Eclectic List = 16 down, 84 to go

I have these four books that I should blogging about, but with the amount of time it's taking me to finish each entry, I decided it was time for a clean slate. I finished these books in November, so now as 2010 quickly approaches and I'd like to spend my days off reading instead of blogging, I'm taking the easy way out (hopefully, just this one time), and just listing the books minus the editorial.

Short Story
The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing
Melissa Bank
304 pages

Classic
Dracula
Bram Stoker
236 pages

Autobiography/biography
Mornings on Horseback
David McCullough
370 pages

Just for the hell of it
The Apocalypse Stone
Pete Earley
384 pages

Into the Wild + Into Thin Air = 12 down, 88 to go

A couple of years ago I read Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, which opens with the murder of a wife and infant daughter committed by the husband's two brothers. The book tracks the back story of the murder and its ties to Mormon fundamentalism, of which the brothers were practitioners and claimed they received direct orders from God to commit the heinous murders. The book also told the detailed history of Mormonism and the break off of the fundamental sects. The book was well written and researched, compelling and engaging. After I put it down, I didn't give a second thought to the author.

A couple of months ago while enjoying a bottle of wine with friends, Jon Krakauer's name came up while volleying book recommendations to one another across the table. His book, Where Men Find Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, was strongly suggested, as were a number of his other books. Once I realized it was the same author, I knew that I would read at least one book by him during my yearlong book challenge.

As I read two Jon Krakauer books back to back (because yes, they were that good!), I've joined them into this shared entry.

Recommendation
Into the Wild
Jon Krakauer
207 pages

After graduating from college, Christopher McCandless made a conscience decision to drop out of society, and he had one ultimate goal in mind -- living off the land in the wilds of Alaska, where his adventure eventually turned deadly.

The book details his journey across the United States, the people's whose lives he touched along the way and then his trip north to Alaska where he ultimately starved to death in an abandoned bus in the backcountry.

Krakauer does a brilliant job of not just telling McCandless' story, but also juxtaposing him against others who over the decades have checked out of mainstream society and taken extreme risks in a man v. nature approach.

To help the reader better understand McCandless' psyche, he tells his own story of an extreme mountaineering trip he took in his early 20s to scale Devil's Thumb:

The closest thing I'd had to human contact since the airdrop, the distant lights triggered a flood of emotion that caught me off guard. I imagined people watching baseball on television, eating fried chicken in brightly lit kitchens, drinking beer, making love. When I lay down to sleep, I was overcome by a wrenching loneliness. I'd never felt so alone, ever.

Other Nonfiction
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
Jon Krakauer
332 pages

Jon Krakauer was on assignment from Outside magazine in May 1996. He had been tasked with ascending Mt. Everest and writing about his experiences, as well as the commercialization over the years of Everest.

That climbing season though took a horrible turn for the worst when a sudden storm enveloped the world's tallest peak, leaving five hikers dead. This book was a very personal story for Krakauer:

Until I visited the Himalaya, however, I'd never actually seen death at closer range. Hell, before I went to Everest, I'd never even been to a funeral. Mortality had remained a conveniently hypothetical concept, an idea to ponder in the abstract. Sooner or later the divestiture of such a privileged innocence was inevitable, but when it finally happened, the shock was magnified b the sheer superfluity of the carnage; all told, Everest killed twelve men and women in the spring of of 1996, the worst single-season death toll since climbers first set foot on the peak seventy-five years ago.

Of the six climbers on [Rob] Hall's expedition who reached the summit, only Mike Groom and I made it back down; four teammates with whom I'd laughed and vomited and held long, intimate conversations lost their lives. My actions -- or failure to act -- played a direct role in the death of Andy Harris. And while Yasuko Namba lay dying on the South Col, I was a mere 350 yards away, huddled inside a tent, oblivious to her struggle, concerned only for my own safety. The stain this has left on my psyche is not the sort of thing that washes off after a few months of grief and guilt-ridden self-reproach.

Jon Krakauer is a powerful storyteller. These are two of most insightful books that I've read in a long time.

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey = 10 down, 90 to go

Children's
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
Susan Wojciechowski
P.J. Lynch (illustrator)
40 pages

It is a rare book that tugs at my heartstrings and hangs there forcing it to be noticed. And how perfect that it was on Christmas -- the one holiday that among all the others reminds me most of years of treasured family memories.

I picked up this book this afternoon at the recommendation of my significant other's grandmother. She told me it was a wonderful book and that I should be prepared for some tears. Agreed.

The story begins with a look at the talented woodcarver, Jonathan Toomey, who answers his door one winter's day to find a woman and her son asking him to create a beautiful nativity scene to replace a cherished one they've lost.

You learn as you read through this treasure that Mr. Toomey lost his wife and infant son years ago. Because of this, he has retreated from life and buried himself in his work.

Over the time Mr. Toomey is carving the nativity, the woman and her son visit his studio as the boy wants to watch him at work. Mr. Toomey reluctantly allows them to stay. During their visits, Mr. Toomey slowly warms to widow and her son. As he creates each piece, the son guides the woodcarver through the meaning of each piece, including a cow that is proud that his stable was chosen for the birth of Jesus, three wise men dressed in their finest robes and a Joseph that vigilantly protects his wife and child. Mr. Toomey works for hours and hours to create pieces that reflect the son's insights into each of the characters.

