Sunday, December 27, 2009

THE BOOKS OF 2008

I never posted my 2008 reading list, so I'll do it now, because on Friday I will need to post the books I've read in 2009. So, here we go!

JANUARY
Cry Wolf--Tami Hoag (audiobook)
Sheep--Valerie Hobbs
Isabella's Above-Ground Pool--Alice Mead
The Old Willis Place--Mary Downing Hahn
Snow Blind--P. J. Tracy
If His Kiss Is Wicked--Jo Goodman
Singing Hands--Delia Ray
Shadow Fires--Catherine Springer
Revenge Gifts--Cindy Cruciger
The Report Card--Andrew Celements
Morrigan's Cross--Nora Roberts
The City of Ember--Jeanne DuPrau
American Dreams--John Jakes, read by Edward Herrmann
North By Night: A Story of the Underground Railroad--Katherine Ayres
Darkfever--Karen Marie Moning
Gossamer--Lois Lowry

FEBRUARY
Sun Kissed--Catherine Anderson
The Book of Story Beginnings--Kristin Kladstrup
About Face--Fern Michaels
Paper Doll--Elizabeth Feuer
Blood Brothers--Nora Roberts
Silver Master--Jayne Castle
The People of Sparks--Jeanne DuPrau
Chocolate Fever--Robert Kimmel Smith
Lizzie Borden: The Legend, the Truth, the Final Chapter--Arnold R. Brown
Cold Mountain--Charles Frazier, read by Dylan Baker
How to Eat Fried Worms--Thomas rockwell
Dream Soul--Laurence Yep

MARCH
Heart Dance--Robin D. Owens
Messenger--Lois Lowry
Love at First Sight--Sandra Lee
Someone to Love--Jude Deveraux
The Orphan Train Adventures: Circle of Love--Joan Lowery Nixon
Ten Big Ones--Janet Evanovich
The Far Side of Evil--Sylvia Louise Engdahl
The Winter Room--Gary Paulsen
Eleven on Top--Janet Evanovich
There Goes the Bride--Lori Wilde
Red and Rover: A Boy, A Dog, A Time, A Feeling--Brian Bassett
Miranda--Grace Livingston Hill

APRIL
Split Image--Mel Glenn
Fablehaven--Brandon Mull
The Prophecy--Hilari Bell
King's Property--Morgan Howell
Creation in Death--J. D. Robb
The Red Badge of Courage--Stephen Crane (audiobook)
Favorite Fairy Tales Told in Norway--Virginia Haviland
His Runaway Son--Dee Holmes
Where Are the Children?--Mary Higgins Clark
Dragon Lovers--Jo Beverley, Mary Jo Putney, Karen Harbaugh, and Barbara Samuel
Dance of the Gods--Nora Roberts

MAY
The Boy Next Door--Meggin Cabot
Love, Ruby Lavender--Deborah Wiles
Kisscut--Karin Slaughter
The Last Chance Cafe--Linda Lael Miller (audiobook)
Ammie, Come Home--Barbara Michaels
Sea-Cat and Dragon King--Angela Carter
Solay--Mark Jonathan Harris
What Happened to Lani Garver--Carol Plum Ucci
The Dungeon--Lynne Reid Banks
Clan Daughter--Morgan Howell
No Humans Involved--Kelley Armstrong
Royal Destiny--Morgan Howell
Stalker--Faye Kellerman
While Angels Sleep--Judith Kelman

JUNE
Encyclopedia Horrifica--Joshua Gee
Deliver Us from Normal--Kate Klise
Happy Trails: The Story of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans--Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Carlton Stowers
Dead of Night--J. D. Robb, Mary Blayney, Ruth Ryan Langan, and Mary Kay McComas
One Bite Stand--Nina Bangs
Texas Princess--Jodi Thomas
If Only in My Dreams--Wendy Markham
High Noon--Nora Roberts
Valley of Silence--Nora Roberts
The Darkest Night--Gena Showalter
The Panther and the Pyramid--Bonnie Vanak
The White--Deborah Larsen
Dragonflight/Dragonquest--Anne McCaffrey, read by Adrienne Barbeau
Tornadoes--Anne Schraff
Too Late to Say Goodbye--Ann Rule
Flush--Carl Hiaasen
The Executioner's Daughter--Laura E. Williams
Blizzard!--Jim Murphy
Highland Promise--Hannah Howell
The Good Fairies of New York--Martin Millar
The Darkest Kiss--Gena Showalter

