Too Many Books For My Bookshelves

I finally got tired of having random piles of books scattered about on tables, floors, stacked in front of other books on shelves, and decided to reorganize. The small bookcase in the living room stayed the same, because the shelf space is smaller, and can't fit tall books, so all my short books stayed put. The large bookcase in the living room had a massive makeover.

The top shelf, which was unused except for random papers, is now a shelf for my favorite authors (Caletti, Johnson, Green, Collins, Cashore...).

The second shelf down is a continuation of this, as well as random books I really enjoyed (Dessen, Stolarz, Summers, Wiess...).

The middle shelf is what I refer to as "adventure books" (read as: books I am making Mike read). This includes my paperback Harry Potter collection, the Redwall books, LOTR & The Hobbit, and Mike's Genghis Khan books.

The second shelf from the bottom is half "grown-up books" (like The Help, White Oleander, Pillars of the Earth...) and half memoirs, like Chelsea Handler's books, and my many memoirs about messed up females.

The bottom shelf is half school books from UMD, and half books I've borrowed from my mother. There is also a stack of "coffee table books" including one about Penguins, one about the Bruins, and one about the state of Washington.

The bookcase in my bedroom also got redone. The top shelf, which was where my favorite authors resided before, is now for my To-Read books.

The middle shelf stayed mostly the same, and is where all my Push Fiction books hang out. I added a few books I like as well.

The bottom shelf is now for books I read and liked, and might like to read again.

The excess books that I removed from shelves are now in a box, as they have been dubbed as too embarrassing to be seen on shelves by myself or anyone else. I don't have a place for the box yet, but as soon as I muster up the motivation I will add it to the other boxes of embarrassing books that are in the bottom of my closet.

I finished "Familiar Scars" by Christy Leigh Stewart, which was the book I won from GoodReads, and started reading "When It Happens" by Susane Colasanti. It's alright so far, but it hasn't sucked me in as I wished it would.

Bad bad blogger

Sooo... I am somewhere in 30's for the book count. I only read 3 books the last month, which is alright since I read a lot in the months prior. Also, I've been doing that thing where you read 5 books at once, so it takes forever to finish any of them, but then all of a sudden you finish all 5 in 3 days. It's crazy. I shouldn't do it. Plus, it gets confusing.

I am currently (still) reading the second Pretty Little Liars books, "Flawless," and some other books that I really can't remember at the moment... Ugh. I also won a book from GoodReads, so I have to read that and then write a review about it on GR.

I will try to update again this weekend.

April Update

Since my last update, I've read "How it Ends," "For Keeps," "The Iron King," "Birthmarked," "Forever,"and probably some other books.

"Birthmarked" by Caragh O'Brien was simply fantastic. I couldn't find any definitive information about whether there will be a sequel or not, but I seriously hope there is. Gaia was a wonderfully written protagonist and the whole story line was amazing. I loved that it was sort of a mix of "The Hunger Games" and The "Uglies" Series, and all those sort of "America in the messed up future" books, but with a really new and unique take on it.

"The Iron King" by Julie Kagawa was a lot better than I had expected it to be, but it still took me a long time to get used to the style of writing. I really enjoyed the story, but it was hard not to be annoyed with the language sometimes. I do look forward to the next book in the Iron Fey series, though.

"How it Ends" was so touching and lovely, and different!

"For Keeps" was so sweet and cute. Josie and Live, the two main female characters were such a nice portrayal of best friends, and the strange relationship twists with Josie's parents and grandparents were a story line I hadn't really read before. I like new twists on simple stories.

I think I am the last female ever to read "Forever" by Judy Blume. It was so blunt and honestly written that at some points I was like "Did she REALLY say THAT?" But at the same time it was so refreshing, and I love that a book written in 1975 is still relevant to teenagers. I'm glad that the story didn't end with anything terrible like STDs, AIDS, or young pregnancies. I loved that it ended with the simple lesson that when you're young, something that seems forever can end pretty quickly, whether you expect it to or not.

I am currently reading "Going Bovine" by Libba Bray. I've never read anything by Libba Bray before, but so far I really like her writing. I'm about half way through, and I like Cameron a lot. He's very honest and clever and I keep smiling when I'm reading.

Next up is "Tangled" by Carolyn Mackler.

Why I Love Reading

Or, one of the many reasons I love reading.

When I read a book, everything else sort of fades away, including time. To me, it feels like everything is evened out, and it's easy for me to reconnect with a place or the different versions of me that I've been throughout my life. For instance, this weekend I'm visiting my hometown and today I went down to the beach and to read for a bit. While I was reading, it occurred to me that when I'm reading books now, I feel exactly the same as all the other times I've read books. I could go back to that beach in ten years, read a book, and feel like the same person I was earlier today.

