Jason Does Dumb Stuff

With the new year literally just a matter of hours away I figured now would be the best time to post my 2011 reading list.  This is the order I think I will be reading them in.  Things are subject to change, if I get into a book that is part of the series and really like it I might go out and buy the other books and continue on with that series instead of sticking to my list.  But for the most part I hope to follow this time line.

1. True Grit – Charles Portis
2. The Strain – Chuck Hogan & Guillermo Del Toro
3. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
4. Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonegut
5. Hater – David Moody
6. 1984 – George Orwell
7. A Game of Thrones – George R. R. Martin
8. A Clash of Kings – George R. R. Martin
9. The Spartans – Paul Cartledge
10. Orthodoxy – G. K. Chesterton
11. Jack’s Life – Douglas Gresham
12. The Book of Five Rings – Miyamoto Musashi
13. The Urban Homestead – Kelly Coyne & Erik Knutzen
14. The Odyssey – Homer
15. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
16. Autumn – David Moody
17. Boneshaker – Cherie Piest
18. East of Eden – John Steinbeck
19. When All Hell Breaks Loose – Cody Lundin
20. Out of the Silent Planet – C.S. Lewis
21. Perelandra – C.S. Lewis
22. That Hideous Strength – C.S. Lewis
23. The Iliad – Homer
24. God, Guns, & Rock ‘N’ Roll – Ted Nugent
25. The Fair Tax Book – Neal Boortz & John Linder
26. Watership Down – Richard Adams
27. Dies The Fire – S. M. Stirling
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany – John Irving
29. I am Legend – Richard Matheson
30. The Catcher in the Rye – J. D. Salinger
31. Without Warning – John Birmingham
32. White Fang – Jack London
33. Call of the Wild – Jack London
34. The First American Army – Bruce Chadwick
35. Ted, White, and Blue – Ted Nugent
36. Children of Dune – Frank Herbert
37. The Silmarillion – J.R.R Tolkien
38. King Arthur – Howard Pyle
39. A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
40. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

Not a bad list if I do say so myself.  Now keep in mind, this is just a list of the books that I already have sitting in my office ready for me to read.  My goal is 100 by December 31st 2011.  I’ll still be adding the other two books from the “Hunger Games” trilogy along with the other books in Del Toro’s “The Strain” trilogy.  I’ll also be adding classics like “Catch-22″, “Animal Farm”, “Lord of the Flies”, “A Brave New World”, and a book or two by Jane Austen.  Ya that’s right I’m adding Jane Austen to my reading list and I’m man enough to admit that in public.

Along with posting updates to my reading list and keeping everyone posted.  I’m also going to try and do a book review on most of the books I read this year.  Some may be just  a sentence and some may be a few paragraphs.  Also, if you decide you want to buy any of these books and you don’t mind helping me out a bit click on the links here on the site and buy them through my affiliate page on amazon.com.  It doesn’t cost you anything extra but it does help me out a little.

With Christmas fast approaching I’m sure there are more than a few people feverishly searching for gifts.  If you find yourself in this situation may I suggest giving a book.  I know what your thinking, “A book!?!” “Why the heck would anyone on my list want a book.”  You might be right, for some people a book might be a terrible gift but remember a book doesn’t always have to book a 3 pound copy of “Atlas Shrugged” or “War and Peace“.  Have fun with you book selection.  A few years back I gave my sister a copy of “The book of bunny suicides“  She loved it.  It was sick, it was twisted, and it was hilarious.  My brother hates reading but he loves the books that are full of dumb facts that he can leave on the back of the toilet.  He says it gives him something to do while he is “in the office”.  So here are some suggestions for those hard to shop for people.

For the speed junkies, or that hard to shop for male – “The Driver:  My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World” by Alex Roy.  It’s about a guy who participates in illegal racing all over the world and then decides he wants to drive from New York to L.A. in less that 34 hours.  It’s a thrilling and hilarious look into this interesting world of speed, high end cars, and wealthy risk takers.