JULY
Secrets--Jude Deveraux
Shadow Music--Julie Garwood
The Darkest Pleasure--Gena Showalter
Mistaken Identity--Lisa Scottoline (audiobook)
When Patty Went to College--Jean Webster
Twilight--Stephenie Meyer
New Moon--Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse--Stephenie Meyer

AUGUST
Uncertain Summer--Betty Neels
The Faerie Path--Frewin Jones
Breaking Dawn--Stephenie Meyer
The Chocolate Touch--Patrick Skene Catling
Lottery--Patricia Wood
The Named--Marianne Curley
The Sacrifice--Kathleen Benner Duble
Exploring Historical Fiction--Scholastic, Inc.
Kindred--Octavia E. Butler
The Marriage Game--Fern Michaels
Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083--Andrea White
Dreams in the Golden Country: The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant Girl, New York City, 1903--Kathryn Lasky
The Ghost Sitter--Peni R. Griffin
The Amazing Secret of the Souls in Purgatory: An Interview with Maria Simma--Sister Emmanuel of Medjugorje
The Stone Flower Garden--Deborah Smith
Every Fixed Star--Janew Kirkpatrick, read by Barbara Rosenblat
I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl, Mars Bluff, South Carolina, 1865--Joyce Hansen

SEPTEMBER
The Five Little Peppers Midway--Margaret Sidney
Haunted--Meg Cabot
Wizard's Daughter--Catherine Coulter
Breaking Free--LouAnn Gaeddert
Strangers in Death--J. D. Robb
Lost Magic--Berthe Amoss
Esperenza Rising--Pam Munoz Ryan
The Ghost's Grave--Peg Kehret
Wait Till Helen Comes--Mary Downing Hahn
Morning Light--Catherine Anderson

OCTOBER
The Two Princesses of Bamarre--Gail Carson Levine
The Bright Forever--Lee Martin
Dark Magic--Cheyenne McCray
His Captive Lady--Anne Gracie
Stone Fox--John Reynolds Gardiner
The House in the Snow--M. J. Engh
The Lotus Cup--Jane Louise Curry
The Devil Who Tamed Her--Johanna Lindsey
Mr. Cavendish, I Presume--Julia Quinn
Coming Undone--Susan Andersen
The Angels of Morgan Hill--Donna Van Liere

NOVEMBER
The Devil's Possession--Heather Waters
Colony Girl--Thomas Rayfiel
Missing Magic--Karen Whiddon
Letters from Rapunzel--Sara Lewis Holmes
Train from Marietta--Dorothy Garlock
317 Beulah Street--Sandra Steffen
The Hunger Games--Suzanne Collins
The Journey of the Shadow Bairns--Margaret J. Anderson
Clara Barton and the American Red Cross--Eve Marko
Deadly Seduction--Wensley Clarkson
Our Only May Amelia--Jennifer L. Holm
The Dark--Marianne Curley
The Key--Marianne Curley
The Rogue Report--Barbara Dawson Smith
The Host--Stephenie Meyer
Boundless--Alexandra Thorne
Switched, Bothered, and Bewildered--Suzanne McPherson
Blue Clouds--Patricia Rice

DECEMBER
Somewhere I'll Find You--Lisa Kleypas
The Lottery Rose--Irene Hunt
The Witch Herself--Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Solomon Snow and the Silver Spoon--Kaye Umansky
Never Romance a Rake--Liz Carlyle
When a Texan Gambles--Jodi Thomas
Marry Christmas--Jane Goodger
A Season to Be Sinful--Jo Goodman
Twelve Sharp--Janet Evanovich
The Hollow--Nora Roberts
The Folk Keeper--Franny Billingsley
Snowfall-Mitchell Smith
The Rules of Seduction--Madeline Hunter
Emergence: Labeled Autistic--Temple Grandin and Margaret M. Scariano

Total: 164 books at 45,853 pages

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

FEELING SHEEPISH

So I was Christmas shopping with the kids this week and saw Kim Harrison's new paperback, White Witch, Black Curse, on display and decided to treat myself to it because I really enjoy the Rachel Morgan series, and I knew this was one book that wouldn't gather dust on my shelf before I get around to reading it.

