2016: New Year, New Goals

I have so many goals this year that it's a bit ridiculous.  I'm intentionally setting goals as opposed to resolutions, because in my experience a resolution is pretty vague ("lose weight" or "exercise more") and I have found that I really need a hard goal, or a rule to make me succeed. For example, "You can have two sodas a week" works, while "drink less soda" always fails. Some people don't like to be told what to do like this, but I find that even if it's ME telling ME what to do, that it works.

So. My list. Most of these are running related, duh.

Running.

• A Spring Half Marathon, A Summer Half Marathon, and a Fall Full Marathon. (eek!)
• A consistent 10:15 pace.
• ONE mile at 8:30.
• Two runs a month with Mike. (Possibly the hardest thing on this list, because: kids.)
• Continue my #runstreak through January, and potentially much longer. 
• One run in the Badlands.
• Strength training twice a week.

Reading.

• Read 60 books. In 2015 I read 55.  I'd like to focus more and Facebook less.
• Participate in the #26BooksWithBringingUpBurns Instagram Reading Challenge. I know, I don't do book challenges, but this one is on Instagram! I'm going to try.
  
• Read at least 4 books about running.
• Continue to not give a crap about if I'm reading enough books by men or books in translation or books that "smart" people read. I love what I read and will... actually, this is another goal..
• Continue to ride my soapbox about romance novels. Seriously, there are smart, beautifully written romance novels, and crappy, horrid, cliche ones- just like in any other genre.

Home.

• Re-texture and paint the hall bathroom.
• Paint all the bedrooms and the dining room.
• Buy: A breadbox, new kitchen towels, a tiny spoon rest, wall art for the kitchen, a futon for the playroom, a roku for the basement, bedding for the boys.

And, Finally.

• Finish the damn quilt.

What are your goals for 2016?  Are they mostly health related? Book related? 

2015 Year End Reading Plans

Here we are barreling down to the end of 2015 already! How are you all doing on whatever reading resolutions and challenges you set for yourself? My only reading goal was to read 52 books, and that seems completely possible with 5 weeks left in the year. My list says I'm at 47, though I think I might be missing one or two and need to double check. So five books in five weeks, of which I have a lot of vacation time? Seems doable. (Unless this distracts me.)

Here's the list of what I'm hoping to read from, though it's entirely possible that I'll distract myself.

I have a ton of NetGalley books that I haven't reviewed, but I'd like to try not to get farther behind. These are the titles I have that have release dates between now and the end of January, plus the Christmas titles:

Home for Christmas by Lily Everett

Miss Featherton's Christmas Prince by Ella Quinn

Steal Me by Lauren Layne (Due out today!)

Proposal At the Winter Ball by Jessica Gilmore

Anything for You by Kristan Higgins

  

The Dirt on the Ninth Grave by Darynda Jones 

(and since I've only read the first two in the series, the six titles in between?)

Keep On Loving You by Christine Ridgway

And then there's the library holds that keep showing up in my Kindle:

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

 (reading this right now. It's both fascinating and depressing.)

Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh

When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare

The Martian by Andy Weir

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day

Clearly, I will not read all of these. The library titles are all titles that I've waited through very long hold lists on, and since they are e-books I don't have any flexibility (ie, I can't hold them past my due date and just pay a fine, however rude that is to the next person.)  I'm fairly determined NOT to get more behind on NetGalley, and in fact I'd love to squeeze in a couple older titles.  What do you guys think? 12 books in 5 weeks? Plus the other six Darynda Jones? Totally doable, right?

What's on your holiday reading list?

2013 Reading wrap up, and my favorites

2013 was a crazy reading year for me. It was my first year back at work since we moved to Pierre and I really didn't expect that I would get a lot read. As it turns out, I ended up reading MORE than any year since I had kids but my reading choices fit a very narrow pattern. While I was finding time to read, I just wasn't finding the energy to explore new things and I tended to default to tried and true authors that I knew would deliver.  I didn't hit many of my goals, but I did far exceed the number of books I hoped to read. I also did not sit down this year and break my reading out into categories and authors and publishers, as I have in the past.

