I am not going to pick or post a dedicated list of books that I am going to read this year. I want flexibility to change my mind as the year progresses.
The main fiction genres that I am reading for 2011 are horror, hard-boiled crime, steampunk, various sci-fi, and some classics. I will also read a few non-fiction books as well, history, adventure, or business subjects.
2011
2011 New Year.
I’m not big on new year resolutions. But I can use the first of a new month as a starting point for things. Things? Like, find new job and lose weight are typical. Most importantly, make and stick to a schedule is the key goal. Ongoing goals include workout regularly, find new job, and read more books.
Starting new book club – hard-boiled crime fiction
I starting a new book club for 2011. Hard-boiled crime fiction is the focus. Possible names are
- Behind the Eight Ball Book Club
- Mickey Finn Book Club
Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Jim Thompson, David Goodis, Charles Williams, Elmore Leonard, and James M. Cain are just some of the authors I will be looking at for book club selections.
The first book with be The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. for January 2011. Due to other book club commitments I am going to start out slow and commit to one book a month. 12 hard-boiled crime novels should be a good start.
Bram Stoker Award reading goal
One of my 2011 goals is to read ALL of the Bram Stoker Award for Novel Winners. While I read the few that I own, I will need to acquire the rest from different sources, mainly online used ones. I do not plan to read the books in any specific order.
The List:
Key: BLUE – own | BLACK – need to buy/acquire | RED – read
- 1987: Misery by Stephen King (tie)
- 1987: Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon (tie)
- 1988: The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
- 1989: Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
- 1990: Mine by Robert R. McCammon
- 1991: Boy’s Life by Robert R. McCammon
- 1992: Blood of the Lamb by Thomas F. Monteleone
- 1993: The Throat by Peter Straub
- 1994: Dead in the Water by Nancy Holder
- 1995: Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates
- 1996: The Green Mile by Stephen King
- 1997: Children of the Dusk by Janet Berliner & George Guthridge
- 1998: Bag of Bones by Stephen King
- 1999: Mr. X by Peter Straub
- 2000: The Traveling Vampire Show by Richard Laymon
- 2001: American Gods by Neil Gaiman
- 2002: The Night Class by Tom Piccirilli
- 2003: Lost Boy, Lost Girl by Peter Straub
- 2004: In the Night Room by Peter Straub
- 2005: Creepers by David Morrell (tie)
- 2005: Dread in the Beast by Charlee Jacob (tie)
- 2006: Lisey’s Story by Stephen King
- 2007: The Missing by Sarah Langan
- 2008: Duma Key by Stephen King
- 2009: Audrey’s Door by Sarah Langan
Reading challenge
I recently added a 2011 reading challenge to the Night of the Living Book Club.
I also started a Blogger site for the book club and challenge. http://nightofthelivingbookclub.blogspot.com/
The reading challenge uses the Bram Stoker Awards as inspiration. The main goal is to read one title from every year of the award for novel. I post additional challenges that include reading one title from every year of award for first novel, read the winners only from the novel award, and read specific horror themed authors by December 31st 2011.
My personal goal is to read one title from every year of the Bram Stoker Award for novel and first novel. Additionally, read at least 2 books from Clive Barker, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz by December 31st 2011.
52 books for 2011
Awhile ago I came across a blog about reading 52 books in 52 weeks. “52 Books in 52 Weeks” is a great idea. This is an achievable goal. This can be very motivating to read more books instead of watch TV.
So my own goal will be my first 2011 resolution. Read at least 52 books in 2011.
Arrogant Bastard Ale
I have a new favorite beer, or at least in the top 5.
If I had to choose a favorite beer in the past it would be either Beck’s or Guinness. Recently, I wanted to try some Red Hook ESB but I want to buy a single bottle. Safeway only carried six packs. So I finally went to Bevmo. After extensive looking around I found that they only carried Red Hook in six packs as well. At $13-$15 a six pack I did not want to try a new beer and possibly be stuck with 5 extra bottles. Although, I have had Red Hook in the past it was many years ago and I don’t remember the taste.
I did not want to leave empty handed. I really wanted to try something new. I came across the Stone Brewing Company display and read the review cards. Arrogant Bastard Ale looked promising. Excellent choice! Arrogant Bastard tastes as described. It has a refreshing crisp flavor with a nice bite.
To my surprise Safeway also carries Arrogant Bastard, at least for now.
Two other beers I picked up that I enjoy from time to time were Old Rasputin Stout and Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout. Samuel Smith Imperial Stout is in my top 5 of favorites.
Night of the Living Book Club meetings
The Night of the Living Book Club will no longer meet at Books Inc in Mountain View after the September selection. I no longer work for Books Inc. and communication about dates and times as become difficult. I will discuss with the few participants if there is any interest to continue the club elsewhere. I may continue it on my own at a local coffee shop. If that happens I will make the club bi-monthly. Once a month is just too far apart per book discussion. I am reading 4-5 horror books a month plus at least 2 more of non-fiction topics. Most horror books are not difficult and average 400 pages.
July selection: Urban Gothic by Brian Keene
August selection: Ghost Story by Peter Straub
September selection: Sparrow Rock by Nate Kenyon
iMac i7 appreciation
A little while ago I purchased a refurbished iMac i7 to replace my aging iMac 20-inch. My last four Macs have been refurbished models. The 27″ screen is amazing. The size allows me to have two full page windows open and viewable at the same time. I only have 4 GB of RAM for now, which should be plenty for what I do, but 8 GB couldn’t hurt.
I initially was using the wireless small keyboard with the Magic Mouse, but have recently changed back to a more traditional set-up. I now use a wired Apple full-size keyboard and a Logitech M500 corded mouse or a Kensington Expert Mouse trackball. I prefer the full-size wired keyboard with number pad. The Magic Mouse works great, nice feel and responsive to Multi-Touch but was a bit twitchy at times on some web sites I visited and would occasionally lose the bluetooth connection. Battery life was not a big deal since I used rechargeable AAs and would monitor remaining charge. But I did grow tired of that and wired components don’t bother me and I never have connection issues.
See a more complete computer history under About tab.
iPhone 4 shipping early
I got an email with tracking number showing that my iPhone 4 has shipped TODAY.
I placed my order early evening on June 15th with Apple and my confirmation stated that my iPhone 4 would ship by July 2nd with an arrival between the 6th to 8th. I had read that some iPhones had shipped early. Since then I have been checking multiple times a day to see if my ship date got moved up. It did. So basically, I will get my iPhone 4 a week earlier than expected.
Apple handled the iPhone 4 ordering excellently. They gave a reasonable initial ship date in order to cover their demand. Once things were sorted out and initial exceptions were being realized Apple SHORTENED the ship date. This of course make customer happy. Not like other vendors that cancelled confirmed orders and increased ship time. This demonstrates that Apple does know how to judge demand with a new product. Having good balance between customer expectations and actual quantity to manufacture is difficult and risky.