Books Read in December

I did pretty good to wrap up my year in reading, with 13 books read this month. Here's what I read in December:

1. The Phantom Freighter (library)

2. World Without End (TBR challenge)

3. The secret in the Old attic (Library)

4. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1001 books)

5. Ghost in the Mirror (Non- fiction/Kindle)

6. Hawk O'Toole's Hostage

7. The Daughters Break the Rules

8. The Daughters take the Stage

9. Just as Long as We're Together

10. The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest

11. The Chocolate Chip Cookie murder (kindle)

12. A Boyfriend Before Christmas (Kindle)

13. All the Lovely Bad Ones

This was an excellent way to end my year in reading. All except two of these books received 5 stars from me!

My 2011 Year in Books

Books read in 2011
(Goal: 75, or 22,500 pages!)

JANUARY
1. A Thousand Splendid Suns
2. The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo
3. Restless Hearts
4. Thirteen Moons
5. Blue Skies

February
6. The Virgin Suicides
7. Club Dead
8. Dead to the World

March
9. Love and Respect
10. By the Shores of Silver Lake
11. The Long Winter

April
12. Search for a New Dawn
13. Little Town on the Prairie
14. These Happy Golden Years
15. The First four years
16. The Purpose driven Life
17. The Pillars of the Earth

May
18. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
19. Safe Haven
20. The Christmas Train
21. Amazing Word search collection
22. Haunted Schools
23. The Boleyn Inheritance
24. Haunted Highways
25. Standing in the Rainbow

June
26. The Memory Keepers Daughter
27. The Interruption of Everything
28. The Red Queen
29. Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World
30. That Summer
31. Something Blue

July
32. One Tuesday Morning
33. beyond Tuesday Morning
34. The house of Mirth
35. Stone of Tears

August
36. Black Hills
37. This Lullaby
38. The Bestseller
39. Dead as a Doornail
40. The Girl Who Played with Fire
41. War and Peace
42. Definitely Dead
43. The Poisonwood Bible

September
44. Conquering depression
45. All Together dead
46. The Woman in Black

October
47. The Ghost Next door
48. The shelters of stone
49. Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married
50. One summer

November
51. Heart of the Matter
52. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1
53. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #2
54. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #3
55. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #4
56. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #5
57. Deep and Dark and Dangerous
58. Wait ‘til Helen Comes
59. 50 Things That Really Matter
60. Cam Jansen and the Snowy Day Mystery
61. Cam Jansen and the Triceratop pops Mystery
62. If I could Fly
63. Good-bye Pink Pig
64. The Sign of the Crooked Arrow
65. Not Even for Love

December
66. The Phantom Frieghter
67. World Without End
68. The Secret in the Old Attic
69. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
70. Ghost in the Mirror
71. Hawk O’Toole’s Hostage
72. The Daughter’s Break the Rules
73. The Daughter’s Take the Stage
74. Just as Long as We’re Together
75.The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest
76. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
77. A boyfriend Before Christmas
78. All The Lovely Bad Ones

Books Read to My Daughter
79. Peedie
80. Guess How Much I love you
81. Pooh Loves
82. Noah’s Ark
83. My Little Golden book about God
84. Baby’s First Book
85. Baby’s House
86.Look Out Suzie Goose!


So, this has been another amazing year of reading!!! Those last two months I really went to town trying to catch up! I did pretty good! I have to admit, I was scrambling around trying to get some shorter books to read (even went to the library for that purpose!) since I didn't have any good short or YA books on my TBR shelf, so next year I am going to only read off my TBR shelf, and since, like I said I don't have any really short ones, I think I am not going to be reaching a 75 book goal in 2012. i'm pretty much not even gonna try. I have a list of 65 already written up that I want to get finished by years end, but a few of them are pretty lengthy, like Don Quixote and #'s 3 and 4 in the Sword of Truth series. So, I am just going to try to get through that list and if I do and can read more towards the 75 book challenge then great but if not, eh oh well, as long as I try to knock quite a few off my pre-chosen list of 65. So, there are my goals for 2012! Do you have any reading goals?

Thank you! Merry Christmas and a TBR challenge list!

