I said farewell and good riddance to 2016 three days ago. I set a reading challenge goal of seventy-five (75) books at the start of last year.
I participated in three real-world book discussion groups in order to diversify my reading horizons. I nominated, voted and attended the Hugo Awards during 2016. I joined two reading programs at my local library (summer and winter). I also set other personal goals that I didn’t statistically track but achieved despite real-world hurdles.
I began the year by reading my first ever graphic novel – Persopolis by Satrapi – one of three graphic novels I would read in 2016, two of which were for different book clubs. I wrapped up the year with my second ever Hemingway book in paperback edition – his memoir A Moveable Feast – for a total of eighty-eight (88) books read. Click here for a complete list of books I read in 2016.
88 looks like double infinity sideways to me (hence the odd title to this blog post).
On the ides of November, with forty-six days left in 2016, I achieved my self-inflicted reading goal. I have 
This month we try to solve the mystery of 
The first meeting is scheduled for 
Roald Dahl’s very witty and popular novel tells the story of a good-hearted boy living in the most dire of economic conditions. Young Charlie is a shining light, especially among four spoiled, misguided, and destructive children who, along with Charlie, find the golden tickets in their candy bars that win them a tour of Willy Wonka’s factory. This humorous and satirical novel also speaks of how, with enough trust and love, a child can inspire the adults around him and transform his family’s life. Dahl, often called a literary genius, creates in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a modern-day fairy tale about the evils of greed and corruption and the wonders of honesty. 162 pp.
Burnett’s turn-of-the-century Cinderella story tells of a little girl who goes from riches to rags to riches again, all along maintaining her compassion and love for those around her. After wealthy Sara Crewe moves into a strict girls’ boarding school, she learns that her father is dead, leaving her both penniless and an orphan. Her faith in her father and her sense of justice enable her to overcome poverty, hardship, and abuse, and to create her own family and community. Burnett, a playwright and novelist for adults before she wrote children’s books, never over-simplifies the complexities of a dangerous world; at the same time, she never forgets what it’s like to view that world as a hopeful child. 242 pp.
Few children’s books create such memorable characters as The Wind in the Willows, and few appeal as universally to both children and adults. The struggles of Badger, Mole, Water Rat, and the incorrigible Toad allowed Grahame to imbue his tale with the “deepest sense of the meaning of his own adult life,” says scholar Clifton Fadiman. The four animal characters, with all their foibles, exhibit many adult characteristics. They survive each others’ limitations and escapades, face the loss of their home due to corruption, and muster enough loyalty, ingenuity and humor to prevail over evil. In doing so, they show us how to survive our own personal challenges and limitations at home and at work, as adults. 244 pp.
