All My 2009 Reads/Reviews

Today marks the end of the year 2009 and what a year it has been! I finally got caught up on my reviews after being behind since 2008, I made quite a few new blogging friends (which brings my Google Reader book blogs up to 93 subscriptions), and my husband is working on building me a library! Right this very second he is outside drilling the holes in the wood before he takes them to his aunt’s house to stain them. I’m only getting one wall done right now because that wood is SO expensive but the others will get done soon.

I know lots of people do a favorites of 2009 list but I’ve always had a really hard time picking favorites month-to-month much less overall! So there won’t be a favorites list but here is the complete list of all the books I read in 2009. As you may notice, a couple of the last few do not have reviews to go with them and that’s because I plan on re-reading them sometime in 2010.

To make it less complicated everything is backwards and I'm including links to the reviews over on my Movieholic & Bibliophile Blog. You guys are more than welcome to go over and leave comments on any of these or post links to your reviews of the same book in the comment section.

Total books read: 78
New Authors: 28
Books from a Series: 61
Short Story collections/anthologies: 2
Mystery: 10
Non-Fiction: 2
Children or YA Fiction: 42
Books By Women: 56 (not including anthologies)
Books By Men: 22
Authors I Read the Most By: P.C. & Kristin Cast (5) & Rick Riordan (5)
Best Reading Month: March (20)
Worst Reading Month: August (0)

December
Fade Out by Rachel Caine
Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe anthology
The Ghost and the Femme Fatale by Alice Kimberly
Ruined by Paula Morris

November
Tempted by P.C. & Kristin Cast

October
Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden
The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs

September
The Sweet Scent of Blood by Suzanne McLeod
The Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton

August
N/A

July
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

June
Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
Bambi by Felix Salten

May
Generation Dead by Daniel Waters
Old Boyfriends by Rexanne Becnel
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
Glory in Death by JD Robb
The Day the Music Died by Ed Gorman
Guts by Gary Paulson

April
The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason
The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey
Candy Apple Dead by Sammi Carter
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Evernight by Claudia Gray
Hunted by P.C & Kristin Cast
Untamed by P.C & Kristin Cast
Chosen by P.C & Kristin Cast
Betrayed by P.C & Kristin Cast
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
The House on Tradd Street by Karen White

March
Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews
Theater Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
Marked by P.C. & Kristin Cast
The Winged Colt of Casa Mia by Betsy Byars
Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
One False Note by Gordon Korman (39 Clues)
Dark Harvest by Lynda Hilburn
Dead Girls are Easy by Terri Garey

February
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Lord of Misrule by Rachel Caine
A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
Greyfriar's Bobby by Eleanor Atkinson
Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
Romancing the Dead by Tate Hallaway
Dead Sexy by Tate Hallaway
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Fire & Ice by Anne Stuart
Why We Suck by Dr. Denis Leary
Elvenbane by Andre Norton & Mercedes Lackey
The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan (39 Clues)

January
Tall, Dark, and Dead by Tate Hallaway
Secondhand Smoke by Karen E. Olson
Many Bloody Returns anthology
Kitty and the Silver Bullet by Carrie Vaughn
Kitty Takes a Holiday by Carrie Vaughn
Kitty Goes to Washington by Carrie Vaughn
Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn
Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain
Sacred Cows by Karen E. Olson
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

Movies Reviewed
The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Ref

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

My Side of the Mountain

Walt Disney's Greyfriar's Bobby

Charlotte's Web (2006)

Baby Take a Bow

Charlotte's Web (1973)

Challenge to Lassie

Ballet Shoes

The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby

Treasure Planet

Because of Winn-Dixie

Muppet Treasure Island

Underworld Evolution

Disney's Robin Hood and His Merrie Men

TCM Remembers

They're all missed! Oh and if anyone could point me in the direction of a good tribute video of Brittany Murphy I'd be much obliged.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had an exceptionally Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays this year!

