2010 In Review

2010 was a pretty good year for me reading wise. I read and reviewed 59 books, which is 14 more than I completed in 2009. I also posted 132 blog posts, up from 68 in 2009. Not too shabby considering the fact that I was MIA for a few months when I was having such problems with my pregnancy.

Personally, 2010 was a big year for me and hubby. We found out we'd be expecting our first child, lived through the scariness of several hemmorhages that first trimester, and have grown together as a couple through it all. This winter we helped sell and pack up my grandfather's home, while at the same time placing him in a nursing home. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it was wonderful to be able to be there to support my mom through this struggle. I'm excited and looking forward to 2011. In the next few weeks we should be meeting our little boy and nothing could be more exciting than that!!

Now back to the books. I had several favorites this year, but the following five were my top reads for 2010:

1. Hate List - Jennifer Brown: This was the first book I finished in 2010 it was amazing.  Still a year later I find myself thinking of this book.
2. Shutter Island - Dennis Lehane: I'm not sure if any book has ever kept me on my toes as much as this one.  I still can't get over the ending!
3. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee: I still don't understand why I waited as long as I did to read this wonderfully written American classic.
4. Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson:  An amazing book that everyone should be required to read!
5. The Thorn Birds - Colleen McCullough: Another unforgettable read that I waited way too long to read.  One of the most amazing sagas ever written.

All in all, not a shabby year for me.  I hope to read at least the same amount of books if not more in 2011, and continue to blog and post and meet new people!!

2011 YA Historical Fiction Challenge

This will probably be the last challenge I'll enter to 2011 (except for the Chunkster Challenge which will be crossovers).  This challenge is hosted by Yabliss and has the following rules:

• You are not required to review the books unless you wish to enter one of the exclusive giveaways for participants that will be offered during 2011 for which the entries will be reviews.
• Books do NOT have to be 2011 releases nor do they have to be debuts.
• All books must be YA or MG to count.
• You do NOT have to run a blog to participate, although there must be a public website where I can find you (Goodreads, LibraryThing, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Tumblr, etc)
• Your blog does NOT have to be a book blog.
• If you enter with your blog link, you MUST post about the challenge so I may link.
• Books that are paranormal or urban fantasy set in a historical setting (Clockwork Angel) are still technically Historical Fiction. They DO count towards your total. I dont have them in any of the lists because the idea was to promote realistic historical books that are less popular.

Level 1: 5 YA HF books in 2011

Level 2: 10 YA HF books in 2011

Level 3: 15 YA HF books in 2011

I'm choosing to partipate at Level 2.  Here's my list:

1. A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray
2. Rebel Angels - Libba Bray
3. The Sweet Far Thing - Libba Bray
4. Number the Stars - Lois Lowry
5. The Luxe - Anna Godbersen
6. Rumors - Anna Godbersen
7. Envy - Anna Godbersen
8. Splendor - Anna Godbersen
9. What I Saw and How I Lied - Judy Blundell
10. Sarah Plain and Tall - Patricia Maclachlan

2011 South Asian Author Challenge

S. Krishna's Books is hosting this challenge this year.  Below are the rules.  This challenge is completely out of my comfort zone so I'm looking forward to the challenge!!


What books are eligible for the 2011 South Asian Challenge?

There are two ways for a book to qualify for the South Asian Challenge

1.A book must be by a South Asian author. For these purposes, South Asia includes the following countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and the Maldives. There are no limitations on what the book can be about.

2.A book must be about South Asia. In this case, it can be set in a South Asian country or be about South Asians living abroad. It can also be a biography or memoir of a South Asian, or of a non-South Asian traveling or working in South Asia. In this case, the author does not need to be South Asian, as long as the subject matter focuses on the region, peoples, or cultures in some way.

Any type book qualifies, as long as it meets one of the two guidelines above - a cookbook, short story or essay collection, travel guide, etc...AND if only part of a book is about South Asia it still qualifies.

Other guidelines:

•Everyone is encouraged to participate.

There are several levels of participation:

•South Asian Encounter - 1 book
•South Asian Wanderer - 3 books
•South Asian Explorer - 5 books
•South Asian Adventurer - 7 books
•South Asian Hero/Heroine - 10 books
•South Asian Guru - Over 10 books (you can set your own goal)

I'm looking to read 7 books for this challenge:

1. Brick Lane - Monical Ali
2. The 20th Wife - Indu Sundaresan
3. The Feast of Roses - Indu Sundaresan
4. The Splendor of Silence - Indu Sundaresan
5. Gifted - Nikita Lalwani
6. The Space Between Us - Thrifty M Umrigar
7. The Dowry Bride - Shobhan Bantwal

