Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Fiona, are you sure those are the ONLY questions you want answered! Ha!

I am moving this to General Book Related Banter...kay?

From one OCD Mod to another, I'm sure it'll be fine ;)

haha!

I'll start us off!
This year has been full of good books for me! I was able to get in a lot of reading over my summer (about 12 books in 3.5 months, which is good for me).
I think I will reach my goal--I've got 43 or 44 books read and I want to get 50. I think by the time I polish off some for school and some I've been working on for fun, I'll be there! I'm planning on finishing The Last September today. I've read a lot of books this year that many people would define as classics--The French Lieutenant's Woman, Dracula, etc. Since I've been taking classes in them, a fair amount have been Gothic, American Lit (Jazz Age), and Irish Lit (not all of these are up because some are poetry/drama anthologies). I've read a lot of YA.
New authors? I've discovered Neil Gaiman, whose work I adore! I also discovered Alan Moore. I can't wait to read more. I've loved Coraline, Stardust, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Dracula, but honorable mention goes to I Capture the Castle and The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats (haven't quite read them all). I think the stinker award goes to Beyond Ragnarok.
It's been different from the year before because I just got a lot more books read. Yay!
I don't remember how long I've been a GR or TNBBC member, but I've become more active in this group and made more GR friends because of it. I've started following some awesome blogs of people in this group and my TBR is waaaaaay longer.
Totally psyched for another awesome year of reading!

I didn't set any specific reading goals this year, other than to only read for enjoyment and try to stretch out of my "comfort zone" a bit. I think I've accomplished this by reading more from the fantasy/sci-fi genre. Previously I've had limited exposure to the genre.

Favorite New Authors Discovered:
Louise Penny
Jefferson Bass
Michael Marshall Smith

Most Loved Books (Yes, there are a lot. There was more before I culled my list):
A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz
Fool - Christopher Moore
Only Forward - Michael Marshall Smith
Dog On It - Spencer Quinn
A Breath of Snow and Ashes - Diana Gabaldon
How I Paid for College - Marc Acito
The Last Child - John Hart
The Kind One - Tom Epperson
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
A Kiss Before the Apocalypse - Thomas E. Sniegoski
Still Life - Louise Penny

Real Stinkers: None this year! I've been very lucky.

Member of Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ since August of 2008, TNNBC since the same, and a couple of other groups for only a few months. The people I've met here have opened my reading horizons by mentioning and reviewing books I had not heard of from other sources. And there have been some great recommendations, especially from the crime fiction genre. Now whenever I read a great book, my first thought is how I can't wait to log onto Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and share it with my friends! My Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ friends have also been responsible this year for propelling me back into the Outlander saga, for which I am grateful because it's a great series (ahem except for The Fiery Cross ahem).

Ok Fiona, you ask for it.

This year has been momentous for my family and I.
In January ,my daughter,who is my baby, moved to Oregon. In April one of my younger sisters, who had leukemia, and had stem cell therapy had a relapse. Unfortunately she past away this September. Then my mother-in-law passed away in November. My son and his wife will be moving to Virginia in December.

Now for the good stuff. My girl came back in May to walk for her college graduation, we all were very excited. Then I joined GR and have made many wonderful connections here. I have expanded my knowledge and writing skills. I thank you all for that. I now belong to five clubs here at goodreads and have read many wonderful books. I am looking forward to the classics a few of us will read together after the first of the year.

And the best so far, is my daughter surprised us with a visit for the thanksgiving holiday. She will be here for one week.

This is a good idea, Fiona. I was a member of this group a while ago but left because I just couldn't keep up with it. I've got more time now so I decided to rejoin (I just posted all this information in the Newbie section).

My goal for 2009 is to read 100 books. In 1998 I started keeping track of all the books I've read year by year(I wish I had started this way earlier. Wouldn't it be neat to have a list of all the books you've EVER read?) Looking back through my lists I saw that I've read an average of 50 books per year and last year I read a total of 64. My goal was going to be 75 this year but then some other people I know from GR decided to try for 100, so I thought, "why not?". So far I've read 82 so I don't know if I'm going to make it.

