and first read Neverwhere when riding on the Tube. American Gods was different from but had a similar feel to Neverwhere. An interesting spin on American culture and religion.

Finished my second Civil War history book today, Nothing But Freedom by Eric Foner. This short book contains three chapters on Reconstruction, comparing it to similar situations in Haiti, the British Caribbean, and south Africa.

Read another book on the Inklings Romantic Religion. This book provided some insights into the writings of Owen Barfield, Charles William, Lewis, and Tolkien. The author looked at how each author viewed Romance and religion and how they portrayed their beliefs in their writings.

Finished my second fantasy for Fantasy Feb. Theft of Swords. I really enjoyed this read. Overall the story had enough familiar elements mixed together in new ways to provide a good solid read. I'll try to pick up the next volume in the series when I get a chance.

Managed to finish off The Valley of Fear at the very end of the month. I enjoyed the detective part of this case, but the long back story seemed to drag a bit. I should have my monthly summary stats posted tonight or tomorrow.

February Summary

Books read:
Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire
The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation
Moonshine
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Narrative Poems by C. S. Lewis
Why the North Won the Civil War
Star Wars Fate of the Jedi: Conviction
Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper
Walking to Martha’s Vineyard
American Gods
Nothing But Freedom
Romantic Religion
Theft of Swords
The Valley of Fear

Stats:
books read: 14
total pages read (using Goodreads stats): 4179
average pages read per day: 144

Category: Monthly Progress (Year total)
history: 3 (5/12)
fantasy: 1 (4/6)
Inklings: 1 (6/12)
Science Fiction: 1 (2/6)
Books about Books: 0 (0/6)
Alternate History and Steam punk: 0 (0/6)
Graphic Novel: 1 (4/6)
Sherlock Holmes: 2 (7/12)
Urban Fantasy: 2 (3/6)
Library Science/archives and public history: 1 (1/6)
Dramatic works, plays and poetry: 2 (2/6)
LT Giveaways and Re-reads: 0 (0/6)

Books read that don’t fit a category: 0 (1)

I enjoyed Fantasy February, and was lucky to fit in 2 fantasies (Moonshine and Theft of Swords) among all my coursework.

From this point on academic reading will be the focus. I'm currently reading 5 textbooks, and I have 3 more new Civil War books to read before I begin reviewing all the old material for my Comps.

Just finished my first book for March, Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts the main textbook for my archival representation class. The book offers a good introduction to how archival processing works, and includes many appendixes several of which include examples of finding aids.

Finished reading His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle today. I especially enjoyed the title story as an epilogue with the reunion of Sherlock and John after many years apart.

Yesterday I received 3 LT member giveaway books in the mail. Two were signed by the authors. I've been winning books like crazy during the past 2 months or so, from both LT and Goodreads.

I finally got my December ER win of Star Wars: Darth Plagueis last weekend, I was really impatient for that one to arrive. I started it immediately and I'm about halfway through. I will certainly be able to start filling category 12 once I get some free time, I think I have 9 giveaway books I need to read. I can't wait.

Edit
So I literally just checked my email for the first time this morning and I had an email telling me I had won yet another book from Goodreads (medieval historical fiction, which is a good fit with my reading habits). Sooner or later this good book luck is going to run out, but I will enjoy it as long as it lasts.

I managed to finish two books today and write half a history paper. I finished A Short History of Reconstruction and Light Beyond All Shadow: Religious Experience in Tolkien's Work. The Tolkien book had some pretty interesting chapters about Inklings, Christian themes, Icelandic and medieval sources, and a couple of chapters comparing Peter Jackson's film adaptation to the original written word. It was pretty interesting.

Finished two books today. Historic Preservation by Norman Tyler was a recommended book for my history class. This book provides a good overview of the preservation movement in America. It covers a wide range of topics including the National Register of Historic Sites, conservation and renovation of sites, adaptive reuse, landscape preservation, the differences between historic districts, areas, and corridors, and how to do "green" preservation. A good textbook, it's full of sketches and pictures of historic sites and architectural examples.

The second book is my first steam punk book of the year. The Hunter by Theresa Meyers. It's not one I would have picked for myself but I won an ARC of the second book in the series, so thought I should read the first one before the second one arrived. It's basically a steam punk western in a world where a select group of human Hunters fight the Darkin (demons). Mechanical gadgets galore, silver bullets and salt are required for hunters.

I went out and got the mail about 10 minutes after I finished the book, and I had a package. The second book arrived right on time. Hope to start it in a couple of days, after I get some more history books read/reviewed for my comps.

Finished a history book today, The Invasion of Canada, a popular history which follows the first year of the War of 1812. This book is not for my Comps Exam but is for a presentation I'm giving in April.

Berton deals with the complex political situations which led to war and the reluctance with which the commanders went to the front. The British resolved to fight a defensive war, but the Americans went on the offensive several times and fought on Canadian soil. Each side had a couple of decent officers, but tended to be run by elderly men from the Revolutionary Era who should not have been in command. The Americans lost several battles, at Detroit, Niagara, and Frenchtown before the winter freeze set in and made fighting impossible. They didn't manage to sweep through Upper Canada like they planned, and the war dragged on for two more years.

Historic Preservation sounds pretty interesting to me. On of the libraries in my regional system has it, so I'm going to give it a try. Thanks!

You're welcome. Hope you enjoy it.

Finished two books today, my second to last Civil War book and my first Early Reviewer read of the year.

Civil War Soldiers by Reid Mitchell
Good source for reading excerpts of soldier's thoughts and reactions to war, both North and Confederate. Mitchell shows the complexity of war and the conflicting emotions which most men felt when they served with the blue and grey.

Star Wars: Darth Plagueis by James Luceno
I was surprised that there was a SW book in a giveaway, and was really excited, though not surprised, when I won. It took two months to get here but the wait was worth it. This book provides good background information about Palpatine's master and his Sith training and political rise to power. It started off 67 years before the Battle of Yavin and ended right at the end of the Phantom Menace with Palpatine already planning how to get young Anakin to turn to the dark side.

Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms by Lissa Evans

LT member giveaway

A great read aimed at a middle school or young adult audience. This book follows the adventures of Stuart Horton, a 10 year old boy who has just moved to a new town. He learns that his great-uncle was a famous stage magician and inventor. Stuart finds clues left behind by his great-uncle which lead him on a treasure hunt across town looking for the hidden workshop.

During his quest Stuart meets and eventually befriends his neighbors, triplet girls, and an elderly blind lady named Lenora. He also develops an enemy who is also searching for the shop, to exploit the inventions for monetary gain. Stuart moves to a new town, learns some family history, makes new friends, and eventually finds the shop, all in one summer vacation.