I did keep track of the titles (full list to follow) and so can tell you the following:

I read 73 books.
Of those 56 were Romance novels, 11 were Young Adult/Juvenile fiction, 4 were non-fiction and 2 were general fiction.  I am not at all bothering by this as I feel like just reading anything was an accomplishment.

I read multiple books by the same author, including a handful of re-reads. The most popular authors were:
Nora Roberts at 8 titles, and 3 more written as JD Robb.
Tessa Dare with 6 titles.
Courtney Milan with 5 titles.
Jill Shavis with 5 titles.
Susan Mallery with 3 titles.

I discovered that while I do enjoy Shalvis' Lucky Harbor books and Mallery's Fool's Gold, that when I look over a years worth of books that none of them stand out. The titles are completely unmemorable and I can't remember if I even really loved them. I have to look up each one to remember then story, and then can tell you if it were great or not. This is great for in the moment, because I know I can pick one up and enjoy it, but not so great for the author overall, as I can't ever recommend an individual title. The same is true for the JD Robb In Death series.

I started reading almost exclusively e-books this year. I get two 15 minute breaks at work each day, and I look forward to those breaks more than is healthy. My job isn't hard or bad, but for those 15 minutes NO ONE AT ALL interrupts me and I can sit and read and it is lovely. I find that since I'm already carrying my iPad or Nook with me, I don't want the extra weight of a book too. Then when I get home I carry my phone or iPad around the house and just never seem to pick up paper books. I didn't purposely track this either, but my best estimate is that out of the 73 books, 17 of them were paper, and those were all read in the first half of the year.   I read a lot of books from NetGalley this year, which allowed me to stay somewhat current with my reading, and I loved it.

I didn't take the time to really sit and ponder a best of list, instead choosing to go with reading over the list and jotting down titles as they jumped out as memorable. I discovered several authors this year that I really enjoy and since I read their books back to back it's really hard to choose a favorite.  I can without reservation recommend Courtney Milan and Tessa Dare, and I really liked Anne Barton's book a lot, as well as the Carla Kelly ones I read.

After reviewing my reviews, I still can't pick a favorite so in no particular order but roughly the order I read them:

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. (WHY have I not read the next in the series??)
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (and really the second one as well)
Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly (Nearly perfect romance here.)
Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare
The Duchess War and The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan (TCC not yet reviewed, but soon.)
This Song Will Save your Life by Leila Sales
Louder Than Love by Jessica Topper
Once She Was Tempted by Anne Barton
The Conquest by Edith Layton
Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan
His Uptown Girl by Liz Talley


My reading goal for 2014 is once again to read 52 books (yes, I have hit this easily the last two years. I don't make a goal in an effort to read MORE, my goal is just to read steadily, a book a week.) I'd like to read more than a handful off this list, and finish reading The Great Gatsby. If I were to pick a classic for this year, it would be Rebecca.  I'd like to write at least a few sentence review of each book I read.

The complete list of books for 2013:

