Kerian's 2009 book challenge

My Reading Challenges for 2009 include:

Book Challenge: I completed my book challenge with seven books to spare in 2008 so this year I am raising my challenge from 52 to 75 books. A couple years ago I would have beaten this goal easily but I have been reading less as I LT meanwhile my TBR pile has soared higher than ever before. For a picture of my TBR pile, please view the side panel of my book blog, not a bad place to visit since I will be discussing all of the books I mention on this thread there.

TBR Pile Challenge: I am attempting to maintain a balance for my TBR pile. It should stay the same or decrease. "You heard me, TBR pile, stop growing!" *Kerian kicks a great pile of books which then begin to groan as some books are sent flying. Kerian grimaces for causing them damage. The majority of the books however divide between remaining in their pile and choosing to attack.~ This means war. Or possibly, a surrender. Buried beneath a mass of books, Kerian continues.* This isn't something I think may be all that possible and so the biggest goal for this is mainly to have the mere 150 grand total of books that consist of my TBR pile at present moment by the end of this year.

I would like to go back to having genre book challenges. There was a time when I would read one or more classics each month, for instance. I would like to resume that challenge with some alterations while picking up a few other genre challenges as well:

Early Reviewer's Challenge: To read and review every book received by Early Reviewers within one month of receiving them. Also, to read and/or review any books received from them that are not yet reviewed as of this point as quickly as possibly.

Reviewing Challenge: To review all books I read not merely here and on my book blog but on LT's official place for reviews as well. Also, to slowly begin reviewing books I've read in the past there as well.

Austen Challenge: Six or more books consisting of Persuasion, Mansfield Park, Emma, and three free-choice books about Austen and/or her works.

Classics Challenge: Twelve or more books to be read at any time during the year. Books from other challenges may count for this as well so long as they are classics.

Banned Book Challenge: Twelve or more books to be read at any time during the year. Books from other challenges may count for this as well so long as they are banned.

Short Story Collection Challenge: Three or more books to be read at any time during or throughout the year. This one is mainly due to how many collections I own of short stories that have as of yet to be read.

Nonfiction Challenge: Six or more books to be read at any time during the year.

I may or may not edit this post later on to edit or add on challenges. (Ah-ha, I already have!) It will be edited regularly to keep track of how many books I have read so far this year below.




~ I happen to know that should you stack a pile of books of about 130 or greater, when taking it apart it will indeed attack you literally, so beware these kind of things are not merely figuratively speaking. ;)

* Much thanks to bib for correcting the error!

TBR pile
Start of January: 150.
01/03/09: 152 books. In the hole by two books.
01/07/09: 151 books. In the hole by one book.
01/08/09: 150 books. In the hole by zero books! :)
01/09/09: 151 books.
01/10/09: 152 books.
01/11/09: 151 books.
01/13/09. 152 books.
01/15/09: 154 books.
01/17/09: 155 books.
01/18/09: 154 books.
01/20/09: 157 books.
01/24/09: 158 books.
01/26/09: 159 books.
01/27/09: 167 books. Yikes!
01/30/09: 166 books.
02/02/09: 168 books. But they are so very good!
02/03/09: 169 books.
02/06/09: 171 books. Ekkk!
02/07/09: 170 books.
02/09/09: 169 books.
02/14/09: 170 books.
02/20/09: 169 books.
02/23/09: 170 books.
02/25/09: 171 books.
02/28/09: 172 books.
03/08/09: 171 books.
03/10/09: 173 books.
03/11/09: 175 books. Woes is me.
03/13/09: 174 books.
03/17/09: 173 books.
03/18/09: 172 books. Yey! I will take you down!
03/19/09: 173 books.
03/20/09: 174 books.
03/21/09: 173 books.
03/24/09: 174 books.
03/30/09: 175 books.
04/02/09: 176 books.
04/03/09: 178 books!!!!
04/12/09: 179 books.
04/11/09: 178 books.
05/03/09: 180 books.
05/04/09: 179 books.
05/12/09: 181 books.
05/22/09: 183 books.
05/25/09: 185 books.
05/26/09: 186 books.
05/27/09: 185 books.
05/29/09: 184 books.
05/30/09: 185 books.
05/31/09: 184 books.
06/01/09: 183 books.
06/07/09: 184 books.
06/08/09: 183 books.
06/09/09: 184 books.
07/19/09: 185 books. Hum. I think I have a problem.
12/31/09: 193 books. Oh, well. ;)

Early Reviewers & Other ARCs
5 read and reviewed out of 5 received in 2009.

1. Never Tell a Lie
2. The Strain
3. Open Letter to Quiet Light
4. Sworn to Silence
5. Strength in What Remains
0. A Friend at Midnight
0. The Little Prisoner

Reviewing
?? reviewed out of 45 read.

Austen
2 out ot 6.

1. Mr. Darcy's Daughters
2. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Classics
2 out of 12.

1. Through the Looking Glass
2. The Lorax

Banned Books

Short Story Collections
1 out of 3.

1. The Demigod Files

Nonfiction
8 out of 6.

1. Go Ask Alice
2. Twilight Director's Notebook
3. Open Letter to Quiet Light
4. Obama's Blackberry
5. Cancer Vixen
6. Homer's Odyssey
7. Strength in What Remains
8. I Can Has Cheezburger?

Just for the record...
Rereads
12

The Big Over Easy
Breaking Dawn
The Fourth Bear
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
The Host
Inkheart

Hmm. Me thinks it may seem as though I started the year off at one book read when it should have started off at zero reads for the year. Let me explain. I spent last night reading till 3:30am to finish a book I had started in 2008. I had some catching up to do and family to visit with before I could post about my first book of the year.

1. Ellen Wittlinger: Love and Lies

Wittlinger's YA novel Love and Lies is a companion to her earlier story, Hard Love, following sideline character Marisol Guzman who stars in her very own story with this book. Taking place after Hard Love, I consider it a sequel just for the sake of chronological order. John Galardi ("Gio") makes an appearance in this story, though don't assume because of the title that it means something that couldn't be in his own story. Marisol is a lesbian. I wouldn't give that away except for the matter that it's necessary.

Earlier on during Hard Love Marisol had been a zine writer and high school student. Now she has graduated and is taking a year off before going to Stanford to accomplish two things: to write a novel and to fall in love. How hard could the first one of those be? Marisol is a very confident girl and moves out of her parent's, gets a job, and enrolls in an adult class called "How to Write Your First Novel."

It isn't long before Marisol realizes that her old friend Gio is also enrolled in the class, that she's absolutely crazy over their beautiful female instructor, and that the girl who's been hanging around her work and befriended her is very much attracted to her. In Love and Lies Marisol gains the creative juices needed to produce her novel and learns what happens when love is built on lies.

This is a 245 page book that goes pretty fast. It was interesting to read about some of the writing exercises the class had for assignments. I liked that the author included bits of Marisol's writing in the book. The back page includes sixteen quotes about writing by well-known and successful writers. Here are two of the quotes I liked best:

"The suspense of a novel is not only in the reader, but in the novelist, who is intensely curious about what will happen to the hero."
-- Mary McCarthy

"The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible."
-- Vladimir Nabokov

2. Lewis Carrol: Through the Looking Glass

The last book I finished reading in 2008 was Alice in Wonderland and I have now finished reading part two of the story. I was at first puzzled by the board game inside my copy of the book. The first page notes which characters (players) are which color (red or white) for a game of chess. It made me think of how we see font such as was in this book in works of Shakespeare right before the start of the plays. I began reading wondering if the story would appear in a similar fashion. It began with a poem and then an introduction about the pages showing the chess game information to make it more clear. The story itself was just like the last story in the way of the style it was written in.