First off thank you to Kimberly at Turning The Pages for such an encouraging comment!! I am definitely going to try to keep this up! The reading part is the fun/easy part for me, it's the writing part that is sorta hard. The reviews and such! But I will keep trying to write as much as I can! Maybe If I hand write out my reviews first. For some reason my brain works better with pencil in hand then when I try to type out how I feel about a book. And part of it is pure laziness, or being too busy with other things! The other thing I think that deters me is the fact that I don't read new releases often, since my TBR shelf overfloweth, with books that I purchased a long time ago, so I think "Why review that?! Everyone has probably already read it!" But then I think Well the reason I started this blog was to keep track mainly for myself what I read, so why should I care what other people think? And who knows? Something I write just might help someone else want to read a great book I read, even if it's been on the shelves for years and years.

That being said I have once again joined the TBR challenge at The book addicts group on Goodreads, and the challenge is to read 12 books off your TBR shelf during the year. The books must have been on your shelf for at least a year. So, that means no publication dates from after Jan 1 2011. Lord knows I have plenty to choose from! So, here's my list!

1. Three Fates By: Nora Roberts

2.Of Mice and Men by: John Steinbeck

3. Girls Night In By: several authors (short stories!)

4. The Romance Readers' Book Club by: Julie L. Cannon

5. Nostalgic Noel A collection of 4 Christmas stories by various authors

6.The Appeal By: John Grisham

7. Ask Again Later by: Jill A. Davis

8. The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Nighttime By:Mark Haddon

9. Sammy's Hill by Kristin Gore

10. Mansfield Park by: Jane Austen

11. Waiting to Exhale by: Terry MacMillan

12. Every Breath You Take by Ann Rule

You are allowed 2 alternates as well and for those I picked:

1.Summer breeze By: Catherine Anderson

2. The Summerhouse By: Jean Stone

I just realized that out of those 14 books 10 of them are from authors who are new to me! Wow! I may find me some new favorite authors this year!

Well, that's it for me here, but before I go I would like to say a big Merry Christmas to all you who took the time to read this! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and have a great New Year Holiday and next year? If you don't see reviews here, be sure and leave me a comment and say "Hey! I'd love to see a review for ::insert title here!::"

Wow!

I am up to 19 followers here now! I didn't think anyone even cared...guess I had better start writing more here. Like reviews of books...yeah that might be good! =) I have written what? 2, 3 reviews all year, and I've read almost 80 books! I am a horrible book blogger! =( I am gonna try to be better next year, I promise! (I think I made this promise for this year too...oops!)

Books Read in November

Well, I had a goooood reading month in November! I finished 15 books! So, now I am more than caught up with my challenge, in fact it is only the beginning of Dec, and I only have 1 more book to finish to reach my 75 books for the year!
Here's the list:
1. Heart of the Matter by:Emily Giffin
2. Diary of a Wimpy kid #1 by:Jeff Kinney
3. Diary of a wimpy Kid #2
4. Diary of a wimpy Kid #3
5. Diary of a wimpy Kid #4
6. Diary of a wimpy Kid #5
7. Deep and dark and Dangerous By:Mary Downing Hahn
8. Wait Tl Helen Comes By Mary Downing Hahn
9. 50 things that really matterDave Joachim
10. Cam Jansen and the Snowy day Mystery By: David A. Adler
11. Cam Jansen and the Triceratops Pops mystery by: David A. Adler
12. If I coud Fly By: Judith Ortiz Cofer
13. Good Bye Pink Pig By: C.S Adler
14. The sighn of the Crooked Arrow By: Franklin Dixon
15. Not even for Love By:Sandra Brown

Yes, i went a little overboard on the kiddie books but I got the box set of the Wimpy kid books for my birthday. And they went so fast and were fun that I decided to hit the library and see what other great kid books were out there! I forgot how Kiddie books can truly take you from your now world, and transport you to a time when you were young! I loved to read as a child, and these books took me back to long warm summer days laying on my bed reading as a child. I loved them all. I still have a few more from the library to read in December and I am looking forward to them as well.

October Monthly reads

In October I read 5 books:

1) The Woman in Black by: Susan Hill
2) The Ghost Next Door by: Mark Alan Morris
3) The Shelters of Stone by: Jean M. Auel
4) Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by: Marian Keyes
5) One Summer by: David Baldacci

all but one were great reads. I really sturggled through The Shelters of Stone. I finished The woman in Black in one day and The Ghost Next Door in a few hours. I wanted to save The Ghosty one for Halloween, but it arrived early and I couldn't help myself and so I sat down and read the entire thing in a few hours.

