August Stats

Looking Back at August: I learned an important lesson about being more restrained when requesting books from Netgalley as several galleys I wanted to read had expired because it had been almost a year. Alas I also had some difficulties when three books were archived by the publisher even before the release date! I thought they were supposed to remain on there at least until the release date and it has dampened my interest in reading two of them.

And although I read a great deal, I had a lot of disappointing books. My average rating on the books is significantly down this month due to the lackluster books. I am hopeful for a better experience this month.

Looking Forward to September: I'm trying to catch up with my Netgalley books so expect some reviews of those. It also looks like a mostly YA month so that should be a lot of fun.  I would also say that almost all of the books I will review were published this year, which is unique for me in that I usually try to pepper in some older books too.

Monthly Stats:

Books Read This Month: 33
Pages Read This Month: 9720 pages
Average Length of Book:  295 pages
Average Rating of Book: 3.52-a very bad month

Favorite Book: Hands down-Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt-go read this now!

Most Disappointing Book: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins; I admire Perkins for writing contemporary romances but neither of her books have worked for me yet no matter how much I want them to.

Longest Book: Goliath by Scott Westerfeld at 543 pages

Shortest Book: Ember by Bettie Sharpe-a quickie at 141 pages; I highly recommend this because it's available for free on her website!

Year Stats:

Total Books Read: 305

Total Pages Read: 90,740

Average Length of Book: 298 pages

Average Rating of Book: 3.52

By Genre:
Mystery/Thriller-0
YA/MG-27
Romance-1

Classics-0

Science Fiction/Fantasy-0

Non-Fiction-3
Historical Fiction-1
Short Stories-0
Other-1

Challenge Updates:

Contemps: 1 read, 17 total

Cozy: 0 read, 5 total

British Books: 1 read, 39 total

YA Debut: 8 read, 43 total

Ebook: 11 read, 100 total

Source:

Home Library-14

Own/Borrowed/Won-3

Booksneeze-1

Netgalley-8

Other ebook source-4

Audiobook-0
Amazon Vine-3

Stats for Previous Months: January; February; March; April; May; June; July

Books Read:
273. Life's Biggest Questions by Erik Thoennes
274. I'm Not Her by Janet Gurtler
275. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
276. Moonglass by Jessi Kirby
277. Compulson by Heidi Ayarbe
278. A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young
279. Ember by Bettie Sharpe
280. Fury by Elizabeth Miles
281. Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer
282. The Rites and Wrongs of Janice Wills
283. Babe in Boyland by Jodi Gehrman
284. A Vision of Lucy by Margaret Brownley
285. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
286. Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter
287. Be the People by Carol M. Swain
288. Fail Harder by failblog
289. Witchlanders by Lena Coakley
290. The Demon's Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan
291. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
292. The Wolf of Tebron by CS Lakin
293. In Trouble by Ellen Levine
294. Bitter End by Jennifer Brown
295. Pearl by Jo Knowles
296. This Girl is Different by JJ Johnson
297. Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay
298. Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma
299. Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera
300. Cat Vs Human by Yasmine Surovec
301. The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell
302. Okay For Now by Gary Schmidt
303. Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
304. Prada and Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard
305. Ripple by Mandy Hubbard

July Stats

Info:
Looking Forward to August: I have already planned out my month and I'm super excited about what's on tap. I have some more Netgalley reviews coming, reviews of Supernaturally, Nightshade, and Wolfsbane, plus some less-publicized YA books. I'm going to keep reading and enjoying myself.  Of course, I also started my new job (!) so that will cut into my reading time. But it's totally worth it.

Looking Back at July: I participated in RedHouseBooks Netgalley July, reading 15 books. Unfortunately more than a few were not to my taste and I requested about as many as I read, meaning that my queue has not shrunk despite my good intentions. Oh, well-here's always Netgalley October!

I also attended my second book signing and hosted my first giveaway, which I think was a rousing success. Thanks to everyone who entered and who followed my blog-I hope to continue providing quality book-related content and I hope you stick around! Happy reading!

Monthly Stats:

Books Read This Month: 37
Pages Read This Month: 10,519
Average Length of Book: 284 pages
Average Rating of Book: 3.74

Favorite Book: I'm going to pick Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick (review schedule for August 7) for the way it surprised me.

