A Year in Review: 2010

According to my LibraryThing account, I read 35 books in 2010, exactly half of what I read in 2009. Although, this number doesn't usually count picture books I've reviewed. So overall, the count is probably a bit higher.

Here is the breakdown by star rating:

I RARELY give five stars. I hold on to that for the special book that I just simply couldn't put down, read while ignoring the children, or was simply just blown away. I usually give this to a book that I really can't find a single fault with.

Four and 1/2 stars is a very good book but maybe there were one or two things that bothered me.

And onward.

FIVE STARS:
The Help by Kathryn Stockett

FOUR 1/2 STARS:
Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman
First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

FOUR STARS:
The Wake Trilogy (Wake, Fade & Gone) by Lisa McMann
Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann
The Scarlet Stockings by Charlotte Kandel
Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay
Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
Zeus: King of Gods by George O'Connor
Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale
Stitches: A Memoir by David Small
Theodore Boone by John Grisham
Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James
Athena: Grey-eyed Goddess by George O'Connor
When Santa Fell to Earth by Cornelia Funke
Holiday Magic by Fern Michaels (clairfication: only read Terri Dulong's Cedar Key novella--rating is for that, not the entire book)

Three 1/2 STARS:
Over the Holidays by Sandra Harper
The House on Tradd Street by Karen White
We the Children by Andrew Clements
Thereby Hangs a Tail by Spencer Quinn
Caught by Harlen Coben
Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
Savvy by Ingrid Law
Brain Camp by Susan Kim
Stash by David Klein

THREE STARS:
The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser
ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley
ghostgirl: the homecoming by Tonya Hurley
Booth by C.C. Colbert
Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper
The Seventh Witch by Shirley Damsgaard

Year in Review by Genre:
Adult Fiction
Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James
Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman
Caught by Harlen Coben
Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay
Over the Holidays by Sandra Harper
The House on Tradd Street by Karen White
The Help by Karen Stockett
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
Stash by David Klein
Holiday Magic by Fern Michaels

Adult Mystery
Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
Thereby Hangs a Tail by Spencer Quinn
Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
The Seventh Witch by Shirley Damsgaard

Young Adult
Wake by Lisa McMann
Fade by Lisa McMann
Gone by Lisa McMann
Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann
ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley
ghostgirl: Homecoming by Tonya Hurley

Middle-Grade
Theodore Boone by John Grisham
We the Children by Andrew Clements
The Scarlet Stockings by Charlotte Kandel
Savvy by Ingrid Law
When Santa Fell to Earth by Cornelia Funke

Children's Fiction
Superheroes: A Pop-up Book
How to Raise a Dinosaur by Natasha Wing
This School Year Will be the Best by Kay Winters
How You Got So Smart by David Milgrim
Dewey: There's a Cat in the Library by Vicki Myron
The Earth and I by Frank Asch
Fancy Nancy: Explorer Extraordinaire by Jane O'Connor
Say Hello! by Rachel Isadora
Hot Diggity Dog by Adrienne Sylver
Ladybug Girl at the Beach by David Soman
Red Green Blue by Alison Jay
Sleepover at Gramma's House by Barbara Joose

Graphic Novel
Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale
Zeus: King of Gods by George O'Connor
Stitches: A Memoir by David Small
Athena: Grey-eyed Goddess by George O'Connor
Brain Camp by Susan Kim
Booth by C.C. Colbert

Nonfiction
First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite
The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper
Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser

Just for my own musings....
Books on this list--
Bought this year: 7
Advanced Copies/From the Publisher: 25
Borrowed from Library/Friend: 11 (Library), 3 (Friend)
E-books read: 2
Books already sitting on my shelf: 0 (boo!)

