Some notes:
Most of these were audiobooks. I read a lot when you add up all the emails, websites and blog posts I am exposed to each day, but I wasn't in much of a mood to read books. Also, this year I started listening to books at other times besides just while I drive. I listened while doing chores and walking, or sometimes even when cooking. I hope to read more this year because I do enjoy it and I have so many on my Kindle. Plus, I could use some time away from my phone.
Rereads: Pride and Prejudice, The Boxcar Children and Twilight
Books I particularly enjoyed (and this doesn't mean they are the most well-written!): Starters by Lissa Price, The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer, Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella, Breath of Dawn by Kristen Heitzmann, Gorgeous by Paul Rudnick and Cinder by Marissa Meyer.
Best new (to me) authors: Patti Callahan Henry and Marissa Meyer (though I've only read 1.5 by her--it just seems she has a good, non-annoying style)
Authors I enjoyed less the more I read (sorry!): Barbara Taylor Bradford, Julie Klassen and Irene Hannon
Silliest: Song of My Heart by Kim Vogel Sawyer (omg!), Fatal Judgment by Irene Hannon, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Footprints in the Sand by Mary Jane Clark
Surprisingly good: The Lauren Conrad series beginning with L.A. Candy held my interest. I haven't yet read the third book, but enjoyed the first two on my walks. I'm not saying they're fine literature, but the topic was fun. And then I wasn't sure how I'd like Cinder even though I had several friends rave about it, but I loved it! It's also one of a series and I'm currently reading the second book.
For funzies, I included two tiny books that I didn't count in my total--Walking Sticks and All My Friends Are Dead. The latter was a Christmas gift and it's really funny. Read through it if you come across it.
I am not afraid to stop reading a book if I don't like it, so I end up with a pretty high rate of enjoyment for my book list (and some I enjoy despite also finding lots of flaws). My taste in books is not all that sophisticated. I just like to be entertained in a fairly clean and light-hearted way. I don't like a lot of nonfiction because it gets boring and repetitive. I don't like graphic details in practically any topic, but especially sex and violence. I can't handle really heavy drama because it makes me feel depressed. So as I've gotten older, I've come to accept my somewhat cheesy taste in books and I try not to feel embarrassed about it.
Did you read anything good this year?
I've read your blog posts. :-)
ReplyDeleteI like this format. Do you have a program that keeps track of all your book covers or do you just download them for the post? It's cool how you can make a graphic like that. I think my graphic might only have like three book covers in it for a whole year ... but still, it might motivate me more if I knew how to track the books in a fun way.
P.S. Don't you love that book C got you for Christmas?! S and I saw it once in Target and could not stop laughing the whole time as we read it cover to cover right there in the aisle. People must have thought we were lunatics, but it's a really good memory for me. I love that book. Simple and yet strangely clever and funny.
Thanks! Actually, it's funny you ask because this was the first year I let a program do the work for me (sort of). In the past I did go fetch all the cover art and then put them in a graphic myself. Like a dodo. This year I happened to check my Goodreads account (I don't really use the site very much) and saw that it showed all my 2013 books like this with the covers! DUH. So I added in the rest of my books and then did screencaptures and pasted them together. Still a bit of work, but much easier than my other way. Anyway, you may want to check out Goodreads. I find it a little tedious and too detailed for what I need, but lots of people love it. I track my books on my secure journal, though I'll have to start adding titles on Goodreads if I want to use this graphic again. (Did I just repeat myself a thousand times?)
DeletePS Yeah I have been passing it around for everyone to read!
This is a fun post! I'm tempted to do one myself : )
ReplyDeleteThe best thing I read this year was Diary of a Young Girl. Incredible book. I read lots of other good stuff, but nothing on that level. Lots of detective novels/murder-mysteries this year.
Thanks! You should!
DeleteWhich young girl, though? :D