1. The Other Side of Us by  Sarah Mayberry
2. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
3. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
4. Wild For the Sheriff by Kathleen O'Brien 
5. Zeus: King of the Gods by George O'Connor YA Graphic Novel
6. Too Wicked to Wed by Cara Elliot 
7. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
8. South Dakota Outlaws & Scofflaws by John Andrews, Bernie Hunhoff
9. The Lady Most Willing by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Connie Brockway 
10. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
11. A Good American by Alex George
12. All He Ever Desired by Shannon Stacey 
13. Back to the Good Fortune Diner by Vicki Essex
14. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
15. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
16. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
17. Marrying the Royal Marine by Carla Kelly
18. The House on Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
19. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
20. Marrying the Captain by Carla Kelly
21. The Surgeon's Wife by Carla Kelly 
22. All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey 
23. The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson 
24. A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare
25. American Savage by Dan Savage 
26. A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare
27. A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare
28. Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare
29. Beauty and the Blacksmith by Tessa Dare
30. Once Upon a Winter's Eve by Tessa Dare
31. The Duchess War by Courtney Milan
32. The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan
33. A Kiss for Midwinter by Courtney Milan
34. The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Harnagrane
35. Undone by Shannon Richard
36. It Had to Be You by Jill Shalvis
37. The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan
38. This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
39. Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols 
40. Big Sky Christmas by C.J. Carmichael
41. A Most Devilish Rogue by Ashlyn MacNamara
42. Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts
43. Heaven and Earth by Nora Roberts
44. A Weaver Beginning by Allison Leigh
45. Always on my Mind by Jill Shalvis
46. What Happens Between Friends by Beth Andrews 
47. His Christmas Sweetheart by Cathy McDavid
48. Face the Fire by Nora Roberts
49. Louder Than Love by Jessica Topper 
50. Always on My Mind by Jill Shalvis
51. Vision in White by Nora Roberts
52. Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts 
53. Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts
54. Happily Ever After by Nora Roberts
55. Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas
56. Love Overdue by Pamela Morsi
57. To All the Rakes I've Loved Before by Anne Barton 
58. Once She Was Tempted by Anne Barton
59. Christmas on 4th Street by Susan Mallery
60. A Fool's Gold Christmas by Susan Mallery
61. The Conquest by Edith Layton
62. Treachery in Death by JD Robb
63. New York to Dallas by JD Robb
64. Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
65. Just One Kiss by Susan Mallery
66. A Christmas to Remember by Jill Shalvis, etc.
67. Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan
68. His Uptown Girl by Liz Talley
69. Two of a Kind by Susan Mallery
70. The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan
71. Once in a Lifetime by Jill Shalvis
72. Dark Witch by Nora Roberts
73. Celebrity in Death by JD Robb

End of Year wrap up, Part 2: My favorites and stats

2012 was a much better reading year in terms of quantity than 2011. I'm not sure why I had more time to read, or what changed, but I read almost twice as many books. Sadly, I didn't keep more than a basic list and I'm too lazy to go back and look up publication dates and page counts. Believe me, that won't happen again! I also didn't read much outside of my comfort zone and didn't have a ton of WOW books. I did have a very satisfying year though, with few books that were a struggle, so I'm counting it as a win.

The first thing I did was sit down and make my Best of 2012 List.  Despite reading the list several times, only 8 books really stick out for me. Part of the problem is that I read quite a few trilogies or series that have overlapping characters and they kind of all blend together into one long book for me.
Here are the top 8, in order read:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (my mini review)
Split by Swati Avashti (my review)
Head over Heels by Jill Shalvis (my review)
Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach (my review)
The Half Life of Planets by Emily Franklin and Brendon Halpin (my review)
The Sleeping Night by Barbara Samuel (my review)
Running Away to Home by Jennifer Wilson
A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn Macnamara (review to come)

I read 68 books this year.
Of those:
15 were Young Adult fiction
30 were Romance
9 were Paranormal/ Urban Fantasy/ Futuristic (but not Dystopian)
10 were Non-fiction
4 were none of the above

I read a lot of romance novels this year, many of them trilogies of books set in the same town or family. These are the authors I read more than one title from:
10 by Nora Roberts
7 by Jill Shalvis
5 by Lisa Kleypas
4 by JD Robb
3 by JR Ward
2 by Robyn Carr

I read 23 New-to- Me authors:
Patrick Ness
JA Konrath
Swati Avashti
Eleanor Brown
Jeffrey Zaslow
Donald Miller
Michelle Ray
Jennifer Reese
Lish McBride
Robyn Carr
JR Ward
Laura Dave
Alison Arngrim
Barbara Hanney
Jennifer Rosenstrach
RJ Palacio
Emily Franklin & Brandon Halpin
Victoria Dahl
Sherman Alexie
Jennifer Wilson
Ursula Poznanski
Ashlyn Macnamara
Randy O Frost & Gail Steketee

I also finally sat down this week and typed in the full lists of all the years I've been keeping track. Some of these were already done, but now you can read them all. Be warned, there are a lot of embarrassing romance titles on there!