For the teen boy who hates to read – “The Runaways: Pride & Joy” by Brian K. Vaughn.  It follows a group of teenagers who find out that their parents are super villains. They decide to runaway from home and become super heroes and try and stop their evil parents.  What kid hasn’t thought his parents where evil at one point or another.

For the 20 something fashonista – “Kardashian Konfidential” by Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian.  It really causes me pain to list this book on here but for some people this is as close to a master piece of literature as they are ever going to come.  I have the mental image of them turning in the rough draft of this book to the editors completely written in crayon.

Ok, enough rambling from me I’ve been up for 40 hours straight, now I’m off to bed.

All right.  It looks like I’ve finished picking out enough books to get me through the first 4 or 5 months of 2011. I also figured, since I wont have time to write any reviews, that I might do a quick video blog at the end of each week covering the two books that I finished.  If I do the videos don’t expect anything fancy, just me using the camera mounting shotgun mic with what ever lighting I can get in my office at home.  As far as the list goes I’ve added a few books to get the grand total up to 30.  I’ve added some books that are part of series, some of the books are the 3rd or 4th in the series because I’ve already read the previous ones.  Others I have listed either just the first book in the series or just the first couple.  I did this just in case I start a series and end up hating it.  This keeps me from having to trudge through 3 or 4 books that I absolutely hate.  If I like the series I will add the next book in the series to my list.

alright that’s enough rambling from me without further ado here is my updated list.

1. Dead or Alive – Tom Clancy
2. The King of Plagues – Johnathan Maberry
3. A game of thrones – George R. R. Martin
4. A Clash of Kings – George R. R. Martin
5. A Storm of Swords – George R. R. Martin
6. Orthodoxy – G. K. Chesterton
7. Jack’s Life – Douglas Gresham
8. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
9. Watership Down – Richard Adams
10. The Spartans – Paul Cartledge
11. Out of the Silent Planet – C. S. Lewis
12. Perelandra – C.S. Lewis
13. That Hideous Strength – C. S. Lewis
14. The Fair Tax Book – Neal Boortz & John Linder
15. Hater – David Moody
16. A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
17. The Odyssey – Homer
18. The Story of King Arthur and his Knights – Howard Pyle
19. White Fang – Jack London
20. Call of the Wild – Jack London
21. The Struggle to Limit Government – John Curtis Samples
22. God, Guns, and Rock ‘n’ Roll – Ted Nugent
23. Slaughter House Five – Kurt Vonnegut
24. 1984 – George Orwell
25. The Silmarillion – J. R. R. Tolkien
26. Rot & Ruin – Johnathan Maberry
27. Abraham Lincoln – Vampire Hunter – Seth Grahame-Smith
28. Eden: Crusade (book 2) – Tony Monchinski
29. On Hunting – Theodore Roosevelt
30. The Nasty Bits – Anthony Bourdain

If you know me at all you know I’m a huge book nerd.  I’ve got a slight addiction when it comes to books and reading.  I’ve decided to give into that addiction and try and read 100 books in 2011.  I’ll keep posting as I finish books and as I build my book list.  As of right now these are the books that I have on hand that I will be reading in 2011. I’m listing them in no particular order for right now.  As I get closer to having most of the books on hand I’ll try and come up with some order in which I will read them.  The order may change depending on my mood and how much free time I have.  I’ll add more books once I see what I get for Christmas and my birthday and as I decide what books I want to purchase after that.  It looks like I’m going to need a bigger book shelf.

1. King Arthur – Howard Pyle

2. The Odyssey – Homer

3. A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens

4. Call of the Wild – Jack London

5. White Fang – Jack London

6. The Silmarillion – J.R.R Tolkien

7. Hater – David Moody

8. Out of the Silent Planet – C.S. Lewis

9. Perelandra – C.S. Lewis

10. That Hideous Strength – C.S. Lewis

11. Jack’s Life – Douglas Gresham

12. The Spartans – Paul Cartledge

13. Orthodoxy – G.K. Chesterton

14. God, Guns, & Rock ‘n’ Roll – Ted Nugent

15. The Fair Tax Book – Neal Boortz & John Linder

16. Watership Down – Richard Adams

17. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury