Holiday Reading and a Giveaway

Last Holiday Season I finally read "A Christmas Carol." I knew the Dickens classic well through television, movie and theater productions of the famous Holiday tale. I reviewed several theater productions of this story so it was probably past time for me to read the book.

The most unique version of the story I witnessed was a one man version at the Olney Theatre. It was quite the performance. Holiday memories

This year I am reading John Grisham's "Skipping Christmas" which I just found out was turned into a movie called "Christmas with the Kranks."  I will let you know what I think about it when I finish reading the book.

Well, I have talked about doing a giveaway on my blog before and now I am doing one. I am giving away a copy of "Skipping Christmas" using my facebook writer page.

Here is a link to the giveaway:  http://www.giveawaytab.com/mob.php?pageid=171327449557105

If you are using a mobile device this one might work if the other one does not: http://www.giveawaytab.com/giveaway2/mobile.php?pageid=171327449557105


If your interested in the used book please enter the contest and good luck!

I am also curious what are you reading this Holiday Season? Any all time favorite Holiday books? Feel free to share in the comments.

Casino Royale: Reading what I blog

Just a few days ago I blogged about Sean Connery. Mr. Connery is famous for portraying James Bond in he movies. When I wrote that post I had no idea I would be reading Casino Royale by Ian Fleming.


Opening credits from the 1967 film..

It was all by chance. Lately I have fallen into my bad reading habits of starting a book and then completely misplacing it. I think I have Gremlins that purposely hide them. Anyway on Friday I was picking my daughter up from dance. The way her schedule and my schedule works out I end up with an hour to kill. I stopped by a local Goodwill store and found a copy of Casino Royale in great condition and decided it would be my companion. Second hand stores are  where I pick up most of my books unless it is something specific then it is searching the world wide web.

Anyway Saturday, I worked and got off work just in time to go shopping with my girls. Time and money ended up vanishing from me on that day.

Today, Sunday was different. My daughter needed to read for school, so I told her I would read with her. That way she got to snuggle with me ad get her work done. Then the day became a rainy day and I ended up finishing the book.

The book was good enough to spurn two movies. The 1967 original and then the 2006 version.

The book was originally published in 1953. I hadn't watched the films in a while so i was able to read the novel with a fresh mind. I enjoyed the read. It had the James Bond action, the exotic car, and a bit of romance to it. It showed a different side of Bond. The book's end also had an interesting twist.

The book knocks off another category in one reading challenge I am doing from another blogger.
Book number 17 for the year. 

February Reads: The Classics

In his century I have found myself having an  interest in Eastern Culture. No I am not converting religions just exploring more.
  Tao Teh Ching by Lao Tzu was a short read. All about the Tao or the way.

It is a good thing I like to explore. Because as a reader I tend to go back and read more works by an author. In my March reads which aren't classics I am revisiting an author, I'll blog about that during the A to Z Challenge.

I read  The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. I had read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer a few years back so it was fitting that I read the sequel.



My classic reads were quite different and had many contrasts. I will read more classics I'm sure. Right now I am well to my second book for March. I have moved away from the classics for now and I am reading some contemporary fiction.

What are you reading? Are you doing any reading challenges?

January Reads

I stated in my New Year's Blog that I wanted to read more. As a way of keeping up with how I am doing on my quest I thought I would blog about it as I go. I'm an insecure reader. I never think I am well read, have read enough and the list could go on. Some of that might be from those darn lists I stumble on facebook. The truth is who cares!

I'm a horrible reader. I am not talking about my reading ability, my reading level, or comprehension. As a reader I am horrible. I will start a book and misplace it or get distracted and never come back and finish the book. I'm also a feat or famine type reader who has been known to binge read from time to time. I'm much better at buying books than reading them.

Well I set a goal of reading 26 books this year on Goodreads. I guess I had to set the bar slightly higher than 2 books a month or I was thinking of trying to pace myself by reading a book every two weeks.

The Word for World is Forest  is the first book I read this year. It was a thrift store find. I loved it being an old book more than the content. It was so old it even had cigarette advertisements in it. The book, a novella I suppose, was a science fiction work written by Ursula K. Le Guin. It won the 1976 Hugo Award for best science fiction novella. The U.S. Library of Congress named her a living legend and she has earned a bunch of other awards. The book did have some messages about humanity that I did catch. It was a good read.

My next book was "The World's Most Powerful Leadership Principle: How to Become a Servant Leader" by James C. Hunter. I have read a few books on leadership and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It caught my attention and I really enjoyed reading it. The substance was great. I also enjoyed how he listed other books and authors though out the book. Not all of them were on leadership, some where on sociology, psychology and business which I jotted down to add to my want to read books. I will certainly seek out some of his other books to read as well.

Book covers...

I've dug in and started reading some more books in February so I should have an update soon on what else I have read. Until then happy reading!

Underrated Treasures Blogfest

Today I am joining in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Underrated Treasures Blogfest which I stumbled upon this morning.

Here is how this fest works:

Everyone has a favorite movie or band that no one else has ever heard about. For whatever reason, they remain undiscovered and underrated. Now is your chance to tell the world about this obscure treasure! 

Today, September 22, post about your favorite unknown –

MOVIE – BAND/ARTIST – TV SHOW – BOOK

Post about one or all four – dealer’s choice! 

Here is a link to Alex's blog if you would like to sign up and blog along.

I will do two of the four categories Band/Artist and Book.