2011 War Through the Generations Challenge

I'm joining this challenge because it is so different from anything I've ever participated in before. This is forcing me to read a few books I probably would never have picked up before. I'm choosing to read three books about the Civil War era. All three books are fiction:

1. Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
2. Enemy Women - Paulette Jiles
3. Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier

2011 YA Reading Challenge

This challenge should be super easy for  me.  The majority of books that I currently read are YA. This challenge is hosted by Jamie loves YA and looks fun!  The rules are below:

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate. Create a post about the challenge and link your challenge post up in the linky below.
--Non-Bloggers: Post your list of books in the comment section of the wrap-up post.
2. There are four levels:
--The Mini YA Reading Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels.
--The "Fun Size" YA Reading Challenge – Read 20 Young Adult novels.
--The Jumbo Size YA Reading Challenge – Read 40 Young Adult novels.
--The Mega size YA Reading Challenge – Read 50+ Young Adult novels.
3. Audio, eBooks, paper, re-reads all count.
4. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.
5. The Challenge starts on January 1, 2011 and goes until December 31, 2011.

I'm looking to read at least 20 YA books, but could and most likely will read more:

1. Sarah, Plain and Tall - Patricia MacLachlan
2. Number the Stars - Lois Lowry
3. If I Stay - Gayle Forman
4.  What I Saw and How I Lied - Judy Blundell
5. Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta
6. Bitter End - Jennifer Brown
7. Fallout - Ellen Hopkins
8. I Heart You, You Haunt Me - Lisa Schroeder
9. But I Love Him - Amanda Grace
10. Hearts at Stake - Alyxandra Harvey
11. Fearscape - Simon Holt
12. Ruby Red - Krysten Gier
13. Forgive My Fins - Tera Lynn Childs
14. The Iron King - Julie Kagawa
15. Firespell - Chloe Neill
16. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs
17. Cloaked - Alex Flinn
18. Chain Reaction - Simone Elkeles
19. The Juliet Spell - Douglas Rees
20. Pretty Little Liars - Sara Shepard

ALL READ AND CHALLENGE COMPLETED!!

Historical Fiction Challenge 2011

The ladies at Historical Tapestry are hosting the 2011 Historical Fiction challenge.  Historical Fiction is actually what brought me back to reading after many years away and I'd like to read a bit more of this year then I've read in the past.  The rules are simple:

•Any kind of historical fiction is accepted (HF fantasy, HF young adult,...)

•You can overlap this challenge with others kind of challenges

•During these following 12 months you can choose one of the different reading levels:

1.Severe Bookaholism: 20 books

2.Undoubtedly Obsessed: 15 books

3.Struggling the Addiction: 10 books

4.Daring & Curious: 5 books

5.Out of My Comfort Zone: 2 books
The challenge will run from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011.

I'll be joining at Level 3.  Here is my tentative list for 2011

• Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
• Memoris of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
• The Boyleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory
• Pope Joan - Donna Woolfolk Cross
• The Tea Rose - Jennifer Donnelly
• Forever Amber - Kathleen Winsor
• The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B - Sandra Gulland
• Here Be Dragons - Sharon Kay Penman
• The Kitchen Boy - Robert Alexander
• The Bronze Horseman - Paullina Simons

Review: Size 12 Is Not Fat

Title: Size 12 Is Not Fat
Author: Meg Cabot
Pages: 345
Rating: 4/5

HEATHER WELLS ROCKS!

Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two—and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina). Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York's top colleges. That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.

The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the result of reckless youthful mischief. But Heather knows teenage girls . . . and girls do not elevator surf. Yet no one wants to listen—not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives—even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways. So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!

But her new job comes with few benefits, no cheering crowds, and lots of liabilities, some of them potentially fatal. And nothing ticks off a killer more than a portly ex-pop star who's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong . . . (megcabot.com)

I finished this one a few weeks ago and am just now getting around to writing the review.  This was actually my last read of 2010.  This is the second Meg Cabot book that I've read and I really really enjoyed it.  She is a wonderful author with a fun way with words.

Size 12 is Not Fat introduces readers to Heather Wells, a quirky ex pop star turned assistant dorm director.  Heather is full of energy, funny, and just plain suspicious of everyone around her.  Especially when several of the dorm residents are found dead in the elevator shafts.  I loved reading about Heather, and how she went about solving the mystery.  Plus, her relationship with her boss and landlord Cooper is a nice (looking) extra edition to the story.  I love how Heather swoons over him and he seems almost clueless.  It will be exciting to see where Cabot takes this relationship in the coming books. 

There are two more books written so far in this series: Size 14 is Not Fat Either and Big Boned.  I have both of these and dabbled with Size 14 but ended up getting distracted by other things and haven't gotten back to it.

All in all, I recommend these to readers who are looking for a light, fun read with a bit of mystery tossed in!