Reading

One of my New Year resolutions for 2011 was to read at least one book a month. Not "read 12 books in a year" but to ensure that my reading was/is continuos throughout the year. Unfortunately I haven't been keeping an exact eye on the matter, but I do believe I've maintained it.

Having a Kindle really helps with this. I'm still very pro-physical book, and have bought several new hard covers... but to be honest, have not read them through entirely... so bulky! This is a sad fact because I really wish to financially support some bookstores (like Borderlands!) but no longer actually want their product... I wish they had a tip jar or... something. An Amazon affiliate program? An in-store download station? I would happily pay more for a book download if I knew part of it went to a physical bookstore (especially if I used browsing in that bookstore to find the "book" I wanted).

But alas, the future continues to approach us and it turns out some things in the future are just better. Like reading on the Kindle. I continue to consume material via the Kindle at a slow but steady rate. This is a very good thing. Also, traveling with the Kindle is heaven. A major highlight of my last two trips (Japan & Belize) was the moments where I was simply hanging out and reading... It's not just easier to physically carry a large number of books with the Kindle, it turns out that I actually enjoy the reading experience with it more.

Yet another fantastic aspect of the Kindle-

While the Kindle (and devices in general) may potentially be "buggy" they do not literally have bugs in them. Like this book did, that Adam found on his shelf while we were rearranging the front room last weekend.

But back to the resolution- Earlier in the year I remembered exactly which book counted for each month, but I failed to write that down... now I just have the listing of my Amazon receipts... lets see what I can extract from them...

• January : The Blade Itself: The First Law: Book One (First Law 1) (purchased 12/25/10)
  
• multi-month/in-progress : Before They Are Hanged: The First Law: Book Two (First Law 2) (purchased 2/23/11)
  
• February : The Name of the Wind (borrowed from Elise)
  
• March : The Hunger Games (3/28/11)
  
• April : Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) (4/20/11)
  
• also April : The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (4/20/11)
  
• mult-month/in-progress : The Girl Who Played with Fire (4/20/11)
  
• May : Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) (4/30/11)
  
• June : My Blood Approves (6/24/11)
  
• July : Hollowland (The Hollows, #1) (6/24/11)
  

That might be stretching it a bit... a couple of those late-month purchases may have actually spanned the month boundary. Haven't started anything new yet for August (finishing up the in-progress ones) but hopefully it'll be A Wise Man's Fear (also borrowed from Elise). While I may not agree with a good number of the rankings on NPR's listeners' top 100 sci-fi/fantasy books, it at least is a guide-line I may refer to as the year progresses. Any suggestions?