Project Start Date: 06-06-2007 Project End Date: 03-10-2010

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Last post of 2009

81 out of 101: Twenties Girl-
This was the newest book by Sophie Kinesella. At first I really struggled with it. I found Sadie's character to be kind of annoying. But it didn't take me long to really start to enjoy the book. It was a cute, light, quick read, and a reminder to me as to why Sophie Kinesella is one of my favorite chick lit authors.

82 out of 101: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets-
If this book is any indication of the rest of the series then boy am I in for a wild ride! There were sooo many twists and turns in this book that it kept me guessing. I love that! When I read these books I can't help but think back to being a kid and watching scooby doo...lol. I'm sure it's a weird thing to relate it to but I guess it's just the whole "mystery" aspect and trying to find out "who done it".I had heard from some that while they love the entire series, that this book is the weakest. Well, if that's the case then I'm in luck because I *really* enjoyed this book. Especially the ending. I can't wait to read the next one!

83 out of 101: The Help
I liked this book. I did. But I just didn't find it to be amazing. I think my expectations may have been a little too high after hearing everyone rave about it. I actually was left feeling a little disapointed when I finished. I really thought I was going to love it, or that it would blow me away. I'm *really* glad that I got it from the library, as there were a few times I had it in my hands at Barnes and Noble and almost bought it.
...sigh... I hate when a book leaves me feeling this way. Same thing happened to me with TTTW.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Checking In!

I really can't believe October was the last time I checked in on this. Yikes. That definitely doesn't make it easy for me to blog about the books I've been reading.

76 out of 101: I Loved, I lost, I made Spaghetti- I really thought I'd enjoy this book. I mean whats not to love about a book that is about food, and love? But in all honesty I really didn't enjoy this book very much, if at all. The recipes didn't sound appetizing (which was surprising) and the author's relationships never had any growth.

77 out of 101: Brisingr- This book was *sooo* good! I am so glad that I got back into the Eragon series. This book was filled with action, adventure, and it even made me cry twice. Which is always a sign of a really good book to me. I loved it and I can't wait for the last book!

78 out of 101: Harry Potter and the Sorceres Stone- I finally decided that it's time to see what all the fuss is about. I really enjoyed this book a lot. I gotta admit I was a little nervous at first, especially since it seemed younger than most of the other young adult books I've read before. But I remembered hearing that the books really grow as Harry does, so I just pushed that out of my mind. I really enjoyed the book, even though it was a different take on fantasy from the Eragon series.

79 out of 101: LA Candy- This is the first novel writen by LC, or Lauren Conrad of the Hills. I *love* LC, and am a big fan of both Laguna Beach and the Hills... I always by US weekly when she is on the cover, so I thought I'd love this book. NOPE! It was really just okay, and probably the only reason I'd even say that is because of my loyalty to LC. I dunno what it was exactly, but this book just rubbed me the wrong way. Even a quality that I love on the hills annoyed the heck out of me in the book (In the hills each episode is titled a phrase that will later be said on the show, same with the titles of each of her chapters) It just seemed that the book lacked creativity as it was "fiction" based off of life as a reality star, or her life.

80 out of 101: Best Friends Forever- This was the first book that I read by Jennifer Weiner, and I must say I wasn't impressed. I found the characters really annoying (especially Val) and the relationship between Val and Addie very strange. In fact, a lot of this book was just plan weird. I didn't like it, was barely entertained by it, and found myself rushing to finish it so I could move onto something more worthy of my time.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

and a posting...

Again, I've been terrible at updating this. I know it's bad when I can't exactly remember what book I read after that last I blogged about. I've been good at updating my goodreads, but I need to get better about this blog.

73 out of 101: Love the One You're With

I wanted to love this book, I thought that with certain things I have been through that I'd certainly be able to relate to this book. Nope. I hardly enjoyed this book. I found the main character to not be very likable. I couldn't relate to her actions, and honestly I just found myself disliking her. I usually love Emily Giffen books, but this one left me very disappointed.

74 out of 101: Columbine

This was a fascinating, intense read. The author wrote it so well, that it flowed more like a fiction book, rather than a non-fiction book. The content was incredibly disturbing (which is understandable considering the topic) and really provided so much information and insight into this horrible tragedy. While I liked (maybe appreciated is a better word?) this book, I couldn't read it for long periods of time. It was just too depressing. I also found myself thinking about everything relating to Columbine for a while when I was reading it.

