The Book List

So at the end of 2010 I decided I was going to keep track of all the books I read during 2011. I bought a nifty book journal to write down all the titles and authors and when I read the books and even my thoughts about them. I managed to do that for about seven books. After that, I lost track of how long it took me to finish some books because it took me over a month to finish a few of them. But I still managed to keep track of which books I read and I decided I'm going to list them here. I'll even tell you my favorites so you can read them too, or tell me whether you liked them if you've already read them.

The list isn't in any particular order. Basically just how they were stacked on my shelves and floor as I finished them. And the books listed are the books I actually finished. I started a few others during the year that I just couldn't get through for one reason or another. I'm something of a picky reader when it comes to published books. I like good writing, and the more good writing I read, the harder it is for me to read writing that bugs me for some reason. So this list is only of the books I've finished in 2011. Also, this is only lists fiction. I've read a few non-fiction titles this year, but I'm not going to list them here. I may put them in another list later, though.

I will put an asterisk (*) by the books I really, really liked. I will put an ® by the books the I reread this year (books that I've already previously read but decided to read again for whatever reason).

*Poison Study - Maria V. Snyder
®Terrier - Tamora Pierce
Behemoth - Scott Westerfeld
Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld
Lemonade Mouth - Mark Peter Hughes
Fire - Kristin Cashore
The Read Pyramid - Rick Riordan
*The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan
*Hex Hall - Rachel Hawkins
*Demonglass - Rachel Hawkins
*Cast in Shadow - Michelle Sagara
Incarceron - Catherine Fisher
******Legend - Mary Lu
*Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins
Delierium - Lauren Oliver
Prophecy of the Sisters - Michelle Zink
®Beastly - Alex Flinn
The Iron King - Julie Kagawa
*Lola and the Boy Next Door - Stephanie Perkins
The Demon King - Cinda Williams Chima
*The Son of Neptune - Rick Riordan
******Divergent - Veronica Roth
*Heist Society - Ally Carter
Entwined - Heather Dixon
Eon - Alison Goodman
The Throne of Fire - Rick Riordan
Across the Great Barrier - Patricia C. Wrede
Blood Red Road - Moira Young (I haven't quite finished this one yet, but I think I may get it finished before midnight tomorrow. And I started it in 2011, so I'm counting it).

Until I actually sat down and counted the books, I didn't think I'd read that many this year. The total is 28, which means I averaged 1.8 books read per week.

I think you can guess my favorites based on the list above, but just in case, they were Divergent and Legend. I really liked most of the books I read. But those two were absolutely the best of the best. And Divergent was by far my favorite of the year. I seriously considered rereading it multiple times.

Tell me what books you read this year. Have you read any (or all) of the books on my list? Which did you like the best?

The Center Didn't Hold

Okay, so the title is kind of lame, but I heard a Ferengi quote that line of that poem on Star Trek and I just couldn't resist. (Of course, it left me wondering how on DS:9 Quark could possibly know that line from that poem by Yeats, seeing as he despises all things hu-man, but now I'm just thinking too far into it.) (Bonus points for everyone who got both of those references before I explained.)

Anyway, the last time I posted was four months ago when I was attempting the BIAM a second time for a second story. Y'all might have guessed from my sudden silence that it did not go well. Actually, it all kind of fell apart. I think it was a combo of the story not being ready and the timing of the attempt. I realized halfway through that I had no idea where the story was going. I thought I did, but it took trying to write the story to completion to realize I had no idea where it was supposed to end or even what the characters were doing in the story. I didn't know why they were there or what they wanted or anything.Add to that the fact that my FT job got super crazy busy and you have a recipe for disaster. I just didn't have the time that I'd had with the other project. Things were just too busy and I couldn't dedicate the time I needed to to finish on time.

I also realized that I needed to reexamine the story and characters and figure out just what everything was about. Why did my antagonist do what he did? Why did my protagonists do what they did? Why did they feel about each other they way they did. So I took a month or so and just thought and did rough character sketches.

Finally, I found another system that seemed like it might work better with this story and started with it. And the good news, it worked pretty well. I'm still struggling here and there. But overall, I'm much happier with where this story is going than I was back in September. I currently drafting scenes and I'm really hoping with my vacation coming up I'll be able to finish the scene drafts by the end of the year.

I also feel kind of bad because I've been ignoring the whole online world for about four months now. I haven't been blogging, I haven't been on LWC, I've been on Facebook but not really posting. I just haven't been present, at all.

I really want to try and fix my terribly blogging habits, well really my terrible internet habits. Because let's face it, I'm really bad at having an online presence. But I want to try and be better. I even have a few ideas for some blog posts. And I'm officially asking for ideas. Anything y'all want me to post on, talk about, rant about, or comment on? I'll give it a try. I'm also going to try and post a few book reviews, though, I'm really bad at writing those. Still, I've been reading, so I might as well talk about what I'm reading.

So tell me what you want me to talk about. I'm going to try and post at least once a week. I can't guarantee what day or what time, but I'm gonna try.

Now, I'm gonna go, cause this is long enough as it is. :)