Book Review: "One Summer" by: David Baldacci

Title: One Summer
Author: David Baldacci
Pages: 320
Personal Rating: 5/5

From the inside Cover: It’s almost Christmas, but there is no joy in the house of terminally ill Jack and his family. With only a short time left to live, he spends his last days preparing to say goodbye to his devoted wife, Lizzie, and their three children. Then unthinkably, tragedy strikes again: Lizzie is killed in a car accident. With no on able to care for them,the children are separated from one another and sent to live with family members around the country.
Just when all seems lost, Jack begins to recover in a miraculous turn of events. He rises from what should have been his deathbed, determined to bring his fractured family back together. Struggling to rebuild their lives after Lizzie’s death, he reunites everyone at Lizzies’s childhood home on the oceanfront in South Carolina. And there, over one unforgettable summer, Jack begins to learn to love again, and he and his children learn how to become a family once more.

Personal thoughts and reflection: I LOVED this book. I couldn’t put it down, and spent the last night up until 2 am finishing, as I couldn’t just leave the last quarter of the book unread! I had to know how everything resolved itself!!
I liked the character of Jack immediately. I was sucked in emotionally with this one! I have said it before and I’ll say it again. I believe the greatness of a book is shown when it can bring it’s reader to emotion, whether it be sadness, triumph, jealousy, anger, or any other emotion while reading, it has done it’s job! This book evoked so many emotions in me. Sadness, hope, anger, fear, it was all there!

The one thing that struck me about this book was it’s style. Now I have only read ONE of Baldacci’s books so far (The Christmas Train), though I was hooked from that one and went out and started stockpiling his works from then on, I am excited to get into some of his series!! (I’m a big series addict!) But this one reminded me of a Nicholas Sparks book. It read a lot like many of his. He spun a great tale, and I kept thinking “This was written by a guy?” Though some of the fight scenes were obviously written by one of the male gender! (come on, admit it, the thought of a fight scene makes you wanna read it, huh?)
If you are looking for a great, easy, fun, emotional adventure to sink your teeth into, grab this book!! If you enjoy Nicholas Sparks works, grab this book! Heck, Just Grab this book!!!! I promise you , it will grab you back!!

Book Review: "Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married" by: Marian Keyes

Title: Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married
Author: Marian Keyes
Pages: 624
Personal Rating: 5/5

From the Back Cover: What happens when a psychic tells Lucy that she’ll be getting married within the year? Her roommates panic! What is going to happen to their blissful existence of eating take-out,drinking too much wine,bring men home and never vacuuming?
Lucy reassures her friends that she’s far too busy arguing with her mother and taking care of her irresponsible father to get married. And then there’s the small matter of not even having a boyfriend.
But then Lucy meets gorgeous,unreliable gus. Could he be the future Mr. Lucy Sullivan? Or could it be handsome Chuck? Or Daniel, the worlds biggest flirt? Or even cute Jed, the new guy at work?
Maybe her friends have something to worry about after all….

Personal thoughts and reflection: From the first page, this book had me laughing! I was entranced from page 1! I enjoyed Lucy’s journey as she hopped from man to man, wondering if THIS one was “THE ONE”.

She is a classic codependent, clinging to any rubbish that comes her way, due to the life she grew up in with a drunk father. Taking care of, and pampering men has always been a way of life for her, starting with her dad. She finally wakes up and decides to stand tall and not allow anyone to walk all over her anymore. And when she does….she finds her one true love!
This was my first book by Marian Keyes, and I can assure you, it won’t be my last! I plan on running right to library this coming weekend and seeing if they have any of her other works….but then again, looking at my overflowing To-Be-Read shelf, maybe I will wait a while!

September Monthly run down, and an answer to a question in comments!

Wow! September really was a HORRIBLE reading month! I only got 3 books read...why? you ask? Because I decided to try to stick to reading a horrible book that is about a million pages long that is just a waste of time. Which one might that be? "The Shelters of Stone" by Jean M. Auel.

This book is the 5th book in her Earth Children's series. It took her 12 years to write, and most of her fans, who loved the first four books are mostly dissapointed in this work. The reviews at goodreads aren't good. I am struggling to get through this thing. The only reason I am STILL reading it, is that I have invested time in getting through over 500 of the 700+ pages and I see the end is near, but I find myself doing so much skimming...sad. I was totally looking forward to this work too! There is a 6th inthe series, and I hear it is worse than this one. I borrowed it from a friend, and I think I will be returning it without even cracking it open.

On the other hand I did finish three really great books:
1. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
2.Conquering Depression By: Mark A. Sutton and Bruce Hennigan
and
3. All Together Dead By: Charlaine Harris

I am STILL slogging through The Shelters of Stone. I still have a little over 200 pages left of this one. I confess, I keep turning the page hoping something happens! but nothing ever does! It's just more of the same old boring drivel. I am also curious to see how she ends this, despite the fact that I don't think anything exciting will happen. And there have been plenty of opportunity for drama, but she never grabs it! Just a few incidents here and there, and I think that is why I keep going, just about the time I wanna give up, there is a bit of excitement, but she never runs with that storyline, she just goes back to the boring descriptions of everything in minute detail, and repeating herself over and over and over.

Well, if I ever get this book done, I will be picking up The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest, World without End, and maybe Blood of the Fold, the third book in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind....another three that are over 700 pages, and one is over 1000! Or! Maybe I'll go for some light reading, some Emily Giffin, or Karen Kingsbury. I know I want to read/reread some of my true ghost story books in lieu of the Halloween/fall spirit...no pun intended! I just ordered a new Ghosty Book on Amazon last week, and am hoping it shows up before October is gone!

Ok, and now to answer Booklady who asked how I liked War and Peace and if I had plans to read any more of Tolstoys stuff.
I enjoyed it alot! I have read Anna Karenina, and loved it also. I do have his other works on my "To read someday" list, but there are none on my TBR shelf as of yet. Maybe I will have to remedy that here soon!

August Monthly Run down

I did pretty good this month! I read 7 books, which is amazing, I must have read some really good ones! I am thinking that I am not going to reach my 75 book goal for the year. I just have waaay too many chunksters to get to this year. So, let see what did I read in August?

1.Black Hills, by Nora Roberts ***
2.This Lullabye By Sarah Dessen *****
3. The Bestseller By: Olivia Goldsmith *****
4. Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris *****
5. Definitely dead By: Charlaine Harris *****
6. The Girl Who Played with Fire by: Stieg Larsson *****
7. War and Peace By: Leo Tolstoy ****

I was soooo proud of myself for finishing War and Peace by my goal date of Sept. 1st!! I got it finished 2 days early!!!

This was a good reading month for me, as I only got 4 done in July, so 7 is really good! I am still behind quite a bit on my challenge for the year. I have 49 done and 26 left to go, so that is 6 and a half to be read every month from now until the end of the year, for the reason of having too many chunksters to finish for the year, I am not seeing this happening, but maybe I can eek a few tiny ones out here and there. We shall see. I am not too worried about it, since last year I read 8 more than my goal number, so did really well! If I don't make it this year I shall look at that title "War and Peace" and know I did fine! Not only that but I have read 17,136 pages this year which is approximately 349 pages per book read....so I am doing fine on the whole page goal. (which is 18,000) So, I'm doing ok.

July: Monthly Rundown

Sadly, I only got 4 books read in July!!

1) One Tuesday Morning By: Karen Kingsbury
2) Beyond Tuesday Morning By Karen Kingsbury
3) The House of Mirth by: Edith Wharton
4) Stone of Tears by: Terry Goodkind

The first three were for the TBR challenge, and the fourth was a pre-requisite for two books on my TBR challenge. (I have books 3 &4 of the Sword of Truth series on my TBR challenge list, but I had to finish #2 first, which was Stone of Tears)

I am hoping this month will be full of alot more books. I already have one read, and will probably finish another today. I'm hoping to get 6 finished this month, if not more! We shall see! I think I can do it, if I pick the right books! Obviously last month I didn't! Stone of Tears was about a million pages long (ok, only 979, but it was LONG) The House of Mirth was a classic, and while parts of it were good, for some reason classics just don't read as easily as contemporary fiction. And I couldn't tell you why the two by Kingsbury took me so long to read, I thought they'd be fast, but I found them sadly kinda boring, which stinks, since I bought #3 in the series before I realized this! So, I ordered it on Amazon, and it will be here soon. Guess I'll read it, I DID afterall buy it, so I might as well. So, keep your fingers crossed for me that I will get more than just 4 measly books in this month, even though my big goal for this month is to finish "War and Peace".

