This is mostly for me, rather than anyone who will be super surprised to see a post from me, especially so soon after the last. >.< Anyway, I'm still updating my 2010 books read list (read a book last night) so if you're interested, check back :)

Meanwhile, all this info will be under the cut because if I didn't, it would be a super long post! First my plan:

I'm participating in 3 online reading clubs that I would encourage any of you to join! You don't have to read every month, you can pick and choose what you want to participate in. Personally I'm trying for every book though if I'll accomplish it? I'm not sure. Not every books is at the library. But I'll do my best!

1. The Women of Science Fiction  
2. The Women of Fantasy  

3. Alphabet Soup @ http://calico-reaction.livejournal.com/
4. Wheel of Time Reread @ Ranting Dragon


( And the rest under this lovely cut...Collapse )

These are the books I've read in 2010! While I haven't met my goal (and won't by year's end) I overshot last years goal by 10 books which makes me very proud! And I'm sure I'll sneak in 1 or 2 more before New Years! You'll find the list under the cut, along with my ratings of 1-5 stars. Next post will talk about 2011 and my book reading plans :D


( Books, books, books...Collapse )

30. Kiss the Girls by James Patterson.
31. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan.
32. The Singing (Book 4 of the Pellinor Series) by Alison Croggon.
33. Storm Front (Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher.
34. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan.

I've decided to go ahead and increase my goal to 144 books in 2010. It seems much more of a challenge. As of right now I've met the 12 books for March and I'm only have way through the month. Any books I read from here on out are some nice padding for a month when I may not have as much time.

The Pellinor series by Alison Croggon is really good. I'm glad I read the last book! Storm Front was good but also kind of meh. I'll continue reading the series and see what I think.

34 / 144 books. 24% done!

24. Along Came a Spider by James Patterson.
25. Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey. <3
26. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.
27. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan.
28. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan.
29. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan.

I love Jacqueline Carey and I loved Naamah's Kiss! I can't wait for the sequel :D Percy Jackson took me a bit to get into but by the halfway point in book 1 I was hooked. I read the last two books today in fact >.>

 

29 / 100 books. 29% done!

January:

18. Push by Sapphire.
19. Extras by Scott Westerfeld.
20. The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Push was an interesting novel. The stylized nature of it got to be annoying after awhile though because it made it much harder to read. Also there really wasn't an ending, it felt unfinished. Extras was a book that I could put down, unlike it's predecessors in the series. It was good but I didn't love it. I'm finding reading about Sherlock Holmes, at least the first two novels, is much drier than I remembered. I suppose I haven't read anything written like it (Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors, I need to do a reread) in awhile so I'm unused to the language. I've read that Sherlock didn't really become popular until after the serialized short stories, which I'm just beginning, so perhaps I will get more into them as I read on?

February:

21. The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus Trilogy #1) by Jonathan Stroud.
22. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger.
23. Step on a Crack by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge.

I loved the Amulet of Samarkand. I finished it in one night because I didn't want to stop reading. I've already requested the next two books in the trilogy from the library and am eagerly awaiting to finish it. Her Fearful Symmetry was a book that I could put down. It was well written but the story didn't grab me. In fact I didn't think I was invested in the characters at all until after I finished the book and felt a strange sense of sadness and melancholy.

When I'm driving I like listening to AudioBooks (if I don't have one I listen to Talk Radio) but I find listening to Fantasy or SciFi novels, my usual fare, is harder. If I read a thriller/mystery such as a lot of James Patterson's novels that I enjoy, it's much easier for me to jump into the story where it was left off. I don't have to pay as strict attention, instead using most of it on my driving. I spent quite a bit yesterday trying to find similar fare at the library since I needed a new Audio Book. I hate starting series in the middle so it was difficult but I found something! The first in that series of Alphabet murders (A is for A-something) and I also grabbed a Play-Away. Play-Away's are Audio-Books that come in their own little device, like an MP3 player. You can just plug in your headphones and hit play. I grabbed  The Camel Club by David Baldacci since he seems to be a popular author.

 

23 / 100 books. 23% done!

I need to find some new icons...I don't use most of the ones I have. But that's on a separate note!

15. Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris.
16. Coraline by Neil Gaiman.
17. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

While I like the Harper Connelly series by Charlaine, the relationship in it is a little off-putting and weird for me. Even though cerebrally I understand that there is nothing wrong with the relationship my gut twinges a bit reading about it.

Coraline was a fast, dark read that reminded me of Spirited Away. I really want to see the movie now! It's the first Gaiman book I've read and I didn't love it, so I'm reserving judgment on the author until I've read more. Any suggestions for the next Gaiman book I should read?

Because of the recent Sherlock Holmes movie and because I loved the Holmes stories as a kid, I've decided to do a read of all of the canon stories. A Study in Scarlet is the first one and I plan on reading them as they were released.

 

17 / 100 books. 17% done!

Edit: For some reason at the end of 2009 I assumed (without checking) that my goal for the year had been to read 100 books and was thus disappointed when I only reached 67. However as I was checking old entries to pick my top 5 favorite books of 2009 I discovered I had only set a goal of 50. Which means I made it! Yay!

11. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris.
12. In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant.
13. Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris.
14. An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris.

 

14 / 100 books. 14% done!

8. A Touch of Dead by Charlaine  Harris
9. Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
10. Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

The Sookie short stories were good, enough to keep me by until I got Dead Until Gone. Grave Sight also served this purpose.  I like the Harper series so far but not nearly as much as I do Sookie. I'm hoping the next book will be better. Lips Touch is a book of 3 short stories, it was only so so for me.

 

10 / 100 books. 10% done!

4. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
5. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
6. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
7. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

Call me officially addicted. I love these books! I read these in the past 2 days or some such. The last 3 within 24 - 36 hours. So much better than Twilight! Don't make think I don't still love Twilight though ;) However it is definitely not (and I've never believed it to be) the best vampire series ever. And I have to admit Eric is my fav vamp ever. Go Viking Vamps!

 

7 / 100 books. 7% done!

2. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
3. Dead to the Word by Charlaine Harris

I quite enjoyed these books and I'm eagerly on to the next one. I like the old Eric but I also liked the Cursed Eric. Didn't see much of Bill lately so I'm wondering what's going to happen in that direction. So far so good though! I thought I would hate it if Sookie left Bill and went with Eric but it's actually not so bad.

 

3 / 100 books. 3% done!