A Year in Review: 2013
Welcome to the New Year! It is now 2014 and I hope everyone
is ready for the great things to come this year. The end of the month will mark
a year since my first blog post! I must say that I have really enjoyed all of
the books that I’ve read this year and posting the reviews of the different
books on this blog. This is something that has become an integral part of my
reading process. I love that I am able to share it with people who share my
love and interest for books. There is definitely more to come in this new year
and I am excited to share with you all that is going on as of right now.
I read 83 books this year! I love
it! I’m including the list of books at the end of the blog. There are quite a
few books that have been read and reviewed, I simply haven’t posted them on the
blog yet. I do this for consistency. I want to be able to post a new review
every Friday for you to enjoy so I have stockpiled in order to keep that rate
going. In case I hit a reading slump (which I doubt will happen) or if I decided
to read Harry Potter more than once this year (which just might happen) you
will still get a blog post every Friday.
Reading in 2013 was great for a
few reasons. One of which was the fact that I had a focus to get me through
what turned out to be a somewhat difficult year. I was dealing with my
husband’s deployment during the first half of the year and reading helped keep
me sane and occupied. My father passed away in April and reading the Stephen
King collection helped me deal with his death. I know that sounds weird but my
father introduced me to Stephen King and we would always have these
conversations about him as a writer. Even when he was sick and my family knew
his time was coming, we would still sit and talk about Stephen King. We would
talk about what I was reading and how finishing would be a huge undertaking for
me. When I finished the last book the one person I wanted to call and tell was
my father. But it had been months since he passed. Finishing almost felt like
honoring my father and thanking him for giving me Firestarter, the first Stephen King novel I have ever read, that
set me on this path of being such an avid reader. So again, thanks Daddy.
The last reason 2013 was a great
reading year is because of how much I pushed myself this year. I not only read
2 more books than last year but I kept this blog up and running, writing
reviews as soon as I completed books. I forced myself to write a comprehensive
review before I would allow myself to begin a new novel. That in turn made me a
more observant reader and helped me communicate how I felt about each book. I
wish I had this much discipline in 2012 because then I would have had dozens of
more reviews that I could have shared.
So what’s in store for 2014? Well,
the theme for this year is Banned books. I have a list of banned books that I
will be choosing from throughout the year. Starting in February (January I try
to reserve for Harry Potter) every other book I read will be a banned book. As
part of the reviews of the banned books I plan on discussing what has made
these books so controversial that restricting them became necessary to some. I
have also joined the website Goodreads.com which is an amazing database for
readers. If you are a member and would like to follow what I am reading,
planning to read or have already read, you can definitely send me a friend
request on my profile, Stacie_C. I am also now part of a review team for
Onlinebookclub.org. All of the reviews I do there will only be listed on that
website but I will provide links to those reviews on my blog once they become
available. I am debating on whether or not I will start a Facebook page for my
blog. It will simply be another tool for providing information about books and
what’s going on in my reading universe. I will keep everyone updated on that
development. I am also considering placing a rating system on the blog reviews.
Rating books on Goodreads has given me a different perspective on how to make
recommendations about books. Only time will tell with both of those ideas but
any input would be much appreciated!
Here is the 2013 reading list as promised! Happy New Year
and Happy Readings! Enjoy!
2013 Reading List
#
|
Books
|
Author
|
1
|
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's
Stone
|
J.K.
Rowling
|
2
|
Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets
|
J.K.
Rowling
|
3
|
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban
|
J.K.
Rowling
|
4
|
Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire
|
J.K.
Rowling
|
5
|
Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix
|
J.K.
Rowling
|
6
|
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince
|
J.K.
Rowling
|
7
|
Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows
|
J.K.