A trend that I noticed this year in my reading is that I'm really into YA. I've always liked it but since joining Wild Things I've almost become obsessed with it. Some of my new favorite YA authors are John Green (Looking for Alaska was one of my favorite books this year), Jerry Spinelli, Sherman Alexie, and Ellen Hopkins. I want to read all the books by these authors.

Of course I still love adult literature and because of GR, or more specifically the nice people I've met on GR, I have come to love many books I never would have read without prompting. These include The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and Shogun by James Clavell (which I'm reading right now).

I joined GR in December 2007 and I think it was one of the best things I've ever done. I have always loved reading but this site has really opened my eyes to books and authors I never would have tried. I've met so many nice people and feel that I've made some lifelong friends. There's nothing better than talking with people who cherish reading like I do (not many people that I know in "real life" like reading as much as I do). I know if it wasn't for GR I never would have set the goal to read 100 books this year. Even if I don't reach it I've really enjoyed working towards it and so far I've read more books this year than I have in any other year.

Well I don't know if I can get 2500 words, but here goes :)
I didn't set a goal this year to read any specific number of books. I do like keeping track of all my book on GR though - So far this year I've finished 65 books, mostly all fiction.
2009 has been a GREAT year for books for me. I've read some really fantastic ones and discovered some new authors who I just love. Just some of the hits for this year were:
A Fraction of the Whole
The Shadow of the Wind
The Poisonwood Bible
Brazzaville Beach.
The Book of Joe
Skeletons at the Feast
The Book Thief

There are many more that I loved this year, including East of Eden by Steinbeck. Surprising I had never read anything by him. After the holidays, The Grapes of Wrath is on my list.
New authors that I fell in love with this year include:
Jonathan Tropper
Steve Toltz
William Boyd
Chris Bohjalian

There were just a few that I couldn't finish. I always hate to post that I didn't like a book, because maybe I just wasn't in the right kind of mood to read it at that time and I would hate to put anybody off of reading them. But I just couldn't get through:
Atonement - Ian McKewan
Where the River Ends - Charles Martin
The Boneman's Daughters - Ted Dekker
and I can't believe I finished it, because I really didn't enjoy it at all was The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Melissa Banks

But by and large 2009 was a banner year for enjoyable reading.

I've been a member of GR since May of this year I think and it has opened up a whole new world of books for me. I've always been a reader, but I normally would stick to popular fiction and usually the same authors, but with all the great recommendations between this group and the other one that I am a part of, I've expanded my horizons and my TBR list is growing at an alarming rate!

I've had a pretty good run of it this year - as far as reading goes, at least. Personally... not so much (challenging new responsibilities at my job which has been changing every couple of months or so, had to put down two dogs - one in July and one just this past Thursday, etc. etc.).

I did set a goal of reading 130 books this year, and I accomplished that by the end of September. Not sure if I'll set a higher goal next year, or if my goal will be different - by geography, or time period, alphabetically.

I found a couple new-to-me authors (Gabrielle Roy, Daphne du Maurier, etc.) and some I return to constantly (Margaret Atwood, Stewart O'Nan).

I wasn't as excited by I Capture the Castle or The Shadow of the Wind - don't kick me out of this thread, Fiona. :)

Last year I read a total of 109 books, so I increased my reading this year. A lot of that has to do with TNBBC and Cynthia's Seasonal Challenges. However, I probably will not be participating in the Winter Challenge, so I'll see if my reading decreases again. I don't think so as I still tend to read at the same frantic pace whether there is a challenge involved or not.

I joined GR in May 2007 and joined TNBBC last fall/winter, I think. I've joined a couple other groups since, and some of them give me new ideas of books to read but I think I still find the majority of my books just by cruising in the library on my own.

My goal this year was to read at least 100 books. I reached it about two weeks ago. I also wanted to read more books from my own bookshelf as opposed to the library, but that didn't work out too well. I've now read 103 books and out of those, only 48 were ones I previously owned.

This year, I just realized, I read a lot of YA. About half of the books I've read this year have been YA. I've also been reading more horror, which is great because I just found out I like it quite a lot. One thing I noticed was that last year most of my reads were mysteries and/or chick-lits (throughout the beginning of the year) and this year I've rarely read any chick-lit and I haven't read as much mystery.