Finished two books today, one for the challenge and one which was part of my review for my comps exam.

Sherlock Holmes and Philosophy
Sherlock Holmes and Philosophy is a fun read for any Holmes fan. The book is part of the Popular Culture and Philosophy series and contains 33 short chapters broken up into 7 categories. The "amateur detectives" authors deal with all sorts of topics about Sherlock Holmes including: discussions of philosophers and theories, summations of cases, several folks pick their favourite Holmes actor and give reasons why, there are chapters on the development of the detective genre, Moriarty, virtual reality, and how Holmes adjusted to married life to name a few. The book deals with all sorts of Holmesiana: the official Doyle canon, the non-canonical Doyle stories, pastiches, television, theater, and film (including Star Trek and Japanese) manifestations, and modern fiction.

The Crusades: A Very Short Introduction by Christopher Tyerman

I posted a review when I first read this one a year and a half ago. Enjoyed re-reading it and refreshing my memory on the overview of the Crusades. Now it's time to jump in and study the dozen or so other books from the class.

It's so nice to see another Star Wars fanatic. My nephew buys all the new novels and comics and gives them to me in order. I've read pretty much all the series which take place after the movies and I'm waiting with great anticipation for my turn with the new Fate of the Jedi. Have you been reading The Lost Tribe of the Sith short stories?

@ auntmarge64: I've not yet read the Lost Tribe of the Sith, but I do have them all in electronic form. I figure I will get around to them at some point. The new series are much higher on the TBR pile. I've read 6 Fate of the Jedi, but I've not yet gotten to the most recent couple. Probably won't have time for them until summer.

Re: Lost Tribe - there's a print and electronic version of the complete group of stories + 100 extra pages coming out soon. I've really enjoyed the stories, and they fill in the history of the Sith that Luke and Ben are dealing with in Fate of the Jedi. And yes, it seems you'll be pretty busy for the next couple of months....

My physical library just hit the 1,000 mark!

I don't know whether to say "Congrats!" or "Yikes!"

Congratulations on 1000! At least I hope congratulations are in order - as far as I'm concerned, the more books the merrier, but not everyone agrees....

It's definitely a good thing. The more the merrier is my philosophy as well. I'm excited and happy about this development, though I'm sure my parents would disagree since my room is full of books. At this point my books are all contained in my room, so they can't complain too much.

I need more shelving, but that's an old issue. I'm very grateful I have a huge built in cabinet with a large open section. I have a good 20 or so stacks of books, all semi-organized in that area.

Here's a picture from last year, I've added more books but the same basic pattern is followed.

Finished two more history books in preparation for my comprehensive exam.

The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction by William Doyle

4 stars
Doyle provides a very compact and dense introduction to the French Revolution. He summarizes the causes which started the revolution, the events which happened during the revolution, and the effects it caused, some of which have reverberated down to the modern day. The short chapters make the book easy to read in a few sittings, and the chapter titles give the reader the direction for the chapter (Why it happened, how it happened, what it ended, what it started). Doyle mentions all the key players, political parties, and the international incidents the revolution impacted.

I enjoyed the book but it's main focus was on causes and effects of the war, not necessarily on the events themselves. Still a good read, if not as detailed as I was expecting. The included timeline was helpful for refreshing my memory on the actual events.

The Vacant Chair: The Northern Soldier Leaves Home by Reid Mitchell

5 stars
military/social history
In this book Mitchell looks at the Northern soldier during the Civil War. He uses journals and letters to let the soldier's, nurses, and family members speak for themselves. His chapters cover motivations for enlistment, war experiences, encounters with Confederate soldiers and civilians, and how they coped with death. Northern soldiers joined the army to preserve the Union, to fight beside their friends and protect their families. Many young men considered the war to be their "coming of age" experience. In the end the North's determination to win, the support of the home community and family gave them the strength to endure.

London in Poetry and Prose edited by Anna Adams

5 stars
This book is a short anthology of excerpts of London themed literature. It includes mostly poetry (so I'm counting it as poetry), and is a fun little collection. The editor, contributed several poems, and did a nice job of organizing the items she selected. The book contains 13 sections, and each section opens with a couple of lines from William Blake's "Jerusalem" and a drawing/sketch of London. Some of the section titles include: "The Weather in the Streets," "The River Thames," "The Recent Wars," "Churches, Palaces, and Towers," and "London Transport." Adams included a range of authors stretching from the Middle Ages to the modern day, mostly Brits, but a few internationals. A few include: Charles Dickens, T. S. Eliot, Chaucer, W. H. Auden, Thomas Hardy, Lord Byron, Jonathan Swift, and Virginia Woolf. A great read for anyone who is familiar with London and wants to get a glimpse of how the great city has been portrayed in the past 400 years of literature.

Picayune by John B DeJordy

This was a free book from a Goodreads First Read giveaway. I'll post a full review on the book's page soon.

I enjoyed this book. The main character Picayune the mouse changes from being a timid young mouse to being a forest wide ambassador and agent of peace during his quest to save his friend Ameera. He makes new friends on his adventure, and must overcome obstacles in order to reach the Dragon's lair and fight for Ameera's freedom. He meets squirrels, badgers, and hawks on his journey.

Here's the March summary.

List of Books read this month:
Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts
His Last Bow
Light Beyond All Shadow: Religious Experience in Tolkien’s Work
A Short History of Reconstruction
Historic Preservation
The Hunter
The American Invasion of Canada
Civil War Soldiers
Star Wars: Darth Plagueis
Horton’s Miraculous Mechanisms
Sherlock Holmes and Philosophy
The Crusades: A Very Short Introduction
The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction
The Vacant Chair
London in Poetry and Prose
Picayune

Stats
books read: 16
total pages read (using Goodreads stats): 4238
average pages read per day: 136

Category Update
Monthly Progress (Year total)
history: 5 (10/12)
fantasy: 0 (4/6)
Inklings: 1 (7/12)
Science Fiction: 0 (2/6)
Books about Books: 0 (0/6)
Alternate History and Steam punk: 1 (1/6)
Graphic Novel: 0 (4/6)
Sherlock Holmes: 2 (9/12)
Urban Fantasy: 0 (3/6)
Library Science/archives and public history: 2 (3/6)
Dramatic works, plays and poetry: 1 (3/6)
LT Giveaways and Re-reads: 3 (3/6)

Books read that don’t fit a category: 1 (2)

Finished off a textbook for my Archival Preservation class Preserving Archives and Manuscripts. It's published by the Society of American Archivists as part of their Archival Fundamentals II Series. Good introduction to the basics of rehousing, threats to collections, security and user issues. The appendices had easy hands-on treatments for items with step by step instructions and drawings which made the process clear.

