Books in 2008

I started keeping track of the books I've read throughout the year in 2006 (this is completed books only, not books I'm still working through or books I've abandoned). This is 2008's list, including textbooks from the fall semester and rereads (those are at the end). I read 93 (mostly fiction) books for the first time, 10 textbooks, and 10 books that I'd already read (though I didn't really keep track of all my rereads) for a total of approximately 113 books read in 2008. Also, just because I finished a book doesn't necessarily mean that I liked it. Sometimes I simply endured it for the sake of finishing. :)

New Reads
1. Housekeeping – Marilynne Robinson
2. The Scarlet Pimpernel – Emmuska Orczy
3. The Corinthian – Georgette Heyer
4. Jenna Starborn – Sharon Shinn
5. The Princess Bride – William Goldstein
6. The Convenient Marriage – Georgette Heyer
7. Faro's Daughter – Georgette Heyer
8. The Man with a Load of Mischief – Martha Grimes
9. Eats, Shoots and Leaves – Lynne Truss
10. Tea with the Black Dragon – R.A. McAvoy
11. Homeland – R.A. Salvatore
12. Exile – R.A. Salvatore
13. Sojourn – R.A. Salvatore
14. The Crystal Sword – R.A. Salvatore
15. Streams of Silver – R.A. Salvatore
16. Charity Girl – Georgette Heyer
17. Powder and Patch – Georgette Heyer
18. Black Sheep – Georgette Heyer
19. Bath Tangle - Georgette Heyer
20. Beauvallet – Georgette Heyer
21. April Lady – Georgette Heyer
22. Digital Photography – Michael Wright
23. The Halfling's Gem – R.A. Salvatore
24. The Legacy – R.A. Salvatore
25. Starless Night – R.A. Salvatore
26. The Naval Treaty – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
27. Siege of Darkness – R.A. Salvatore
28. Sabriel – Garth Nix
29. Lirael – Garth Nix
30. Abhorson – Garth Nix
31. The Seville Communion – Arturo Perez-Reverte
32. Eat Pray Love – Elizabeth Gilbert
33. The Fencing Master – Arturo Perez-Reverte
34. Across the Wall – Garth Nix
35. The Nautical Chart – Arturo Perez-Reverte
36. Captain Alatriste – Arturo Perez-Reverte
37. Purity of Blood – Arturo Perez-Reverte
38. Every Woman's Battle – Shannon Etheridge
39. The Sun over Breda – Arturo Perez-Reverte
40. Mood Called – Patricia Briggs
41. Blood Bound – Patricia Briggs
42. Iron Kissed – Patricia Briggs
43. The Queen of the South – Arturo Perez-Reverte
44. The Club Dumas – Arturo Perez-Reverte
45. Miss Julia Strikes Back – Ann B. Ross
46. Tithe – Holly Black
47. Time to Smell the Roses – Michael Hoeye
48. Steal the Dragon – Patricia Briggs
49. On the Prowl – Patricia Briggs
50. Dragon Bones – Patricia Briggs
51. Raven's Shadow – Patricia Briggs
52. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party – M.L. Anderson
53. Things I Learned from Knitting – Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
54. Raven's Strike – Patricia Briggs
55. The Hob's Bargain – Patricia Briggs
56. When Demons Walk – Patricia Briggs
57. Storm Front – Jim Butcher
58. Fool Moon – Jim Butcher
59. Grave Peril – Jim Butcher
60. Summer Knight – Jim Butcher
61. Death Masks – Jim Butcher
62. Blood Rites – Jim Butcher
63. Dead Beat – Jim Butcher
64. Proven Guilty – Jim Butcher
65. White Night – Jim Butcher
66. Small Favor – Jim Butcher
67. Dragon Blood – Patricia Briggs
68. Sunshine – Robin McKinley
69. Medicine Road – Charles de Lint
70. Blood Price – Tanya Huff
71. Blood Trail – Tanya Huff
72. Blood Lines – Tanya Huff
73. Blood Pact – Tanya Huff
74. The First Ladies of the United States of America – Margaret Brown Klapthor and Allida M. Black
75. War for the Oaks – Emma Bull
76. Kushiel's Dart – Jacqueline Carey
77. The Making of Pride and Prejudice – Sue Birtwhistle and Susie Conklin
78. The Secret History of Moscow – Ekaterina Sedia
79. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman – P.D. James
80. Bel Canto – Ann Patchett
81. The Vintner's Luck – Elizabeth Knox
82. Under the Lilacs – Louisa May Alcott
83. Jack and Jill – Louisa May Alcott
84. Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
85. Of Empire – Essays by Francis Bacon
86. The Professor and the Madman – Simon Winchester
87. Shadows Return – Lynn Flewelling
88. The Railway Children – E. Nesbit
89. The Tales of Beedle the Bard – J.K. Rowling
90. Profiles in Audacity – Alan Axelrod
91. Mister Monday – Garth Nix
92. Blue Shoes and Happiness – Alexander McCall Smith
93. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies – Alexander McCall Smith

