2011 Wrap Up, Part 2

Not surprisingly, most of the books I read in 2011 were YA series.  Actually, 32 out of the 58 books were a part of young adult series (many the first volume).  For 2012, I'll try to expand my reading outside of my comfy YA niche, but it's so fun to read what you know you really enjoy. 

I'll post my 2012 goals soon.  This list contains books I read in 2011, but many of books were published before 2011.  Now for the fun part....my picks for 2011!

My 2011 Favorites (and not-so-favorites):

Favorite YA book: Nevermore by Kelly Creagh
       Runners up:
               Matched by Ally Condie
               Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Favorite YA series (read more than 1 vol.): Hex Hall series by Rachel Hawkins

Favorite Female Character: Sophie from Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
      Runners up:
            Emerson from Hourglass by Myra McEntire
            Allison from Allison Hewitt Is Trapped by Madeleine Roux

            Waverly from Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan 

Favorite Male Character: Varen from Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

      Runners up:

             Cricket from Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
             Conrad from We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

             Richard from Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Favorite adult book: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Favorite manga series: Vampire Knight (vols. 1-12) by Matsuri Hino

Favorite guilty pleasure: Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick

Best obscure book (haven't heard of but you must read):
Wolves, Boys & Other Things That Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler

Most moving book: I Had Seen Castles by Cynthia Rylant

Most disappointing book: The Nine Lives of Chloe King series by Liz Braswell
         Runner up:
              Beastly by Alex Flinn

Biggest hyped book: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Least favorite book: Erewhon by Samuel Butler.

Comments on my picks:
I love love loved Nevermore! It was fun, the ending was unexpected, and I was cheering on Isobel to save the day. It's a book I had to re-read all my favorite parts immediately, which meant I practicely read it twice. I also loved Matched and Hourglass. Both books had great characters and amazing love stories!

I can't stand when series are compared to Harry Potter because it's THE series of our generation (not an overstatement). So when I read reviews describing Hex Hall as a cross between Harry Potter and Paranormalcy, I scoffed. But I have to admit...it's pretty close. It's an addicting series and I love where the story went in Demonglass. I'm not giving away any spoilers, so go read it if you haven't already.

I understand that Daughter of Smoke and Bone is on everyone else's best list, but sorry it's not on mine. It was a completely unique and fascinating story, but it didn't wow me. I never really connected with (or even liked) Karou as a character.

I loved The Nine Lives of Chloe King TV series, so I had to run out and buy the three volume book. Oh boy, that was a mistake. Watch the show, but don't read the book. It was that big of a disappointment. Finally, where do I start with Erewhon. It was a 1001 book I got through a BC bookring. It was tough to read because I hated the story and the narrator. It started off okay, but then the narrator gets to the land of Erewhon he goes rambling on for chapters on the Erewhonian philosophies on machines, unborn people and the rights of vegetables. Give it a shot if you don't believe me.

What was your favorite (or not-so-favorite) book of 2011?

I'll post soon with my goals and challenges for 2012.

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!

2010 Wrap Up

Wow, I can't believe it's 2011!  I'm still deciding on my reading goals for 2011 (I know I'm late to the party), so let's wrap up some loose ends from 2010.  It was a busy year.

2010 Recap:

- Started this blog in April 2010. My first real attempt at blogging.

- Started graduate school in the fall for a Masters in Library Science (MLS) so I can become a librarian. The program runs through Summer 2012.

- 2010 was my first full year on BookCrossing!  I joined in August 2009.

- Became a regular attendee of the Audubon BookCrossing group.

- My first two wild releases caught by an anonymous finder:

• Shoot Him If He Runs (Stone Barrington) by Stuart Woods, caught on 11/22/10
• The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz, caught on 11/22/10

- Participated in 5 BookCrossing bookrings/rays/boxes:

• Green Angel by Alice Hoffman
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
• The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen
• Manga/Graphic Novel Bookbox!

- Participated in 3 read-a-thons (two 24-hour Dewey read-a-thons and the HUGE TBR Read-a-thon in June)

- Received my first ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in the mail!

• The King's Mistress by Emma Campion
• Plus, five more ARCs.

- Read my first manga and graphic novel.

• My first graphic novel: The Courageous Princess by Rod Espinosa
• My first manga: Crescent Moon, Vol. 1 by Haruko Iida

Reading Challenges:

• 2010 Pages Read Challenge: My goal was 15,000 pages.  My final tally was 13,600 pages, 90.6% of my goal. However, this number doesn't really represent all I've read.  One issue I struggled with was determining what types of materials to count as pages read.  I read a lot of manga this year and did not record most of it...thousands of pages worth.  At first, I didn't think I should incorporate them in this challenge, but I ended up adding a few in the total.  So if I did include all the manga, this number would be way beyond 15,000.  I have to decide if I will include them in my 2011 goal.
• Read Ten 1001-Books Challenge: I read six 1001-books this year.
• Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• Through the looking-glass, and what Alice found there by Lewis Carroll
• Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
• The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
•  A-Z Read & Release Challenge: Read and released 8 books (B, C, E, G, H, J, R and S). This challenge is on-going, so I'm not worried about completing it within a certain time period.  It's harder than I thought because of the releasing component.  Some of the books I read are library books or in my permanent collection, so completing this one will be a challenge.

My 2010 Favorites (and not-so-favorites):

- Favorite YA series: The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins.

- Favorite YA book: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White.

- Favorite adult series: Dark Days series by Jocelynn Drake. 

- Favorite adult book: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.

- Favorite manga series: Library Wars (v.1-3) by Kiiro Yumi.

- Favorite children's book: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

- Favorite guilty pleasure: Vampire Diaries series (bks. 1-4) by L.J. Smith.

- Best obscure book (haven't heard of but you must read): Green Angel by Alice Hoffman.

- Most moving book: Tunes For Bears To Dance To by Robert Cormier.

- Most disappointing book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.

- Least favorite book: Tithe by Holly Black.


I'll post again soon with my 2011 reading goals and challenges.  Meanwhile, I need to spend some time updating my blog and BC profile.