Books I Have Purchased Solely Based on the Cover

I know I can't be the only one who buys books solely based on beautiful or interesting cover art. Right? Anyone? I love books and I love bookstores. I love wondering around aisles and aisles of old and new books. I always feel like there is a wealth of stories and things to dive into. Bookstores are so cozy and welcoming. Although I have learned to love my Nook there is nothing as great as a physical book.
When I am browsing in bookstores I am often attracted to books because of their covers. A following is  a short list of the books I have purchased recently based only on the attractiveness of the cover.


Palisades Park by Alan Brennert

I mean come on who can resist a vintage cover with a Farris wheel? I have lately been obsessed with reading books about fairs, high diving acts and circuses so this book was right up my alley. I love the painting like quality of the cover. I was happy that the book was just as good as the cover!

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern


Speaking of circuses! This book had been taunting me for months every time I went to the bookstore. I love the silhouette with the mysterious art in the middle. I finally purchased the book and I love the artwork even more after reading it. And it makes more sense too!

The Selection by Kiera Cass


Ok who could resist this gorgeous cover? And it is even prettier in person and not on a computer screen. I love the frothy gown. Too bad this book was as frothy as the gown. So substance. But the cover sure is lovely to look at.

Those are the books I have purchased recently. I will have to add more later that I have purchased over the years.


What's In A Name 6 Update

I discovered I was indeed doing a challenge this year and it is What's In a Name 6. And I have inadvertently read books in every category except one. Next year I hope to plan the books per category a little better since I am somewhat embarrassed to admit I read some of these books.

The first category was a book with something you would find in your kitchen. I read City of Glass by Cassendra Clare. As I stated in my last blog post I read all the Mortal Instruments books this year even though I disliked the characters and wasn't crazy about the writing. I just had to find out what happened. So I guess I enjoyed the plots. And Magnus Bane. But other than that they were totally blah. Honestly I can't even remember what the mortal instruments are.

The next category was a book with up or down in the title. I read Man Up! Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence by Ross Matthews. I loved this book. It was absolutely hilarious. I read it in one afternoon and laughed a lot. I remember seeing him for the first time on the Jay Leno show eons ago as Ross the Intern and I have always thought he was funny.

A book with fire in the title was City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare. Felt the same way about this as I did about City of Glass.

For a book with emotion in the title I read Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood. This book was a Free Fridays selection on my Nook. A book about a magic cookbook? Yes, please. This was a cute story and I love children's books but I think it was just a little too young for me. Now if I had read it when I was 10 (which isn't possible as it is a newer book) and was rereading it now I would probably adore it because of the nostalgia factor (ie Nancy Drew). But I didn't and don't.

In the a book with lost or found in the title category I read another Free Friday selection which was The Lost Code by Kevin Emerson. This was another YA book but I really enjoyed it. The story took a little too long to get going but once it did I was dying to find out what would happen. I am planning on reading the next book in the series.

I still need to read a book in the celebration/party category but I still have a few months. And hopefully I will update the blog again before Thankful Reading! 

Bad Blogger Part Two

Wow I am really terrible at blogging unless its for business purposes. It has been a long time since I have checked in on here. It has been a busy year with lots of photo shoots, business building, family time, decorating new house etc. It has been another slow year in reading books.

 I have been reading a lot of business books about photography and marketing. One of the best I read was The Photographer's MBA by Sal Cincotta. Such a terrific book and so helpful to my business. I also love David DuChemin's books about photography vision.

I enjoyed listening to The Three Musketeers. through my Librivox app. One of the best audiobook apps on the iPhone! I love that book so much. I first read it when I was 10 and every time I read again I discover something new. I read The Silver Linings Playbook in one night. It was so fascinating and sucked me right in. I watched the movie the next night and boy did they ruin it. What a disappointment! I had to read The Great Gatsby again before the movie came out. I decided to try a different format so listened to the audiobook. God I love that book! It is so rich and lush. I actually adored the movie and thought it was an excellent portrayal. I read the Mortal Instruments series books 1-5. Someone suggested them to me since I loved the Hunger Games. They are nothing like the Hunger Games and the writing is pretty shoddy. But I did read all 5 so I guess that says something? I don't know.

One thing I love about my Nook is that you can sometimes find out of print books. Well I was super excited to find A Girl and Five Brave Horses by Senora Carver. Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken was one of my favorite childhood movies and it is based on that (true story) book. It was such a good book! I also read Palisades Park which followed a family who worked at an amusement park during the world wars. It was so good!

