Tuesday, June 26, 2012

46 books



When I set a goal of reading 50 books in 12 months, I thought it would be easy!

Despite speeding through several young adult fiction novels, I didn't make it.  46 books....close, but not enough. 

My favorites:
- The Color Purple
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Irma Voth
- Nine Stories

I got stuck on Madame Bovary, American Tragedy, The House of Mirth...all great, but they didn't keep me up past my bedtime!  

Sometimes I feel guilty that I only read for fun.  I feel like I waste the opportunity to improve my vocabulary and grammar.  Not to mention that I could use this time to broaden my knowledge of the world!  Since I have piles of books to read, let's reset the goal of 50 books for the next 12 months and I will make more of an effort to learn something new along the way!!! 

Here is the full list of 46:
1-7. Narnia
8. Fall of Giants
9. Franny and Zooey
10. The Color Purple
11. A Dance with Dragons
12. Madame Bovary
13. Eats, Shoots & Leaves
14. Tender is the Night
15. A History of Love
16. Birthing from Within
17. A Town Like Alice
18. Ina May Guide to Childbirth
19. To Kill a Mockingbird
20. We
21. The Red Tent
22. The Magnificent Ambersons
23. An American Tragedy
24. The Windup Girl
25. The Last Watch
26. your voice in my head
27. Heaven is for real
28. Nine Stories
29. Room
30. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
31. Before I go to Sleep
32. Anne of Green Gables
33. Anne of Avonlea
34. Perfume
35. Divergent
36. Man's Search for Meaning
37. Irma Voth
38. the sometimes daughter
39. bossypants
40. Wizard of Oz
41. Cosmopolis
42. The Hunger Games
43. Catching Fire
44. Mockingjay
45. The House of Mirth
46. The Imperfectionists

22 comments:

  1. I love books and have a HUGE "to be read" pile of real books (paper) and books on my Kobo. I squeeze in most of it before bed and if I wake up in the middle of the night. Insomnia is good for reading, who knew?

    Currently am rereading Wolf Hall in anticipation of Hilary Mantel's sequel. Love it.

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  2. 46 books is still impressive, even if you didn't hit your goal! I used to read a lot - studied English Literature in university, even - but it's amazing how 'grown-up life' gets in the way so often. Are there any on your list you wouldn't recommend at all? I need to find some new books to load on my Kobo!

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  3. Love the photo you have on there with all the colorful books. Have you read "50 shades of grey" perhaps that could be added....?

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  4. Carol@TheDesignPagesJune 26, 2012 at 11:17 AM

    Let me just say I am more than a little impressed with your accomplishment. I am normally a big book reader but have been slacking lately so I'll take inspiration from you to get back at it.

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  5. Some of those books could be read aloud to your little ones. Like Narnia. I started reading novels to my boys at night and the smalls ages 4, 2 and 4 months sit quietly and listen. Just a thought ;)

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  6. My older boys are 12, 11, and 8. We read a chapter or two every night before bed. Its nice.

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  7. You beat my record by 1! A few years back I read 45 books within 12 months - it was great!

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  8. There were a few I would skip .... Room, Heaven is for real, The meaning of life...

    I enjoyed the Fabulous amberson,

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  9. I revised my post because I was too downer about it! I love having read this many books! In fact, I may have hit 50 if I didn't get an iPhone!!

    Next year for sure!

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  10. Definitely! It is easy to lose motivation if you don't have a list of recommendations to go with! I am going to keep reading "The Best 150 English Language Novels of the 20th Century" They always surprise to the upside!!!

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  11. Not yet!
    My neighbour told me a little about it...I am not sure it is for me! It's seems to be quite a phenomenon though!

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  12. I want to turn my bedroom into a library! Or, um, get a house with a library...OR, just stack books every where...

    Owning them makes me happy
    Having a ready supply of good reads - priceless

    (Yes, I use the library as a resource! Or second hand book fairs / goodwill)

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  13. Well done Shannon! Congrats! This is a great achievement...keep on reading...with or without a goal number!

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  14. April @ Money Pit LoveJune 26, 2012 at 7:28 PM

    Dude, seriously, 46 books in 12 months with a toddler AND a baby? Mad props. I can hardly get through a book a month and my kids are fully self-sufficient AND I'm unemployed. Which is just a sad testament to my attention span, I think. But I love your list (To Kill A Mockingbird: my very favourite novel ever); have you thought of starting a bloggy book club for the next year? Might be fun to have a few peeps along for the ride :)

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  15. Wow! 46 is a pretty impressive number to me! I must be the world's slowest reader so I can't imagine reading this many books in a year. I did read the Hunger Games books and really liked them. They are pretty easy to get through though. I agree with you on Room. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped, but I did like Secret Daughter.

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  16. Wow, that is a serious list!! I need some ideas for blogger bookclub upcoming books, so this list might provide me a good start!!

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  17. The inner-bookworm in me, LOVES this! Such a great idea and list to conquer! I think the Library of Congress just announced a list of 88 books that everyone should read in their lifetime...I might have to do it! xoxo

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  18. wow...my goal was a book a month...i've only read 3. hahahah...great stuff!

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  19. oops! did i say secret daughter? i meant sometimes daughter!!!

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  20. oooooh blogger book club! good idea!!

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  21. i will be checking out those 88 titles - stat!

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  22. Good for you for making it though that many in 12 months! Ina May's book was so great to read to remind me that childbirth is not something to be feared. I loved loved divergent and insurgent is very good too.

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