This is the one with the 48th and 49th.

I finished two books that I wanted to add to my tally.  If you’re counting, these are the 48th and 49th books I’ve read in 2010.  My original goal, which turned out to be a bit too lofty, was 100 books for the year.  And I scaled that back to 50, which looks totally obtainable at this rate.

The 48th book I read was The Lie by Chad Kultgen.  Kultgen’s first novel The Average American Male touched me in places that I don’t usually let myself be touched.  So when I came across his second book, I opened it with really high expectations – all of which were totally met.

The Lie is one story told from three perspectives, and is an interesting and somewhat crude slice of the young dating world.

One could argue that Kulgen’s store is too vulgar – that some of the nasty details of Brett’s sex-life could have been left out, but these details are exactly what puts Kultgen’s books in a somewhat new and interesting category of literature: Man-Lit.  Kultgen’s books join the ranks of Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk and Charles Bukowski.  Chad Kultgen is now on my list of favorite authors.

The 49th book I read this year was a bit more of a light read.  I’m almost embarrassed to admit to reading this…but you guys all know how much I like kids-lit.  I just finished (like ten minutes ago) Judy Blume’s Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.  This book is the first in the FUDGE series.  I may or may not have to read a couple of the other Fudge books.

The story was everything I remember it being.  A fourth grader hates his little brother Fudge.  Nothing spectacular about the book, but Blume has an admirable way of writing a story that isn’t dumbed down for children, but is simple enough for a child to understand.  That’s a an art that I envy.

So that’s 48 and 49.  I’m pretty certain I’ll get to 50 books by the end of 2010.  Any guesses on exactly how many I’ll read this year??

This is the one about my own bridge to Terabithia.

When I was moving I finished the 47th book for 2010.  I just haven’t had time to blog about it.

I read Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson.  Many of you might know this title from the 2007 movie by the same name…but the 1977 children’s novel has a different story.  A story that won Paterson the 1978 Newbery Medal.

My therapist suggested I read this book.

In the fourth grade I had a therapist after one of my classmates was brutally murdered.  It’s a long story [explained here if you're interested].  And I was put into a therapy group where the school therapist had us read Bridge to Terabithia.  I remember that one of the children die in the story, and we were told to read that chapter alone at home and come back the next day to discuss our feelings.

I did tear up a bit when reading the book this second time.  Just a little.  The story kind of takes you through the typical stages of grief…and I would imagine is a tool a lot of youth grief counselors could use.

For some queer reason, this book has been the frequent target of censors and it’s on the American Library Association’s 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books…don’t ask me why.  The word “bitch” is in there once.

Whatever.  It was a really simple kid’s read, and it took me back.

This is the one about 44, 45 and 46.

I’m almost there.  Back in January I toyed with the goal of reading 100 books in the year 2010…and when I realized that would require me to read 2 books per week (give or take) I altered that goal to 50 books in 2010.  And I’m getting pretty dang close.

This weekend I finished three books.

The 44th book for 2010 was the first in the Lemony Snicket series The Bad Beginning.  I saw the movie a few years ago, and it’s pretty much the same as the movie.

The 45th book I borrowed from my sister.  It was Tom Perrotta’s Election.  Which also was made into a movie, but I never saw the movie.  The book was funny and dark…everything I expected it to be after hearing about the movie.  If you haven’t read this book, I’d recommend it.

The 46th book I finished this morning over some coffee before work was Cut by Patricia McCormick.  It’s about a high school girl that cuts herself.  I can’t explain why I picked it up…it just looked like a contemporary Go Ask Alice and it fell a little short.  It was a breeze to read, and was written really well.  But the story didn’t really move me the way that I expected it to.

Speaking of books, I’ve been spending some time updating and playing with GoodReads.  If you’re a GoodReads.com member, add me as a friend.  I’ve reviewed some of my latest reads there.

This is the one with three books.

I’ve finished the 41st, 42nd and 43rd books for 2010.

The 41st was a quick read called Quickie by James Patterson.  Typical Patterson.  A woman thinks that her husband is having an affair so she has an affair.  Then her husband kills the guy she’s having an affair with…hilarity ensues.

The 42nd book was a Dave Eggers book called You Shall Know Our Velocity. I haven’t been able to really get into anything Eggers since A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.  I read his stuff on McSweeny’s and I read his novel adaptation of Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are, but I’ve tried twice to read Velocity and I’ve picked up What is the What and put it down right away on multiple occasions.  But there was something right about Velocity at this point in my life – the main character Will is traveling the world on a non-religious sacrament.  The journey includes a lot of soul-searching and healing.  And booze and prostitution.

The 43rd book was a repeat for me.  I love Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays and I re-read it just for kicks. “What makes Iago evil?” some ask.  “I never ask.”  I LOVE that first line of this novel from the dazed protagonist, Maria Wyeth.  Maria is pretentious, incurious, zoned out, and ready for bed.  There is something Bell-Jarish about this novel, but I’d say it is more biting.  Here’s another favorite quotation from the book:

Maria made a list of things she would never do. She would never: walk through the Sands or Caesar’s alone after midnight. She would never: ball at a party, do S-M unless she wanted to, borrow furs from Abe Lipsey, deal. She would never: carry a Yorkshire in Beverly Hills.

Just a few more books this year and I’ll be at 50.  I’m pretty sure I can make it to 50.

This is the one with two embarassing choices.

The 39th and 40th book I’ve read in 2010 are kind of embarrassing.