Most Disappointing Book: Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg; he talked about things I wasn't interested in and refused to dish out Hollywood gossip.

Longest Book:  What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen at 402 pages.

Shortest Book: Cat's Tale by Bettie Sharpe, a romance novella, at 104 pages.

Year Stats:

Total Books Read: 272 (in comparison, last year I read 277 books total)

Total Pages Read: 81,020

Average Length of Book: 298 pages

Average Rating of Book: 3.75

By Genre:
Mystery/Thriller-6
YA/MG-21
Romance-3

Classics-0

Science Fiction/Fantasy-1

Non-Fiction-6
Historical Fiction-0
Short Stories-0
Other-0

Challenge Updates:

Contemps: 0 read, 17 total

Cozy: 1 read, 5 total

British Books: 3 read, 38 total

YA Debut: 6 read, 35 total

Ebook: 16 read, 89 total

Source:

Home Library-17

Own/Borrowed/Won-2

Booksneeze-0

Netgalley-15

Other ebook source-1

Audiobook-0
Amazon Vine-2

Stats for Previous Months: January; February; March; April; May; June

Books Read (Link for those reviewed):
236. Cascade by Lisa T. Bergren
237. Tears of Pearl by Tasha Alexander
238. Winning the Culture War by Linda Hermann
239. Dangerous to Know by Tasha Alexander
240. When Christians Get It Wrong by Adam Hamilton
241. Abandon by Meg Cabot
242. Sister by Rosamund Lupton
243. My Favorite Band Does Not Exist by Robert T. Jeschonek
244. Wildefire by Karsten Knight
245. Cat's Tale: A Fairy Tale Retold by Bettie Sharpe
246. King Solomon by Philip Graham Ryken
247. What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen
248. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
249. The Sergeant's Lady by Susanna Fraser
250. Rakes and Radishes by Susanna Ives
251. Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart
252. Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick
253. After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn
254. Unnatural Issue by Mercedes Lackey
255. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher
256. Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg
257. Populazzi by Elise Allen
258. Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough
259. Bossypants by Tina Fey
260. Drop Dead Divas by Virginia Brown
261. Always a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough
262. Where I Want to Be by Adele Griffin
263. Angry Management by Chris Crutcher
264. The Alchemy of Murder by Carol McCleary
265. The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
266. The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg
267. Paradise Lust by Brook Wilensky-Lanford
268. Supernaturally by Kiersten White
269. Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz
270. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
271. Five 4ths of July by Pat Raccio Hughes
272. A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan

June Stats

Info:
Looking Forward to July: I've seen book buying bans around the blogosphere a lot but I don't think I've seen any banning people from checking books out at their library. Yet that is my plan for July because I have about 80 books on Netgalley to read.  If I concentrate on my e-books (with maybe a few books I own but haven't read yet), I think I can take a sizable chunk out of that number. I'll be participating in RedHouseBooks Netgalley July to further encourage me.  Happy reading!

Looking Back at June: Another good reading month albeit sucky on a personal level.  Like many Americans, I am unemployed and living with my parents.  I've seen loads of jobs for which I'm qualified but seem unable to get that first interview.  Any advice or prayer would be much appreciated.

I also felt overwhelmed with reviews so I decided that I didn't have to review every book I read.  In general, I'll review the YA books I read as well as ARCs I receive, but not necessarily anything else. I was putting way too much pressure on myself before. After making that decision, I felt much more relaxed and eager to review the books I did read.

Monthly Stats:

Books Read This Month: 37
Pages Read This Month: 11,362
Average Length of Book: 307
Average Rating of Book: 3.84

Favorite Book: Wedding of the Century and Other Stories-helped me fall back in love with the romance genre.

Most Disappointing Book: Love Story by Jennifer Echols-do you know the song "Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry? Yeah, that kind of describes the MC as well as my feelings toward the book.