But wait! I just took this one out from the library last week. Color me chagrined!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Too Many Books, Redux

When I last wrote six months ago, I was upset at all the complaints and comments people make about my book collection. Now, after six months of my husband being unemployed, I've been listing my books for sale on amazon. I sell a few every week, and while it doesn't make me rich, the extra money I get every month fills the gas tank or buys groceries or lets me take the kids to a movie. It's been a blessing. I try to spend an hour a day listing books and logging them in my inventory notebook. (I know, I know, a spreadsheet would work wonders, but I'm more comfortable with my notebook.)

It's really interesting to see what sells, though. I put Bill O'Reilly's latest book on amazon, and it sold within half an hour. New paranormal romance jumps right off the shelf, too. Books I think will sell languish for months, and books I'm dubious about go really quickly. My master plan is to leave a book on the list for six months, and if it doesn't sell, I'll take it to the library swap shelf and trade it for something else. If anyone else sells on amazon and has any advice, feel free to post here.

Monday, June 08, 2009

TOO MANY BOOKS?!

I have a lot of books. Okay, that's kind of an understatement. There are five full bookshelves downstairs (two of them are my husband's), and each of my kids has a bookcase in their room. Small potatoes to some people, I know, but the real stash is stacked in brown paper grocery bags in our storage shed. At my current rate of reading, which has slowed considerably since I work two jobs, it will take me about five years to read all the books on my paperback bookshelf, and maybe another two to finish the hardcover shelf. So basically, I have enough unread books to last the rest of my life (assuming it's a long one!).

So what's the problem?

In a nutshell, people are constantly urging me to get rid of my books. Why don't you have a yard sale? Why don't you bring those to Goodwill? My husband got mad at me one day because he bumped into my bookshelf and some books fell off, so not only did he throw those books awayl but he went further and chose a bunch of books at random from each shelf and threw those out, too. I was furious, and he was smugly self-satisfied. He thinks I have a mental illness and should seek treatment because I hoard books.

It got worse, though, when my son's friend said, "You have all those books in your house and you still check out books from the library?!"

Why do people feel so free to comment on this? I know from my online groups and my teacher friends that lots of people have way more books than I do. Why does it bother people that I like my books and that it makes me happy to have them?

Thursday, January 01, 2009

A NEW YEAR OF PAGES AND STAGES

Every year, I make all sorts of resolutions, usually about reading and email and keeping in touch with people. I guess this year is no different, but I'm trying to keep my goals achievable. If you're reading this, I would love for you to share your goals and/or resolutions via a comment on this blog.

First, I have three stacks of books on my shelf, all in varying stages of reading completion. I don't really know what makes me put a book down unfinished, but usually it's because I'm not totally absorbed in it. It's very hard for me to sustain reading when I'm not completely engaged in a particular book. However, I came up with a goofy little plan that is already working for me, so I'm going to commit to it for the whole year and see what happens. I read two books at a time now, not counting my bathroom book and my purse book. I alternate reading a chapter in one book, then a chapter in the other. When one of them really grabs my attention and I feel compelled to keep reading, I do that until I finish the book or my interest level drops again. Using this method, I've alread finished three books that I had started and put down. (Oh, the other trick is to make sure that one of the books is something I actually want to read.)

Another goal I've set for myself is that I cannot buy another book until I've read 10 of the books I already own. Since I literally have thousands of books I haven't yet read, I'm hoping this will help me whittle down Mt. TBR. If you know me really well, you know I'm going to struggle with this one, so I have allowed myself one option: I can take books from the various swap shelves I visit, but I actually have to have a book to swap out for each book I want to take.

My reading goal remains the same: I want to read 183 books this year, and I'd like to average 300 pages per book. I fell short in 2008 by almost 20 books, and my page average was 279.5 (I read a lot of YA and listened to a few audiobooks), so I'm going to have to work harder this year to reach those goals.

The good news is, my dual book reading plan will mitigate my reluctance to tackle reading really long books. I kind of resent reading books over 500 pages, because it's a lot of time to invest on one book, and it skews my numbers. Reading two books at once, though, I'll be able to keep adding to my books read while at the same time tackling some of those super-long books that I keep petting but putting down.

Here's to a prolific reading year in 2009!