Monthly Archives: December 2006

So, just what did I get with that $100 gift certificate? Quite a bit actually. And I did spend a little of my own money. So, technically, I got all the following for about $40.

• Vampire Diaries #1: The Awakening by LJ Smith
• The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser
• Armadale by Wilkie Collins
• Kristin Lavransdatter (all three in one volume) by Sigrid Undset
• No Name by Wilkie Collins
• The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas
• The Complete Sherlock Holmes Volume I by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Complete Sherlock Holmes Volume II by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Burning Time by Ruth Morgan
• Fables: Wolves by Bill Willingham
• Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas
• The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty
• Save Me the Waltz by Zelda Fitzgerald

You will notice quite a few classics on this list. I’m hoping to read more classics this year. The few I read this year proved to me that I can, in fact, read a classic and, ALAS, enjoy it too! I have been dying to read more of Wilkie Collins work and am holding off bravely on starting The Moonstone until January for the classics challenge. I also hope to pull of Armadale and No Namein 2007 too. And A Rogue’s Life, which I recently picked up at B&N. I have been wanting to read more of Conan Doyle, as I enjoyed The Hound of the Baskervilles in high school but haven’t really read any since. And, being the anal reader than I am, I want to read it in order, hence the Volumes I and II of the complete tales.

I read The Three Musketeers earlier this year and want to read more of Dumas. I remember reading The Man in the Iron Mask ages ago, but do not remember  if I read Twenty Years After or not, and I’m thinking not, which means I skipped a book in the series of books about D’Artagnan and the rest. I originally had the last two books in the set in my cart as well but decided to get those after I finish these two. I will eventually have all five though, mark my words!

I’ve been wanting to read more of my own country’s works, so I got Eudora Welty (who I adored in my Southern Lit classes in high school and college!) and Zelda’s book. Amanda read Save Me the Waltz this year and it made her top ten for the year which makes me excited for it. Not to mention I find Zelda fascinating.

It occurred to me this week though I would like to read more nonfiction and I wish I had purchased a few. Specifically I would like to read some biographies and such about the authors I am read. I started my Narnia set yesterday which made me interested in CS Lewis. I don’t know much about him, other than he was a Christian and great friend of JRR Tolkien. So I picked up The Narnian by Alan Jacobs. I hope I can finish it. I think I’m going to challenge myself this year to read at least one nonfiction book a month. Too bad there are no nonfiction challenges out there, they really seem to help me get through books!

So there you have it. Pretty good haul, I’d say.

2006 has been a great year for reading for me. I didn’t get to everything I meant to read (Margaret Atwood for one, War and Peace for another) but I did get to a lot I did mean to read. I read my first graphic novels (Fables, Maus I and II, Marjane Satrapi) and fell hard for the genre. I read more classics than I have read since I graduated from college; over 6 years ago! And, as of this posting, I’ve read 63 books which exceeds my goal of 60 and is far more than I read last year, when I finished number 52 on the last day of the year.

And the best thing of this year? Last October, my grandmother passed away. I lost so many things that day. I lost my mother, my best friend, and, my reading partner. I’d already been blogging for about a year, but around February or so this year I discovered the world of lit bloggers. And in some ways, you all helped fill that void that was in my heart with your beautifully composed thoughts on books, words, literature, and life itself. You gave something back to me, friends who loved books as much as I did, who laughed and cried over the words and understood just what magic there was inside the covers of a book; and bought them as voraciously as I did as well. And you led me to grow and change as a reader, pushing me to try things I never had before and making me grow. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

Now, as I look back over the year, there are several books that really stand out over the rest. So here, I give you the top ten books I read this past year, in no particular order, except for the first one.

Number one, by far, was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Moving, eloquent, and both heartbreakingly hopeful and disparaging at the same time, this book has stayed with me since the day I finished it. Liesel Meminger is an unforgettable character. As is Death. Unforgettable and definitely will be reread. Another favorite was another book my Zusak. I Am The Messenger, while totally different from The Book Thief, still had the beautiful prose and amazing storytelling of this amazing author. I’ll be looking for more by him this year. Along with these young adult novels I also enjoyed Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight (again) and New Moon. I still can’t put my finger on just what it is about these books that makes them so obsess-able, because I am obsessed with them. Can’t wait for the next in the series!

I received an advanced reader copy of The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and was immediately in love with the cover. Once read, the story found a lasting place in my heart, which I shouted from the rooftops of my blog. Also a definite reread. Along the same lines, I found Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier to be an un-put-downable read that became an instant favorite. Will definitely reread this as well.

Thanks to the RIP Challenge I readThe Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. It was instant love affair. Will be reading more by Mr. Collins next year for sure.

I don’t know why I waited SO long, but I read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for the first time this year. Oh how I wish I had read this as a teenager! But I am so thankful that I finally did, as Austen proved to be a witty and amusing read. I will definitely be reading more by her this coming year as well, starting with Emma, probably next month!

And, thanks to my new found love of graphic novels I found Fables and Maus. Totally different comics, but both brilliant. Fables was as fascinating for it’s characters as Maus was for it’s heartbreaking story. The art work in Fables can be breathtaking. Maus’s art is completely different, but perfect for the story it is telling. Not a graphic novel to be missed.

So there you have it. My reading year in review. Soon, the year to come, and the list of books I got with that $100 gift certificate. And psst, I have $35 to spend at B&N soon!