Ok, off to enjoy the typhoon that is ripping up our island, and read a bit before trying to sleep, which will be kinda hard since there are 100 mph winds roaring through the place!!!

June Reads

This month has not been too bad with the reading, I think it coulda been a bit better, but I am stuck reading 2 chunksters (one of which is War and Peace) and also The House of Mirth, which is a classic, so it's not an easy read per se...so towards the end of the month I decided to pick up two easy fun and light reads (One by Sarah Dessen, and one by Emily Giffin) and finished those two in a matter of three days after not having finished a single one for almost 2 weeks straight.

Well lets see what I got to:

1)The Memory Keepers Daughter By: Kim Edwards 5/5
2) The Interruption of Everything By: Terry MacMillan 5/5
3. The Red Queen By: Philippa Greggory 5/5
4) Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World By: Joanna Weaver 5/5
5) That summer by Sarah Dessen 5/5
6) Something Blue By Emily Giffin 5/5

So I read quite a few really great books this month!! Or I guess I should say I FINISHED a few good books this month! I am still sloggin through War and Peace, which totally slowed me down, but I am on page 1070 out of 1455 on that one, so less than 400 pages now!! Exciting! So I was reading some not so great books as well, but all the ones I finished I loved! Some really really great stuff!

TBR Challenge Books: 2
Non fiction: 1
Library: 3

May Reads

I did really well this month with my reading!! I was surprised, of course pleasantly so! What did I read? 8 books!! That is a new record for me this year! It's the most I've read in a month so far this year. I am hoping to be able to keep it up!!

1.The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
2. Safe Haven
3. The Christmas Train
4. Amazing Wordsearch collection
5. Haunted Schools
6. The Boleyn Inheritance
7. Haunted Highways
8. Standing in the Rainbow

So, technically I guess I finished 7 because one of those wasn't a "real book" It was a huge book of word search. But I counted it toward my challenge...it had a ISBN!! I am really grasping at straws this year in the book area. I really wanna reach my goal, but with the baby it is hard to get a lot of reading in, so I'm doing what I can!

TBR challenge: 1
Paranormal: 2
Library:4

I am hoping to do as well (or better?) in June! We shall see! I have two more library books to get to, then I want to concentrate on 1)War and Peace...I Really want to finish it this year, it's been on my "currently reading shelf" for a year now, so it is time to get that monster DONE! 2) TBR challenge I think I only have 7 or 8 left to complete that one! Those are my goals for this month

1) Finish Last two library books
2) Read at least 300 pages in War and Peace
3) Read at least 2 books from my TBR challenge list

I love having goals!!

Monthly Progress.

Well, so far reading this month is going alright. I have finished 2 of my library books that I got a week ago. Then I started two more, which for some reason I can't seem to get much reading in at all lately, they are going so slow!! I don't think it is the books that are slow I think it is me!! Everytime I sit down to try to settle into a book I think of something I need to do, or the baby starts crying, and I hop up after just a few pages! This is annoying! I would like to settle on the couch for just a few hours to get really into one of these books (Right now i'm reading the boleyn Inheritance and Standing in the Rainbow) I finished "Safe Haven" and "The Christmas Train" within a few days time, and now I feel as though I just can't get into my reading...what is with that?!

I am also noticing my computer habit is in the way too! I am forever on Facebook and Goodreads and Twitter just doinking around. And then I kick myself for not doing other worthwhile things (Like reading!)

Anyway. I hope I find some time to read soon, I feel like I am falling further and further behind in my challenge for the year. And that frustrates me, but then it is my fault most the time, since I can't seem to stop myself from turning on the computer....::sigh:: I remember the days before the internet got so big and I would rip through books like water, but now other things consume my time.

