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For those of you who haven’t been following this blog very long, you may not know that my younger brother passed away of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on December 7, 2005. He was only 18. Since then, my dad has been involved in raising money and running for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through Team in Training, an organization that collects money for research and treatment of those affected through donations supporting runners. I’d like to ask that you consider sponsoring him in his first full marathon. It doesn’t take much; every little donation helps. If you’ve been lucky enough to have them, think of how grateful you are to have had your family around you this holiday season and consider helping those who may not have theirs.
If you’d like to help, you can read more or donate on my dad’s website.
 So … any Reading Resolutions? Say, specific books you plan to read? A plan to read more ____? Anything at all?
Name me at least ONE thing you’re looking forward to reading this year!
My main resolution is to read 200 books. I don’t know if I can do it, but I’m willing to give it a try. In reality, I’d just like to top this year’s total of 184. I’m sure that’s the most ever! One of my other goals is to re-read more. I have so many books I’d like to read over again, but with a now 300+ TBR pile, it’s nearly impossible to justify that to myself. So I want to focus more on what I want to read, not on what I’m supposed to be reading. That said, I’m also on a mission to clear out my ARCs. I think I’ve received almost everything I requested and plan to only ask for books I really want to read from this point forward. Before I go back to England, I’m trying to read all my outstanding books for review; i.e., the ones that have already been released. I still have a few there and those will be my first priority when I arrive.
Finally, I’d really like to complete some reading challenges! I failed miserably last year so I’m trying again. I have three small ones on tap, along with the big 200 one, and with the number of books I read, I really should be able to complete them.
 I didn’t participate in this challenge, organized by Dawn at She Is Too Fond of Books, last time it ran, but I think this is the year for it! I already have five books by LT authors in my TBR pile, so it should be easy enough!
First, the rules:
- The LibraryThing Author Challenge 2009 runs from January 1 – December 31, 2009
- Join anytime now through 2009; last day to post reviews is December 31, 2009
- Make a list of 5 LT Authors and books that you’d like to read (keeping in mind that the list of possible authors is always growing, so your wish list may change)
- Crossovers with other Challenges are allowed
- Post your reviews on your blog and on LibraryThing
- Leave a comment on my LT Author Challenge 2009 Reviews post with a link to your review on your blog.
My list:
LibraryThing Author Challenge 2009
- The Master of Verona by David Blixt
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
- The Coffee Trader by David Liss
- Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn
- Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark by Donna Lea Simpson
I’ve been seeing these posts everywhere, so it’s my turn! My list was extremely difficult to compose. I thought to do a best of each genre for a while, but in short, it was too hard! Instead I have multiple genres included here. So, the 10 new to me books I loved most in 2008, in no particular order:
And only one non-fiction book got the 5-star rating. That was John Adams by David McCullough. This was definitely the best pop history work I read all year and I think it deserves a read for anyone who is interested in American history.
This list has informed me that my best reading months were the summer ones and that despite my flow of ARCs, I really enjoy the books I choose for myself the most. It was hard to narrow down these 11 out of 184, but I think that shows I’ve had a great reading year. See my post on the sidebar for everything I’ve read in 2008.
Finally, Happy New Year! I can’t wait to start keeping track of books for 2009. Starting a new list is exciting and intimidating at the same time. Who knows what the new year will bring?
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