About Time!

So I am finally getting more reviews posted! I've had several ready to go, but time seems to slip away from me constantly and next thing I know its been almost a month since the last review post... for shame! So without further delay, here they are...

List of Books Read in 2010

Here is my list from the past year. Unfortunately I was far from my goal of 5 books per month on average, but there's always the next year! So here is the list, once again the books are listed in the order they were read:

January - 5 books total

• Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb
• The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
• Chalktown by Melinda Haynes
• Black Tuesday by Susan Colebank
• Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult

February - 2 books total

• The Palace of Strange Girls by Sallie Day
• Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

March - 6 books total

• Between Mountains by Maggie Helwig
• Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
• Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity by Kerry Cohen
• Man Walks Into a Room by Nicole Krauss
• Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern

April - 2 books total

• The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

May - 2 books total

• The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Without Remorse by Tom Clancy

June - 5 books total

• Deception by Denise Mina
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
• Altar Ego by Kathy Lette
• Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult
• Mercy by Jodi Picoult

July - 2 books total

• Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult
• Three Weeks with My Brother by Nicholas and Micah Sparks

August - 3 books total

• The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
• Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

September - 8 books total

• Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
• The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (this is the point at which I started this blog!)
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• But Inside I'm Screaming by Elizabeth Flock
• More Than It Hurts You by Darin Strauss
• The Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House by Mary Chase

October - 5 books total

• Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
• The Pact by Jodi Picoult
• If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern
• Sleepwalking in Daylight by Elizabeth Flock
• Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult

November - 2 books total

• Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult
• Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos

December - 2 books total

• The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
• One September Morning by Rosalind Noonan

List of Books Read in 2009

So here is my list of books I read in 2009, the year I decided to start challenging myself to read more by setting a goal for myself. That year I was hoping to average 4 books a month, and ended up with a total of 54 books, which works out to 4.5 books per month on average. Here is the list arranged by month (and the books are listed in the order that I read them):

January - 8 books total

• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (my third time reading it)
• New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
• Port Mungo by Patrick McGrath
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk-Kidd
• P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
• The Buenos Aires Broken Hearts Club by Jessica Morrison
• The Cellist of Sarajevo by Stephen Galloway
• Marley & Me by John Grogan

February - 5 books total

• She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
• Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
• Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
• Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
• The Host by Stephenie Meyer

March - 2 books total

• Luck by Joan Barfoot
• Electric God by Catherine Ryan Hyde

April - 1 book total

• A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

May - 6 books total

• At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks
• A Complicated Kindness by Mariam Toews
• In the Palace of Repose by Holly Phillips
• All Times Have Been Modern by Elisabeth Harvor
• The Tender Years by Janette Oke
• Return to Harmony by Janette Oke

June - 7 books total

• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Holding by Marilyn Simonds
• The Matchmakers by Janette Oke
• The Measure of a Heart by Janette Oke
• River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke
• My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
• Good Grief by Lolly Winston

July - 3 books total

• Under the Lilacs by Kory Shillam
• A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
• The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

August - 3 books total

• When the Finch Rises by Jack Riggs
• Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

September - 1 book total

• Firethorn by Sarah Micklem

October - 8 books total

• Diablo: Legacy of Blood by Richard A. Knaak
• Second Glance by Jodi Picoult
• Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
• Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
• Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
• Still Alice by Lisa Genova
• Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
• Merle's Door by Ted Kerasote

November - 8 books total

• Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
• Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
• Making Friends with Hitler by Ian Kershaw
• White Crosses by Larry Watson
• Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
• Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
• All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris
• From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

December - 2 books total

• An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
• Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

Happy New Year!

So 2011 is now upon us, and I am SO behind on my posts! I have several reviews ready to go, but haven't had a chance to get them posted here yet, so I will do my best to get that done in the next couple of days. I will also be posting my list of "Books Read in 2010" and announcing my reading goal for the new year.

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves last night and celebrated with loved ones. Check back soon to see the new posts! Happy New Year & Happy Reading!

Finding Treasures

The other day I was rooting around in a drawer I don't visit too often... unbeknownst to me, it turns out a binder of book reviews I started long ago with a couple of friends was hiding in the depths of that drawer. What a great surprise! It brought back so many memories to read all those old reviews and I was so happy to have found that! So the next time I get a chance to get some reviews posted on here (I'm behind yet again!) I will hopefully get some of those older reviews posted as well. Isn't it great what you can find when you least expect it!?

On another note, I am looking for some good suggestions on new reading material. Please suggest novels of any genre; although I generally read fiction, I am eager to dip into other sections of the bookstores as well. My past couple of experiences with the Fantasy section didn't pan out too well, so I'm always appreciative of any suggestions in that genre specifically.

Hope you're all enjoying getting ready for the holidays, and, of course, making a little time for yourselves to catch up on some reading!

Slacking off...

So, unfortunately, I haven't been reading nearly as much this month. I don't know whether that's due to the change in weather or simply that with the holidays around the corner, there is much to be done, leaving little time for reading. I have finished another Jodi Picoult novel, so I will hopefully post a review for that one soon, and I am currently reading Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos but I am finding it hard to get into that novel so far. Perhaps the cold is dampening my reading spirits, but I hope to get cracking soon in hopes of coming close to my reading goal for the year, as we are fast approaching the years-end. I don't think that I will achieve my goal this year, but nevertheless I am happy to have read as much as I have so far, and will see how close I come once the end of December comes around and it is time to come up with a new goal for 2011.