I immediately ooed and awed over the black and white kittens, Kitty and Snowdrop. I had only known of Alice's cat, Dina, existing. As I read I had to stop toward the beginning because it hadn't been clear to me right away that Alice, rather than dreaming such as in Alice in Wonderland, was this time daydreaming and using her imagination.

Imagination is a perfect thing for children to have, and very good for a child who seems to not have any other children around to play with. Alice occupies her time playing with cats and inventing things that are make believe. She starts off with the mirror in the very room she is playing in by going through it and seeing how everything she already knew from her own world in another way, how it is on the other and unknown side of the looking glass.

On the other side of the looking glass, the chess pieces in the room have life. Alice begins this story by playing the part of one of the pawns. She comes across a few characters (i.e., players in this story) who she already met before and meets a few new faces as well. There is a great deal of playing with words. The characters put focus on some words versus others, and change the form of some sentences entirely to have a new meaning or to ask a new question.

I had to fold one of the pages because the poem on it reminded me of another. This is what was inside my book:

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things :
Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing wax --
Of cabbages -- and kings --
And why the sea is boiling hot --
And whether pigs have wings"
--(Carrol, 153)

I think there were actually a few poems this reminded me of but at present I can't name a single one. I think some others who read poetry might be able to tell me what other poem I might possibly have been thinking of.

Of course, I was very likely to recall these words from Disney's movie as well, which I did. I pictured it and was not happy for those dear little clams. I think I would have lacked as much sympathy for them without it because they were just too young and cute in the film. How dare that Carpenter and Walrus! I also pitied the kitty who Alice shook when the Red Queen turned into Kitty. Yes, it's only a story. Yes also that Alice must love them, though not quite enough to understand what their meows mean. Silly Alice.

3. Melissa de la Cruz: Revelations

Revelations is part three in the Blueblood YA vampire series following Blue Bloods and Masquerade with more books to be expected. It picks up within a matter of days or weeks where the second book leaves off. Main character Schuyler Van Alen is still attending the Duchesne School in New York, still being taunted by the ever popular Mimi Force, and still dreamy-eyed over Mimi's twin and 'soulmate,' Jack. Another thing that hasn't changed are the feelings Schuyler's childhood human friend Oliver has for her. There are bigger problems for the Blue and Red Bloods, though.*

Whatever danger was lurking and attacking young non-fully formed vampires in book two is still out there.** Everyone has their suspicions as to who the Silver Blood that is causing the killings is but no one really knows who it is for sure. More lives will be taken, putting an end to yet more vampires being able to go through their cycle of rebirth to life again. A trip abroad will lead to more answers and yet more questions. De la Cruz keeps readers waiting for more but leaves us only with a title of what book will come next. Look for Melissa de la Cruz's The Van Alen Legacy in what I expect to be ten to fourteen months from now, based on her previous Blueblood publications.

I had really looked forward to more in this series when I had left off with the book previous but felt this book could have offered a little more. (SPOILERS) Schuyler is too wrapped up in her interest for someone to pay attention to other and more important things. I was disappointed that she doesn't go to visit her comatose mother even once during this book. She also could have been paying more attention to what was going on with the Bluebloods and doing her studies for it as she was instructed. Instead she leaves Oliver to do the homework and know everything for her. I'm also puzzled by her weak-seeming state of friendship with her close friend Bliss, who continues to have a strong role and is having a lot of things going on in her life. (END spoilers.)

There were two slight problems with my copy of Revelations so I would like those who are interested in the book to be aware of it. Pages 197 and 200 were both missing text from one side of their pages. Be careful not to end up with pages like that in your own copy of the book.

* Blue bloods are vampires while red bloods are humans.
** Vampires reach maturity at twenty-one or twenty-two years of age.

4. John Connolly: The Book of Lost Things

This book was a tricky one to read but not so tricky as I've heard it's been for others. I had wanted to read it months ago when I bought it in October but the book had about a one month disappearance until I was too busy to read it. Some might only joke that this book becomes lost but after a while you begin to worry about it missing from one of your bookshelves just because it's that book. In any case, I managed to read it without loosing it once during my reading this weekend. I looked up where my copy is from exactly (England) and am now wondering just how many journeys my own copy has had as it may have become lost multiple times in it's life.

I wasn't really sure what kind of book this would be before I started reading. I knew it had some sort of fair tales within and that some people don't recommend it to children. I also knew it was a favorite to some enough that they read it more than once a year. I'm going to try to stick to things mentioned on my book's jacket when it comes to story details and giveaways.

The main character of The Book of Lost Things is a twelve-year-old boy I reached out to immediately as he mourns the loss of his mother. Books had meant a great deal to his mother, particularly a book of myths, legends and fair tales he would read from to her. She felt so strongly about books that she would tell her son stories come alive in reading them out loud, after which they can transform you. This message held her spirit inside this book to me and seemingly to David as well, who always kept the book close after her death.

With his mother's passing books are no longer the same as they once were to David. They move without anyone touching them. He can understand books, too. They whisper things. (Bonus points to the first person who can name where I grabbed parts of the last three sentences from. I thought it would be funny to use here.) David keeps this to himself. Best not to be locked away.

The real and unreal seem to merge as David has night and then day dreams about a crooked man in a land where he has only been to in stories. Soon enough they collide, and David is in a new land away from the ongoing war that coincides in his own land. The Crooked Man is there, too, along with some familiar and yet unfamiliar characters as well. Nothing is as we knew them to be in the fairy tales we grew up to. These ones are all new. Connolly has created ones for which it won't matter where you grew up or what culture you're part of. You will have never read these. David hasn't, either, and is embarking on a journey said to be one of these tales as well.

I thought David made very significant character development in this book. Though a child to begin with, this is a story that changes and transforms him into someone much more grown up. I'm impressed with the author's ability to keep the book in a twelve-year-old's mind and yet fit for the older audience. I imagine most books in which the main character is such an age they are coined as children and young adult novels, something I've been told this is not.

Connolly's stories are very interesting and unique. I feel he could go on to write books which tie-in to this one if he wanted to. However, they would not be as strong and his messages have already been delivered. This book makes an excellent story on it's own as a standalone. Nothing is missing from it.

5. Christopher Moore: Bloodsucking Fiends

The book I'm going to talk about in this entry today is a vampire love story. Vampire books as ordinary (non-YA) fiction books - who knew? I had never read any perhaps until now. And yet, this book was not simply ordinary. It was a rather humorous one. Jokes were far apart at times, but other times they were left and right. Sometimes they were buried without characters even taking note of them when the jokes were right in front of them. This is a good thing though, because innocent and unnoticed jokes by the characters are always jokes very much enjoyed.

I was very confused about the setting when I first started reading. An Emperor was mentioned and my thoughts were, 'Egypt?' The next thing I knew it was mentioning Oakland, and this might just be because I am from California, but when I think Oakland, I think CA. It soon became apparent that it was indeed the San Francisco Bay Area where this book takes place, and the Emperor was in fact Emperor of Chinatown.

When we first meet one of our main characters, Jody, she is walking to a bus stop at night on her way home after work. 'This is the last time,' she thinks of being out that late as she aims to go past passersby. Have I ever known that feeling! The details of events for the next few days will go unspoiled by me with warning and you may use your imagination. Otherwise... (SPOILER) Jody thinks herself at some point left for dead. Until she wakes up. Was she left for dead, though? This is where the story really begins. (END spoiler.)

Tommy Flood finds his way into San Francisco immediately seeking a roof over his head and a job. His only real desire is to write and he creates a name for himself. His roommates and apartment tenant are quite the characters. So is his strange crew of co-workers who are up to all sorts of things that really make you wonder just what exactly goes on in grocery stores at night. They really had me laughing. What does Tommy have to do with Jody? I said this was a love story.