I know this is a rambly post, but I don' think anyone even reads this thing anyway so it doesn't matter. I need to do more reviews and less rambeling. Maybe I should shut this blog down altogether....or combine it with my other blog, that I have for my cross stitching obsession...I don't know...I see today I lost a follower, of course they are still friends with me on goodreads, but loosing a follower when I have precious few, hurts....oh well. My moaning and groaning session will now come to an end!

I hope all my readers have a lovely weekend!

Library Haul

I have not been to the library at all this year!! Which is amazing, but my TBR shelf has been so full that I just didn't feel I needed to go. Well we just moved and so all my books are in boxes, and I needed something new to read!!!

So today I went to the library. I only intended to get a few (2 or 3) since my reading has pretty much dimminished since the birth of my child. However I couldn't help myself and ended up with 7 in my arms instead!!

So many books I want to read!!

So this is what I got:


Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Greggory
The Memory Keepers Daughter by: Kim Edwards
The Red Queen By P. Greggory
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
The Interruption of Everything By Terry McMillan
And
Safe Haven by: Nicholas Sparks

At least they were free but the downside is I only have 3 weeks to read them all and since lately I've only been reading one book every two weeks (if that!) I doubt I will even get 2 read. I can renew online, if I can remember my sign in and password....

Well off to read!! Bye!

April Reads

This month was pretty good for reading for me!! I actually finished 6 books, and almost a 7th, had it not been for buying the third season of Private Practice on DVD and sitting on the couch like a slump for a week! Plus we moved this past week, and while I didn't have the internet to distract me, along with watching hours of PP, I also spent many hours playing Sims 3. So, if I'd not spent so much time with those things I think I may have been able to finish my current book: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes But that was not to be. So here is WHAT I did read this month:

- Search for a New Dawn
- Little Town on the Prairie
- These Happy Golden Years
- The First four years
- The Purpose driven Life
- The Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth was a pretty long one, almost a thousand pages so I was glad to have that one done! It is one of the 12 in my TBR challenge so another one marked off for that challenge, also Search for a New Dawn is on my TBR challenge list. So I did pretty well this month!! If I could stay off the computer for a few days a week I may actually get more reading in, but alas, I am addicted! Hmph...

March Reads

Did about the same this month as last month, only got 3 done, at this rate I don't see me reaching my 75 book challenge....maybe a 60 book challenge would be more realistic this year!!

1. Love and Respect
2. By the Shores of Silver Lake
3. The Long winter

February Reads

Not a good month for Reading, as my daughter was born this month, was too uncomfortable to read the first part of the month and busy with a newborn the last part of the month. Only got 3 books read:

1. The Virgin Suicides
2. Club Dead
3. Dead to the World

Dr. Boxalls List: 1
TBR challenge: 0

2011 TBR challenge update

I have finished 3 of the 12 books I have on my list, and am currently reading "The Pillars of the Earth", which is actually going alot faster than I thought it would. It is a really good book!

I am pretty sure I will finish this challenge. I am probably going to have to take the two "Sword of Truth" series books off my list and replace them with my alternates, as I am "reading" the second in the series and have not picked it up in months, and whenever I do try to read it, it bores me to tears, so I throw it down and don't look at it again for months, so I will definitely not be interested in picking up the next two in this series, I'm done with it!! It's just not my cup of tea. I tried it, and didn't like it, moving on.

Turtle slow!!!

for some reason this year I am reading SOOOOO slow!!! I have only read 7 books so far!! I think it is because of watching too much TV, playing online and my pregnancy!! My baby will be here next week (We induce on Weds!) and trying to get comfy when you feel this fat is just a hard thing to do! So Not a whole lot of reading has happened!! I also am behind in reviews...obviously since i've not written a thing yet!! Well just a short note...I will try to get back on here and get a review or two written this week, before my tiny one shows up! Who knows what this blog will be after she makes her appearance?

Book Review: "The Virgin Suicides" By: Jeffrey Eugenides

Title: The Virgin Suicides
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Pages: 243
Personal Rating: 4/5
Number read for the year: 6

From the back cover: The Virgin Suicides announced the arrival of a major new novelist. In a quiet suburb of Detroit, the five Lisbon sisters-beautiful,eccentic, and obsessively watched by the neighborhood boys- commit suicide one by one over the course of a single year. As the boys observe them from afar, transfixed, they piece together the mystery of the family's fatal melancholy, in this hypnotic and unforgettable novel of adolescent love, disquiet, and death. Jeffrey Eugenides evokes the emotions of youth with haunting sensitivity and dark humor and creates a coming-of-age story unlike any of our time...."

