Thankfully Reading Post #1

I decided to get my Thankfully Reading off to a good start at midnight by deciding to finish up Girl With A Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I finished the last forty pages. What a great book! I have the next book in the series on an audiobook and I really wish I had brought it to my parents. But since I didn't I am going to get started on my next book which is Pegasus by Robin McKinley. I love her books. Beauty is one of my all time favorite books. I think it's funny that even though I have my Nook and I am only staying one night at my parents I still packed two regular books. Old habits never die! Hopefully I can get more reading in tomorrow in between a family photography shoot and the pile of school work I have to do before school ends in two weeks.

I also started a new Twitter handle to go with this blog! ReadingSusan. Follow me today!

What's In A Name 4: Evil in a Title

I read Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire for the evil in a title category. I will say this book was a struggle to get through. I have come to the conclusion that I just don't like his books. The first half of the book was really, really slow and depressing. The last half of the book was a little more interesting and went a little faster. It basically continues the story of Wicked after Elphaba dies and follows her son Liir. He is not really sure he is her son and he has a lot of struggles and bad times. The majority of the book is just depressing things that happens to him. But I finally did finish it after about six months.

What's In A Name 4: Life Stage

I am way behind on my What's In A Name posts! I read Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close for the Life Stage category. This book was so good. It has a dark undertone but is also really funny. This book is a collection of stories about college friends and their heartbreaks, disappointments and triumphs in life. It is very real to life how different people act when they get married and have kids. I loved the one story about the girl who had six bridal showers and made her bridesmaids come to all of them. This book was very witty and funny and I highly recommend it.

Thankfully Reading 2011

It is getting close to that time of year again.: Thankfully Reading over the Thanksgiving holiday. This was the first book challenge I ever did and it inspired me to do more. Hopefully I will be able to get in a lot of reading in between preparing for a law debate and cooking lots of yummy food. Can't wait!

Modern Library: 100 Best Novels

So I decided to take on a new personal challenge. Last year The Modern Library printed a list of the best 100 novels. I was looking through and realized how few I have read. So I have decided to start on this list and see how many of these books I can read. In the next ten years. Ha ha. No really I am going to start going through the list and reading all the books I have never read. If you are interested in the list check it out here.

2011 Audio Book Challenge March-July

Once again I am very behind in my posts. I have listened to quite a few audio books in the last few months.

7. Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte. After enjoying Jane Eyre so much I figured I would also give this book another chance. However I still didn't like Wuthering Heights. SO depressing. And why in the world is Mr. Heathcliff looked upon as a romantic figure? He is terrible!
8. The People of Sparks Jeanne DuPrau. I enjoyed the sequel to the City of the Ember very much. It was better than the first book. It had more action and interesting characters.
9. Divine Justice David Baldacchi. This was another Camel Club book. Oliver Stone is on the run after killing two important people. I like this book because he is put into this new setting with some really good new characters.
10. Inkspell Cornelia Funke. This was the sequel to Inkheart and I loved it!! The book was read by Brandan Fraser and he did a terrific job. He had an amazing voice for each character. The book was mesmerizing and I hated when it was over.

11. Hothouse Orchid Stuart Woods. I said I wouldn't read one of his books again because they are annoying. And I did. And I disliked it! This is my last Stuart Woods book I promise!

12. Avalon High Meg Cabot. Anyone who knows me knows I love young adult books. I love Meg Cabot Princess Diaries books so I decided to give Avalon High a listen. It was a pretty decent and enjoyable book. It was a modern day retelling of the King Arthur story.
13. The Spy Clive Cussler. This is from the Isaac Bell adventures. I enjoyed this as I do all Cussler's adventure/suspense stories. It got a little corny in some places but that is to be expected with his books!

14. The Collectors David Baldacchi. Another Camel Club book this one is before the last few I have read. It is the book that introduced Annabelle to the Camel Club. I already knew what happened so that made it a little less exciting than some of his other books but I still enjoyed it.
Since I passed my last challenge I will try for the last one of Obsessed which is 25 audiobooks. I am currently listening to two good audiobooks: one on my ipod and one in my car. I will do a new post when I finish those. Or in 2-3 months:-)

2011 Audio Book Challenge Jan-March

I have been doing well on this challenge for the year. I love a good audiobook on my long commute to school. It definitely makes the miles zip by! Since January I have listened to six audio books so I have already met my goal! I am going to try to get to Addicted now which is 12 audiobooks.

1. Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
I never really liked Jane Eyre when I was younger. It was a very depressing, sad book. But I really enjoyed it this time. The people who read it had good voices and made it interesting so that helped. I always thought that Mr. Rochester had deliberately burned down the house with his wife in it but that wasn't the case. I am glad I gave this book another chance!



2. Two Dollar Bill Stuart Woods
I decided to read this book because my dad told me the author was from the small town he grew up in. The book was a little hokey in places and typical of an adventure/suspense/mysery story.

3. Stone Cold David Baldacci
I love David Baldacci books and I enjoyed this Camel Club book. It was the first Camel Club I read even though it is in the middle of the series. I really liked this audiobook because it had some nice sound effects which I felt added to the drama. It was a great story and kept me in the car long after I would reach my destination!



4. The City of Ember Jeanne DuPrau.
I got this audio book to listen to on the way to Florida for spring break. My sister likes these types of books like I do so I figured it would be something we could both enjoy. We were a little disappointed and felt the book dragged too much. They seemed to stretch out parts too much and not make other parts longer that could have been more exciting. However I probably will still read or listen to the other three books in the series.


5. Inkheart Cornelia Funke
We also listened to this on our spring break trip and I loved it. I loved the concept of it and I loved the story. I always love a good story with people who are passionate about books!

6. Don't Blink James Patterson
This book started out so gross at the beginning that I almost turned it off. But it got better and the story intrigued me and pulled me in.