My Best of 2010

Well, I'm late with this, as usual. I had great plans for this post, had it all mapped out in my head, it was going to be awesome. But time got the best of me so this will have to do.

According to my Goodreads account I've read 105 books in 2010 and 14 books that I've started but not finished. As I've joined Goodreads in June I can't be sure that I remembered all the books I read before that and of course, all my rereads and books for my university-studies aren't counted in that number. Anyway, it's still a pretty high number and deciding which books I liked best in 2010 was really hard.

Here are a few of my favourites, without any particular order, the links provided are to my reviews (if there's one)

Lovely Summer Beach Reads ( or warming reads for snowy days...)

You're The One That I Don't Want - Alexandra Potter

Living La Vida Loca - Belinda Jones

About Time - Niamh Shaw

Swimming with Dolphins - Deborah Wright

Katy Carter Wants A Hero - Ruth Saberton

Single in the City - Michele Gorman

The Year of 2010 was also the Year where I discovered contemporary YA

Boys, Bears, and A Serious Pair of Hiking Boots - Abby McDonald

The Duff - Kody Keplinger

Anna and The French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins

Psych Major Syndrome - Alicia Thompson

North of Beautiful - Justina Chen Headley

Going to Far - Jennifer Echols

My Favourite Series

The Iron Fey

The Iron King - Julie Kagawa

The Iron Daughter - Julie Kagawa

I can't wait for the third, the waiting is excruciating!

Two very heavy hardbacks that are sooo worth the pain in my wrists (from holding them while reading) and back (from carrying them around with me all the time)

Getting Away With It - Julie Cohen

Becoming Scarlett - Ciara Geraghty

Hilariously Funny Books - oh the Joy of reading these books, couldn't stop giggling, perfect!

Hello, Heartbreak - Amy Huberman

A Girl Like You - Gemma Burgess ----(Review to come SOON!)

The Dating Detox - Gemma Burgess

There's Cake in my Future - Kim Gruenenfelder  (Review to come SOON!)

Hello Again - A few short reviews/ratings

Hello again!

I'm back in Sweden, which means I have my 'bigger' laptop back ( it was getting a bit annoying with my 10.1'' laptop). Anyway, I had a great time this last month and I did a lot of reading. Because it would take too much time right now I've decided to only give you a quick run-down of the books I've read ( I saw that there are a lot of reviews out there already and I'm kinda late - due to the 'no-internet-connection).

I thought I'll start with the one i liked the most and continue with the others (without order - I could never decide which one would be second, third and so one..it all depends on the mood, they are all different somehow..and anyway it is after all what I think, my subjective opinion..my perception changes everyday anyway).

• You're the One that  I don't Want - Alexandra Potter                                                                         I'll be honest with you here. I've been waiting like forever for this book. I've had really big/great expectations. I've been in love with A.Potters books ever since I've read: Be Careful What You Wish For, I've liked all her books since and the ones before that with the exception of Me and Mr. Darcy. For once a book actually lived up to my high expectations. I really loved it. I read it in one afternoon at the pool. I didn't notice the warmth, didn't have the urge to go into the water. I just wanted to read the book! Of course it wasn't perfect, no book is. On the blurb on the back of the book it states that Lucy was 18 when she first met Nate, on the first page inside the book it says that she was 19. Why, why, why, do these mistakes happen? They make my crazy! The other thing I didn't like was the 'naivety' of Lucy when she first got back together with Nate again, she should have known that something wasn't right. And what's up with all the randomness? But I really liked the prose, the writing, the interesting plot, the newness of the plot, the moral of the story. I greatly enjoyed this book!
• Single in the City - Michele Gorman                                                                                                   I had no idea what to expect of this book. I heard that it was once called: The ex-pat diaries. The blurb and the title simply made this book irresistible for me. Me being somewhat of an ex-pat myself. ( I moved to Sweden by myself when I was 18). I found Single in the City simply hilarious. It's funny, wonderful and a really great holiday/summer read.
• The Not-So Secret Diary of a City Girl - Abby Spencer                                                                     This book was a bit different from the others. I liked it, of course. But I just couldn't see the connection between the blurb and the book. And what is up with it's title? Her diary is on-line for like five minutes. I really was expecting something different. But this book really is worth reading. It had me interested from page one to the end. I liked Alex, I liked Laura - smart and girly and human (like all women are, the men just haven't realised it yet!). What this book needs is a name-change so that it stops misleading the readers.
• The Final Hitch - Samantha Scott-Jeffries                                                                                          As you all know, I never finish books I don't like. So even this one was good-enough to finish. I've read the first one in the series - I Do, I Do, I Do  and really liked it, so of course I had to read the second one. I found it a bit too predictable, Harrisson a bit too nice/likeable, and the plot a bit too slow. But all in all it was a good enough beach-read.
• Katy Carter Wants a Hero - Ruth Saberton                                                                                          This little gem really really surprised me. What a wonderful book. This book has it all. A likeable funny, clumsy, real heroine and a relationship/connection that feels so real you find yourself getting jealous. It goes straight to the heart I tell you. This book is so funny, so wonderful, the storytelling feels so real, so close to the heart that you'll never want it to end. You'll dread the final page, you'll want it to go on forever. Ok, maybe I got a little carried away with this one. But, please, give it a chance. It may surprise you!                                                

Holiday Books

Hello everybody

I'm sorry that I have been so quiet lately. There were a lot of wonderful days, I spent them outside, reading, having fun and spending time with friends. I didn't have much to read. Now however I'm away on holiday for a month, for the next ten days I'll be having wifi/internet connection, so I hope to post a few reviews about the books I'll be reading.