New Authors I've Discovered This Year:
Stephen King (I've only read The Stand and Misery, but I loved them both and I really can't wait to get to more of his books)

Alexandra Sokoloff (She's a horror writer and her book The Harrowing was my first foray into non-psychological horror)

Neil Gaiman (I loved Stardust so much that I can ignore the fact that I didn't love The Graveyard Book or Coraline and look forward to reading more of him)

Books I Loved:
Heartsick-Chelsea Cain
The Gemma Doyle Trilogy-Libba Bray
The Hummingbird's Daughter-Luis Alberto Urrea
The Stand-Stephen King
The Price and The Harrowing-Alexandra Sokoloff
The Tale of Despereaux Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread-Kate DiCamillo
Garden Spells-Sarah Addison Allen
And so many more

Books I was Disappointed In:
Handle With Care-Jodi Picoult
Reading Lolita in Tehran-Azar Nafisi
The Last Juror-John Grisham

I joined GR in July, 2008 and TNBBC in October, 2008. It's helped me branch out to other genres and to pick up books I would have otherwise not picked up. It's also gotten my TBR pile wayyy up there. And has my bookshelves bulging constantly.

I've been reading like crazy this year, and generally its been because of Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ. I loved reading as a child but going out of my comfort zone with books was always a challenge. I always stuck to the same authors and never branched out much which made reading material limited and as a teen I didn't read a great deal.
Since joining Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ in March this year, I've branched out, my would-like-to-read list has grown rapidly and my to-read list (books I've purchased or borrowed currently) has meant that my bookshelf is bursting at the seams (of which I blame the 'your latest splurge' thread for encouraging me to expand my library). I've been spending more and more time at the local library too and come home with a large stack of books each time.

I set myself a goal of 100 books for 2009 not long after joining Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and am now at 98 and 2/3 of the way through 99, so I'll definitely get there.


Highlights this year:

Finnikin of the Rock - Melina Marchetta
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden (which sparked an interest in books set in Asia)
Crocodile on the Sandbank - Elizabeth Peters
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer
Shutter Island - Dennis Lehane
The City of Dreaming Books - Walter Moers
and several more
I've also added several classics to my read list this year.
Disappointments included:

Eat, Pray, Love One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia - Elizabeth Gilbert (not really my thing and I struggled to get through it)
Takeover- Lisa Black (Exciting storyline but poorly presented and irritating)
and a couple of others


I've also picked up some new authors to follow, including Lisa See, Kirsten Cashore, Patricia Cornwell, Agatha Christie and Audrey Niffenegger.

Unfortunately, my reading time is going to be cut down significantly at the beginning of next month as I'm going to start studying at home for a degree, so next year wont be as successful. Perhaps I should cut up my library card so that I'm not tempted to request a stack of books online!!

I love the threads you start, Fiona! They really make me feel like I'm getting to know everyone better.

There has been so many books I've loved this year! I really feel I had a pretty good reading year (all thanks to Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, and especially here in the group). I didn't really set a goal this year, but it's great just to keep track of the books I read, and it inspired me to set a goal for next year. I think I've read about 75 so far this year, so I'm going to try for 100 in 2010. Oh, and just read from my terrifyingly large owned TBR books (really, I mean it this time!)

Some new authors I finally got around to reading this year that I now love include:

David Mitchell
Haruki Murakami
Lance Carbuncle
David Maine

I joined Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ in March of 2008, but didn't find TNBBC until March of this year. It really ignited my passion for reading even more, and now I can't even imagine not having TNBBC to discuss all things books. Ever since joining Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, I try and read a lot of different books from different authors. It's great learning about so many different things, and I never feel like I'm in an author-rut.

Some books I LOVED this year: (I'll try and keep it short, but it'll be hard)

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Some I wasn't too happy with:

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (painful)
The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky (eh)

Joining TNBBC has made it physically impossible for me not to stop at any and every book sale and used bookstore I can find, but I LOVE it!

I have always hovered at +/- 100 books per year. THis year, largely as a result of the Seasonal Challenge, I already at around 150. I'll probably hit 160-165 by the end of the year. So that right there is something totally new for me. (and i think it is actually too much and I will set my goal at 120 next year.