Longest Book:  Ironically Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld at a weighty 485 pages

Shortest Book: Summer's Crossing by Julie Kagawa, the 47-page Puck novella

Year Stats:

Total Books Read: 235

Total Pages Read: 70,501

Average Length of Book: 300 

Average Rating of Book: 3.84

By Genre:
Mystery/Thriller-3
YA/MG-25
Romance-4

Classics-0

Science Fiction/Fantasy-0

Non-Fiction-5
Historical Fiction-
Short Stories-0
Other-0

Challenge Updates:

Contemps: 3 read, 14 total

Cozy: 1 read, 4 total

British Books: 4 read, 35 total

YA Debut: 3 read, 29 total

Ebook: 12 read, 73 total

Source:

Home Library-21

Own/Borrowed/Won-1

Booksneeze-1

Netgalley-6

Other ebook source-6

Audiobook-0
Amazon Vine-2

Stats for Previous Months: January; February; March; April; May

Books Read (Link for those reviewed):
199. The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
200. My Life, The Theater, and Other Tragedies by Allen Zadoff
201. The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
202. Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales
203. Wedding of the Century and Other Stories by Mary Jo Putney, Kristin James, and Charlotte Featherstone
204. Ash by Malinda Lo
205. Bumped by Megan McCaffetry
206. Tighter by Adele Griffin
207. Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
208. Sharks and Boys by Kristen Tracey
209. Mad About the Duke by Elizabeth Boyle
210. The Waiting Place by Eileen Button
211. Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
212. And the Rest is History by Marlene Wagman-Geller
213. Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind by Ellen F. Brown and John Wiley, Jr.
214. A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James
215. Killer on a Hot Tin Roof by Livia J. Washburn
216. Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda
217. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
218. Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins
219. William &Catherine: Their Story by Andrew Morton
220. Plain Kate by Erin Bow
221. The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
222. Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands by Roger L. Di Silvestro
223. Family by Micol Ostow
224. The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
225. Summer's Crossing by Julie Kagawa
226. The Royal Treatment by Lindsey Leavitt
227. Lost Voices by Sarah Porter
228. Dark Goddess by Charwat Sadda
229. In the Shadow of the Lamp by Susanne Dunlap
230. The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller
231. Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn
232. Love Story by Jennifer Echols
233. Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon
234. Back When You Were Easier to Love by Emily Wing Smith
235. Mr. Monk is Cleaned Out by Lee Goldberg

April Stats

Info (sorry for length):

This was a hard month because I had my thesis due April 15th. I was also sad that I didn't get to participate in the readathon April 9th-10th but I still had an AMAZING reading month with 53 books read.  In fact, I increased my goodreads challenge from 250 to 300 books; we'll see how that goes.

April marked the start of judging for the YA Best Overlooked Book Battle of 2011. I couldn't wait to get started; see this post for more info. Asterisks denote the books I read this month for the battle. Some observations: some of these books were probably overlooked because they're LONG!  Also most of the ones I read were contemporary/historical, which confirms for me that paranormal romance gets most of the buzz despite the greatness of contemporary.  I prefer contemporary as I've mentioned before and I enjoyed this chance to read more. I also read very few books with white upper-middle class females; instead more male protagonists and persons of color appeared.  Once the shortlist is posted on The Shady Glade, I will post my personal top 10.

Because of the judging, Netgalley and my challenges were largely ignored so that will be more of a focus for May although I think I'm on track for all because I didn't sign up for many.  A couple of books I absolutely adored will be also be reviewed.  I would say my usual mix of largely YA plus some adult books holds true again for May.

Monthly Stats:

Books Read This Month: 53
Pages Read This Month: 16,154
Average Length of Book: 311
Average Rating of Book: 3.95

Favorite Book: (It's my blog so I'm picking three this month) Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt; The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan; and Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher

Most Disappointing Book: A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine

Longest Book: Four Novels by R.K. Narayan at 609 pages (as this is a collection of four novels, that is not surprising)

Shortest Book: Aya by Marguerite Abouet, 96 pages (graphic novel)

Year Stats:

Total Books Read: 157

Total Pages Read: 46,331

Average Length of Book: 295

Average Rating of Book: 3.95

By Genre:
Mystery/Thriller-1
YA/MG-43
Romance-1

Classics-3

Science Fiction/Fantasy-0

Non-Fiction-2
Historical Fiction-0
Short Stories-0
Other-3

Challenge Updates:

Contemps: 2 read, 9 total

Cozy: 0 read, 2 total

British Books: 5 read, 27 total

YA Debut: 3 read, 16 total

Ebook: 8 read, 43 total

Source:

Home Library-0

School Library-37

Own/Borrowed-5

Booksneeze-0

Netgalley-4

Other ebook source-4

Audiobook-1
Amazon Vine- 2

Read for school: 5

Read for pleasure: 48

Stats for Previous Months: January; February; March

Books Read (Link for those reviewed):

105. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

106. Godaan/Gift of a Cow by Premchand

107. Waterfall by Lisa Tawni Bergren

108. The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John le Carre

109. The Perfect Scandal by Delilah Marvelle
110. Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt
111. The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter
112. Heretics by Jonathan Wright
*113. Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson
*114. The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding
*115. The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
116. Pancatantra translated by Patrick Olivelle
117. Shift by Jeri Smith-Ready
118. The Summer Before Boys by Nora Raleigh Baskin
*119. The Thin Executioner by Darren Shan
*120. Compromised by Heidi Ayarbe
*121. Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth
*122. The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
123. Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury
*124. Winter's End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat
*125. The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger
*126. Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson
*127. Carpe Diem by Autumn Cornwell
*128. The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke
*129. Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell
130. Samskara by U.R. Anantha Murthy
*131. The 10 P.M. Question by Kate De Goldi
*132. The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose by Mary Hooper
*133. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson
*134. Crowned by Julie Linker
135. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
136. Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard
*137. On Viney's Mountain by Joan Donaldson
*138. The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell
139. A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine
*140. Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
*141. John Belushi is Dead by Kathy Charles
142. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
*143. Threads and Flames by Esther Friesner
*144. Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt
*145. A Little Wanting Song by Cath Crowley
*146. The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle
*147. Adios, Nirvana by Conrad Wesselhoeft
*148. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
*149. The Last Knight by Hilari Bell
*150. Alien Invasions and Other Inconveniences by Brian Yansky
151. The Magic World of Orson Welles by James Naremore
152. Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg
*153. Aya by Marguerite Abouet
*154. Eon by Alison Goodman
*155. Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller
156. Four Novels by R.K. Narayan
*157. Nevermore by Kelly Creagh

March Stats

Info:

I had my first experience with EM Forster and ended disappointed.  Now this is a guy who said, "I am a Jane Austenite, and therefore slightly imbecile about Jane Austen" so I really want to like him but I did not.  Should I still give A Room With a View or Howards End or a different book a try or just give up on him (for now at least)?

I discovered that I have very high expectations for fantasy or paranormal or dystopian YA that tends to result in disappointment; hyped books also tend to make me unhappy although not always. I feel like I hold contemporary to an entirely different standard which you might be able to see reflected in my ratings and reviews. I don't know if it's because I prefer contemporary nor do I know why I prefer contemporary but for me contemporary > paranormal.

I also had some slow reading periods as my schoolwork increased but then really good reading periods such as my spring break.  I still have plenty of reviews planned, largely ebooks from Netgalley and Simon and Schuster's GalleyGrab (an awesome program).  I was also invited to become a part of Amazon's Vine program so I will be reviewing books from that.  And of course I am a frequent visitor at my library.

April also marks the start of judging for the YA Best Overlooked Book Battle of 2011. I can't wait to get started; see this post for more info.

Monthly Stats:

Books Read This Month: 36
Pages Read This Month: 11,133
Average Length of Book: 309 pages
Average Rating of Book: 3.81

Favorite Book: One of Our Thursdays Is Missing by Jasper Fforde

Least Favorite Book: The Trial by Franz Kafka 

Longest Book: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, 700 pages

Shortest Book: The Manchurian Candidate by Greil Marcus, 75 pages

Year Stats:

Total Books Read: 104

Total Pages Read: 30,177

Average Length of Book: 290

Average Rating of Book: 3.81

By Genre:
Mystery-1
YA/MG-19
Romance-4

Classics-3

Science Fiction/Fantasy-1

Non-Fiction-5
Historical Fiction-3
Short Stories-0
Other-0

Challenge Updates:

Contemps: 4 read, 7 total

Cozy: 1 read, 2 total

British Books: 6 read, 22 total

YA Debut: 1 read, 8 total

Ebook: 13 read, 35 total

Source:

Home Library-0

School Library-14

Own/Borrowed-9

Booksneeze-0

Netgalley-9

Other ebook source-4

Audiobook-0

Read for school: 4

Read for pleasure: 32

Stats for Previous Months: January; February;