Rowling
|
8
|
Carrie
|
Stephen
King
|
9
|
Salem's Lot
|
Stephen
King
|
10
|
The Shining
|
Stephen
King
|
11
|
The Stand
|
Stephen
King
|
12
|
The Long Walk
|
Stephen
King
|
13
|
The Dead Zone
|
Stephen
King
|
14
|
Firestarter
|
Stephen
King
|
15
|
Roadwork
|
Stephen
King
|
16
|
Cujo
|
Stephen
King
|
17
|
The Running Man
|
Stephen
King
|
18
|
The Gunslinger
|
Stephen
King
|
19
|
Christine
|
Stephen
King
|
20
|
Pet Sematary
|
Stephen
King
|
21
|
Cycle of the Werewolf
|
Stephen
King
|
22
|
The Talisman
|
Stephen
King
|
23
|
Thinner
|
Stephen
King
|
24
|
It
|
Stephen
King
|
25
|
The Eyes of the Dragon
|
Stephen
King
|
26
|
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of
the Three
|
Stephen
King
|
27
|
Misery
|
Stephen
King
|
28
|
The Tommyknockers
|
Stephen
King
|
29
|
The Dark Half
|
Stephen
King
|
30
|
The Dark Tower III: The Wastelands
|
Stephen
King
|
31
|
Needful Things
|
Stephen
King
|
32
|
Gerald's Game
|
Stephen
King
|
33
|
Dolores Claiborne
|
Stephen
King
|
34
|
Insomnia
|
Stephen
King
|
35
|
Rose Madder
|
Stephen
King
|
36
|
The Green Mile
|
Stephen
King
|
37
|
Desperation
|
Stephen
King
|
38
|
The Regulators
|
Stephen
King
|
39
|
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and
Glass
|
Stephen
King
|
40
|
Bag of Bones
|
Stephen
King
|
41
|
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
|
Stephen
King
|
42
|
Dreamcatcher
|
Stephen
King
|
43
|
The Black House
|
Stephen
King
|
44
|
From a Buick 8
|
Stephen
King
|
45
|
Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla
|
Stephen
King
|
46
|
Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah
|
Stephen
King
|
47
|
Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower
|
Stephen
King
|
48
|
The Colorado Kid
|
Stephen
King
|
49
|
Cell
|
Stephen
King
|
50
|
Lisey's Story
|
Stephen
King
|
51
|
Blaze
|
Stephen
King
|
52
|
Duma Key
|
Stephen
King
|
53
|
Under the Dome
|
Stephen
King
|
54
|
11/22/63
|
Stephen
King
|
55
|
The Wind Through the Keyhole
|
Stephen
King
|
56
|
Joyland
|
Stephen
King
|
57
|
Doctor Sleep
|
Stephen
King
|
58
|
The Cuckoo's Calling
|
J.K.
Rowling
|
59
|
The Storyteller
|
Jodi
Picoult
|
60
|
Silver Girl
|
Elin
Hilderbrand
|
61
|
Stranger in a Strange Land
|
Robert
A. Heinlein
|
62
|
The Handmaid's Tale
|
Margaret
Atwood
|
63
|
Where the Heart Is
|
Billie
Letts
|
64
|
She Wolves: The Women Who Ruled
England before Elizabeth
|
Helen
Castor
|
65
|
The Man in the High Castle
|
Phillip
K. Dick
|
66
|
Fahrenheit 451
|
Ray
Bradbury
|
67
|
A Farewell to Arms
|
Ernest
Hemingway
|
68
|
Red Rain
|
R.L.
Stine
|
69
|
Inferno
|
Dan
Brown
|
70
|
Catching Fire
|
Suzanne
Collins
|
71
|
The Great Gatsby
|
F.
Scott Fitzgerald
|
72
|
Divergent
|
Veronica
Roth
|
73
|
Libra
|
Don
DeLillo
|
74
|
The house Girl
|
Tara
Conklin
|
75
|
An Army at Dawn: The War in North
Africa 1942-1943
|
Rick
Atkinson
|
76
|
Insurgent
|
Veronica
Roth
|
77
|
Allegiant
|
Veronica
Roth
|
78
|
A Train in Winter: An
Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France
|
Caroline
Moorehead
|
79
|
The Book thief
|
Markus
Zusak
|
80
|
Orphan Train
|
Christina
Baker Kline
|
81
|
The Goldfinch
|
Donna
Tartt
|
82
|
She's Come Undone
|
Wally
Lamb
|
83
|
The Re-Awakening
|
Carter
Vance
|
You would start out with all the Harry Potter Books!!! lol <3 You
ReplyDeleteI start every year with Harry Potter! You should not be at all surprised!
ReplyDelete