The end of a reading year...

Good Bye to 2010.
It was a good year.

• I became a Mimi to my adorable Adelaide and am looking forward the birth of grand-girl #2, Amelia Kay in May.
• My 3rd child graduated from high-school, and my 4th child entered high-school.
• My husband still has a job. I still have a job.
• My 2nd child was able to come home from China for a 2.5 month visit before returning for one last year of teaching. (We look forward to his wedding possibly in 2011!)
• We are all healthy!

In reading news:

I read one more book, in total, than I did in 2009.
But, I read 1,931 fewer total pages! This year's total is 12, 811
I had accomplished a goal of reading the complete Harry Potter series. Hooray for Harry, Ron and Hermoine. I read them and loved them!

I accomplished a second goal, that of exploring the graphic novel genre. While it will never be a favorite of mine, I do have at least 3 to read for this year that I didn't get to last year.

The third goal I had set for myself was to read more from my shelves and judging from the fact that I failed to complete the Support Your Local Library challenge, I am guessing I succeeded in lightening my own shelves a bit!

In challenge news:
I completed 11 challenges:

• A-Z 2010
• Twenty-Ten
• Reading From My Shelves
• New Authors
• Graphic Novels
• Fall Into Reading
• RIP V
• Memorable Memoirs
• Spring Reading Thing
• What's In A Name 3
• Rainbow Connection

I did not complete 6 challenges (the first 3 I only missed completing by 1 book!)

• Bibliophilic Book
• Reading Through The Seasons
• TBR
• Once Upon A Time
• Support Your Local Library
• Book Awards IV--this one I will continue with through 2011 as I really want to read the books I have chosen. The host of this challenge has dropped off the face of the blogging world so it won't really be an official challenge anymore, but more like a 2011 personal goal! :)

The books I read:

You can see my total list of books by clicking here.

My top ten favorites (in no particular order) are:

• The Complete Harry Potters series
• Hens Dancing
• Tall Grass
• The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott
• The Mapping of Love and Death
  
• La's Orchestra Saves the World
• The Help
• Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
• Brava Valentine
• Out Stealing Horses
  

My blogging life has been a bit erratic since the end of summer---just busy, didn't feel like reviewing everything I read, and began knitting more in my spare time. I hope to find more of a balance for 2011 as I really miss the blogging part of my life. The book community is amazing and I wish I could meet you all in real life!

So, Happy New Year's to you all. I hope that the new year brings you an abundance of love, happiness and joy.

Hello 2011!!

Books Appear Like Magic!

What a whirlwind year! Just how can it be almost the 31st of December already? I am hoping to post a mega post tomorrow about the books we all received for Christmas, and then I am hoping to clean up the blog, tally statistics and compile my list of challenges for 2011--there are some, but not as many as last year or the year before.

My most fun news, besides the fact that we just found out grand-baby #2 is really going to be another grand-girl, is that I received a Kindle for Christmas!! I am in love with it and have already downloaded 9 free books so far. Right now, free is all I am allowed to do, until the dust of Christmas expenditures settles. Two years ago I would not have believed you if you had not only told me I would own one of these but that I would enjoy it so much!


So, all you Kindle users out there, tell me your tips, the free things you have (that might still be free), and all the things you love about your Kindle! Oh, I did download a game, Every Word, and I have subscribed to a blog for 99 cents a month--it is called Free Kindle Books Plus a Few Other Tips.

My three most anticipated downloaded reads are:

• 1. Heidegger's Glasses by Thais Frank
• 2. Sweetie by Kathryn Magendie
• 3. Mossy Creek by Deborah Smith

So fire away and help this Kindle newbie!

2011 Challenges

Click each button to see that particular challenge page and my progress.































































(buy one book challenge--need to write review of Dreams of Joy and link it to challenge page)

TWO tbr challenges:

Two bloggers are hosting a version of the To-Be-Read challenge and I signed up for both of them!

