I've seen this meme a few places. I am just doing it out curiosity and for my own reference

The BBC allegedly believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here:

How do your reading habits stack up? [bold those books you've read in their entirety, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish].

( the books I have read )

11) Death in a Prairie House by William R. Drennen
I started with this book, a history of the murders at Taliesin in 1914 to prepare for the next book I'm going to tell you about. I have been a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright since college. I have read books by him and about him. I have been all over this country to see buildings he has designed and built. There is a story in each and every one of those constructions from the houses in Rockford IL to the Guggenheim in New York City. In 1998, oneandonlymatt and I went on one of our first vacations together - to Spring Green Wisconsin. While there, we toured Taliesin III, the third incarnation of the home built into the hill. The first two buildings had been burned down. The murders of 7 people in 1914 was told to us as more of a footnote. "In 1914, seven people were brutally murdered here. And over here you see the view of the hills from the cantilevered balconies..." Drennen speculates, and I tend to agree, that the events that day actually shaped the rest of Frank Lloyd Wright's career and life. I learned a lot of interesting things about Wright and his mistress, Mamah Borthwick. The sacrifices that both of them made just to be together for seven short years. I also learned some rather interesting little tidbits. The death certificate for Mamah actually reads "Killed by Negro", a brief but very telling statement about the world they lived in.

12) Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
This is an exceptionally well constructed work of historical fiction. From Mamah Borthwick's point of view, we see the struggle of a woman ahead of her time trying to make her own life with a visionary architect ahead of his time. It was interesting to see how Horan developed the character of Frank Lloyd Wright. I loved how she plucked little bits of truth from the lives of Mamah and Frank to weave into the story she was creating. You can certainly read this book without the context of studying the works and history of FLW himself. In fact, even if you have never seen a building designed by Wright, you should still read this book. It is a story of self discovery and horrific tragedy. And out of the ashes of that tragedy, there was carved the most amazing American artist this country may have ever seen.

These are the things I have seen or read since the last time.
( I've seen and read a few things since last time )

3) Cowboy Mouth "Fearless" (Music)
I first experienced Cowboy Mouth last summer at the Bele Chere music festival in Asheville. I was familiar but besides "Jenny Says" I didn't know much about them. Well, turns out they are one of the most amazing things to see live. The drummer is also the lead singer so he is at the front of the stage and is exceptionally animated and really gets the audience into the show. There is nothing like seeing Cowboy Mouth live. That being said, the new album is very very good. In an almost Frank Zappa sort of way, they have a particular sense of the absurd in their song writing. There is a catchy tune about Kelly Rippa, for instance. Another favorite is "Belly", and anthem for all the not-so-skinny girls out there. There are some more straight ahead rock songs like "I Believe" and there is a touching song the lead singer wrote about his mother when she was dying called "Maureen". I do highly recommend this CD, especially if you are already a fan. If you have never heard them before, what I would really recommend is going to see a live show.

4) "Healing Appalachia: Sustainable Living Through Appropriate Technology" by Al Fritsch and Paul Gallimore
I had found this book a while ago and asked for it for Christmas. I thought that it would be very useful in building our Tumblweed Tiny House on our little piece of the Smokey Mountains. For the most part, the book was very good. It was very well researched and organized and offered a lot of affordable suggestions. I did get a little turned off at times when the authors became a little "Greenvangelical"*, but I could deal with it in the context of their subject. I marked several things that I thought would be of particular use for us in Asheville. These include building an Elbow Torch Stove, planting American Chestnuts, growing herbs native to the region, creating an artificial wetland to handle gray water, and Yurts (a favorite of oneandonlymatt. There is also a section on putting in an attic vent, something I think would be most useful in our tumbleweed house. If you are anywhere near the Appalachian Mountains and want to find out more about using appropriate technology to live sustainably, this is a great resource for you.

*I think I just made that word up.

In the vein of the 50 Book Challenge, I wanted to log all the media I experience this year. The goal is not to achieve a certain number of books (though I am curious to see how many I have read by the end of the year) but to log all the cool stuff I have read/seen/heard this year.

To start, the first two entries

1) Write to TV by Martie Cook (book)
This is a book about the art and business of television screen writing. It discusses the technical aspects of how to format a television script. It has practical advice for how to begin and what to do once you have some specs in your portfolio. It has given me some ideas and I am excited to start working on them.

2) Doubt (movie)
Phenomenal! Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep are such amazing actors. Their roles in this movie were gut wrenching. Surprisingly, Amy Adams (of Enchanted) played an important role and was very good. Obviously you know by now that it is about the a Catholic church in the 50s. You can imagine some of the themes that they touch on. I wouldn't give a way too much because I believe this movie is the true definition of Art and how you feel about it and what you experience when you see it will say more about the movie than I can describe. Highly recommended.

This time the "Unread book meme"
Below the cut are the top 100 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing's users.

As usual: Bold what you have read, italicize those you started but couldn't finish, and strike through what you couldn't stand. Add an asterisk to those you've read more than once. Underline those on your to-read list.

( my listie )

I have been in a fictiony mood lately. I recently devoured "The Blind Assassin" by Margaret Atwood. It is an excellent book - exactly on par with all of her other books. She is just such a master story teller.

I am currently reading "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman. I'm not very far in but damn what a great story! If you haven't read it yet, I suggest not clicking ( here. )

Waiting in the wings are two books that dreamsidhe sent me for my birthday. One is a historical fiction "Helen of Troy" which she said was "up my ally"...I wonder why. The other is the first in a series, it appears, that she told me was quite good. She also sent me the file of the book that she has written so I could provide some feedback. I started reading it yesterday but haven't made it very far either. I might actually read it next and treat it just like any other fiction book so that I can devote my complete attention to it.

I have some non-fiction waiting for me too but I have felt more like reading fiction lately.