Bah Humbug!

I have just bought A Christmas Carol by Dickens. (which also includes The Chimes & The Cricket on the Hearth - $6 - Gotta love B&N classic books!).  I have set aside BloodFever which I am almost done with, in order to read Dickens's timeless classic.  Now I must admit, ashamedly so, that I have never read this book. I know, I know, but I just never got around to it.  But that changes this year!  I will make it a tradition to read it every year, as I read The Raven by Poe every Halloween.  If you've read A Christmas Carol, please share your thoughts on it, if you haven't I'll be telling you about it soon enough. :)

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed..

 After over a decade of being part of this Ka-tet, my journey has come to its end
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed..
This was the 1st line of the 1st book in the greatest adventure I've ever read and quite possibly one of the best opening lines in a book ever. The Gunslinger, the 1st book of 7 in the epic tale of  the Dark Tower was written by Sai Stephen King back in 1970. He wrote 7 DT books from 1970- 2004.
I should've prefaced this with how big a SK fan I am. I have read 90% of his works. I must admit though that I never had any interest in the Dark Tower series. Then I read 'The Stand', one of King's best books, quite possibly the best he's ever written and one of my all time favourite books. I found out that the DT books had a connection to 'The Stand' and also one of my other favourite SK books, 'The Eyes of the Dragon'.  Loving those books as much as I did, I decided I had to give the DT tale a try.  I started reading them in the mid 90's.  After reading the 1st 4 books, I was so mad at myself for having waited so long to start.  From page one of the 1st book I was no longer a reader, but a participant in a fantastical journey of obsession, murder, intrigue, betrayal, undying friendship, pure love, monsters (both human and fantastical), devotion, death (both warranted and necessary of both good and bad characters), villainy, heroism and destiny. An adventure that enslaved me and drew me into, as if I had no choice in the matter.  Whenever the new tale came out, I bought it and read it immediately, greedily, like a junkie getting his overdue fix.  It sounds silly, yes?  But if you've read this tale then you know what I am talking about. If you haven't, I suggest you began. But I caution you, you will not ever want it to end.  I've been reading the last book for 6yrs.  Not because it's terrible, but because to read that final page was like coming to the end of a special relationship.  You know it's coming, but you don't want to face it.  I am both sad and elated that I have come to the end of the journey and not be disappointed with its finale.  Truly remarkable epic tale and may it do ya, I say thank ya Sai King.

JaSexxy's Road to Reading 200 Books

Yellow Book Road to 200

Good book day, everyone! 

At the end of 2010 I had reached 159 books read, so in 2011 I wanted to attempt reaching 200 books read.  The below is a list of the books read in 2011 and the corresponding number in which they were read.  I'm happy to say I not only reach my boal, but exceeded it!

160.  The Water Room (Peculiar Crimes Unit #2)

161.  Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh

162.  FaeFever (Fever.3)
163.  The Continual Condition: Poems
164.  Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions
165.  Water For Elephants
166.  Rebecca
167.  DreamFever (Fever.4)
168.  Full Dark, No Stars
169.  High Fidelity
170.  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide.1)
171.  The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Hitchhiker's Guide.2)

172.  Life, the Universe and Everything (Hitchhiker's Guide.3)

173.  So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (Hitchhiker's Guide.4)
174.  Anthem
175. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.1)
176.  The Hunger Games (Hunger Games.1)
177.  The Catcher in the Rye
178.  Catching Fire (Hunger Games.2)
179.  Mockingjay (Hunger Games.3)
180.  We the Living
181.  To Kill a Mockingbird
182.  World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
183.  Bossypants
184.  The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession
185.  Delta of Venus
186.  Into the Wild
187.  The Thief of Always
188.  Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Dexter.1)
189.  Dearly Devoted Dexter (Dexter.2)
190.  The Walking Dead: Days Gone By (TWD.1)
191.  The Three Musketeers
192.  The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead
193.  Zombie In Love
194.  The Hellbound Heart
195.  Mister B. Gone
196.  The Walking Dead: Miles Behind Us (TWD.2)
197.  The Walking Dead: Safety Behind Bars (TWD.3)
198.  The Walking Dead: The Heart's Desire (TWD.4)
199.  The Walking Dead: The Best Defense (TWD.5)
200.  Loving Frank
201.  The Walking Dead: The Sorrowful Life (TWD.6)
202.  The Walking Dead: The Calm Before (TWD.7)
203.  The Walking Dead: Made to Suffer (TWD.8)
203.  The Walking Dead: Here We Remain (TWD.9)
204.  The Walking Dead: What We Become (TWD.10)
205.  Fight Club
206.  The Walking Dead: Fear the Hunters (TWD.11)
207.  The Walking Dead: Life Among Them (TWD.12)
208.  The Rum Diary

It was a great book-year!  Some amazing book adventures.  Some were eh.  But overall a great year for reading.  I've read over 350 books as of 2020 and will be counting down to book read number 400 (ETA 2021)!

Stay Booked! Happy Reading!