Reading In the New Year

I'm trying to control my reading by rationing the books that go into my reading bag. I figure I read about 100 paper pages a day, so I check the page count and wait that many days to put a new book in. The result is that I only read a few books at a time, plus all the extras that I scatter about. Of course, book club books don't count, and neither do books that the library wants NOW.

It also sadly means that I can't start a new book until Tuesday, unless I finish the three books currently in my bag.

I'm also scrupulously following C.B.'s TBR Double Dog Dare, and I haven't checked out any frivolous books and any new books I buy go into a special closed box. I hope that by April I'll have my library books down to a small buffer size.

I'm having fun with the Comment Challenge and have added a few blogs to my reader list. I haven't had trouble making at least five comments a day, and often a few more although I stop counting at five.

I'll go sign in at Book Journey's round-up of what people have read, are reading, and will read. I'll skip Teach Mentor Texts since I didn't actually finish any kidlit, and I haven't written up the picture books.

This week I read:

• The Moon Maze Game, Steven Barnes & Larry Niven. Good old high-ideas and plot oriented science fiction.
• Killbox, Ann Aguirre. NOOK. 

What am I currently reading? Technically I have 23 books open, but really I'm only trying to read about three. Well, four if you count the NOOK book.  I guess that doesn't make me sound much saner, does it?

• Shadow On the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I bought this last year but didn't get around to it yet. I'm annoyed with the whiny kid for giving his book away. (in my bag)
• The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict, Trenton Steward. I'm enjoying this family book club selection; several laugh out loud moments already. (in my bag)
• Tears of the Sun, S.M. Stirling. Boy is the back story cumbersome! Every character has to pause to reminisce before getting out of a chair. (in my bag)
• Succubus Blues, Richelle Meade. NOOK. I'm enjoying this more than I expected.
• Fleas, Flies, and Friars, Nicholas Orme. Wow, it was expensive. Now I've ordered it back up.
• The Scorpio Races, Maggie Stiefvater. (audio). Still popular, but slow going now that we aren't driving that much.
• A Parent's Guide to Developmental Delays,  Laurie Lecomer. Reassuring start about trusting your instincts.
• The Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener, Martin Gardner. Dipper. I like the negative chapter approach: Why I'm Not a ______ .
• The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens. Dipper. Now I get all the jokes from Little Women.
• Senrid, Sherwood Smith. Dipper. I find the voices very jarring.
• The Borrowers Afield, Mary Norton. Dipper. The perils of tipsiness. 
• War With the Newts, Karel Capek. Dipper. Still very slow.
• The Enemy, Charles Hudson. NOOK. This was almost our December family book club pick, but no longer. I guess I'll finish it anyway, after I get it back from the library. It expired on me.
• The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt. (NOOK) Another expiration failure.
• Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey. Paused.

The list of the books I started but didn't finish is now a leetle bit shorter. The TBR Dare is a good time to attack these:

• The Tunnel of Hugsy Goode, Eleanor Estes. Was getting dull.
• Bob, Son of Battle, Alfred Ollivant. I'm not liking the dialect, and I think the guy I hate is supposed to be the hero. Oops.
• Tricksters, Margaret Mahy. I have no excuse for not finishing this yet.
• Tessie, Jesse Jackson. The author makes me giggle.
• Puddleby Adventures, Hugh Lofting. I had too many Dolittle books back-to-back.
• The Avion My Uncle Flew, Cyrus Fisher. I lost this while reading it, but now I know where it is.
• The Eye of the Warlock, P.W. Catanese. Mixed-up fairy tale.
• Redskin and Cowboy, G. A. Henty. Waiting for the boy to run away from home.

2013 Challenges:

1. TBR Double Dare: Seven books from my shelves.
2. Cybils: 4/74. My kids stole all my Cybils books. I have to wait in line.
3. Where Am I Reading?: I have to re-sign up.
4. Science Book Challenge: Need to re-sign up.
5. Reading My Library: Maybe next week.
6. Best of the Best 2012: 36/25. Wendigo is done, and we're currently enjoying Scorpio Races.
7. Summer Reading Goal: The next one is working its way up the stack.