My favorite books of the year were:
Ender's Game - LOVED this book. Am defniitely planning on reading more by him. For anyone who hasnt crossed the sci-fi barrier, this book is an excellent introduction. Think War Games.
The Poisonwood Bible
A Fine Balance - a beautiful, tragic story of life in India for the lower castes under Indira Ghandi
Salt A World History - absolutely fascinating history of the role that salt has had in shaping live around the globe from ancient times to present day. This was written so well and so educational.
The World Without Us - hypothesis about what would happen to the world if humans disappeared tomorrow. This really expanded the way I thought about the impact we have on our planet

I am actually really happy with the variety of books that made my list.

Worst books of the year:
The Enchantress of Florence - ugh. had to force myself to finish for my RLBC.
The Road - i guess people either love this or hate this. I was a hater. It was punishment for me to read it. Luckily, the formatting made it go by pretty quickly.
World Without End - a poor imitation of the first book. It seemed so clear to me that Follett was just trying to take advantage of the buzz from Oprah and the firt book to publish a sequel. I loved Pillars of the Earth, but thought this one was just so repetitious. Its like he just hit find and replace and changed the names of the characters from PotE and kept everything else the same.
Wise Blood A Novel - first read of O'Connors. won't be going back.

Fiona - You come up with the best questions.

I did not set a goal for books this year. I guess I am calling 2009 my base year. I did notice a few trends though. Trend number 1: as the months went on, the number of books that I read per month increased substantially. I think I only read one book all of January, but now am up to 6 or so books a month. Trend 2: I joined a couple of specialized groups on GR, and noticed that I am back to reading a HUGE amount of historical fiction, which has always been a love of mine, as well as more classics.

My favorite books this year were:

Song of Myself by Walt Whitman. I read this book for the seasonal challenge. I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to like it, but I actually LOVED it and even bought my own copy of Leaves of Grass because I enjoyed it so much.
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. I class this as the best Dennis Lehane book I have read so far (I have only read three of them).
Love Walked In and Belong to Me A Novel by Marisa de los Santos. Marisa de los Santos was a new author for me, and I fell in love with the way her writing flowed, and the way she developed her characters.
Honolulu by Alan Brennert. I really enjoyed the characters in this book, and the unusual view of Oahu that Brennert showed.

The only real stinker that I read this year was:
Assault on Paradise A Novel by Tatiana Lobo. I found this books writing style hard to follow, and the characters did not pull me in. In fact, I didn't even finish it.

A couple of new authors that I read that I really likes were:

Walt Whitman
Virginia Woolf
Marisa de los Santos
Jeaniene Frost
Alison Weir

There has been a huge difference in my reading over the past year. This is mostly due to two factors; joining GR and becoming an empty nester. Both my sons are off on their own now, so that gives me much more time to read than before. And GR - well, what can you say about GR? I joined in April of this year, and since then I have joined 9 groups and became an alternate mod of one group. My TBR list has burgeoned to 1200 books, I have begun reading authors and genres I never thought I would, I have found so many more good books from group reads and recommendations, and I have learned so much from the people that I talk to each day.

So, for next year, my goals will be to do better in the seasonal challenges, keep up with the groups, read 7 more classics, and possibly increase my reading to around 10 books per month or more.

So Fiona - Where's yours :)

I love your threads, by the way, you ask the greatest questions.

I've been having fun reading everyone's responses! Good stuff! I'm happy to hear people have mostly had more great reads than duds.

I'm much like Lyn: I didn't have any set goals, and my reading accelerated as the year went on. I *finally* got a library card a few months ago, and I discovered I could access not only the local public library but also another university library. Awesome!

My favorite books this year have been:
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Beggars in Spain by Nancy Kress
Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The worst thing I read this year was
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.
(sorry to all you Woolf fans!)

2009 has held way more straight-up fiction than I'm used to reading, so the volume and the overall genre change is new to me. I found GoodReads though a friend's twitter feed in July of this year. All of this year's favorite reads were either group reads or nominated to be a group read!

I'm so, so grateful to the immense amount of hive knowledge here!

Fiona, you do come up with some very good questions. I had a good time with this one and I'm enjoying reading everyone's. I'm looking forward to reading yours (hint)!

This is a good idea!
Cheers to you Beth for your list, I've been keeping a list of books read since 1992-total is at 1864!

This year seems down (45so far) New authors read Paul Auster(3),Iain M Banks(2),Neal Stephenson(2) There seems to be an emphasis on sci'fi and a spattering of classics.

