Happy New Year and my 2011 Good Reads List

Hello, and a happy belated New Year! Unless you're celebrating the Chinese New Year -then I'm right on time. It's the year of the dragon. A year meant for great deeds, big ideas and even bigger projects. My big project is on hold for the moment. School is fairly all consuming - there's not much time for anything else. But come June 2nd, my writing is back at the top of the project list.  I wish you all a wonderful new year full of successes and big surprises!

I'm going to leave you today with my 2011 Good Reads List:

• LIAR'S MOON, Elizabeth C. Bunce
• CLOCKWORK PRINCE, Cassandra Clare
• ASHFALL, Mike Mullin
• THE DRAGON HEIR, Cinda Chima
• THE WIZARD HEIR, Cinda Chima
• THE GRAY WOLF THRONE, Cinda Chima
• THE WARRIOR HEIR, Cinda Chima
• RIPPLE, Mandy Hubbard
• BUT I LOVE HIM, Amanda Grace
• OVERBITE, Meg Cabot
• SAVVY, Ingrid Law
• WILD MAGIC, Tamora Pierce
• RANGER'S APPRENTICE: THE RUINS OF GORLAN, John Flanagan
• THE UNDERNEATH, Kathi Appelt
• INSATIABLE, Meg Cabot
• CRYER'S CROSS, Lisa McMann
• SUGAR AND ICE, Kate Messner
• CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS, Cassandra Clare
• DON'T DIE DRAGONFLY, Linda Joy Singleton
• BEASTLY, Alex Finn
• GOING BOVINE, Libbra Bray
• SHIPBREAKER, Paolo Bacigalupi
• STAR GIRL, Jerry Spinelli
• MOON OVER MANIFEST, Clare Vanderpool
• THE REPLACEMENT, Brenna Yovanoff
• DARKEST MERCY, Melissa Marr
• FIRST DRAFT IN 30 DAYS, Karen S. Wiesner
• WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, Sara Gruen
• THE DELTA ANOMALY, Rick Barba
• THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX, Mary E. Pearson
• THE GIVER, Lois Lowry
• PARANORMALCY, Kiersten White
• CLOCKWORK ANGEL, Cassandra Clare
• AS YOU WISH, Jackson Pearce

Books I've Read in 2010
Books I've Read in 2009
Books I've Read in 2008

Good Reads and Happy New Year!

It is once again time for my yearly reading post. I didn't read as many this year as I would have liked, but I liked what I read. I've placed an asterisk next to my very favorites (which tend to be fantasy), but if they are on the list I enjoyed the book.

There was a recent buzz on Facebook about The BBC Book List. Here is an interesting Post about the Facebook book list verses the original BBC list that was compiled in 2003. They are a bit different, as you will see. I was a little discouraged to find I'd only read 20 on the Facebook list, so this year one of my reading goals is to tackle the classics. I got a Kindle for Christmas *giggles with glee*. There are quite a few free downloads in the Classics choices. My first read will be EMMA, by Jane Austen. As for hard copies, I've a stack of ARCs hip deep that's been taunting me for a while. I have plenty of books to keep me occupied.

So here it is...

Books I've Read In 2010 List
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold*
Starcrossed, Elizabeth C. Bunce*
The Hobbit, J.T. Tolkien*
The Lost Hero, Rick Riordan
The Exiled Queen, Cinda Chima*
Illegally Blonde, Nelsa Roberto
Claire de lune, Christine Johnson
Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins*
The Hero's Trail, T.A. Barron
Spells, Aprilynne Pike*
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, Stephanie Meyer
Beast, Donna Jo Napoli*
His Excellency, George Washington, Joseph J. Ellis
The Smile, Donna Jo Napoli*
Sisters Red, Jackson Pearce
Harmonic Feedback, Tara Kelly*
Prada & Prejudice, Mandy Hubbard*
Radiant Shadows, Melissa Marr
Stories From the Nerd Herd, Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
Eighth Grade Bites, Heather Brewer
The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great, Donald Mass*
Another Faust, Daniel & Dina Nayeri
Uglies, Scott Westerfeld
Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia, Cindy Pon*
Graceling, Kristen Cashore*
Wings, Aprilynne Pike*
Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850, Bartoletti

Books I've Read in 2009
Books I've Read in 2008

Happy Reading and Happy New Year!

Resolution Time and Book list

New Year's tradition requires reflection upon the good intentions of last year's resolutions and the making of new goals. I was a bit leery of revisiting last year's resolutions, especially since I couldn't remember what they were. I had to look them up (shame)... so, here goes:

1) I will write six days a week - no excuses. (No excuses! Hahahahahahahaha! I did manage to write 4-5 days a week.)

