My Photo
Name:
Location: Vero Beach, Florida, United States

My name is Pat and I live in Florida. My skin will never be smooth again and my hair will never see color. I enjoy collecting autographs and playing in Paint Shop Pro.,along with reading and writing. Sometimes, I enjoy myself by doing volunteer "work" helping celebrities at autograph shows. I love animals and at one time I did volunteer work for Tippi Hedren's Shambala Preserve.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Reading In The Year 2007

The year has nearly come to an end. Gads, where does time go?? (and why does it go so fast for those of us of an older generation!?)
I noticed some other bloggers are summing up their year of reading, and thought I'd give it a go also. I thought I had read 69 books but I noticed a book I didn't put on my list.. then as I scanned over my books that are all around me, I did some checking and rechecking and found that there were a few others that somehow missed my list, and I knew I read them this year!.. I must have come upon a senior moment..or two.. or three. heh.
Anyway, I thought I'd begin with my top 10 list. It turned into a top 12. And I was doing good keeping it to that, for I really enjoyed nearly every book I read, and that made me feel good ...not to have spent money and not enjoy a book is a bummer.

Top 10... (in no particular order)
Inkheart: Cornelia Funke
Inkspell :
Cornelia FunkeI will say these two Funke books were my Favorite of the year! I would attribute the fact that she writes so well and I enjoyed these books so much, that they made me read more books by YA authors!

Here There Be Dragons: James A OwenA YA book that I totally enjoyed, with a bit of a surprise ending! The second in this series was just released! In Search of the Red Dragon and I can't wait to read it!
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: J K Rowling
What can I say? Harry, Harry, Harry.. got to love the kid! I am saddened that there will be no more Harry Potter books to look forward to.

The Thirteenth Tale: Diane SetterfieldMajor surprise for enjoyment! I will read this again! A gothic type story with mysteries to be discovered as you go along.
The Moor: Laurie R King
Another shocking surprise to myself! I never thought I'd like to read Sherlock Holmes, but Laurie King made him come to life again for me, and I really love the character of Mary Russell, Holmes' wife!! Most excellent writer! (honorable mention goes to 3 other of her Mary Russell books that I read: The Beekeepers Apprentice, A Monstrous Regiment of Women, and A Letter of Mary.)

Water for Elephants: Sara GruenA sometimes sad recollection of a man who once worked for a circus. An Excellent book with moments of sad truth scattered throughout!
His Dark Materials: Philip Pullman
(The Golden Compass/The Subtle Knife/ The Amber Spyglass)
I wasn't sure I'd like these books, but I did! Very much so!

The Hound of the Baskerville's: Arthur Conan DoyleThanks to Laurie R Kings books I attempted my favorite Holmes movie to read. I wasn't disappointed!
Bridge to Terabithia: Katherine PattersonI had no idea what this book was "really" about when I started to read it. It deserves the honors it has gotten!
and for simply entertainment and humor: Gil's All Fright Diner: A Lee Martinez
I don't "do" vampires and werewolves... but then ..I never thought they could make me laugh either!


Totals:
Total books read in 2007... 73! (my all time highest !)
Short Stories..
2Bio/ non fiction: 2..Novels:
69

This coming year I am determined to reread some old favorites in between books from my TBR pile.

17 Comments:

Blogger Debi said...

Oh my, you put me to shame! I didn't get anywhere near that many read. I would definitely have to say that Inkheart was one of my favorites of the year as well. So why I haven't gotten to Inkspell yet is beyond me. And I'm so glad to here you loved Here, There Be Dragons. I'd never heard of this book until last night when I picked it up at the bookstore...sounds like I made a good choice.

1:30 PM  
Blogger DesLily said...

Debi: James A Owen has a website where you can read his blog and see drawings from the third installment he is writing called the Indigo Dragon.. here's the link: http://www.heretherebedragons.net/

once there, on the right hand side look for "connections" and click on james a owens sketchbook and journal... lots to read!

2:15 PM  
Blogger chrisa511 said...

I can't wait to read Inkheart and Here, There Be Dragons!!! Both are on my list for 2008 as definite reads and I'd like to fit The Beekeeper in too. I really wanted to put Harry on the list too, but for some reason it didn't make it...I don't know why. I loved the book when I read it, but it didn't stick out as a favorite when I went back and thought on favorites of the year. I really will miss that series though :( And the Thirteenth Tale! I can't wait for Setterfield to release another book...I should go check up on that...