Books Read (Link for those reviewed):
69. Found in Translation by Roger Bruner and Kristi Rae Bruner
70. She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell
71. The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher
72. Ten Miles Past Normal by Frances O'Roark Dowell
73. You Wish by Mandy Hubbard
74. The Manchurian Candidate by Greil Marcus
75. One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
76. Stay by Deb Caletti
77. Wither by Lauren DeStefano
78. Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho by Stephen Rebello
79. Matched by Ally Condie
80. The Making of Star Wars by JW Rinzler
81. The Trial by Franz Kafka
82. Everything I Was by Corinne Demas
83. Catching Katie by Robin Lee Hatcher
84. The Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder
85. Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (Reread)
86. Bless the Bride by Rhys Bowen
87. Savannah Grey by Cliff McNish
88. Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler
89. The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen
90. Small Acts of Amazing Courage by Gloria Whalen
91. William and Kate by Christopher Andersen
92. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
93. Invincible Summer by Hannah Moskowitz
94. Guardian of the Gate by Michelle Zink
95. Rival by Sara Bennett Wealer
96. William and Kate by Robin Nunn
97. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
98. So Shelly by Ty Roth
99. Cinderella: Ninja Warrior by Maureen McGowan
100. The Making of The Empire Strikes Back by JW Rinzler
101. The Betrayal of Maggie Blair by Elizabeth Laird
102. The Lightkeeper's Ball by Colleen Coble
103. Entwined by Heather Dixon
104. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

February Stats

Info:
I had another pretty good month (not quite as good as January but still...) reading 27 books!  I didn't do as well on some of my challenges as I would have liked but I'm progressing nicely on the Contemps and I will work harder on the others in the future because I definitely want to complete all of them.  I did have a slump between February 14-18 but I recovered.

As I worked on my review archives this weekend, I noticed that they seemed somewhat unwieldy because I have now reviewed quite a lot of books.  If you have a chance, I'd love to know what you think of them and how you prefer to search for reviews on someone's site.  Do you like author or title? Would a series page be helpful? Since I review many different genres, would a page for each genre be helpful? Any recommendations would be appreciated.

In March, I will continue reviewing books including some South Asian literature that I'm reading for a class and lots of YA.  Plus after having so much fun with Oliver Twist, I'm also participating in Allie at A Literary Odyssey's The Three Musketeers Readalong-I think there's still time to sign up if you want to join us!

Monthly Stats:

Books Read This Month: 27
Pages Read This Month: 8,435
Average Length of Book: 312
Average Rating of Book: 3.87

Favorite Book: Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund

Least Favorite Book: Look to the East by Maureen Lang

Longest Book: A tie between Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult at 466

Shortest Book: 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth by The Oatmeal, 152

Year Stats:

Total Books Read: 68

Total Pages Read: 19,044

Average Length of Book: 280

Average Rating of Book: 3.86

By Genre:
Mystery-1
YA/MG-14
Romance-2

Classics-2

Science Fiction/Fantasy-0

Non-Fiction-3
Historical Fiction-2
Short Stories-1
Other-2

Challenge Updates:

Contemps: 4 read, 7 total

Cozy: 0 read, 1 total

British Books: 3 read, 15 total

YA Debut: 3 read, 6 total

Ebook: 9 read, 22 total

Source:

Home Library-0

School Library-14

Own/Borrowed-4

Booksneeze-0

Netgalley-8

Other ebook source-1

Audiobook-0

Read for school: 2

Read for pleasure: 25

Stats for Previous Months: January

Books read (If they've been reviewed, link)
42. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
43. Deadly Vows by Brenda Joyce
44. Tempestuous by Lesley Livingston
45. Freefall by Mindi Scott
46. 5 Very Good Reasons... by The Oatmeal
47. Fixing Delilah by Sarah Ockler
48. Kate by Claudia Joseph
49. What Can't Wait by Ashley Hope Perez
50. Selected Short Stories by Rabindranath Tagore
51. Girl, Stolen by April Henry
52. Ransome's Honor by Kaye Dacus
53. XVI by Julia Karr
54. Prisoners in the Palace by Michaela MacColl
55. The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell
56. Why Jesus? by William H. Willimon
57. Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund
58. A Passage to India by EM Forster
59. Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
60. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
61. Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult
62. Look to the East by Maureen Lang
63. The Atomic Weight of Secrets by Eden Unger Bowditch
64. Rugged and Relentless by Kelly Eileen Hake
65. The Heroine's Bookshelf by Erin Blakemore
66. The Queen's Daughter by Susan Coventry
67. Outside In by Maria V. Snyder
68. Trapped by Michael Northrop

Year End Stats

2010 Summary:

I'm starting to be pretty proud of my blog-I'm still thinking about a custom blog design and debating what I want it to look like. I've grown in followers and I've followed a lot more blogs than I did at the start of the year. I can't wait to see what happens next year, to meet more bloggers, to participate in readalongs and challenges (although for the first half of the year, at least, I'm keeping them pretty minimal.)

