I did it! I met my 50 books in one year goal. I thought I was under, but I rechecked and found 2 books that I forgot to put in (The Summoning and Found) and decided since I put the work into reading my text books for class that they should count…unless I miscounted, which is very possible actually.

Last year I got to 48, so my goal for 2010 will be to beat my 51 from this year. I have three Library books out right now that I am looking forward to reading this week/weekend. I’m going to finish “The Awakening” tomorrow then move on to “Posion Study” probably…though the book Jeff got me for Christmas “The Seance” is looking very very tempting!

January:

1.) Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George 352 pages (4 stars)

2.) The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition by J. K. Rowling (4 stars)

3.) A Lion Among Men (The Wicked Years, Book 3) by Gregory Maguire 336 pages (3 stars)

4.) Gifts (Annals of the Western Shore #1) by Ursula LeGuin (3 stars)

5.) Chalice by Robin McKinley 263 Pages (finished last 68 pages on Feb 1, during the Super Bowl) (4 stars)

6.) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (4.5 stars)

February:

7.) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (3 stars)

8.)  The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier (3 stars)

9.) Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn, David Levithan

10. Five Minds for the Future by Howard Gardner

March:

11.  Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell (4 stars)

April:

12. Kin (The Good Neighbors, Book 1) by Holly Black (3.5 stars)

13. Neverwhere: A Novel by Neil Gaiman (4 or 4.5 stars)

14. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (5 stars, not quite Speak, but excellent!)

15.  Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale (Graphic Novel of a Cowgirl Rapunzel, um, this can’t be anymore of a Melissa Book)

16 Amulet: Book 1 (Amulet) by Kazu Kibuishi

17. My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

MAY

18.Neptune Noir: Unauthorized Investigations into Veronica Mars (Smart Pop series)

19. Atlas: Poems by Katrina Vandenberg

20.  Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson (finished in June)

JUNE

21. Thirteenth Child (Frontier Magic Book) by Patricia C. Wrede

JULY

22. City of Glass (Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare (4 star series, actually got into this even if the WTH factor of the first two books ha)

23. Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black (I expected to love this one, as I am more of a fairy and magic person, than vampires/werewolves, but maybe I would say for me a 3.5, I couldn’t really get into it, it reminded me of so many other books, which is a shame because this is one of the books to start the big YA Urban Fantasy kick, and the books it reminds me of are really inspired by this one, I guess as a teenager I wasn’t at all like this, so I couldn’t relate, I think Holly Black in general is awesome though, she reminds me of me, if I were awesome)

24. Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow A new paranormal YA series that has potential, a bit like watching Supernatural, but with the main character as a teenage girl, nothing ground breaking, but enjoyable

25. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins finally, a book I can get emotionally attached to, I like to feel my books, and like everyone has been saying, this one is a winner. Interesting story idea, well written characters, highly recommended reading!

26. Troy High by Shana Norris (3.5-4 stars)

27. Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink (5 stars)

28. The Summoning (Darkest Powers, #1) by Kelley Armstrong

August

29. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

(4.5 )-Usually I hide from realistic YA fiction, especially the one with random faceless girls on the cover, I’m not a girlie book lets talk about boys and our period type of reader. If I did not already know Maureen Johnson is freakin’ hilarious I might have passed on this book. Glad I didn’t. Okay, so there is some talking about boys, one in particular, but he’s got an accent, so I’m good! haha I love mysteries, and this one kept me thinking “Okay what random and insanely funny thing will happen next?” Loved it. :D

30.  The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry

(2.5 )-Oh how I wanted to love this book, It had all the classic Melissa Elements…magic, pretty dresses, thieves,  pretending to be what you aren’t and having it nip you in the bud, cinderela-like qualities, a donkey that acts like a dog. It wasn’t even the WTH orign of the “witch” (because I already knew that from an amazon review, I don’t mind spoilers really) It just fell flat for me, not enough characterization, or really details. It was a quick little thing, and Okay book but nothing to write home about sadly. Someone compared it to things by Gail Carson Levine, and while it’s probably a good fit from those readers Middle School and my late elementary princess book crowd, Gail Carson Levine’s works seem much stronger. This left me with a okay, that was….cute and all but I need some Robin McKinley to remind myself how real YA fantasy feels.

31.  Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner

Solid YA fantasy, with all the right elements, to make it a young adult fantasy lover happy (danger! forbidden magic! cute boy with dark side! trees that can kill you! hints of romance and star-crossed love!) Liza, the main character, lives in a town run by her father’s strong fist, a fist that has come down on Liza many times along with his belt. The story is set after the great way between the Faerie people and Americans (? the world?) Liza is taught by her father that all magic is evil, and must be purged from society but when her own sister is born with Fae characteristics and Liza herself begins to experience magical abilities her father’s view of the world begins to make less and less sense. As she travels in search of her missing mother, she must try to unravel terrifying visions, and learn to trust in what she was taught to fear and hate.

32. Murder Mysteries by Neil Gaiman Graphic Novel Version of Gaiman’s short story of the same name from “Smoke and Mirrors” I do love me some creepy Gaiman with murdered angels, and a pointless starting narrative which becomes way less pointless after reading the murdered angel bit- that man’s mind must be a scary scary place…and yet he is always so cheery, hmmm…

33. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

34. Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway

35. The Stolen One by Suzanne Carlisle Crowley

36.  Wings by Aprilynne Pike

37.  You Are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay

September

38. Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

39.  Catching Fire (Hunger Games, #2) by S. Collins

40.   Snow White And Rose Red by Patrica C. Wrede

October

41.  Dreaming Anastasia: A Novel of Love, Magic, and the Power of Dreams by Joy Preble

42.  Rampant by Diana Peterfreund

43. Shiver (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #1) by Maggie Stiefvater (5 stars, tied for favorite book this year, along with Hunger Games and The Forest of Hands and Teeth)

44. Found (The Missing, #1) by Margaret Peterson Haddix

November:

45. Eyes Like Stars (The Théâtre Illuminata: Act 1) by Lisa Mantchev Really interesting theater based (as in Characters from Shakespeare and other plays made appearances) YA book. It’s the start of a series. I can’t wait to keep reading, since it’s so unique (4 stars)

46. Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe I remember liking this book as I read it, but now (Dec 31) about a month after reading it I can’t remember the details of it very well at all…not a good sign haha, but I remember it was cute, if you want some light YA ghostly fun this quick read would work well.

47. The Garden of Eve by K.L. Going finally getting to some of my books I bought at the book fair, which willbw donated by myself into my library collections at school. This one looked good to me, as it had religious allusions, and ghosts. Slightly eerie middle reader that I know some of my students would enjoy

48. Sent (The Missing, #2) by Margaret Peterson Haddix I never read “Among the hidden” and the books by Haddix in that series, but I am loving her new series (The Missing) they are part science fiction, part historial fiction, and part mystery.

December

49. The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1) by James Dashner Loovvved it! Complete, WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE, but <3!

50. Suddenly Supernatural: Scaredy Kat by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel Another Book Fair pick,  read book 1 and really enjoyed it, as I was one of those kid’s glued to the screen watching “Are You Afraid of the Dark” back in the 90’s, so this really worked for me. Sure it’s for 12 year olds, but it’s spooky I swear lol

51. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink Read for a Class

51.5 . The Awakening (Darkest Powers, #2) by Kelley Armstrong Only half done with this one, but really enjoying it. An hour left in the year, but I’m going to spend it playing scrabble with Pam instead of finishing, because I am a bad bad person :D