I re-read Sister Revolutions: French Lightning, American Light by Susan Dunn to review the connections between the American and French Revolutions in prep for my comp exam next week. Currently I'm re-reading The American Revolution by Gordon Wood.

I found out some great news this week. I will have a paid internship this summer working at Fort Ticonderoga!! The Curator of Collections selected me to be the Collections Intern. I will be working with both the museum archive and getting some public history experience in the art gallery.

In regards to the archive, the fort has 100 years of museum institutional records which have never been systematically organized. The fort doesn't have a librarian or archivist on staff. The curator wants me to develop a framework for defining and organizing the collections, and then I'll get to spend a good part of my time processing and rehousing as much as I can. I'll also get to spend around 1/3 of the time in the gallery, supervising visitors and answering questions about the exhibit.

For those of you who don't know Fort Ticonderoga is located in northern New York, between Lakes Champlain and George. It was built by the French in 1755 and has played a central role in both the Seven Years War and the American Revolution. It was reconstructed in the early 1900's and is a National Register Historic Site.

My personal interest in the fort dates back to high school when I discovered that two of my ancestors who fought in the American Revolution were stationed at the fort. I've visited a couple of times since then, and have written 3 academic papers on the fort, including my 55 page undergraduate seminar paper.

The internship starts in mid-May, and runs through the end of August. This will be a great chance to get some real hands-on experience with everything I've been learning. I can't wait. I just have to survive my exam and end of the semester projects.

website: http://www.fortticonderoga.org/

Congratulations on such a great summer job! I have never been to Fort Ticonderoga, but have read many, many books in which it was featured and would love to visit it someday.

What a fun challenge! Will you get to wear a period costume as well?

Congratulations on your internship - that's tremendous! I love that area of New York, particularly Lake George, although it's been a number of years since I've been there. It is truly beautiful in the summer. I hope you have a wonderful time. Post pictures, please!

It crossed my mind that you might be in the museum studies program at Cooperstown, but I'm guessing not with your dual program. I hope you won't be uprooted too far - and that your internship includes housing.

@ mamzel: As far as I know I won't be doing any period costume, since I'm not a period re-enactor and my only time with the public will be in the gallery. I wouldn't be opposed to a costume and I'd like to learn a bit about re-enactment if possible while I'm up there.

@ Dejah_Thoris: My most recent visit to the fort was last Oct. when the autumn trees were gorgeous. My family lives in Albany, it took me about 2 hours and 15 minutes to reach the fort last Oct, so it's not too far. I will try to remember to post some pictures during the summer.

I'm in a dual degree program at SUNY Albany, MA history and MS information science (library science), with a concentration in archives and records management. At the moment I'm unsure of how housing will work, but I'm expecting a phone call from the curator with more details in a couple of days. I hope he's worked something out which doesn't involve me using my whole paycheck for room/board expenses.

Finished my final re-read as I study for my comprehensive exam, American Revolution: A History by Gordon Wood. I managed to re-read a couple of books for each subject area, and I've been reading over my extensive class notes and short papers. The exam is just two days away, I can't wait for it to be over.

congratulations on the internship

I had my comprehensive exam today. I spent three hours typing answers to 4 essay questions. I typed about 4,200 words roughly 7-8 pages single spaced. I'm just glad its over. I'll have to wait about a week before I hear the results. Hopefully I passed and will be able to graduate. Then I'll have one masters degree finished and just one semester to go on the second one.

As a reward I'm taking the next couple of days off from academics, I just watched the first two episodes of Game of Thrones season 2. I plan on reading some fun books this weekend. I've spent so much time lately studying for my exams it's time for some light reading.

I also just found out that I have an on-site housing option for my summer internship at Fort Ticonderoga. So that will be a relief if it comes through.

Now I'm off to make a mug of tea before I curl up with a book.

Congratulations on being done with your comps! Hope you enjoy some quality relaxing time!

Congratulations on finishing your comprehensive! I'm sorry you have to wait a week until you hear your results, but I hope you enjoy your break from academics.

It's wonderful that there's an onsite housing possibility. I hope that works out.

Finished two books today, both academic items. Keeping Time: The History and Theory of Preservation in America by by William Murtagh. This was a textbook for my historic preservation class. Provided a good overview to the American preservation movement, from grassroot volunteers to national agencies.

James Madison by Richard Brookhiser was a good solid biography of Madison. I read it in preparation for a presentation I'm giving next week on the War of 1812.

What happened to taking a few days off from academics??? LOL!

I know, but they were both hanging around with only a couple of chapters left (less than 30 pages each). So I decided to just finish them off.

I'm not doing any academic research or paper writing for the next couple of days. I did just finish polishing an academic website project, but it didn't feel like homework. I created a Google site for the archival processing project I worked on all semester.

I also started reading a couple of fun books, including a giveaway book. I am trying to escape from the academics, but there's just so much to do in the next couple of weeks. Sadly I can't just sit around and do nothing.

Congratulations on the internship and finishing your comprehensive exam! It all sounds very exciting!

@ ivyd: thanks, I can't wait to head off to the fort. Hopefully I'll get my exam results sometime this week. This weekend I went to a one day Tolkien conference in Vermont which was a lot of fun. There were 9 presenters and the topic was Tolkien's Bestiary. I enjoyed getting a bit of a break.

I finished a fun read today The Slayer. This was a giveaway book from Goodreads which I received last month. I read the first book in the series about a month ago so I'd have the background. I enjoyed The Slayer, it's main focus was on Winchester Jackson (human) and his temporary alliance with European vampires. Winn is the oldest of three Hunter brothers, they have been trained to kill any non-humans they encounter. However Winn is forced to work with the vampires to try and defeat their mutual enemy, an archdemon.

At the Tolkien Conference I bought two books and had them inscribed by the authors. I keep adding to my Tolkien collection, which is fine by me, more books to read this summer.

Following Gandalf Epic Battles and Moral Victory in The Lord of the Rings by Matthew Dickerson
Ents, Elves, and Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J. R. R. Tolkien by Matthew Dickerson and Jonathan Evans

Jonathan was the keynote speaker, he summarized the history of the medieval bestiary and then focused in on dragons. Dickerson spoke about balrogs and had some really interesting things to contribute to the roundtable discussion on what to do with orcs. Other topics included: Rohirrim horses, trolls, the eagles, mumakil, and several others. It was a fun 8 hour day. Really shows me how little I know about the History of Middle Earth series. Maybe this summer I will take the plunge and start reading more on Middle Earth.

