My Year in Reading

What was your year in reading like?

I know a lot of my bookish friends tend to describe their year in reading by how many books they read — and I do that too — but that still doesn’t say much about your year in reading, like what you were actually reading in those 10, 25, 50, 75, 100, etc. books you read over the course of 2016.

And, so to that end, I thought I’d recap my year in reading –a lot of which did not end up on the blog — and you could share your year in reading in the comments.

Note: not all of the books I mention are available in the library, but we can certainly try to get them for you through ILL if you’re interested!

Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels

Call me what you will but I LOVE historical fiction. It’s one of my favorite genres.

However, I am one of the first to admit that a lot of historical fiction novelists are much better at writing either the historical aspect or the fictional aspect, but not both. So when I find a work that manages to integrate history and fiction seamlessly and handles both effectively, I consider it a gem. Michael Shaara’s classic The Killer Angels about the Battle of Gettysburg is just such a gem (and the winner of a Pulitzer Prize – maybe I should be a judge?)

Sneak Peek for Next Year

A whole new year, a whole new blog? Not exactly but definitely time for a few tweaks.

This year, a lot of our blog posts have focused on our 2016 Library Challenge. But as the year is winding down and the challenge deadline is drawing near, I wanted to spend some time looking ahead to next year.

T.J. Stiles’s Custer’s Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America

George Armstrong Custer is one of the most controversial figures in American history.

Don’t believe me?

Pick up any book about him or the American West or the American Civil War and see what the authors have to say about him. Some will praise him as a brave but misunderstood genius, some will denigrate him as an egotistical moron, and some will eulogize him as a tragic figure.

I’ve personally always found Custer a fascinating but relatively unsympathetic historical figure, but reading T.J. Stiles’s excellent, Pulitzer-Prize winning Custer’s Trials forced me to  re-evaluate some of my assumptions about him.

2016 Library Challenge: A Book Published This Year

This is it.  Believe it or not, you have made it to the last post of the 2016 Library Challenge.

If you’ve been participating in the challenge or following along with the blog, you know we have taken quite the journey this year, working our way through a range of interesting challenges, everything from romance to nonfiction to badly-reviewed books.

The only one left is a book published in the last year. So, without further ado, let’s take our last romp of the year with a round-up of some recent releases that have received positive reviews.

As always, if you’re interested, please visit our online library catalog for more information on any of the books.

2016 Library Challenge: A Book Set During Christmas

In my life, some have accused me of being a grinch.

But I think that’s less a reflection of my own thoughts on the holidays and more a reflection of other people’s enthusiasm for them.

I can’t even think about the holidays until December rolls around, so anytime I see Christmas decorations and advertising or hear Christmas songs in October and November, I have to restrain myself from reacting with more than a grimace or an eyeroll.

Oh I suppose I should just be happy people are enjoying themselves, but I can’t help but think, “Wait your turn, Christmas! Let pumpkins and turkeys get some attention first!”

But since we’re into December now, I think it’s safe to venture into holiday reading territory now, and I thought it would be fun to share Christmas reading traditions.

2016 Library Challenge: Reminder

One month to go!

As the year is winding down, this is just a friendly PSA that if you’ve been participating in our reading challenge this year and have or will have successfully completed 40 of the 48 challenges by the end of the year, you’ll need to present your scorecard in person at the Berryville Public Library by December 31st.

Here’s a link to a recap of the rules and a downloadable copy of the scorecard.

Personally, I still lack 4 categories. I have the books I need to read for them checked out. They stare at me reproachfully every night before I go to sleep, but I’ve managed to ignore them while I read other things. . . .

So, how’s your reading challenge coming along? If you’re not participating in the 2016 Library Challenge, how many books have you read this year? How many books are you planning on reading in December? Tell us in the comments!