1.02.2012

2012. Ready or not, here it comes.

It seems I fell off the blogosphere for a while.  Life, you know?

It's a new year, and with that I'm hoping comes good things.  And lots of awesome books to read.
I meant to post this yesterday, but alas my Internet connection was toying with me, so today will have to do.

As I'm sure most people do, I made a list of goals I hope to accomplish in 2012.

 #1. Pay bills on time. (Oopsies)
 #2. Regularly balance checkbook.  (Double oopsies)
 #3. Lose weight.  (Standard fare this)
 #4. Exercise regularly. (Just do it)
 #5. Find new job I don't hate. (For the love of God.)
 #6. Re-read 1 book per month. (I'll never forget!)
 #7. Craft more. (anything, something)
 #8. 365project.org  (A photo a day-my life in pictures)
 #9. Blog it out.  (do it for me)
#10. Read more in general.  (Most def)
Plus a few others.

I've also created a list of general rules to follow:
#1. Make it count.
#2. Just say yes.
#3. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
#4. (Re-)connect.
#5. No fear.
#6. Let it go.
#7. No worries.

Now, time to list (no longer in any particular order) all the books I read in 2011. I temporarily stopped keeping track at one point, so I may have left a few off.   I've highlighted my favorites.
Ignore the messed up formatting.I'm still learning.

1.Dark Life (Kat Falls)
2.Please Ignore Vera Dietz (AS King)
3.The Mermaid's Mirror (LK Madigan)
4.Dark Lover (J.R. Ward)
5.The Reapers are the Angels (Alden Bell)
6.Awakened (PC/Kristen Cast)
7.Thirteen Reasons Why (Jay Asher)
8.The Princess Diaries (Meg Cabot)
9.Princess in the Spotlight (Meg Cabot)
10.The Lost Hero (Rick Riordan) 11.Poison Study (Maria V. Snyder) 12.A Blue So Dark (Holly Schindler) 13.Gone (Lisa McMann)
14.Matched (Ally Condie)
15.The Mockingbirds (Daisy Whitney)
16.Just Listen (Sarah Dessen) 17.Generation Dead (Daniel Waters)
18.If I Stay (Gayle Forman)
19.Infinite Days (Rebecca Maizel)
20.Princess in Love (Meg Cabot)
21.Princess in Waiting (Meg Cabot)
22.Princess in Pink (Meg Cabot)
23.Moon Dance (Vampire for Hire #1)(JR Rain)
24.Vampire Moon (Vampire for Hire #2)(JR Rain)
25.Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble (HP Mallory) 26.The Iron Witch (Karen Mahoney)
27.Paranormalcy (Kiersten White)
28.Kiss of Life (Daniel Waters)
29.Toil and Trouble (H.P. Mallory) 30.Succubus Blues (Richelle Mead)
31.The Iron King (Julie Kagawa)
32.Perfect Chemistry (Simone Elkeles)


33.The Iron Daughter (Julie Kagawa)
34.Princess in Training (Meg Cabot)35.Party Princess (Meg Cabot)
36.Princess on the Brink (Meg Cabot)
37.Princess Mia (Meg Cabot)
38.Forever Princess (Meg Cabot)
39.Anna and the French Kiss (Stephanie Perkins)
40.Keeping the Moon (Sarah Dessen)
41.Songs For A Teenage Nomad (Kim Culbertson) 42.Spirit Bound (Richelle Mead) 43.Once a Witch (Carolyn McCullough)
44.The Iron Queen (Julie Kagawa) 45.Willow (Julia Hoban)
46.Hex Hall (Rachel Hawkins)

47.To Kill a Warlock (H.P. Mallory)
48.A Tale of Two Goblins (H.P.Mallory)
49.Great Hexpectations (H.P. Mallory)
50.Be Witched (Novella) (H.P. Mallory)
51.Darkfever (Karen Marie Moning)

