Reading for the rest of the year

You may recall that at the beginning of the year I set a handful of reading challenges for myself. I had two friends pick a list of books for me to read, and then I committed to reading all of Janssen's favorites from last year. Well it suddenly occurred to me that we're looking at about 10 weeks til the end of the year and I have quite a few books left on those lists!

Here's where I am on the personal challenge-
From Shawna's list:

• A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson- I own a copy, but have not read it.
• Ishmael by Daniel Quinn- gonna have to ILL this one
• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum- I have read this
• 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult- I've checked this out several times, but haven't opened it.
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood- I currently have the book and the ebook but am only a couple chapters in.

From Lisa's list:

• The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
• Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
• Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer- I have read part of this, and it is really really not my style. I'll try again.
• Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham
• Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath- I've read this one.

And from Janssen's Top 12 (I'm doing much better on this list!)-

• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
• Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt - Read and reviewed, bits of this one keep coming back to me
• What Alice Forgot by Liana Moriarty- Read for BlogHer
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor- Read and reviewed
• Falling For Hamlet by Michelle Ray- read and reviewed
• Make the Bread, Buy the Butter by Jennifer Reese- read and reviewed (kinda)
• The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson - downloaded to my Nook
• Room by Emma Donoghue- this one still scares me
• Split by Swati Avasthi- read and reviewed, can't stop thinking about this one
• After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick
• Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vandenpool
• The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Ok, so that's only 14 books to finish up, I can do that if I try, right?

Oh, but wait. There's a few books on my Nook from Net Galley. I should read those before they expire too.

• Just a Wish Away by Barbara Freethy
• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
• Erebos by Ursula Poznanski 

And I promised to write a review for The Midwife of Hope River by Patricia Harman. (I started it, I swear, but the very first page is a stillbirth and I didn't get past that.)

And I hate to leave a book unfinished over the new year, so I should finish the ones I have half read too.

• Death Masks by Jim Butcher
• Sullivan's Woman by Nora Roberts
• Married by Mistake by Abby Gaines 
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie - Finished this up last night

That's only 22  21 books. I have 10 weeks. That's two books a week. If I up my pace just a tiny bit I should make it, right? Plus, those last four are almost done (if you define almost as "has already started") and half of Janssen's list are young adult (of course, those are the ones I've already read, but who's counting?) (oh, wait, I'm counting.) Still. I can do this. (If I don't do anything else, maybe. Anything else like sew. Or cook. Or clean or eat or breathe.)

What's that? I can't hear you. You'll have to speak up. Oh. That. Yeah. That one might push me over the edge. And speaking of chunksters, there's this one too. So 23 books total. Once I read them all I"ll have read about twice the number of books I read last year.  I don't see any reason why this won't happen.

Nah, I got all the time in the world to sit around and read.


PS. At the time of writing this post I had 21 library books checked out. Books that do not appear anywhere on this list.  I carefully wrote them all down and returned them. Oh, well, except for one or two. And I can't very well not read the two ILL books I just requested last week, I can't renew those.

If you need me, I'll be over there with my nose in a book.

Year end reading plans, a list.

A few nights ago Mike and I were looking at our respective books read in 2011 lists (links go to said lists.) We're currently running neck and neck at about 34 books each for the year, which is cool, since we don't keep up with each other in an competitive way (until about this time of year.)  This got me to thinking about what books I'd like to wrap up before the end of 2011. In all likelihood, I'll only finish one or two more. I'm about to embark on a little Christmas sewing, and I'm working 4 or 5 nights a week, but in an ideal world here's what I'd finish, and why:

• Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. I read half last night. I'm off tonight so it's likely that I'll sit down and finish it up today.
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I am enjoying it, really. It's just so BIG to lug around! And I kinda have to pay attention.
• Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley. I am not very far into this one. I have it on my phone as a .pdf and it's so tiny. I want to read it and enjoy it, but the setting has to be just right and and I can't read it in bed or I fall asleep from the effort of the tiny print.
• Salvation in Death by JD Robb. I haven't started this, but lately I'm in the mood for a little Eve and Roarke.
• Only Mine by Susan Mallery. This is the only one of the series I haven't read yet. It's not looking likely that I'll get it any time soon either- it was due back at the library on September 16th.
• Sweet Talk by Susan Mallery. I started this one while I was waiting for the next in the previous series. I'm only 4 chapters or so in, but so far everyone in the book is just so mean. I understand the need for conflict, but if it doesn't break soon I'll be returning this one unread, and happily.
• Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning. I'm about half done, which is where I've been for months. I don't see any chance of finishing the series before next year, but I hate leaving unfinished books.

I'm sure there are more. I have a good 30 books checked out from the library. These are just the unfinished ones that I'd like to see wrapped up. 7 books in 4 weeks? Seems completely doable...