A Year In Review – the cutie edition

Posted 27 December, 2010 by Danny in / 6 Comments

As I reflect upon the year 2010
I can ~~shamefully~~ proudly say that
I spent more time reading than I did cleaning.
And that, my friends, is a thing of beauty.
Whilst I didn’t end the year strong,
(I blame Joss Whedon and his fan-freaking-awesomeness)
I do so declare that I read well over 100 books,
closing in on 150 give or take a few.
From angel-angst to classics.
Whoopers like Dracula and shorter works like Guest of the Nations.
From YA drama to mystery to documentaries
to books about llamas to comics that kicked ass,
in 2010 this cutie gobbled up anything and everything in her grasp.

Here are five things that stood out in my mind.
Let’s pretend you care whilst I ramble on.

1. Where Hath You Been All My Life
In 2010, I came across a few “new to me” authors.
Namely:
Scott Westerfeld who wrote such fabulous-ness as
the Midnighters Series and So Yesterday.
Sarah Dessen who has officially written some of my
all time favey fave romance stories.
Like:
The Truth About Forever and Just Listen.
And Neil Gaiman who I feel in love with while
reading The Graveyard Book and Stardust.

I am forever grateful I found these authors,
yet sad it took me so long to find them.

2. Sequels: aka Gluttons for Punishment.

I am officially dubbing the year 2010
The Year of the Sequels.
With such releases as:
crescendo
Beautiful Darkness
Torment
and I could go on and on and on
publishers and their writers pumped out
some hard hitting, angst driven, hair pulling sequels
that had many of us up long into the night throwing things
and wondering when we’d lost our damn minds.
And we loved every moment.

3. Debut Authors

This year many a great writers gifted us with their
first offerings, and I thank the good Lord above that they did!
For we were given such wonderment as:

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour

The Body Finder
Shadow Hills
and more.
I am sofa king excited to follow these new authors
and see where they will take us next.

4. ARCs, Giveaways, And Other Cool Stuff

2010 was awesomeness for more than the great reads.
Why?

Welllll… there was…
A SIGNED copy of Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
reading my first ARC crescendo
and this extremely unlucky girl won not one book but TWO
which is a miracle to say the least.
Maybe next year I’ll actually meet an author?!
Who knows!

5. The Year of the Short Story

As I looked over the list of books I read this year
(yes, I have a list, don’t we all?)
I realized I really got into reading short stories,
and I must say I am very glad I did.
I read great YA offering like Love is Hell
and classics like The Open Boat.
I enjoyed them all immensely.
Truly, a great story doesn’t need to be 500 pages in length.
Some of the greatest stories ever written clock in at under 4 pages.
That’s a true story. Nuffers said.

In conclusion:
I can sum all this up in, you guessed it, five simple points.
1. I read a lot this year.
2. I enjoyed ever single stinking moment of it.
3. My eyes aren’t happy with me.
4. My kitchen floor is now permanently gray.
5. My kids think my face is a book.

And whilst I could never ever pick an all time favorite book,
I can say emphatically that the greatest thing I did this year
in reading was saying yes to Danny when she asked if I’d
like to contribute on a little book blog that would
probably never get that big, but would be a
whole lot of fun.
She was right about the fun part.

I wish you all a beautiful New Year
and hope that many fantastical books cross your paths in 2011.
I’ll see you all on the flip side.

Yours forever truly,