Hosted by Adam:

My list:

• 1.Nightengale Wood
• 2.Prayers For Sale
• 3.Her Fearful Symmetry
• 4. Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl
• 5. Ladies Lending Library
• 6. On Agate Hill
• 7. Alice's Tulips
• 8. Jemima J.
• 9. The Lost Garden--Finished
• 10. Undomestic Goddess
• Drifting
• The Wednesday Sisters

Alternates:

• Matchmaker of Perigord
• Skeletons at the Feast
• the Boy in the Striped Pajamas--Finished
  

Hosted by Miz B:

My list:

• 1.Nightengale Wood
• 2.Prayers For Sale
• 3.Her Fearful Symmetry
• 4. Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl
• 5. Ladies Lending Library
• 6. On Agate Hill
• 7. Alice's Tulips
• 8. Jemima J.
• 9. The Lost Garden--Finished
• 10. Undomestic Goddess
• Dragon Bones
  
• The Wednesday Sisters

Alternates:

• Matchmaker of Perigord
• Skeletons at the Feast
• Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo
• The Boy in the Striped Pajamas--Finished
• Quality of Life Report
• The Inn at Lake Devine
• In the Land of Plenty
• The View From Saturday
• A Fine and Private Place
  

Alphabet Soup

Becky is hosting A-Z again, and I am signing up again!!

January 1, 2011 thru December 31, 2011

How does this reading challenge work? Choose the option that works best for you...

Authors -- Read alphabetically by author. Commit to 26 books.

Titles -- Read alphabetically by title. Commit to 26 books.

Authors & Titles -- Commit to reading 52 books

I am reading Titles only:

A. Among Penguins
B. Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
C.
D. Dreams of Joy
E. Eating Heaven
F.
G. Gendarme (the)
H.
I. I Still Dream About You
J.
K.
L. Lost Garden (the)
M. Minding Frankie
N.
O. Once Upon a Marigold
P. Prayers for Sale
Q. Quality of Life Report
R.
S. Sundays At Tiffany's
T. The Three Weissmanns of Westport
U. Undomestic Goddess
V. (the) Violets of March
W. (the) Weird Sisters
X.
Y.
Z. The Tower, The Zoo and the Tortoise

To save the publishing industry

Edited: December 2011
I purchased several books this year and read them, many on my Kindle, but the book I am counting for this challenge is Dreams of Joy by Lisa See. I also bought Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy. Both of these authors are such that I always purchase their books in hardback to save in my own personal library.

Hosted by My Friend Amy....

This challenge started when I read the depressing statistics that something like half of the adults in the United States wouldn't read a single book over the course of the year. Nothing plunges me into the depths of despair like that, so I decided to encourage people to read a book. When I also realized that bookstores and the publishing industry was suffering, I decided to add on the buying part.

Start Date: January 1st, 2011
End Date: December 31st, 2011

There are two levels to this challenge:
1) Buy One Book and Read It.
This level is good for people who don't read often but think that would like to read more. It's also good for people who don't buy books. If you don't read much or don't buy many books, this is your level.
2) Level Two--Buy one book and read it every month
You don't have to buy a book in January and read it in January, but you must buy 12 books that you also go on to read during the year. This level is ideal for book bloggers notorious for the buying part, but not so much the reading part.

Rules
1) The book you read must be for pleasure. It cannot be a book you are reading to your children, for work, for research. This is all about fun.
2) The book(s) can be print or electronic. Unless you are unable to read print, audiobooks don't count towards this challenge.
3) Make sure to add your links to the Mister Linky that will go up by January 1st.

Wendell Berry

Carrie from Books and Movies is hosting this challenge. My daughter and son-in-law have been raving about Wendell Berry for quite some time and have also been urging me to read him. So here I go---
I will be dangling my toes!!

Dangling your toes: 2 books....my choices:

Nathan Coulter

Hannah Coulter (need to read)

A world Lost

A Place on Earth

That distant Land

Fidelity (need to read)

Visit the challenge post on Carrie's blog to read about Berry and to see a list of his books!

My favorite of the year and is the first challenge I ever signed up for nearly 4 years ago. I believe it was the first challenge I finished in 2010!
Hosted by Beth Fish Reads, click on the button to read her challenge blog. Great fun...

