Books

One of the hardest things I find with reading a book is trying to decide what to read next.  I just finished The Alchemist and while I downloaded books I want to read, there were few that were on my "next" list.  I had narrowed it down to A Game of Thrones, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Storm Front (The Dresden Files Book #1), and The Strain.  I decided on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but I think I may switch to The Hobbit because it's been a long, long time and I want to read it before seeing the movie.  To be fair, I don't even have to read all of it to prepare for the movie, but I really better do it soon, eh?  Check me out on Goodreads.com if you like.  It's addicting and really motivating me to read.  Nothing like a constant reminder that there are lots more books out there that I want to read than is possible.

I have also given in and tried audio books to supplement my book learnin'/readin'.  While still believe they don't help you improve your reading and overall language skills like reading a physical book does, they certainly have their place.  I just finished my second: Kushiel's Chosen, the second in a trilogy. The first of the trilogy, Kushiel's Dart, was my first audio book.  I went the audio book route because, hardbound, it was over 600 pages and small single-spaced type.  If I owned the books I may have tackled them, but I would have never gotten through them in time had  I checked them out of the library.  So, I finished the first and I loved the voice actress so much, (and of course the book) that I got the other two in audio format. These books were an especially good choice to audio because they have many foreign names that I would have just mangled in my mind while reading anyway, so, that's what audio has above print.

Back to The Alchemist.  It was a great short read, and for a slow reader like myself, sometimes that's nice (especially since the other books listed up there are at least twice as long). Although the book, probably due to the translation, was simply written, the message is beautiful and profound.  I read the book at the right time in my life and it made an impact on me, which is why made this the year of my Personal Legend.