I am really hoping that more people will check out my blog in the coming year, as well. One of my main motivators for starting this blog is to excite people into reading again. It seems less and less people read - whether due to lack of time, or that they "haven't found a book they like yet", and I would really love to see that turn around. Reading is so enjoyable and to those mentioned above who have yet to find a book they like... keep trying! It isn't as though there are a lack of them to choose from! There are so many genres, authors, topics, etc that I, personally, feel it is impossible for people to keep up with that excuse. Which, again, brings me back to the point of why I started a blog. I want people to be able to see what I'm reading and what I thought about the book, and, ideally, I want to see comments posted if people have read that particular book too - bring on the arguments if you disagree with me at all! Even better if I am getting some younger followers, as I think reading is a great past-time for kids (much better than tv, if you're going to be sitting idle!). So please recommend this blog to your friends and family and lets get the world reading again!

Sleepwalking In Daylight

Sleepwalking in Daylight by Elizabeth Flock

Samantha Friedman has been feeling some disconnect between herself and her husband, Bob, for some time now. Perhaps it is the lack of physical intimacy between them, or the fact that they don't have conversations more complex than "How was your day?", "Fine", anymore. So when Samantha meets Craig during a train ride and they begin exchanging daily emails, she begins to wonder if there isn't more for her outside of her deteriorating marriage. How can she leave, though, when she has the twin boys, Jamie and Andrew, and adopted daughter, Cameron to think about? Meanwhile, Cameron is struggling with the fact that she doesn't feel like she fits with the Friedmans. Having been adopted at 2 years of age, she never thought much about it until someone commented on the fact that she doesn't look like the other members of her family. When she approached her father to ask, Bob simply replied: "because you're not our real daughter". Since that day, Cameron has strived to find out who her real mother is and why Cameron hadn't been good enough to keep. Between Samantha's desire to feel some connection with someone again, and Cameron's desire to find out where she fits, the Friedman house is pulling in many different directions. So when the worst happens, will it make or break them?

I'm still struggling to decide whether or not I liked this novel. On the one hand, I enjoyed that the author explored the family dynamics of a couple in their mid-life stage, and how over the years and with the stress of raising a family things can change - sometimes drastically. On the other hand, I felt that Samantha was far too selfish, and despite her feelings of disconnect with Bob, she never really laid her feelings out on the line for him. She approached the subject several times, but never to the point of flat-out saying "I'm unhappy and you're unhappy, so what can we do about this?". I thought Cameron seemed the typical teenager - still finding her place among the cliques at school, feeling the pressures of drugs and sex, etc. I think in the end I felt very sorry for Cameron because it seemed that Samantha was too caught up in herself to give her daughter any feeling of being wanted, and yet blame could easily be placed on Bob for the same thing. The novel was good, not great, and probably not one I would be quick to recommend to anyone. Regardless, I still enjoy the writing style of this author and am glad to have read this.

Keeping Faith

Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult

After the first time Mariah White discovered her husband, Colin's infedelity, she lost it. She had a nervous breakdown and was diagnosed with severe depression. When she attempted suicide, Colin went to court and had Mariah forced into Greenhaven, a mental institution - it was there that she learned she was pregnant with Faith. After stumbling upon her husband with another woman, for the second time, Mariah knew that this time she had to do whatever she could to pull it together for seven-year old Faith. What Mariah didn't expect was that shortly after Colin leaves their home for good, Faith begins to exhibit strange behaviour - talking to her "Guard", quoting bible verses she has never heard before, stigmata and miraculous healings. The work of God?  A child acting out to get attention, in hopes of keeping her parents together? Through a storm of media attention and court battles, Mariah struggles to make sense of what is happening to her daughter and learns, in the process, that she is a stronger person than she ever thought possible.

I finished this book a few days ago, and not only can I not get it out of my mind but I'm finding this novel the most difficult so far to put into words. Perhaps it is the inclusion of a topic like religion, but I think it has more to do with the fact that Jodi Picoult has left this novel, once again, with questions unanswered for the reader to mull over. Once again I must sing her praises: Jodi Picoult has managed to take a very controversial subject (religion) and has weaved it through her plot leaving readers reconsidering their own views about religion and the existence of God. The novel isn't completely based around religion - which may or may not change some people's minds about whether or not to read it. Jodi Picoult has once again given her readers a novel that they will think about long after they've finished reading it.

If You Could See Me Now

If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern

Elizabeth Egan was forced to grow up too soon at a very young age. With a flighty mother and a stern, distant father, it was up to Elizabeth to help shape a better, brighter future for her younger sister, Saoirse. Fast-forward in time and Elizabeth is once again straining to hold the pieces of her splintering family together. She is the adopted guardian of her sister's six-year-old son, Luke, as her sister has followed in their mother's footsteps and takes off for days and weeks at a time without a second thought for anyone around her. Fighting hard to maintain her interior design business while taking care of Luke and worrying about her sister's whereabouts, Elizabeth is at her rope's end. That's when Ivan starts to visit. In a short time, Elizabeth begins to see, with Ivan's help, that it's okay to let go and have fun, and part of letting go meant revisiting her past and answering long-sought after questions about her mother.

This book was really neat. Cecelia Ahern likes to think outside the box, it seems, as her plots often explore the realms of fantasy and make-believe. In doing that, she is able to take what could have been a mundane "my-mother-ran-off-my-sister-is-a-drunk-my-father-doesn't-talk-to-me" whiney story and turn it into this magical tale where the impossible becomes possible and things you belived in when you were little can seem real again. It was a fairly easy read, and I enjoyed the original idea behind including a character like Ivan in the novel. It makes for something different to read about, and that's always a welcome thing. I would definitely recommend this novel to someone who doesn't have a lot of time to read (since you can get through it fairly quickly) and I also think it is a good choice for young adult readers looking to break free from the "teen" section in bookstores.