Best so far:
New York Trilogy by Auster
Consider Phlebas by Banks
The Player of Games by Banks
The Stranger by Camus
The Martian Chroncles by Bradbury
Ethan From by Wharton
Snow Crash by Stephenson

Worst so far"
The Front by Cornwell
Twilight by Meyer
The Dangerous Days of Daniel X by Patterson

Cheers to you, Paul for YOUR list! 1864 books read? That's impressive! I like your avatar, by the way.

Thanks I forget where I got it from but I think it's one of the best cat pix!

I'll do this, but you asked for it and don't whine if you don't like my answers!! :)

I set myself a goal of 100 books. I think that I will exceed my goal, despite working on my 14th brick (I consider this to be a book with more than 600 pages) this year. I'm currently at 95 1/2.

I've tried to read a mix as far as genres go... Contemporary fiction, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction, classics, etc. I've read one or two non-fiction books, but none that would be classified strictly as "romance".

As far as authors, I've read a bunch of new ones (new to me anyway) this year, with mixed results.

My favorites have been Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Neverwhere, The Graveyard Book), Colleen McCullough (Tim and The Song of Troy), Joe Hill (Heart Shaped Box), Kristin Cashore (Graceling), Alexandre Dumas (The Count of Monte Cristo), John Lindqvist (Let the Right One In), and Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns).

Least favorites: de Sade (120 Days of Sodom), Toni Morrison (Beloved), Bernhard Schlink (The Reader)... and finally Jacqueline Carey (Kushiel's Dart), and Elizabeth Gaskell (North and South). These last two were disappointing because they both came so highly recommended by friends, and I just couldn't enjoy them like my friends did.

This is the first year that I really kept track of my reading, and the first year that I have reviewed everything that I've read. It definitely has made me look at books differently, knowing that I will have to explain my feelings about it to the world at large. I think it's made me a bit more analytical of myself, if not analytical of the books I've read.

I've been a member of GR since August 2008, and I think it has definitely altered my reading habits. Before joining GR, I would read the same group of books repeatedly... I would pick up a new book every once in a while, but for the most part, I would just stick to reading what I already had. This year, I've read only new books (again, new to me), and have not reread anything at all. I've also increased my book buying a tiny bit. If we all understand "tiny" to be like 500% or so. O_o

K.... lets give this a try.....

I have read many more historical fiction this year than I ever have. I have found that I am loving reading about WWII lately. But still love my medical suspense, and have went back and started reading some classics that I have always wanted to read.

I didn't set a goal, but I have probably read about 60 books this year. Low in number, but I started graduate school in Aug of this year working on my doctorate.... so my enjoyment reading has been drastically reduced.

I have read a great amount of new authors (to me anyway)... If I find one that I like, then I try to read as many of their books as I can find.

The best book I have read this year was: The Shadow of the Wind

The worst: Happiness Sold Separately......... wish I could get that 3 hrs of my life back!

I have ventured out more into the types of books that I read. I used to only read mysteries.... that got a little boring. I am so glad that I did venture out! So many wonderful books out there.

I joined GR and TNBBC in Dec 2007. My TBR list has grown drastically........ I own about 70 or so books that I have yet to read, but cant stay out of the bookstore to buy more!!!!

Paul wrote: "Thanks I forget where I got it from but I think it's one of the best cat pix!

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRReat Picture.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRReat Taste.
I didn't like twilight either.

carol (akittykat) wrote: "Paul wrote: "Thanks I forget where I got it from but I think it's one of the best cat pix!

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRReat Picture.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRReat Taste.
I didn't like twilight either."

I get that it's for YA but but the YA books I have read, The Giver even Harry Potter are readable for adults. When I was a teen I was reading Anne Rice,King, Flowers in the attic series....pretty dark stuff...LOL

I love reading these answers! I keep seeing Shutter Island on people's favorite lists so I should probably try to get my hands on a copy.

SHUTTER ISLAND oh yeah you must read it. Plan on reading the whole night through.hahahhahahahahaaha

I second that Carol. It was fantastic.

Kat wrote: "K.... lets give this a try.....

I have read many more historical fiction this year than I ever have. I have found that I am loving reading about WWII lately. But still love my medical suspense..."

