Bibliofile - December

I normally would have summed up my month's reads sooner but I spent 2 weeks in Panama in late December/early January. So like they say better late than never.

My monthly average dipped somewhat in December to 7 books. But add that to the 101 volumes I'd already read this year and the year-end total climbs to 108 books for 2013.

Highlights this month include finally getting to Outliers an interesting take on how success is achieved. Read it. I'm not going to give it away.

I also enjoyed Inside the Dream Palace, a somewhat historical overview of New York's Chelsea Hotel. The book makes it clear it's famous - or infamous perhaps - for more than the one night fling Leonard Cohen sings about having with Janis Joplin.

And I really enjoyed He Died With His Eyes Open by Derek Raymond. Raymond's name came up in another book I read this month by one of my all time favourites Ken Bruen. Raymond is a nom de plume for British crime writer Robert William Arthur Cook, known by many as being a founder of British noir.

Here's a list of the books I read in December, in the order in which I read them.

Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
Purgatory - Ken Bruen
The Gods of Guilt - Michael Connelly
Inside The Dream Palace - Sherill Tippins
He Died With His Eyes Open - Derek Raymond
The Neon Rain - James Lee Burke
Cockroaches - Jo Nesbo

I wonder how many books I'll read in 2014.

30 Days of Photos III #4 Sour

Check out Ziva's Inferno for the rest of today's photos.

My Back Pages - November

I know, I know, I know I should have reported in before now. But sometimes real life just gets in the way. I attempted 5 books in November. I say attempted because I slapped a big DNF (did not finish) on Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. I just can't seem to get into this guy. It's the second or third of his I've given up on, Not so the other four, starting with a biography of Stephen Stills called Change Partners. This followed by a hilarious biography of the guy responsible for National Lampoon called A Stupid and Futile Gesture - How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever. I ended the month reading yet another biography, this one of the man behind Rolling Stone magazine,. It was called Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine. A fascinating read. So last month I hit the magic number 50 I'd imagined for myself back in January. If I roll this month into my yearly total I'm at 54 books. And I still hav...

30 Days of Writing - Day #1 - Cheese

Well, here we go again folks. As if it weren't enough that I knocked myself out in April participating in 30 Days of Photos, now dear Nicky and Mike over at We Work For Cheese have corralled a bunch of us suckers into a 30 Days of Writing exercise. Yeah, I know. I must have stupid written backwards on my forehead. I don't know how they figured it out. They would have had to look in my mirror to realize it. Anyhoo, the first day's theme is - surprise, surprise - cheese. And here are the internet imbeciles Nicky and Mike managed to sucker into to this little exercise: Well, first off there's me! Once you've read my post you can visit: Mike and Nicky , Cheryl , If I Were God , Katherine , Laughing Mom , Linda M , Malisa , MikeWJ , Sandra , Leeuna and Still Unfinished . Okay, who cut the cheese? Well growing up in my house it was usually my mother. She prepared and served the food and the knife ...

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