It took me a while to really get into this book but once I did, I was very glad for my mistake of buying book two by accident when shopping for book one. It allows me to jump right into the next book if I so chose. I haven't read a book that has made me laugh as much as this in a while. I really recommend it. In some places I was looking for something more and it's not a book I love such as those I rate at four to five stars. It was however a good book, and I can't wait till I have a person to talk to about it instead of just trying to avoid giving spoilers here.

ETA: I don't know what it is about this book that it will always touchstone in the text-writing box and yet never fails to not touchstone once the message is submited. So frustrating!

6. Christopher Moore: You Suck

It took longer to read the book than I thought it would but not for a lack of interest in reading it. I set it down with regret each time I had to lie the book aside. In some ways this story was different because a new point of view was introduced but it never failed to make me laugh. I think I can say the story only got better.

This book takes place immediately following where its companion novel, Bloodsucking Fiends, leaves off. Jody and Tommy are still in San Francisco and with a few problems:

They need to find food.

They need a new minion, or onion, if you ask Jody.

They need to find a new apartment.

They need to go Christmas shopping for their parents because in all that had been going on, they've forgotten it's only about two days away.

Through their adventures they find the strangest ways of acquiring food, searching for a way that their bodies can accept the coffee that satisfied them as humans. That comes in handy later on but I won't reveal why. Jody and Tommy get a regular blood donor with little cost to them.

Tommy's love for literature plays a role in checking 'minion' off their to-do list. Strange, amusing, Gothic, street-smart, and very much a teenager are some of best words of choice in describing Abby Normal who prefers to not use her day slave name. Abby more than happily becomes their loyal servant. Her only hope is to become one of them.

A woman named Blue comes into the story while spending time with the Animals, a nickname given to those who work Safeway's night shift. Tommy's old friends reveal Jody's secret and from then on she has one goal: "'You want to be orange?' 'Not orange, you nitwit, a vampire!'" (Moore 162).

This book is filled with just as much humor as the last book and I enjoyed it a bit more. Moore does a brilliant job capturing the point of view of the sixteen-year-old that is Abby Normal. I don't feel he could have done any better on that. I kind of missed a few things that couldn't be in this book that had been a part of the one previous but the author more than makes up for it. Hysterical!

I've loaned both books out to someone. She is ecstatic and loving the series, the first vampire books she has ever read. I see books grab at her attention on a regular basis, but these two are not books the nonfiction reader I know her to be would ordinarily pick up. I think that says something more for these two books.

I have been enjoying your reviews and I like your goals. :) Good luck with your reading challenge.
--BJ

Thank you! I am laughing at my TBR pile goal. ;) Good luck with your reading challenge as well! I just found your thread and am about to start reading it. :)

Hey K! I had seen your challenge before on your blog of course, but I was just looking it over again and thought I'd point out that Wuthering Heights isn't an Austen book. You should definitely still read it, but you might want to pick out another book for that particular challenge and move WH to your TBR challenge. Looking forward to keeping up with how you're doing here and on the blog!

Oh, I agree about Wuthering Heights! I just finished it the other day and thought it was very interesting.

Good luck on your TBR pile goal! There is a TBR Challenge group on LT as well if you're at all interested:

http://www.librarything.com/groups/tbrchallenge

It was good for me to have the incentive to work in my TBR pile and it is the only challenge I set for myself last year that I completed.

Great goals, Kerian! Especially the reviewing one. That's something I should attempt as well!

I've been wanting to read Emma and/or Persuasion this year too! If you'd like, you can let me know when you're reading one or both of them and I'll try to do so around the same time so we can discuss them!

#11 bib:
I can't believe I put that one! Now I realize I meant Mansfield Park! Thanks so much, bib! I feel so silly now. I do plan to also read Wuthering Heights this year. It's one I've meant to read for years. :)

#12 Jenson:
It's always great to hear good things about books I'd like to read. I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you. :)
I've stumbled on that group before. I love the purpose but try to read much more TBR books in a single year. I could enjoy it more if it were more challenging.

#13 el:
Thanks! I never seemed to review anything on LT's book reviews before. It was something that never rested well with me.
It will be great to read one or both of those books with you! Likewise, when you feel like starting one or the other, let me know and I'll pick it up as well. I need to get copies of both still but will try to soon so I'll have them on hand. :)

7. Neil Gaiman: Coraline

I am here to tell you that this book is fantastic. It's not your child's average bedtime story, however.

Gaiman chills us with his dark children's story about a girl named Coraline who is just trying to find something to do while playing all alone in a world with only grown-ups. That's when she discovers a door leading to a world exactly like her own and yet terribly different. Coraline is a very mature girl and a character that can easily be admired. Her story is incredible however short. I was very impressed with it and am giving it five out of five stars.

I'm finding that I quite like this author! The only other book I've read by him was Stardust and I had really loved that book as well. I have another of his books, Neverwhere in my TBR pile and may push it toward the small pile of books I mean to read soon. I would love to hear suggestions of books others have really enjoyed by him.

I've fallen behind quite a bit. I think it's because there's so much into writing about books in all three places: here, my blog, and LT reviews. I don't mean to do this all the time, but for the matter of catching up...

8. J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Finished February 5th?)
http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/02/jk-rowling-harry-potter-and-deathly....

9. PC and Kristen Cast: Hunted (Finished February 7th?)
http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/02/pc-and-kristen-cast-hunted.html

10. Hallie Ephron: Never Tell a Lie (Finished February 9th)
http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/03/hallie-ephron-never-tell-lie.html

11. Markus Zusak: The Book Thief (Finished February 20th.)
http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/03/markus-zusak-book-thief_03.html

Edited to add my book blog entries for the books

I think until I've caught up on my blog I'm just going to have short entries here.

12. Lisa Klein: Ophelia

http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/03/lisa-klein-ophelia.html

This book was so amazing. I really wish part three - the last ninty pages or so - had been different, though. I plan to reread Hamlet because of this reading later this year. (Soonish.)

Edited to add book blog entry.

13. Kate DiCamillo: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/03/kate-dicamillo-miraculous-journey-of...

Edited to add book blog entry

I love how you are approaching your TBR list; what a great idea. I think I may do something similar so that I really broaden myself with choices through the year. I've enjoyed your reviews.

Thank you, Tracie! I try to not reread books, though I love to. It helps a great amount for my insane book buying habbit. Hopefully I will catchup on reviews soon.

Four down, two to go. I am slowly catching up to my book challenge on my blog as I create entries for these books. I'm someone with too much time on my hands and greatly enjoy working on my blog. Sadly, it has a very low turn out. I mainly get '0 second' visitors who are only there to grab the book covers which I feature on each entry. Because of this, I am going to be changing how I review books on this thread and in LT reviews from now out in hopes of more visitors. I will be entering the books from here out with merely their titles and perhaps a small note. I will, however, link the blog entries I create for each book along with each book in their posts here. Please feel free to click them to read at any time. Visitors are very much welcome.

http://www.keriansthoughts.blogspot.com

If someone deems my listing my blog in this post as inappropriate, know I have been an LTer longer than a blogger. Also, I have linked it in other places on this thread as well. However, if this is nevertheless found to be wrong, I will politely remove it from this entry if word is given. I have no intentions to be flag-worthy. Thank you.

Hi, Kerian!
Nice blog! I don't think that there is anything wrong with linking your blog on your challenge thread. I am pretty sure that I have seen others do that, too. I don't usually check out the blogs, but I wanted to see yours and I like it. :) Have a great day! :)
--BJ

Thank you, BJ! That means a lot. I hope you're having a great weekend!

14. Elizabeth Aston: Mr. Darcy's Daughters

http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/03/elizabeth-aston-mr-darcys-daughters....

