National Just Read More Novels Month

I know, I know, I KNOW that I said I would try to limit my posts about books, but I'm on a roll right now so why stop just yet, right? Actually, I do have other posts planned, but they actually require me posting from home as opposed to posting from my work office (like I am now).

With that said, let me introduce you to the latest challenge that I've joined. The challenge is exactly what it says - to read more novels in January. There are a few rules so if you feel like joining, be sure to check them out by clicking on the picture above. Wish me luck!

What are you reading on Mondays?

This is my first time going on record with this particular weekly post. I would love to list the books that I read last week, but I really don't recall all of the titles so I'm just going to post about the books I'm reading right now.

First up is The Opposite of Love. I actually got this book through Facebook, I believe, for free as part of a promotion from the author. The Opposite of Love is Julie Buxbaum's first novel. Honestly, the story is intriguing and I definitely want to read through to find out how everything is going to work out, but right now, I'm NOT impressed at all at the language in the book. (By language, I mean, four letter words/cuss words. Don't like that at all. Won't be keeping the book once I'm finished reading it.)

Second up is the third Vicki Barr book that I own. I was thrilled to find a few Trixie Belden books at a large flea market back home in PA a few months ago and the owner of the booth I found them at offered the Vicki Barr books in addition to the Trixie Beldens at a discount because she was trying to get rid of them. Heeeellllooooo! I will TAKE them!

The Ghost at the Waterfall is the 11th book in the Vicki Barr series. I don't have anything to say about it right now merely because I seriously just started a few minutes ago and am only two chapters in. So far it's a typical Vicki Barr story.

The next section of my post should be the books that I'm planning on reading this week, but I haven't decided that yet. I have one that I've set aside, but all the rest are just on a shelf that I'll walk by and pull one off of. So, here's the next one on my "To Be Read" list:

The Martyr's Song - Ted Dekker

If you'd like to join in the fun and let everyone else know what you're reading this week, stop by J-Kaye's Book Blog and add your name to the Monday list.

Flashback

I had another blog before this one. But I had to delete it. The following fun was an idea that started with my old blog. I think this is my first time to use it here.

Vanity Plates

I live in Northern Virginia and if you followed the link above to Wikipedia, you may have noticed that Virginia has the highest percentage of vanity plates in the U.S. Out of all of the license plates in VA, 16.19% are vanity plates (as of 2007). These are just a small sampling of what I see every single day:

NOON ISH - Either this guy/gal has a fetish that has to do with the clock striking 12pm or they are always late to work

KNOWAY - "no way" - Maybe there is 'no way' this driver is going to let you in front of them in traffic or they were arguing with their significant other about what the license plate was NOT going to read

RSDNTL - "residential" - I think. I don't know what else it would mean. I suppose this person lives in one of the many large developments in NoVa. Perhaps not.

WLVRNE - Would you believe my husband, the biggest Wolverine fan I know, didn't "get" this plate when he first saw it? Nerds. Ya can't live with them. Ya can't live without them.

CRBBGE - Black Jack is NOT an option. It's only cribbage for me, my man.

JOGHER - Yes, a runner owns this one.

R6 GIRLS - I. Would. Kill. Myself. SIX girls!?! Heaven forbid! Can you imagine the number of Shoes that dad has to pay for? Yikes!

TOP STEP - This driver might be short. Or they just like the top step.

PANAMA 5 - I can't think of anything interesting to say about this one. There was nothing special on the car other than the license plate so I don't have any clues to the reason behind this plate.

SHINE 09 - I think this may have been a Mary Kay consultant's car.

And now I leave you to come up with a description/ short silly comment/ reason for this Vanity Plate:

IDRVSLW

Don't fail me ya'll! I know there's only a handful of you that read my blog, but would you please humor me and leave a comment about " my driving"?

Because you haven't heard enough

Books, books, books. That's all she ever writes about! Well, not technically, but pretty close. Books are a safe subject for me. I can never run out of books to write about, but I really DO try to limit the number of posts that I devote to books. So, this will be my last for the night.

I need to set a new goal. Last year's goal was to read 100 books. I read 117. While being realistic, I really do want to set a higher goal. and reach it. What's reasonable? What's realistic? I've already read 7 books this year and it's only 5 days in. By the time I go to sleep tonight I will have finished at least one more. Should I shoot for 120? That's only 12 books a month. Pittance! Perhaps 142 - 13 books a month. But then, why not go for 8 more and make it a nice even 150?

Yes, I think that's what I will set my goal at. 150 books read in 2010. Good luck to me. I'm going to need it!

BookList 2009 - It is Finished!

January

Sandry's Book ~ Tamora Pierce
Tris's Book ~ Tamora Pierce
The City of Ember ~ Jeanne DuPrau
The Mary Kay Way ~ Mary Kay Ash
Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg ~ Gail Carson Levine
Teddy Jo & the yellow room mystery ~ Hilda Stahl
Teddy Jo & the ragged beggars ~ Hilda Stahl
Teddy Jo & the magic quill ~ Hilda Stahl
Land of Hope ~ Joan Nixon Lowery
Land of Promise ~ Joan Nixon Lowery
Boxers for Dummies ~ Richard Beauchamp
Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand ~ Gail Carson Levine
Ellen Foster ~ Kaye Gibbons

