Year End Thoughts

Well 2011 is over, and guess what?! I completed my quest to read 111 books in 2011. In fact, I finished two weeks early and ended up reading a total of 120 books. I'm in the process of writing a huge post about my favorite 11 books of the year, but for now I wanted to share with you some thoughts and statistics about my 111 in 11 project.

First, here's a breakdown by genre of what I read:

71 Young Adult

24 Christian fiction

7 Scifi/Fantasy

6 Mystery/Thriller

5 Romance/ChickLit

4 Historical

2 Classics

1 Nonfiction

My most productive month was November with 19 books, and my least productive was September with 1 book.

Some of you might remember that originally I had some sub-goals. I wanted to read 5 nonfiction, 10 classics, and 15 bestsellers. I stopped keeping track of bestsellers but I'm pretty sure I read at least 15 books that were on one the the New York Times lists at some point in time. But I didn't even come close to those other two goals... oops. I gave up on that about halfway through the year, when I was afraid I might not even make my 111 goal. I also had a list of must reads, and I got all but about 2 of those. If I had a do over I probably would have tried a little harder to meet those goals, but really I'm not too upset about it. Maybe those are some good goals for 2012.

Speaking of 2012. 112 books in 2012?? Well, probably not. At least not intentionally. Why? Because I don't like feeling obligated to read. I'd rather it be something I'm doing because I want to. However, I probably will still keep track of what I've read. Without that list I tend to forget what I read. I will also probably keep book blogging occasionally, because I like talking about books. So keep checking this blog if your interested!

What's next on my reading list? Well I have been dying to reread some books for about a year now... I will probably start rereading The Hunger Games tonight, then maybe The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter too. After that, who knows!

That's about everything I wanted to say I think. For those of you who have followed along with my journey all year, thanks for the encouragement and suggestions, and most of all thanks for reading!

Make sure to check back soon for my 11 Best Books of 2011. Here's a teaser- books that almost made the list, numbers 12-16:

12. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

13. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

14. A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

15. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

16. Divergent by Veronica Roth

Finally, a book worth reviewing!

82 down, 29 to go! I'm slowly getting closer... But still really far away...

I'm posting again so soon because I just finished a great book and I want to talk about it. What book? Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. This book has been popular for a while now, so I'm sure a lot of you have already read it or seen then movie. I've been putting off reading it for a while, mostly because I thought I wouldn't like it. I'm not really sure why I thought that, but somewhere along the way I got it in my head that it wasn't a very good book. But I loved it. Great writing, fascinating story, I could hardly put it down and finished it in a day and a half. I especially liked the framing of the story, the way the narration switched between 93 year old Jacob and 23 year old Jacob. Surprisingly, 93 year old Jacob's chapters were just as interesting as his 23 year old counterpart. Maybe I only liked this book so much because my expectations were so low. Honestly though, I think I would have liked it anyway. Now, if only I could find 111 books this good, I would have been finished months ago.

I've read 2 other books recently that are worth mentioning. One was Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay. I had high expectations for this books because it was a bestseller for a while and the premise sounded really interesting. But I was disappointed. The writing wasn't very good, and yes, the historical events behind the novel were interesting, but the story itself fell flat. A bit of background: The story alternates between Sarah: a 10 year old Jewish girl in France during WWII, and Julia, a present day middle aged journalist who slowly discovers Sarah's story. Really fascinating premise with a lot of potential, but story never connected with me. There are several possible reasons for this. For one, I felt like the book was simply telling me how I should feel, rather than actually stirring my emotions. Also, I never really forgot that I was reading a book. The story didn't draw me in enough. And finally, the present day part of the book, Julia's part, read like a bad chick flick or cheesy Nicholas Sparks novel. It didn't really fit with the gravity of what happened to Sarah and her family. It wasn't an overall terrible read, it just wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be.

book#2: The Death Cure by James Dashner. You might remember that I read the first two books in this YA dystopian trilogy back in January, The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials. I was very excited to read the much anticipated final installment. Overall, I think it was a good book. I was a little disappointed, but mostly because I think I remembered liking the first two books way more than I actually did. Or probably more accurately: I was much less disillusioned with and burnt-out on reading when I read the first 2 books, and so I enjoyed them way more than I would if I read them right now. That's sad, right? Anyway- the third book was good, really fast paced and full of action. I would have liked a little more character development and a little more umm... I don't know... something else that was missing... but considering it is young adult and probably geared toward teenage boys, I'll let it slide. Also I'm not entirely sure I liked the ending, but as a friend recently pointed out, I hardly ever like the endings, so I'll let that slide too. So- if you started The Maze Runner trilogy, go get a copy of The Death Cure, because it is at least a series worth finishing.

