Book Challenge, Week 13

Here's something that has been perplexing me. We are 13 weeks into the new year, and I have read more books so far this year than ever before. Why, then, does the list of books I want to read keep growing longer and longer? The more I read, the more I listen for recommendations, and the more people lend me great books. I just can't seem to get to them all fast enough. I suppose that's how it goes. At least I'll never run out of things to read! Here's the list from the past week.

Brishen:
23. Drooling and Dangerous by Mary Amato and Ethan Long
24. Grk and the Pelotti Gang by Joshua Doder
25. Grk and the Hot Dog Trail by Joshua Doder

Melani:
25. Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email, the Tangled Story of English Spelling by David Wolman
This was a really interesting book. I never knew about all the influential people over history who have tried to change the spelling of the English language to make it simpler. Some were successful, which means some words are now spelled differently than they once were or even still are in the UK. People are still trying to rally forces to simplify spelling. They argue that we are wasting so many years teaching children something that could be taught so much more easily if it were simplified. I also never knew the differences in versions of the dictionary. Really interesting stuff for a nerd like me!

26. Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian by Scott Douglass
I guess I like to read these types of books. I read Nanny Diaries to get an inside look at the life of a nanny. I read Waiter Rant for an inside look at the life of a waiter. Now I read this to see what it is like to be a librarian. I actually thought, before reading this book, that a librarian would be a nice, peaceful job to have. Now, I know better. This book wasn't my favorite this year. His footnotes were really funny at first but got annoying to me after a while. I did like this paragraph from the acknowledgements pages:

"In the spirit world, I would like to acknowledge God (not the secular one that people tend to throw out when they're trying to sound spiritual; or the Christian one that people say to sound righteous and better than you; rather the God I believe in--the one who has three parts: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the one who forgives me when I do something dumb; the one who does not condemn me when I break a promise or give food to a sinner--and on that note the one who doesn't praise me when I give food to a saint; the one who doesn't say I must vote Democratic or Republican. Yeah, that one. He's sort of been forgotten by postmoderns and Christians alike, but he's still around and I'm thankful for what he's done in my life."

Jon:
Jon is on a mission to read some classics that he never got around to reading. He has a long list, and he checked off the first book last week and a second one this week.

14. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner