Books Read in 2010 - Awards

Well, I didn't come anywhere near 25 books in 2010, but I made a valiant effort. I actually read the last 5 books just in the month of December.

Here's the final wrap up of all the books I read in 2010:

1. The Gastronomy of Marriage by Michelle Maisto {click here for my review - 5 stars}

2. Shelter Me by Juliette Fay {click here for my review - 3.5 stars}

3. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks {click here for my review - 2 stars}

4. Dead as a Doornail {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, Book 5} by Charlaine Harris {click here for my review - 4 stars}

5. The Mercy of Thin Air by Romlyn Domingue {click here for my review - 1 star}

6. The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond {click here for my review - 2 stars}

7. Definitely Dead {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood Series, Book 6} by Charlaine Harris - 4 stars

8. All Together Dead {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood Series, Book 7} by Charlaine Harris - 3.5 stars

9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - 2.5 stars

10. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski - 2 stars

11. Sarah's Key by Tatiana deRosnay - 4.5 stars

*new 12. From Dead to Worse {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood Series, Book 8} by Charlaine Harris - 4 stars

*new 13. The Help by Kathryn Stockett - 5 stars!!

* new14. Fireflies in December by Jennifer Erin Valent - 5 stars!!

*new 15. Stuck in the Middle {Sister-to-Sister Book 1} by Virginia Smith - 3 stars

*new 16. A Dog Named Slugger by Leigh Brill - 3 stars

Favorite Book of 2010: It's a toss up between Fireflies in December and The Help! Close second is The Gastronomy of Marriage.

Worst Book of 2010: The Mercy of Thin Air...serious snoozefest!

Most Overrated Book of 2010: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle...sorry Oprah!

Favorite Series of 2010: Duh! The Sookie Stackhouse series.

What were your 2010 Book Awards?

25 Books in 2010: Book 11

I'm never going to make it to 25 books in 2010! But that's okay because I do realize that I've had a LOT going on in my life this year. Also, I've been kind of unlucky with my choice of books this year....nothing has really been a page turner for me, until now....

1. The Gastronomy of Marriage by Michelle Maisto {click here for my review - 5 stars}

2. Shelter Me by Juliette Fay {click here for my review - 3.5 stars}

3. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks {click here for my review - 2 stars}

4. Dead as a Doornail {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, Book 5} by Charlaine Harris {click here for my review - 4 stars}

5. The Mercy of Thin Air by Romlyn Domingue {click here for my review - 1 star}

6. The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond {click here for my review - 2 stars}

7. Definitely Dead {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood Series, Book 6} by Charlaine Harris - 4 stars

8. All Together Dead {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood Series, Book 7} by Charliane Harris - 3.5 stars

9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - 2.5 stars

10. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski - 2 stars

11. Sarah's Key by Tatiana deRosnay - 4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this book....FINALLY a book that I can rave about!

It's the story of a young Jewish girl in France, in the midst of Nazi roundups during World War II, and also the story of a modern day American journalist who is investigating the events surrounding the French roundup.

I loved the combination of historical fiction and a modern day (fictional) story. I can't always get into historical fiction, but this one kept me hooked because there were two storylines, both equally enthralling.

Highly recommend Sarah's Key!

I wish I could add a 12th book to this list but I gave up halfway through on my 12th book: Suite Francaise. I'm sure it's a great book but I just couldn't get into it at this time. It was boring me to tears so I gave up on it and moved on to the next Sookie Stackhouse book in the series because I know those books are always light, easy reads for me. C'est la vie!

25 Books in 2010: Books #8-10

A much needed update on the books I've read lately. I'm never going to make it to 25 books in 2010 at this rate but oh well!

A lot of the books I've been reading lately have just been "eh" and therefore I've been reading them sloooooooowly. The last book I read (Edgar Sawtelle) seemed like it took FOREVER to get through. I stayed up super late reading it last night just so I could finally say I was done with it!

1. The Gastronomy of Marriage by Michelle Maisto {click here for my review - 5 stars}
2. Shelter Me by Juliette Fay {click here for my review - 3.5 stars}
3. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks {click here for my review - 2 stars}
4. Dead as a Doornail {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, Book 5} by Charlaine Harris {click here for my review - 4 stars}
5. The Mercy of Thin Air by Romlyn Domingue {click here for my review - 1 star}
6. The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond {click here for my review - 2 stars}
7. Definitely Dead {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood Series, Book 6} by Charlaine Harris - 4 stars

8. All Together Dead by Charliane Harris - 3.5 stars
9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - 2.5 stars
10. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski - 2 stars

25 Books in 2010: Book #7

I'm still behind on my 25 in 2010 challenge! It's more than halfway through the year now and I'm only on book #7. Ugh!! Life has just been super busy lately and by the time I crawl into bed I'm ready to go straight to sleep.

I'm hoping the summer months bring me a little more time to relax with books, because I have a to-be-read pile that is growing bigger by the day!

1. The Gastronomy of Marriage by Michelle Maisto {click here for my review}

2. Shelter Me by Juliette Fay {click here for my review}

3. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks {click here for my review}

4. Dead as a Doornail {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, Book 5} by Charlaine Harris {click here for my review}

5. The Mercy of Thin Air by Romlyn Domingue {click here for my review}

6. The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond {click here for my review}

7. Definitely Dead {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood Series, Book 6} by Charlaine Harris

Definitely Dead was another great addition to the Sookie Stackhouse series! A hot new romance develops for Sookie and she learns a lot more about the Vampire Queen of Louisiana in this book.

After the disappointment of the last two books that I read, I decided it was time to go back to a series that I know will keep me enthralled and entertained. This Sookie series book fit that bill perfectly!

4 stars

25 Books in 2010

I've been seriously slacking on my reading! I need to get back in the swing of it or I'm never going to make this 25 in 2010 goal!

Unfortunately the two most recent books that I read were not that good, which is partially why it has taken me so long to get through them. :(





25 Books in 2010:

1. The Gastronomy of Marriage by Michelle Maisto {click here for my review}

2. Shelter Me by Juliette Fay {click here for my review}

3. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks {click here for my review}

4. Dead as a Doornail {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, Book 5} by Charlaine Harris

5. The Mercy of Thin Air by Romlyn Domingue

This book was one of my least favorite that I've read in a while. I don't even know why I finished reading it, but I've always had issues giving up on books. It was just boring and weird. It's about people who die and are ghosts, essentially, but without all the scary aspects of it. They just wander around and watch other people's lives happen. I do not recommend it. 1 Star

6. The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond

This book was at least better than the last one, but still not that great. It's about a woman who "loses" her fiance's daughter on a beach. No one knows what happened to the little girl so it's about the woman agonizing over the fact that she lost her and trying to remember the details of the day that she went missing. It wasn't poorly written, just extremely slow and repetitive at times. I need more excitement in my books! 2 stars

Book Review: Dead as a Doornail

25 Books in 2010:

1. The Gastronomy of Marriage by Michelle Maisto {click here for my review}

2. Shelter Me by Juliette Fay {click here for my review}

3. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks {click here for my review}

4. Dead as a Doornail {Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, Book 5} by Charlaine Harris

This series contains nothing worthy of literary merit, but I sure do love it for it's entertainment value! The books are what the True Blood TV show is based on.

I wouldn't say this was my favorite of the books in the series I've read so far, but it still met my expectations and I enjoyed reading it. Another thing I love about these books is how easy they are to read. I tend to get through them way faster than I do other books because they are so entertaining. I like to switch back and forth between more "intellectual" books and easy-read books so this is a great one for the latter category!

Book Review: Dear John

25 Books in 2010:

1. The Gastronomy of Marriage by Michelle Maisto {click here for my review}

2. Shelter Me by Juliette Fay {click here for my review}

3. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
I first heard about this book back in December through work and I was immediately intrigued by the romance with a soldier premise of the book. However, I have never been much of a fan of Nicholas Sparks books {although I love the movie version of The Notebook} so I was a bit unsure of how I would feel about it.

Well this book pretty much gets filed along with all the other Nicholas Sparks books I've read: only so-so. I just find his books somewhat boring and contrived. Plus, the ones I've read so far have all pretty much followed the same format of tortured love. Kinda gets boring after a while, ya know?

I think the best judge of this book was whether or not I wanted $8 to see the movie in theaters after reading the book. The answer to that is no, I do not have any interest in seeing the movie in theaters now. {And that's saying a lot because I think Channing Tatum is HOT! ;-) }

Cupcakes & Combat Boots Rating: 2 stars

50 {err..25?} Books in 2010

So when I posted about reading 50 books in 2010, I was clearly not thinking straight. I was doing the math yesterday on my "50 Books in 2010" and I realized that in order to accomplish this task I would essentially have to read a book every week {or 7.3 days to be exact}. Uhhhhhh....I'm sorry but that's not happening.

Look, I have a full-time job, I go to the gym 4-5 times a week {as of recently}, I have a husband who I love to spend time with, and I am addicted to many TV shows. This doesn't leave much time for me to read! I mean, I have been trying to carve out 30-45 minutes a night to read but even that is pushing it. And as I mentioned in my first 50 Books in 2010 post, I am a slow reader.

All of these factors just aren't adding up to me being able to come anywhere CLOSE to accomplishing 50 books in 2010. Therefore, I am ammending my goal. I think "25 Books in 2010" is MUCH more doable, but will still be a challenge. 25 books in a year basically means I have to read 2 books a month. Now that I can {hopefully} do!

25 Books in 2010:

1. The Gastronomy of Marriage by Michelle Maisto {click here for my review}

2. Shelter Me by Juliette Fay

This is a novel about a woman who has just lost her young husband to a tragic bike accident. It tells how she and her two young children grieve and learn to move on from such a life altering experience. At times it was very sad {obviously} but in the end it was uplifting. It makes you realize that no matter how bad things seem sometimes, life will always go on. At times I found it to be a bit slow but I'm glad I stuck it out til the end.
Cupcakes & Combat Boots Rating: 3.5 stars