So far October has been way more productive than September, but I've still only read 5 books this month. I don't think I'll make my benchmark of 11, which means November and December are going to be verrrry busy. And I'm working now too- So that means even less time for reading. But, I'm very determined to reach my goal. I feel like I have not really accomplished much in this post-college year of floundering and figuring myself out. But reading 111 books, yeah that would be a pretty good accomplishment, right? Plus, when else in my life will I have time to attempt something like this again? So wish me luck and, as always, please let me know if you have any good books suggestions!

Update!

78 books down, 33 to go, and less than 3 months left!

It's been a long long time since I updated this, but for those of you still wondering, I'm still attempting to reach my goal of 111 books in 2011! This quest has proven to be a lot more difficult than I expected, mainly because I really had no idea how much or how often I would get burnt out on reading. For example, in September, I read all of one book. And I should point out, that I didn't actually read that book, it was an audio book that I listened while walking or driving.

Because of the extremely unproductive month of September, I'm not actually sure that I will reach my goal. I will have to read 11 books a month, so it will be a lot, but I'm sure going to try! It would help tremendously if I find 33 really good books to read, but that's not likely. (But, suggestions are welcome!)

If you are interested in a book suggestion, well since my last actual update I've read two books that I think are worth recommending. One is The Help, which if you haven't heard of that book by now you must be living under a rock. The other is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows. This book was surprisingly wonderful. It's written as a bunch of letters, so I didn't think that I would like it. But, it was great, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. (Thanks Tara for recommending it to me!)

One last thing. I doubt that I'll start updating my blog again regularly in the next few months, but if you are interested in keeping up with what I've read or how close I am to my goal, check the link on the right side of the page, the What I've read so far page. I have been regularly updating that list throughout the whole year, because it's my way of keeping up with what I've read.

Well, that's about all I have to say. I'll hopefully blog a several more times before the end of the year, but at the very least, I'll definitely let you know how things turn out when January 1st arrives!

Halfway there!

Earlier today I finished my 56th book... and do you know what that means? That's right, I'm over halfway to 111!!! I have to say it feels pretty good. :D And just in time too, it's almost July and I am just barely on schedule. But that's okay, I've got 6 more months!

The special book number 56 was When Joy Came to Stay by Karen Kingsbury. This was the first Karen Kingsbury book I had read, and I loved it! I have to admit that I've been a little snobby towards Christian fiction... I mean there are a lot of badly written Christian fiction books out there. But really, that's true of any genre. And When Joy Came to Stay definitely doesn't fall in the bad category; it was great! Since Karen Kingsbury has written something like 50 novels.. you will probably see several more of her books popping up on my reading list.

Book number 55 was another Sarah Dessen book, Along for the Ride. It's about like every other Sarah Dessen book I've read, but that didn't stop me from staying up til 4 in the morning to finish it! I loved it and I would most definitely recommend it.

Longest book of the year right here!

Well I'm pretty proud of myself because I just finished a 1,258 page book! Yep that's right, 1,258 pages, and in 8 days too! Not too bad, right? Maybe I'm getting back on track.

Anyway, this book, as you might have guessed by the length, falls in the epic fantasy genre. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson is the first in what will eventually be a 10(?I think) book series. The book was really good, especially if you like epic fantasy. If you aren't an epic fantasy fan, then I probably wouldn't recommend it. It's long, complex, a little slow at times, and a lot confusing. But I think that's part of what I loved. So many small details, little clues, big revelations, hints at bigger revelations to come... I love it. And the characters! I fell in love with Sanderson's previous books because of his characters... and he did not disappoint with in this book. I feel so invested in them and their world already after one book.. how will I feel after 10?

There is one problem though. This is only the first book, and the second one won't be out for another year. With 10 books, and 1-2 years in between... I can't imagine this series ever ending. And that's a daunting thought. I will likely be 40 years old when this is over! I am hesitant to get involved in such an enthralling series so early on... but it's too late now. I am already invested. Maybe I will wait until I am 40 and all 10 books are released before I read another one. But probably not, I won't be able to wait that long. And part of the fun is the speculation, right? It might be kind of fun to follow this series through from the start.