1993   1994   1995   1996   1997   1998   1999   2000   2001   2002
2003   2004   2005   2006   2007   2008   2009   2010   2011   2012
(Or you can just click on one year and then use the sidebar over there to navigate between years.)

I've also been keeping up with the titles that Mike has read for the last three years:
2010   2011   2012

I haven't sat down to make any reading goals for next year yet. I'm hoping I can convince myself to abandon anything too ambitious and continue to read what I enjoy as it comes.

How did you do with your  reading goals this year? Did you get to everything you wanted to read? Did you surprise yourself? What was your favorite book of the year?

2011 Reading Goals and 2010 Reading Stats

Last year I only set two reading goals for myself.

- Read 52 books.
- Reduce the TBR.

I failed the first one, topping out the year at 37 books. I did remarkably well on the second though as I gave away a ton of books.

Here's how they broke down:

-7 Non-fiction
-11 Young Adult Titles
-5 Paranormal adult fiction
-3 Fiction
-11 Romance novels

-4 by men
-31 by women
-2 by multiple authors

-31 from the library
-4 that I owned
-2 from the publisher

-15 published in 2011
-11 published in 2010
-3 in 2009
-3 in 2008
-2 in 2007
-2 in 2006
-1 in 2003

15 new-to-me authors.
-Clinton Kelly
-Jenny Han
-Elizabeth Scott
-Kathleen Flinn
-Laurie David
-Dani Shapiro
-Karen Marie Moning
-Kristan Higgins
-Lisa Quinn
-Lenore Skenazy
-Tana French
-Karleen Bliss
-Veronica Roth
-Susan Mallery
-Jonathan Safran Foer

I didn't read any books that were flat out awful. I have some I didn't finish, but none that I just hated. This is probably because I tend to stop reading early when they don't grab me.  I also didn't have many stand out terrific books. It was a long year and I read a lot of books that were easy and pleasant and that I knew I'd like, even if I didn't love them.  Topping the list were Divergent by Veronica Roth and The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks by Kathleen Flinn. I did enjoy both of those tremendously, and had a hard time not talking about them to anyone who would listen. Patricia Briggs's latest (River Marked (Mercy Thompson, Book 6) ) was also good, as was Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins. I picked up a Susan Mallery Fool's Gold romance on a whim, and found myself whipping right through 5 of 6 of them (and then waiting forever for the one I hadn't read.) They started out strong, but by the end they felt very repetitive. I also read and enjoyed Nora Robert's latest (The Next Always: Book One of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy ) and was predictably charmed. I wish the entire series was already out.


For 2012 I'd like to add a couple goals back into the list.  I hope to:
-read 52 books (hope springs eternal)
-read at least one really great book that hits my mental Best Of Forever list.
-participate in one very personal reading swap with a couple friends (I'll post about it, it's just not open to the general blogging public.)
-read all of the books on Janssen's best of 2011 list. Though Room scares me to death. I might give myself an out on that one.
-read at least one book from several on-going series (JD Robb's In Death series, Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden, Rachel Caine's Weather Wardens, and Kim Harrison's witch series.)
-get back to reviewing what I read



What about you? What are your goals for 2012? Were you happy with what you read in 2011?

I have a couple more retrospective posts for 2011 that I'd like to get done in the next week or so- some more sewing, some more reading stuff, a handful of reviews. I'm pretty excited by a fresh new year and can't wait to get going on it.

NaBloPoMo. Yes? No? Are you crazy woman?

Clearly I need my head examined. I'm doing good to blog three times a week and I'm hoping to blog daily for the entire month of November? Have I love my mind? (Oh please, lost it years ago.) Did I eat too much candy last night and am still on a sugar high? Yeah. I'm in.

