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I hope you all have a Happy New Year! Tomorrow, to start the new year, I will be beginning what will be a weekly Saturday feature talking about my Journey through Oz in this brand-spanking new year of 2011 … but first I wanted to wish you all a very happy and blessed year.  I’m positive that 2011 will be filled with joy, laughter and love.

It was just last year over this same holiday vacation that I migrated my blog from a wordpress.com hosted one and began book blogging in earnest.  I didn’t really want to do a big 1 year blogaversary thing.. because there are so many fantastic blogs out there that have been blogging the same amount of time that are such inspirations to me.  So in lieu of all of that, I will simply make a promise to you all as one of my New Years resolutions.

I will continue to work toward being fair and thoughtful in each of my reviews this upcoming year and to make certain that I continue to look for ways to improve.

2010 was filled with all sorts of new things for me.  I held author interviews, giveaways, began The Lost Entwife read-alongs, read many classic novels that I never had read before.  I made mistakes and learned from them, discovered new and exciting ways to do things, but most of all – I met my goal of reading 300 books (and then some).

So here are some fun stats for you all:

• Books read in 2010 (full list of books read is here): 365
• Books reviewed (and posted to blog) in 2010: 345
• Challenges completed in 2010: 5

Lost Entwife Read-Alongs started this past year and we’ve read some fantastic books and I look forward to reading the upcoming months choices as well!

Top Reads in 2010 (by month):

• January: The Likeness by Tana French
• February: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winnifred Watson
• March: The Fiddler’s Gun by A.S. Peterson
• April: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (and the rest of the series)
• May: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
• June: Crazy by Han Nolan
• July: The Girl who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
• August: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• September: Room by Emma Donoghue
• October: 1984 by George Orwell
• November: Sweetie by Kathryn Magendie
• December: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Least Favorite reads in 2010 (by month):

• January: A Cadger’s Curse by Diane Gilbert Madsen
• February: Tithing: Test Me in This by Douglas LeBlanc
• March: The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview
• April: Billie Girl by Vickie Weaver
• May: Balancing Acts by Zoe Fishman
• June: Storm Glass by Maria Snyder
• July: Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton
• August: Song of Seduction by Carrie Lofty
• September: Lies My Mother Never Told Me by Kaylie Jones
• October: Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith
• November: Eternity Falls by Kirk Outerbridge
• December: Salting Roses by Lorelle Marinello

So why do I include this list?  Because I have to have balance.  I dislike putting a list up of 10 books that I adored without also saying, look.. I loved books this year, but there were some books I didn’t love as much.  While I do try to be fair and to respect the authors work – these books just didn’t work for me.  If they worked for you, I’m glad! For both you and the author and I respect your opinion on them.  But yeah, I have to have a listing of the top and least favorite or it would make me a little nutty.

So that’s a taste of what happened here in 2010.  I’m pleased with the growth made, I have learned from my mistakes and although I’m sure I’ll continue to make them, I only hope that with the start of my second year blogging things will just get better and better around here.

Last night, thanks to a really loud thunderstorm, I was up for several hours more than I’d originally intended.  The result?  Well.. here’s what I’ve completed so far:

• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
• Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
• 1/2 way through Constellation Chronicles by Vincent Lowry

Next up – The Bells by Richard Harvell!

Here are the books still on my list for the weekend!

• The Bells by Richard Harvell
• Piers’ Desire by Marianne Ackerman
• The Day the Flowers Died by Ami Rebecca Blackwelder
• The Remains by Vincent Zandri
• The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano

For my daytime reading I have some library books I need to get read.. but these books I’ll only be reading between 8pm-8am!

The first challenge is from Jami at YA Addict!  Our mission? Take a picture of ourselves with our current read.

So – ignore the crappy quality but this is me!

I’m all ready to go! I’ve spent the first 30 minutes of the read-a-thon reading a chapter of Harry Potter (Platform Nine and Three-Quarters) to the kiddos and now I’m settling down with Shiver.

So what do I plan to tackle for this read-a-thon?

• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
• Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Bells by Richard Harvell
• Piers’ Desire by Marianne Ackerman
• The Day the Flowers Died by Ami Rebecca Blackwelder
• The Remains by Vincent Zandri
• Constellation Chronicles by Vincent Lowry
• The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano

For my daytime reading I have some library books I need to get read.. but these books I’ll only be reading between 8pm-8am!

Let the reading begin!!