When it comes time to carve the Virgin Mary and her son, he sketches and sketches without any success. Finally, he takes from a drawer long neglected a charcoal sketch of his wife and infant son. On Chirstmas day, the woman and her son are surprised by a knock on the door. Mr. Toomey delivers their nativity scene, which includes a mother adoring her newborn son, just in time to be part of their Christmas celebration. The three of them enjoy the beautiful work of art and then head out hand in hand for Christmas Day services.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was touched by its moving story. This book is a Christmas classic that every family should own and share.

Coming Out = 9 down, 91 to go

Romance
Coming Out
Danielle Steel
195 pages

While there are many people passionate about the romance genre, I am certainly not one of them. It's probably been 10+ years since I've read a Danielle Steel book.

This one followed a mother, her husband, her three college-aged children from her first marriage and the young son from her second. Much of the book centers around the coming-out debutant ball her twin daughters have been invited to since their mother comes from a privileged background.

There is much consternation between the mother and her husband, who is Jewish and views the party as discrimination, and her twin daughters, one of which wants to attend and the other who views is an arcane practice. Throw in a lovely mother-in-law, a dedicated friend, a gay son and a passionate reunion with her husband at the end of the book, and you have a blueprinted romance book.

I didn't hate the book, and it fulfilled my "romance" category. It could have been worse -- it could have been a book with the wind blowing in Fabio's head. I would just rather spend my time being a bit more challenged from a book.

With that in mind, the romantic in me has the potential to be moved by some of the mushy verbiage, including the conclusion.

There had been tears in his eyes several times that night, and in hers. It had been a night of love and celebration, a night of hope and remembrance, a night when girls became women, children become adults, and strangers become friends. Just as she had said it would be, it was a rite of passage, and a lovely tradition, and nothing more. It was a night when he had come out from an old world into a new one, when others got a glimpse backward into an old one. When the past and future met in one shining moment, when time stopped, sadness slipped away and was forgotten, and life began.

Amelia's Are-We-There-Yet Longest Ever Car Trip = 8 books, 92 to go

Children's
Amelia's Are-We-There-Yet Longest Ever Car Trip
Marissa Moss
40 pages

This fun preteen book is another find from Borders' discount section. The author/illustrator Marissa Moss has written a series of clever books designed to reflect a preteen's journal and share Amelia's experiences and challenges.

I can see why a preteen would love this book. The fun illustrations and witty notations give the reader a unique insight into Amelia's point of view and day-to-day experiences. This particular journal follows Amelia and her family on a cross-country driving vacation. It shares the trials and tribulations of sharing a backseat with her younger sister and miles and miles on the road with her parents.

Of course, a long road trip with one's family has the chance to not always go quite exactly the way a preteen would want. Here are a couple of amusing passages:

What we say next was so astounding I'm not sure I can write about it. The Mysterious Place was -- indescribable. At least, I can't describe it, but Mom's word for it was "cheesy" -- and she didn't mean cheddar.
____________________________

Mom says the dessert is peaceful because it's so big and open. And quiet. I've never heard such LOUD quiet as here. Of course, Cleo says it's driving her crazy, but I like it. I wish Cleo would just stay in the hotel and paint her toenails if she's going to whine. All she does is drink soda and burp anyway. How can I hear the quiet with all her burping?
____________________________

Cleo chanted "A million bottles of beer on the wall" on the entire hike back, but I just ran ahead so I wouldn't have to hear her. No way is she going to ruin Yosemite for me!

I hope a mountain lion eats her.

While it was a very quick read for me, I really enjoyed this book. I hope to stumble across another of Amelia's journals in the future.

Keeping score

So as not to lose track of the progress I'm making against the 100 book total, I'm updating the original genre list for how many in each category I've completed.

Twilight Series = 7 down, 93 to go

After months and months and months (and did I mention, months?) of absolutely refusing to read the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, my goddaughter smiled at me once, said "Please Aunt Kate?" and I proceeded to tackle the series.

While I didn't feel challenged by the writing and found the characters lacking any true depth, I didn't mind the week it took me read through the four books. The entire over-arching phenomenon of pure obsession with the series and being a member in good standing of Team Edward or Team Jacob pretty much alludes me, but I can see some hints of why so many people find it intriguing. My loyalties for a so-called "teen" series though still lie with Team Harry Potter for engaging story lines and characters that demonstrate perception and depth. And if I was going to select a favorite line of vampire books - I'll always default to Ann Rice.

The next step on my Twilight journey is to suck it up and watch the two movies. Hey, I have a 15 year old who will be quizzing me. I have to make sure I'm up to the challenge.

One interesting note on these books - at least for me - is that I read the last three on Kindle for iPhone, which has made me quite obsessed with the idea of getting my hands on an e-reader.

Teen
Twilight
544 pages

Teen
New Moon
576 pages

Teen
Eclipse
640 pages

Fantasy
Breaking Dawn
756 pages

Way, way behind

I am way, way, way behind in posting...though I am pretty up to date on the reading portion of this challenge. I literally have 6+ books to write about. Guess I better get on that, huh? Hope to sit down, draft and post as I have some more time over the holidays. Stay tuned.