I also got into reading the Game of Thrones books. They are very good. I love how the voice of each character slips around. It's almost like six books in one!

I have read a lot of YA books this year. Some good, some bad. I enjoyed the first two Caster Chronicles books. I devoured The Perks of Being A Wallflower. So, so good.

I finally read The Night Circus which I have been wanting to read forever based solely on the cover. It was so good! I enjoyed every minute of this unusual book.

I am currently reading seven different books as I just can't settle on one. This morning I started The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black and wow is it good so far! I am looking forward to the last Gallagher Girls book by Ally Carter being released on Tuesday. I will be sad to see that series come to an end.

Pretty sure I am doing some sort of challenge this year but I will have to go back and read my old blog posts to double check. Hopefully I will post again soon and not wait seven months!

What's In A Name 6 Challenge

I am trying to make more time for myself this year which includes doing lots of reading. I had already decided to do the What's In A Name challenge in December but I forgot to sign up. And its almost March. Which means I am failing in the whole time for myself thing. But nevertheless I am going to do this challenge this year because it is fun. This challenge is fun because you have to get creative. These are the categories for the challenge this year according to Beth Fish Reads:

Between January 1 and December 31, 2013, read one book in each of the following categories:
  1. A book with up or down (or equivalent) in the title: Deep down True, The Girl Below, The Diva Digs up the Dirt
  2. A book with something you'd find in your kitchen in the title: Loose Lips Sink Ships, The Knife of Never Letting Go, Breadcrumbs
  3. A book with a party or celebration in the title: A Feast for Crows, A Wedding in Haiti, Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness
  4. A book with fire (or equivalent) in the title: Burning for Revenge, Fireworks over Toccoa, Catching Fire
  5. A book with an emotion in the title: Baltimore Blues, Say You're Sorry, Dreams of Joy
  6. A book with lost or found (or equivalent) in the title: The Book of Lost Fragrances, The World We Found, A Discovery of Witches


I am going to have to look back at the books I have already read this year. I am sure I have already read some of these categories. I will update on my progress soon. Or soonish!

Thankfully Reading: Wrap Up

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I had a great time participating in Thankfully Reading weekend.
I finished The Sixth Wife this morning and started reading The Winner by David Baldacci. I didn't have much time to read today because I had a photo shoot.
I definitely read more than I thought I would this weekend. I finished three e books, two print books and an audiobook. I read a lot more on three books but didn't get a chance to finish them.
I am looking forward to starting The Game of Thrones series this week and rereading The Hobbit. I also picked up a Ryhs Bowen mystery this weekend. Going to give it a try.
I love traditions and I am hopefully going to keep the Thankfully Reading challenge every year because it is one I really enjoy!

Thankfully Reading Weekend: Saturday

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9:30 am
I am looking forward to getting in some good reading today before my photo shoot this afternoon. My husband is helping a friend move in to his new house today which means that I get tons of uninterrupted reading time! My first read this morning will be The Sinatra Club. I am really interested to find out what led Sal Polisi to write this tell all book. I assume he gets busted for his mob activities.

11:30 pm
Today was so busy! I finally finished The Sinatra Club. It was so good! Was very interesting to find out all the inside scoop. I also spent some time listening to more of The Three Musketeers audiobook.

What is your favorite bookish memory?
I would have to say one of my favorite bookish memories is that we were allowed to read at the dinner table. Most families would have frowned on that but we were able to have our books while we were eating. I appreciate the fact that my patents did everything they could to encourage us to read.

Thankfully Reading Weekend: Friday

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12:00 pm

Today will be a sporadic reading day since I have some photos to edit and get back to clients so they can order their Christmas cards. I am also excited to hang out with my lifelong childhood friends tonight. One of them lives in South America now so I rarely get to see her. I decided to listen to an audiobook while editing. I am listening to The Four Million by O. Henry. I also plan on finishing up books I have been working on for the past few weeks, The Sinatra Club: My Life Inside the New York Mafia by Sal Polisi,The Sixth Wife by Jean Plaidy and a work book Your Marketing Sucks by Mark Stevens. We shall see how far I can get in any of these books. I will check in later!

11:30 pm

What a fun day! I love the holidays. I was so excited to meet my friend's 5 month old. He was the happiest baby ever! I am sad that I probably won't see him for another year.

I finished The Four Million by O. Henry on my trip and started The Three Musketeers audiobook. The Three Musketeers was one of my favorite books as a child. I love rereading books I haven't read since I was young because I just see so much more now. I am going to read a little of The Sinatra Club before bed but don't know how long I will make it because I am tired!