Top 12 Books (Favorite Book from Each Month)

January: Candide by Voltaire (This was surprising to see-I don't remember picking that)

February: What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

March: Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery

April: House Rules by Jodi Picoult

May: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

June: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

July: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

August: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

September: The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

October: Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar

November: Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

December: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

The Year: Anne of Green Gables (I received the set of all eight Anne books this year for Christmas so hopefully I will be able to read them all this year)

Total Pages Read: 86,976
Total Books Read: 277
Average Length of Book: about 314 pages (pretty long)
Average Rating of Book: 3.4 stars

This is the first year that I tracked how many and what books I read; I've probably had similar reading habits before this but I cannot confirm this.  I can't wait for next year to compare!

Break-down by Genre
Non-fiction: 76
Classic: 14
YA/MG: 88
Mystery/Thriller: 44
Sci-Fi/Fantasy: 14
Romance: 16
Historical Fiction: 16
Short-Story Collection: 4
Other: 4

Other fun stats:
Number of Agatha Christies Read: 21 (a goodly number)
Number of Series started: 34 (some I finished)
Number of ebooks: 15 (will be much higher this year due to my nook)
Books I read specifically because of other bloggers: 37 (sometimes I can't remember so this may be lower than actual)
Number of people I got to read The Hunger Games: 4 (and three of them finished the trilogy!)

2011 Resolutions

As it's the start of a new year, I wanted to write some:

Resolutions:
1. Don't feel pressured to beat my totals from previous months and years.  I can be competitive but it's not the quantity so much as quality.  As I'm hoping to read some more classics this year, my totals might fall and I don't want to panic about it.

2. Don't feel pressured to post every day.  I have a pretty busy schedule for my last (!) semester of college and I don't know how much time I'll have to read.  Of course I will still be posting at least a couple of times a week because I can't not read but I don't want to pressure myself.

3. Reach 100 followers.  I know blogging is not about how many people you can get to follow you but I would still like to reach this goal. I doubt I'll ever be a huge blog and one of the perks of being smaller, I feel, is that you can read more for yourself and less for challenges, reviews, others, etc.

4. Continue trying to comment more on other blogs. I read loads of blogs every day on google reader but I don't always click through.  Usually my only thought is "good review" but I should try harder.

5. Clean out my google reader.  I have loads of blogs that haven't been posted on in months and it intimidates me that I have so many.  Additionally I follow some writing blogs that aren't very useful to me as I don't want to be a writer; I will instead content myself with reading what people write.

6. Work on my reviews.  Sometimes I feel that I write really great reviews...and other times I know they are inadequate.  I want to continue trying to find the perfect length for each review and to mention what I liked and didn't like as clearly as possible.

7. Finish all of my challenges.  Some are harder than others but I only signed up for five so it shouldn't be too difficult.

8. This connects back to the first and second: have fun!  I started this blog because I love reading and I don't want to lose sight of that.

Happy New Year's everyone!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Since it's my birthday, I wanted to do something a little different instead of my usual book review (although I'll be back tomorrow!) and I wanted to share the list of My Desert Island Books:

1. The Complete Jane Austen-P&P is my favorite book but since I'm kind of greedy, I'd want all of them.
2. The Bible-I'm a Christian and while Austen is first, if I only got one book, I'd want this one (in an English translation)
3. Poison Study by Maria V Snyder-obviously one of my favorite books, this combines several genres (fantasy, mystery, action, romance) in a pleasant brew; there are two sequels which aren't as good but should be read for more Yelena/Valek
4. The Complete Sherlock Holmes Stories, Volume 1
5. The Complete Sherlock Holmes Stories, Volume 2-As they're in separate volumes, they each must take an entry on the list; anyway I can't think of a fifth choice so it doesn't matter too much anyway.

What's your list? Please share in comments or leave a link to a blog post!

