Year in Review: My Favorite and Best

1:59 PM Nikki

Just how much did I read in 2010? I read 812 books in 2010. (July was the month I read most, December was the month I read least.) Review copies made up 58.2% of my reading (470). Library books were 30% of my reading (242). Borrowed books were 7.9% of my reading (64). Bought-books made up 3% (24). Gift-books made up  .9% (7). I am pleased to see that 42% of what I read came from sources other than review copies. In total, I read 143,766 pages this year. My Favorite Board Books: I read 71 board books. (8.7%) My top ten:Pig-a-Boo! A Farmyard Peekaboo Book. Dorothea DePrisco. Illustrated by Treesha Runnells. 2009. Simon and Schuster. 14 pages.Animal...


December Accomplishments

8:30 AM Nikki

These are a few of my favorite 'first' lines read in December 2010.She spoke to him before the world fell apart.  It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single girl of high standing at Longbourn Academy must be in want of a prom date.Why I feel the sudden urge to relate, in pen and ink, a relationship of the most personal nature, which I have never before acknowledged, I cannot say.  Less than a year into the marriage that made her mistress of one of England's finest houses, Elizabeth Darcy knew she still had much to learn about the place she now called home. Of one thing, however, she was certain. A ghost haunted Pemberley.Sometimes...


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Year in Review: 12 Book of the Months

3:01 PM Nikki

January: For Keeps. Natasha Friend.February: Sweet Thursday. John Steinbeck.March: The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling. Maryrose Wood.April: Out of My Mind. Sharon M. Draper.May: Countdown by Deborah Wiles.June: Smells Like Dog. Suzanne Selfors.July: Venetia. Georgette HeyerAugust: A Tale Dark and Grimm. Adam Gidwitz.September: The Disappeared. Kim Echlin.October: Doomsday Book. Connie Willis.November: Miss Hargreaves. Frank Baker. December: The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag. (Flavia de Luce #2). Alan Bradley© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Revi...


Book Review: Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

2:04 PM mixagrip

Monsters of Men by Patrick NessPublisher: CandlewickPublication date: September 2010ISBN: 9780763647513 Source: LibraryViola and Todd are both caught up in wars that seem to have no end and no good can come of them.  The Spackle have risen against them and Todd must make a dangerous choice between what he knows is right and what he feels like he must do to save Viola.  Viola is also being torn between her friends who just arrived and being able to bring peace for Todd.  The war is ugly and it changes how both Todd and Viola think - can they both survive together?Things I Liked: The book definitely packs a punch.  There...


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Library Loot: Sixth Trip in December

12:53 PM Nikki

I *thought* I'd had my final trip to the library this year, but, a few more holds came in and I was able to pick them up this morning! 2010 was a great year for library visits. I had 54 library loot posts. I reviewed 242 library books in 2010, which accounts for 30% of my reading this year! I am very pleased with that number!New Loot:Four novels of the 1960s by Philip K. Dick*  Lady of No Man's Land by Jeanne Williams**Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline WinspearThe War of the Worlds, Plus Blood, Guts and Zombies by H.G. Wells and Eric S. BrownDash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David LevithanLeftover Loot:The Meaning of Night...


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Best First Lines

9:46 AM Nikki

These are the best of the best. The first lines that have stuck with me through the entire year (2010) and made a lasting impression: She spoke to him before the world fell apart.When I wrote essays at school I was always told to begin at the beginning and end at the end. I'm not at all sure that this story has an end. As for a beginning - well, in my opinion, it really begins - as I began - with my father. Anyway, that's where I'm going to start.Ask Paris if a phone call can be deadly. She'll tell you. She learned the truth of it last night. Owen Jester tiptoed across the gleaming linoleum floor and slipped the frog into the...


Year in Review: 52 Book of the Weeks

6:58 PM Nikki

What I've done is gone through my 'Sunday Salon' posts of the past year where I shared my week's reading. I picked my favorite-and-best from each week. These books may not have ended up in that month's top five, but these are the best books I read week by week by week. I chose to focus on middle grade through adult. (I excluded picture books from this list. I'll do a best-of-picture books feature at another time.)1. The Fiddler's Gun. A.S. Peterson. 2. The Magician's Elephant. By Kate DiCamillo. 3. A Lady Like Sarah. By Margaret Brownley.4. For Keeps. Natasha Friend. 5. Under the Dome by Stephen King. 6. Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who...


Book Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

1:54 PM mixagrip

The Scorch Trials by James DashnerPublisher: Delacorte Books for Young ReadersPublication date: October 2010ISBN: 9780385738750Source: purchased*This review and summary will contain spoilers for The Maze Runner, so read at your own risk*Thomas and his friends are finally out of the Maze and safe.  Or so they think.  When they wake up the next morning, things are not as they expected.  They are thrown into a new test and must get across a wasteland, trying not to lose their heads, starve to death, get struck by lightening, or have their noses removed in the process.  Through it all, Thomas looks for Teresa, but he little expects...


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Library Loot: Fifth Trip in December

11:47 AM Nikki

New Loot:The Meaning of Night by Michael CoxThe Glass of Time: The Secret Life of Miss Esperanza Gorst by Michael CoxMaisie Dobbs by Jacqueline WinspearBirds of a Feather by Jacqueline WinspearPardonable Lies by Jacqueline WinspearAn Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline WinspearAmong the Mad by Jacqueline WinspearThe A.B.C. Murders by Agatha ChristieLeftover Loot:The Tuesday Club Murders: A Miss Marple Mystery by Agatha ChristieMurder at the Vicarage: A Miss Marple Mystery by Agatha ChristieThe Body in the Library a Miss Marple Mystery by Agatha ChristieBusman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. SayersStrong Poison by Dorothy L. SayersThe Matters at Mansfield,...


