Water for Elephants

I just finished a book!  WOOOooooo....I'm on a roll!



I finished Water for Elephants, it was really good!  Its about a boy named Jacob who loses his parents in an accident, and therefore everything the family owns.  It takes places during the depression, so its a time when money and banks and all that stuff is going crazy!  Anyways, poor Jacob loses everything and runs off to join a circus, where he is hired as the vet (just an exam shy of being an ivy league vet graduate).  There he meets Marlena, one of the beautiful performers, and falls head over heels for her.  Trouble is, she is married the the director of animals....who is schizophrenic.  WHOOPS!!!  Its a good book, really good.  Has a lot of adult material in it though, which I could deal without!  Hopefully the movie doesn't have all that craziness in it!  I give it a:

Which means I recommend it...but it wasn't that sorta book that I am desperate to finish in like...a day:)

I'm on to No Plot? No Problem for my next book, this is a book that teaches me how to write a 50,000 word novel in a month - which I am doing!  It's so crazy and weird and who knows if it'll come to anything - but I am doing it.  I am actually already 25 pages into it.  It's got some crazy advice for reading! 

More on that later!  It's been a busy day, a busy week...I'm ready for bed!  Night!

New Years Resolution!

Usually I am not a "New Years Resolution" type of person!  I started thinking this week, though, that maybe I should make one!  Not one that I won't follow through with, not one that will make me cringe when I think of it, but something that I could be excited about. 

So that's how I came up with this resolution - I want to read 10 books a month for a whole year!  Now, I know that may sound challenging to some, and maybe not such a big deal to others.  I figure I need to make it challenging to add some excitement, but not make it TOO hard that I wont do it!  Now, I can read books fast.  You can ask any of my family or friends, I have read whole books (big ones!!!) in under a day sometimes.  But, I am also probably starting a new job this month, have a husband, an 11 year old, a cat and a house to look after, so finding time may be tricky some weeks.  So 10 books a month it is.  120 books this year.  I could be a dork but that excites me a lot!  There are SO many books out there...

Which brings me to the next reason for this resolution - that there are so many books in the world and I really want to branch out and read all sorts of them!  I have become very limited in my reading material - my most favorite books are Harry Potter, Twilight and Pride and Prejudice.  I re-read HP and Twilight every year, maybe even twice a year!  I need to branch out! I am interested in so many different types of books too, I want to read biographies and mysteries and personal accounts of historic events and cooking books and huge old Russian novels so so so much more - there are SO many choices!!  I cant limit myself, even though my favorites are wonderful, I cant call myself an avid reader and not have read classics that I am ashamed to say I've avoided;)

The reason why I am starting this blog is to talk about these books!!  I am not going to write long boring reviews, but I want to be able to share my literary journey here - books I like, books I have a hard time getting through, and just being able to talk about the books as I read them.

I don't have my 10 books lined up for January yet.  I am finishing (SURPRISE) HP and the Deathly Hallows today, I chose to re-read that one because of the movie being out and its the one that I haven't read as much (maybe 4 times, all the others I've read at least 7+ times!!  See what I mean.....I need variety!)  So maybe tomorrow or Monday I am going to the library and picking out the January 10!  I'll post my choices here!  Hopefully I can get feedback and book ideas from others too - I love reading books that others love!

So here we go!!! 10 books a month for a year.  120 books.  Will it be hard?  Will it be too easy?  My husband here is telling me..."um, you know that's a new book every 3 days?!?" So it'll probably be a challenge!  Here's to 120 books in 2011!  Happy New Year!