I could eat the rest of this series right up and happily there are five more books. It's so good! I love that Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy were not ruined for me by this book. Books two is on it's way and cannot arrive soon enough.

Edited to add book blog review.

Hi K! Just stopped by to wish you luck on your challenge....it's very challenging!! LOL...I really like your idea of reading classics and Austen (which are also classics) I will try to at least read 3 classics this year...You can let me know when you are reading an Austen book so I will try and read it at the same time and we'll discuss it afterwards. Have a great read!

Ron

P.S. You make feel so much better about my TBR pile!
KIK. I am also a compulsive book buyer and my TBR is soaring so...you are not completely alone in that ;)

Hi, Ron! Thank you! I have to agree with you completely. I think I'm reading too slow. ;)

Thanks. I really want to read more classics but at the same time have quite a pile of books either by Austen or about her works. I figured it would be good to set a goal of tackling them as a separate challenge.

I will most definitely let you know about the Austen books! She's one of my favorite authors and it's always exciting to have someone to discuss books with. I'm actually reading Persuasion, but here's where I worry. Writing to you now has made me recall el said the very same thing. In the meantime as I'm waiting for word on her now (because I am the fool with two tabs for two letters ;) I am remaining paused on page 22. I will keep that book on pause and update you on it re comments when there's word on it. :)

As for TBR piles...
Thank goodness! I was worried! ;)

Kerian, you and I have similar tastes! Also, I looked at the number next to your TBR tag and I do believe I might have met my match. ;)

HA! And so I have seen your books tagged TBR. This is a sad, sad day for me. ;) Goodness, that's a lot of shared books, though! :)

Hahaha! That simply means we have good taste in books. =P Btw, I saw that you found me on blogger. I'm heading over to yours now...

#29 steph:
Too true. And that we know a few people *glances around the thread for LTers* who suggest an awful amount of books that look so very good. Yep, I found it on your profile. I read a little of yours two nights ago and look forward to reading more later. Wish I didn't have work today, but as is, I am near off to work. *pictures the seven dwarfs on their walk to work* Why can't my job be that exciting? ;)

...

15. Dr. Seuss: The Zorak

16. Alice Hoffman: Green Angel

http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/03/alice-hoffman-green-angel.html

Okay, I know these books are short, the first one exceedingly so, however I'm past caring. I'm counting them. :P

Edited to a add book blog entry. The Zorak will not have an entry until March 20th.

I count all books, long and short. I think it all averages out in the end. :)
--BJ

Thanks, billiejean! I'm glad I'm not the only one. :)

17. Anonymous: Go Ask Alice

http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/03/anonymous-go-ask-alice.html

Drat. Anonymous doesn't touchstone. ;) On a more serious side, this book needs kleenex.

Edited to add book blog entry.

18. Patricia Mccormick: Cut

Another book needing kleenex, but it isn't as touchy and doesn't get as close to you as the last book does.

19. Catherine Hardwicke Twilight Director's Notebook: The Story of How We Made the Movie Based on the Novel by Stephenie Meyer

http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/05/catherine-hardwicke-twilight-directo...

20. Stephenie Meyer: Breaking Dawn

http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/05/stephenie-meyer-breaking-dawn.html

I love the idea of all your genre challenges ! Of course I wish you Good Luck on your hardest one , the TBR Challenge ! I'm intending to read several classics this too . So far I've managed Pride and Prejudice and Little Women . My next classic is gonna be a Shakespeare comedy , Love's Labour's Lost .

Thank you! Pride and Prejudice and Little Women are both favorites of mine. I hope you enjoyed them. As for Shakespeare, I definitely need to read more than the mere six plays I've read by him. I hope Love's Labour's Lost is good as well. Happy reading!

21. Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan: The Strain

Early Reviewers
Publication date: June 2009

Wow. This was the ultimate scary book. I kept looking for something to pop out at me and scare me. Something did, too! It was my one-year-old kitten, Tumbledore - not a scary vampire. I've never read a vampire book as frightening as this one. It made me afraid to sleep at night.

http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/05/guillermo-del-toro-chuck-hogan-strai...

I'm going to mention this one to my daughter. She likes scary books and vampire books, scary or not. I guess that it might not be out for sale yet since it is an early reviewers book. But she can keep an eye out for it. Thanks for the review!
--BJ

You're welcome, BJ! I'll have a better review up on my blog soon. I have some catching up to do there.

22. Daniel Klein: The History of Now

23. Joanne Harris: Chocolat

My free time has diminished. I blame two things, neither of which matters here but to say I haven't blogged in over a month. This means I haven't written about the books I've been reading, either. With that, I will say something for this book here.

I spent over a week reading this book. My attention span for books fades past day five of reading so the matter that I didn't stop reading this book but finished it and want to read the next one, Girl with No Shadow says something to me. It says that though my life in particular was too busy to read, this book was very good. It held on and demanded to be read. Now picture having the free time to read without end. I could see myself reading this book front to cover without stopping but for short reading breaks.

It wasn't exactly how the movie was, something I actually saw before reading the book. I oddly felt at times that I wished that weren't so - that it would follow the movie. This is a strange thought for one addicted to books. Soon enough though I respected and enjoyed it as a book, and came to enjoy it better.

As for those chocolate rumors, I think it's far easier to read this book without chocolate than to watch the movie without chocolate. Just don't read it on an empty stomach - nothing will satisfy but chocolate. Too bad for me right now. ;)

http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/05/joanne-harris-chocolat.html

Sounds good. That book is on by tbr. :)
--BJ

#43 --> bj, I am glad to hear it! :)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

24. Charlaine Harris: Dead Until Dark

I was in the midst of my previous read book when one of my sisters made me pinkie swear to read Dead Until Dark next. She has not discovered LibraryThing yet and the amazingness of finding others who enjoy the very same books as you. I remember those dreadful days hoping someone even liked the same genre as me, or read books at all. My sister has been quite happy since I picked up this book. I was halfway through it when she became happier, though.

She won. My sister did the happy dance. I am a new fan to this series, or at least for now the first book. I enjoyed it enough that I had to go out and buy the second one, Living Dead in Dallas, when I was just halfway into Dead Until Dark. I had been having trouble reading lately but put everything on hold to read this book. I have been exhausted and low on sleep even but I read until long past dark and closer to the morning hours last night until the very last page was read. Do not ask me what was said on the very last page. I was far too sleepy to be able to remember. I simply remember feeling this was a very good book and that I was glad to have a copy of book two on my shelves already.

I watch very little television, do not have cable, direct TV, or a sort of box for my tv set. This means I have not seen the "True Blood" tv series, either. One of my sister's and my summer plans is to watch it on dvd.

http://keriansthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/05/charlaine-harris-dead-until-dark.htm...

Sounds like another good one!
--BJ

Hmm, you've now made me interested in Dead Until Dark. I'll keep an eye out for it now!

Thanks, BJ!

I am glad you will perhaps find a new series you will enjoy, steph!

Something was wrong with this thread the other day. I wasn't able to access it and so I'm late posting this...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25. Rick Riordan: The Titan's Curse

This book was action packed and had me laughing out loud. I haven't heard of anyone who doesn't enjoy this series and found myself to be the most critical of book one, The Lighting Thief. I know the true reason for it had just been that I hadn't had the time to really read so I became uninterested as I spent too long on the book. Now I really wish I had gone back and reread the beginning of the series, not for the matter of missing anything, but for the enjoyment.

The true audience age is for people younger than myself and so I wonder about people out there who might think it silly or an unenlightening read. Being completely honest, knowing the myths already is very entertaining and enjoyable in itself. There are still surprises and everything else a good book has. It just lets you be in on some little things the intended readers may not know about even after finishing the books, which are things that had me laughing myself.