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Captivate (YA)

8:59 AM Nikki

Captivate. Carrie Jones. 2010. Bloomsbury. 276 pages.  Sometimes there are these bizarre people who actually like physical education class.Captivate is the sequel to Need. Both Need and Captivate would be good for fans of Stephenie Meyer and Melissa Marr. (Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange, and Fragile Eternity immediately come to mind.) It's YA fantasy with plenty of thrills--a dangerous romance. Zara, our heroine, is confused about many things. Her relationship with her father? Too complicated to fathom. Part of her hates the fact that she's had to lock him up so that the slaughtering of human boys would stop in her Maine town. But part...


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The Scorch Trials (YA)

5:03 AM Nikki

The Scorch Trials. James Dashner. 2010. Random House. 368 pages.She spoke to him before the world fell apart.The Scorch Trials is the sequel to The Maze Runner. Thomas and the other Gladers thought the game was over. They thought they had beat the system. They thought they had been rescued. They certainly celebrated that victory. But the opening chapters of The Scorch Trials reveal that the games have just begun. Thomas and his friends will have to survive a second phase of testing in order to be "cured" of the disease that they've just recently learned they have. (Confused? Well, it's meant to be mysterious.) What is Thomas' role in all of this?...


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2011 Challenges: Chunkster

9:06 PM Nikki

Chunkster Blog February 1, 2011 - January 31, 2012.I am aiming for the "Mor-book-ly Obese" level. Eight or more chunksters. Three of the eight have to be over 750 pages. The rest have to be over 450 pages. Adult books only.1. Our Mutual Friend. Charles Dickens. 1864/1865. 880 pages.2. Little Dorrit. Charles Dickens. 1855-1857. 928 pages,3. Framley Parsonage. Anthony Trollope. 1861. 576 pages.4. The Small House at Allington. Anthony Trollope. 1864. 752 pages. 5. Jubilee. Margaret Walker. 1966. 512 pages.6. The Pickwick Papers. Charles Dickens. 1836/1837/1999. Penguin Classics. 810 pages.7. The Last Chronicle of Barset. Anthony Trollope. 1867. ...


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Our Mutual Friend Challenge Completed

9:13 AM Nikki

Our Mutual Read (Sign UP Post) The challenge blog link.Level 2: 8 Books at least four written during 1837-1901.1. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Mysterious Howling. Maryrose Wood. (2010)2. Emma Brown: A Novel From the Unfinished Manuscript by Charlotte Bronte. Clare Boylan. (2005)3. She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell (2010)4. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (1854-1855)5. Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne. (1850)6. Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope (1858)7. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (1848)8. Armadale by Wilkie Collins (1866)9. Soulless by Gail Carriger (2009)10. Bleak House by Charles Dickens...


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Graphic Novel Challenge Completed

9:09 AM Nikki

Graphic Novel 2010 ChallengeLevel IntermediateJanuary - December 2010I will be reviewing the books at Becky's Book Reviews1. The First Escape by G.P. Taylor2. Science Fiction Classics (Graphic Classics #17)3. Julius Caesar (Manga Shakespeare) Mustashrik Mahbab (Illustrator). Richard Appignanesi (Text).4. Calamity Jack. By Shannon and Dean Hale.5. Manga Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing. William Shakespeare. 2009. Ill. Emma Vieceli. Adapted by Richard Appignanesi.6. Manga Shakespeare: As You Like It. William Shakespeare.7. Mary Anne Saves The Day. Raina Telgemeier and Ann M. Martin. 2007. Scholastic. 158 pages.8. Lunch Lady and the Author...


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Book Review: The Lost Saint by Bree Despain and GIVEAWAY!

10:55 PM mixagrip

The Lost Saint: A Dark Divine Novel by Bree DespainPublisher: EgmontUSAPublication date: December 2010ISBN: 9781606840580Source: Review copy provided by publicistGrace Divine was sure that after saving her true love from the wolf, things would get better.  But, when her beloved brother runs away, her world seems to fall apart.  She wants to develop her own powers, but isn't quite sure if she can do it without giving in to the wolf within herself.  When a mysterious young man offers to help her find Jude, she jumps at the chance.  But, will he come between her and Daniel or will more than that separate them?Things I Liked:...


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My Fair Godmother

9:48 AM Nikki

My Fair Godmother. Janette Rallison. 2009. Walker. 320 pages.  Here's my definition of a bad day: your boyfriend of four months--who until twelve seconds ago, you thought was the most perfect guy to set foot on earth--breaks up with you. My definition of a truly horrible day: the aforementioned boy dumps you for none other than your sister. The definition of my life: he does all of this right after you inform him that you blew your last dollar buying your dream prom dress. He asks if you can get a refund. It turns out he'll be asking your sister. Chrysanthemum (Chrissy) Everstar, who is just a "fair" godmother, has been assigned to...


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Top Ten Library Reads of 2010

9:04 AM Nikki

I love my library. I just LOVE reading library books. And since I do keep track of 'where my books come from,' I thought I would highlight ten of my favorite books that I borrowed from the library this year. These are books that I wouldn't have had access to if I hadn't had such a great library.The Boneshaker by Kate Milford. My review. What I said, "Read this book. Now. Why? Because this book is so very, very good. It's one of those books where the moment you finish it, you want to start it all over again. You don't want it to be over. You want to keep experiencing it. What did I love about this book? The characters, the story, the storytelling,...


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