Anyway, if you are a Wheel of Time or Sword of Truth fan, you'll like this. If you like fantasy but don't want to get involved in lengthy epics, try one of Sanderson's stand-alone novels- Elantris or Warbreaker.

I'm still alive but I'm barely reading

Barely reading. What can I say? I guess I'm not quite the avid reader that I was so proud of being. Or I just got a little burned out. Either way, I've hardly been reading at all lately. I realize I didn't post a progress update at the end of May- it was because I didn't really read much in May. I didn't feel like there was much to update. I thought June would be better. So far, it's been worse. I've only read two books- and really we should say only one, because the other one was an audio book that I've been listening to for months and finally finished. But that one book I did read was a good one- 1984 by George Orwell. It was on my must read list AND it's a classic, which I have to read 10 of this year (this makes two). So I do feel a little proud of myself for finishing that, and for the most part, enjoying it.

Hopefully my reading will pick up in the next month or so, because I'm going to the beach. (Twice!) There is something so appealing about the idea of spending a day just reading a good book on the beach. So in anticipation I've been saving two supposedly awesome books for beach reading- Divergent by Veronica Roth and The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Hopefully they will live up to my high expectations, and get me back to being a reader again. I'll let you know.

In the meantime, if you are looking for some good beach reading, might I suggest Delirium by Lauren Oliver? You won't regret reading it, I promise!

Progress!

Well guys, I am excited to tell you all that I have officially finished my first nonfiction book. 127 Hours by Aron Ralston. Yes, this is the book about the guy who was hiking alone, got his hand stuck in between two rocks, was stuck there 127 hours, then cut his hand off. It's now a movie starring James Franco, which I really want to see.

I started reading this book way back in February. It took me several months to get through the first half. Not because it was bad. Just because it wasn't quite a page-turner and I was always reading something else at the time. And the first half of the book was a lot of flashbacks to past outdoorsy expeditions, which were described in a technical outdoorsy way, and I just wasn't super interested. However, I finished the last half of the book in three days. It was a page-turner by that point! I knew he got out, and I knew how (from the back of the book), but I still couldn't stop reading. We got to hear about things from his point of view, and what his friends and parents did once they realized he was missing. His thoughts, visions, ideas, and the things he went through while he was stuck were just fascinating, (in a horrifying sort of way). I'm really glad I read this book and I'm really glad I stuck with it through the end.

I've read three other books since my last update. One was great- Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. If you haven't already, read my previous review about Lauren Oliver's second book, Delirium. I was blown away by Delirium, and not only because it was dystopian but also because of Oliver's beautiful writing. So that's why I decided to give Before I Fall a shot. It's about a snobby, mean, popular teenager who dies and has to live her last day over and over again. Sounds kind of horrible, right? But it really wasn't. I LOVED it. Main character Samantha really grew and changed and learned and loved. And even though the whole story was the same day 7 times.. it didn't feel repetitive. Samantha did different things with her last day every day, and the book was actually impossible to put down. And like Delirium, it was beautifully written. I think I may have just discovered a new favorite author!

The other two books I read weren't as good- If I Stay by Gayle Forman, and the sequel Where She Went. The first book is about a girl named Mia who is in a car accident with her family. Her entire family is killed, and she gets to watch through an out of body experience as her friends and family gather around her unconscious body at the hospital. She realizes that she gets to choose- does she stay here without her family? Or does she leave with her family? (aka die) I really didn't like this book much.. and I don't think it was only because it was morbid, because I loved Before I Fall. It just didn't capture me. The sequel was slightly better, it was told from Mia's boyfriend's perspective after the accident, but I still just didn't really like it. And it didn't feel like a young adult book either. Anyway, those two books just weren't for me.

In other news, I've done really well on my no buying new books in May rule, so far, but I've just heard about a new YA dystopian that I'm dying to read. So we'll see if I can last.. Surely it'd be ok to buy one new book in May, right?

p.s. I forgot about one other book I read. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater, the sequel to Shiver, a paranormal romance that anyone who even remotely liked Twilight will love. (Click here to read my review!) Linger was just as good as Shiver, and I'm absolutely dying to read the third one, which comes out sometime this summer.