PokPok's book thread.... 20 books in 2018

CharlasBookCrossing 2018 Reduce MTBR and Other Challenges

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PokPok's book thread.... 20 books in 2018

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1PokPok
Editado: Dic 16, 2018, 9:25 pm

(or should it be 18 in 18?)

Hello--

I am Pok Pok aka Lisa... was a very active BCer, but haven't been on the site actively in years. I still read and release, and love LT for the review/ tracking capabilities. The past 5-8 years I've struggled with only reading ~15 books or so a year. Some are very heavy, but it's much because "life" and "online life" have stolen too much time from me.

So I'm going to join a challenge. I just decided this 5 minutes ago so my goal may change.... but for now I'm thinking 20 books, since the past few years I've done ~12-15. When I commuted by train I did 50, but I know I'm not there...and I'm ok with that. :)

My other challenge of course, will be to not live here vs. reading... so I'm hoping to balance, getting a little bit of motivation but also being offline doing things like reading!

Lisa aka PokPok

1. Realityland
2. Eisenhower: the white house years
3. In Other Worlds
4. We Wear the Mask
5. The Last Jedi
6. Bloodline
7. Catalyst
8. Tarkin
9. State of Resistance
10. What is it all but luminous
11. Other Minds
12. Dissolution
13. Thrawn
14. The Tale of Desperaux
15. Heir to the Empire
16. Dark Force Rising
17. The Last Command
18. Thrawn Alliances
19. Ahsoka
20. Thrive
21. A Cartoonist's Life

2PokPok
Dic 23, 2017, 4:01 pm

Also, can someone remind me how to make links in posts, to authors or other people or titles? It's been so long since I've been active here....

3gypsysmom
Dic 23, 2017, 4:04 pm

To link a title just put square brackets around the name; To link to an author put two square brackets around their name; if you want to reply to someone's post put a > before the number of the post. At least that's how I do it. Maybe someone else has other suggestions.

Welcome to the group.

4mathgirl40
Dic 23, 2017, 4:05 pm

>2 PokPok: Good luck with your goals!

To link to books, just put square parentheses around the titles, and to link to authors, put two parentheses on either side. Sometimes, LT comes up with the wrong match. You can see by looking at the "Touchstones" list at the right of your post as you're editing it. If that's the case, just click on "others" to choose one of the alternatives.

5PokPok
Dic 23, 2017, 8:57 pm

>3 gypsysmom: and >4 mathgirl40: testing and thank you for respoinding !

6SqueakyChu
Dic 27, 2017, 1:31 pm

Hi Lisa!

Wishing you a great New Year! It's really nice to see BookCrossers here on LT. Good luck with your 2018 goals.

My reading has slowed down very much since I started babysitting a few years ago and I got a smart phone (which draws me in like a magnet, sadly enough).

7PokPok
Ene 1, 2018, 12:44 pm

Happy New Year everyone! I actually started my current read yesterday, but it will be on 2018 books read. Also, looking at my total number books read the past few years, I decided this year's goal will be 18 (vs. 20).

#1 : Realityland

8mathgirl40
Ene 2, 2018, 12:24 pm

>7 PokPok: Happy New Year to you too!

9Amaryllys
Ene 2, 2018, 1:45 pm

Happy New Year! Good luck with your yearly goal

10PokPok
Ene 12, 2018, 9:12 pm

Ok, I finished book # 1, Reality land.

On to Eisenhower by Jim Newton. I loved his book on Earl Warren. I heard him speak at LA Times Festival of Books a few years ago; he said researching Warren piqued his interest in Eisenhower. Well for me, reading his Warren book piqued my same interest. Plus he's a great writer. So I'm going to settle in with this. I broke my toe on Monday (sad face) so I am dialling back social life for a bit, and having lots of couch time.

11SqueakyChu
Ene 14, 2018, 11:16 pm

Sorry to hear about your accident. I wish you a speedy recovery.

12mathgirl40
Ene 16, 2018, 7:53 pm

>10 PokPok: Sorry to hear about the broken toe. I hope the extra reading time makes up for the pain and inconvenience.

13gypsysmom
Ene 20, 2018, 5:38 pm

>10 PokPok: If there is a silver lining to breaking a body part, having more time to read must be it. Convalesce well and have fun reading.