I'm focusing on the series right now so I'll be reading books four and five next. It feels like I devoured this one. I can't wait to get into The Battle of the Labyrinth.

26. Rick Riordan: The Battle of the Labyrinth

27. Rick Riordan: The Last Olympian

28. Charlaine Harris: Living Dead in Dallas

I really thought it might be too much that if I enjoyed book one, Dead Until Dark so much, that my reading of book two wouldn't be as good. I was reading the Percy Jackson series and while I knew both series are ones that may fly by from their grip they put on you, I avoided reading the second Sookie Stackhouse book for that reason. Well, for that and The Last Olympian.

I really didn't see reason as I read, for having felt that way about the Sookie Stackhouse series. Or at least, I will say again as with the last book, for now book two. This was a really great read. It took off almost immediately, which I felt was an improvement from the previous book. Book one had taken time for me to adjust to Harris's writing style, not a style of writing I typically go for.

SEMI-SPOILERS.

I was unimpressed with something Sookie was likewise unimpressed with, and when Dallas was over and done I felt the book could have ended there. I kept wondering what the author was waiting for. Reading on, I saw it was a closing from the mystery which the book had opened up on from the start. It was good to close the book with everything solved but I think it could have used more flow from the transition of Dallas to what lead to the final mystery being solved.

END semi-spoilers.

On another note, the bonus mystery solved at the last few pages was well appreciated. It remained the one thing that had me thinking 'I wonder what happens next?', versus what would have been 'I wonder what adventure will take place next?' These questions might sound like the same thing, but you will just have to trust me that they're not, and the first question is the better of the two. It means the author closed the book with something that grabs a reader's attention.

29. Charlaine Harris: Club Dead

30. Charlaine Harris: Dead to the World

Before I ever began these books it struck funny to me that each book in the series should have the word 'dead' in its title. Dead Until Dark was an obvious one because after all, we do know there are vampires in this southern vampire series. I had been amused by the first two words in book two's title, Living Dead in Dallas. The third title was not so amusing nor funny, but I got a kick out of this fourth book's title, Dead to the World.

When my sister found out I was reading this book in the series she immediately told me that she envied me and that it was one of her top favorites in the series. I soon saw why. I really like how the author brings back characters from previous books in this series, even if it is ony going one book back. She'd allowed Sookie to meet some interesting characters in that one.

As for the new characters, I've wondered if she's pushed the series a little far, going in a new direction. I think the series might be called The Southern Vampire series and MINI SPOILER as she draws from other forms of supernatural beings, with for instance even a fairy in this book, END spoiler I felt almost like the book was really becoming a fantasy, which reminds me of my genre discussion about this series. So the question is, is it still more of a fiction genre, mainly tagged as mystery, or is it a fantasy? Is it both?

31. Charlaine Harris: Dead as a Doornail

32. Charlaine Harris: Definitely Dead

It wasn't what I expected, but it was good. I have to say I was stumped after reading - hmmm - page ten or eleven. I was so sure I'd begun reading the books out of order. It isn't like Harris to have events take place between books. She usually includes everything in the actual stories. I had written the order of the Southern Vampire series in my phone based from LT's series page for it, and a run to my sister's bookshelf showed the same order, so I just kept reading. That was a bit odd. It's something many authors do, but after Harris hadn't been doing so, I found her skipping over events to be something I didn't much like. I'm hoping there won't be any confusion next time, which will be much longer away than I'd like since I'm not supposed to be buying any books right now. See what happens when you go back to school? You have to 'stop reading' to afford to read. This is a crazy world, but not as crazy as Sookie Stackhouse's.

33. Charlaine Harris: All Together Dead

Part of me initially didn't like this book. At one point I thought about how I would rate it and decided it definitely wouldn't be five stars, but more like four stars. Now that I've finished reading it I feel that I might go with four point five. The reason for that is that the book really picked up but not till the end, a time that I read while caved into my book unable to look up and completely antsy for the events going on. The plot itself leading up to that time was mildly boring and reminded me of all those Lois Lowery Nixon mysteries I read as a teenager. I really wish we could have found out a little more after the big major event but the author cut the book shy of revealing answers to most of the questions I had.

The perspective was all Sookie's, but I strangely didn't feel this was her book. She gave emotional connection to readers, but readers were left blind to what she was thinking, and that is nothing really when you think about the thick of the book. It's the vampires' story, truly, but not a single one of them on a personal level. This book reads strangely detached to much of anyone.

34. Charlaine Harris: From Dead to Worse

35. Charlaine Harris: Dead and Gone

36. Francesca Lia Block: Open Letter to Quiet Light

When it comes to books we know nothing of, one of my sisters chooses books based on their covers. It's the very thing we're told not to do as readers. However, if you're that sort of book selector, you may find yourself spending several minutes looking over the cover of this book. I know I did. This mythic-like collage that speaks of a wounded heart is a piece that seeks happiness and contentment where it may be found. Its quite beautiful.

Onto the story. This book isn't a usual tale of love. There isn't a man and women who have yet to fall in love because they already have, perhaps a few times. It's the story of an affair, and it's not told in those ordinary chapters, paragraph after paragraph. It's completely told in poetry. The meaning that can go into any sentence can be none if poorly written, small, or quite open to a great amount of meaning. I feel Block's words as her illustrator's artwork are beautiful, painful, and far from shy of feeling. The emotion pours from her poems on the pages and into your skin as you hold the book in your hands while reading.

I consider this quite a special book and think it would be a treat for anyone to read. My copy is an Early Reviewer book and I've been very happy to be given it. I've enjoyed it very much. This is the first book I've read by Block and I plan to seek out her other works now.

I'm a week-in-a-half late posting the first of these two books.

37. Rick Riordan: The Demigod Files
I really enjoyed getting to read the three extra stories to the Percy Jackson series that this book had to offer. Other parts of the book were cute such as the look inside a trunk of a Camp Half-Blood camper. I think the pages that tell us a little about the gods will be very nice for kids. All in all, I would recommend this book along with the rest of the series for any kid looking for an adventurous book or who either will be, currently, or has already learned about Greek mythology.

38. Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
I was in a bit of a reading slump while reading this book so it took much longer to read than I cared for. When I was reading though, I was really enjoying this. I would be reading at 2am and trying to stifle laughs. Whenever there was a change in Austen's original course of Pride and Prejudice I would set down my book just looking for another person to discuss it with, so excited was I about it. With that said, I experienced likes and dislikes both to this book being so tied to the original work. I think perhaps a little more originality would have been good for it, not to say that it isn't a good book as stands. I think I recommend this book most to fans of P&P, just not quite so much to those who know the book by heart so well that they know it word for word. For anyone who wishes to tackle the original and finds it difficult, though it is one of my favorites, I recommend this book to them as well.

39. J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Finished rereading July 10th)

I've started my reread for the HBP movie a bit late, though not so nearly late as some might think. The WB publicly announced their delay for the movie was due to them making more money with a summer release than the original date set for last November. Due to this, I am not going to see HBP during opening week so as to not support them during that critical first week. Enough said on that....This was my first reread of SS since the release of the final HP book, Deathly Hallows. It was quite a different experience reading it this time around. Little words seemed to pop up everywhere and bring my thoughts to later events in the series.

40. Kasper Hauser: Obama's Blackberry

Parody indeed, I do disagree with a quote on the back cover of this book. It states that this book could very well be the funniest thing readers of the book may read this year. It was a funny book, but I simply feel that's stretching it far. I've read a great deal of books that were funny this year, all exceeding this one. For a short read and little laughs, read this.

