Yeeeeaaaaahhhh.
Anyway, I meant to do this post earlier, but no time like the present, right? Especially since I haven't done it yet. And should do it. And have I mentioned my sore throat?
Let's talk about what I read this year, shall we? Or, well, how about I just list what I read and YOU can talk about it. I think my sore throat is impeding my ability to be clever today.
Total books read: 109.
My reading goal this year was to read less and write more. I'm counting this as accomplished.
96 were what I classify as "romantic." The non-romantic books I read are as follows:
- ALLOY OF LAW by Brandon Sanderson--Yes, there as a touch of romance, but it wasn't a major theme, and there wasn't a happily-ever-after. I have high hopes for the sequels, though.
- TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE by Jessica Day George--the protag is 11
- SOMEONE LIKE YOU by Sarah Dessen--the "You" in the title is NOT good boyfriend material
- VARIANT by Robison Wells--the sub-plot romances are more fledgling than realized
- PALE DEMON by Kim Harrison--this is part of an ongoing series that often has romance, but this book didn't
- THE SHIFTER by Janice Hardy--there is potential for the sequels, but this one wasn't particularly romantic
- HARD MAGIC by Laura Ann Gilman--again, romantic potential in the series, but no actual romance in the book
- STAYING DEAD by Laura Ann Gilman--same as above
- PRINCESS IN THE SPOTLIGHT (Princess Diaries #2) by Meg Cabot--the romance doesn't really get started until #3
- MAGIC AT THE GATE by Devon Monk--romance earlier in the series, but not in this book
- BLACK DUST MAMBO--potential not realized here
- PRINCESS DIARIES by Meg Cabot--no romance for now
Can you tell I like romance?
54 of the books I read this year were Fantasy. I'm not listing all those, but 34 of them were what I would call "urban."
48 were YA. I'm not listing those, either.
4 were Sci-Fi:
- ACROSS THE UNIVERSE by Beth Revis (spaceships and cryogenics)
- DROP DEAD GORGEOUS by MaryJanice Davidson (cyborgs)
- VARIANT by Robison Wells (not tellin')
- DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth (advanced mind-control)
5 were Steampunk:
- LEVIATHAN, BEHEMOTH, and GOLIATH by Scott Westerfeld (Clankers vs. Darwinists and a commoner girl pretending to be a boy who falls in love with a prince who doesn't know she's a girl)
- HEARTLESS by Gail Carriger (Victorian Steampunk with Vampires and Werewolves)
- CORSETS AND CLOCKWORK (anthology)--best one was TICK, TICK, BOOM by Keirsten White
5 Dystopian:
- MATCHED by Ally Condie (statisticians run amok)
- ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (probably not technically a dystopian, but I thought the behavior modification was dystopian-esque)
- POSSESSION by Elana Johnson (control or be controlled)
- VARIANT by Robison Wells (again, I thought the anarchy was rather dystopian)
- DIVERGENT by Veronica Roth (four virtues to choose from)
1 Horror: THE MERIDIANS by Michaelbrent Collings--reads like Koontz
1 Thriller: MONARCH by Michelle Davidson--set at a butterfly resort: very cool
Zero Non-Fiction. Nada. Zip. Zilch. (I'm not counting reading I did for work or church--this is just-for-fun reading. Or isn't. As the case may be.)
Top 3 Favorite Authors by Book Count: I read 6 books by Meg Cabot and 5 books each by Sara Dessen and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I have other favorites, but I obviously went back to these ladies again and again. Sara and Meg are new discoveries this year, as is Maureen Johnson, another author I've recently come to love. I think it's interesting that Meg, Sara, and Susan don't write in my favorite genre. (Maureen recently branched out into it, though, with THE NAME OF THE STAR, which I also loved.)
So what did you read last year?
So, what I want to know is: Which books that you read were your favorites? Or, in other words, which are worth adding to my very massive TBR pile??
ReplyDeleteDivergent was one of my favorites! Monarch was very cool as well. I have Variant on hold at the library and can't wait to read it!
ReplyDeleteAs for reading last year... I didn't get a whole lot in. I'm going to read at least a book a week this year though. :) And so far I'm doing great!
My head is still spinning from this:
ReplyDeleteTotal books read: 109.
My reading goal this year was to read less and write more. I'm counting this as accomplished.
If 109 books is reading less - WOW.
I just read my first Susan Elizabeth Phillips book and was surprised how much I liked it. I don't read a lot of romance, but people swore to me she isn't sappy and her characters are fun. I also like Meg Cabot - and I got to meet her this year! I usually don't have much to say if I do the signing line, but I told her about one of my favorite parts of a book she wrote; from the size 12 isn't fat series, she said a fellow student couldn't have been involved in a crime because the girl had a Ziggy notebook. That still cracks me up!
I have The Name of the Star on my to-read list. I LOVE Maureen Johnson's twitter feed and just read her short story in "Let it Snow," which was so great.
I totally failed at keeping track of the books I read this year, but I sure read many of them that thrilled me and a few I couldn't finish. I'm going to try and do better this year.
ReplyDeleteI hope!
I've read many of the ones you have.
Chantele-you're gonna love Variant!
ReplyDeleteStephsco-two years ago, I read over 170. Not much time for writing. :) SEP is amazing. I adore how she tears her characters down to the dirt before finally letting them have their HEA.
Donna--as you might suspect... I have a spreadsheet. :D Want it?
I didn't read nearly as many as this--my book count is very low--but last year I tried to make time for reading. I can't write and read at the same time (nor can I edit and write at the same time, yet I can write multiple books at the same time), so I took breaks to just READ and it was great. My favorites from last year were The Hunger Games and "My Fair Godmother" and "My Unfair Godmother" by Janette Rallison.
ReplyDeleteRobin, you're awesome! My goal is to actually read more books this year. This year my book numbers have gone waaaaay down with my writing. I need to get with it.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so what I want to know is this: Which of the books you read were your favorites? Which should I be adding to my always-growing TBR pile??
ReplyDelete