Finished off another history book the other day The Civil War of 1812. It was in preparation for my 30 minute presentation which I gave today to my DAR chapter titled "James Madison and the War of 1812." I've read several other history books in the past month or so in preparation. I enjoyed doing the research, and I'm glad the presentation is over.

Time to go start on my term projects.

I found out today that I passed my history comprehensive exam!!

I only have one more history paper and presentation to do for Thursday to finish off my history masters. So close to having my first masters program finished. Two more days!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Great news!

Congratulations.

Yay!!!

Somewhat belated congrats!

Thanks everyone. I am quite happy to be done with the dreaded exam; and I'm thrilled that I passed.

I finished off one fun book this week, reading on the bus.
Madhouse by Rob Thurman is book 3 in the Cal Leandros series. I'm so glad my LT secret santa this year gave me the first book in this series. I've enjoyed it so far, I already have book 4 waiting on my TBR pile.

In book three Cal and Niko face a new threat in NYC, Sawney Beane come back to life. (I'd never heard of him or any similar sounding legend. Basically he's a redcap who killed hundreds of people with a scythe in England before being hunted down my an army and burned at the stake.)

On top of hunting down the insane mass murderer the brother's friend Rob is being hunted by assassins and is barely staying ahead of them. They make an alliance with a boggle and some werewolves to hunt Sawney. Several attempts fail to inflict damage on Sawney, and leave Cal with a huge hole in his chest from being bitten. In the end the four main characters (Cal, Niko, Rob the Puck and Promise the vampire) come up with one final plan to try. A flamethrower, explosive bullets, everyone armed to the teeth, and Cal as the bait.

Now I'm off to finish my last history paper and power point presentation of my degree. I'm writing about Fort Ticonderoga, so it's pretty fun to do.

I have had a busy week with several term papers/projects being due. Good news is I only have two 10 page papers left and one final exam. Everything will be over by next Tuesday.

Here are the April stats, everything is much lower than the first three months, but I've had an extremely full schedule. The foci of this past month were surviving my exam and my presentation on the War of 1812. Glad they are now over. I'm lucky I managed to fit in two fun books.

List of Books Read:
Preserving Archives and Manuscripts
Sister Revolutions: French Lightening, American Light
The American Revolution: A History
Keeping Time: The History and Theory of Preservation in America
James Madison
The Slayer
The Civil War of 1812
Madhouse

stats:
books read: 8
source- personal collection: 6
library: 2
physical books acquired: 25
purchased: 12
giveaways: 11
gift: 2
e-books acquired: 2
books read from TBR pile: 1
overall pages read (using Goodreads stats): 2380 (year: 17,277)
average pages read per day: 79.5 (year: 190)

monthly stats:
books read: 8
total pages read (using Goodreads stats): 2380
average pages read per day: 79.5

Category: Monthly Progress (Year total)
history: 2 (12/12)
fantasy: (4/6)
Inklings: (7/12)
Science Fiction: (2/6)
Books about Books: (0/6)
Alternate History and Steam punk: (1/6)
Graphic Novel: (4/6)
Sherlock Holmes: (9/12)
Urban Fantasy: 1 (4/6)
Library Science/archives and public history: 2 (5/6)
Dramatic works, plays and poetry: (3/6)
LT Giveaways and Re-reads: 1 (4/6)

Books read that don’t fit a category: 2 (4)

Hopefully in May I can make a dent in the TBR pile of giveaway books. As you can see from the stats I received 11 ARC/giveaway books this month, mostly from Goodreads. I've been grateful to win so much, but haven't had time to do any of them justice. I can't wait to jump in to a few of them.

For that reason I'm glad I only get one ER at a time from LT!

So my archivists student club had a baked goods/book sale today. Guess who bought several used books?

I got 4 paperback books for $3, and I supported my club, so it was worth it. More books to add to the multiple leaning piles of TBR.

I bought:
Q by Luther Blissett
Kydd by Julian Stockwin
Medieval English Verse Penguin Classics
and The Oxford Murders by Guillermo Martinez

My copy of Malory: Complete Works by Sir Thomas Malory arrived today in the mail.

I haven't picked up any historical fiction in a while, and the Medieval Verse just had to come along. I like how I unconsciously have a UK theme. It just happens.

My semester ends next Monday so I'm almost free from classes!

Finished off my first book for May.

A Richer Heritage: Historic Preservation in the Twenty-First Century

This was a textbook for my public history preservation class. A collection of essays on all sorts of preservation topics including national, local, and international issues, how to handle Native American, folklore, and oral history traditions, archaeology, rural landscapes, and many other topics. I enjoyed the essays.

On a side note, I went and saw the Avengers at midnight this morning. I really enjoyed it, even though I'm not a huge comic book fan. Midnight showings can be so much fun, because the audience really gets involved. Everyone in the theater wanted to be there. I was kind of surprised by the amount of cheering for the Hulk, he did have a few great moments. The little which I know about comics is more geared at DC Comics and the Justice League, I'd like to learn more. I may need to dabble in some of the basic series and story lines at some point.

It got a rave review in the SF Chronicle this morning. I haven't seen any of the lead up movies except for the first Ironman so I better hop to it!

I saw Ironman and Thor when they came out, but not since. This past weekend I watched Captain America, but I knew nothing about Black Widow or Hawkeye. I really enjoyed the movie, even as a non comic-book nerd. There's a lot of good dialogue/jibes among the heroes as they all attempt to one up each other. References are made to the past movies, but most of it is personality related, with no background needed. I think the Stark/Captain America tension was the best. Self-centered loner billionaire vs. military disciplined team leader. It was a good way to celebrate being almost done with the semester.

I have one more 10 page paper to write, then I'm free for almost two weeks before heading off to Fort Ticonderoga.

Belated congratulations on your exam results - woohoo!

Thanks! I am glad that I have one master's degree finished off. The exam was long, the waiting for results was the most difficult part.

My semester is officially finished. I have a week and a half of freedom before I head off to Ticonderoga to start my internship. Time for lots of reading and relaxing. I've managed to read 4 books recently. Two of them were rather short:
English Literature: a Very Short Introduction and A Common-Sense Platform.

I also just finished off the Fate of the Jedi series, I read the final two books Ascension and Star Wars: Apocalypse between Sunday and today.

Wow, what a semester you've had! Congrats on the degree and summer internship.