For those not in the know (hi, mom!) NaBloPoMo is the short and awkward way to say National Blog Posting Month. It means you're gonna blog every day. Every. Day. I did it once before and if memory serves I actually completed the entire month. (And, since my memory is awfully patchy these days, I'm not actually gonna go check and see. Leave my to my delusions, please.)(Ok, I lie. I checked. I did it!)

It's not like I don't have anything else going on this month. I have my kids, Bo Peep, the little matter of a craft show (IN ELEVEN DAYS, OMG!), a major holiday, a job interview, a baby who does not sleep and enjoys little giggle parties from 2:30-5am. Or sometimes midnight-3am. It's such a good thing she's cute. I need to figure out how to get my pirate ring (high school class ring) off my finger from last night. (Turns out, my fingers are bigger than they were 18 years and 3 kids ago.) I'm probably gonna schedule a few of the posts. And a few will likely be Wordless Wednesdays. I really want to get my work at home posts going in a more organized fashion. I'd like to review a handful of books that I've read this year, if I can remember them anymore. I'm considering a real tutorial (unlike my friendship bracelet tutorial.)  I need to learn how to use fewer paranthesis. I should even look that up and make sure it's the right word. My point, of course, is that I've very busy and yet I'm still gonna do this thing.  It'll be fun!

And now I'm off to admire the pretty sparkly stone in this here pirate ring. Did you know my school mascot was the Dragons? Did you know that it was almost a fish? Yeah, close one. Students that came after us, you can thank the class of 1993 for that.

PS. Dear ASMS students, you guys don't know how nice you have it. This is a far far cry from what that room looked like 20 years ago.

PPS. omfg. twenty years ago. *sob*

2011 Reading goals and 2010 year end reading wrap up part 2, the stats (TSS)

Wow, long post title!

Let's take a look at my goals for 2010, shall we?

-52 books-  Didn't quite make it, tapping out at 48. Complete list here.


-Read the books published in 2010 IN 2010- I did a pretty good job of this, 18 of my 48 books were published in 2010. This is largely because I only had time to grab from the new release section of the library, but whatever works!

-Fit the TBR book into the TBR shelves without piling them on top. This can be because I read them or because I gave them away, but either way I want less clutter. - The move really helped with this one. They still don't completely fit, but they are close. Another crazy thing- I only unpacked one box of books in the new house! I'm not letting myself unpack any more until those are read.

-Bring myself current on a handful of series and try to stay that way. Failed.
--In Death series by J.D. Robb Did not read one.
--The Hollows series by Kim Harrison Did not read one.
--the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich Decided to give up on the series
--the Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine. did not read one
--the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher Did not read one
--the Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaugh did not read one

This year's goals are similarly simple:
- Read 52 books.
- Reduce the TBR. (fiction, non-fiction)  This will be tricky, as I haven't even unpacked much of it, but one box at a time should do it.

Easy peasy, right?

And now the stats from 2009:

48 total books
30 new to me authors
19 romances
10 memoirs
7 non-fiction
8 young adult novels
2 paranormal
2 general fiction

18 published in 2010
13 published in 2009
3 in 2008, 4 in 2007, 2 in 2004, 3 in 2001, 2 in 1991, 1 in 1990, 1 in 1967

28 of them came from the library
9 came from my TBR shelves
3 came from the publisher or author or contest winnings
8 were re-reads that I already owned
I've read my list about a dozen times while writing this post, and while I enjoyed most of the books on it, not a one stands out at The Very Best. If forced to make a decision, I'd go with Morgan Matson's Amy & Roger's Epic Detour. I did enjoy that one very much, but it's not going to go down into my mental best ever list. I'm hoping for a couple of "OMG did you read this yet??" books in 2011. I contribute this largely to just reading whatever catches my eye at the library instead of putting any thought into it. If I'd read from the TBR or from my extensive list at Goodreads I think I might hit a few more winners.

What was the best book you read in 2011? (Yes, I can visit your blogs too, but I'm lazy.) Do you fall into the easy way of choosing books like I do? Maybe I should make an effort to read more deliberately like many of you? (/makes a note) What are your reading goals for 2011?



