For some reason, I think it's fun to keep a list of all of the books I read, the movies I see, and the plays and concerts I go to. I try to keep it up to date, and I hope every year that I end up with more books than movies on the list (somehow it makes me feel more intellectual that way, even though books can take weeks to finish and even Lord of the Rings extended version movies only take a few hours).

At any rate, with the new year, I present my list of entertainment consumption for 2006. I think the list is pretty complete. This includes only items that I went through from start to finish and paid close attention to.

The numbers of books (22) and movies (20) for 2006 are way down from 2005 (when I read 47 books and watched 42 movies). That's because in September 2005 (when my entertainment consumption really dropped off) I got a real job and didn't have quite as much discretionary time as I did in law school during the majority of 2005. Also the baby who came into my life in November 2005 eats up a lot of my discretionary time nowadays. But I'm pleased that the numbers of plays and concerts are up from 2005 (when I saw only two live plays (and both of them were the little shows at Sea World that don't really count) and zero concerts). For the musical person that I think I am, I really stink at concerts, and one of my goals for 2007 is to go to more concerts.

Books
The Russia House by John LeCarre (1/20/06)
Chance by Amir D. Aczel (1/25/06)
Salt by Mark Kurlansky (2/9/06)
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (2/10/06)
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (2/13/06)
South by Ernest Shackleton (3/9/06)
So Who the Heck Was Oscar Mayer? by Douglas Gelbert (3/11/06)
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (3/06)
Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth (4/06)
The Most of P.G. Wodehouse by P.G. Wodehouse (5/10/06)
The Woman at the Washington Zoo by Marjorie Williams (5/20/06)
Shopgirl by Steve Martin (5/23/06)
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (6/1/06)
Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith (6/20/06)
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse (6/30/06)
The Bounty by Caroline Alexander (7/10/06)
Anonymous Lawyer by Jeremy Blachman (8/1/06)
Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling by Richard Bushman (8/12/06)
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (8/25/06)
The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman (9/15/06)
Walt Disney and the American Dream by Stephen Watts (11/5/06)
Treasure Box by Orson Scott Card (11/20/06)

Movies
Fever Pitch (1/19/06)
Friday Night Lights (2/3/06)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (3/10/06)
Millions (5/5/06)
National Treasure (5/27/06)
Pride and Prejudice (5/29/06)
Napoleon Dynamite (5/29/06)
The Work and the Glory (6/28/06)
The Work and the Glory: American Zion (6/29/06)
Saints and Soldiers (6/30/06)
Bend it Like Beckham (7/06)
Little Manhattan (10/6/06)
Fun With Dick and Jane (10/7/06)
Million Dollar Baby (11/22/06)
March of the Penguins (11/23/06)
Back to the Future Part II (11/24/06)
Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King (12/23/06)
Miracle on 34th Street (Original) (12/24/06)
Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest (12/26/06)
White Christmas (12/30/06)

Plays
You Can’t Take It With You, Great Falls Players (1/20/06)
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, McLean (2/25/06)
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Mt. Vernon Stake (11/9 and 10/06)
A Christmas Carol, Little Theater of Alexandria (12/1/06)

Concerts
Merry TubaChristmas, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage (12/4/06)
Christmas concert, Washington DC LDS Temple Visitors Center (12/16/06)