2) I will continually seek to improve my writing skills by writing, attending a monthly critique group, attending at least one writer's conference, reading lots of MG and YA literature, and reading books on the craft of writing. (Success! I did all of these, and I attended three writer's conferences - all well worth the cost)

3) I will actively seek agent representation (I did this at the beginning of the year and received some helpful feedback from several agents- no offers though. So I quit submitting and began rewriting. I'm ready to submit again)

4) I will write a synopsis for a sequel to the book I just finished writing. (Nope - but I started on it just before Christmas. It's first on the list this year)

5) I will finish writing the MG novel I began during NaNoWriMo. (No. I'm not even interested in it anymore!)


MY 2010 LIST OF WRITING RESOLUTIONS

1) I will minimize writing distractions.
*I'm thinking about getting a netbook so I can go work in a library cubical or a coffee shop. They're pretty affordable these days. Trying to write at the house is difficult. There are too many interruptions, and I feel guilty writing when I "should" be cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, etc. Funny... I never feel guilty about spending time on facebook or Verlakay.

2) I WILL SUBMIT MY WORK!
It does no good to write and leave it sit on the shelf...

3) I will actively seek agent representation (again).
I suppose this is goal number 2 restated.

4) I will become more organized in the way I approach writing a Novel.
I mean this! I wrote the last novel by the seat of my pants. I had the plot in my head, and I believe it came together the way it should, but I think the process would go so much faster if I made my right brain listen to my left brain and outline first. I'm going to let the left brain file first, and then the right brain can pile it on!

That's it. I'm keeping it simple this year. I wish all of you the best 2010 has to offer! Happy New Year!


BOOKS I'VE READ IN 2009
The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening, L.J. Smith
Blue Moon, Alyson Noel
The Demon King, Cinda Williams Chima
Sarah Bishop, Scott O'Dell
Shiver, Maggie Stiefvater
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
The Demon's Lexicon, Sarah Rees Brennon
Evermore, Alyson Noel
Bewitching Season, Marissa Doyle
The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud
The Lightening Thief, Rick Riorden
Shift, Charlotte Agell
Save the Cat!, Blake Snyder
Austenland, Shannon Hale
The Last Olympian, Rick Riodan
Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary, Brandon Mull
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Demigod Files, Rick Riordan
Fragile Eternity, Melissa Marr
What the Dickens, Gregory Maguire
The Edge Chronicles: Beyond the Deep Woods, Stewart/Riddell
The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan
City of Glass, Cassandra Clare
Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices From a Medieval Village, Laura Amy Schlitz
Catherine Called Birdy, Karen Cushman
The Midwife's Apprentice, Karen Cushman
The Book of Time, Guillaume Prevost
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
City of Ashes, Cassandra Clare
City of Bones, Cassandra Clare
The People of Sparks, Jeanne DuPrau
The City of Ember, Jeanne DuPrau
Gregor and the Code of Claw, Suzanne Collins

2008 BOOK LIST

Booklist 2008

There's never enough time in the day to read as much as I would like. Work, children, home and church keep me quite busy. I tend to marathon read in scheduled spurts - spring break, summer, Christmas holidays, but I always have a book in my bag. These are the books I managed to squeeze in this past year:

2008
Babbit, Natalie, Tuck Everlasting
Bell, James Scott, Plot and Structure
Bray, Libba, A Great and Terrible Beauty
Bray, Libba, Rebel Angels
Bray, Libba, A Sweet Far Thing
Bunce, Elizabeth C., A Curse Dark as Gold
Collins, Suzanne, The Hunger Games
Collins, Suzanne, Gregor the Overlander
Collins, Suzanne, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane
Collins, Suzanne, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
Collins, Suzanne, Gregor and the Marks of Secret
Donnelly, Jennifer, A Northern Light
Gaiman, Neil, Coraline
Gordon, Roderick; Williams, Brian, Tunnels
Haddix, Margaret Peterson, FOUND
Juster, Norton, The Phantom Tollbooth
Le Guin, Ursula K., A Wizard of Earthsea
Lord, Cynthia, RULES
Maar, Melissa, Wicked Lovely
Maar, Melissa, Ink Exchange
Maas, Donald, Writing the Breakout Novel
McMann, Lisa, WAKE
Meyer, Stephanie, Breaking Dawn
Meyer, Stephanie, The Host
Mull, Brandon, Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague
Prineas, Sarah, The Magic Thief
Riordan, Rick, The Battle of the Labyrinth
Shan, Darren, Cirque du Freak: A Living Nightmare...
Schmidt, Gary, Wednesday Wars
Weisner, Karen, First Draft in 30 Days
Williams Chima, Cinda, The Dragon Heir

I usually find an author I like and devour everything they've written. If I really like them I reread them immediately. Many of the books on this list have already been read twice - A Curse Dark as Gold, The Phantom Tollbooth, Melissa Marr's books, Rick Riordan and Brandon Mull's books. Cinda Williams Chima's Warrior Heir series is fabulous. I read all but one of the Suzanne Collins' Underland series in the last two weeks. I'm anxiously waiting for the last book to come. I've got it on order. It should be here today or tomorrow!

Any recommendations? I'm always looking for a good book!