I don't know if that makes any sense, because it feels like one of those things that makes complete sense in my mind, but just won't translate properly to the page. One down side of this, though, is that I somehow feel like a 16 year old whenever I'm reading, probably because that's the age when I needed books the most to help deal with the rest of the world. I'm not complaining though, because I think that's one of the reasons that books are so comforting to me.

ANYWAYS.

I've now read 28 books this year. I don't have my list with me, so I can't update formally, however I did read some really great books recently that I do remember.

Deb Caletti - The Six Rules of Maybe. I really enjoyed the character interactions in this book, and truly, I am just such a sucker for Deb Caletti books. Ugh.

Elizabeth Scott - The Unwritten Rule. Usually when a girl kisses her best friend's boyfriend, it's pretty bad and def not a good time. But the way this was written really made the circumstances and context come into play, and I really liked the main character (Sarah? possibly?).

Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver. I really wasn't sure if I was going to like this book or not, because it was a strange premise. Samantha lives the last day of her life 7 times, and each time you can see how she is coping and progressing with accepting her own death and trying to be a better person at the same time. I ended up getting completely sucked into it.

I just got a few books in mail including:

How it Ends - Laura Wiess

The Iron King - Julie Kagawa

Birthmarked - Caragh O'Brien

Tangled - Carolyn Mackler

Every Little Thing in the World - Nina de Gramont

I also just pre-ordered John Green and David Levithan's new book, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which I am verrrry excited about. And, I keep updating and adding to my "Books to Buy" file. The newest additions are:

Already out:

Albatross - Josie Bloss

The Secret Year - Jennifer Hubbard

Sing Me to Sleep - Angela Morrison

Prey - Lurlene McDaniel

Forever - Judy Blume

Letting Go of Lisa - Lurlene McDaniel

Hold Still - Nina LaCour

Read My Lips - Teri Brown

Stained - Jennifer Richard Jacobson

The Wrong Mother - Sophie Hannah

The Last Summer (of you and me) - Ann Brashares

The Sword of Truth series - Terry Goodkind

Soon to be released:

For Keeps - Natasha Friend - Apr 6

The Karma Club - Brody - Apr 27

Boys, Bears, and a Serious Pair of Hiking Boots - McDonald - Apr 13

Something Like Fate - Colasanti - May 4

She's So Dead To Us - Scott - May 25

For some reason, I was trying to find something out about a Lurlene McDaniel book the other day, when I stumbled upon this blog: http://yalitanddeath.blogspot.com/ The blog is basically recaps of Lurlene McDaniel's books, which are usually about terrible tragedy/illness/so on. They are really quite depressing books, and I used to read them ALL THE TIME in Middle School. I have no idea why. I called my Mom last night to ask her if she remembered them, and she goes, "Yeah, the books about dying kids." Anyways, the author of the blog is a woman named Amy (I think she is a YA writer, but not sure), and the recaps are incredibly funny. She takes these books apart bit by bit and I can't stop laughing out loud when I'm reading the posts.

I would really like to find out if anyone has done this for Caroline B Cooney's books, because I was also big into everything she wrote. It was seriously a problem. I would go to Barnes & Noble and zoom right to the (very small) YA section just to look for Caroline B Cooney books. I really don't know why. I remember thoroughly enjoying them, too, so I kind of want to re-read some of them, but what if that ruins them for me forever? Imagine if "Wanted!," "Hush Little Baby," or even "Twins" were never the same for me again!?

...On that note, it's time for me to get a new hobby.

Sixteen and Counting

I am currently reading my seventeenth book of this year, "The Likeness" by Tana French, author of "In the Woods," which I read in January. I've also read "The Weight of Silence" by Heather Gudenkauf, which was incredible, especially for a book that I picked up at Target on a whim.
Here is the updated list:
Handle With Care - Picoult
The Lovely Bones - Sebold
In The Woods - French
Nothing Like You - Strasnick
Goth Girl Rising - Lyga
Love Is The Higher Law - Levithan
Dork Whore - Bahr
Loose Girl - Cohen
Holidays on Ice - Sedaris
Dear John - Sparks
Dawn - Brooks
The Missing Girl - Mazer
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - Boyne
The Last Song - Sparks
Scarlett Fever - Johnson
The Weight of Silence - Gudenkauf

The books that I really enjoyed from this list were "In The Woods," "Love is the Higher Law," "Dork Whore," and "The Weight of Silence." I've become more open to detective/mystery novels, or at least novels that include that sort of theme. I think if you really like good suspense, "In the Woods" and "The Weight of Silence" are fantastic for you to read. Both books I happened to pick up, one at a train station and one at Target. I don't usually branch out when I choose books, but I am really glad I did, and I will continue to do so.