• A book with jewelry or a gem in the title: With This Ring, I'm Confused by Kristen Billerbeck

• A book with a number in the title: Ten Degrees of Reckoning--Finished

• A book with travel or movement in the title: Swimming With Maya by Eleanor Vincent

• A book with evil in the title: Garden Spells (actually not a evil book at all!)--Finished

• A book with a size in the title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules-Finished

• A book with a life stage in the title: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne-Finished

Feeling a bit Southern

Kathy at Bermuda Onion is hosting the Okra Picks Challenge. Kathy writes:
Each season, SIBA selects a crop of Southern books to handsell and those books are called Okra Picks. Okra Picks authors are given a sash to wear at the trade show, and believe me when I tell you those sashes are worn with pride! Since I love Southern books, I thought it would be fun to host an Okra Picks challenge. The picks this season are:

Fiction:

A Perfect Love Song by Patti Callahan Henry

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg

Love, Charleston by Beth Webb Hart

My Only Sunshine by Lou Dischler

Virals by Kathy Reichs

Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon

The Typist by Michael Knight

Nonfiction:

Carry the Rock by Jay Jennings

Greek Revival by Patricia Moore-Pastides

My Reading Life by Pat Conroy

Southern Plate by Christy Jordan

They Came to Nashville by Marshall Chapman

To make this challenge fun for everyone, I’m going to include four different levels:

1-3 Books: Goober
4-6 Books: Tater
7-9 Books: Peach
10-13 Books: Okra

Details:

The Okra Picks Challenge will run from October 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011. To join this challenge, all you have to do is pick your level of participation (you can always go up levels, but not down.) Then after you read any of the books, write a review to share your thoughts with others!

Sign Up:

You can join this challenge at any time. Just grab the Okra Picks logo at the top of this page and write a post announcing your intention to participate in the challenge — remember you don’t need to pick the specific books, just your level.
She has developed four different levels of participation:

1-3 Books: Goober
4-6 Books: Tater
7-9 Books: Peach
10-13 Books: Okra

I am choosing to be a Goober and read 1-3

1. I Still Dream About You--finished

Gothic Fun

It's time to sign up for the Gothic Reading Challenge for 2011 - hosted on its own dedicated blog.
There is nothing better than a great Gothic read - crumbling old castles, mysterious legends, shadowy characters, supernatural beings and unexplainable events, make for some of the most haunting and captivating reading imaginable.

There are four levels of participation to choose from:

A Little Madness - Read just 1 novel with Gothic elements.

The Darkness Within - Read 5 novels with Gothic elements.

A Maniacal Frenzy - Read 10 novels with Gothic elements.

Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know - Read 20 novels with Gothic elements.

---

Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, YA, Young Reader – basically, anything goes as long as it has element(s) of the Gothic. I'm not going to police you. If you think it is a Gothic read, that's enough for me. Crossovers from other reading challenges are fine as well. -

- List your books in advance on your blog, or choose your books as you go along. -

- The Gothic Reading Challenge runs January 1 through December 31, 2011. -
- When you sign up under Mr. Linky, put the direct link to your post where your Gothic books will be listed. Include the URL to this post so that other viewers can find this fun challenge. If you’d prefer to put your list in the sidebar of your blog, please leave your viewers the link to the sign up page. -

The level I am choosing is A Little Madness, requiring just one book

1. The Sister by Poppy Adams
( bonus books? Her Fearful Symmetry and The Haunting of Hill House)

Reading More

The Book Vixen is hosting the 2011 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge. She writes:

My goal for 2010 was to read 100 books for the year. As of right now, it looks like I’m not going to make it. (Right now I’m at 67.) It does please me that I read more books this year than I did last year but I want to read more. My goal for 2011 will also be to read 100 books. I think there’s a little bit of self-competition in everyone. So I decided to turn this into a fun reading challenge. I want to read more books in 2011 than I did in 2010. Plain and simple. What about you – are you game?

• Levels:
• Getting my heart rate up – Read 1–5 more books
• Out of breath – Read 6–10 more books
• Breaking a sweat – Read 11–15 more books
• I’m on fire! – Read 16+ more books

I am set to finish 54 books for 2010, and am choosing the first level of 1-5 more books for 2011.

Just For Fun

Just For Fun Reading Challenge is hosted by Dollycas

It looks like fun, and I plan to join!