I got to the last post and saw you're reading Star Wars. Me too, although generally I stick to books and graphic novels which take place after the movies. I say "generally" because my nephew, who buys all the new publications and lends them to me, says there's a new book (series?) coming out which covers the founding of the Jedi. Did you read the New Jedi Order series? I thought it was by far the best and Lucas should use it as a basis for a third trilogy, maybe with Peter Jackson directing. Can you imagine a Star Wars universe with such a director? I mean, thank you Lucas for the whole Star Wars concept, but really, please don't direct any more!

@ auntmarge64: I'm almost always reading a Star Wars book. I just finished the newest series, so now I've got to wait for what comes next. Though there are a few singles I've got on my TBR pile.

I've read most of the NJO series, I think I missed a couple along the way. I tend to enjoy the series rather than stand-alone singles; series can have much more detailed plot and character development. And they last longer.

Peter Jackson as a director would be amazing, though I don't know if a third trilogy would ever happen. I'll have to look into the foundation book/series, that would be cool. Thanks for the heads up on that one.

Finished off two more books this week. It's amazing how much reading I can get done when I don't have classes getting in the way.

Following Gandalf by Matthew Dickerson
I purchased this book at the UVM Tolkien Conference this year after hearing Matthew give a presentation. I really enjoyed the book. He addressed the difference between moral and military victories; how certain characters win or are destroyed due to certain characteristics.

The Minority Council by Kate Griffin
Book four in the Matthew Swift series finds Swift up against some tough new magical menaces in London. He must fight the Fairy Godmother, who is flushing the streets with a super drug for magicians. The Midnight Mayor makes deals with imps, the Beggar King, and other magical forces in order to ensure the safety of his city. Matthew learns more about his powers and responsibilities, including the existence of his minority council. He makes some new friends, like his P. A., a dust-addict, and a medusa. He is forced to ferret out a traitor among his Aldermen, send out an electronic spamming virus to all of his employees, find and destroy a shadow with claws which is attacking children, evade magical bloodhounds, and try to keep his mortal body intact and breathing.

I had an all day orientation session today at Fort Ticonderoga, and I start work next Friday. I met my boss and several other department supervisors and some of the re-enactors. I can't wait to move up to the fort and begin my project. I'm going to have a great summer.

Finished a few more books this past week

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
This was a fun read. Marvel superheros are transplanted to 1602 Elizabethan/James I England. Magneto is in Spain using the Inquisition to draw mutants to his cause. An anomaly from the New World causes the "avengers" to rise before their time. Someone or something was sent back in time, and the mutants have to send it back before it is too late. The Watchman warns Dr. Strange about the future, Thor makes an appearance as the hidden treasure of the Knights Templar. Familiar faces in a different time but remain in line with their character's personalities.

Unstuck: Your Life. God's Design. Real Change.
Early Reviewer book from February

Cultural Landscapes by Richard Longstreth
My final textbook of the semester. I read about half of it for class and decided to finish it.

Sherlock Holmes: the Trial of Sherlock Holmes
Graphic novel where Sherlock is arrested for murder and must clear his name in the court room. Watson and Lestrade try to help from the outside but they just get in Sherlock's way.

First Friend Thomas Jefferson
This was a good young adult read. It covers the main events of Jefferson's life and it a good format to make history accessible and interesting for young readers. The social networking aspects were interesting and made Jefferson come alive. Factually it was pretty accurate.

A Very Short Introduction: The Anglo-Saxon Age

Fare Forward
Fare Forward was an interesting combination of science, mysticism, religion, and time travel. Gabriella comes from a mystic heritage and on occasion gets glimpses of the future. Her grandfather is a scientist who is preparing for a Nobel Prize, with research to prove that time travel is possible to other universes. While Gabriella is struggling through her first year of architecture school at Columbia she meets a man named Benjamin who she comes to discover has been at the center of her father's research and work with Albert Einstein. Benjamin changes everything in Gabriella's life, and helps her understand her unique gift.

A Very Short Introduction: Medieval Britain

My internship at Fort Ticonderoga has gotten off to a good start. I've been here for a week and have been having a good time.

Here are the read's from this week:
Star Wars Scourge
I really enjoyed this one because the main character is a Jedi Archivist used to research who questions his abilities to use the Force in the field.

Fort Ticonderoga: Key to a Continent
I figured I would re-read this one to brush up on my fort history.

The History of the Kings of Britain

The internship is moving along quite well. I've inventoried about a dozen boxes of records. I found some cool blueprints and maps of the site, but most of the rest is institutional correspondence. I've not found any really early stuff yet, it's mostly the 1950s-80s. I've also spent about half my time in the fort itself staffing the art gallery and the museum exhibits. We've only had one really rainy day so far, but I didn't mind since I'm allowed to read when no visitors are around.

Here are the May stats:

List of Books read
A Richer Heritage: Historic Preservation in the Twenty-First Century
Star Wars: Ascension
English Literature: A Very Short Introduction
Star Wars: Apocalypse
A Common Sense Platform for the 21st Century
Following Gandalf
Minority Council
Marvel 1602
Unstuck: Your Life. God’s Design. Real Change
Cultural Landscapes
Sherlock Holmes: The Trial of Sherlock Holmes
First Friend: Thomas Jefferson
The Anglo-Saxon Age: A Very Short Introduction
Fare Forward
Medieval Britain: A Very Short Introduction
Star Wars Scourge
Fort Ticonderoga: Key to a Continent
The History of the Kings of Britain

stats:
books read: 18
source- personal collection: 12
library: 6
physical books acquired: 15
purchased: 10
giveaways: 5
gift:
e-books acquired: 1
overall pages read (using Goodreads stats): 4744 (year: 19641)
average pages read per day May: 153 (year: 131)

Category: Monthly Progress (Year total)
history: 1 +(12/12)
fantasy: (4/6)
Inklings: 1 +(7/12)
Science Fiction: 2 +(2/6)
Books about Books: 1 +(0/6)
Alternate History and Steam punk: +(1/6)
Graphic Novel: 2 +(4/6)
Sherlock Holmes: (9/12)
Urban Fantasy: 1 +(4/6)
Library Science/archives and public history: 2 +(5/6)
Dramatic works, plays and poetry: (3/6)
LT Giveaways and Re-reads: 5 +(4/6)

Books read that don’t fit a category: 3 +(4)

You are making good progress with your challenge. Interesting mixture of reading material for the month of May.... I haven't hear of Fare Forward but it does not like something I will check out further.

Yeah, May was kind of all over the place. Most of the variety came from giveaway books and a couple of spring of the moment grabs from the library.