Personal Reflection: Going into this one, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd heard some great things about it, and some not so great things, so I went into it with an open mind. For the most part I enjoyed this one, there were some slow parts, where I wanted to scream "Hurry up! I wanna know what happens next", and many times I felt the sorrow that the family went through during this time of loss. The actions of some of these girls made me want to yell at them "You stupid girl! Get your head on straight!" and at other times, I just wanted to hug them, and take them to the best psychiatrist I could find.

One of the ways I rate a book is by how friendly the characters are. Can I get to know them, have feelings for them? Can I "make friends" with them? I did so with Eugenides suicidal girls. I wanted to slap the poop out of their parents and take them under my wing.

This was a great piece of work by Eugenides. I had read Middlesex (Which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2002) by this author a few years ago, so I was expecting another great one by him, and I wasn't disappointed. This was a great reading experience, if a little sad. However that being said, the fact that I had emotion when I turned the last page says alot about how this author reaches his audience. He doesn't merely tell a story, he takes his reader by the hand and engages them with his characters. This is truly a skill found in only the best authors.

He has another book, The Marriage Plot set to be released in October of this year, I am definitely putting it on my list to purchase. I am excited to read another by this Pulitzer-Prize winner.

January's Reads

1.A Thousand Splendid Suns
2.The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
3.Restless Hearts
4.Thirteen Moons
5.Blue Skies

TBR Challenge books: 3

Book Addicts TBR challenge for 2011 list

I am in a group at goodreads called Book Addicts, and every year they host a TBR challenge, basically to pick 12 books off your TBR shelf that has been on your shelf at least a year or longer and get them read during the year. Here's my list for the year:

1. A Thousand Splendid Suns
2. Thirteen Moons
3. The Pillars of the Earth
4. World Without End
5. One Tuesday Morning
6. Beyond Tuesday Morning
7. Blood of the Fold
8. Temple of the Winds
9. The House of Mirth
10. Blue Skies
11. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
12. Search for a New Dawn

Alternates:

-Something Blue
-That Summer


I am about half way finished with the first one on my list. I have to admit, that my reading mojo had been gone for the first of the year, here it is the 5th of the month and not a book has been finished yet, I think it may be because I am in my last 2 months before the baby gets here, and I just have a hard time getting comfortable to read. I just couldn't settle. I'd read half a page and hop up, then sit read half a page and hop up. But for some reason yesterday I was able to hammer out about 100 pages!!! It felt good to finally be able to sink into a book, I think I may get this one finished this week!!! I'm going to put this challenge on my sidebar so you can all follow my progress!

