126 Books Read in 2010!

Another year has come to an end, and I'm proud to say that I once again met my main reading goal for 2010, reading 100 books. At times this year, it was a challenge. My trip to Israel and Turkey this summer didn't provide me with much reading time, as I was uploading photos and blogging our experience every night. Add to that a major lull in reading in October, and for a bit there, I wasn't sure if I was going to finish! Luckily, I was able to refocus by catching up on my manga, and eventually far surpassed my goal.


As for my other goals for 2010, I was successful in some, and others, not so much.


1| Read 100 books.
Success! :)


2| Read longer books.
I would say I was moderately successful with this goal. I am proud that I finally read Anna Karenina (838 pages), and while I didn't read the rest of the books I had originally planned, I still managed to get through several other "epically long" books: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (944 pages), The Children's Book (675 pages), The Lonely Polygamist (602 pages), and a re-read of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (759 pages).

3| Read from the LOST List in January.
This one I can say was a resounding success! Though there are still quite a few books on the Lost List I want to read, I managed to read 6 books from the list in January, and 3 more throughout the year. I liked most of them, but I would say my favorites were probably Haroun and the Sea of Stories and Everything That Rises Must Converge.

4| Read a Russian book every month.
This is the goal I failed miserably at. Yes, I read Anna Karenina, but that was it. I really do what to read more Russian literature, I just couldn't make myself. Hopefully I will do better at this during the coming year.


5| Write weekly reading updates.
If you follow my blog, you'll know that I kept up with my weekly reading updates for most of the year, until my friend John's death in October. After that, I didn't really feel like it, so I lumped the last 3 months together in monthly lists. To be honest, a lot of the time, my weekly reading blog felt really redundant to what I was already writing on Goodreads.


So that's it!  I still use Goodreads regularly, and am grateful that I have a spot that I can track all my reading. If you feel like signing up for Goodreads, you can add me as a friend here. You can also check out a list (with links!) of the books I read this year. :)

The Weekly Read: December

To finish out the year, I read fewer books in December than during most months, but that was because I finally read Anna Karenina! I've been wanting to read it for a while, and reading it in 2010 allowed me to fill 2 of my reading goals for this year - read Russian books, and read big books. I'm so happy I finished it, and just in time! Here are the books I read in December:

The Weekly Read: November

You could probably sense a theme in the books I read in October: I read A LOT of manga. And I continued to do so into November! There's nothing quite like fun, madcap (at times) storylines, lovable characters, and great illustration to help you forget the crap that is going on in real life. So I caught up with some series I hadn't read in a while, and started a fun new one, and read some other books here and there, too. Here's what I read this month; Remember to click through for my reviews!

The Weekly Read: October

If anyone out there is still following my blog, you might have noticed that I have been absent from it for a while. Though I regret not keeping up with my weekly posts, I didn't feel up to it for most of October, and after that, I couldn't figure out the right words to explain my absence. It felt disingenuous not to address the reason for my silence, as if by ignoring it I was pretending nothing had happened, and perhaps that is exactly what I wanted.


As many of you know, a good friend of ours passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in mid-October, at the age of 34. John was a remarkably special person, the most kind, friendly, thoughtful person I had ever met, and the best and most loyal friend anyone could ever ask for. The hole that has been left in our lives is enormous, and will never be filled, but we just go on living each day, and remember John in the things we do that we know he would have also loved.


As John was one of the few people who actually read my blog, I don't want to abandon it completely. Instead of going back and making separate posts for every week, I'm going to group all the books I read together by month. I did keep up my reviews on Goodreads, so if you want to know what I thought of any particular book, click on the cover, and you'll be taken to my review on Goodreads.