Fare Forward was interesting, not something I would have ever chosen to purchase. It did have an interesting plot line and I was definitely hooked to see how it ended. Parts of it were not explained very well, but I gather that the author is working on a prequel so that might help flesh out some details. It was unusual enough to keep my attention.

I've finished several books in the last week or so.
The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips
a Goodreads giveaway (review posted on book page)

Berlin Cantata
a LT member giveaway (review posted on book page)

A Favorite Place of Resort for Strangers: The King's Garden at Fort Ticonderoga by Lucinda Brockway

Shakespeare and Co.

I've read several books in the past couple of weeks.
The Mabinogion
Welsh mythology/folklore, some about Arthur.

A Thousand Bayonets
This was a Goodread's giveaway. I'm normally not a big fan of journalism/thriller type books but this one was pretty good. When a reporter returns from Afghanistan he discovers his home in Vancouver is not as peaceful as the had hoped. He gets a story which involves the two big drug/crime gangs in town and he has to take to the streets to avoid both the police and the criminals.

His Majesty’s Dragon
I finally started this series. I bought this book months ago but the semester was too crazy to allow me to read it. I didn't want to cram it in around homework. I absolutely loved it and have already finished the second book.

Cluny Cross
This was another Goodread's giveaway, a "mad medieval tale." The book follows the adventures of a monk from Cluny as he is sent by his abbot to Jerusalem. He must deal with the Greeks, Jews, Muslims, and Christians he encounters. Along the way he is captured and imprisoned and sent off to the heart of Muslim lands. Once he finally gets free the First Crusade has exploded through Palestine and war is everywhere. He eventually reached Jerusalem after a long and dangerous road.

Throne of Jade
Book two in the Temeraire books. I enjoyed seeing both Laurence and Temeraire grow and develop throughout the book.

Phoenix Rising
Victorian era London steampunk which focuses on the Ministry of Peculiar Occurences, those who investigate the strange and unusual. The book centers on a proper Londoner archivist and his new partner, a rebellious New Zealand field agent. Absolutely loved it, the second one is on its way from Amazon.

I still have to start the Temeraire series so it's good to see another positive review as I do have the first book sitting on the tbr shelves to get to at some point. Phoenix Rising looks like it might be fun too so that one will be added to the wishlist.

@ 128 -- Glad you're enjoying the Temeraire books -- I really love them! Phoenix Rising also looks interesting.

I am also a fan of Ms Novik's books. She is a LibraryThing author and her page is here.

@ mamzel: Thanks for the link to her page, I'll go check it out. I'm currently about halfway through book 4.

I plan to post my June stats in a couple of days.

June stats:
This past month was definitely heavy on giveaway reads and steam punk/alternate history. I also finally managed to finish off my last Sherlock Holmes short story collection, so I'm done with the canon.

List of Books Read:
The Tragedy of Arthur
Berlin Cantata
A Favorite Place of Resort for Strangers: The King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga
Shakespeare and Co. by Stanley Wells
The Mabinogion
A Thousand Bayonets
His Majesty’s Dragon
Cluny Cross
Throne of Jade
Phoenix Rising
Black Powder War
The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes

stats:
books read: 12
source- personal collection: 7
library: 5
physical books acquired: 5
purchased: 1
giveaways: 4
overall pages read (using Goodreads stats): 3,997 (year: 26,368)
average pages read per day: 133.23 (year: 175)

Category: Monthly Progress (Year total)
history: 1 (14/12)
fantasy: (4/6)
Inklings: (8/12)
Science Fiction: (4/6)
Books about Books: 1 (2/6)
Alternate History and Steam punk: 4 (5/6)
Graphic Novel: (6/6)
Sherlock Holmes: 1 (10/12)
Urban Fantasy: (5/6)
Library Science/archives and public history: (7/12)
Dramatic works, plays and poetry: 1 (4/6)
LT Giveaways and Re-reads: 3 (12/12)

Books read that don’t fit a category: 1 (8)

I've managed to read several books this month.

Deathwish by Rob Thurman
book 4 in the Cal Leandros urban fantasy series

Empire of Ivory and Victory of Eagles
books 4 and 5 in the Temeraire series

Ents, Elves, and Eriador by Matthew T Dickerson
I bought this one at a Tolkien conference I attended in April. Dickerson was one of the presenters. His book is about Tolkien's environmental vision, and how he was really ahead of his time on some issues.

It has been a busy month up at the Fort. So many events and visitors around. My internship is going quite well, I've almost finished processing 45 cubic feet of records.

Reading update:

Gifts and Consequences
4 stars
This was a Goodreads giveaway win. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Jonathan's wife is slowly dying and she wants him to use his fortune to help others. He agrees to do so on his own terms. He has his employees search for deserving people who think they are willing to do anything to accomplish a certain goal. Jonathan gives them different opportunities. If they meet his terms they get their rewards, but if they back out they have to face Jonathan's own brand of justice.

Tongues of Serpents and
Crucible of Gold
Finished off the current Temeraire books. I enjoyed these last two, maybe not quite so much as earlier books, but they were still interesting.

Portlandtown
4 stars
This was a LT early reviewer, which was right up my alley. Western/steampunk/zombies. The first in a new series, I'm looking forward to the next book.

C. S. Lewis in a Time of War
5 stars
I loved this book. Reading about C. S. Lewis' relationship with the BBC provided great insight in to the man and his career. I learned so much about his radio broadcasts and his struggles and successes as he mastered a new medium of communication.

Coveted
4 stars
This was another Goodreads giveaway. A paranormal romance with werewolves as the main characters. Nat is a hoarding OCD werewolf who's been kicked out of her clan and she finds herself caught in a turf war with a gang of misfits as her allies.

Here are the July stats.

July
List of books read:
Deathwish
Empire of Ivory
Ents, Elves, and Eriador
Victory of Eagles
Gifts and Consequences
Tongues of Serpents
Portlandtown
C. S. Lewis in a Time of War
Coveted
Crucible of Gold

stats:
books read: 10
source- personal collection: 6
library: 4
physical books acquired: 13
purchased: 11
giveaways: 2
gift:
e-books acquired: 1
books read from TBR pile:
overall pages read (using Goodreads stats): 3171 (year: 29539)
average pages read per day: 102 (year: 163)

Category: Monthly Progress (Year total)
history: (14/12)
fantasy: 1 (5/6)
Inklings: 1 (9/12)
Science Fiction: (4/6)
Books about Books: 1 (3/6)
Alternate History and Steam punk: 4 (9/12)
Graphic Novel: (6/6)
Sherlock Holmes: (10/12)
Urban Fantasy: 1 (6/6)
Library Science/archives and public history: (7/12)
Dramatic works, plays and poetry: (4/6)
LT Giveaways and Re-reads: (12/12)

Books read that don’t fit a category: 2 (10)

It's great to hear that your summer is going well, and that you appear to still have plenty of reading time. I must make a note to get going on the Temeraire series, I've read the first three and then they sort of slipped my mind.