14PokPok
Feb 18, 2018, 6:42 pm

Hi all...thank you for your well wishes.

I finished the Eisenhower book, it was quite well done.

Now I'm on to In other worlds by Margaret Atwood. It's a book of essays on various aspects of science fiction and how it fits into a societal structure.

15mathgirl40
Feb 23, 2018, 10:16 pm

>14 PokPok: I enjoyed that collection of essays myself. Many years ago, Atwood made some badly phrased statements about the science-fiction genre that were misconstrued by a number of people. As a result, some claimed that she knows nothing about science fiction, but that's not true at all, as this book shows.

16PokPok
Feb 24, 2018, 6:13 pm

Hi--- I'm unaware of the perceptions of others, but I completely agree with you, mathgirl-- it's a well written book and she's clearly quite knowledgeable.

17PokPok
Feb 24, 2018, 6:15 pm

I finished my Margaret Atwood book-- now starting a book called We Wear the Mask , 15 first person accounts of "passing" in America. One of which is authored by a friend, M.G. Lord (who writes of "passing" for heterosexual).

18PokPok
Mar 3, 2018, 5:41 pm

Hello all...I've been recuperating with a broken toe and lots of down time... so finished # 4 today. I'm ahead of schedule! Completing We Wear the Mask an exemplary book of 15 essays on "passing" in America. Well done.

I'm actually going to read a few magazines for a few days until a book I particularly want to read arrives on Tuesday. :)

19mathgirl40
Mar 4, 2018, 8:53 pm

>18 PokPok: I hope you recuperate fully soon but reading lots during your down time sounds really good.

20PokPok
Mar 15, 2018, 7:24 pm

Ah, so I finished (devoured, loved, adored) The Last Jedi (yes, saw it 4X in the theater, can't wait for my DVD! So now I'm starting a book I've had on TBR for a very long time, about the Gilded Age, called After the Ball by Patricia Beard.

21PokPok
Mar 18, 2018, 5:25 pm

Ooop. Update. After the Ball didn't even make it long enough to count at all...less than 20 pages in, I ditched it. Instead, going for Prisoner's Dilemma by William Poundstone about von Neumann, game theory and its role in the Cold War.

22PokPok
Abr 15, 2018, 4:57 pm

Ahh...another book discontinued. Prisoner's Dilemma also didn't do it for me. If I were immortal I would finish it...I do have interest in the topic and it wasn't horribly written. however, I found it wasn't worth the time and I was being very distracted. A friend is interested in it, so I'll let go for her. Hoping my next book does it....

23mathgirl40
Abr 26, 2018, 9:32 pm

>22 PokPok: It's probably best to give up on a book instead of unhappily struggling through it. I wish I could take my own advice more often! :)

24PokPok
Editado: Ago 31, 2018, 11:25 pm

I haven't been good about keeping up here, but I have been great (or at least good) about my reading... I'm starting my 13th book (early autobiography by Buzz Aldrin) right now... I should be able to meet my goal, I'd think. :) Updating my main post/book list now.... Also, I recently read a C.J. Sansom historical mystery that had been introduced to me many years ago on BC. And I am a bit ashamed to say the aforementioned Buzz Aldrin book is one that was sent to me in 2008 via BC.... am going to release later this year at Cape Canaveral. Hopefully that will help make it be ok I held for so long!

25mathgirl40
Sep 5, 2018, 10:20 pm

>24 PokPok: Don't worry about keeping up. We are happy to see your updates whenever you can post them! That's great that you've been making good progress with your goal, and Cape Canaveral seems a perfect place to release the Buzz Aldrin book.

26PokPok
Dic 2, 2018, 8:44 pm

Thank you my friend!

27PokPok
Dic 2, 2018, 8:48 pm

Hello everyone, happy December !!!

A few updates... first, I did release Buzz Aldrin's autobiography at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It hasn't been journalled, but it was left at a quiet seating spot, near the astronaut memorial garden. I haven't done many themed releases so I liked doing that.