Hi Kat,
Paul Rix here, You said about reading historical fiction, a genre I hate, yet 'The Reincarnation of Isaac Brock, by A.B. Robinson falls into that genre and I think it is probably the best book I have ever read!!! Over the years I've read literally 100s af books and I can't recall a better one.
By the way, I'm an author myself, you just might enjoy my current book, 'The Day the Ravens Died'.
I should add I write under the name 'Timothy Pilgrim'

carol (akittykat) wrote: "SHUTTER ISLAND oh yeah you must read it. Plan on reading the whole night through.hahahhahahahahaaha"

lol, this is very true.. I stayed up until 1 or 2 in the morning to knock over that one. Such a good book.

Kate wrote: "carol (akittykat) wrote: "SHUTTER ISLAND oh yeah you must read it. Plan on reading the whole night through.hahahhahahahahaaha"

lol, this is very true.. I stayed up until 1 or 2 in the morning to k..."

Pual Rix again, I was up all night with 'Isaac Brock' this never! happens to me!!!

I joined GR in March of this year, although I didn't do much with it until just recently when I joined this book club and my TBR list exploded. This is first book club I have ever been in and I love it so far!

This year was filled with many good books and only one stinker. I didn't set any goals, but you guys have inspired me to do so next year. I did join the Around the World Challenge, which I've been finding great for reading books you wouldn't normally pick up and expanding what I know about the rest of the world.

These are some new authors for me that I'm looking forward to reading more from:
Orson Scott Card
Barbara Kingsolver
Ursula K. LeGuin
Malcolm Gladwell
Gregory Maguire

Favourite books of the year:
Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Leguin Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire

The stinker award goes to:
Under the Volcano A Novel by Malcolm Lowry

This year has been different in a lot of ways. I'm back into fiction mode, after about a year or so of straight non-fiction. And this year introduced me to the wonders of the audiobook. How did I ever make the drive into work without these before?!

Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ has also definitely changed the way I go about picking and reading books. I used to wander into a book store with a list of things I wanted to read and end up picking up random things that looked good and were never on my list. I still do that but in the back of my head I change my mind about stuff on the list because of the things you guys write about them in the forums!

This has been a great year for reading (one of the few benefits of being unemployed!) and Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ has been a fabulous tool. I'm so glad I found it, both for the virtual shelving and for the social interaction. Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ has broadened the range of books I think about reading (and I read almost anything so that's saying a lot!), especially fiction, which has always been tough for me, not being a great fiction reader.

One drawback: My TBR is now pushing 800. No comment.

I've divided my books into groups:

Surprises--Books I wasn't planning to love but did/do:

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The Handmaid's Tale
Buddha Da
Being Emily
The Secret Life of Bees
The Time Traveler's Wife
Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain

Disappointments--Books I was planning to love but didn't:

Everything Is Illuminated A Novel
The Human Stain
Disgrace
Life of Pi
Revolutionary Road
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Other Notable Reads:

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Jane Eyre (re-read)
The Poisonwood Bible (re-read)
The Secret Garden (re-read)
The Late Mattia Pascal
The Uncommon Reader A Novella
Howl's Moving Castle
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Shadow of the Wind

Paul wrote: "... Best so far:
New York Trilogy by Auster..."

Just goes to show how different tastes in reading are... I just couldn't get through this one. Gave me the jim-jams! But I love Ethan Frome!

Discoveries:

The Maisie Dobbs books by Jacqueline Winspear
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Alienist
The Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters
The Glass-Blowers
I, Elizabeth A Novel
When the People Fell
Freedom Just Around the Corner A New American History 1585-1828
Egyptian Art
The Vertigo Years Europe 1900-1914
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Good Books by Known Authors:

The Tudor Wench
The House of the Vestals
The Life of Elizabeth I
Stiff The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
The Johnstown Flood
Marie Antoinette The Journey
Victory of Eagles
The Girl Who Played with Fire
Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare)
Throes of Democracy The American Civil War Era 1829-1877

Disappointments:

The Archer's Tale
Julie & Julia, 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen
Sir Apropos of Nothing
A Play of Lords
Murder on Astor Place

Best Reads of the Year:

South of Broad (fiction division)
Will in the World How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare (non-fiction follies)

After all the mentions of Stieg Larrson I am anxious to read his books.

