A Few Things

Over the past few days, I've been reading bits of other book review/reading/writing blogs and it made me feel inclined to clarify a few things.

My intention isn't to write professional grade reviews here. It has been nearly two decades since I last took an English class. While I'd like to finish my BA(s) (and start my Masters and Ph.D. as well) in English Literature and Creative Writing, I have not yet done so. My paragraphs and grammar won't always be perfect. It's been awhile since someone corrected my comma placement or reminded me how to determine where a paragraph should start and end. Literary analysis is not a class I've taken. There isn't going to be any formal format here nor are you likely to find reviews that would be printed somewhere. In depth analysis isn't my strong suit and any lingo you come across is purely accidental. 

The point of this blog, for me, is to share what I'm reading and have read, in the hopes that others will do the same. Because I love books and I love book recommendations. With so much material out there, it's nice to hear people's thoughts before dedicating hours of my life to a book that I am bound to dislike (when I could be reading an undiscovered gem that someone turned me on to). A good book recommendation or review from a like-minded reader is virtually priceless.

And, I wanted to have a place to keep track of my thoughts about the books that I read as I read them, as well as a place where I can hold myself accountable to my personal goals.

Finally, I'm trying to find ways to motivate myself to spend time on something I'm passionate about, and I find that writing about reading is a great fire stoker.

So, I hope you find something useful or entertaining here, and that you'll jump in and with comments and recommendations of your own. My reading list is only about 5000+ volumes long so...I could always use a few more to bulk up my list. ;)

Progress for 2014

The books I have read thus far:

1. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
2. City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
3. Fallen by Lauren Kate

Currently, I'm reading Bittersweet: A Novel by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore. It's an ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy) that I received through a giveaway on Goodreads (where I manage my reading lists these days). Not in my usual genre, but certainly up my alley. The writing so far is excellent even if the story hasn't made much movement just yet. Definitely not going to be a quick read. Not likely to be a book that I stay up late to finish. But I think I'm going to like it. When I'm done with it, I'll be sure to review it.

As for the three books I've already finished this year, I'll try to do a review sometime soon.

Books I Read: 2013

The past year was only slightly better than the year before, but improvement is improvement, right? And considering we moved across the country in August, I'm ok with 21 books for the year.

1. Quiet by Susan Cain
2. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett
3. Divergent by Veronica Roth
4. The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
5. The Giver by Lois Lowry
6. Carly's Voice by Arthur Fleischmann
7. Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs
8. Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
9. Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
10. Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris
11. Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres
12. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
13. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
14. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
15. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
16. Partials by Dan Wells
17. Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs
18. Shakespeare's Trollop by Charlaine Harris
19. The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
20. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
21. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

To be fair, the only reason I had a bit of a leg up in 2013 is because I had surgery at the beginning of the year that landed me in bed for 6 weeks. Truth be told, given those circumstances, I could have done a lot better, and I had planned to, but I allowed myself to catch up on magazines, movies and television, and I spent the better part of the first two weeks napping every hour or two (those darned painkillers).  If I had the chance again (and it's likely I will sometime in the next year or so), I hope that I would take better advantage. But I digress...

There were two books I was truly disappointed with: Dead Ever After and The Looking Glass Wars.

Dead Ever After was typical Charlaine Harris and I do truly love her (one more book and I've read every novel she's written!), but I didn't agree with how she ended the series. Somehow I knew it would go the way that it did, but I couldn't help hoping it wouldn't. In order to not spoil it for anyone else, I can't give any particulars, but I felt something was missing in the writing. And the person she ended up with is not who I wanted her with. Obviously the series is Charlaine's baby and she had that pairing in mind all along, but I didn't feel like she got me there with her. After all the time and heart I invested in the series, it was painful to be so let down in the end.

The idea of rewriting Alice in Wonderland (sort of) was pretty intriguing, and honestly, I liked the cover. The Looking Glass Wars is in my preferred genre (YA, fantasy) and I had high hopes for it. Perhaps that is entirely the problem. My hopes were so very high there is no way my expectations could be met. Or maybe it just wasn't that well written.

The premise was certainly interesting, but the story wasn't very well told. If it hadn't been so close to the end of the year (and I needing to reach my reading goal), I probably would have put it in my "Never to be Finished" pile and moved along. Instead, I made myself finish it, hoping that, at some point, it would turn a corner and be wonderful. Alas, that was not the case. Oh, the wonderful book I could have read instead.

Ah well, I managed to devour a few series' and enjoyed them immensely. Likely to finish up a few more in 2014. Here's to a better reading year!

Books I Read: 2012

In 2012, I found a little more time and managed to read a few more books. This amazing feat (to me!) was accomplished by giving myself two nights a week to leave the house for an hour or two and go to Barnes & Noble to read. I'd sit in the cafe with a steaming cup of hot cinnamon spice tea (one of my favorites) and a good book. Doing this helped me go from three books in 2011 to eighteen in 2012. It just goes to show, it's all about carving out the time and removing distractions.