As bloggers we are all on timetables to read books, get reviews posted, host giveaways, etc. But we also travel around to other blogs and see books we would just like to read because of the bloggers recommendation or the cover or title catches our interest.

As followers you get our recommendations, win books from us, pick up books at the library or purchase them from a store.

But our lives are so busy these books sometimes sit in our To-Be-Read piles for months or even years.

This year I am hosting this challenge to encourage you to read some of those books.

12 books in 12 months.

Before the first day of the next month, return to the Just For Fun page here at Dollycas’s Thoughts.

Just click on the picture or on the JUST FOR FUN READING CHALLENGE 2011 page listed in the Pages section near the top of the right sidebar. Fill out the form there for the proper month. You will have until the 3rd day of the following month to enter your information before the form will be closed. (A 3 day grace period.) A form must be filled out for each month.

These books can be counted in your total books read for the year challenge but hope you don’t cross them over to any other challenges. They are supposed to be read Just for fun.

You Must Read One Book For Fun Each Month.

January:
The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart

February:
The Weird Sisters

March:
The Girl in the Green Raincoat

April:
The Hunchback of Neiman Marcus

Merry and Bright

Merry Christmas! I hope your day was full of joy and peace; mine sure was! (quick note: I got a Kindle!!!)
I am off work next week so hope to get caught up on the blogging part of my life. Have a wonderful rest of your Christmas evening.

Waiting!

I have been waiting for a couple of my favorite challenges to be offered up for 2011 and today I see my waiting has come to an end!
Hooray......!













My list:

• 1.Nightengale Wood
• 2.Prayers For Sale
• 3.Her Fearful Symmetry
• 4. Confessions of a Counterfeit Farm Girl
• 5. Ladies Lending Library
• 6. On Agate Hill
• 7. Alice's Tulips
• 8. Jemima J.
• 9. The Lost Garden
• 10. Undomestic Goddess
• Drifting
• The Wednesday Sisters

Alternates:

• Matchmaker of Perigord
• Skeletons at the Feast

And how about these new ones?
I am tempted.
Very tempted.

Sunday

Sunday again.
I am sick and trying to not be as there is just too much to be doing this time of the year. I am nervous that the cold I have may have morphed into bronchitis or the dreaded "P" word again. I was recently diagnosed with cough variant asthma and had just started a course with a long acting cortisone inhaler before I came down with this new virus. My hope is that I have been on it long enough to keep my lungs open! On the other hand, I also am afraid I have a sinus infection brewing due to the pressure in my forehead. Sigh...I am going to go get looked at tomorrow to just make sure. Time is ticking closer to Christmas and I am running out of time to be sick!

I manged to finish another little Christmas novella, Blue Christmas. It was cute and Christmasy. I rather enjoy Mary Kay Andrew's writing style and think I need to find some other books by her.

Now I am reading, On Strike For Christmas, which is also turning out to be a great read.

I better get off the computer, go shower and get ready to Christmas shop with my husband for our boys! But first--time to find some drugs. ;)

Ahhh....relief

Whew!
I made it to the end of another week--and oh the sweet feeling of heading home after work on Friday evenings.

I even managed to finish a book this week--a simple little Christmas story by Lorna Landvik. I have read several of her books over the years and have only disliked one. This little Christmas story did not disappoint! A story of redemption without too much smarmy stuff--just an enjoyable little read----














While on my lunch break I started another little Christmas story which already seems like a great little southern Christmas read---Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews.













I must admit that it has been fun to take the reading pressure off by dumping most of my challenges, but a little part of me feels a teensy bit bad--I don't like feeling like a quitter. That said....I must admit that I have been looking at the website, A Novel Challenge and perusing the quickly growing list of challenges being offered for 2011. I have made a little list of ones I am thinking about joining, and am still hoping a couple of my stand-byes get offered again, To-Be-Read and the A-Z Challenge.
Ones that have piqued my interest are the following:

• Just For Fun Reading Challenge
• One, Two, Theme
• Outdo Yourself
• Gothic Reading Challenge
• Okra Picks

So what about you? Are you joining any new challenges? Joining some favorite, tried and trues?