50 Books Read in 2012

Since the beginning of the year is all about goals and resolutions, I thought I would officially commit myself to Goodread’s 2012 Reading Challenge to the tune of 50 books. Back in the days before having a family and multiple jobs I would breeze past 100 books easily in a year, but given all my other commitments I think 50 is a good goal.

I’m in the midst of two Joel Salatin books at the moment, The Sheer Ecstacy of Being a Lunatic Farmer and Folks This Ain’t Normal. Salatin is a widely-lauded farmer in Virginia who eschews industrialist farm practices and monocultures and instead focuses on diversity of lifeforms, weaving together systems such as having pastured chickens follow pastured beef in fields to cleanup cow manure, and biological distinctiveness which means letting pigs live like pigs and not being stuck in a cage for months. He is a self-described “Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-capitalist-lunatic-Farmer” and is both entertaining and enlightening to read.

The first book I’m listening to on my commute and the second I read at home when I get time. I’m also reading one of the Hardy Boys mystery books to Joshua and I plan on counting that as well. I also have to read The Hunger Games on my Kindle before the end of the month.