Curled up for Saturday Reading

Today is a day when I feel like being cozy.  Curling up in my bed (pictured above), when I’m not actually at my computer here, in my office.  Someday, when I get my laptop, I can blog in my bed, too!

My Creation Station

I started one of the downloads on Sparky…yesterday.  I want to finish it today.  One for the Money, by Janet Evanovich, is the first Stephanie Plum book…and soon to be in the movie theaters.

When was the last time I started reading a book on Sparky shortly after downloading it?  Maybe back when I first got my Kindle.

With such a stack of print and e-books to read, usually the newer ones have to wait in a very long queue.  But not this time.

The release of the movie is part of the reason.

Do you have favorite books you’re reading right now?  How do you feel about e-books?

Earlier this week, I read Hot Chocolate, an e-book by Dawn Greenfield Ireland; I’ve reviewed it, but my review won’t be posted until 2/2/12, when the book is on blog tour.  You’ll be able to find it at Chocolate & Mimosas.

What a fun and delicious treat for the senses!  It has chocolate, of course; delicious foods; and a mystery!

So come on by and share your favorite weekend reading…

What books are you curled up with today?

When a New Year begins, I like to see it as an opportunity—a blank slate, if you will—that allows us to carve out a different kind of year from the one before.

This is not to negate the accomplishments of previous years, but to stretch and strive to become more…More of who we are.

I’ve already joined some challenges, but one of my first vows to myself this year was to curtail the challenges.  I want to be able to stretch and expand my horizons without burning out.

So here are a few rudimentary resolutions:

1.  Create a bookish journey that shows me more than I’ve already seen in order to expand and stretch into new genres;

2.  Read more books that I simply enjoy, and savor them;

3.  Continue to review books, but feel free to pass when the totals exceed the comfortable pace I like in my reading;

4.  In order to thoroughly enjoy my reading, writing, and blogging, I must also actively pursue a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise;

5.   Live each day fully and with enjoyment!

***

I could go on and on, adding many to the list.  But I do believe that what I’ve chosen encompasses the kind of life I want to live:  a thoughtful and enjoyable one.

What about the rest of you?  What makes your life full and enjoyable?  What resolutions, if any, have you made?

Yay! I Read All These Books!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Welcome to my year in review!  I’d like to begin by saying I had a thoroughly enjoyable reading year!  I exceeded my total books read last year (143), with these totals:

BOOKS READ FOR YEAR 2011:    173

PAGES READ FOR YEAR 2011:   54,718

READING CHALLENGES COMPLETED:  All But One

Here are the Challenge Posts:

AWESOME AUTHOR CHALLENGE

E-BOOK CHALLENGE

NICHOLAS SPARKS READING CHALLENGE

IRELAND READING CHALLENGE

BOOK BUCKET LIST CHALLENGE

A-Z MYSTERY CHALLENGE (DNF)

***

To check out my Books Read in 2011 page, click the link.

And now, finally, here is the month of December:

December 2011 – Click Titles for Reviews

1.      An Uncertain Refuge (e-book) – Carolyn J. Jones – 359 pages – (contemporary fiction/suspense) – 12/25/11

2.     Best Kept Secret - Amy Hatvany – 328 pages – (contemporary fiction) – 12/14/11

3.     Bleedout – Joan Brady – 372 pages – (contemporary fiction/thriller) – 12/29/11

4.     Brownie Fix - Ellen Cardona – 226 pages – (contemporary fiction) – 12/5/11

5.    Dirty Secret – Jessie Sholl – 308 pages – (memoir) – 12/10/11

6.    Kingdom of Childhood, The – Rebecca Coleman – 338 pages – (contemporary/historical fiction) – 12/2/11

7.     Marriage Plot, The – Jeffrey Eugenides – 406 pages – (literary fiction) – 12/23/11

8.    Mrs. Nixon (e-book) - Ann Beattie – 306 pages – (fact/fiction/historical) – 12/12/11

9.    Next Always, The – Nora Roberts – 324 pages – (contemporary fiction/romance) – 12/9/11

10.   Nutcase - Charlotte Hughes – 259 pages – (mystery/cozy) – 12/26/11

11.  Pug Hill - Alison Pace – 286 pages – (contemporary fiction) – 12/17/11

12.  Star Struck (Interviews) e-book – Betty Dravis – 200 pages – (nonfiction) – 12/17/11

13.  She Can Run – Melinda Leigh – 323 pages – (fiction) – 12/19/11

14. Train of Small Mercies, The - David Rowell – 253 pages – (historical fiction) – 12/15/11

15.  V is for Vengeance – Sue Grafton – 437 pages – (mystery) – 12/4/11

***

TOTAL BOOKS READ:  15

TOTAL PAGES READ:   4,727

FAVORITE FICTION:   Tied Between Best Kept Secret and The Kingdom of Childhood

FAVORITE NONFICTION:  Dirty Secret

***

During the year, I had several months in which I read 16 books.  Most of the months totaled 14 and 15 books.

