2009 In Review

What a strange year this has been. Last school year I was asked to pick up the AP Literature classes at our school, which was a lot of work, but so exciting and satisfying. My favorite for the year was definitely Tess of the D'Urbervilles. We had such a fantastic time reading it, laughing together at scenes such as the milkmaids being carried across the washed out road, and crying over all the unfortunate events in Tess's life. It really was a great experience, and my favorite novel to teach so far...ever. Therefore, this deserves my first big "2009 in Review" mention:


Although I discovered her first book, Good Things, in 2008, I ravenously picked up and read Mia King's novels Sweet Life, and then Table Manners. If you haven't yet read Mia King, and you enjoy fiction about women, often including food and recipes, then you should really try out her novels!


One of my favorite reads in quite awhile came up in February of this year, and I've given it away TWICE because I wanted to pass the happiness along. That book was A Hopeless Romantic by Harriet Evans, who has also written several other books (that I still need to read).


Another great discovery this year was Sharon Lathan's Pride and Prejudice novels, Two Shall Become One and Loving Mr. Darcy. I developed a fun friendship with Lathan that extended to some predictions about me sharing her novel from the beaches of Hawaii. :) While a more sensual approach to the Darcy story, I really loved the language of the story, as well as the escape factor. What can I say? I'm still very much a sucker for the idea of a hopelessly romantic love! (By the way, book three, My Dearest Mr. Darcy comes out on the 1st! My review is coming soon...)


Besides the novels that helped me escape this year, I read some really great literature, including: The Reader (still haunts me), A Small Place, The Inheritance of Loss, and Fasting, Feasting.


To wrap up my year, I'll post some of the pics for novels I enjoyed below.


My stats for 2009:

• 95 novels read for the year.
• Three Challenges completed--Rejuvenate & Renew, Everything Austen, & Period Drama Challenge.
• Challenge Fails--None yet, but I might w/ the e-reader challenge.

For me, this was a good reading year, even though I think I felt pretty pressured to get through many different books. My goal for this coming year is to focus on what I love, reading. The fact is, I teach, therefore I simply can't read and review as much as I'd like. I love the community of readers I've met, so my focus will be on reading and relaxing! No more pressure here. I really don't know if or how many challenges I might join, and I will be limiting the number of ARCs I accept. The goal of this year is maintain my love of reading, not to stress it out!

Having shared my favorites, can you list your favorite read of the year? I know it's hard, but is there one book that stood out to you?

Until next time, Mahalo! Enjoy your New Year's celebrations, and I'll see you on the other side.