I've been meaning to do write this post for the past few days, but something always came up - laziness, reading, sleepiness, etc. which doesn't bode well for my few New Year resolutions ^^;
So looking back on 2007...
... blogging-wise - it was a very good year. It was the first "complete" year that I blogged and I got to know some of you more closely through chats and emails and I got to meet some of you in real life... and I still believe this is the best way to get reviews and comments about older books and newer books. The thing when you go to a message board is that the message board usually supports someone, so there's a lot of fans and when you say something that they don't agree with, they attack you. With a blog, it's more personal and I think ppl has more respect for the blog owner. Anyway, that's my feeling... so I'm very glad that I started this blog. I have to say, lately, it turned into a more personal blog than a book blog, but I'll try to get a good balance between the two.
When starting 2007, besides this blog, I was also part of 2 groups blogs: Perfect Drug and Twisted Kingdom... Perfect Drug was supposed to be a blog about anime and manga, but it never really took off and died pretty quickly. As for Twisted Kingdom, it was originally started with Mailyn, DC, Kailana and me... However, Mailyn and DC have quitted blogging :( and in the end, I stopped too at Twisted Kingdom. I felt that most books I read didn't fit at Twisted Kingdom. Even paranormal romances were more romance-y than fantasy or sci-fi... So I apologized to Kailana who was left holding the candle alone :( Sorry...
... book-wise - this year was great! LOL :) I discovered a lot of new authors and I ventured out of my fav. genre (contemporary). I also read a lot and bought even more books! I have to admit though, I'm starting to get afraid of my TBR pile... This is what happened when you find people that have similar tastes to yours. They give you suggestions, you ask them for recommendation and you end up with tons of books to buy :) and then, you start keeping tracks of your favorite authors on the net and you want to know why the buzz about this or that book on blogland and in the end, you end up with tons of books LOL :) Anyway, that's what happened to me ^^;
This is also the first year where I kept track of the books I read... and I'm really proud of myself for doing so... and so, drumroll... this year, nath has read...
So looking back on 2007...
... blogging-wise - it was a very good year. It was the first "complete" year that I blogged and I got to know some of you more closely through chats and emails and I got to meet some of you in real life... and I still believe this is the best way to get reviews and comments about older books and newer books. The thing when you go to a message board is that the message board usually supports someone, so there's a lot of fans and when you say something that they don't agree with, they attack you. With a blog, it's more personal and I think ppl has more respect for the blog owner. Anyway, that's my feeling... so I'm very glad that I started this blog. I have to say, lately, it turned into a more personal blog than a book blog, but I'll try to get a good balance between the two.
When starting 2007, besides this blog, I was also part of 2 groups blogs: Perfect Drug and Twisted Kingdom... Perfect Drug was supposed to be a blog about anime and manga, but it never really took off and died pretty quickly. As for Twisted Kingdom, it was originally started with Mailyn, DC, Kailana and me... However, Mailyn and DC have quitted blogging :( and in the end, I stopped too at Twisted Kingdom. I felt that most books I read didn't fit at Twisted Kingdom. Even paranormal romances were more romance-y than fantasy or sci-fi... So I apologized to Kailana who was left holding the candle alone :( Sorry...
... book-wise - this year was great! LOL :) I discovered a lot of new authors and I ventured out of my fav. genre (contemporary). I also read a lot and bought even more books! I have to admit though, I'm starting to get afraid of my TBR pile... This is what happened when you find people that have similar tastes to yours. They give you suggestions, you ask them for recommendation and you end up with tons of books to buy :) and then, you start keeping tracks of your favorite authors on the net and you want to know why the buzz about this or that book on blogland and in the end, you end up with tons of books LOL :) Anyway, that's what happened to me ^^;
This is also the first year where I kept track of the books I read... and I'm really proud of myself for doing so... and so, drumroll... this year, nath has read...
btw 170 and 180 books!
Well yeah, although I kept track, I'm still not sure of how many books, because I only started keeping track in February... which comes up to 164 books. I read on average 14 books a month, so I guessed that counting January, it'd be somewhere btw 170 and 180 :P And that's without counting re-reads and manga!! :)
I'll spare you the break-down LOL and go straight to my Top lists
Top 10 Best Books of the Year
in no specific order
1) Count to Ten by Karen Rose2) His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
3) Demon Angel by Meljean Brook
4) Blue Willow by Deborah Smith
5) Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh
6) Virgin River by Robyn Carr
7) Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan
8) Innocent in Death by J.D.Robb
9) Blame It on Paris by Laura Florand
10) No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong
Top 3 Heroes
in no specific order
1) Jack Sheridan from Virgin River by Robyn Carr
2) Jeremy from No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong
3) Hugh from Demon Angel by Meljean Brook
1) Jack Sheridan from Virgin River by Robyn Carr
2) Jeremy from No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong
3) Hugh from Demon Angel by Meljean Brook
Top 3 Heroines
in no specific order
in no specific order
1) Lilith from Demon Angel by Meljean Brook
2) Xylara from Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan
3) Mia Mitchell from Count to Ten by Karen Rose
*LOL, I have to say that choosing heroes and heroines is quite hard!!
Again, this year, I have discovered quite a lot of new authors and so...
Top 10 of new authors
in no specific order
1) Robyn Carr
2) Meljean Brook
3) Deborah Smith
4) Elizabeth Vaughan
5) Laura Florand
6) Jennifer Estep
7) Emilie Richards
8) Kate Angell
9) Jacquelyn Franks
10) Naomi Novik
Hmmm, looking at the lists, I have to say I'm quite consistent right? LOL :) I'm not doing any list of worse books, because I don't really remember... I usually just pushed them out of my mind and making more space for other new books that I'm going to read. As for my DNF books, they usually aren't bad books, but not my taste.
So that's pretty much it for me this year :D I sure hope that next year is going to be as good or even better. Few things that I'd like to correct though and so, I have turned them into New Year resolutions:
1 - to review more often. I don't mean review all the books I read, cos I know I'm not able to keep up... but to at least review twice a week.
2- Buy less books. Please read carefully, I wrote less, not "no more buying books ." LOL, I know the latter is impossible for me and so I'm not even going to try... however, buying less books should be feasable. In order to do so, the first thing I have to do - no more book buying binges... like going to the bookstores because I'm bored or buying on impulse or because it's cheap. Besides my auto-buy list, I wish to buy only on recommendations or if a book has gotten good reviews on blogland. Also, another thing to buy less books - being able to stop a series once it's no longer good. That should help reducing the number of books... and finally, stick to storylines or genres that I prefer. See, I have it all thought out :) Now, hopefully, I can stick to it :)
so there, you have it :) My year 2007 in review!
