More reading data--2010

Another year gone by, another collection of reading data. The 2010 totals:

Grand total of pages is 19,144. This falls short of my 2007 total, but is better than my '08 and '09 totals. I had a big dry stretch in the middle of the year, when a cross country move stalled my reading, but also a big push at the end of the year. My total represents 46 books (23 non-ficiton and 23 fiction--even split not done consciously). All of it of dramatically varying quality--some classics, some challenging academic books, some pop-culture trash. Also included are books of the Bible 2 Peter through Revelation, then Job through Ecclesiastes (the Wisdom Books), then Matthew through Revelation (the Protestent Christian Testament), and starting over again with Genesis and Exodus.

Also, 2008

While I'm at it, here's 2008's numbers:

16,671--44 books plus Ephesians through Revelations and Genesis to Ecclesiastes in the Protestant Bible. Lower than average because this was a campaign year and I had to grant an amnesty for some reading time. All in all though, not bad. Actually more books than '09, though fewer pages.

2009 book stats

Not restarting this, but I wanted a place to put these stats where I won't lose them:

2009: 18, 957 pages read. This is 41 books plus Jeremiah through 1 Peter in the Protestant Bible. Not as a good a year for reading as I would have hoped, but then I had some other stuff going on too.

Shutting Down

Since joining the social bookreading site Goodreads, this blog has become a somewhat duplicative effort. Since my audience at Goodreads is larger, I'm going to be mothballing this site for a while, and possibly forever. If you've come here looking for my ever so insightful reviews, surf on over to Goodreads and become my friend! Thanks!

Barnes Burning

Ben Barnes, author of Barn Burning, Barn Building and former Texas Lt. Governor, is a great representative of everything that is wrong with the Democratic Party. Throughout this book, written before Democrats took control of Congress in the 2006 elections, is full of advice to sell out core constituencies and serve business interests at all costs. He insists tht modernation is always the best course, even when it plainly is not: he seems to regret the steps toward civil rights taken in the 1960s (because they alienated much of the South), has never questioned his advocacy of the war in Vietnam, views liberals in his party as a bigger opponent than republicans, and makes half-wit justifications for the obviously unethical business dealings he had while holding office in the state of Texas.

The "solutions" he offers to the modern Democratic Party to regain power are no help at all--basically it boils down to the need for greater bipartisanship--as if the problems our country now faces are the result of Democrats not compromsing enough on bad republican policy. He seems to hold few if any real positions; anything is negotiable. The only reason I do not give it one star is because it has some value to understanding the historical forces that broke up the Texas Democratic Party and led to Republican ascendance. There are also a couple of interesting bits regarding Nixon's use of the SEC to trump up allegations against democrats, and about Barnes' role in getting George W. Bush into the Texas Air National Guard.

Among the blurbs on the back cover of the book is one claiming that Tom Daschle once called Barnes the 51st democratic senator; if Barnes really is representative of democratic politicans, then it is obvious why democrats have had so much trouble holding on to power

My 4th Bible

Not long ago I completed my fourth reading of the Bible. The translation I read this time was a version of the Contemporary English Vervsion (CEV) which I had been given in 1997 at the ELCA Lutheran National Youth Gathering in New Orleans. The picture accompanying this post is not the same cover as my Bible, but I think it is the same text.

All four that I've read are fairly common protestant translations that have had either the official or tacit endorsement of the ELCA church I grew up in. However, one can still notice differences when comparing reading experiences. According to the translators of this version, it was designed primarily to be read aloud, and thus uses simple language and relatively short sentences. There's not much in the way of footnotes, except the very basic notes on alterative translations. There is nothing in the text to indicate a footnote and the reader has to guess about when the read them.

For someone hoping to get a real learning experience out a Bible--including historical, cultural, and political context--I can't say I would much recommend this version. It's very bare bones--exactly the type of thing you might imagine is being given away at a Lutheran national youth gathering. In this case, you get what you pay for.

Twilight Eyes

Twilight Eyes is a better than average Dean Koontz novel, but still not a very good book. I was sort intrigued at the outset--the writing is a little more solid than most Koontz books and initially he did a fair job of allowing us to see of the interior doubts of the main character. At first the narrator, referred to as Slim, does not seem reliable, which is very unusual for Koontz, as he usually deals only in characters that are purely good or purely evil (one of the reasons why his books are often so boring). Slim believes he can see "goblins" which take the form of people and walk among us. He has killed several people he believes are goblins, including braining his uncle with an ax. Of course, the reader is left with some doubt about Slim's ability to actually see goblins, as opposed to simply being crazy.

Well, Koontz doesn't let that go on for long. He establishes that goblins are real and Slim can see them, taking away the dramatic tension he started to build. The first half of the novel takes place mostly against the backdrop of a travelling carnival (the second carnival book I've read this year, after Water for Elephants). The first section is the strongest section; part two is slightly longer than part one, but feels like it was tacked on as an afterthought. Here we find out the stupid and uninteresting backstory of how the goblins came into being and we follow Slim and his girlfriend in their war against the goblins. Both Slim and his girlfriend have some kind psychic abilities, another crutch Koontz regularly uses to help his characters solve problems when he writes himself into a corner.

After early high hopes, this book is another disappointment from Koontz. Plagued by bad characterization, worse dialogue, and flaky plot. Not recommended for anyone.