February

Coffee with Plato ~ Donald R. Moor
A Time for Witches ~ Lynne Hansen
Reckless Revolution ~ Lynne Hansen
Gilded Delirium ~ Jordan Stokes & Mattew Belinkie
The Mark on the Mirror ~ Margaret Sutton
A Thousand Goodbyes ~ Jim Hube
Coffee with Mark Twain ~ Fred Kaplan
A Member of the Family ~ Cesar Millan
The People of Sparks ~ Jeann DuPrau
Tanglewreck ~ Jeanette Winterson
Alanna The First Adventure ~ Tamora Pierce
In the Hand of the Goddess ~ Tamora Pierce
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man ~ Tamora Pierce
Lioness Rampant ~ Tamora Pierce
Trickster's Choice ~ Tamora Pierce
Trickster's Queen ~ Tamora Pierce
The Wednesday Letters ~ Jason F. Wright

March

Coffee with Shakespeare ~ Stanley Wells
The Good Guy ~ Dean Koontz
Shadowfires ~ Dean Koontz
A Wife After God's Own Heart ~ Elizabeth George
The Fairy's Return & Other Princess Tales ~ Gail Carson Levine
The Princetta ~ Anne-Laure Bondoux

April

City of Bones ~ Cassandra Clare
City of Ashes ~ Cassandra Clare
City of Glass ~ Cassandra Clare
Bloodhound ~ Tamora Pierce
Net Force: Virtual Vandals ~ Tom Clancy
Miracles Happen ~ Mary Kay Ash
Flying Blind ~ Frank Peretti
Dragonsong ~ Anne McCaffrey

May

A Haunting in Williamsburg ~ Lou Kassen
The Lioness and the Lily ~ Barbara Cartland
Kiss from a Stranger ~ Barbara Cartland
The Kiss of the Devil ~ Barbara Cartland
The Complacent Wife ~ Barbara Cartland
Call of the Heart ~ Barbara Cartland
The Impetuous Duchess ~ Barbara Cartland
The Husband Hunters ~ Barbara Cartland
A Knight in Paris ~ Barbara Cartland
Beauty Is a Beast ~ Jane B. Mason & Sarah Hines Stephens
A College of Magics ~ Caroline Stevermer
Love In Pity ~ Barbara Cartland
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ~ Ian Fleming

June

Early Sunday Morning ~ Barry Denenberg
Hatching Magic ~ Ann Downer
The Great Good Thing ~ Roderick Townley
Treasures ~ Carolyn Ann Aish

July

Eight Cousins ~ Louisa May Alcott
Castles ~ Carolyn Ann Aish
Kingdoms ~ Carolyn Ann Aish
The Musician's Daughter ~ Susanne Dunlap
Rose in Bloom ~ Louisa May Alcott
Mark of the Demon ~ Diana Rowland
Coffee with Einstein ~ Carlos I. Calle
My Life in France ~ Julia Child
Civil War Hospital Sketches ~ Louisa May Alcott
The Black Tattoo ~ Sam Enthoven

August

Cobwebs ~ Karen Romano Young
Blue Moon ~ Alyson Noel
The Solitary Envoy ~ T. Davis Bunn & Isabella Bunn
A Sword to the Heart ~ Barbara Cartland
Dr. Franklin's Island ~ Ann Halam
Once Dead, Twice Shy ~ Kim Harrison

September

Fragile Eternity ~ Melissa Marr
Shad Run ~ Howard Breslin
The Kingdom Keepers ~ Ridley Pearson
The Mystery of the Million-Dollar Penny ( A Power Boys Adventure) ~ Mel Lyle

October

Twilight ~ Stephanie Meyer (second time reading it. gotta re-read since New Moon shows in theaters 11/20)
Coffee with Aristotle ~ Jonathan Barnes
Tom Swift & His Rocket Ship ~ Victor Appleton II
Naruto Vol. 32 ~ Masashi Kishimoto
Wild Magic ~ Tamora Pierce
Wolf-Speaker ~ Tamora Pierce
Emperor Mage ~ Tamora Pierce
The Realms of the Gods ~ Tamora Pierce

November

New Moon ~ Stephanie Meyer (see comment above about Twilight)
Alcatraz versus The Evil Librarians ~ Brandon Sanderson (MUCH better when my younger sister Rachel reads it aloud, but still pretty funny.)
First Test ~ Tamora Pierce
Page ~ Tamora Pierce
Squire ~ Tamora Pierce
A Rebel Princess ~ Barbara Cartland
Hangman's Curse ~ Frank Peretti
Lady Knight ~ Tamora Pierce
ArchEnemy ~ Frank Beddor
The Medici Secret ~ Michael White
The Bluebird and The Sparrow ~ Janette Oke GOAL - 100 books!!!
The Perilous Gard ~ Elizabeth Marie Pope
Round the Corner in Gay Street ~ Grace S. Richmond
The Game ~ Diana Wynne Jones
Eclipse ~ Stephenie Meyer
Breaking Dawn ~ Stephenie Meyer

December

The Original Girl's Handy Book ~ Lina Beard & Adelia Belle Beard
A Great and Terrible Beauty ~ Libba Bray
Rebel Angels ~ Libba Bray
Uglies ~ Scott Westerfeld
Pretties ~ Scott Westerfeld
Specials ~ Scott Westerfeld
The Boys Next Door ~ Jennifer Echols
Something Borrowed ~ Catherine Hapka
The Sweet Far Thing ~ Libba Bray
The Christmas Dolls ~ Carol Beach York
The Demon King ~ Cinda Williams Chima
Extras ~ Scott Westerfeld

And so ends my year of books with a total of 117 books read. I think I did pretty well. Now I just have to set my goal for 2010.