The 39th book I read this year was John Grisham’s Ford County Stories…which was a collection of small stories that all take place in the same county (try to guess the name of the county).

If I had known that this was a collection of short stories I wouldn’t have picked it up because I generally don’t like enjoy them.  I was, however, pleasantly entertained by this book.  I breezed through them rather quickly last Saturday morning over coffee.

Then I picked up the 6th book in the Babysitter’s Club called Kristy’s Big Day. Super-exciting.  Kristy’s mom is going to get married, but when someone offers to buy Kristy’s house, they have to rush the wedding (because Kristy’s family couldn’t move in with a man BEFORE her mother wed him!!!!).  So they end up doing a rush-job on the wedding, and to make matters more difficult there are 14 children from out-of-town staying at Kristy’s…thankfully the Babysitter’s Club is there to save the day!  I’m probably going to only read 4 more of this series, because it’s kind of draining.  Maybe I’ll have to pick up Sweet Valley High?

This is the one about 37 and 38.

I finished two books this weekend (the 37^th and 38^th for 2010 if you’re keeping track).  The first was The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.  It was a bit folks-taley for my taste…but I did like the story and I’d recommend it.  The only criticism I have (and this could be part of the reason some people LIKE it) is that I felt like each paragraph contained a lesson or words of wisdom, and that got old after a bit.

The 38^th book I picked up at The Goodwill for fifty cents (less than a dollar!!!!!).  It is The Indian In the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks.  I KNOW!  When I saw it at the thrift store and I saw the price I had to pick it up.  I was finishing up The Alchemist, so I knew I was going to need something to read.  Unfortunately it didn’t last very long…I started Saturday over my morning coffee and finished in a couple of hours.

This is the one I almost forgot.

I also finished the 5th Babysitters Club book, Dawn and the Impossible Three.

This was the 36th book that I read in 2010.

Can you imagine the looks of confusion and double-takes I get when I’m sitting at a coffee shop reading these books?

When I originally decided to read the Babysitters Club books I committed to the first ten.  I want to get a good grasp on why these books were so popular.  And even though I think I pretty much get it, I’m going to stick to reading the first ten.

And I know you’re wondering…Stacey is still my favorite.

This is the one about the 35th.

I may have a new guilty pleasure author.  Her name is Kristin Gore (the daughter of Vice President Al Gore).  She writes these Sammy novels that are melt-in-your-lap delicious.
BTW if you’re counting, this is the 35th book I’ve read in 2010.

Sammy’s House and Sammy’s Hill are best described as Bridget Jones meets The West Wing.  They’re cute and predictable and take place in Washington D.C.

In Sammy’s House, Sammy works for the VPOTUS and her boyfriend Charlie is a reporter for the Washington Post…drama!  And they don’t talk about work.  But then…omg…Charlie asks her to confirm a story that could take down the administration.  And guess what she does?

This book is definitely chick-lit.  But the political angle adds a bit of story that makes it more enjoyable.  I’m not joking.  If you like The West Wing and you like romantic comedies, you’d like Kristin Gore.

Sammy’s House is the second book in the Sammy series.  If you want to pick up a Kristin Gore novel, I’d suggest you start with Sammy’s Hill.

This is the one about this, that and another thing.

This post is kind of a hodgepodge of topics that I’m throwing together.

Firstly, I want to say that Summer Camp is almost over.  If your’e counting, I’ve got two days left.  That means in two days I will have a bit more free time, and I won’t be at work from sun rise to sunset.  I really couldn’t be more happy about this.  Whenever our After School Program is ending and we’re gearing up for summer, I find myself thinking, “I’m so ready to be done with the After School Program.  Thank god summer is starting.”  And now that summer is winding down, I’m thinking the opposite.

Secondly I’m taking a group of teenagers to California’s Six Flags amusement park tonight.  We’re leaving around midnight and returning at 6 a.m. on Friday.  I’m quite certain I’ll be bored, so follow me on Twitter to converse with me on the trip.

I also finished two books in the past week (give or take).  The 33rd book I read this year was Lux The Poet by Martin Millar.  In ten words: Incredibly jarbled and choppy but it is a decent story.  The 34th book I read in 2010 was Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel.  I picked up the book because I heard Kunkel on a radio interview or podcast (I don’t remember where) and came across his new relase at the library.  In ten words: Convoluted and not worth the time it took to read.

For those of you that still read this blog, thanks.  I’ll be giving it more attention in the near future.

This is the one about books.

I finished reading my 30th, 31st and 32nd book this year. 

Number 30 was a piece of non-fiction (I know!) called Say Everything: How blogging began, what it’s becoming, and why it matters.  Don’t waste your time on this book.  It’s written by Scott Rosenberg (the same guy that wrote Dreaming in Code) and it’s incredibly bogged down with history and quotes.  Total snoozefest.

The 31st book I read was The Model Millionaire a collection of short Oscar Wilde stories.  Loved it. 

And the 32nd book I read in 2010 was Mary Anne Saves The Day  the fourth in the Babysitters Club series.  Don’t judge me…but out of these three titles, I liked the Babysitters Club book the best.  In this book, Mary Anne saves the day in a few ways: she repairs the friendship of the all the Club members after a big fight, she takes this little brat she’s sitting to the hospital because she had a fever of 104, and she sets her father up on a Parent-Trap-like date with Dawn’s mother.  Drama!  Loved it.

In other book news, I’ve talked to my friend Jennifer about setting up a book club here in the Phoenix area.  Who’s in?