Which book have you been most thankful for this year?

This was a hard question as an answer didn't immediately pop into my head like it usually does. But after thinking I realized the book I have been most thankful for this year are the Nancy Drew books. I have been rereading them this year and I love how they bring back floods of wonderful memories. When I read them I flash back to when my mom pulled out all her old Nancy Drew books and let us read them. It is one of my most vivid memories. I remember exactly how I felt running out the door of our old house to our swing set and reading them. I also remember when my mom threw those books away later which breaks my heart to this day. But rereading them has been great. And I just let my mom borrow them and she is rereading them. They are just simple books with not much plot but its the memories that make them special and make me thankful for them!

Thankfully Reading: Wednesday & Thursday

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I have decided to begin Thankfully Reading a day early since I won't have much time to read tomorrow and over the weekend. I am just cooking today so able to get a little reading in between dishes. I seem to do better with a running blog post so I will be checking in at various times of the day.

1:00 pm

I am starting with The Passage by Justin Cronin. I only have about 100 pages left in this book and I am determined to finally finish it. This book is finally starting to get so intense and really, really good. I was debating on whether I was going to get the next book in this series and now I know for sure I want to read it!

3:30 pm

Well just finished The Passage. The second half of this book really saved it for me. The ending was great and now I can't wait to read The Twelve!

8:00 pm

I started Divergent by Veronica Roth this afternoon. 200 pages in and I am loving it. I don't want to put it down. That is all I can write because I am so eager to get back to it!

Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving! My cat woke me up at 7 am this morning so I decided it was a good time to start reading before heading to my parents. I finished Divergent. I loved the whole book. The story was great and held my attention. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch with my family. It was a great day full of laughter and food. We came home in the evening and it was great to curl up in my pjs with a book. I decided my next read would be Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich. I love the Stephanie Plum books, although they are all pretty much the same plot. They are light reads and I enjoy the silliness of them. I zipped through that before bed. Very thankful to have had a perfect day!

Recipe for reading

Jen at the Literate Housewife posted a

Thankfully Reading mini challenge

that asks What is your perfect reading recipe? I would have to say that more than anything I love reading in a quiet house with a warm blanket in the winter and rain. There really is nothing better. If I am reading on my Nook I love a dark room. I really like reading without any distractions but if it is a really good book I can get caught up in the action and not notice what is going on around me.

Getting Ready for the Holidays!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. I love getting together with family, eating lots and just having a wonderful day full of laughter. Thanksgiving has changed over the years but I am actually finding I am enjoying it more when I am cooking. It is a sense of pride and accomplishment when my grandmother and aunt proclaims one of my dishes delicious. High praise indeed from those culinary experts! The last few years has also been fun participating in Thankfully Reading and I am looking forward to that as well. Although, I have realized that all the leisure time I was planning was not to be as I overbooked myself. But still there should be some time to squeak in some reading. I plan on starting Thankfully Reading on Wednesday since that is my cooking day. I actually picked some books out to read which I usually don't do. But I am also allowing myself to change my mind if I want to. I would love to read 4 books this weekend. That might be stretching it a bit but we shall see!
I finished the last Matched trilogy book last night. I bought it the day it came out and started reading it. But I soon realized I couldn't remember what happened in the first two books. So I went back and read Matched on my Nook and then listened to Crossed on Audible. I felt the same way about Reached as I did about Crossed. It was ok but nothing special. I loved Matched and thought it was terrific and fascinating. But the last two books were entertaining but just didn't grab me. 
I am reading The Passage now. I have been reading this book for three or four months. I am struggling getting through. I feel like the first half of the book was just setting up the second half and dragged on way too long. The book is finally picking up and starting to hold my attention. I will probably try to finish it this week. I have 300 or so pages left. 
Today I have a photo shoot and have to go to the grocery store so time to start my day!