So far, "The Likeness" is pretty good, I am just getting into the really interesting part now I think, when Cassie goes undercover. I like that it is about Cassie (a main character in "In The Woods") although I still wish things had worked between her and her former Murder Squad partner Rob.

After I finish "The Likeness," I plan on reading "Franny & Zooey" by JD Salinger (recently deceased) because while I loved "The Catcher In The Rye," I never read anything else by him. Some of my favorite people to follow on YouTube & Twitter have said "Franny & Zooey" is their favorite book, so I am anxious to read it.

There are still plenty of other books on my list to read after that as well, and I just made a new list tonight of the books that are out soon. Here are a few of those that I am most excited about:
YA Fiction:
The Unwritten Rule - Scott - Mar 16
Six Rules of Maybe - Caletti - Mar 16
Every Little Thing In The World - de Gramont - Mar 23
Will Grayson Will Grayson - Green & Levithan - Apr 6
She's So Dead To Us - Scott - May 25
My Name is Memory - Brashares - Jun 1
Linger - Stiefvater - July 20
Mockingjay - Collins - Aug 24
Non-YA Fiction:
FaithFul Place - French - July 13

The First Five

I finished three books today. I was halfway through two, and then read a whole book in between. I'm well on track for the 50 book challenge. I read on Good Reads that people are trying to read 12 books a month. While that may be completely plausible for people who don't have two jobs and are starting grad school, it just isn't possible for me. I like my 50 book challenge, and if I see that it will be too easy to accomplish, then I'll push it to 75. But 144 books in a year? That's absolutely mad.

This year so far I've completed:

The Lovely Bones - Sebold

Handle With Care - Picoult

In The Woods - French

Nothing Like You - Strasnick

Goth Girl Rising - Lyga

Besides that last one, it's almost like I've advanced to adult literature. But just you wait, that YA will come creeping back in in no time!

I really enjoyed In The Woods. It was another train station book, but it sounded familiar, like I'd heard about it somewhere, so I picked it up. It takes place in Ireland and has a really cool sort of intertwining plot revolving around a detective, Rob Ryan. I didn't really like how it ended though, because I loved how he and his partner on the murder squad, Cassie, worked and played off each other and I thought it would be nice if he hadn't screwed that up. Also, I still really want to know what happened to his friends when they were young. But alas.

Handle With Care was another typical, emotional Jodi Picoult novel, so it was enjoyable, but not very different from her other books. I did like it and I learned a lot from it, which is always good. I hate when you take nothing away from a book.

The Lovely Bones was very good to reread. I read it back when it first came out so I wanted to reread it and get familiar with it before going to see the movie. I haven't seen the movie yet but I hope it doesn't spoil the book. I love Susie's father, sister, and grandmother in particular in the book and I hope they are portrayed well.

I figure I should be able to finish two more books this month. Not definite though, because I start class on Monday and I have no idea what the work load will be like. Although I will be on trains quite a bit so maybe I can just read then. We'll have to wait and see.

Next up I plan on starting Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan and I still have to finish Lolita which I have been reading on and off for about three years. Ridiculous, I know.

More updates coming soon.

The 50 book challenge

I definitely read more than 50 books in 2009. I think it was around 60 at the final total. My numbers were always a little off because I didn't keep track of them until June. So for about 6 months I could only tally up about 12 books that I had read, though I am sure there must be more. But even so, I made up for my slow start during the Summer and Fall and then rounded out the fifty books with the Harry Potter series. And I did NaNoWriMo in November which took a lot of time away from reading and into writing.

Since this seems to be the only New Years resolution I can manage to keep, then I shall make it again, officially, here.

In 2010 I will read at least 50 books. I will only count re-reads if I haven't read them since high school. (so "Speak" and "The Lovely Bones" will count, but "The Truth About Forever" and "The Nature of Jade" won't). Is it sad that I already know what books I am going to re-read this year? Oh well.

I am currently reading Goth Girl Rising by Barry Lyga and I also started Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult because I was stuck at a train station with nothing to do except buy a random book and start reading it! I might hold off on finishing it right away though because I want to re-read The Lovely Bones before I see the movie when it's out.

After those books I am not sure what's in store. I still want to read The Chronicles of Narnia and I have a lot of random books I bought last year that never made the cut.

2009, The Best Parts:

My boyfriend asked me to marry him

I got accepted to Grad school

I went on a road trip with my best friend for 10 days

I read Harry Potter, and know I would be in Gryffindor

I won NaNoWriMo

I saw one of my favorite bands, AAR, twice

Mike and I made it through our first year of living together

I learned that there are still people out there who will help a stranger

I discovered I am brave