Unfortunatley, he is dead too. He passed away in 2004

Hello!

It has been a great year of reading. Here are the books I have loved, so far, in 2009:

Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Straight Man: A Novel by Richard Russo
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif
Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name: A Novel by Vendela Vida



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Hi Fiona: Thanks for starting this thread.. I don't have time to read the posts right now, but will come back to them to see all the responses!

Books I've Enjoyed:
Shampoo Planet
The White Tiger
The Uncommon Reader
The Caine Mutiny
Look Me in the Eye!

Book Disappointments:
The Shadow of the Wind
At Swim, Two Boys
Outlander
The Shadow of the Wind
Solomon Gurskey was Here
The Abstinence Teacher
Pillars of the Earth

My goal was to read 30 or more books this year (I'm a slow reader, I know). So far I'm on book 28. I'm hoping I can do it.

Brenda wrote: "Book Disappointments:
The Shadow of the Wind
At Swim, Two Boys
Outlander
The Shadow of the Wind
Solomon Gurskey was Here
The Abstinence Teacher
Pillars of the Earth"

The shadow of the wind must have been a real disappointment ;)

It has been quite a year for reading for me as well. I would even say that for several months, I was reading obsessively so. I would come up for breath and not recognize the "real world" because I felt so out of touch. I think part of that is not having a job. But, with my next back surgery out of the way next month, perhaps the world will be calling.

So far this year, I have read 174 books. It has been a great mix of genre, fiction/non-fiction, classics, and many books recommended here at TNBBC.

Some of the highlights:
Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
Martin Chuzzelwit - Charles Dickens
Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen (which I thought I would hate, but loved!)
Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier (I already want to re-read this one)
The Great Influenza The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History - John M. Barry
The Hunger Gamesand Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

The only book I didn't finish was And Ladies of the Club, but that was because it was too heavy.

Others I might wish I hadn't finished:
Cross (Alex Cross, Book 12) - Patterson
The Lace Reader
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (at least it was short)
Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Yikes! But I loved the original)

Although I lurk more than post, I love to see what everyone is reading and what you are loving/hating. This is the first group I joined on GR. It is still my favorite and the one I follow closely.

You guys rock! Happy reading.

I'm so impressed by everyone who's read 100-200 books this year. That's dedication! I will be very curious to see how my reading patterns change once I am out of school.

I went back to work a little over a year ago, and that has seriously cut into my reading time :o( . So far I've only read 16 books this year, but may get a couple more in before the end of the year. My favorites of the year were Captains and the Kings by Taylor Caldwell (an author my mother loved, but I hadn't read anything by her until now - turns out Mom was right, she's good) and In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez. By far the strangest book I read this year was Brittle Innings which is the story of a young man who plays minor league baseball during the the Great Depression and has as his teammate - Frankenstein's monster. Definitely different! For me the "stinker" has to be (and I know this will be sacrilege to many) Great Expectations. It's been on my "currently reading" list all year and I still haven't managed to slog my way through it. I am finding it SO tedious! But I am not giving up on this one. I will - eventually - finish it!

Thanks for starting this thread, Fiona. It has encouraged me to look at my year of reading in a way I've never really done before. I joined GR in February '08 and TNBBC in January '09. I love that the discussions in this group are so informative, funny and civil - all opinions are respected, something very rare these days (props to Lori for being such a great moderator!). Like others who have posted above, I have been encouraged to read some books outside of my usual range ( Shutter Island, In the Woods and Heart-Shaped Box) and to revisit some favorite authors (Rumer Godden and Charles Dickens). In January I am going to participate in my first group read when I join everyone reading Wuthering Heights.

Favorite reads this year have included The Shadow of the Wind, The Help, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Sugar Queen. Most disappointing would have to be South of Broad.

I am in awe of the number of books you all read. I am a slow reader - I will most likely end the year having read 23 books - and so my goals for 2010 are modest. I'd like to read 25 books and I'd like to do a better job of reading books I currently own before adding new ones to my shelves.

Thanks to you all for a great year of good discussion and suggestions and continued Happy Reading in 2010!

I realized that I forgot to mention Exteremly Loud and Incredibly Close as one of my favorites for this year. Amazing!

Hayes - I, too, was disappointed in The Life of Pi. I had heard such good things about it.