Bad Blogger

I am a terrible blogger! I can't believe I didn't post one blog during 2012. It has been a very busy year with finally graduating from college and going full time with my photography business. My love of reading has definitely suffered. I have still been reading of course but I have probably read less this year than ever before. I have been making an effort to go to the library more and spend less on buying books. We moved into a new house this year and I gave away over half of my book collection. And by give away I mean it is in a giant box in the garage to give away:-)
This year I have been rereading the Nancy Drew books which I am really enjoying. They are simple reads but have so many memories. I have also been reading Jean Plaidy's books about the Tudor's (always a fascinating subject). I have been into Ernest Hemingway books too after reading The Paris Wife a fictionalization of his relationship with his first wife. I have been really into reading a lot of young adult fiction this year too. I reread The Hunger Games books in anticipation of the first movie. I loved them just as much on my third read as I did my first. I also read a lot of Maureen Johnson's YA novels. I enjoyed her tweets so much I got a bunch of her books and read them in two weeks. They are just fun reads. I also read the new Jodi Picoult (super cute fairy tale she wrote with her daughter and also her adult novel), Emily Giffin and Jennifer Weiner. I also love Jennifer's tweets and have been keeping up with her constant struggle to make people see that women writers are neglected. I found this cool app Viggle where you could watch tv and earn points and get rewards. That was very exciting as I used my points for Nook books. I received about $40 of free books! Sadly the app got less exciting and too much maintenance when points shrank so I don't use it anymore. But the Nook books I have read this year include The Book Thief which was a terrific book and one I have been meaning to read for years! I read a great book The Sisters about the Mitford Family. I have been wanting to read their story for years and it didn't disappoint. Absolutely fascinating family! I really enjoyed the new Shannon Hale book Palace of Stone. Great follow up to Princess Academy! I also finally read The Giver by Lois Lowry. I can't believe it took me that long to discover it. Number the Stars is one of my favorite childhood books. I also started reading the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter. Love, love those books. They are so entertaining and fun. I devoured those and the Heist Society books (guy in there is named Hale so if course I had to read!). I read the new Sookie Stackhouse book. Afraid that series doesn't hold much pleasure for me anymore. I enjoyed Below Stairs which was a true story of a maid/cook that Upstairs/Downstairs and Downton Abbey took some material from. The Baker's Daughter by Sarah McCoy was another great read. I love how she flashed back and forth from the modern time to Nazi Germany. I love all the delicious food they are always making. Makes my mouth water! I enjoyed the new White House Chef book Affairs of Steak. I really love those books. I also read Dirk Hayhurst's books The Bullpen Gospels and Out of My League. Both great books with glimpses into major and minor league baseball life. I hugely enjoyed both books. I know I have read other books this year but I will have to check out my Goodreads page to refresh my memory!
I am looking forward to the November release of Reached by Ally Condie and the new Stephanie Plum book (yes I still love those! Guilty pleasure). I think I will do Thankfully Reading over Thanksgiving weekend this year. The weather is turning cold which means one thing. Time for my annual (sometimes semi annual) of the Betsy-Tacy books. So back to Heaven to Betsy! I will try to blog more often.

2011 Audio Book Challenge July-December

I just finished my last audio book of 2011. I have really enjoyed this challenge! I have grown to really love audio books. My library needs to get more audio books as I have almost gone through all of them! Here are the books I listened to July-December.

15. Lady Blue Eyes by Barbara Sinatra.
This was an autobiography by Frank Sinatra's last wife. It was a very interesting book with lots of fun stories. She did write about her husband with a little bit of rose colored glasses but that is to be expected. Good book!

16. First Family by David Baldacci
This was a good book about King and Maxwell and how they get enmeshed into a kidnapping of a member of the extended First Family.

17. The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain
Great collection of short stories by Twain. I enjoyed them all. I often forget how funny he was. I wasn't crazy about the narrator of the book.

18. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
This was a great novel about the search for the real Dracula. I love these types of books that just sweep you away. Excellent, excellent book!

19. Gods of Newport by John Jakes
This is a book about Newport in the Gilded Age. It is told from the perspective of both rich and poor. It started out a little slow and quickly became really good!

20. Hot Mahogany by Stuart Woods
I always say I won't read more of his books and I always do. I swear this is the last one. They are so dumb. I don't know why my library has so many of them!

21. Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
Terrific book about a senator who has an affair and how it affects his wife and daughters. I love how it skips between every person's point of view. It really helps you to know each character better.

22. Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner
This book is about a group of women who meet in a childbirth class and follows their lives. It made me never want to have children.

23. Little Dorritt by Charles Dickens
I have never ready this Dickens book so I was glad to finally dive into it. Very sad but at least it had a happy ending.

23. Paul Newman: A Life by Shawn Levy
Fascinating biography about Paul Newman

24. Simple Genius by David Baldacci
This was a great light read and I enjoyed it.

25. The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett (Goal met!!)
Glad I finally "read" this. Such a funny book. I love Nick and Nora!

26. The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
I actually read this a little early but I was itching to get in the Christmas spirit. Cute little book about thieves on a train, weddings, lost love and Christmas.

27. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
The second book in the Millennium Trilogy. This was a great book and a perfect sequel to A Girl with A Dragon Tattoo.

28. Crossing Stones by Helen Frost
Book told from the perspective of three friends on the cusp and during WWI.

29. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The best book I read this year and the perfect book to finish the year on. I LOVED this book.

This was a great year reading audio books and I met and exceeded my audio book goal. Happy New Year!

What's In A Name 4 Wrap Up

Well it is New Year's Eve so I need to do finish up my What's In A Name 4 post! I did finish this challenge and these are the rest of the books I read for this challenge.

Number in the Title--
13 Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson.
This book was really good. It was about a girl whose Aunt died and left her 13 blue envelopes. Sh had to go to Europe and travel and follow the path her aunt left her through the letters. She had to finish the tasks in one letter before she moved on to the next. It is a book that captures your attention and doesn't let go.

Jewelry or Gem in the Title--
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.
I loved this book. I have wanted to read this for years and I finally sat down and read it in October. It is one of the first mystery books ever written. It is told by a variety of characters and is so witty and funny. I highly recommend this book! It is amazing.

Size in the Title--
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
I love the Thin Man movies so I finally decided to read the book. I listened to the audiobook. It is a very funny who dunnit set during prohibition! Nick and Nora Charles unwillingly solve a murder and get entangled with bootleggers, gangsters and wealthy people. However, the chapter on cannibalism was unnecessary and gross! But altogether a really good book.

This challenge probably would have been more interesting if I had deliberately read the books for the challenge but it just happened that I read books that fit into that category. I think for What's In a Name 5 I will pick the books at the beginning of the year that I will read. That might make it a little more challenging.

Thankfully Reading 2011: Wrap-Up

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It has taken me awhile to write my wrap up post since I have been so busy with school. I happy with the reading I got done over the weekend. It wasn't as much as I had planned but I was able to read a couple of books I had been wanting to read for awhile.

I read the last half of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. This book was wonderful. I really enjoyed it. It was very suspenseful at the end and I caught myself holding my breath through some of it.

Next I read Pegasus by Robin McKinley. I bought this Nook book as soon as it came out but knew that was a book I would want to be able to read in just a few days. I am glad I waited. It was a terrific book! Once again she created this magical world that sucks you in. Love it!

Next I started on The Girl Who Played With Fire audio book. I basically just listened to this when I was driving or cooking. This is another great book. I haven't finished it yet but I am having a hard time turning it off when I have school work to do.

The next book I read was Buffalo West Wing by Julie Hyzy. This was a good book. I always enjoy the mishaps and adventures of Ollie.

I started on The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurt but I haven't had the chance to finish it yet.

I am happy with all the reading I got done over Thanksgiving and I am hoping when school lets out next week I will have a very Merry Reading December!

Thankfully Reading Weekend 2011

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11/26 10:00 am

I have decided to do all my Thankfully Reading updates in one blog post. Just makes it easier especially since I am blogging from my phone. I have finished one book: Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and am 138 pages into Pegasus by Robin McKinley. I really haven't had much time to read yet since I have been spending time with family and trying to finish up some school projects. Finals start week after next and I shouldn't be reading at all. I am really loving Pegasus. I love how Robin McKinley creates these worlds that are unlike anything else and you really have to concentrate to figure out how the world works. I like that the magic in her books just isn't the same old magic that is in every other book. It always works differently.

Jenn asked us what book we were most thankful for. Last year I talked about the Betsy-Tact books. This year I am most thankful for the Hunger Games. I was in a post Harry Potter sadness thinking there would never be any new, good Harry Potter like books when I discovered the Hunger Games. Now I am not saying they are as good as HP because they aren't. However, I loved diving into that world and am happy to have had those to read. I am looking forward to rereading the books again before the movie comes out in March. Well back to reading! I will check in later.

11/26 4:45 pm

I still haven't had a chance to get much reading done. I am on page 228 of Pegasus. I also started an audiobook, The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson while out and about today. I don't think I will get to my goal of having three books read during Thankfully Reading because tomorrow I have school work and errands to run. Well back to reading before my husband gets home!