Textbooks
94. Christianity Rediscovered – Vincent J. Donovan
95. The Wesleyan Quadrilateral – Don Thorson
96. Theology as History and Hermeneutics – Laurence Wood
97. God and History – Laurence Wood
98. Who's Afraid of Postmodernism – James K.A. Smith
99. Colossians Remixed – Brian J. Walsh
100. Matthew – Jack Dean Kingsbury
101. The Drama of Scripture – Craig G. Bartholemew
102. Caught Between Truths – Barry L. Callen
103. Resident Aliens – Stanley Hauerwas

Rereads
104. Persuasion – Jane Austen
105. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
106. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club – Dorothy L. Sayers
107. Murder Must Advertise – Dorothy L. Sayers
108. Eight Cousins – Louisa May Alcott
109. Rose in Bloom – Louisa May Alcott
110. Unnatural Death – Dorothy L. Sayers
111. Clouds of Witness – Dorothy L. Sayers
112. The Fellowship of the Ring – J.R.R. Tolkien
113. The Inheritance – Louisa May Alcott

Instead of a Bookmobile, a Biblioburro?

When I was a kid, I remember going to the Bookmobile on the island. We went to the mainland fairly often to visit the library, but it was still fun to go to the Bookmobile when it came to the island. The other day, I found a story about something similar, yet very different.

Meet the Biblioburro

Luis Soriana, a 36-year-old teacher in Colombia, loads up his two burros every weekend to take books to approximately 300 people that live near him. He picks up the books that they borrowed last time and lets them borrow new ones.

From the article: “This began as a necessity; then it became an obligation; and after that a custom,” he explained, squinting at the hills undulating into the horizon. “Now,” he said, “it is an institution.”

A whimsical riff on the bookmobile, Mr. Soriano’s Biblioburro is a small institution: one man and two donkeys. He created it out of the simple belief that the act of taking books to people who do not have them can somehow improve this impoverished region, and perhaps Colombia.

Soriano started out with only 70 books, but as he has become more well known, his book collection has grown to about 4,800. The people on his route look forward to seeing him every weekend, and he spends time with them, reading to the children, before he moves on.

It's truly remarkable what one person can do if they set their mind to it.

And more than two months later...

Here I am. Whoops. So much for keeping up with the blog. In my defense, a lot has been going on. :) Finals, then the holidays and all the travel, then J-term class (which is almost over - hooray!). I've learned a lot in the class - it's a lot of work, and I'm not sure I like how fast we've had to move through the book, but at this point (i.e. nearly done) I don't regret taking the class. I do feel like I have new insight into the book of Hebrews now. The only bad thing at this point is that we only have a week's break before the spring semester starts.

Speaking of the spring semester, I'm taking Vocation of Ministry (at 8am on Wednesdays - ugh), Hebrew II (Wed/Fri at 1pm), and New Testament (Tues/Thurs at 4pm). Lots of reading, lots of projects. Fortunately, I only have to take nine hours because I took the J-term class. Which is good, because I'm planning to get married on May 30th. Even though there's not as much to do as with a traditional wedding (we're doing a planned elopement), there's still quite a bit. Right now I'm having three showers and a reception this spring/summer. Plus all the planning for going down to Gatlinburg and all that. Crazy! By the way, here's me and Shannon.

The top one is in West Virginia over Thanksgiving, and the second one is at Chincoteague over Christmas. :)