2014 Goals–Reading, Blogging, and a few random

I’m not even going to check my 2013 goals – I know some I didn’t come close on and won’t repeat and others will be up here again.

Reading
1) Read 1-2 books a week from a variety of genres.

Reading 1-2 books/week is actually pretty simple.  The harder part of this goal is to expand from Contemporary YA, New Adult, and Contemporary Adult.

2) Do not grow my list of books owned and unread.

Currently between physical books and ebooks, I own 110 books I have not read (including Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis that I picked up on Amazon this morning for $1.99).  At the end of this year that number can’t be any higher and I’d love to get it into double digits.  *This list doesn’t include Netgalleys

3) Read a few longer/harder books.

This kind of goes with both the goals above, but my list of “owned/unread” books tends to grow because I buy more serious books that I really want to read, but am rarely in the mood for like And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini.  I’ve also got 3 books by Norman Mailer.

Blogging
1) Post 1 review/week. 

This shouldn’t be that hard.  I just need to write reviews before I forget the bookish details.

2) Write down key thoughts about a book before starting a new one.

And maybe a few key quotes.

3) Get my Netgalley list under control and keep it at 1-2 books unread.

Other
1) Drop 10 pounds (I’m female and I can’t help it)
2) Start jogging again
3) Retrain Gizmo – My puppy’s manners have gotten a bit rough lately.

Top Thirteen Tuesday–Favorite reads of 2013

 

I’m back for Top Ten Tuesday with my favorite reads of 2013.  I couldn’t narrow it down to 10 so in honor of the year I picked thirteen.

Thanks again to The Broke and The Bookish for Hosting Top 10 Tuesdays.

My top 13 in the order I read them.

2013 Reading Summary

I know a lot of book bloggers do little recaps at the end of each month and I always think it’s a great idea, but never quite get it done.  Instead I’m doing a year in review summary for all of 2013.  While analyzing the data I have come to a couple embarrassing conclusions about myself, but I’ll get to those later.  First off the raw numbers.

Books read: 86*

Books reviewed: 26

Pages read: 29,402*

Fiction: 82

Nonfiction: 6

Books in a Series: 38 or 23 (depending on if you count companion novels)

New to me Authors: 44

Female Authors: 56**

Male Authors: 8**

Adult: 41

Young Adult: 45

Books completed for Back to the Classics Challenge: 2 (plan of 6)

Books read for TBR Pile Challenge: 7 (plan of 12)

*Includes 3 books that I DNF and have officially decided I never will.  Does not include about 5 that I did not finish but haven’t given up on.

**Doesn’t count authors twice if I read more than one of their books this year.

The most embarrassing statistic up there (at least to me) is the Female to Male author ratio and it’s actually worse that it appears.  I’ve read books by 56 women and 8 men, but when you count multiple books by the same author it becomes 76 books by women and 10 books by men.

As anyone who follows my blog is probably aware I had a job change this year that put a damper on my reading habits for a while during the adjustment period.  Can you see the adjustment period?

I think this makes it much clearer (I tend to post reviews out about 6 weeks)

I’m quite proud that my Adult to YA ratio was so close to even (although I may have counted New Adult books as Adult and I’m not quite sure on that one).
Here’s a lovely chart that breaks down what I read by genre

Does anyone else have the same issue with author ratio that I do?  Any other interesting discoveries about personal reading habits that surprised you?

Top 10 Tuesday–Specific Recommendations

Every Tuesday the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish give a top 10 topic up for discussion.

This week Top 10 topic is Top 10 books I’d recommend to X person.  So my friends and family are all getting personalized recommendations (like they don’t get those anyway)

Top Ten Tuesday - Covers I'd like Redesigned

Every Tuesday the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish host a book related Top 10 theme. 

 

 Today’s Top 10 topic is covers I’d like to re-design.  I have very little artistic ability, but I’d like someone to redesign these covers.

First up is a trend in covers that I’ve never really understood – teenage body parts (legs, torsos) and no face.  I don’t get it.  I’m ok if the focus is on something else like this Sarah Dessen novel.

 But not these

What Happened to Goodbye and Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

Catching Jordan and Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty

More Like Her by Liza Palmer

I just don’t thinks these covers have anything to do with the books.  Look at the pretty face.  Buy the book.

Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem by Lauren Oliver

And these last two are just kinda meh.

 

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta

A Total Waste of Makeup by Kim Gruenenfelder

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades of Gray
Ruta Sepetys
Philomel Books, March 2011, 344 pgs
Physical Book (I think I bought on Amazon)
Official Summary

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

My Thoughts

I never would have made it through Between Shades of Gray if it hadn’t been a bookclub choice.  The writing was beautiful and I was largely unaware of the work camps Russia had run during WWII – I’m glad I read this for that reason alone.  I just found it too depressing and hopeless and I haven’t been able to figure out why I struggle so much with this novel when I’ve read and enjoyed concentration camp novels, slavery novels, Apartheid novels, etc. 

There were a few moments of light (dim and brief) throughout the novel and I grasp at these the best I could to get through the book, but I’m pretty sure I’m the problem on this one so I’m not going to rate it.

Top Ten(6) Tuesday - Sequels I'm Dying to get my Hands on

Every Tuesday the ladies over at The Broke and the Bookish host a book related Top 10 theme. 

 

 

Today’s topic is Top Ten sequels I can’t wait to get my hands on.  After the disappointment of Insurgent, I’ve sort of taken a step back from series.  I still read a few (very carefully), but try not to get my hopes up until they are all out because as I’ve discovered a few times over the last couple years, it’s surprisingly disappointing when a sequel doesn’t measure up.

That said I still have several release dates seared in my brain for sequels that I am quite antsy for.  I don’t have 10.

Here they are in no particular order:

Ruins by Dan Wells – Full disclosure, I still haven’t read Fragments.  I loved Partials, but for some reason have concerns about the second books slump in this series and sometimes immediately reading the final book masks book 2 plot holes.

Evertrue by Brodi Ashton

The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin - No cover out yet for this one (or official release date)

Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi  - They pushed this back to January!  I want it!

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins – If this gets pushed back again I may cry.

Cress by Marissa Meyer