novazembla's 100 books in 2011

So last year I reached 2/3 of my goal at 66 books. I hoping to make it to 100 this year! I will be having my son, Caleb, in early April. He will be my first and I have no idea if this will be helpful or not to my reading goal. My plan is to be able to get lots of reading done while nursing (crossing my fingers).
Anyway, I wish you all the best of luck!

1. God, Country, Notre Dame - Fr. Theodore Hesburgh.

Wow. This man has lived an extraordinary life. Not only was he the president of Notre Dame for 35 years but he personally knew and worked with all the U.S. presidents during that time. He marched with Martin Luther King, was part of the foundation of the Peace Corps, and so much more!

I graduated from Notre Dame almost four years ago and I now work there (while my husband is finishing graduate school). Fr. Hesburgh still lives and works on campus at 93. I had the privilege to read to him for a few hours one afternoon (his eyesight is damaged). He had me read the New York Times and South Bend Tribune. Then he asked me to finish up a book by Jimmy Carter about the Israeli-Palestine conflict. After finishing I asked him how he heard about the book. He said "Oh, Jimmy Carter sent it to me." Anyway, this man has lived an extraordinary and accomplished life. Reading his autobiography makes me want to be more dedicated in everything that I do.

Take that time to read your books out load to your son. I read to my sons starting the day I brought them home and even though they are both dyslexic (as is my grandfather, brother and niece) they are avid readers. Now my daughter-in-law are carrying on the tradition by reading to my grandson who is now two months old.

I agree. There is nothing as important as reading to your babies and young children. It is such an essential part of early literacy.

Thank you for the advice. I will surely start reading to him early and I hope he develops a lifelong love of reading!

I'm sure he will!

I read to Mr Bear when he was very young. I despaired that it did any good for his reading skills (boy had the attention span of a gnat), but it kept me sane because I got to keep *my* reading up (when they're little, all they care about is the cadence of your voice, so he got some strange stuff read to him :).

And now we're working our way through Harry Potter together. Both kids really like their book time at bedtime - as do I! It's a lovely one-on-one interaction that we don't get to do much at other times of the day. (And I'm obviously a frustrated actor, I adore reading things with great drama.)

On a practical side, when I fed them, it was a two-handed job. I wanted a music stand on which to prop my book. Never quite got that organised, however. But definitely short books are easier to handle when you're already juggling a baby!

2. Contact - Carl Sagan.

I can't believe it took me this long to pick up this book. I've watched the movie many times - I just wish I had read the book first! It is seductive in a way. I identify with Ellie because I have always been fascinated with the night sky and the possibilities of what is out there. To quote Arthur C. Clarke "Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering."

I highly recommend it!

>7 wookiebender: My son (now 16 months) also got some WEIRD stuff read to him when he was tiny. By three months old, he had already heard several ghost stories, a King novel, and bits and pieces of Madame Bovary, lol. I couldn't juggle reading while feeding him, but afterwards, I'd read to him while holding him, and he'd usually fall right to sleep, lol.

3. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan.

I read the condensed version of this book, Food Rules by Michael Pollan last year. I enjoyed reading the fleshed out version and I am now considered joining a local CSA (community supported agriculture) this upcoming growing season.

4. Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell.

This was recommended to me by a friend and I did enjoy the read. It didn't have great writing and it did talk about Princeton A LOT - but that didn't bother me too much. I enjoyed this academic mystery.

Oh, Rule of Four was a fun romp, I'm glad you liked it too!

5. Birth Without Violence by Frederick Leboyer.

This was beautiful and poetic. This is an updated translation of the 1970s French original. It is a quick but powerful read on birth while considering what the child is going through. I would like to incorporate some of his techniques into my birthing experience but I have to see what options I have.
I would recommend this to women who are not expecting as well as men.

6. Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind.

I started this about 7 years ago during one of my Christmas breaks. I didn't finish it before classes started up again and consequently never finished the book. I started over recently because 3 of my friends are reading the series right now. I don't think that the writing stood out but the characters did. I love the feeling of being drawn into that world and I hope to read more in this series later this year.

7. Chasing Hubble's Shadows: The Search for Galaxies at the Edge of Time by Jeff Kanipe.

I'm reading this 4.5 years after it was published so it is already a little out of date. It contains good information about how our telescopes are exploring the beginnings of our universe and some exciting forthcoming projects.

Good quote from Edwin Hubble:

"Eventually, we reach the dim boundary - the utmost limits of our telescopes. There we measure shadows, and we search among ghostly errors of measurement for landmarks that are scarcely more substantial."

8. Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman.

I enjoyed reading the His Dark Materials series and I finally picked up this beautifully put together little book on the meeting of Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison. This story can stand alone as well.

9. Love the One You're With by Emily Griffin.

I don't read too much in the way of chick lit but this one was interesting enough that I read it within 24 hours! The tension came when the main character had to choose between her loving and steady husband and the passionate ex who is suddenly in the picture.

I've got to say I was rooting for her husband the whole time. It seemed that the other relationship, though passionate, was never going to really last. I was happy with the ending but I'm not sure if other people felt that she was settling. I might check out books by Griffin in the future.

10. Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox by G.K. Chesteron.

Beautifully written. I feel that this is a book I will have to revisit in the future in order to suck the marrow of this sketch of a man.

11. The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow.

Not my favorite Hawking book. It was fairly short and the title is a reference to Intelligent Design. I thought the section on quantum mechanics and multiple universes was helpful. However, the last couple chapters (The Apparent Miracle, and The Grand Design) seemed to be more on the speculative side rather than hard science. I think that in this sense they stoop to the same level as the IDers in trying to prove their view of the origins of the universe instead of letting the science speak for itself.

12. Maus I: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman.

This was a re-read for me but just as powerful as the first time. The graphic novel portrays the Nazis as cats and the Jewish people as rats yet is so humanizing. The illustrations deftly portray the poignant emotions and sturggles of Spiegelman's father during the Holocaust.

Oh, Maus is just amazing.