100th book.. A Classic Fantasy

Tolkien is truly brilliant. After reading the entire Lord of the Ring series, I understand why many people credit  Tolkien with the modern fantasy genre. The Return of the King was an epic end to the Lord of the Rings saga.

Like Two Towers, TRTK is told over two parallel books of Aragon story and Frodo's final trip to Mount Doom. The epic battle scene are amazing on screen, however, unlike the Harry Potter final battle scenes, these were a little harder to follow. I think it boils down to the vast amount of characters in the books. Don't get me wrong. I thought this was an excellent book; I just had to work  hard to stay focused and keep up with characters.

Any true fantasy reader should read The Lord of Ring series at least once. It is a good read and shows where so many fiction writers pulled some of their inspiration. Tolkien took the time to develop a language and back story for every race in Middle Earth as well as lay out many more details in the appendices. While some are better than others, make sure you read those as well.

With this post, I am saying farewell to the 100 books of 2013. I've read over 31,000 pages and spent countless hours reading, but it has been so so much fun. I can't wait to see what the next year holds!

Happy Reading and Have a Wonderful New Year!

A Little Philosophy in the Mix

In college, I had at least two classes where we discussed Machiavelli's The Prince: Western Civilization and Political Philisophy. I realize now that in my philosophy class we did read all of the Prince.

The Prince is one of those books that every reader should read at least once. I am not sure why I felt the need to read it again. There are great comments and thoughts on morality, political beliefs and right and wrong.  However, this version has a great introduction, notes, and comments section. If you have never read/discussed Machiavelli, I highly recommend this version.

While everyone has their own thoughts and beliefs on Machiavelli, I think he was revolutionary for his time on questioning the faith morality and mainstream political ideals.

I leave you with some of the more famous quotes from The Prince to ponder.

Happy Reading!


“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.” 
― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

“I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.” 
― Niccolò Machiavelli

“There is no other way to guard yourself against flattery than by making men understand that telling you the truth will not offend you.” 
― Niccolò Machiavelli, Machiavelli Niccolo : Prince

“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.” 
― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

“There are three classes of intellects: one which comprehends by itself; another which appreciates what others comprehend; and a third which neither comprehends by itself nor by the showing of others; the first is the most excellent, the second is good, and the third is useless.” 
― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

When a Book restores your Faith of Humanity

It is hard to believe 2013 is coming to an end and with that my 100 book challenge. They say it is good to saved the best for last and I think The World's Strongest Librarian is one of the best books I have read this year.  In Josh Hanagarne's memoir, he tells a story of battling Tourette's, finding his faith, and the importance of family. 

While memoirs tend to be good reads, Josh captivates the readers with his easy-following tone and quirky personal stories. His earliest childhood memories are retold and continued up until the book is published. I finished the book wanting to read more stories. These are my favorite books. When the author speaks to me like a friend, I am forever a fan.

If anyone needs a pick-me up or wants to remember the power of family or the good in an individual, I would highly recommend this book. (Thanks to numerous other book bloggers for finding this gem!) It is a great read!

Off to dive into a little philosophy before I end the year with Tolkien!

Happy Reading!

The English, their Tea, and Churchill

In the midst of the holiday season,  I am managing to get through these books day by day. This morning, I finished Major Pettigrew's Last Stand.  In Helen Simonson debut novel, small-town politics, love affairs, and family drama was apart of this great novel. While at first, I was worried that this book was shaping out to be similar to Casual Vacancy, it turned out to be much better with a stronger plot line and character development. 

Major lives in a small town in the English countryside. When his brother dies, his brother's heirloom Churchill gun brings the family drama on the heir to the gun. The death also brings together Mrs. Ali and Major as their similar lives intertwine throughout the village. 

While I avoid plot summaries in most of my post, this book was a great take both of English rural life as well as intercultural relationships. The characters are easy to relate and the plot moves relatively fast. This is a great read for most anyone.

Happy Reading! 

A little "light" reading to start the Holidays

Well, there are 9 days left of the year, and I have 4 books left. It is a true race to the finish in the mist of holiday season.  I have read two books since Friday and I am close to being back on track.

In graduate school, a professor told us that any of us in Student Affairs needed to take a closer look at Richard Arum's Academically Adrift. Well, a few years later, I finally got around to reading the book. In this extremely long study (and highly technical journal article,) a study analyzed the rising cost of tuition compared to the amount of actual learning that occurs in higher education.

While other studies have brought up some of these fears ( students are not increasing their critical thinking, students are not reading and writing enough,etc.,), I had trouble with this book as a whole because of the measurement used. I did find it interesting, yet expected, about the impact of socioeconomic factors have on success and learning in college. As a whole, I found this book to be okay, but not a earth-shattering as far as  news in the higher education world.

The best thing about this book was that it reminded me that I needed to keep reading scholarly articles in order to stay up to-date in to trends in higher education.

I just finished a Christmas Carol. 4 more books to go!

Happy Reading!

When a Time Warp meets Politics

Being There is Jerry Kosinki take on an man's unexpected fall into the world of the elites and politics. After gardening his entire life, he is kicked out of the home when the owner dies. By a chance accident he is taken in by a powerful family and rises to influence Wall Street and the President's Fiscal party.

While the book is a little far-fetched, it has some brilliant quotes and simple ideas. It is a fairly quick read, but I am not sure I followed the entire book. Good ideas and interesting mix of philosophy and fiction. Decent read on the whole.

Happy Reading!

December Books

Wow, It is hard to believe it is already December and that I only have 30 days left in this challenge. Luckily, I only have 9 books to go. It has been a truly amazing adventure. Meeting people, learning what other people read. All in all it has been amazing. Here are the last 10 books ( yes I realize one will not be read, but I also know that sometimes I can't get my hands on one.)

December is a challenging time month, but I know I can do it! Right now, I am currently deciding what to do with the blog and just reading in general for 2014. Yes, I will keep reading, but I am debating about how much I share and the number. I will keep you all posted. Thanks for all your support.

And now for the books:

The Return of the King- JRR Tolkien
A Streetcar Named Desire- Tennessee Williams
Lolita- Vladimir Nabokov
The World's Strongest Library- Josh Hanagarne
The Prince- Niccolo Machiavelli
Being There- Jerzy Kosinski
Academically Adrift: Richard Arum
A Christmas Carol- Charles Dickens
Major Petigrew's Last Stand- Helen Simonson

Happy Reading!

** Note to self: There is a difference between save and publish. Now this post is ready.
** Edited the list slightly due to time to get books read and time constraints.