2011 Wrap Up, Part 1

Happy New Year all!  I'm excited for 2012 because it'll bring some awesome book releases to look forward to....and some life changes as well (graduation, hopefully a new job, and possibly a move).   

Here's Part 1 of my 2011 recap, which includes my challenge results.  I'll post Part 2 soon.  It features my favorites and not-so-favorite reads from the past year. 

2011 Recap:

- I read 58 books this year, which is up from 53 last year.

- I quietly had my one year blog anniversary in April 2011. I promise to actually celebrate it this year.

- Started my second year of graduate school in the fall.  I only have two semesters left!  I'll finish my Masters in Library Science (MLS) this summer.  Thus, I'll be looking for a new job as a librarian (preferable for fall, if the stars align and luck is on my side....too dramatic?).

- I celebrated my second anniversary on BookCrossing in August.  I joined in August 2009.

- Participated in one 24-hour Dewey read-a-thon this year.  I couldn't participate in the October read-a-thon because I was out of town visiting a friend.

- Sadly, I didn't complete any books in June.  I had a crazy busy summer semester (only six weeks long) that caused a major leisure reading road block.  Hopefully, I won't repeat it this year.

-  In November, I read the most books that I've ever read in one month, 13!  I was on a Jenny Han and Stephanie Perkins binge.

- Near the end of the year, I focused on new releases from 2011.  I loved it!  There are so many awesome first books of series out.

Reading Challenges:

2011 Pages Read Challenge: Last year I didn't reach my pages read goal, so I decided to shoot for the same number this year: 15,000 pages.  I actually reached it this time!!!  My final tally was 16,101 pages, 107% of my goal.  Yahoo!  I even read more pages that I didn't count...including my 400+ page textbook and a few books I disliked enough not to finish (cough...The Thirteen Hallows...cough). 

Read Ten 1001-Books Challenge:  Epic fail! I only read five 1001-books this year. I'll try it again this year.

• Erewhon by Samuel Butler.
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
• The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
• The Wonderful O by James Thurber
• The 13 Clocks by James Thurber

A-Z Read & Release Challenge: Another fail!  I haven't done anything with this ongoing BookCrossing challenge for a number of reasons.  First, a majority of the books I read this year were library books so they can't be registered.  A few registered books I releases were repeat letters (G and R). I'll keep my eye out for books that fit into this release challenge, but I'm not gonna sweat over it. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my 2011 Wrap Up and my 2012 Goals post!

BC Bookshelf Update: End of 1st Semester!

BC Bookshelf Updates features my latest bookish and BookCrossing (BC) activities including book trades, RABCKs, book rings/rays, challenges, and all things BookCrossing. Enjoy!

I completed my first semester of grad school!  Plus, we got our grades already and I did really well! YAY!  So it's time to celebrate.  I'm going to catch up on my leisure reading over the next month of freedom before the grind starts up again.  Here's the latest BC updates:

Manga/Graphic Novel Bookbox: I signed up for my first BC bookbox. This box is full of manga and graphic novels shipped to participants across the U.S. (sorry not an international one). Participants take as many as they want, but add the same number back to the box and then send it on it's way to the next person on the list.  Here's the forum link if anyone else is interested in joining.  I received the box in the mail yesterday and I can't believe how many volumes are in it!  It's gonna take a few days to go through and decide what to keep.

Audubon BookCrossers:  The ABXC group meets monthly at the Panera Bread in Audubon, PA and last Sunday was the largest gathering that I've attended there so far.  We had the usual BCers attend, plus Flut3girl home from college and nat4lee visiting.  It was so large, we attracted attention from a number of Panera-goers who asked about what we were doing.  We informed them about BookCrossing and several people even left with books.  What a wonderful thing!  For the first time, I brought books to the meeting and left without any.  That's a good accomplishment for me right now since my bookshelves are overflowing.  I need to release more and bring home less (or at least stuff that I will read and release).

Park House Coffee OBCZ:  Sad news from Ridley Park, PA.  The Park House Coffee (a.k.a. Park House Cafe), which is home to an Official BC Zone, has closed.  The cafe changed ownership multiple times in the last few years, but the OBCZ (run by my pal Bascula) persevered. Park House Coffee was a wonderful place to grab a hot drink and relax. I hope it reopens again.  I'll keep you updated.  A group of BCers met there in November hoping to start a new meetup group, but plans will be postponed until we find another location.

Reading Challenges:  Since I haven't reached my challenge goals yet, I'm going to hold my own little read-a-thon next week.  What else would a bookcrosser want to do on vacation!?!  I'll be away visiting family for the holidays, but will host my own 24 hour read-a-thon on Tuesday or Wednesday.  It'll come down to the wire, but I think I can pull off my "Pages Read Challenge" goal of 15,000 pages. I have about 1,700 pages to go.  I have four books to read for the "Read Ten 1001 Books Challenge."  Not sure if I'll reach that one, but I'd be satisfied with one more completed.  I'm still figuring out my challenge goals for 2011 so stay tuned.

I'll post again next week, until then...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

Update: Hiatus

Sorry I've been silent for a few weeks.  I'm taking a break from blogging for a little while.  There are two big changes happening in my life right now: grad school and moving. 

I just started an online graduate program for a master's in library science (MLS).  I'll (hopefully) graduate in Summer 2012, which seems so far away right now.  Since I'm still working full-time, grad school studying and paper writing is taking up all my free time. I haven't been able to enjoy leisure reading for two weeks...and that's killing me already. But I have to take the responsible road and focus on my schoolwork. Hopefully, I'll find a few weekends to hold my own personal read-a-thons to catch up on the books from my TBR pile. Unfortunately, it looks like I'm not going to reach my challenge goals this year.

