I really need to catch up this weekend

Okay, so last Tuesday I went to the library for the first time in at least a year. Normally I buy all my books, but if I plan to read 100 books this year (which, to do, I need to get my butt moving), I would easily spend $1500-2000! I love the library, though. I love the plastic book covers on the hardbacks, I love browsing the bookshelves, I love the way library books smell. I love the thought of how many other people have read the exact same book. So, the sooner I finish the 3 I checked out, the sooner I get to go back. Hopefully that means Tuesday.

I finished Audrey, Wait! this morning. For a YA book, it was pretty good. I was a little annoyed at the grammar mistakes that were left in the book when it was published, and the fact that one character was named one thing and then a paragraph later (and all subsequent mentions of the character), she had a completely different name! But the book reminded me of being young, although my teenage years were nothing compared to Audrey's and her friends. It made me think of what it was like when I was 17 and just starting to date a boy. And then it made me really glad that I am in my (late) 20s, married and not dating ever again :)

The other two books that I am working on are The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinsky and The Undomestic Goddess by the shopaholic girl. I have started several books by BD, but have never managed to finish one. I definitely think I will finish this one, and While My Sister Sleeps. I also liked the Shopaholic series, and I am pretty sure this book will be a quick, easy read.


3 down, 97 to go...

2 Down, 98 To Go

I just finished The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc. It was a good, quick read. Its set in Louisiana in the 1950s, right outside of New Orleans. I might be slow to pick up on things, but I never guessed some of the plot twists. I plan to check out the other two books, The Southern Belle's Handbook and The Bad Behavior of Belle Cantrell. The Handbook is referenced constantly throughout Sissy's book, although it was written AFTER this book.

The Borders Express by my parents is closing, and they are having a 50% off everything sale. I bought Sleeping Arrangements by Madeline Wickham. I think I am going to go back later this week and see what else I can pick up.

Also, Nate and I have a bet going. He has a goal of 75 book by December and I have a goal of 100 books by December. Whoever reaches their goal first is getting a Kindle for Christmas! Just a little more incentive :)

Next up: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

1 down, 99 to go

With the Bengals-Jets game in the background, I have finished my first book of 2010, Your Heart Belongs to Me. The quick summary on the back of the book was a little misleading, as it says

One year after the heart transplant that saved his life, thirty-five-year old Ryan Perry has never felt better. He's getting back everything he nearly lost forever - his business, his life, and with luck, his beloved girlfriend. Miracles do happen. Then the unmarked gifts begin to arrive - a box of candy hearts, a heart-shaped pendant. Most disturbing of all is a graphic heart-surgery video and its chilling message: Your heart belongs to me. Ryan is being stalked by someone who feels entitled to everything he has. She's the spitting image of the twenty-six-year old donor of the heart beating steadily in Ryan's chest. And she's come to take it back.

This plotline doesn't start to form until page 200, more than halfway through the book. The plot leading up to it is intriguing, and important to the culmination of all of the sub-plots. However, I was disappointed when I first started reading, as it was not what I was expecting.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and give it 3.5/5

Tomorrow I am going to resolve my library card issues and pick up The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown from my dad. Until then, I am going to catch up with Jennifer Lancaster and her book Bitter is the New Black (which does not count towards my 100 books of the year, since I started it several months ago).

First Book of the New Year

Your Heart Belong to Me by Dean Koontz


Okay, so tecnically I started it before January 1st, but only by a couple of days. I am about halfway through and so far I like it. The only other Koontz book I've read is Life Expectancy, which I LOVED. This one is sufficiently suspenseful. It is not a book that I can read when I am home alone at night, though.

Nate is also reading a Dean Koontz book, The Taking. He started it on Friday night and stayed up until 5 in the morning reading it. He should be finished it by tonight. He reads much faster than I do, apparently.

I need to get a move on it if I plan to read 100 books...that's a book every 3 days, and I'm already behind!!

This is how it started...

Nate and I rented Julie&Julia during my Winter Break. If you aren't familiar with the book or the movie, basically Julie Powell makes a personal goal to make every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year and blogs about it. Also during my Winter Break, I spent a lot of time lurking on The Nest's Book Club message boards and became inspired to challenge myself. I have set a personal goal to read 100 books in 2010 and I set up this blog to help me keep track of what I'm reading and what I'm thinking as I read it.

Wish me luck...