Well here we are, the last day of 2010.  It doesn’t seem that long ago that I got used to saying “twenty ten” – and now here we come “twenty eleven”!  Amazing.

I finished “Helen of Pasadena” in the wee hours… it was a fun, quick, smart romance.  It made me reschedule my appointment at the Genius Bar on Wednesday, because I had a hard time putting it down and getting out the door on time.  I turned out the light last night after finally admitting I was too tired to finish (12:40 AM) but a few minutes later turned the light on again and finished.  A fun book.  It is the book club pick for my Preston bookclub in January.  It will be fun to discuss.

Thanks to Goodreads, I think I have a pretty good list of all the books I read in 2010. In reverse chronological order they include:

1. Helen of Pasadena
2. Before You Know Kindness
3. Shanghai Girls
4. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Millennium, #3)
5. When in Rome…: A Novel of Piazzas and Passion
6. The Last Time I Saw You: A Novel
7. How to Be Single
8. Blessings
9. Going in Circles
10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
11. The Love Season
12. The Cinderella Deal
13. Beatrice and Virgil
14. Away
15. The Next Thing on My List
16. Water for Elephants
17. The Sleeping Beauty Proposal
18. Everything She Thought She Wanted: A Novel
19. Other People’s Weddings
20. The Stormchasers
21. Best Friends Forever
22. The Girl Who Played with Fire
23. The Other Woman
24. Belong to Me
25. Love Walked In
26. The Beach House
27. Firefly Lane
28. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)
29. The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and Friendship
30. The Glass Castle: A Memoir
31. Size 12 is Not Fat: A Heather Wells Mystery
32. Chasing Harry Winston
33. Peony in Love
34. The Friday Night Knitting Club
35. No Horizon Is So Far: Two Women and Their Historic Journey Across Antarctica
36. The Cat Who Said Cheese (Cat Who…, #18)
37. The Moment Between
38. Slam
39. The Help
40. A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table

Items of note in my “book world” in 2010:

• I met three authors – Ann Bancroft, Lian Dolan and Jenna Blum.  I got to spend a lot of time with Ann and Jenna and they are both remarkable women and inspiring!
• I read the three Millenium books and unexpectedly loved them all.
• I read the book that inspired the start of the Cosmo Girls.
• I listened to a few more audiobooks this year than I have in a while – although it used to be all I listened to in my car and with the death of my iPod I anticipate I’ll listen to more in 2011!
• I plowed through a lot of books during my Ferragosto vacation.
• 40 books = almost a book a week, which is very cool!

In 2011 I look forward to many more book club discussions, meaningful books, fun books, book blogging, and hopefully more meet-ups with authors!

Happy Wishes for a beautiful 2011!

Off to read!

Not a single post in November.  Lazy?  Busy?  Hard to say… So I’m jumping back on the wagon…

December 1 I went to a book signing at J.Jill in Edina for “Helen of Pasadena” by Lian Dolan.  I’ve been a follower of the Satellite Sisters since the late 90s so it was exciting to meet one in person.  Lian is funny and quick, and I can’t wait to read her book.  I have heard only good things about it and will recommend it for our book club in January.

Currently I’m reading (plodding through) “Before You Know Kindness” by Chris Bohjalian. Plodding through mostly because I’m distracted by other things, like TV and movies and computer.  It is pretty good, although a bit ploddy sometimes.  I listened to “The Shanghai Girls” audiobook and loved that.  I like Lisa See’s books so far – my second of hers.  I have “Snow Flower and Secret Fan” on my iPod, too.  Sarah’s mom talked about how good it was, although it has graphic descriptions of foot binding in it.  Not sure how I’ll stomach that.  I also listened to a couple of fluffy audiobooks, which makes my commute more pleasant but gets me behind in my podcast listening!  🙂

Next I plan to read “Helen of Pasadena” and then “Sarah’s Key.”  I haven’t finished “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” yet, either.  I think it would be fun to re-read “The Tale of Two Cities” with Oprah’s book club, but we’ll see!

Are you ripping through books or finding other distractions during the holiday season?

Well, off to read!