3:14 PM  
Blogger DesLily said...

chris: geez baby boy.. you make me do things I should do! (like keep checking at amazon!) You made me think of a book I read that i wondered when the next book would be out (the alchemyst nicolas flammel) and sure enough the second book will be out in June! Will we EVER not have a wish list?! argh! Now I'll go check Setterfield *groan*

3:41 PM  
Blogger chrisa511 said...

I searched and searched and the best I can find is that Setterfield is currently "working on her second novel" No more details than than though....let me know if you find more! And as for never having an Amazon wish list...YEAH RIGHT!

4:32 PM  
Blogger DesLily said...

Chris: I didn't even find that much! lol . .. no kidding on the wish list!

5:36 PM  
Blogger Ana S. said...

Very nice list. I've only read a couple of those, but you make me want to get all the others! I am definitely going to read Inkheart next year, and I really need to read that Laurie R King series too!

7:27 PM  
Blogger DesLily said...

nymeth: so far I haven't heard of anyone NOT liking Inkheart.. so far! lol The Laurie King books shocked me, I never thought I'd ever want to read Holmes..yet she made me want to! And Mary Russell is something else! love her!

7:31 PM  
Blogger Chrissy said...

DesLily: I agree me either i do not like Inkheart. I absolutely love Mary Russell too. She is something else hey! Oh also have you heard of Erik Quasling... He is very different. His newest book Fables From The Mudis original and something i've never read before.
I think People into Self-help, philosophy, humor, and new age writing would like this book. I'm kind of all those things i guess that's why i like it the most!!
Cheers & Happy New year!!
Chrissy

8:41 PM  
Blogger Carl V. Anderson said...

So glad you did a 'best of' list, I love doing them and love reading them.

You've certainly read your share of great books this year.

Don't worry about your 'senior moment'. I had some of those myself this year, realizing that eventhough I mostly kept track of my reading all year, I still left out several books that I noticed as I walked around the house.

I mentioned on Chris' blog that I think you both would love Jack Finney's book Time and Again. It is shelved in sci fi because of a brief opening time travel element, but it really ends up being much more of a historical mystery adventure that I think is the kind of book somewhat in the same category as Thirteenth Tale and books like it. It is a wonderful book and I think you'd love it. I think they shelve all of Finney's books in sci fi just because he wrote Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Anyway, you might want to at least look at the description on Amazon.

11:48 AM  
Blogger Ladytink_534 said...

These all sound really good! I'll have to put up my list of books that I read after I get back home on the 4th.

1:49 PM  
Blogger OldLady Of The Hills said...

Amazing, Pat! I cannot believe the number of books you;ve read in one year....It is like a book and a third, (or something) a week!!!
You put most people to shame with the amount of reading you do.....I think it is just Fabulous!

5:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was also sad to say goodbye to Harry Potter - they are some of my favorite books of all time. The Thirteenth Tale was a great book! It reminded me of a book I just finished the other day - The Shadow of The Wind - which I will be reviewing on my blog sometime next week. It had the same gothic feel as The Thirteenth Tale.
Stephanie
www.thewrittenword.wordpress.com

9:16 PM  
Blogger DesLily said...

Carl: I'll have to look into that! Thanks!

Lady: if you read any I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Naomi: I have to say this is the first year I've read so many books!! They just seemed to grab hold of me! lol

Steph: I'll look forward to that review.. i think!..my wish list need not grow! hahaha

8:33 AM  
Blogger Debi said...

Thanks for the info, Deslily! I'll definitely have to check out his site.

2:39 PM  
Blogger Cath said...

Our totals read for the year are very similar, we must read at about the same rate. Still haven't got around to The Thirteenth Tale. I really must in 2008. *But* I have just started Inkheart... knew you'd be pleased to hear that. :-D I already like it a lot.

6:02 PM  
Blogger DesLily said...

Cath: lol yep, glad to hear you are reading it and liking it!! When it gets close to the last book coming out I'm going to reread the first 2, and I'm looking forward to it!

6:04 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home