41. J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

There always seems to come a time when people would like a HP fan to list these books in order according to their most to least favorite. For me, this book is typically on the bottom of that list. Not unlike another least-favorite in a series in the past year, my reread of this one with my latest reading of it has improved my thoughts toward it. I beg out on recreating an order for these books, though! It's such a tough thing to do. ;)
Like my reread of SS, this was my first reread of CoS since DH's publication, and I do feel my reading of DH not only changed both of these books for me but will surely change others as well. It's likely something that may affect many readers, though not quite everyone.

42. Caroline B. Cooney: A Friend at Midnight

For a novella this is a good book. It had an interesting topic, one that struck me at heart. It reminded me a great deal of my own early teen years and the great anger I had to work out about my own father. With that, it also drug in an angle I hadn't seen, one which makes an interesting point. Under every circumstance, every possible thing that may happen, should one honor thy father?

Reading this book I felt lost at times, more often toward the beginning. There was a lack at times for understanding what was going on. For a juvenile book and one written by an author who has published as much as Cooney, I was admittedly a little disappointed about that. Her thoughts weren't always organized enough for a 25-year-old, and I wonder how well the pre-teens who this book is probably geared toward will comprehend those parts of it.

Thanks for the review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I've been debating whether or not to read it, ardent fan of the original that I am, but I've heard only good things about it. Maybe I'll pick it up one day when I'm feeling *really* brave... :)

Have you heard about the follow-up to P & P & Z? I was reading about it online the other day, it's going to be Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters. Should be interesting to see if they end up giving all of the Austen books this treatment.

#61 steph:
You're welcome. When you do choose to pick it up I hope you enjoy it! :)

#62 spacepotatoes:
What an interesting LT name! I've had trouble getting on LT lately but I saw something about that. I still need to check it out. It does sound interesting. Thanks so much for the recommendation. :)

Between last week and this week . . .

43. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

44. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

45. Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix

why fight the books. The fact that we desire to read them more is a testament to their authers and the charachters. I currently have 227 books that require reading and the count is growing.

Just to be silly. :) One of my sisters visits every so often has forever been telling me to "Get rid of them all!" and to come home with no more books. I know you see how awful that sounds. It sometimes makes me flinch. They are to be read, and then later on? Read again.

Our moods for what we choose to read can vary so much from day to day. Who is to say that should you only own fantasy and crave a classic that you may not go get one, or if you have simply historic books but would like something more modern that you may not read it for quite some time? It's a terrible thing to put limits to what you may read. I feel we should read them as we desire to versus having them forced on us, to be less enjoyed.

Today my TBR pile is 185 books, and while I think back to how it was a mere 20 books the day I joined LT some two-in-a-half years ago, and of just how much money was spent on these books, though some were quite low-priced or free, my regret is only small. I just think of the days ahead when I know times will be more difficult and I may be more financially strapped, unable to get something new to read. It will be then that I will be all set, ever so happy that I got books when I could be free to spend money how I chose before the days of large bills to pay. Books are our treasure.

Good to see you around again, shanfan! :)

good to be back

46. Marisa Acocella Marchetto: Cancer Vixen: A True Story

This is the first comic book I've ever read. The cover gives a great window into the book: If you slip off the cover, it reveals the author facing her cancer, a cloaked figure quite reminding me of dementors from the Harry Potter series. Hands on hips, she says to her cane-clad cancer, "Cancer, I am going to kick your butt..." On the back cover with a high kick in the air, she continues, "And I'm gonna do it in killer 5-inch heels!" This is the positive attitude of a New York fashionesta, survivor of breast cancer, as she tells her story. I thought it was a very good book, to be read with a box of kleenex.

I kind of had a computer meltdown and then school started up with five classes on top of work so I'm a little behind here. . .

August:

47: J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I really loved reading this after seeing the movie hit theaters. During the movie there were parts that I was disappointedly thinking, They're not supposed to have it happen like that!. However, rereading the book really showed me how some scenes, while we enjoy them in the book, are done exceptionally nice in the movie, in a way that compliments the scenes further. I have separate favorite scenes from each form of HBP.

September:

48: Christopher Moore: A Dirty Job

It may be after but is generally during the reading of a truly great book that one thinks, Why did I wait so long to read this? It was in my TBR pile for so long! I think I'd purchased it in February. I read this book after having already read Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck. I'm cautious to say this is my favorite of Moore's works so far. However, it was certainly a more touching tale, however hilarious as can be expected for Moore. I gave it five stars.

49: Rachel Caine: Feast of Fools

I have mixed emotions about this not this book, but this series. The author's fabulous at grabbing you and making you want to know what's next after one of her books ends. However, they're really quick and breezy reads. Nothing within the story in the long run to date is particularly exciting. This is book four of what I think is six books published so far. I own the other two already and so will be reading them.

50: Linda Castillo: Sworn to Silence

This was an ER book but busy as I was and receiving a review spoiler I took the book with me when I went places to read it but didn't open it up until three days ago. I literally carted it around with me for a month. Finally, when I began reading it, I thought it was okay. I was glued to the book waiting to see what would happen. However, it just wasn't a book that amounted to something great. You may find and read my LT review.

51. Tracy Kidder: Strength in What Remains

This is my newest ER book. To say it's incredible is putting it mildly. It's going to be a fabulous success and for that I am doubtless. Seeing as it was published on August 25th, it must be on it's way to great success already. My mother, who has read Kidder's "Mountains Beyond Mountains," was excited to hear about it and has been buried in my copy of it since I finished with it. If you have read anything by Tracy Kidder, pick this up. If you haven't read anything by Tracy Kidder but enjoy non-fiction, touching yet heartbreaking stories, and cultural anthropology, pick this book up. Goodness, if you just want a good book...

52 Stephenie Meyer: The Host

I didn't take to this last year as well as others when it was newly released. With little free time, I'd read it slowly and had felt it dragged. I was surprised someone remembered that this week when they asked me, "Why are you reading that again?" My reading experience this time around was very changed from my first reading of this book. I was immensely glued to it and friends of mine who read very little were surprised to see how a very good book may grip its reader. It was 3am, technically Saturday, when I closed my book. I haven't been able to move onto another book yet.

53: Melissa de la Cruz: Bluebloods: The Van Alen Legacy

When I had put down book three in Melissa de la Cruz's Bluebloods vampire series, I couldn't have wanted to read the next, then yet to be published book more. The time that has elapsed hasn't let on to me just what I was hoping to read in this new installment in the series, but I did enjoy the book. The wait until the author's next book in the series can't possibly be known at this time, but I plan to read it.

Something very fitting for the age range of readers to this series that I read with distaste all along was all the modeling stuff involved in the books. It was a turn off to me when one of the books particularly seemed to focus on that more. Guessing by my ratings, that may have actually been book three. Something I liked with this new installment, book four, was the cut off of that and the focus on more important things. Silly teenage vampire girls and modeling just wasn't my kind of book.

I'm a big fan of mythology and love how the author created her own mythology for this series. There are a lot of vampire books out there and this is something that makes her work stand apart, making it go above and beyond just any vampire book you may come across. You see more of her Blueblood mythology in this book, and quite a bit of her earlier myths tying to her creation story as well.

Like many a book, parts of this one had me speaking in my head to the main character. What are you doing?! I was left wondering if, and hoping that, Schuyler may grow some wings, become strong independently, and have what it takes to step aside and walk away from someone she loves to protect them. I think we may learn if she can do this in the next book. I'm also hoping for her happy ending, which some may feel she finds in this book, but there is more to this story, and I'm rooting for the other guy.

On an ending note, if you haven't watched the book trailer for this book yet, it was really nice. I watched it as my first book trailer a couple of days before buying the book. It was entertaining and fun to pick out the quotes from the trailer in the book as I read the book.

How busy schedules make for a lot of reading is beyond me. However, I got glued into a series.