52.Last Sacrifice (Richelle Mead)
53.Beautiful Disaster (Jamie McGuire)
54.Boy Proof (Cecil Castellucci)
55.Stray (Rachel Vincent)
56.Inside Out (Maria V. Snyder)
57.The Replacement (Brenna Yovanoff)
58.Outside In (Maria V. Snyder)
59.Hunger (Jackie Morse Kessler)
60.Rage (Jackie Morse Kessler)
61.City of Bones (Cassandra Clare)
62.City of Ashes (Cassandra Clare)
63.Lover Eternal (J.R. Ward)
64.Lover Awakened (J.R.Ward)
65.Wildefire (Karsten Knight)
66.Rules of Attraction (Simone Elkeles)
67.The Earth,My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (Carolyn Mackler)
68.Nightshade (Andrea Cremer)
69.Wolfsbane (Andrea Cremer)
70.Dead Reckoning (Charlaine Harris)
71.City of Glass (Cassandra Clare)
72.Chain Reaction (Simone Elkeles)
73.Halfway to the Grave (Jeaniene Frost)
74.Rogue (Rachel Vincent)
75.Pride (Rachel Vincent)
76.Prey (Rachel Vincent)
77.Shift (Rachel Vincent)
78.Alpha (Rachel Vincent)
79.Opal Fire (Barbra Annino)
80.Before I Die (Jenny Downham)
81.The Scorpio Races (Maggie Stiefvater)
82.The Son of Neptune (Rick Riordan)
83.Smokin' Seventeen (Janet Evanovich)
84.Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (Rachel Cohn & David Levithan)
85.The Dark and Hollow Places (Carrie Ryan)
86.Forever (Maggie Stiefvater)
87.Clockwork Angel (Cassandra Clare)
88.Winter's Passage (Novella) (Julie Kagawa)
89.Summer's Crossing (Novella) (Julie Kagawa)
90.Demonglass (Rachel Hawkins)
91.Eon (Alison Goodman)

I'm probably missing a couple. My goal was to read 100 books in 2011.  Just a little shy.
So my first read of 2011 was Dark Life. Last Read of 2011 was actually the Novella, Summer's Crossing.

Emotional Reads that speak to real-life issues:
-A Blue So Dark
-Hunger/Rage
-Before I Die

I finished up a lot of series this year, some of which I'm in love with completely. (I did not include series that authors are still writing to)
1.The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot-Well-written characters. There's humor, love, heartache and ridiculousness. What's  not to love.
2.The Shifters Series by Rachel Vincent. Definitely one of my favorite series. All the books are awesome. Exciting, funny,suspenseful, heartbreaking,and sexy.
3.The Forest of Hands and Teeth series by Carrie Ryan-So I bought the final book (The Dark and Hollow Places) when it first came out, but it took me forever to actually read. I couldn't foresee how in the world this series was going to conclude, and I was kept guessing until the end.  Normally the last book is my least favorite, but not in this case. Perfectly imperfect ending to a well-written series.
4.The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater. Definitely one of my favorite authors. Overall, a good series.
5.The Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa-Very descriptive writing, which just transports you to a different world. Loved the characters, even the nonhuman ones. I can't help it, that last book I was totally team Puck and wish him to have his own spin-off series.

Overall I read some amazingly awesome books.  Round about June I started a book "journal" so to speak. I very much recommend everyone do this. I record notes, favorite passages/lines and overall thoughts along with the finish date. I like to be able to look back and refresh my memory. Some of these authors come up with some quite poignant one-liners.  Sometimes it's like they had direct access to my brain. What I can't seem to put into words, they do for me.

Here's a very very small sampling of some favorite passages:
"Sometimes your whole life could hinge on a fraction of an inch. Or the beat of a nanosecond. Or the knock of a door." (Lover Awakened, J.R.Ward)

"Sometimes you wake up from a dream. Sometimes you wake up in a dream. And sometimes, every once in a while, you wake up in someone else’s dream." (Succubus Blues, Richelle Mead)

"...she screwed her eyes closed and hoped that dying wouldn't hurt too much. Death seemed like a nice guy; maybe dying would be soft like a kiss. Maybe he'd sing to her before sending her on to eternal sleep." (Hunger, Jackie Morse Kessler)

"Half of your attention is better than all of anyone else's." (City of Bones, Cassandra Clare)

"She had wandered out of the land of too much and set up camp in Emptyville. Tumbleweeds blew in her chest, and she breathed the dust of abandoned buildings." (Rage, Jackie Morse Kessler)

"....his music Band-Aids my soul." (Songs For a Teenage Nomad, Kim Culbertson)

"The broken ones need someone to fight for them even harder." (The Dark and Hollow Places,Carrie Ryan)

"There is no better taste than this: someone else's laughter in your mouth." (Forever, Maggie Stiefvater)

"It was the fireworks-in-the-sky; forget-your-own-name, can't-feel-your-toes solution to all my problems. At least for the moment." (Stray, Rachel Vincent)

"Sometimes things are so big and complicated that you can't actually talk about them." (The Replacement, Brenna Yovanoff)



Thus concludes my recap of 2011.





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