A glimpse at what I read in 2010

1. Dracula By: Bram Stoker 5/5
2. The Other Queen By: Philippa Gregory 5/5
3. Then Came Heaven By: Lavyrle Spencer 4/5
4. The Inheritance By: Louisa May Alcott 4/5
5. Foul play By: Janet Evanovich 4/5
6. Gracelin O'Malley By: Ann Moore 5/5
7. My Sunshine By: Catherine Anderson 5/5
8. Catch-22 By: Joseph Heller 4/5
9. A Girl's Best friend By: Kristin Billerbeck 4/5
10.The Little Giant of Aberdeen County By: Tiffany Baker 5/5
11.Moral Disorder By: Margaret Atwood 5/5
12.The Restoration By: Douglas Liversidge 3/5
13.A modest Proposal By: Jonathan Swift 5/5
14.Little Women By: Louisa May Alcott 5/5
15. The Historian By: Elizabeth Kostova 4/5
16. Dead Until Dark By: Charlaine Harris 4/5
17. Water Dancers By: Terry Gambler 4/5
18. Captivated By: Nora Roberts 3/5
19. Anna Karenina By: Leo Tolstoy 5/5
20. Cutting For Stone By: Abraham Verghese 5/5
21. The Portrait of a Lady By: Henry James 4/5
22. Two For the Dough By:Janet Evanovich 3/5
23. People of the Wolf By:W. Michael & Kathleen Gear 5/5
24.Weep No More, My Lady By: Mary Higgins Clark 5/5
25.Leaving Ireland By:Ann Moore 5/5
26.Living Dead in Dallas By: Charlaine Harris 5/5
27.Stillwatch By: Mary Higgins Clark 4/5
28.The Magnificent Ambersons By: Booth Tarkington 5/5
29.The Kite Runner By:Khaled Hosseini 5/5
30. A Cry in the Night By:Mary Higgins Clark 3/5
31. Jane Eyre By: Charlotte Bronte' 5/5
32. Wicketts Remedy By: Myla Goldberg 4/5
33. Three To Get Deadly By: JAnet Evanovich 4/5
34.Firefly Beach By: Luanne Rice 4/5
35. The worlds Most Haunted Places By: Jeff Belanger 5/5
36.Wizards First Rule By: Terry Goodkind 5/5
37.Gilead By: Marilynne Robinson 4/5
38. Vanishing Acts By Jodi Picoult 5/5
39.Mother of Pearl By: Melinda Haynes 2.5/5
40. C is for Corpse By Sue Grafton 4/5
41. Great Expectations By: Charles Dickens 5/5
42. Outer Banks By: Anne Rivers Siddons 5/5
43. Keeping the Moon By: Sarah Dessen 4/5
44. The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank By: Anne Frank 5/5
45.Moment to Moment by: Barbara Delinsky 4/5
46. Little house in the Big Woods By: Laura Wilder Ingalls 5/5
47.Little House on the Prairie By: Laura Wilder Ingalls 5/5
48. Farmer Boy By: Laura Ingalls Wilder 5/5
49. Haunted Theaters By: Barbara Smith 5/5
50. On the Banks of Plum Creek By Laura Ingalls Wilder 5/5
51. Talking to Depression By: Claudia Strauss 4/5
52. Miss Julia Throws a wedding By: Ann B. Ross 5/5
53. Miss Julia Hits the Road By: Ann B. Ross 5/5
54. Miss Julia's school of Beauty By Ann B. Ross 4/5
55. Montana Sky By: Nora Roberts 5/5
56. Savannah Blues By: Mary Kay Andrews 5/5
57. Downtown By: Anne Rivers Siddons 5/5
58. Haunted Hotels By:Jo-Anne Christensen 5/5
59. Ramona the Pest By: Beverly Cleary 5/5
60.The Mystery at Lilac Inn 5/5
61.Harriet the Spy By: Louise Fitzhugh 5/5
62.D is for Deadbeat By: Sue Grafton 4/5
63.E is for Evidence By: Sue Grafton 4/5
64.The Bungalow Mystery By: Carolyn Keene 4/5
65.F is for Fugitive by: Sue Grafton 4/5
66. Haunted Houses By: Edrick Thay 5/5
67. Four to score By: Janet Evanovich 4/5
68. The Scarlet Letter By: Nathaniel Hawthorne 4/5
69. The Swan Thieves By: Elizabeth Kostova 5/5
70.Every Last One By: Anna Quindlen 5/5
71.Victorine By: Catherine Texier 4/5
72. G is for Gumshoe By: Sue Grafton 4/5
73.The Winding Ways Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini 4/5
74. The Silver Needle Murder by: Laura Childs 5/5
75. Visions of Sugar Plums By: Janet Evanovich 5/5
CHALLENGE MET!!!!

76. The Lost Quilter by:Jennifer Chiaverini 5/5
77. H is for Homicide By: Sue Grafton 5/5
78. The Crowning Glory of Calla Lilly Ponder By: Rebecca Wells 4/5
79. The Aloha Quilt By: Jennifer Chiaverini 5/5
80. Fireside By: susan Wiggs 4/5
81. A New Song By Jan Karon 5/5
82. Candy Cane Murder By: Joanne Fluke 4/5
83. Someone to Love By: Jude Deveraux 4/5


My goal was to get to 75, and I got to 83!!! So didn't do so bad this year!!! =) I had a page goal of 22,500 and got to 28,054...so I made that challenge as well!!! Over all an amazing year of reading. Not sure how 2011 will go as I am expecting my first baby in March but I'm still shootin' for 75 this year as well! And I am going to try to get more reviews in this year as well! We'll see how I do on that!!