BOOK



More than likely I have blogged about this book before in the archives of this blog. This is the book which hooked me on the whole series, it is book one of five adventure filled mystery books. I am drawn to these tropical adventure style books from Hemingway, Peter Benchley, Jimmy Buffett and now Bob Morris. The adventure starts after the main character is released from prison in Florida and as one could guess it travels to the Bahamas. Murder, revenge, adventure,mystery and tropical locations it is all in this novel Bahamarama by Bob Morris.

BAND/ARTIST

So many and artists I could choose for this one. However, I will go with Billy Thompson who was a local artist living close to where I used to live. He had moved from California. The first time I heard him at a jam. My friend told me to check him out. I am blessed to have so many friends who can tell me who to check out musically. He didn't really grab me at the jam. However, he grabbed me the second time I heard him.

Here he is on stage with Billy Payne of Little Feat...




 I didn't know how good he was until I found out he played with Bill Payne a co-fonder of Little Feat and some of the finest side musicians in the business like Mike Finnegan. When I discovered how much talent was when I saw him playing solo in this bookstore/bar.




Don't take my word for it listen to the music...

Here is a song called "Better Man"

Here he is doing some solo music...

If you like his music find out more at his website  order his music, see if he is coming to your town, and share it with your friends. I'm looking forward to discovering some music that is new to me, so TV shows to watch for, movies I need to catch and books I should read through this blogfest.

A to Z Challenge: Japanese Literature Thousand Cranes

I have admitted several times that I am a manic reader. Sometimes I will read a half a dozen books in month other times it may be six months before I read a book. I am not a book worm. I am in insecure reader. Not in the sense that I can't read. More in the fact I never feel like I am "well read." Maybe it is all those lists. Maybe I know too many writers and English majors. The fact is I am pretty well read since most of what I read that is non-fiction is considered a classic buy someone.

That feeling of not being "well read" kind of leaves me with a chip on my shoulder and it makes me open to explore and read something out of my comfort level. That is why I picked up a yellowed copy of Nobel Prize winning Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata's Thousand Cranes. Why not? It is a classic. It's different and probably not o one of those lists. Plus it gave me an excuse from staying in my Western literature comfort zone.

  

The book wasn't one I couldn't put down. The story did have several plot twists. It shared the traditions of the tea ceremony. One could see the tradition decay and fall apart. Kind of like the love and some of the characters in the novel. If you have read it feel free to leave your thoughts?

I'm glad I read it. The book was written in another generation from me published in 1952. It was also written across the globe from me in Japan. A book from another time and culture. I really enjoyed the authors twists. Not a review and not spoiling the book just my thought on reading some Japanese literature.

The Terminal Man

Michael Crichton continues to work his way up my favorite authors list. I just finished reading one of his earlier works The Terminal Man. The book held my interest and like many of his works packed plenty of suspense. Since the book is about my age it is perhaps a little dated but a good story and good read none the less.



It is the second book of his I have read this year. I read The Pirate Latitudes over the winter. The Terminal Man was much easier to get into but in the end I enjoyed the pirate one a bit more.

Well I will be back soon with a new post...

Good Reads

Just wondering if anyone uses the site Goodreads? I played a round a bit in it tonight. You can set a challenge for the number of books you want to read this tear. I set mine for 36 which is ambitious for me. I am off to a good start so far but I know life puts some interesting turns in there.

It also looks like a good place to track what you have already read. Here is a link to the site.

Old Blog Volume 1

October is almost over and the year is winding down. The last couple of years I have put "blogs" about what I have read during the year. Here is an excerpt from the first one back in 2006 on My Space.."Books 2006, 2006 for me

I know some of you who know me are shocked Mike can read! But If you really knew me you would say Mike actually finished a book. I think that is the hardest thing about reading a book. You read a third, a half of a book then you put it down and then life takes over. Then since I don't make a list, dementia may be creeping in, in my 30's so sometimes years bleed into others. ..:
So what books did I actually read? .I read a book on Six Sigma by Chowdrey (sp), It's the "in" quality now days. I was able to work on a Six Sigma project at work in 2005, so it was good to follow up with some more background info. I also read this marriage guide book since I got married. And I thought required reading ended when you were out of school.
OK, we have business, marriage. Boring! Mike isn't dead he's dull. I read the Nick Adams Stories by Hemingway. Though my favorite works by Hemingway are "Islands in the Stream" and "The Old Man and the Sea." I think I read more now than when I was in college. I read more classics, more business books, and more just for the fun of it books. If audio books, I listened to Blind Man's Bluff, it was interesting tales of the submarine during the Cold War.
A Robert Plant bio from 1974, I think the author wrote for Circus magazine. It really had that fanzine feel going, not in a trashy way, or an exaggerated way like Stephen Davis I guess this one had more of a juvenile style.
I also read Jimmy Buffett's Tales from Margaritaville, A Pirate Looks at 50, and Where is Joe Merchant?, I was going to read a Salty Piece of Land but I was told that was enough Buffett. Being married/living with a woman is kind of like being a kid with parents. But my parents never told me; don't you have a bar to go too? a beer to drink? or don't you have to go skiing? So it's not like it's that bad. Oh well a half dozen books isn't that bad I guess.

Back to 2008-
Actually a half dozen books is a small amount compared to the number of books I'm reading this year. Some where in the last half of this year I made a goal to read 24 books. I don't know if I will reach it, I have kind of slowed down this month due to my writing.