54: Gwen Cooper: Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, Or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Cat

A glance at the title and you might wonder how literary, or well read, the author of this book is. I can confirm that the answer is very much. It's something I really enjoyed about this book. She goes well into why her blind wonder cat was given such a name that he was.

When I first saw this book, I immediately thought of Dewey and that there was no way this could top it. I also hadn't necessarily been eager to read another cat book since I have my own loss to deal with. The black cat drew my curiosity, though, and I did read his story.

While it wasn't like Dewey it was still quite good. I think if anything I could relate to this book more. Both Dewey and Homer were loved by many people. When it came down to it all, though, Dewey was a pet to a community at large, while Homer to a woman, though loved by many still as well. The stories have their similarities and differences. Each book touched me and made me cry.

If you have lost a dear loved one with four paws, don't be afraid to read this one. The memories that these books draw to you of your own lovely little buddy bring happiness and sadness, but Homer? :)

55. Richelle Mead: Vampire Academy (book 1)

What do you take when you run out the door to the emergency room? The wait is so many hours, time that you spend tortured waiting to know how the person you're there for is. I wanted a fluff, light read. Vampire AcademyHouse of Night series. I've found that I enjoy the Vampire Academy series more.

56. Richelle Mead: Frostbite (Vampire Academy: book 2)

This is probably the most predictable of Mead's books. So much of the plot is given away on the back cover that the element of surprise, and any possible mysteries, are gone. I have deep regrets for reading the back cover before beginning this book. Because of such, my suggestion to anyone interested in the book or series is to just skip reading the jacket or back cover. I won't even take anything on it as a given in my post here and will mums the word. Don't not read this book for that reason, though. Some publishers just spoil without courtesy, but the spoilers are nothing with the others so much as with this one. Plus, this series takes off really well after this.

57. Richelle Mead: Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy: book 3)

I would just like to say how odd I thought it was the morning after I'd bought this book that, as my things were being put away at work, my boss had to 'dust' off the cover. I think they simply wanted to look at the book a little better. ;)

I said this series takes off really well later on, and I meant it. With each book, there is a little bit of history, and even religion, thrown into it to tell the past. This is a book that dives right into that, and if you are someone who dislikes those things, be assured it isn't in some way that bores one. I would also like to say that yes, that is not the only, mere reason why these books get better.

Main character Rose Hathaway has some major character development in this book. She matures greatly while still keeping her stamp of cool and smart attitude. It's within this book that she really learns a great amount about herself. Rose picks up new skills, too. (MINI SERIES SPOILERS!) If that isn't what you really want to hear, though, my guess is you're wondering about Dimitri....the love of Rose's life. Oh my, what a character. Yes! Read the book! Savor the good parts. (END mini series spoiler.)

58 Richelle Mead: Blood Promise (Vampire Academy: book four)

Why? That's what readers of this series all want to know. Again later, while within this book, readers will ask this question yet again. After finishing this book, though, I think I know why. At least, for the second question....Or is it the third?

The books get thicker each time, and each time they get better, as well. You will see a whole new world in this book and may interpret that information however you chose. All I can say while trying to prevent major spoilers is that this series would have been lost without this book and definitely weaker. It really builds onto the series. Readers may also ask, What are you doing, Rose? and I fear a select few may dislike a good deal of this book. It all as very good though, and all of it necessary.

There are quite a few new developments in this book, with many questions answered and more yet to be answered with the next installment. I look forward to April and eagerly await it and the publication it brings of book five in the Richelle Mead's lovely Vampire Academy series.

October:

59. Kristin Cashore: Graceling

I wasn't completely sure if I would like this book as I purchased it, but it was fantasy and it was YA, so I gave it a chance. I had heard good things about it from LT HEer friends. One of the reasons why I chose to read this book next was because I thought it a good transition from Blood Promise. The main characters of each book share some qualities with each other. Both are good and women who fight to kill. I knew there could be quite a difference in their stories, and there was, but it hasn't made either book lesser to me.

I probably didn't start reading it in the best of places - I was on a bus, which only let me read for ten minutes before my stop. I've always felt a book deserves a longer reading time when you begin to read it. Sure enough, I was regrettably still trying to bury myself into this book at page 100. However, this book picked up incredibly. My thoughts of it now are that I absolutely loved it, and I have been so distraught at not being able to get the second book just yet.

Katsa lives an interesting life in court but I much enjoyed once the story took off. Her call to adventure, or rather a different and usual one to the norm of sorts, was one that held as much question about the future as possible. Her journeying is quite extreme, and her grace, of course, necessary. The author lead her on to be a very strong character. Upon meeting her other characters, they were nicely done as well. I adored and thought how perfect for a little winter princess to be called Bitterblue. No other name could have suited the girl better. Katsa had a good deal of character development in this book. My only wish is that things had ended differently, though I know it could not be so.

60. P.C. and Kristen Cast: House of Night: Tempted (book 6)

This book really seemed to start out of nowhere. Unless you have just recently read the previous book before this, Hunted, your thoughts may say, 'Back up a minute.' Eventually memory came back to me and it began to make sense. I ordinarily dislike flashbacks to books previous in a series but this book, at the start, needed it. I feel it would have complimented the book and given more to it.

Aside from my issues about how this story began, I found the story, and characters as well, much the same. No one really seemed to develop a great deal to me. Stark does, Stevie Rae as well, but things are, just as it starts out, right where it left off. There was not much change, though their situation itself does. I read and thought of silly, goofy teenagers would could not be serious enough to handle serious situations without unnecessary gossip and arguments. It really got me thinking about the messages that go through these books. Some of the messages are good. Some of these messages, however, had me frowning.

With the book's end, it became unclear if the series would go on with Zoey starring them any longer. I feel now that perhaps that was why the points of view within the book seemed to change so much more than usual. More characters were felt and heard than usual as their point of views were given to us. I think that adds to the mystery of just who will lead the books next. I think I know who, but I won't give that away. With the end of Zoey leading these books, I believe I am as well ending reading them. This is not for the reason of Zoey not being the main character any longer. The books simply have not picked up enough for me. Others may enjoy the series more than me. I hope there is an improvement in later installments of the House of Night series.

November:

61. Sarah Waters: Tipping the Velvet

Waters has an interesting way of introducing her stories. She gives them as memories and speaks directly to the reader as though they may be there, sitting beside the main character. Nancy speaks fondly of her family and their business, and of the craft of taking apart sea oysters for eating. That is where her story begins, and the story of her life over several years unfolds in the course of this book.

This was a very good book. Such character development it possessed! Nancy was, in fact, a completely new person several times at different points even in the book. It was marvelously done and good to read of a character so changed and happier in life. I have heard friends say this is their favorite book by Waters. I have read just one other by her, Fingersmith. I do think I enjoyed that other book more, but for the mystery, and how much it reminded me of a combination of several of my favorite books. In Fingersmith I thought of Fly by Night and Jane Eyre. Tipping the Velvet has been like no other book I have read.

I say "Bravo!" for the ending. It couldn't have been done better.

November:

62. The Lovely Bones

I wasn't sure what to expect before reading this book. I'd heard it of it's popularity, which had driven me away from it; of spoilers I tried hard to forget from a past co-worker; that it should not be read unless the reader was in a very good place mentally; and that I should simply never read it at all. I saw the movie preview not so many months ago however, and knew if I was ever going to read it, that it was time to do so. Time has passed since I've read it and am not quite sure on the words to provide for it. It came from a unique angle unlike any other I've read. While at times it made me think of Zavin's Elsewhere, it has it's major differences and I deem this the better of the two, though very, very sad. It was a bit shocking.