During the month of May, however, I read the most pages at 5,276.

Another thing I learned this year:  Do not bite off more than I can chew in terms of challenges!  lol

For 2012, I’ve signed up for five.  I’m tempted to add some others, but I’m thinking I should…stay the course!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Hosted by Redheaded Book Child, our challenge was to select a portion of the alphabet, and then read books by authors whose names fall within the segment we chose.  I selected J-P, and here are the books I read:

My List:

1.    Armed:  An Alex Harris Mystery – Elaine Macko

2.    Bogey Nights – Marja McGraw

3.   Child of Silence – Abigail Padgett – 1-25-11

4.   Every Secret Thing - (e-book) -Laura Lippman – 4-17-11

5.    Free Fall - Fern Michaels (Sisterhood Series) – 1-8-11

6.   Girl in the Green Raincoat – The (e-book) – Laura Lippman (Tess Monaghan series) – 1-29-11

7.   Girl Who Stopped Swimming, The - Joshilyn Jackson

8.   Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The - (e-book) – Stieg Larsson (Millennium Trilogy) – 2-5-11

9.   Most Dangerous Thing, The - Laura Lippman

10.  Payback – Fern Michaels

11.  She Can Run – Melinda Leigh

12.   Straight Into Darkness – Faye Kellerman – 1-21-11

13.  Weekend Warriors – Fern Michaels

***

I think I “failed” in this challenge, as we were supposed to read one book for every letter in our chosen section.  I missed “N” and “O.”

But I had a lot of fun reading these mysteries.

I loved this challenge!  It fits in nicely with the theme of this blog, of journeying through my TBR stacks.  Hosted by Bookworm Lisa.

Here are the books I finished, with links to my reviews:

My List: (I planned to read as many as possible!):

I crossed books out as I read them.

1.   Final Payments - Mary Gordon

2.   A Ticket to Ride - Paula McLain

3.   Shades of Grace - Barbara Delinsky

4.   Blood Brothers – Nora Roberts

5.   The Blue Bistro - Elin Hildenbrand

6.   Hardly Knew Her - Laura Lippman

7.   Black Girl White Girl – Joyce Carol Oates

8.   Child of Silence - Abigail Padgett

9.   Married:  A Fine Predicament - Anne Roiphe

10. Dedication – Emma McLaughlin, et. al.

11.  Down Came the Rain - Brooke Shields

12.  My Mother’s Daughter - Rona Maynard

13.  How to Save Your Own Life – Erica Jong

14.  Whitethorn Woods – Maeve Binchy

15.   In Cold Blood – Truman Capote

16.  Sundays at Tiffany’s - James Patterson

17.  Wild Child - Chelsea Cain

18.  The Wedding – Nicholas Sparks Comp. 1/2/11

19.  Straight into Darkness – Faye Kellerman

20.  Seducing the Demon - Erica Jong

21.  Facets - Barbara Delinsky

22.  Magical Thinking - Augusten Burroughs

23.  Made in the USA - Billie Letts

24.  Free Fall - Fern Michaels

25.  Manic - Terri Cheney (memoir) 4/18/11

26.  Two Harbors – Kate Benson – 8/7/11

27.   On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan – 8/21/11

28.    Love Walked In – Marisa De Los Santos – 9/22/11

29.    Buried Memories – Irene Pence – 10/4/11

30.    Tall Pine Polka, The – Lorna Landvik – 10/15/11

31.     Weekend Warriors – Fern Michaels – 10/18/11

32.     Payback - Fern Michaels – 10/19/11

33.     Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination – Helen Fielding – 10/22/11

34.     Beautiful Children - Charles Bock – 10/29/11

35.     Nutcase – Charlotte Hughes – 12/26/11

36.     Bleedout – Joan Brady – 12/29/11

Welcome to another Booking Through Thursday, a bookish event that spotlights our reading.

Join us as we look back at the year 2011 with this prompt:

What were your favorite books of 2011?

I recently did a post on that very topic:  My 2011 Favorites.

Check the link for the top ten, with each title linked to my review.  Today, I’m narrowing it down a bit further and spotlighting my top three favorites.