DeltaQueen50: I manage to get a bit of reading done at work. When I'm in the gallery all day the opening hour and closing hour tend to be really slow, so I always have a book with me. That's where I read almost the whole Temeraire series. I definitely recommend that you pick the series back up, glad I could offer a reminder.

I have now finished processing the fort's collection of institutional records. It took me 2.5 months to get through 45 cubic feet of records. I created inventories, reorganized and rehoused the records, and typed up 9 finding aids for the various series. Now they are just waiting for new shelves to have a permanent home in storage.

Here's the link to the image of the completed collection which I've posted in my gallery.

http://pics.librarything.com/picsizes/4b/04/4b04200777e5a04636a776c6641434b41716...

All I can say is Wow! You should label that picture "How I Spent My Summer Vacation".

very impressive

Thanks. I'm currently working my way through a much smaller collection, about 8.5 cubic feet. I should finish it this week.

I've read several books so far in August. Here's a few of the titles.

Star Wars: Allegiance

A Study in Sherlock
5 stars
This was a great read. Modern authors go Holmes. I enjoyed most of the stories, a couple were not my sort of thing, but as a whole the collection was very good. I especially liked Neil Gaiman's contribution.

Jack 1939
5 stars
A Goodread's give away.
An alternate history where young Jack Kennedy is employed by President Roosevelt to spy on the Germans while he's in Europe doing research for his senior thesis at Harvard. Add in a pretty girl and an assassin and Jack is soon on the run for his life to uncover where Hitler's secret money is coming from.

This fall I will be taking my first ever online course. I'm enrolled at the Mythgard Institute to take a course called "The Story of the Hobbit." I've never had the chance to study Tolkien academically, and I think this course will be a lot of fun. It will focus on literary predecessors and influences on Tolkien and on his creative process and the various drafts the book went through before being published.

Here's the book/movie list for the course:
Through the Looking Glass
Winnie-the-Pooh
The Princess and the Goblin
The Marvellous Land of Snergs
The History of the Hobbit
The Annotated Hobbit
parts of The Lays of Beleriand and The Shaping of Middle Earth
The Hobbit (animated)

And of course The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey when it comes out. There's going to be a special follow up lecture about a week after the movie's release.

There will even be guest lectures by John Rateliff (History) and Doug Anderson (Annotated). The first live lecture is next Monday night, while I'm still up in Ticonderoga. I can't wait for the course to begin!

That sounds like fun! I took some online courses and they work as long as you don't have to collaborate with your classmates which the instructors invariably feel is an important part of the learning process.

That's a great reading list! I've never taken an online course, so I'd be interested in hearing how it is!

mamzel: I know what you mean, I'm not a fan of group projects to begin with and trying to do one online would be even worse. As far as I know the only group "work" is weekly postings on a discussion board.

I'll be sure to give some updates as the course gets going. I'm hopeful that it will be a great experience.

I read quite a number of books in August, including beginning work for the Story of the Hobbit. I've decided to include these books in the textbook category (#10).

Here's the August summary.

List of Books read:
Star Wars Allegiance
A Study in Sherlock
Jack 1939
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit-Stealth
A Foreign Country
Darkness Shall Fall
Star Wars: Jedi Trials
Hamlet
J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century
Messy: God Likes it That Way
Crocodile on the Sandbank
Winnie-the-Pooh

stats:
books read: 13
source- personal collection: 9
library: 4
physical books acquired: 10
purchased: 6
giveaways:
gift: 4
e-books acquired:
books read from TBR pile:
overall pages read (using Goodreads stats): 3867 (year: 33406)
average pages read per day: 124.5

Category: Monthly Progress (Year total)
history: (14/12)
fantasy: (5/6)
Inklings: (9/12)
Science Fiction: 3 (7/12)
Books about Books: 1 (4/6)
Alternate History and Steam punk: 1 (10/12)
Graphic Novel: (6/6)
Sherlock Holmes: 1 (11/12)
Urban Fantasy: (6/6)
Library Science/archives and public history: 2 (9/12)
Dramatic works, plays and poetry: 1 (5/6)
LT Giveaways and Re-reads: (12/12)

Books read that don’t fit a category: 4 (10)

September has started off well. I've finished six books in a dozen days. Here's the list:

Roadkill by Rob Thurman
Book five in the Cal Leandros series sees the brothers going on a cross country chase to try and track down the Plague of the World before he completely breaks free from his magical imprisonment. He's an anti-healer who caused the Black Death, among other things. They pick up Rafferty, a werewolf healer, along the way in the hopes that he is strong enough to defeat the anti-healer.
category: urban fantasy

The Silmarillion by JRRT
This was my first time actually reading it straight through. I had started it several times during high school and undergrad but never got more than a third of the way through before giving up. This time I was finally ready for it and really enjoyed the history and world building.
category: Inklings

The Kingdom: A Novel by Brian Litfin
the conclusion to his Chiveis trilogy
I won the first two books as ARCs from giveaways, but I actually had to buy book three. It was worth it. I've really enjoyed this series, it's Christian fantasy set in the future after a world wide disaster. It has a medieval setting even though it occurs in futuristic Europe. The protagonists Teo and Ana must face off against world powers to save their homeland and bring down the demonic oppression. They share the Word of Deus, find a military friar order (think Knights Templar), meet the Papa, and suffer imprisonment and hardships to spread the gospel message.

Grace Grows an ARC from Goodreads

And for my Story of the Hobbit class:
The Princess and the Goblin this was a re-read, I do enjoy George MacDonald

The Marvellous Land of Snergs
I had never heard of this one before it appeared on the syllabus. It was interesting. Wyke-Smith's book was definitely an admitted source of Tolkien's, we know he read it out loud to his children. Some of the similarities and differences are really striking. Wyke-Smith definitely did not have give the same level of detail to world building, and the plot was rather episodic, but I enjoyed it.

September has continued to be a good reading month. My Hobbit class has been progressing quite well and I'm currently reading several Tolkien related books.

Since mid September I've read:
Medieval English Verse by Brian Stone
I bought this at a used book sale and slowly worked my way through it during my internship. This collection was quite interesting and rather relevant to my Tolkien class since it included translations of both "Orfeo," and "Pearl."

Myth and Magic: The Art of John Howe
A fun collection of lots of Howe's artwork, with a LoTR/Hobbit focus.