Happy Thanksgiving!

To my American friends: Happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy your meal and I'll see you tomorrow!

1 Year

This is technically my one-year blogoversary; however I don't really think of it as such because I basically took a break for most of January and February.  Thus I will not be celebrating anything at this point.  Hopefully I will plan something awesome next year in February to celebrate my entry in to sustained blogging.

Otherwise, thank you for reading and have a great day!

October Stats

October Sum Up:

Books Read This Month: 21

Favorite Book: Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar (review upcoming this week)

Least Favorite Book: The Deathly Hallows Lectures by John Granger (review before the film comes out)

Longest Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens (finally finished this 817 page tome)

Shortest Book: The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt, a novella of 70 pages

Most Read Genre: I actually had 5 classics this month (yay-me!) but 7 non-fiction books for school and for fun comprise the most read genre. Oddly I only read 1 YA which I hope to fix this month, I have 6 with me right now plus some other books for review.

Total Pages Read This Year: 72,876

Total Books Read: 231

Plans for November: I have decided that it will be Netgalley November for me; I have some great books on there and I want to read them and promote them.  The other thing is that I will be doing Movie Saturdays where I talk about a film that I've watched lately; one of my best friends and I are watching movies Saturday evenings so I'll talk about the previous week.

September Stats

September Sum Up
I had a huge slump these past two weeks; none of the books I had around me were appealing and I had a ton of homework because I'm going away this weekend and won't have internet access and thus won't be able to blog/comment/tweet/etc.

Books Read This Month: 27 (not bad)

Favorite Book: The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

Least Favorite Book: So many options but I think I will choose Harry Potter Should Have Died.

Longest Book: Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay, 459 pages

Shortest Book: Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie, 115 pages

Most Read Genre: As I am back at school, non-fiction has won with 10.

Total Pages Read This Year: 66,975

Total Books Read: 210

October Plans: I have Small Gods by Terry Pratchett which will complete my Discworld challenge.  Otherwise just continue to interact with other bloggers and strength my review writing skills.

August Stats

Sum Up
This was a remarkably productive month as I read through my romance books very quickly and then completed seven books for the readathon.  I'm still a bit behind on those reviews but I will get to them.  In all I have reviews prepared through the middle of September and I keep reading and writing more!  I'm super happy and I've got really cool books in the queue.

Books Read This Month: 28 *does a happy dance* Best month yet this year!

Favorite Book: The only book I gave a five this month was Half the Sky by Nicholas D Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn but I think my favorite is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.

Least Favorite Book: I had quite a few I didn't like but I will choose Ten Things I Love about You by Julia Quinn because I had the highest expectations and I usually love Quinn's works but I had several problems with it.

Longest Book: In most months, The Book Thief at 550 pages would easily win but this is also the month I read the Millennium Trilogy with The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson being the longst at 630 pages.

Shortest Book: Technically it's not a full book but Winter's Passage by Julie Kagawa was a mere 59 pages

Most Read Genre: YA with 11, and thanks to my Romance Week, I had a total of 7 romance reads. 

Total Pages Read This Year: 59,414

Total Books Read: 183 (!)

Challenges Update: I read The Book Thief which is on my FITG list which I had totally forgotten.  I am also working on Bleak House which goes with the FITG.  I still have one book for Pratchett and two for South Asian authors to read.  I will be choosing books for those soon because I want to complete my challenges this year (giving that I've already completed two and only have these two left, that shouldn't be difficult).

September Plans: I've written out a schedule: I have those readathon YA books that are really good so that's upcoming; I'm exploring some different memes to help me fill my month; I'm starting classes again including an American Lit course so I will hopefully be reviewing some of that.

July Stats

This was a very satisfying month with four books receiving a 5 star rating and nothing below a 3. I also read mostly my own books which gave me great satisfaction.

Books Read This Month: 21

Favorite Book: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (surprise)

Least Favorite Book: How to Be a Movie Star by William J. Mann

Longest Book: Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols (which I guess is technically two but...) at 587 pages

Shortest Book: God in the Flesh by Don Everts, a mere 160 pages

Most Read Genre: YA with 9 although non-fiction made a strong showing with 5.

Total Pages Read This Year: 49,682

Total Books Read: 155

Challenges Update: I read Thud by Terry Pratchett and it will be posted later this week. I desperately need to work on my Fill-in-the-Gaps challenge because I'm supposed to read twenty of its books a year whereas I have only read 6 I think.