These are my holiday books:   (one book, I Heart Paris by Lindsey Kelk, is missing from the picture, but it arrived in Sweden today and my friend will send it to me here, so I should have it next week)

I'm really really looking forward to reading them....
So, now I'm off, reading...

Just Arrived #11

I've been waiting forever!

You're the One that I don't want by Alexandra Potter is simply beautiful...it's going to be read on the beach, or by the pool on my vacation..so I have to wait to read it :(

Top 10

My Top Ten of the books I've read in 2009 (nothing to do with when they're published)

1. Saving Grace by Ciara Geraghty
2. A Field Guide to Burying your Parents by Liza Palmer

3. The Good Luck Girl by Kerry Reichs

4. Love in Translation by Wendy Nelson Tokunaga

5. Happiness Sold Seperately by Libby Street

6. Who's That Girl by Alexandra Potter

7. A Total Waste of Make-up by Kim Gruenenfelder
   

8. The Lost Guide to Life and Love by Sharon Griffiths

9. The Nearly-Weds by Jane Costello

10. Right Before Your Eyes by Ellen Shanman
    

Chick-lit, my favorites

Well, I read a lot, and it's mostly chick-lit I read, so I thought I start off with a list of my favorite chick-lit books. Because I don't read just any book, I really don't. And I don't read the typical chick-lit. I hate everything that has to do with shopping, make-up and shoes! Shoes in particular. I hate shoes (oops, maybe I shouldn't out myself like that). And I don't particular care for books with titles such as "A Singles Guide to...", and I really don't want to read about women working at glossy magazines and so on. So, even though I'm a girl and read chick-lit, I'm not so girly after all.
Books I read have to have something, that difficult to define it, most of the time it's something that is personal to me, and other readers just don't understand why I liked a particular book, because for them there was nothing special about it.
I like reading as an entertainment on lazy afternoons when there's nothing much to do. I like to read on a break from my studies, to get my mind to think about something else. I use reading when I'm angry or sad, because all my negative emotions disappear when I read, and I use reading when I'm happy because reading just makes all my positive emotions so much stronger.

Reading for me is a constant quest for that special feeling in my stomach/heart, some call it butterflies, but I'm not sure if it is that what it is, but it certainly makes life worth living!!!

It's difficult for me to say just exactly why I like a certain book, sometimes it has nothing to do with the book or the plot, but with how the book makes me feel!

My favorite chick-lit books: (Without any particular order!!!)

1. Conversations With The Fat Girl - Liza Palmer This is a favorite, not because of the weight issue but because Liza Palmer is an exceptionally good writer. I wasn't a fan of the "I" style before this book, but now I just can't get enough of it. I love the suspense I get when I don't know what everyone else is thinking, when I know exactly as much as the main-person in the book. When the author isn't playing God, and when you don't read phrases like " She didn't know that this wasn't the worst thing happening to her this day, more was to come..."
2. Be Careful What You Wish For - Alexandra Potter Well, the title says it all. The book really makes you start thinking about the small and big things in everyday-life. Wonderfully written.
3. Life's too Short to Frost a Cupcake - Rosie Wilde
   
4. Out Of The Blue - Belinda Jones Perfect Summer Read! You can litterally smell the ocean!
5. English As A Second Language - Megan Crane There's a lot of drinking in this book, which could cause a problem for some readers, but it's about college/graduate school, and which student doesn't drink?
   
6. Best Day Of Someone Else's Life - Kerry Reichs It's about weddings, a lot of them, which's normally not my thing, too girly. But this is a smart book, very entertaining, many deep insights, it has everything I look for in a book!!
7. One Night Stand - Julie Cohen
8. Flirting in Cars - Alisa Kwitney It was a warm sunny day, when I was reading this book on the balcony. I got so immersed in the story that when I finally was interrupted several hours later, I was very red and sun-burnt.
   
9. The Nearly-Weds - Jane Costello
10. Desperately Seeking - Evelyn Cosgrave
11. Playing James - Sarah Mason
12. The Nanny - Melissa Nathan
13. The Boy I Loved Before - Jenny Colgan
14. I Heart New York - Lindsey Kelk I actually didn't care much for the plot. It has too much shopping, too many clothes and make-up and a few fairy-taily things in it, but the writing, the writing is wonderful! Once picked up, I couldn't put it down again, the emotions were so real. Heavenly :)
    
15. Knitting under the Influence - Claire LaZebnik
16. Truly Madly Yorus - Rachel Gibson
17. It Should Have Been Me - Phillippa Ashley
18. Smart Casual - Niamh Shaw
19. One Thing Led to Another - Katy Regan
20. Farmer Needs a Wife - Janet Gover