Looking Back at 2010

As I’ve mentioned around these parts, I started my book blog this year after having browsed the blogs of others for some time. I wanted a place to share my thoughts about what I read or what I think in general and this blog has become my place to do so.  While I’ve accomplished the main goal of setting up a place to talk and share thoughts on all things bookie, entering the book blogging world has given me the motivation to read more regularly and expand what I do read. Since starting college a few years ago, I have not been reading as much as I used to because I was going to school full time, working full time, volunteering, plus homework and family stuff. Reading just sort of took a backseat for me. I’ve always loved to read, but I stopped making time for it because of the craziness of my everyday life. Having this blog helped me to rediscover, for lack of a better word, one of the things I love to do.

Up to this point I’ve read about 156 books. Most of them I’ve read since June when I started thinking about blogging. I had only read a few during the Spring semester of school.

The majority of the books I read this year is romance. While I’ve never minded a book with a bit of romance, I didn’t start reading the genre for real until this year. Of those 156 books, over half of them fall into the romance category. When I started to explore the genre, well I went into it full force. I’ve read several series and several different types of romance (historical, western, suspense, etc). Some of my favorites are:

-Nora Roberts: I read that first Nora Roberts book and was instantly hooked. My subsequent addiction to romance reads is all because of the Nora Roberts I read early this year.
-Sherrilyn Kenyon: I’ve recently started Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter and The League series. I fell in love with both immediately. The Dark-Hunter series is a paranormal romance series with a base in mythology, but the author gives that mythology a twist and I just love it. While The League is basically paranormal romance, it has a futuristic/sci-fi element to it which I enjoyed very much. I look forward to continuing both of these series.
-Lorelei James: I happened upon this author over the summer and figured I may as well give her a chance, needless to say I fell in love with her books and now own and have read all of them. They are western romance, so if cowboys are your thing, give them a shot.
-Jeaniene Frost: I went a bit backwards into Jeaniene Frost’s books, but love them either way. I started with the Night Huntress World books then read her Night Huntress books, which had actually come out first. Like every other woman who has read these books, I fell in love with Bones and am now eagerly awaiting the newest book for release in early 2011.
-Victoria Dahl and Jill Shalvis: I put these two authors together because they quickly became favorite authors in the contemporary romance field. They write fun romance stories that any of us women in the real world can relate to. Fun reads and I’m working my way through both of their backlists.
-Rhonda Nelson: Rhonda Nelson writes a ton of books published in the Harlequin Blaze category, many of which feature men in uniform. They are great cozy romance reads.
-Lara Adrian and J.R. Ward: The authors of the Midnight Breed and Black Dagger Brotherhood series, respectively. These books pretty much launched the paranormal romance addiction I went through this summer.

Other mentions: Gena Showalter, Joanne Kennedy, Elizabeth Hoyt, Charlaine Harris, Suzanne Brockmann, Linda Lael Miller… These are all romance authors that I have also come to love.

My non-fiction reading took a hit this year, what with the romance craze I went on. I only read ten non-fictions this year a few of which were for classes or suggested by professors. My 2010 non-fiction:

School non-fiction mentioned on the blog:
– Tokyo Vice by Jake Adelstein: I very much intend to reread this soon on a personal level because it was such a great book and it would be nice to read it for fun.
– Out of Mao’s Shadow by Philip Pan
– The Insanity Offense by E. Fuller Torrey: I read this for school, but did review it here. This was a fantastic read that brought up a few of the big issues America faces as a result of deinstitutionalization.
– Book of David by David Gelles: A heartbreaking account of where our welfare system goes wrong. I read this for my Domestic Violence during the fall semester. Definitely a must read for anyone interested in family affairs.

Memoirs:
–You Can Run But You Can’t Hide by Duane “Dog” Chapman: I love Dog the Bounty Hunter. I haven’t quite figured out why, but I do. When I came across a cheap copy of his first book, I couldn’t help myself and bought it. I was suprised by just how into his story I got. He was unflichingly honest about the mistakes he has made in life which I love.
–Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen: This book quickly became an absolute favorite! An amazing read.
–Shit My Dad Says by Justin Halpern: Hilarious, honest, real. You can’t go wrong with this one.

Other non-fiction:
–A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom: An informative book that furthered my interest in Women’s studies and inspired my interest in human sexuality.
–Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá: An interesting read about the origins of modern day human sexuality.
–Generation Kill by Evan Wright: A reporters account of his time with a group of Marines during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

I’ve also continued my attempt to read all the variations and sequels to Pride and Prejudice that I can. I read quite a few (roughly twenty) this year.

I think my favorite book this year though is still Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Sam Stall. I love, love, loved this book! It was so much fun to read.

For anything that I’ve missed mentioning, I apologize. I’m a bit scatter-brained at the moment.

All in all, I’ve had a great reading year. How was yours?

*Jan 4 Update:

Add a science fiction completion to the above list making my total for the year, 157 books. Only one more, and damn if thats not still a lot.

Also, I knew that there was another series I had wanted to mention above which I didn’t realize until I was flying in the clouds… literally.

Notable series, Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. I went through each of these books like crazy, and while I’m not much for young adult literature these days, I still though that Mead’s Vampire Academy series was fantastic. I plan to check out some of her other works and hope I enjoy them as much.