75 out of 101: Eldest

This is the follow up book to Eragon which I should have read a long time ago. I'm not sure what took me so long to read it, but after listening to Eragon again on audio book after a long road trip I was ready to dive back into the series full force. I loved this book! It was a little slow at first because there was so much more character development happening, but it was fantastic. I really enjoyed it, and kept commenting to my husband that he needed to hurry up and finish his current book so he could read this!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

A few more

69 out of 101: Julie and Julia

This book was okay, I went into it with pretty low expectations due to all of the negative reviews I had heard of it. Truthfully it wasn't that bad, at least not to me. I thought it was an awesome concept for the book, but it just didn't make for a great read. It had a lot of potential that it just didn't live up to. Also I love food, but mostly everything that she cooked sounded gross to me (maybe it's a good thing I'm not French?!) Especially the crap with the bone marrow! Yuck!

70 out of 101: The Hunger Games

I had heard a lot of great reviews for this book. But after reading the book description it really didn't sound like anything special. But after getting a really good borders coupon, I decided to go ahead and buy it and give it a try. Wow. It was *really* good!!! Since it was young adult it was a short, quick read, but honestly I think the story itself is what made it so hard to put down. And yeah, I gotta say it... I'm team Peeta!!!!

71 out of 101: Catching Fire

This is the sequel to The Hunger Games. I tried to start it while we were on vacation, which didn't work out so well because there really was no free time to read. But as soon as I got back home I picked this book back up and finished it fast. It was amazing, yet frustrating all at once. Which again made it hard to put down. I loved it and can not wait for the next book in the series!!!!

72 out of 101: Shutter Island

I was pretty nervous to start this book, as it is totally out of my reading comfort zone. But I heard it was pretty good, and I've been seeing the previews for the movie (with Leonardo Di Caprio! --- he fits this part perfectly!). This book wasn't really what I thought it'd be (scary) it was more suspense/mysteryish. It was like a rollercoaster though almost the whole way through. It really kept me guessing at what was going on and what was going to happen next. Not the best book I've ever read, but still a good solid read. I can't wait to see the movie!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Lots of reading...little blogging!

So I have been reading *A LOT* lately, mostly thanks to the fact that I discovered the Nest Book Club, and have been participating in the Summer Book Club Challenge. Now while I know I will most likely not be able to complete all of the challenge reading categories, it sure has been fun trying, and it's also enabled me to branch out and read some books that I otherwise might not have thought to pick up. So here goes a list of the books I've read since I last blogged.

63 out of 101: Gone to the Dogs

I found out that goodreads often has book giveaways for advanced copies of books. So one day I was bored and decided to go ahead an enter a few. This was the first (and only) book I've won to date. It was actually a really cute read. The author's writing style was pretty different, even from most other chick lit books I have read. I enjoyed the book pretty much the whole way through, with the exception of the ending which I felt fell a little bit flat. It was a very fast read. I finished it in a day (which rarely happens for me with work and life stuff).

64 out of 101: Chocolat

I wanted to like this book. I mean come on, what is there not to like about a book that has to do with CHOCOLATE! But yeah, not so much. There was just something missing in this book for me, that I can't quite put my finger on. It was very much just ok for me. I think the thing I enjoyed most about this book was Pantoufle. I like the thought of an "imaginary" bunny friend. Not a book I'd read again. I do have the movie, which I never finished watching many years ago (I think I feel asleep?). I'll try that again, and see if I enjoy it more than the book.

65 out of 101: The Sugar Queen

I *really* liked this book. I kind of walked into it blindly by just picking it up at the bookstore. I read the back of the cover, which totally appealed to me. But for whatever reason just kept putting it back. Well one day I had a nice coupon for borders and decided what the heck. I bought it, without ever reading any reviews of it online, and to my surprise I totally enjoyed it. The characters were likeable, with the exception of the mom. It was a cute, fun story. And it was a easy read, partly because I enjoyed it so much. Finished it in like 2 days, and I would actually read it again.

66 out of 101: A Thousand Splendid Suns

Great book! Very heavy though. Which I expected since I had already read the Kite Runner (which also was a heavy, but wonderful book) This is one of those books that will stay with me for a while. Even now I find myself thinking about all that the women of Afghanistan have had to endure. I would highly reccomend this book to anyone. Like I said though, it is a very heavy book, and there are some parts that are very disturbing. But it really is a good, good read!

