Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Best of 2011: Books & In General

It's the time of year where I start reflecting on the previous year and looking forward to the coming one. And where I have this odd desire to write end-of-the-year posts on my blog. :) I'm going to do like last year and break them up into books, films, and music. And then I'll write about my hopes for the new year.

Here is a quick recap of my life in 2011:

-I took my required public speaking class. Not only did I survive it, but I miraculously managed an A! :) I even got to work my interests into my speeches. I talked about my sewing machine, the transition from silent films to talkies, homeschooling, etc.

-I participated in my first sew along. I had so much fun and love the finished product. I also did another sew along. I hope to participate in some more in 2012.

-I turned twenty and realized that I didn't feel quite as grown up as I expected to by this age.

-I spent a couple of days acting like a teen vampire movie star after I had my wisdom teeth out.

-I graduated from college on a dark, stormy night in a speedy ceremony. :)

-I started on my very first quilt. Yes, still working on that one, guys.

-I learned how to knit.

-I had an amazing, successful Christmas season in my Etsy shop!

It was a pretty good year, I think. :) And book wise, it was definitely a good year for me. I didn't exactly complete all of my reading goals for this year, but I'm very happy about what I did complete.

In 2011, I have read 90 books so far, but there's a possibility that it'll hit 91 or 92 before the weekend. That's about thirty more books than I read last year, but still a little short of my Goodreads challenge of 100 books. I'm okay with that. :) I also had a goal of twenty rereads, and I only accomplished 14.

I won't list out every book I read like I did last year, but you can click on the Goodreads link in the above paragraph for a list if you're curious. :)

This year I ventured out a little from my usual reading. I fell in love with memoirs, for one thing. I didn't really read any classics, but I read a lot of good Christian fiction and YA dystopian. And children's literature. I read or reread three series or trilogies: Harry Potter, Little House on the Prairie, and the Hunger Games.

I've been trying in vain to narrow my favorite books, of those I've read this year, down to just a few. Remember that these aren't necessarily books that were released in 2011 (though some were), just ones I read this year.


This year was also the first year that I kept track of all of the books I read, with a brief review and rating, in a little Moleskine notebook. I've got a special reading journal to use next year, which I'm so excited about. :) But more about that later.


Next up: movies!

What were your favorite books that you read or reread this year?

Until next time,

4 comments:

  1. I *also* turned 20 and had my wisdom teeth out this year!

    I love that you have a reading journal. I keep a similar type of thing in a Word document but I don't think I could ever do it that neat by hand!

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  2. I'm so glad you liked "The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland..." because I thought it rocked so hard. But everybody I've loaned it to has been like, "Meh." It seems to be the kind of novel people either love or hate. I thought it was totally enchanting! I think I read that it's going to be a trilogy? I'm psyched to see where she goes with it. It reminded me a lot of The Wizard of Oz, which was a book I looooved (so different from the movie - even though I like them both). Also, I have GOT to read The Wilder Life. I've picked that thing up so many times and I never get out of B&N with it. That needs to change pronto. :)

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  3. I'm working on my own retrospective post as we speak! :) Loved This Fine Life -- SUCH a good book! Happy almost 2012!

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  4. Great list of books! I read the Poisonwood Bible and Bean Trees, both by Barbara Kingsolver, and loved them/]. I also just read the amazing true story, They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky.

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