63. Jasper Fforde: Nursery Crimes: The Big Over Easy (reread)

It was Thanksgiving week and being a good host I needed the humor. Glad that I hadn't read this book in years, I decided to reread The Big Over Easy. In truth it was probably three or more years that had passed since I reread this book last. It helped me forget some things and I was able to reread it without remembering details. I was surprised as I read this time around that there were things that shocked me, jokes I had not caught onto before.

December:

64. Jasper Fforde: Nursery Crimes: The Fourth Bear (reread)

I had probably never reread this book before so it was even less fresh in mind than the book previous to it. Some parts were better than I remembered them and other parts not quite as I recalled them. After rereading two of Fforde's novels I am eager and ready for his next book, due to be released late this month.

65. Cinda Williams Chima: The Demon King

I was excitedly waiting for this book ever since I put down Chima's The Heir series last fall. With this book opening up onto a new series, The Seven Realms, I was far from disappointed. It was outstanding! I read it in under twenty-four hours not able to walk away from it.

Before reading this novel I had worried if it would ring too much like Chima's other novels. This was not at all the case. I have found that I enjoyed it a good deal more than her previous works, books which I had taken fast to and for the most part enjoyed very much as well. This one, I loved. In comparison to Chima's The Heir series, The Seven Realms is a bit further away from our own world. Being a fan of fantasy, this was a bonus to me. It was more of a non-modern nor futuristic type of fantasy. I hadn't considered her taking this approach but was pleased and greatly ate the words up. Seconds soon, please? I give a big thank you to the author for this incredible book.

66. Kristin Cashore: Fire

I was a little nervous before reading this book because I'd gotten word without even looking at the dust jacket: it only had one character from it's lovely companion, Graceling. Don't let that make you not want to read this book. I know for certain that if I had skipped it just for that reason, l'd have missed reading one of the best books I read this year. I kid you not.

I had truly loved Graceling, as much as I've said before that it took a bit for me to get into the book, but for me Fire had that magic we all look for in an incredible book from the very beginning. The part that made the least sense was the prequel within Fire and how it fit into the story as I read, but I rightfully trusted Cashore to wrap the story into that part later.

This book isn't much like any other I have read. I can think of a few stories here and there but none quite like this. It had me on such a reading high that I couldn't think of a single thing to read as I was still desiring something of Cashore's curious invented worlds after I'd finished reading.

At the beginning of this story it wasn't quite clear but soon became so that the main character, while not having many things in life, had much of the desired things in other ways. She couldn't roam the world freely and was like a magical caged creature in a sense, but she had her own home to live in. She didn't have a father, but she had a man very much like one. She didn't have a husband, but she had a man as a best friend who was very much in love with her.

I was fearful then of the parts of Fire's life that were so good. This was after all the beginning of the story. I won't say so much of a word of what is to come for those who have yet to read this book. It is incredibly lovely, though, and will remain a favorite of mine for quite some time. There is not any room for improvement. With Graceling and Fire as a set of two or a greater number, they may be considered perfect on their own. Attached very much to them of course, I do wish we may see more stories Cashore's world has to tell in the future.

67. I Can Has Cheezburger? A LOLcat Colleckshun

Holidays are always bad for me. That's why when I opened a gift from a friend six days before Christmas and saw this book, I waited six days before reading it. It is said in the Hogwarts Express that LOLcats bring one cheer, and I believe it. I wasn't gloomy when I opened this book to read it, but had I been, I'm sure it would have cheered me greatly. Page after page cats are featured with brilliant captions. It made me laugh, and it made me sigh. It made those around me listening to me silently read want to see each of the pages that caused a reaction. Some of the pages made me think of my own cats and some dearly missed ones I have had in the past. Very few, but some pages yet, made me raise my eyebrows in surprise of the language. Not every page is perhaps fit for all audiences, but it's a funny little book that I will treasure and read again. It was an excellent gift for which I was quite thankful for.

68. Cornelia Funke: Inkheart (reread)

There are a few reasons why I decided to reread this book. For one, I had wanted to ever since I learned that it was to be made into a movie. For another, I bought the movie and have watched it several times, wanting to read again and see how the movie compares to the book. Two years as of January would have passed since I originally read this book, and as an LTer, I've definitely read enough since then for the story to not be strong in my mind. Of course, being an LTer lets on to one of my greatest addictions: books; and gives clue that quite possibly, I may have purchased book two, and even book three, without so much as opening the cover of book two.

With my reread, I note several differences between the book and movie, but in what movie based on a book are differences not to be had? I will still enjoy the movie, even if the book is better. There is a little disappointment from the differences but nothing that will hurt me from continuing to view the movie as a separate piece than the book. (This is how I typically view movies based on books, and am I ever happy about that.) I may not have been as taken with Inkheart during my second read of it so much as with the first, but I expect having books two and three be fresh reads to make a difference, and I look forward to reading them soon.

69. Zoe Marriott: The Swan Kingdom

This was part of a secret Santa gift I received. It's a young adult fantasy, something that drew my interest right away. However, as terrible as it is to want to read a book based on it's cover, I was also a little taken with the swans featured on the cover. I read somewhere that this book was based on something perhaps considered a fairy tale, called The Wild Swans. I never did read such a story. It was only with reading this book that I remembered having read the only version of it I had, in fact, something from the retold fairy tale collections edited by Windling and Datlow.

The Swan Kingdom had a mysterious tale to tell, one that had me glued to every word so that I literally read this book in one sitting. Parts of it I thought the focus should be elsewhere, but I guessed the author was likely following the tale of the Wild Swans in her own version of it as much as possible. The wrongs in the book I felt were likely rights based on the tale, and if that doesn't make sense as I'm guessing it won't, I felt disagreement for parts but felt Marriott was writing it as she was supposed to. I could see where this book was leading toward the end and it held just one thing that I felt could have been significantly changed. One character fell too much into the background. If this book is a fairy tale as I believe it to be, this shouldn't have happened with this particular character. I won't reveal more. It was a very nice story, however, and will stick with me for never reading very much of the tale of The Wild Swans before.

The Book Challenge:

Just before the new year, I finished what was to be my last book read of 2009. It fell a mere five books shy, but five entire books nonetheless, of my reading challenge goal. This is only my second completed year of having a reading challenge. 2008's goal was 52 books, and I beat it. Somewhere in this group I must persue my old thread to see just how many books I read in 2008. I do know, however, that I read more books in 2009. I can say with certainty that I have not read so many books since joining LT as I read before joining it. That's easily explained with talking about books more than actually reading them. However, I would not give that up for the world. I adore LT without a limit. :)

Besides reading 75 books in 2009, I had a few other (crazy) goals as well. Yes, crazy. What was I thinking? Well, the year is over, and it cannot be helped.

TBR Challenge:

193 books. This falls forty-three books over of where my silly self had goaled myself at.

Early Reviewer's Challenge:

5 read and reviewed out of 5 received in 2009.

Reviewing Challenge:

I did a really stupid thing this year and stopped blogging. It was about March, a time when I found myself busier, and the number of excuses continues. I was doing pretty good reviewing books both on my blog and LT at first, but eventually cut back significantly. A goal for 2010 is to resume blogging, and put in those books that I read in 2009 that I didn't blog about. I'm going to be blogging about the books I read in 2010 as I read them versus after blogging about the books read in 2009.

Austen Challenge:

2 out of 6.
Every year I tell myself I will read the books by Austen which I hadn't yet read. I don't think I will be resuming that, but may come up with something that I'll drag Austen's works into.

Classics:

2 out of 12

Banned Books:

This is challenging (ha, and yet, boo) to answer. Many books face being banned and there are many lists to go by.

Short Story Collection:

I picked a couple of these up but only finished one. I think in 2010 I will combine collections of poetry with this challenge and try to focus on one collection, then see where it goes from there.

Nonfiction:

8 out of 6