Here are a few photos of my living room that I've been promising you guys. Better ones coming soon once the decorations are down.

Library Loot

Better late than never right? Here is my library loot and birthday books!



The ones closest to the camera are my birthday books: Arch Enemy by Frank Beddor, Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine, and Fade Out by Rachel Caine.

The ones farther under the tree is my library loot: The illustrated version of A Christmas Carol, the audio book of A Christmas Carol read by Jim Dale, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and A Christmas Carol (with Patrick Stewart)... anyone sensing a theme here?

Birthday!

Birthdays aren't always fun but it's truly surprising just how many people care that you have a good day. So thanks to all the great bloggers that wished me a good one this year and I hope you all have the happiest of holidays!

PS: I got my camera fixed so look for pictures soon!

Quick Update (Sorry)

glitter-graphics.com

Hey guys! Thought I'd dash off a quick note while I had a second. The holidays, the weather, and a really bad sinus infection are starting to kick my rear end so I might not get caught up on reviews before Christmas after all :(. Definitely before New Years though. Hope every one is enjoying the holidays! We're still trying to figure out what we're doing for my birthday on Sunday too.

Hope to have my review of The Awakening up by then! Knew I should have taken better notes on that one....

2010 Challenges

Ok after much internal debate, this will be my page for all the 2010 challenges I sign up for.
The first one I want to sign up for is the Take Another Chance Challenge and the directions are WAY too long and complicated so go go to As Usual, I Need More Bookshelves for how to play. I'm going to try to do all 12 but I'm not going to hold my breath. It just sounds too fun to pass up though!

1. Blood Magic by Jennifer Lyon (my initials-J.L.)
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The second challenge I'm signing up for is the What's in a Name? Challenge. The directions:
Between January 1 and December 31, 2010, read one book in each of the following categories:

• A book with a food in the title: Clockwork Orange, Grapes of Wrath, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
• A book with a body of water in the title: A River Runs through It, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, The Lake House
• A book with a title (queen, president) in the title: The Murder of King Tut, The Count of Monte Cristo, Lady Susan
• A book with a plant in the title: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Wind in the Willows, The Name of the Rose
• A book with a place name (city, country) in the title: Out of Africa; London; Between, Georgia
• A book with a music term in the title: Song of Solomon, Ragtime, The Piano Teacher

(The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category.)
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The third challenge I'm joining is the Finish that Series challenge and I'm angling for the Addicted level where you're supposed to finish 5 series:
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The fourth is going to be the 2nd's challenge where it's "not just for your second in a series books, but the second time you've read an author as well." Again I'm going for the Addicted level with 12 novels:
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The last (so far) challenge I'm signing up for is the Young Adult Reading Challenge. I played this year and was able to finish it but this year I'm going for the Just My Size level where I need to read 25 books.

1. Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer

That's it! Well, I'm still working on my personal Books Made into Disney Movies challenge of reading all the books that were made into Disney films but I'm not getting too far in that one so hmmm, I should make it my goal to read at least 10 books on the list.

Teaser Tuesday- Haunted Bookshop

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

• Grab your current read.
• Let the book fall open to a random page.
• Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page
• You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

THE GHOST AND THE FEMME FATALE BY ALICE KIMBERLY

I, Penelope Thornton-McClure, single mom, widow, and independent bookshop owner, was far from a professional sleuth. Sure, I was a longtime fan of the Black Mask school of detective fiction; but a few years back, when the Rhode Island Staties were eyeing me as a person of interest in a murder investigation, I’d needed more than a fictional detective, and I got one

Good News in Threes!

I debated whether or not to say anything about this but I'm so excited that I simply have to tell someone! If I post a review every day until my birthday I'll be completely caught up! As a few of you may have noticed, I've been behind on my reviews almost since I started blogging and right now I'm posting the books I read in May. Who knew taking a few months off reading-wise would come in handy?


