What I'm reading now

So my most recent post was about the 38 books I tackled in 2009.  My 2010 reading started off with the amazing "Bloody Crimes" by James Swanson.  Highly recommended read and it has me all kinds of charged up about Abraham Lincoln so I made my way to the library today and, por fin, I finally checked out "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin.  I've been wanting to read this book about Lincoln's presidency for quite some time.  Glad that I'll now have the chance.  You may recall that I'd noted that juxtaposition posed in Swanson's book and that juxtaposition carries on in the other book I picked up while at the library today.  I got this:

That's right.  A book about Glenn Beck.  All I knew is that when I'd heard that he'd called the book "despicable, yellow journalism," I was nearly giddy.  Him saying that...the irony is just almost more than I can take!  I can't wait to read it.  Perhaps this may shed some light onto why a friend of ours has said that I remind her of Brother Beck.  That comparison has nearly unnerved me as I've thought about it.  I mean, I don't have the kind of audience he does (meaning I have none, other than you good readers of the Den).  OK, so I've cried in public a couple of times but seriously you try being the next speaker after a man with no arms or legs who has just given the most inspirational speech ever at a conference in Sao Paolo, Brasil without crying.  It didn't work for me, I'm just saying.

So here we go.  Reading about the triumph of ignorance.  Like I said, I can't wait. 

38 Books

According to my bookshelf on Shelfari, I read 38 books in 2010.  That meant an average of three books a month.  The books I read were mostly non-fiction - that seems to be my genre of choice of late - and their subject matter was wide-ranging.  If I had to pick a favorite read for 2010, it was "Appetite for America" by Stephen Fried.

I really enjoyed this book.  It's the story of Fred Harvey and the dining/hotel empire he built along the railroads through the western United States.  It was one of those books I could not put down but was one I didn't read quickly.  I found myself savoring each page, soaking in the history and imagery Fried captured.

It was also an incredible primer on customer service.  The Harvey empire was built in the late 19th century and early 20th century but Harvey's customer service principles are as solid and applicable today as they were then.  I can think of one hideous airline based in Arizona that would do well to have their customer-facing staff read this book.  But then again, it wouldn't make a difference.  (Sadly, I have to fly said airline at the end of the month...I'm already dreading it.)

It's early in 2011 and I'm almost done with my first book of the year, "Bloody Crimes" by James Swanson and it's amazing.  Incredible story of Lincoln's funeral train and Jefferson Davis' run from the Union.  The juxtaposition is making for a gripping read.  So the reading year is off to a good start.  It remains to be seen if I best the 38 read in 2010.  Either way, I'm looking forward to a good year of reads.

Short work weeks blow...

Yeah, I'm pretty much that little dog.

So, my work week has drawn to a close.  And it's been a monster.  That's what I get for being off for eleven days.  Yikes!  It started off as good busy on Tuesday but it went downhill from there.  Precipitously.  And here it is Friday afternoon and I totally feel like the dog in the picture to the left.  The world is coming down on him and the results are NOT going to be pretty.  No good is going to come from it!

But enough griping from me.  I've always contended that this space was not going to become a forum for me to bash work, so I'll stop.  I'm done.  It's time to enjoy the weekend.

1.1.11

Another year begins.

Another year is here.  I'm pleased to say that 2011 arrived with little fanfare here in the Den.  I did surprise the fellow residents of the Den by actually staying awake until midnight.  I certainly didn't do it so I could swoon watching the ridiculous ball drop in Times Square.  No, thanks to the interweb (thanks, Tracy Jordan), I am able to watch the New Year roll in real time as it happens across the globe.  So as far as I'm concerned when the fireworks started erupting over the Sydney Harbour Bridge yesterday morning, 2011 was here.  Yeah, New Year!  So there really was no need to stay up, but I did. 

The New Year is off to a quiet start and I'm hoping that's a reflection of how the year is going to go.  It would be nice to have a bit of a break after the shenanigans of the last couple of years.  We'll see...This much I know, I'm not much of one for big goals set at the first of the year, only to see them collapse in a heap by February 2nd.  The thing I am shooting for in 2011 is three half-marathons, each in a different state.  I've got my eye on the Ice Age Trail Half in May in Wisconsin, the Bryce Canyon Half in July, and I need to find a third for the fall (if I don't do Madison again in August).  Now that I've put in print, I need to go find the motivation to start running again.  Fattie needs to run.  Again!