These books are quite different from one another.  What links them are captivating characters in settings that bring the reader into the very center of the action.  While reading each of these, I was truly lost in the books.

Being lost in my read is a feeling I seek whenever I choose my books.  That essence of “lost in the read” doesn’t always happen.  Sometimes a book can be enjoyable without that experience, but for my favorites, it must happen.

What were your favorites?  What elements form the books you chose?

Compiling a list of favorites can be difficult, since many wonderful books are left out.

But just know that there have been many more great books that didn’t make it to my list.

To see all the books I read and reviewed this year, go to Books Read in 2011.

TEN FAVORITES OF 2011:

1.   Girl in the Green Raincoat, The – (e-book) – Laura Lippman- 176 pages – (mystery) – 1/29/11

2.   Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The (e-book) – Stieg Larsson – 480 pages – (mystery) – 2/5/11

3.   Saving CeeCee Honeycutt (e-book) - Beth Hoffman – 320 pages (contemporary/YA fiction) – 3/26/11

4.   Love You More – Lisa Gardner – 351 pages – (mystery) – 5/18/11

5    Never Knowing – Chevy Stevens – 407 pages – (suspense thriller) – 7/18/11

6.   Northwest Corner – John Burnham Schwartz – 287 pages – (literary fiction) – 8/18/11

7.    Leftovers, The (e-book) - Tom Perrotta – 368 pages – (dystopian fiction) – 9/14/11

8.    Language of Flowers, The – Vanessa Diffenbaugh – 308 pages – (contemporary fiction) – 10/25/11

9.   When She Woke (e-book) – 352 pages – (dystopian fiction) – 11/12/11

10.  Violets of March, The - Sarah Jio – 293 pages – (contemporary/historical fiction) – 6/9/11

***

What are your favorites?  I’d love to hear about them….

Hosted by Books and Movies

I participated at the Shamrock Level, and completed it.

Here are my linked reviews:

MY LIST:

1.   Book of Tomorrow, The - Cecelia Ahern

2.   Now You See Her - Joy Fielding

I entered this challenge, hosted by The Book Vixen, at the “first date level: 1-4 books).

My List:

1.   Wedding, The - Nicholas Sparks – 1/2/11

2.   Safe Haven - Nicholas Sparks – 1/5/11

***

Satisfactory Completion!

Hosted by The Ladybug Reads

I started out slow, but kept increasing the number.  I loved this challenge!

I ultimately upgraded my category to OBSESSED!  20 Books.

***

My List:

1.    Afternoon Delight, by Carolyn Hinsey (7-16-11)

2.     Alison Wonderland, by Helen Smith (9/10/11)

3.     Bird Sisters, The, by Rebecca Rasmussen (6-4-11)

4.   Enchanted Barn, The, by Grace Livingston Hill (2-13-11)

5.    Every Secret Thing, by Laura Lippman (4-17-11)

6.    Exposure, by Therese Fowler (5-29-11)

7.    Getting to Happy, by Terry McMillan (5-7-11)

8.     Girl in the Green Raincoat, by Laura Lippman (1-29-11)

9.    Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The, by Stieg Larsson (2-5-11)

10.   Handmaid’s Tale, The, by Margaret Atwood (10-9-11)

11.   Heat Wave, by Nancy Thayer (7-23-11)

12.    Janeology, by Karen Harrington (10-17-11)

13.   Lake of Dreams, The, by Kim Edwards (5-15-11)

14.  Lancelot’s Lady, by Cherish D’Angelo (2-12-11)

15.   Leftovers, The, by Tom Perrotta (9-14-11)

16.   Mrs. Nixon, by Ann Beattie (12/12/11)

17.   Next to Love, by Ellen Feldman (9-3-11)

18.    Repairing Rainbows, by Lynda Fishman (7-2-11)

19.  Safe Haven, by Nicholas Sparks – 1/5/11

20.  Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, by Beth Hoffman – 3/26/11

21.  Second Nature, by Jacquelyn Mitchard – 11/29/11

22.   Summer Rental, by Mary Kay Andrews – 8/4/11

23. Tapestry of Love, The, by Rosy Thornton – 5/2/11

24.   These Things Hidden, by Heather Gudenkauf – 3/20/11

25.    Uncoupling, The, by Meg Wolitzer – 7/13/11

26.     Weird Sisters, The, by Eleanor Brown – 3-6-11

27.     When She Woke, by Hillary Jordan – 11/12/11

28.   Year We Left Home, The, by Jean Thompson – 6-18-11

28.    You Are My Only, by Beth Kephart – 11-21-11

***

As you can see, I went over and above.