Holly's Year in Review 2009--By Genre

I read 50 books last year and had a goal originally to read 72 books this year. That would be one more book per month than 2008. My LibraryThing tag for 2009 was at 67 as of yesterday (but I don't always put Picture Books in my Library Thing account). So yesterday I quickly finished off two middle-grade books I had lying around (39 Clues #5 and The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow) and a graphic novel I needed to return to the library. Got my total up to 70. So I'll be two books short of my goal. But not too shabby. With our new baby due the end of January, I can only hope that I can keep up with reading next year. I think my goal will be much lower though! :-) Without further ado, here's 2009's books listed by genre:

Adult Fiction
The Shepherd, The Angel and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog
Casting Spells
The Double Bind
Laced With Magic
Cherries in Winter
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
Etta: A Novel
Vanishing Acts
Sarah's Key
The Great Christmas Bowl
The Lost Hours
The Last Bridge
Spinning Forward
Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story
Shoot the Moon
Testimony
The Next Thing on My List
The Fragment
The Associate
Knit Two
The Late, Lamented Molly Marx
Words Unspoken
The Disappearance

Adult Mysteries
Sworn to Silence
Fear the Worst
Evil at Heart
Witch Hunt (Ophelia & Abby #4)
The Witch is Dead (Ophelia & Abby #5)
The Witch's Grave (Ophelia & Abby #6)
Witch Way to Murder (Ophelia & Abby #1)
Charmed to Death (Ophelia & Abby #2)
The Trouble with Witches (Ophelia & Abby #3)
A Bone to Pick (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries #2)
Wife of the Gods
What the Dead Know
Lethal Legacy
Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries #3)

YA Adult
The Hunger Games
Bad Girls Don't Die
The Boy in Striped Pajamas
Twilight

Middle-Grade
The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour
Rescuing Seneca Crane
The Mystery of the Third Lucretia
Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree
Ladies of the Lake
Flawed Dogs: The Shocking Raid on Westminster
39 Clues #5: The Black Circle
Closed for the Season
The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow
Luv Ya Bunches
Emma Jean Lazarus Fell in Love
39 Clues #4: Beyond the Grave
The Graveyard Book
Lily' Crossing
The Hanging Hill
Secrets of a Christmas Box
39 Clues #2: One False Note
39 Clues #3: The Sword Thief
The Postcard
Twilight (Summer Confidential)
Sunset (Summer Confidential)
Sunrise (Summer Confidential)

Children's Fiction
Roxie and the Hooligans
Llama Llama Misses Mama
Pouch
Bear-ly There
Pumpkin Baby
Me With You
Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy

Graphic Novels
Rapunzel's Revenge
Coraline
Good as Lily
The Irregulars
Museum Vaults: Excerpts from the Journal of an Expert

Also just for my information here's a breakdown of how many of the above books were:
Bought this year: 13
Advanced Copies/From the Publisher: 31
Borrowed from Library/Friend: 11 (Library), 11 (Friend)
Already sitting on my shelf: 2
Received free from Bookmooch/Giveaway: 6

Not bad, I think I need to work on reading more from my shelves in 2010 though! Only two! That doesn't seem right to me. But I guess it is.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading in 2010!!

Holly's Year in Reading 2009--By rating

I have to say, even though I read a ton of books this year, there were very few that I thought were outstanding, many were very good and entertaining. But I can't say I read one book I would recommend to EVERYONE I meet. I think Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is still the best book I've read in the last couple years.

Five stars:
The Hunger Games

Four and a half stars:
The Shepherd, The Angel and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog
The Red Blazer Girls: The Ring of Rocamadour
Casting Spells
Sworn to Silence
Rapunzel's Revenge
Roxie and the Hooligans
Rescuing Seneca Crane
The Mystery of the Third Lucretia
Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree

Four Stars:
Bad Girls Don't Die
The Ladies of the Lake
Fear the Worst
The Double Bind
Flawed Dogs: The Shocking Raid on Westminster
Laced with Magic
Evil at Heart
39 Clues #5: The Black Circle
Cherries in Winter
Witch Hunt (Ophelia & Abby #4)
The Witch is Dead (Ophelia & Abby #5)
The Witch's Grave (Ophelia & Abby #6)
Witch Way to Murder (Ophelia & Abby #1)
Charmed to Death (Ophelia & Abby #2)
The Trouble with Witches (Ophelia & Abby #3)
Llama Llama Misses Mama
Coraline (graphic novel)
Closed for the Season
A Bone to Pick (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries #2)
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane
The Boy in Striped Pajamas
The Unusual Mind of Vincent Shadow
Good as Lily
Etta: A Novel
Luv Ya Bunches
Vanishing Acts
Wife of the Gods
Sarah's Key
Emma Jean Lazarus Fell in Love
The Great Christmas Bowl
39 Clues #4: Beyond the Grave
The Lost Hours