Fiona - I just finished A Northern Light. Now I want to research the Grace Brown murder, and read An American Tragedy.

Jennifer - East of Eden is one of my favorite books of all time.

Lisa - I agree, The Lace Reader was disappointing. From the descriptions and synopsis, I expected it to have more to do with the talent of reading lace. Instead it was just sort of a background fact.

This year has been fulled with lots of good books for me and I didn't set any goal, but I know I read 80-90 books this year.

As for new authors, I discovered Philip Pullman and Diana Wynne Jones earlier this year. Both of them are amazing writers. In the past few months I've discovered Joseph Bruchac. I've only read two of his books, but they were so good I want to read more.

As for books I loved, there are way to many to list and I can't really think of a book that disappointed me, really.

This year has been different because I've started to read more again. For a few years I didn't read much.

I've been a member of Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ since April of this year and I think I might have joined this group in May.

This year has been a mix of good and bad books but mainly they've fenced the middle ground. My goal is 85 books and I am currently on 77. Typically, I read about 9-11 books a month so I think I'm performing fairly well!

I joined GR this past summer and TNBBC a few weeks later. Being on GR has expanded my reading choices much to my own surprise. I've won 3 giveaway books - 1st ok, 2nd YAY SURPRISE and the 3rd I am about to read. I noticed my reading has leaned toward chick lit and I want to replace that with more classics - classic lit, classic sci-fi and classic fantasy - yet balance with some new releases and YA.

New Authors
* Neil Gaiman
* Terry Pratchett
* Ann Patchett
* Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Good Books
* Stray Affections A Novel <- giveaway YAY!
* The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society <- YAY good GR selection
* Bel Canto <- BC Selection
* Infidel <- BC Selection
* Good Omens The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch <- YAY for classic!
* Water for Elephants <- Surprised!

UG Books
* Shanghai Girls A Novel <- disappointed, not as good as her other books!
* I Was a Teenage Popsicle <- too predictable

I set a goal for October 2009-December 2010. It is an A-Z challenge with both authors and books.

Here are the books I loved:

Anne of Green Gables
Water for Elephants - surprise
Get Real
The Bell Jar - surprise

These are the books I hated:

Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud
To Kill a Mockingbird
I Capture the Castle
The Elegance of a Hedgehog
to name a few...

New Authors:

Neil Gaiman - liked
Harper Lee - hated
L.M. Montgomery - loved
Sara Gruen - loved
Sylvia Plath - loved
Charlaine Harris - hated
Douglas Adams - loved

Sibyl wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Book Disappointments:
The Shadow of the Wind
At Swim, Two Boys
Outlander
The Shadow of the Wind
Solomon Gurskey was Here
The Abstinence Teacher
Pillars of the Earth"

Sibyl: Ha ha,... actually it was very disappointing. And it was one I was hoping to love. It had such promise at the beginning but then fell apart. Other readers who didn't enjoy it either told me they thought it was like an episode of the cartoon Scooby Doo...

Well, I set a goal of 100 books for 2009. I have fallen FAR short of that goal with only 30 books under my belt, soon to be 31. Oh well, life gets in the way sometimes!

Early in the year I was on a vampire kick, never thought that would happen as I am not big into sci-fi, creatures of the night kind of subjects. I've read several books this year by authors I've never heard of, thanks to TNBBC.

Some of the books I truly enjoyed were:
"Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
"The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
"Shutter Island" by Dennis Lehane

Some books I still regret reading:
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams(still cannot believe I made it through that one and feel like I wasted that time!)
"The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger - just could not get into it and struggled to finish it.

I've been a member of Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ since November 2008 and became a member of TNBBC in December 2008. This group definitely gets me to read authors/books I would not normally consider, especially if it's YA or what I deem to be "chick lit".

I hope to read most of my TBR bookcase in 2010, especially since my boys are getting older and are able to entertain themselves more and more (sometimes they even tell me "no momma. You just watch us play, don't play with us." They're too funny sometimes).

One "side-effect" of reading so much in front of my boys is that they have started copying me. Sometimes they will break out one of their books and "read" it (ages 4 and 2 1/2 yrs, cannot read yet). My mom and hubby think it's adorable when they sit next to me and all three of us are reading.

Hope I can read more in the coming year than I did in this one!