My Google Reader is almost whittled down completely as well (the reading blogs are caught up, it's just the others that still have me at 1000+... yes, I read too many blogs!). Hopefully that will be caught up soon as well.

Let's see, want me to share more good news? Okay, I saved the best for last... we've started working on completing the next room in the house (painting, decorating, etc.) and it was where we storing everything (meaning mostly my books). It's going to be my library! Darren went in and started pulling all all the crown molding and the built-in shelf running around the top off of the walls last night. We've got a lot of sanding and stuff to do before I get to completely decide on a wall color (I'm leaning toward a green...) and hubby has to get the wood to build the completely floor to ceiling bookcases. I'm so excited!

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Happy Birthday Walt!

Happy Birthday Walt! You brought smiles and joy to millions and millions of people during your life and through everything you did you continue to live on in the hearts of those people. Even people who never knew you, people like me who were born years after you had left us feel like Uncle Walt was a dear friend that we never met.

Disney Christmas Song from Once Upon a Christmas:


As Long As There's Christmas from Beauty and the Beast The Enchanted Christmas

Related: Disney Movie Reviews!

Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog

Treasure Planet

Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (Richard Todd died today 1919-2009 RIP)

Man in Space

Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier

Wall-E

Mickey's Christmas Carol

102 Dalmatians

101 Dalmatians

One Hundred and One Dalmatians

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Treasure Island

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

The Sword in the Stone

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too!

Victory Through Air Power

Fluppy Dogs

Alice in Wonderland

Cinderella

The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad

Melody Time

Make Mine Music

The Three Caballeros

Saludos Amigos

Bambi

Dumbo

The Reluctant Dragon

Fantasia

Pinocchio

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Over the Top Award

Carol from Carol's Notebook gave me this cute award today! I just love that apron, thank you! :)

Here are the rules:
Answer the following questions using single word answers. Then pass the award to 5 other people and let them know.

Your cell phone? Broken
Your hair? Straight
Your mother? Miss
Your father? Dislike
Your favorite food? Cupcakes
Your dream last night? Vampires
Your favorite drink? Soda
Your dream/goal? Read
What room are you in? Bedroom
Your hobby? Reading
Your fear? Germs
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Disneyland
Where were you last night? Home
Something that you aren’t? Grouchy
Muffins? Blueberry
Wish list item? DVDs
Where did you grow up? Georgia
Last thing you did? Shopped
What are you wearing? Sweater
Your TV? Off
Your Pets? Spoilt
Friends? Friendly
Your life? Happy
Your mood? Tired
Missing someone? Yes
Vehicle? Taurus
Something you’re not wearing?Earrings
Your favorite store? Target
Your favorite color? Blue
When was the last time you laughed? Today
Last time you cried? Yesterday
Your best friend? Mom
One place that you go to over and over? Walmart
Facebook? Yes
Favorite place to eat? Out

Not the easiest thing to do! Here's who I'm picking because I'm fairly sure they'd enjoy doing this. I love all my readers though!:

Alice @ Hello, My Name is Alice
Dottie @ My Blog 2.0
Sam @ Sam's Book Blog
Kelly @ The Chic Geek

And... Naida @ The Bookworm. It's her birthday today so go by and wish her a great one!



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Hard Candy Christmas by Dolly Parton

No Teaser- Supernatural Instead!

I still haven't found a book that I feel like reading right now so no teaser for me today. However, I decided to check out a show I've heard a lot about: Supernatural. I'm seriously loving it! It's fun and reminds me of Buffy, Blood Ties, and X-Files all rolled into one. So far Dean is my favorite character. So does anyone else watch this show? I'm only on season 2 right now so no spoilers!


I know how both of them feel! Flying doesn't terrify me but I don't find it very comforting either. Clowns on the other hand give me the creeps. I think it's because I watched Stephen King's IT when I was only 5 or 6.... I still can't watch that movie alone.


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Up on the Housetop by Reba McEntire