Also, I have been super duper into Star Wars this year. I never read any of the books and its not typically my thing, but "The Last Jedi" rocked my world. The good thing about it, is that meant I have made my goal and have a month to spare, as I read about 9 SW books this year! Of course, I also bought almost all of them this calendar year so it didn't do much for TBR, but at least I didn't add to it significantly. I also separately did donate to the library about 30 or so books that I know I'll never get to, and I consciously read about 4 or so that I've been hanging onto for a crazy long time (such as Buzz... something like 10 years).

I just started book # 20, and its clear I will devour it. This one is Thrive by Ariana Huffington and its very very good. She posits that we need to redefine success not as power and money, but with what she calls a third mantra of mindfulness, a sense of wonder, and giving to others typically charitable giving, but not necessarily. In a few hours I'm 50 pages in. I picked this up for a specific reason, I'll just say that, and I know I'll finish it. So hopefully 21 or even 22 books this year.

I hope you are all well.

28mathgirl40
Dic 3, 2018, 10:57 pm

>27 PokPok: Thanks for the update. It sounds like you've been having a good couple of months, reading-wise.

It's very fitting that you released Buzz Aldrin's autobiography at Kennedy Space Center. I have space travel on my mind these days (recently watched the First Man movie and am reading The Interstellar Age about the Voyager mission) and would love to revisit the Kennedy Space Center one day.

29gypsysmom
Dic 4, 2018, 9:02 pm

>27 PokPok: I remember that memorial garden quite well from our visit to the Kennedy Space Center. Great release spot for that book.
>28 mathgirl40: I think visiting the Kennedy Space Center was the highlight of our trip to Florida a few years ago. I think you are probably fairly close in age to me so I am sure you remember the excitement of watching rocket launches on TV. So it was very inspiring to sit in the bleachers looking into the actual control room while they replayed one of those broadcasts over speakers. And there was a ton of other cool stuff including seeing the Canadarm up close.

30PokPok
Dic 7, 2018, 10:14 pm

I started book # 21. For those of you on my 2019 thread, I mentioned this book...my mom gave to me 23-25 years ago (not positive which Christmas, but based on publish date vs. her passing date). I figured darnit, time to read it or move on. I had chosen 4 books in particular I wanted to read in 2018. Finally cracked this one open. NOt sure yet if it will pass the 50 page rule...that's what I'll figure out tonight. But phew, at least started.

So in 2019 I think I will do the same and pull aside a few books, maybe 4 or so, that I want to start. The rest I will read whatever strikes my fancy. That's a good mix for me.

For two years, about a decade ago, I pulled 50 or so books aside, of all sorts of genres. Within the year, I had to pull my next read from those. I did well, with a few exceptions. It was an interesting exercise but I don't need to repeat it per se. :)

31mathgirl40
Dic 13, 2018, 9:55 pm

>29 gypsysmom: It was a highlight of our family trip to Florida too. Yes, I do remember being excited about seeing those launches on TV. I also remember the not so good moments, like the shock of seeing the Challenger disaster. On a more positive note, I just finished reading Interstellar Age, and I think you might enjoy it if you like reading about the history of space travel.

>30 PokPok: I'm impressed by your commitment to reading from those 50 books for a year! I could/should do that too, as I certainly have enough unread books in my house to choose from, but I don't think I'd have the discipline to follow through.

32PokPok
Dic 14, 2018, 8:03 pm

>31 mathgirl40:

As I said on another thread, for this year I pulled 4 books that for various reasons I wanted to read this year. I read all four (#4 coming in right now under the wire!). I think I'll do that again next year. Most books, I can just decide at the time what I want to read, but choose about 4-5 that I want to be certain I do read. For 2018, they were all books I had for an extended period of time. We'll see how I choose the ~5 for this year. One book I just bought when I was at Kennedy Space Center, but I want to give it to my niece, who I will see second half of year. So that will be on the list. We'll see what else.

33PokPok
Dic 16, 2018, 9:26 pm

I did it, 21 books completed, plus two started that failed the 50 page rule. While I could probably complete one and maybe two more before end of year, I decided to instead focus on the pile of magazines (mostly Bookmarks...yay, more books to read/buy!!) until January 1st. At that time, I'll start a new book. :)

34mathgirl40
Dic 30, 2018, 11:54 am

>33 PokPok: Congratulations on meeting your goal!