where troubles melt like lemondrops: year review

Showing posts with label year review. Show all posts

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Review of 2010

Another relatively poor year of reading - definitely need to get my head into the game ;) Most challenges were completed, though I still owe Rhinoa a read of Lolita. Picking favourite reads is always difficult for me, but I can say that my most enjoyed reads of 2010 include: A Fine and Private Place, The Book of Flying, Monsters of Men, Lonely Werewolf Girl, The Vintner's Luck, Clockwork Angel and Bernard Cornwell's The Warlord Chronicles.

As for 2011...I was gifted an awful lot of books over the holidays, so will be endeavouring to read the reams stashed in my house before buying any more!

Happy New Year folks...and happy reading in 2011.

Books Read:
The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness
A Fine and Private Place - Peter S Beagle
Here Lies Arthur - Philip Reeve
The Winter King - Bernard Cornwell
Enemy of God - Bernard Cornwell
Excalibur - Bernard Cornwell
A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K.Rowling (audiobook read by Stephen Fry)
Red Spikes - Margo Lanagan
Monsters of Men - Patrick Ness
Witch Hill - Marcus Sedgwick
The Foreshadowing - Marcus Sedgwick
Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater
Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon
The Vintner's Luck - Elizabeth Knox
The Book of Flying - Keith Miller
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
Harp of the Grey Rose - Charles de Lint
The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Collector - John Fowles
White Crow - Marcus Sedgwick
Lonely Werewolf Girl - Martin Millar
Curse of the Wolf Girl - Martin Millar
The City and The City - China Mieville
Revolver - Marcus Sedgwick
Psyche in a Dress - Francesca Lia Block
The Woman in Black - Susan Hill
Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare
City of Bones - Cassandra Clare
City of Ashes - Cassandra Clare

Challenges Completed:
Arthurian Challenge
Isolde: Queen of the Western Isle - Rosalind Miles
Isolde: The Maiden of White Hands - Rosalind Miles
Isolde: The Lady of the Sea - Rosalind Miles
The Once and Future King - T.H. White
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Simon Armitage
The Winter King - Bernard Cornwall
Enemy of God - Bernard Cornwall
Excalibur - Bernard Cornwall
Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
Guenevere: Queen of the Summer Country - Rosalind Miles
Le Morte D'Arthur - Sir Thomas Malory
Idylls of the King - Alfred Tennyson
I am Morgan le Fay - Nancy Springer
Here Lies Arthur - Phillip Reeve

A Tournament of Reading
1. Here Lies Arthur - Phillip Reeve
2. The Winter King - Bernard Cornwell
3. Enemy of God - Bernard Cornwell
4. Excalibur - Bernard Cornwell
5. Gentlemen of the Road - Michael Chabon

Our Mutual Read
1. The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2. The Woman in Black - Susan Hill

RIP V
1. The Hound of the Baskervilles - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2. The Collector - John Fowles
3. White Crow - Marcus Sedgwick
4. Lonely Werewolf Girl - Martin Millar
5. Curse of the Wolf Girl - Martin Millar

Much Ado About Shakespeare Challenge
1. Hamlet (film)
2. The Tempest (stage)
3. Macbeth (stage)
4. The Taming of the Shrew (stage)
5. Henry V (stage)
6. Hamlet (stage)

Challenge with Rhinoa
The Happy Prince - Oscar Wilde
Moon Called - Patricia Briggs
Piece by Piece - Tori Amos
The Last Unicorn - Peter S Beagle

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Another year, another set of a challenges. Mostly successes and yet another chance to learn about my reading habits! Many thanks to all those who hosted these great challenges. May the next year be full of many more...

Challenges completed

Deweys's Reading Challenge:
How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
Looking For Alaska - John Green
Into the Forest - Jean Hegland
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie
The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett

RIP IV:
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris

Herding Cats II:
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
Nation - Terry Pratchett

YA Challenge 2009:
The Black Tattoo - Sam Enthoven
Paper Towns - John Green
An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
Graceling - Kristin Cashore
How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
My Swordhand is Singing - Marcus Sedgewick
What I Was - Meg Rosoff
Once Upon a Time in the North - Philip Pullman
The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness
The Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale
Nation - Terry Pratchett

Incompleted Challenges

Challenge with Rhinoa:
The Last Unicorn - Peter S Beagle
Piece by Piece - Tori Amos
The Happy Prince and other stories - Oscar Wilde
Moon Called - Patricia Briggs

I didn't get the chance to finish Lolita, but it will be one of my first books for 2010. And hopefully we'll carry the challenge over for another year!

Rhinoa's Manga Challenge (I failed miserably and didn't even start!)

Challenges for 2010

So far, I will be carrying over the Arthurian Challenge and Much Ado About Shakespeare Challenge, and will be very selective about others that I join!