67 out of 101: Jane Eyre

I wanted to like this book... I really did. But it just really didn't do much for me. It was long, and very wordy, and for almost the first entire half of the book I struggled to get through it. There were times where it really made me sleepy, which actually doesn't happen to me often when I read. I usually get so engrossed in a book, that while it does relax me, it doesn't make me want to crash out. It took me more than halfway through this book to even get into it a little bit. Which still wasn't enough to make me enjoy it. The relationship between Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester was just odd to me. If you're looking for a good classic, I'd go with Pride and Prejudice.

68 out of 101: The Princess Diaries

I knew this was a movie (which I haven't seen, but now plan on it) but didn't realize it was a book. I actually enjoyed this book. I wouldn't say it's my favorite YA read, but it was good. The story line was really cute, and while at first I was a little annoyed with the language the character used, and some of her actions/reactions, I tried to remember that Mia is only 14. I'd say 14 year olds are allowed to be annoying to a certain extent. The book grew on me though the more that I read, and I by the end I was pretty pleased with it. I'd probably even read the next book in the series at some point in time.

Monday, August 3, 2009

More books!

60 out of 101: The Time Traveler's Wife

I decided to read this book after seeing the previews for the movie that is coming out this month. The book was good, but not great. I never felt really emotionally involved in the characters. And the whole time traveling was a little confusing at times. Maybe it was the author's writing style? I dunno. But I didn't love this book like I was hoping I would. Still a good book, but nothing I would recommend to anyone as something they had to read. Hopefully this will be one of those rare cases that the movie is actually better than the book.

61 out of 101: The Beach House

This was the first book I checked out with my new library card! I've seen it before, and picked it up at the book stores, but just didn't know if it was worth spending my money on. I enjoyed this book. It was chick lit, so it was light and fluffy, which I was in need of after TTTW. I got sucked into this book quickly, and I like how it was about several main characters, but their stories all intertwined. It was great beach reading material!

62 out of 101: The Pillars of the Earth

Wow! This book was unlike anything I have ever read before. Not only was it a huge book (probably the biggest I've ever read at nearly 1,000 pages!) but it was also a historical fiction book. I don't normally read historical fiction, but this was a great introduction for me. I enjoyed it a lot, and I'm so glad I gave it a chance. There were some very frustrating parts, as the characters were either really good, or really evil. Great, great book! Although I will say that this is not a book that you should try to rush through, I tried to get through the last 200+ pages today on my day off, and have a bit of a headache as a result...lol... which actually sucks in a way because it took away from me totally enjoying the last of this great book.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Slacking...still

So I've still been slacking with the blog. I've been reading though, and I'm trying to get myself motivated to pick up the blogging more regularly again. This isn't the only blog of mine that I've been slacking on though, so it looks like I have some work cut out for me.

56 out of 101: No regrets: 101 Fabulous Things to do Before You're too Old, Married, or Pregnant-- This book was okay. It had some fun ideas, and was an easy read, but as usually the case with these sort of books, it wasn't anything that I felt compelled to spend my free time reading.

57 out of 101: The Reader-- I had some friends who read this and or saw the movie and loved it, so I decided to pick it up and read it on our flight to our honeymoon. It was short, and I finished it fast, but it wasn't as great as I thought it'd be. Maybe it was the writing style or something, but I just didn't feel emotionally attached to the characters. Hopefully the movie will be better, I should be getting it on netflix soon.

58 out of 101: The Lovely Bones-- I really enjoyed this book, it wasn't by any means the best book I've ever read. And I don't know that I would go around recommending it to people, but it was good. The story line was crazy, and a lot of action happened right away. I thought the way the story was told was interesting, and I was happy with the ending.

59 out of 101: The Host-- This book is written by Stephanie Myer, who wrote the Twilight Saga (which I loved!) I *really* liked this book! The first chapter was a little rough for me, but I think that had more to do with the fact that I was reading it at work during lunch, and some co-workers were chatting, just made it a little tough for me to concentrate. Also the internal dialogue took me a little bit to get used to. But wow, this book was great! I was completely sucked into the story, and it was one of those rare books that I found myself making time to read when I was at home. This is a book I'd recommend to my friends to read, no doubt about it.