11/26 10:26 pm

I have had a much better afternoon reading! I finished Pegasus. The ending was so abrupt and I was very, very disappointed until I read online that she split the book into two books. That was a relief because it really would have been a terrible ending. I listened to a little more of The Girl Who Played With Fire while I made dinner. Then I started on Buffalo West Wing by Julie Hyzy. I love the White House Chef series. They are such a fun read. I have been saving that book to read and when I found out the new one comes out in January I decided to read it. I am 125 pages in and loving it. I enjoy the character of Ollie so much. I feel like she is an old school heroine who just gets into the worst scrapes without meaning too. I can't wait for the new book to come out!

11/27 9:00 pm

I finished Buffalo West Wing last night and started on The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst. It is hilarious and touching and sad. I love baseball and this is a great glimpse into the real world of minor league baseball. I am 84 pages into this book as I haven't had much time to read today due to my massive piles of homework and driving to and fro. I also managed to get some more audio book time with The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Thankfully Reading Post #1

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I decided to get my Thankfully Reading off to a good start at midnight by deciding to finish up Girl With A Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I finished the last forty pages. What a great book! I have the next book in the series on an audiobook and I really wish I had brought it to my parents. But since I didn't I am going to get started on my next book which is Pegasus by Robin McKinley. I love her books. Beauty is one of my all time favorite books. I think it's funny that even though I have my Nook and I am only staying one night at my parents I still packed two regular books. Old habits never die! Hopefully I can get more reading in tomorrow in between a family photography shoot and the pile of school work I have to do before school ends in two weeks.

I also started a new Twitter handle to go with this blog! ReadingSusan. Follow me today!

What's In A Name 4: Evil in a Title


I read Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire for the evil in a title category. I will say this book was a struggle to get through. I have come to the conclusion that I just don't like his books. The first half of the book was really, really slow and depressing. The last half of the book was a little more interesting and went a little faster. It basically continues the story of Wicked after Elphaba dies and follows her son Liir. He is not really sure he is her son and he has a lot of struggles and bad times. The majority of the book is just depressing things that happens to him. But I finally did finish it after about six months.


What's In A Name 4: Life Stage


I am way behind on my What's In A Name posts! I read Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close for the Life Stage category. This book was so good. It has a dark undertone but is also really funny. This book is a collection of stories about college friends and their heartbreaks, disappointments and triumphs in life. It is very real to life how different people act when they get married and have kids. I loved the one story about the girl who had six bridal showers and made her bridesmaids come to all of them. This book was very witty and funny and I highly recommend it.


Modern Library: 100 Best Novels

So I decided to take on a new personal challenge. Last year The Modern Library printed a list of the best 100 novels. I was looking through and realized how few I have read. So I have decided to start on this list and see how many of these books I can read. In the next ten years. Ha ha. No really I am going to start going through the list and reading all the books I have never read. If you are interested in the list check it out here.

2011 Audio Book Challenge March-July

Once again I am very behind in my posts. I have listened to quite a few audio books in the last few months.

7. Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte. After enjoying Jane Eyre so much I figured I would also give this book another chance. However I still didn't like Wuthering Heights. SO depressing. And why in the world is Mr. Heathcliff looked upon as a romantic figure? He is terrible!
8. The People of Sparks Jeanne DuPrau. I enjoyed the sequel to the City of the Ember very much. It was better than the first book. It had more action and interesting characters.
9. Divine Justice David Baldacchi. This was another Camel Club book. Oliver Stone is on the run after killing two important people. I like this book because he is put into this new setting with some really good new characters.
10. Inkspell Cornelia Funke. This was the sequel to Inkheart and I loved it!! The book was read by Brandan Fraser and he did a terrific job. He had an amazing voice for each character. The book was mesmerizing and I hated when it was over.

11. Hothouse Orchid Stuart Woods. I said I wouldn't read one of his books again because they are annoying. And I did. And I disliked it! This is my last Stuart Woods book I promise!

12. Avalon High Meg Cabot. Anyone who knows me knows I love young adult books. I love Meg Cabot Princess Diaries books so I decided to give Avalon High a listen. It was a pretty decent and enjoyable book. It was a modern day retelling of the King Arthur story.
13. The Spy Clive Cussler. This is from the Isaac Bell adventures. I enjoyed this as I do all Cussler's adventure/suspense stories. It got a little corny in some places but that is to be expected with his books!

14. The Collectors David Baldacchi. Another Camel Club book this one is before the last few I have read. It is the book that introduced Annabelle to the Camel Club. I already knew what happened so that made it a little less exciting than some of his other books but I still enjoyed it.
Since I passed my last challenge I will try for the last one of Obsessed which is 25 audiobooks. I am currently listening to two good audiobooks: one on my ipod and one in my car. I will do a new post when I finish those. Or in 2-3 months:-)