Where did your reading take you this year?
I hung out in Britain a lot this year. I found a couple amazing authors (self-published). I entered Narnia (for the first time) and Oz (for the first time beyond The Wonderful Wizard). I went to ancient Greece. And I discovered Cozy Mysteries to be a lovely and fun mind vacation to go on on occasion.
How many books did you read and did you meet or beat your own personal goal?
I read 132 books. I don’t set specific goals anymore, really. Mostly just to read at least two books a week on average and I easily beat that. I’d love to reach an average of 3 books a week, but I don’t think that’ll ever happen. I beat my previous record of 126 books, but not page count.
What countries and time periods did you visit?
Mostly, Britain from Roman times through the Middle Ages. This was not planned. It just happened.
What were your most favorite stories? Any stories that stayed with you a long time, left you wanting more or needed to digest for a while before starting another? Which books became comfort reads?
My favorite stories were the young adult dystopian ones. I didn’t realize just how much I enjoy that genre.
The Breadwinner series stayed with me. They changed me, really. I am much more inclined to help people in any way I can. I’ve become determined that even though fixing everything is literally impossible, I can find the Starfish in need and help them. Spending time digesting that series really made me look for opportunities to help. Also, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I really have never even considered what it is like and the issues surrounding Native Americans living on reservations. I’m still mulling that one over, actually. I think both that book and the Breadwinner series have helped me to become a kinder, more compassionate person.
The Deltora Quest series became, or, really, already were comfort reads. I read them to my older children several years ago. I read them to myself 7 or 8 years ago. I read them to my little boys this year. Every time I return them, they are like visiting a friend I’ve missed, but didn’t quite realize I did.
What is the one book or the one author you thought you’d never read and found yourself pleasantly surprised that you liked it?
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I’ve heard lots of negative stuff about it so I have avoided it. It was a Kindle Deal of the Day so I decided for two bucks I could see what the fuss is about myself. The negativity really misses the point. Completely. I’m glad I read it.
Did you read any books that touched you and made you laugh, cry, sing or dance?
The Fifth Floor made me sad, but hopeful at the same time. It made me dance because the author was amazing and when a self-published author is that good, it’s like the angels are singing in the background while you read. All the Tony James Slater books I read made me laugh. A lot. Out loud. The Breadwinner series made me cry at various points.
Any that made you want to toss it across the room in disgust?
Coffee, Tea or Me made me want to toss it across the room for lack of the Oxford comma in the title. Please Don’t Tell My Parents I Blew Up the Moon and Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’ve Got Henchmen made me want to toss them across the room because they were so, so bad after the first book in the series, Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Supervillain, was so incredibly good.
Please share a favorite quote.
“A gal can cope with anything when her shoes match her bra.” ~A Trifle Dead
“She’s homeschooled because she can’t pass for human.” ~Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’ve Got Henchmen
“__________, __________, and __________ __________ __________! __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________. And before we knew it, we were on the plane home.” ~Can I Kiss Her Yet? (This is from the chapter about their honeymoon. Tony said he actually wrote words in those blanks and made it as incredibly boring as he possibly could.)
“She would have despised the modern idea of women being equal to men. Equal, indeed! she knew they were superior.” ~Cranford
“Still, Lex ran unopposed for city council and won every time.” ~The Last Bookstore in America
“Remember that misuse of language can lead to miscommunication and that miscommunication leads to everything that has ever happened in the whole of the world.” ~Welcome to Night Vale
Eleven-year-old orphan Pollyanna Whittier is dutifully taken in by her wealthy spinster aunt, Polly Harrington. Soon Pollyanna is changing the whole town with her sparkling personality and the glad game. When Pollyanna is injured and just can’t bring herself to be glad about anything, everyone rallies around her telling her why they are glad so she can share in their joy just as they’ve been sharing in hers.
Eleven-year-old friends Sam, Roger, and Joey are exploring a cave when they stumble upon a skeleton and a chest with a picture of a dragon on the top and a note promising treasure if they can just solve a mystery. The boys take a bus to a small town where they meet Jen and his uncle Li Kwan, two men who live in a house built right into a mine. The more they find out about the author of the note, the more determined they become to solve the mystery and find the treasure.
When Lewis gets a call from a lawyer in Eureka, California, telling him his uncle died and he’s inherited The Firebreathing Dragon, one of the last few bookstores in America, he and his reluctant wife Emily are soon on their way to take over the store. They are surprised and excited to discover the bookstore brings in 1.2 million a year at a time when other bookstores are failing. Except The Firebreathing Dragon isn’t exactly just a bookstore.
Diane’s shape-shifting son Josh is curious about his father, Troy. Jackie, who is 19 because she never decided to turn 20, can’t get a paper that says King City out of her hand. When Josh runs away, Diane and Jackie set out for King City, but when you are coming from Night Vale that is much easier said than done and might require the use of some peculiar flamingos.
Jack is shocked and angry when Susie opens a tea shop right next door to his coffee shop. Soon, though, he gets to know her and is very happy she opened her shop. Everything is going great until Jack’s big mistake catches up with them.
9-year-old Nicholas Benedict has a problem. He falls asleep when he gets emotional and sometimes sees an old hag in his sleep and wakes up screaming. Because of this, the director of his new orphanage makes him sleep locked in a faraway room. Nicholas, however, is incredibly clever so he quickly makes a key that allows him to get out of his room at night. He learns about a treasure believed to be hidden somewhere in his orphanage. He becomes determined to solve the mystery and find the treasure.
Arnold Spirit (Junior) is a very intelligent teenage boy living on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He hopes to one day be able to leave the reservation and so something big with his life and so he begins attending an all-white school 22 miles away from his home. He has to deal with the whites not accepting him because he is an Indian and the Indians not accepting him because he is spending his time with white people. He has to deal with intense poverty and alcoholism all around him. He has to deal with the deaths, usually alcohol-related, of way too many people that he loves. He feels caught between the world where he grew up and his new world outside the reservation and must figure out who he really is (always Indian? Indian part of the time, white the rest? always white?)
A month after the dropships arrived, the colonists and the earthborns are getting along well and preparing to celebrate with a harvest feast. Just as they are all gathering together, Protectors, members of an earth-worshipping cult, ambush them, killing some people and kidnapping others, stealing their supplies, and burning the village. The kidnapped people (including Wells and Glass) are taken to the Protectors’ camp in the Pentagon. A rescue party (including Clarke and Bellamy) head out to get their friends back.
Mama Reader 