Three and a half stars:
The Last Bridge
Spinning Forward
The Graveyard Book
Lily's Crossing
The Hanging Hill
Secrets of a Christmas Box
39 Clues #2: One False Note
Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story
39 Clues #3: The Sword Thief
Shoot the Moon
What the Dead Know
Museum Vaults: Excerpts from the Journal of an Expert
Twilight
Testimony
The Next Thing on my List

Three Stars:
The Postcard
The Irregulars
Fragment
Lethal Legacy
The Associate
Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries #3)
Knit Two
The Late, Lamented Molly Marx
Words Unspoken
The Disappearance

Two and a half stars:
Twilight (Summer Confidential)
Sunset (Summer Confidential)
Sunrise (Summer Confidential)

Holly's Year in Review

I was really hoping to get a post done that summarized my year in reading. What more fitting day to do that than December 31st! :-)

I try not to set goals for myself in reading or join reading challenges just because I like to read whatever I'm in the mood for at that time. I do read my book club books most months and I try to read ARCs I receive in a timely manner so I guess those are the most goal-oriented books I get to. Everything else just sort of goes with the flow. However, as 2008 was coming to a close I noticed I was very close to 52 total books for the year which would have been an average of one book per week! Considering I had about 35 books in 2007 and 23 or 24 the couple years before that. This year has been very productive in the reading department! I set 52 as a goal for myself. But got distracted by some knitting projects and the holidays so alas, I fell just a bit short at 50. But I'm pretty proud of my almost a book a week progress this year and hold to keep that up in 2009. I'm also pondering a couple challenges. There's an Art History Challenge that is calling my name. So we'll see. I may jump on the challenge bandwagon in '09.

Here's a list of many of the books I read in 2008 by rating:
Five Star Rating (I'm very stingy with this rating):
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

Four and A Half Stars:
Masterpiece by Elise Broach
The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci
Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day by Toni McGee Causey
Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson #2) by Rick Riordan
Amadi's Snowman by Katia Novet Saint-lot
Naptime is the New Happy Hour by Stefanie Taylor-Wilder

Four Stars:
Fiendish Deeds (Joy of Spooking #1) by P.J. Bracegirdle
Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain
America America by Ethan Canin
Bobbie Faye's (kinda, sorta, not exactly) Family Jewels by Toni McGee Causey
Everyone is Beautiful by Katherine Center
The Innocent by Harlan Coben
Hold Tight by Harlan Coben
Diary of a Fairy Godmother by Esme Raji Codell
In the Woods by Tana French
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Real Murders by Charlaine Harris
Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris
The Beasts of Clawstone Castle by Eva Ibbotson
Marco Flamingo by Sheila Jarkins
The Power of Three by Laura Lippman
The Eight by Katherine Neville
The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
Deadly Decisions by Kathy Reichs
39 Clues: Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

Three and a Half Stars:
Killer Heels by Sheryl J. Anderson
Woman in Red by Eileen Goudge
The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler
Schooled by Anisha Lakhani
The Fire by Katherine Neville
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Darla Snadowsky

Three Stars:
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain
Off the Deep End by W. Hodding Carter
Iris, Messenger by Sarah Deming
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Two and a Half Stars:
Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson

Two Stars:
Cinderella (As if you didn't already know the story) by Barbara Ensor
Atonement by Ian McEwan
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

And here is a list of a few books I hope to get to in the early part of 2009:
Etta by Gerald Kolpan
One False Note (39 Clues #2) by Gordan Korman
Knit Two by Kate Jacobs
The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn
The Witch's Trinity by Erika Mailman
The Ophelia and Abby Mystery Series by Shirley Damsgaard
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Magyk by Angie Sage
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and Happy New Year's Eve!!!