I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

2010 Reading Goals and a look back at 2009 (TSS)

So you know how I've been saying for weeks that my reading goal for 2009 was 52 books? And then I pushed myself to meet that goal, because I wasn't gonna stop at 50 and be short two books?

Yeah, well turns out my goal was actually 50 books. Looks like I read two extra!

Last year's goals were really simple:

• 50 books
• Read the books published in 2009 IN 2009
• Better reviews

A good set of goals, for sure. Not a lot of pressure, just simple goals.  This year I'm keeping it simple, but changing it slightly.

• 52 books (ahem)
• Read the books published in 2010 IN 2010 
• Fit the TBR book into the TBR shelves without piling them on top. This can be because I read them or because I gave them away, but either way I want less clutter.
• Bring myself current on a handful of series and try to stay that way. 
• In Death series by J.D. Robb
  
• The Hollows series by Kim Harrison
• the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich
• the Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine
• the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher
• the Kitty Norville series by Carrie Vaugh

(Yes, I know that's a lot of series, I don't expect to get them all, but I'd like to try.)

I've been doing some thinking about how I want to log my books this year as well. For the last few years I've keep a list in the form of a bibliography in a pretty journal and a list online as well. I can't bring myself to give up the paper journal, but I might tweak the online bit a little.  I'm also keeping a list of the books Mike reads this year so you'll be able to find a link to that in the sidebar as well. (This is for my own use as well as your interest, I really enjoying picking out library books for him and it will be useful to keep a list of what he's already read.)

Today my plans including writing up the last few reviews from last year and the first couple reviews for 2010. I'm hoping to set them up to publish over the next couple of weeks so I don't have to scramble for content.

At some point in the next couple of weeks I hope to compile a master list of my reviews by author and/or title to make browsing easier. Do you have a master list on your blog? Any suggestions on the easiest way to do it? Is yours by author or title or both? Help me out, save me some trial and error.

What are your goals for the year? Anything I should add to mine? Did you make your goals for last year? (And remember them correctly?) What's on the agenda for today?

(Once again, the picture has nothing to do with the post, I just like to add pictures of my cuties.)





I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.

2009 Reading Recap, part one

I had several reading goals for 2009, but in the end the only thing I cared about was hitting my goal of 52 books. I realized I was close a couple days before the 31st and I pushed myself to read the last two so that I could check that off.  I still have quite a few to review, but you can see the complete list of 52 books here. Here's how it breaks down-

Of the 52 books:

41 were written by women
11 were written by men

16 were young adult novels
12 were non-fiction
9 were romance novels
9 were paranormal/ futuristic/ urban fantasy
2 were chick lit
2 were novels
1 was a classic
1 was a mystery

18 were written in 2009
11 were written in 2008
8 were written in 2007
no other year had more than 2

There were 30 different publishers.

I read 16,468 pages.

I read 27 new to me authors with the following books.
Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Enchanted, Inc. (Katie Chandler, Book 1) by Shanna Swendson
The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things (and How to Do Them) by Peter Sagal
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
Bloom by Elizabeth Scott
Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams
A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg
Wake (Wake Series, Book 1) by Lisa McMann
This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
Why We Make Mistakes: How We Look Without Seeing, Forget Things in Seconds, and Are All Pretty Sure We Are Way Above Average  by Joseph Hallinan
Boy's Life by Robert McCammon
Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James
If I Stay by Gayle Foreman
Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham
Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture by Daniel Radosh
The Wednesday Wars by Gary D Schmidt
The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections by Amanda Blake Soule
Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
The Missing Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery by Karen E Olson
Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves by Crystal Renn with Marjorie Ingall
American Roulette: How I Turned the Odds Upside Down---My Wild Twenty-Five-Year Ride Ripping Off the World's Casinos (Thomas Dunne Books) by Richard Marcus
The Lace Reader: A Novel by Brunonia Barry
Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry by Todd Farley


Coming soon:
My Top Ten Choices for 2009 and My goals for 2010!





I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.