Also, I'm moving this month so almost all my books are packed up. September free time will revolve around lugging my heavy boxes to my new apartment. Hopefully, I'll be a bit more settled come October.

On the BookCrossing side of things, I posted a note about my limited free time on my extended profile. BookCrossers can still feel free to send me a PM, but it might take a short time for me to respond back. I'm sending on a bookray I wasn't able to finish to the next person on the list.  I still want to attend the monthly Audubon BookCrossing meetings at the Panera Bread on Trooper Road in Audubon, PA. So if you're in the Philly area, come and join us.

I will occasionally post...I have some pictures and books from August I still want to share.  I'm also way behind in my Google Reader...1000+ posts to read...EEK!  That means I'm behind in reading the reviews and news from all my favorite bloggers. Miss them already. 

But I have to remember that this isn't a "goodbye"...it's more like a "see you later". So enjoy your readings, feel free to leave comments or recommendations on my posts, send me an occasional PM through BookCrossing, and...I'll see you later. 

BC Bookshelf Update: Gotta love free books!

BC Bookshelf Updates features my latest bookish and BookCrossing (BC) activities including book trades, RABCKs, book rings/rays, challenges, and all things BookCrossing.  Enjoy!

Miraculously, I won two book giveaways recently!  This is the first time I've ever won a giveaway hosted by another book blogger...so I'd like to send out a big THANK YOU to Lizzy at Cornucopia of Reviews, where I won a copy of Deception by Lee Nichols. Paranormal YA is awesome and I'm excited to start reading the Haunting Emma series.

 

Then I won Heather's giveaway over at Fire and Ice for a copy of River Secrets by Shannon Hale.  I'm a huge fan of Shannon Hale.  I loved Goose Girl and can't wait to read all the Books of Bayern.  Thanks Heather! Check out Heather's blog for awesome jewelry giveaways. Her Little Red Reads shop on Etsy features adorable bookish inspired items.

In other news, I received three new ARCs in the mail. The King's Mistress by Emma Campion was released on July 6th and it's on the top of my TBR list. Dracula In Love by Karen Essex releases on August 10th, but I have to read Dracula first.  I own a copy and I've read the first 1/3 of it before but got sidetracked for some reason. The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart will also release on August 10th.

Last Sunday, I attended the monthly Audubon BookCrossers meeting at Panera Bread in Audubon, PA. I left the meeting with less books than I brought with me...which was my goal.  So I now have a volume from a new (well, new for me) vampires series and a handful of manga.  I've never read manga before.  My first graphic novel (The Courageous Princess by Rod Espinosa) was awesome so it'll be fun to experiment with manga. 

Hunted: A House of Night Novel by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Crescent Moon, Vol. 1  by Haruko Iida
Tokyo Mew Mew, Vol. 1  by Mia Ikumi & Reiko Yoshida
Kodocha: Sana's Stage. Vol. 1  by Miho Obana
The Prince of Tennis, Vol. 1  by Takeshi Konomi

I should finish reading Pray for Dawn this weekend and try to post the review soon.  Well, that's it for now. Happy Friday!

BC Bookshelf Update: RABCKs, Trades, and ARCs...Oh my!

My BC Bookshelf Updates will feature my latest BookCrossing (BC) activities including book trades, RABCKs, book rings/rays, challenges, and all things BookCrossing.  Enjoy!


I'm so excited...I got a bunch of awesome books over the last few days, including a trade, a RABCK (gotta love rabcks!!!), and my first ARC!

Here's the details:


I traded Holly Black's Tithe for the second book of the Dark Days series, Dayhunter by Jocelynn Drake. I came across the first book (Nightwalker) by chance from my BC pal sherrisue76.  We went to King of Prussia mall in March to wild release books and, after reading the back of the book, I decided to catch the book myself.  I'll post a review for both books later this week. The 4th and 5th books in the series will be released this summer. YAY!
Jocelynn Drake's website and blog!

RABCKs (Random Act of BookCrossing Kindness) are incredible!  Sometimes you get really lucky and an awesome BookCrosser will send you a book from your wishlist.  It's one of those things that makes BookCrossing special...a community of book lovers who grant book wishes (sometimes out of the blue).  It feels great to send and receive RABCKs.

I received a RABCK in the mail last week!
A Series of Unfortunate Events, The End by Lemony Snicket. Thank you for the RABCK OboeChica!  I'm so happy to receive this book!  The series is apart of my permanent collection, at least for now.  In the future, I'll probably organize a book box or giveaway.  I currently have books 1-7 and 13.  This summer I want to read the entire series straight through, filling in the gaps with the help of my local public library.

Last but certainly not least, I received my first Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) in the mail!  I won a copy of The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors by Michele Young-Stone from Crown Publishing Group's Read It Forward website.  It was released on April 13th, so it's not technically an ARC since it arrived late...but it's a still a free book.  So thrilled to read and review it.  

The monthly Audubon BookCrossers (ABXC) met on Sunday at the Panera Bread in Audubon, PA (in a shopping center on Trooper Road).  If you're a BookCrosser in the Philly area (or just want to swap books for free), please stop by!  Meetings usually take place on the first Sunday of the month at 3:00pm, but it sometimes changes due to holidays.  Check the ABXC yahoo website for more information.

At Sunday's ABXC meeting, I released four books:
The Lifted Veil by George Eliot
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
100 Best-Loved Poems Edited by Philip Smith
Caribbean by James A. Michener

I took two books home with me:
The Stars Shine Down by Sidney Sheldon
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen (It's a 2003 Newbery Honor book!  Plus, it was a unregistered book...which means a non-BookCrosser left it on the table with other wild released books)

That's it for now!  I'll post again soon.