1. The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz
2. 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong
5. The Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan
6. Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
7. Fair Game by Patricia Briggs
8. Destined by P.C. Cast
9. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
10. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
11. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
12. Following Ezra by Tom Fields-Meyer
13. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
14. Dragonfly in Amber by Maggie Stiefvater
15. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
16. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
17. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
18. The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen

Several of these books were so, so good. Obviously, I loved The Wolves of Mercy Falls series by Maggie Stiefvater (obvious because I read the whole series in a matter of three months). And the Outlander series is fantastic (it's on my list to finish the whole series).

My favorite of these was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It's the kind of book you get lost in, that you take your time with and chew on the words a little bit. The length and depth of it is the one reason why I've not yet read the sequel, but it is on my short list to be sure.

Bitter in the Mouth was a huge surprise. It was quirky and wonderful and painfully beautiful. Loved. It. Loved.

The most disappointing of the bunch was The Surgeon. I wanted to like the series. Truly I did. But it was one of the worst books I've ever read. I had to drag myself to the end of it just so I could say I gave it a fair shot. Still, it's such a popular series that I've toyed with the idea of reading the next book in the series, just to see if it gets better. Then I remember how many wonderful books are waiting for me...it's definitely not on my short list.

Books I Read: 2010

2010 is when I started this blog, and I believe one of my initial posts listed what I had read to date that year. This will be a full listing of what I managed to read in 2010 despite it being on of the more tumultuous years of my life. ;)

1. The Gate House by Nelson DeMille
2. Poppy Done to Death by Charlaine Harris
3. A Secret Rage by Charlaine Harris
4. Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton
5. Tempted by P.C. Cast
6. Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton
7. Demon Seed by Dean Koontz
8. The Gunslinger by Stephen King
9. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
10. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
11. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
12. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
13. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
14. A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle
15. Narcissus in Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton
16. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
17. Animal Farm by George Orwell
18. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
19. Obsidian Butterfly by Laurell K. Hamilton
20. Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
21. Sweet and Deadly by Charlaine Harris
22. Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs
23. Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
24. Burned by P.C. Cast
25. Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
26. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

These were all finished by August, when I started to have issues with mobility and getting comfortable. By end of September, I was living in the high risk maternity ward at the hospital, and didn't make it back home until Thanksgiving when we brought all three of our babies home. Still not too bad when I think back on how sick I was.

Books I Read: 2011

A short list of the books I managed to finish in 2011. It isn't exactly a long list, but with three newborns, I consider it a near miracle that I read anything at all.

1. River Marked by Patricia Briggs - 8.1.11
2. Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris - 9.1.11
3. Momma Zen by Karen Maezen Miller - 12.31.11

Yup, that's it.

It's been entirely too long for me to do a proper review on any of these, but I can say that I loved the first two and the third was tough to finish. It simply wasn't for me. Perhaps the information would be helpful for a mother of a singleton, but some of her observations were completely invalid for a mother of triplets. And as the book progressed, she became somewhat critical of other parenting choices, or at least, that's how I remember feeling at the time.

The Myndi of December 2011 would not have recommended it. The Myndi of 2014 would need to read it again to be sure, but, honestly, I have too many other books awaiting my attention. So, read at your own risk. Maybe you'll love it and it'll speak to you. :)

Where Did the Time Go?

Yes, it's been nearly 4 years. After only a few months posting and a handful of posts and reviews, I fell off the face of the Earth. Why? Well, the short synopsis is: I got pregnant. With triplets. It was a very difficult pregnancy with a lengthy hospital stay followed by preterm babies (all fine, by the by). Since then, I've been busy wrangling three babies who have now turned into three year old toddlers. Craziness. I've been really busy and preoccupied with all that sort of craziness entails.

Since the last time I wrote, my reading, as well as my reading list project, have taken a serious hit. Seriously, free time is not something I've had a lot of, and I'm so tired all the time that the minute I pick up a book, I tend to fall asleep. Needless to say, I'm pretty sure I've read fewer books in the past four years (in total!) than I did in 2009. But, now I'm trying to find my way back to some semblance of my former self, and I'm primarily focusing on getting my reading/writing goals back to where they used to be.

It has been a slow process and I've had to work at it, to force myself to do something for myself, to not veg out and let my mind rest/waste. My current self can hardly imagine I ever had the time to read 50+ books a year. In 2013, I read 21 books and a total of 9053 pages, and it felt like a huge accomplishment. This year my goal is a slight stretch at 25 books and 10,220 pages (yeah, I still do that). At this stage, the point is to push myself a little towards a reasonable goal so that a) I have a chance of reaching it and b) I don't start to see reading as a chore.

Additionally, I have a bit of a mental list in my head of some of the books I want to read, but despite toying with the idea, I've opted not to commit myself to anything in particular. Once again, I don't want this to feel like work or a job. If I commit to any set book list, I'll feel like I HAVE to read them, and even if I wanted to read them before, it will take the fun out of it, I'll drag my feet, and I won't meet my other reading goals for the year. So there will be none of that.

Anyway, I'm going to try and write more often, following my original format, and I hope that at some point I'll have a few readers that will join in the fun with me. Here's to more reading in 2014!