January's over. Did you read any great books?

2012 began as a great year of reading for me.

I read these titles:

Mr. Monk is Miserable by Lee Goldberg

Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding







Sleepwalk with Me and Other Painfully True Stories by Mike Birbiglia






Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) Explained: For
 Teenagers, by Teenagers by G.R. Lauder




     
Sabotaged (The Missing, Book 3) by Margaret Peterson   
Haddix







The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer







Any of them that I havent already reviewed will be reviewed here in the future. Tune in to read my reviews!


                                  
                              

2011 Superlatives ~ What were your favorite books in 2011?

I've finally compiled my reading list for all of 2011.

Out of a total of 42 books I read:

3 books I rated as 5*
7 books I rated as 4.5*
12 books I rates as 4*

What were your top reads?

Here's a surprise for me; 9 of the books that I read were books I had previously read. I am not a big rereader of books. I generally figure there are so many books out there that I haven't read that I shouldn't spend the time on rereading books.

Did you reread any books last year?

Here are the titles of the books I read in 2011, to which I gave the top ratings.

5* titles
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (a reread)
Arctic Homestead by Norma Cobb (a reread)
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz (a reread)

4.5* titles
Looking for Alaska by John Green
The Postmistress bySarah Blake
The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel by Diane Setterfield
A HeartbreakingWork of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
I Am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak
A Lotus Grows in the Mud by Goldie Hawn
Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 by Stephen Puleo

4* titles
Shakespeare in an Hour by Christopher Baker
Louisa: The Life of Louisa May Alcott by Yona Zeldis McDonough
A Red Herring Without Mustard: A Flavia de Luce Novel
Emma by Jane Austen
The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood
Spooky Little Girl: A Novel by Laurie Notaro
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
There's a (Slight) Chance I Might be Goingto Hell by Laurie Notaro
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Little Women Illustrated Classic Editions by Louisa May Alcott
The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt
Entombed in Alcatraz by Robert Victor Luke

Authors from the above list who are ones thatI return tofor fresh titles, timeand again, are: Natalie Babbitt, Bill Bryson, Laurie Notaro

Who are your favorite go-to authors?

I also broke my reading down into genres. I have listed only one genre for each title even though many could fall into more than one genre. I chose the genres based only on my own feelings and  not by the publishers' designations.

Classics - 5
Non Fiction or Biography -  8
Fiction - 4
Juvenile Fiction - 9
Historical Fiction -2
Memoir or Auto-Biography - 8
Mystery - 2
Humor - 1
Young Adult Fiction - 3

My favorites, sorted by genre are:

Classic - Emma
or Little Women (because I read it to our five year old daughter)
Non Fiction or Biography - Dark Tide, then At Home
Fiction - Spooky Little Girl (I loved Notaro's jump into fiction)
Juvenile Fiction - Phantom Tollbooth, with Search for Delicious a worthy second
Memoir or Auto-Biography - Arctic Homestead, followed by Heartbreaking Work
Mystery - 13th Tale, followed by Red Herring (I love Flavia de Luce)
Young Adult Fiction - I Am the Messenger rates just above Looking for Alaska

Have you determined your favorites in each genre for 2011?

How do you read? Pencil in hand taking notes?

I've been thinking about this the last few days. 

I guess I'm a book nerd. There are worse things to be. 

Depending on the book, if I owned it there have been times that I've dog-eared it to death. Pathetic, huh?

When I would come across something unusual I would want go look it up at a convenient moment. There have been times when I would keep a small notepad with the book I was reading. Even so, I'd still have to find time later to look those things up. I've taken notes in my books too. 

I'd pine away "If only I could easily look up the definition of this word right now while I'm reading..."

We've never kept a computer in our bedroom, we've always had a study. I often read in our bedroom or our living room or outdoors. These days our laptop computer may or may not be where I'm reading. If it's with me I can use it to look things up. 


These days I make highlights and take notes as I read, using my ereader. My ereader has a browser if I really want to Google something. My iPhone 4 is more functional for Internet searches though but I usually have it with me!  

For definitions I use my NOOK's inherent dictionary. I take issue with it though. I wish it used a better dictionary. I've actually looked up many words that it has no definition for. I've complained to B&N but they've not made any changes. 

I didn't used to be like this. In school there was little that I hated more than reading. I hated it. Not anymore. These days I want to experience a goodbook to it's fullest. That might really be the issue though. These days I'm in charge  of choosing my reading. 

So...How do you read?