Best of 2010

The year isn't quite over yet, but I met my goal of 50 books! This was about half of what I read last year, but it was a much busier year, so I am pretty proud of 52 (and counting! I can probably get another 2 in before the new year!)

I read some pretty great books this year, but here is a list of my favorites:

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy by Stieg Larrson
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
One Day by David Nicholls
In the Woods and The Likeness by Tana French
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Spirit Bound and Last Sacrifice (reading this one right now!) by Richelle Mead
The Passage by Justin Cronin
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

And even though I've read them before, the Harry Potter books that I read this year (so far 1-3) are always among my favorites!

Kind of an interesting mix of books! And these are just my very favorites...there were quite a few others that were great too!

My reading goals for 2011 are pretty simple --- read 75 books, and keep track of the number of pages read. I'd also like to be a better blogger, and rate my books right away too! Since the list of books that I want to read is HUGE, I shouldn't have any problem finding enough to read!!

Oh, Harry...

Friday was opening day of the newest Harry Potter movie: The Deathly Hallows, Part I.

I've been looking forward to this movie FOREVER (or so it seems) and it did not disappoint. Jay and I love these movies. He is the one that got me hooked first on the movies, and then on the books. I put off reading the books for too long, but once I read them, I was hooked. I now consider myself a HUGE Harry Potter nerd!!

We both loved this new movie, although it's bittersweet to see it all coming to an end. There is only one movie left (thank goodness they made the last book into two movies!) and it comes out in July. I know I will be so depressed when it's over! It was bad when the books are done, but at least then we could look forward to the rest of the movies coming out! But now the movies are going to be done too.

Sigh.

The movie was fantastic, and as soon as it was over I wanted to see it again. Hopefully we'll be able to see it one more time on the big screen (and then I'm sure I'll watch it countless times on DVD!).

And OF COURSE, it makes me want to re-read the whole series...again. I knew I didn't want to read Deathly Hallows right before seeing the movie, so now I'm trying to decide if I should hold off on re-reading until the final movie comes out, or just do it now... I re-read them last summer after Half Blood Prince came out, so I wonder if it's too soon.

As I'm typing this, our old, beat-up copy of The Philosopher's Stone is sitting next to me, calling my name....

September in Review

September was a busy month for me...which meant there wasn't much time for reading. I did read three books though.

My favorite of the month was The Likeness by Tana French. I am really liking her books. They are mysteries, but not like the 'typical' mystery book. I'm looking forward to reading her next book soon!

I also thought Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro was a really interesting book, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the movie compares!

Of the three books I read in September, two were new (to me) authors, and one was young adult.

It's already almost mid-October and I've only read one book (although it was a big one!), but I'm hopeful I can at least read four this month. I am close to my goal of 50 books for the year, so I can't slow down now! :)

August in Review

This month, I read seven books, which is the most I've read any month so far this year. Not too shabby!

Six of the seven were young adult novels.

Three were new authors (to me).

All of the books were part of a series.

My favorite 'new' author was Tana French.

And of course, my favorite book was Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Well worth the wait for that one!

Overall, a decent month of reading, and I hope to keep it up!

Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay did not disappoint. This is the third book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. If you have not read the others, this will contain spoilers. Also, if you have not read the others - DO IT NOW!

(Grrr, Blogger won't let me copy and paste a summary, I will try again later).

I have heard that some people weren't satisfied with the way the series was wrapped up, but I really enjoyed the book. I think no matter what had happened, some wouldn't have liked it. But I thought it was all very fitting.

I bawled like a baby for several parts, and cheered out loud at one point. It was just a great book, and an amazing series.

*SPOILERS: I really did like Gale, but I think Peeta was the one that Katniss was meant to be with. I was so sad about Prim - the one that Katniss had been trying to protect since the beginning! :( When Buttercup showed up at the end, I was sobbing!

Overall, just a great series, and I'm really looking forward to reading them all again. I hadn't read Catching Fire since it came out, a year ago, so a few of the details were fuzzy for me, and I think I will catch a lot more (in all the books!) the second time around!

Rated: 5/5

Mockingjay!

I have been waiting all year for this book and it's finally here! Mockingjay is the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. If you haven't read these books, get ye to the bookstore!! They are fantastic!

I was able to start the book last night, and will read on my lunch hour today, and then after the kids go to bed tonight. I'm already hooked! I'm excited to read further, but sad to see this amazing series come to an end!

Nook!

I got a Nook several months ago, but have just started playing around with it more, recently. E-readers are all the rage right now, and I admit - it's fun! I thought I would miss the feel of a real book, but I don't. It's easy to read on, easy to navigate. The one thing that I was worried about was spending a lot of money on e-books. I've been getting most of my books from the library lately, since I have way too many books already, and to cut back on spending. So the Nook takes care of the space issue, but not the spending! However, I discovered how to download library e-books onto it now! The library doesn't have as many e-books as they do regular books, but they do have a pretty decent collection! So, I am excited about being able to check out e-books and read them on my Nook! I also scored a couple 'free' B&N giftcards (from Pampers points, and Discover Card rewards), so I will be able to buy some e-books guilt-free!

Since the Nook is the only e-reader I've used, I can't really compare it to others...but I think it's pretty awesome! And with the recent price drop, I have a feeling a lot more people will be getting one!

18?

It's mid-May. I've read 18 books this year so far.

Not TOO bad, considering, I've also had a baby, work full time (well, I'm currently on maternity leave), and have a wild and active 2 year old....

But last year I had read 18 books (and reviewed all of them!), by mid-February!

What a difference a year makes...

Review: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, by Maggie O'Farrell

Summary from Barnes and Noble:

In the middle of tending to the everyday business at her vintage clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend's attempts at commitment, Iris Lockhart receives a stunning phone call: Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital—where she has been locked away for over sixty years. Iris’s grandmother Kitty always claimed to be an only child. But Esme’s papers prove she is Kitty’s sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esme’s face. Esme has been labeled harmless—sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But Esme’s still basically a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, and hard to put down (although with a baby and a toddler, I had to put it down more often than I would have liked!!). I thought I had it all figured out, but I definitely didn't! It was heartbreaking at times, and I liked the different perspectives it was told from, so you got several sides to the story.

Overall, a really great read! I have another book on my shelf by O'Farrell, and I'm looking forward to reading it!

Rated: 4.5/5

Checking In

I haven't posted for awhile, life has been busy!

I welcomed my second child into the world on March 16th. It's a boy! Elijah took his time arriving...12 days late!

Needless to say, I haven't done much reading in the past two weeks. I did start a book a couple days ago though, and have been finding a minute here and there to read. As we get into more of a routine I'm sure I will find a little more time.

And maybe some day I'll find the time to review some of my recent reads here!

2009 Year in Review

Well, I hit my goal of reading 100 books in 2009. I actually read 115! And that was without reading a single book in December (how did that happen??). Nine of the books I read were re-reads, but that means I did still read over 100 NEW books. Woohoo!

I would have to say that my favorite book of the year was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It was one of the first books of the year for me. I also read the sequel, which was great...and the third (and final) book in the series comes out this summer, so I'm really looking forward to that!

I discovered a lot of new authors and genres this year, I stepped outside my usual box quite a bit, and read a lot of great books! I read a lot of young adult books, and a lot of series.

I did NOT reach my goal of reviewing every book I read. It just got to be too much later in the year, with pregnancy, a busy toddler, and everything else going on!

Overall, a great year of reading though -- and I have a lot of books lined up to read this year as well, so I'm looking forward to that...assuming I can find the time! It is going to be a busy year I think!