Updates!

Job: I have a summer job! I'm not going to talk about it because a. I've read stories about people being fired for talking about their jobs online and b. it has nothing to do with books so it really doesn't fit with my conception of my blog. Unfortunately it is a full time job and it has already cut in to my reading time significantly. I have to work on rearranging how I spend my time in order to maximize how much I read. I am still hoping to post everyday but I recognize that that might not be possible. Please bear with me.

Reading Plans: I have finished most of the library books I had checked out and my goal for the rest of the summer is to only check out Agatha Christies and history books because I have many books on my shelves that I really want to read but are shunted aside in favor of the books which must be returned. A taste of those books: Endless Summer, Shade, Inside Out, The Book Thief and more! So they're fantastic books that I've been dying to read and that I will now be focusing upon. I still have some more library books but then I'm shifting.

May Stats

I didn't have the best reading month until the end when I saw that I hadn't read very many books and pushed myself to read more. Overall the books I chose were somewhat meh. I enjoyed most of them and I really liked a few but there is nothing that stands out for me and that I plan to reread because it meant so much to me. This was also the month I reached 100 books which means I'm well on track for 200 books this year.

Books Read This Month: 19

Favorite Book: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Worst Book: Nothing really stands out; maybe Fingersmith since it's a DNF

DNF: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Longest Book: The Ninth Daughter by Barbara Hamilton

Shortest Book: There Are No Words by Mary Calhoun Brown

Most Read Genre: YA, 8

Total Pages Read: 36,844

Total Books Read: 115

Challenges Update: I didn't do anything for my challenges although I'm planning to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë to finish that challenge and Thud by Terry Pratchett to further that challenge.

Plans for June: Continue work on my challenges; Read some of the books I've won; Continue reading my Netgalley books; Read the lovely stack of YA books I've been lucky enough to check out of my library; I'm not the biggest soccer fan but I think I may end up posting (or at least tweeting) a bit about the World Cup-I'm rooting for the US (natch) and then Germany-if they get knocked out early, I'm not sure who I'll support; I got a job (yay!) but I think it will interfere with my reading time (sad)

Reviewing: I also have decided that I will take the opportunity of the first of the month to update my reviews on goodreads and amazon as well as catalog my reviews on my review page.

Award

I received this award from Jessica at A Fanatic's Book Blog. Thank you so much!

7 Things About Me:

1. I love old movies especially those with Cary Grant.

2. I love Boy Meets World-especially episodes with good Cory-Topanga interaction.

3. My favorite book is Pride and Prejudice.

4. I name my teddy bears after presidents; hopefully someday I'll have bears for each of the presidents I like.

5. I love Broadway musicals; my favorite is Guys and Dolls (although I cannot recommend the movie)

6. While Cary Grant is my all-time favorite movie star, I currently have a big crush on Jake Gyllenhaal.

7. I think about time travel a lot. Not in how a person might accomplish it, but where I would travel if I could (I think it's because I'm a history major).

April Stats

Well my reading dropped off at the end of the month due to my classwork but overall I feel I had a pretty good month! I'm SO close to 100 books and I think I will reach that maybe halfway through May (how is it already May?)

Number of Books Read: 28-my best month yet!

Favorite: House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Least Favorite: Love Off Limits by Whitney Lyles and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Longest: House Rules

Shortest: In Bluebeard's Castle by George Steiner (for class)

Total Books Read This Year: 96

Total Pages Read This Year: 31,623

Plans for May: I have six books checked out for fun and I will be posting summer goals halfway through this month.

Challenge Updates:

-Another book (finally) done for the Brontë challenge. One more to go; I'm planning to go with Anne or a movie because I need a break after Wuthering Heights.

I'll be officially back on May 5 with a review of Shiver! Can't wait to see what's going on in the blogosphere!

A Break...

I'm very sorry but I will be taking a break until May 5 in order to finish all of my papers (it's a lot). I will also not be following blogs on google reader nor do I plan to be on twitter. I will post DWTS/Glee on Friday and April Wrap-Up on Saturday but that is all. When I return, I plan to review Wuthering Heights and Shiver as well as some great books I picked up to read to celebrate finishing my papers. I hope everybody has a great week and I will miss you!