Read Your Own Books Read-a-thon Summary

• The first book I finished was Artemis Fowl – and I liked it quite a bit!  I asked the following question: What character do you find yourself talking about the most?
• The second book I finished was Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident – I enjoyed it, but found it very similar to the first Artemis Fowl.  My second question as I headed into Percy Jackson territory was:  Did you see the Percy Jackson movie? Read the book? What did you think of the movie? Were you pleased or unhappy with it?
• The third book I finished is Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters – I enjoyed it MUCH more than I did the first Percy Jackson book and will happily read on to The Titan’s Curse… but first, another Artemis Fowl book for me.  My question after finishing The Sea of Monsters is this: Do you read series all in a row if you have them? Why or why not?
• The fourth book I finished is Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code – Enjoyed this adventure quite a bit and really loved getting to see Mulch again in all of his smell-tacular glory.  My question once I finished this was: What type of outdoor/indoor conditions do you do your best reading in?
• The fifth book I finished is Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse – Again, I end up revisiting my feelings toward the first Percy Jackson book.  I’m not sure what it is exactly about these books that just ends up boring me about halfway through but I certainly hope the remaining two are more like the second!  My question for this update was: Have any strange occurrences happened in the subject of your books in a short time span? For example – I’d finished learning about Artemis’ name in the Artemis books and then was acquainted with Rick Riordan’s Artemis the Hunter in the next Percy Jackson book I read.
• The sixth book that I finished is Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception -  Four words for you.  I loved this book.  Seriously, best one yet – I love that Artemis finally went up against a mastermind almost as brilliant as he is.  There were some really hilarious scenes in this book too but in the off-chance that you haven’t read it.. I’ll refrain from talking about them.  Fun book!  So my question this time around is this:  What was the last book that made you stop reading and laugh out loud. I’m not talking a chuckle as you keep reading, I’m talking about honest to goodness laughing while the book is lowered and you are not looking at the pages.
• The seventh book I finished was Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth – I really enjoyed this one – especially the parts with Calypso (always have been interested in Calypso).  Loved the addition of a “super human” to the mix and really..anything with a labyrinth can do no wrong in my eyes; thanks David Bowie.
• The eighth book I finished was Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony – .. wow this one was confusing.  Very cool in that another child genius is added to the mix – but.. confusing in that the demon world was just.. hard to get.  Out of all the books this one worries me the most as far as keeping my nephews attention locked into it.
• My final book I’ve finished (with 30 minutes to spare) is Finny by Justin Kramon – I decided to deviate a little bit from my schedule since I have a review due on this one tomorrow and it was SO REFRESHING to read adult literature, y’all.  I love YA/MS books.. but sometimes I just need a good dose of adult and this provided it in spades.  Loved, loved this book and cannot wait for you all to see my review on it tomorrow!

So .. that’s NINE books folks! Nine! I’m so thrilled I managed to knock these out of my TBR pile (with your AWESOME support).

So- we have two winners today and those are…..(chosen at random by random.org)

Stella_ExLibris has won the book of her choice from what I read this weekend

(If none of these look interesting to you, Stella, you can pick something you’d like from the Book Depository – $10 value or less)

Hannah Faith has won a $15 GC from The Book Depository!

Congrats to you winners! I’ll be emailing you shortly to let you know you’ve won!

Thanks so much to Monica at Bibliophiliac for hosting a fantastic read-a-thon!

(I’ll be updating this post with my remaining vlog’s throughout the day! So keep checking back)

Remember, everyone cheering meon, answering the questions and showing encouragement throughout this gets an entry point to the giveaway!  Yes, you can get more than one!

Every three books I’ve decided to take a break on my vlog updates just to kind of sum up what’s happened so far before I crawl into bed with my next book.

• The first book I finished was Artemis Fowl – and I liked it quite a bit!  I asked the following question: What character do you find yourself talking about the most?
• The second book I finished was Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident – I enjoyed it, but found it very similar to the first Artemis Fowl.  My second question as I headed into Percy Jackson territory was:  Did you see the Percy Jackson movie? Read the book? What did you think of the movie? Were you pleased or unhappy with it?
• The third book I finished is Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters – I enjoyed it MUCH more than I did the first Percy Jackson book and will happily read on to The Titan’s Curse… but first, another Artemis Fowl book for me.  My question after finishing The Sea of Monsters is this: Do you read series all in a row if you have them? Why or why not?
• The fourth book I finished is Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code – Enjoyed this adventure quite a bit and really loved getting to see Mulch again in all of his smell-tacular glory.  My question once I finished this was: What type of outdoor/indoor conditions do you do your best reading in?
• The fifth book I finished is Percy Jackson: The Titan’s Curse – Again, I end up revisiting my feelings toward the first Percy Jackson book.  I’m not sure what it is exactly about these books that just ends up boring me about halfway through but I certainly hope the remaining two are more like the second!  My question for this update was: Have any strange occurrences happened in the subject of your books in a short time span? For example – I’d finished learning about Artemis’ name in the Artemis books and then was acquainted with Rick Riordan’s Artemis the Hunter in the next Percy Jackson book I read.
• The sixth book that I’ve just finished is Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception -  Four words for you.  I loved this book.  Seriously, best one yet – I love that Artemis finally went up against a mastermind almost as brilliant as he is.  There were some really hilarious scenes in this book too but in the off-chance that you haven’t read it.. I’ll refrain from talking about them.  Fun book!  So my question this time around is this:  What was the last book that made you stop reading and laugh out loud. I’m not talking a chuckle as you keep reading, I’m talking about honest to goodness laughing while the book is lowered and you are not looking at the pages.

Remember, everyone cheering me on, answering the questions and showing encouragement throughout this gets an entry point to the giveaway!  Yes, you can get more than one!)

And for those keeping track….

I’ve completed six books! That’s one $10 GC to The Book Depository !

Remember, everyone cheering meon, answering the questions and showing encouragement throughout this gets an entry point to the giveaway!  Yes, you can get more than one!