Finding God in the Land of Narnia

Here, There Be Dragons
Book one in a YA fantasy series with an Inklings twist.

and The Road to Middle Earth by Tom Shippey

Recent reads

Knight Errant
4 stars
A Jedi Knight stranded deep in Sith space tries to save as many people as possible. But can she trust a mercenary captain or a force sensitive spy? Unusual alliances are formed in an attempt to take down a Sith dynasty from within.

The Price You Pay
3 stars
A Stargate SG-1 novel, set during season 1. I recently started watching the tv show and wanted to see how the books compare. The story line was decent, and the main characters were semi-accurate to their tv counterparts. A distracting read for an afternoon.

The Janus Affair
5 stars
The second book in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series is a great read. The plot takes twists and turns as Agents Books and Braun are forced to once again put their lives on the line for Queen and country. Old friends and enemies resurface as the fledgling suffragist movement begins to come under attack from a mysterious force. Prominent ladies are disappearing as a result of some electro-steam machine. When the case begins to escalate Eliza must get her priorities straight by letting go of an old lover. When the dust settles Wellington must explain his childhood and military experience to Eliza.

I love the combinations of Victorian England, steam punk, a New Zealand tomboy and a refined but adventurous archivist. Enemies beware when Agents Books and Braun take on a new case.

September Stats

Books Read: 14
Roadkill
The Silmarillion
The Kingdom
The Princess and the Goblin
Grace Grows
The Marvellous Land of Snergs
The Hobbit
Medieval English Verse
Myth and Magic: The Art of John Howe
Finding God in the Land of Narnia
Here, There be Dragons
The Road to Middle Earth
Star Wars: Knight Errant
The Price You Pay

total pages read (using Goodreads stats): 3947
average pages read per day: 132

Category: Monthly Progress (Year total)
history: (14/12)
fantasy: 2 (7/12)
Inklings: 2 (11/12)
Science Fiction: 2 (9/12)
Books about Books: (4/6)
Alternate History and Steam punk: (10/12)
Graphic Novel: (6/6)
Sherlock Holmes: (11/12)
Urban Fantasy: 1 (7/12)
Library Science/archives/public history/Mythgard: 2 (11/12)
Dramatic works, plays and poetry: 1 (6/6)
LT Giveaways and Re-reads: (12/12)

Books read that don’t fit a category: 4 (18)

October update
I've been busy with my Story of the Hobbit class, and have been focusing on Tolkien related books.

Breakfast with Bonhoeffer
Early Reviewer Giveaway

Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter
Extra reading done for my Hobbit course

Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s "The Hobbit" by Corey Olsen
The new book published by my professor in September. He does a chapter by chapter detailed look at The Hobbit, following a number of themes throughout the book, such as luck and Bilbo's Took/Baggins interaction.

The Search for the Red Dragon
Book Two in the Imaginarium Geographica, in which C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and Charles Williams once again return to the Archipelago of Dreams to solve a mystery which is effecting both Earth and Archipelago children.

The History of the Hobbit Part One: Mr. Baggins
One of the major texts for my Hobbit class. We took a detailed look at the manuscript history of The Hobbit.

Blackout
Some fun urban fantasy reading amidst all the Hobbity-ness. A Cal Leandros novel, in which Cal is poisoned by a spider and forgets everything about himself. Niko and Goodfellow manage to track him down, but with his memories still suppressed they discover a whole new, human, Cal.

Stargate
I started watching Stargate SG-1 this fall, and figured I would give the novels a try. Since I hadn't seen the original movie I figured it would be good to start off at the beginning.

On the Shoulders of Hobbits by Louis Markos
This is a newly published book, it came out last month. Through the book Markos, who is a Lewis scholar, takes a detailed look at Tolkien and Lewis' works, (primarily Narnia, the Silmarillion, Hobbit and LotR) and looks at what Virtues they portray for the reader.

October stats

books read: 9
total pages read (using Goodreads stats): 2848
average pages read per day: 92

Category: Monthly Progress (Year total)
history: (14/12)
fantasy: 1 (8/12)
Inklings: (11/12)
Science Fiction: 1 (10/12)
Books about Books: 3 (7/12)
Alternate History and Steam punk: 1 (11/12)
Graphic Novel: (6/6)
Sherlock Holmes: (11/12)
Urban Fantasy: 1 (8/12)
Library Science/archives/public history/Mythgard: 1 (12/12)
Dramatic works, plays and poetry: (6/6)
LT Giveaways and Re-reads: (12/12)

Books read that don’t fit a category: 1 (19)

As you can about half my reading for this month was for my Hobbit class. I've also been working on a term paper on Gandalf's character development for the past couple of weeks. I can't wait for the movie to come out in December.

November stats:

books read: 10
overall pages read (using Goodreads stats): 3054
average pages read per day: 102

Category: Monthly Progress (Year total)
history: (14/12)
fantasy: 3 (11/12)
Inklings: (11/12)
Science Fiction: 2 (12/12)
Books about Books: 1 (8/12)
Alternate History and Steam punk: 1 (11/12)
Graphic Novel: (6/6)
Sherlock Holmes: (11/12)
Urban Fantasy: (8/12)
Library Science/archives/public history/Mythgard: 3 (15/12)
Dramatic works, plays and poetry: (5/6)
LT Giveaways and Re-reads: (12/12)

Books read that don’t fit a category: (19)

You sure made good progress into your challenge!

mamzel: Thanks, I was unsure of how a challenge would work, since this is my first time doing a categorized challenge. I'm pretty happy with how it's shaping up. Some categories went quicker than I thought, at this point they have all hit the 6 book minimum, and several hit the full 12, so I'm happy.

Final update to finish off my 2012 challenge.

December Stats

Books Read: 11
total pages read (using Goodreads stats): 2075
average pages read per day: 67

Categories
Monthly Progress (Year total)
history: 1 (15/12)
fantasy: 1 (12/12)
Inklings: 1 (12/12)
Science Fiction: (12/12)
Books about Books: 2 (10/12)
Alternate History and Steam punk: (12/12)
Graphic Novel: 3 (9/12)
Sherlock Holmes: (11/12)
Urban Fantasy: (8/12)
Library Science/archives/public history/Mythgard: (15/12)
Dramatic works, plays and poetry: 3 (8/12)
LT Giveaways and Re-reads: (12/12)

Books read that don’t fit a category: (19)

Here's my 2013 category challenge
https://www.librarything.com/topic/146396

Happy New Year everyone and happy reading for 2013!

Congrats on finishing! Hope you have a great reading year next year too!