Your Reading Recap 2011

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Certifiable St. Vinnie's Ninny]

End of the Year Reading Recap 2011

Share with us an overview of your reading adventures in 2011. Here are some suggested questions for you:

1. How many books did you read this year? Did you meet your goal? Did your reading for this year surprise you in some way?
2. What categories of books did you read? Feel free to add/delete any categories to reflect your own reading:
a. Historical Romance
b. Paranormal Romance
c. Urban Fantasy
d. Category Romance
e. Horror
f. Mystery/Suspense
g. Non-Fiction
h. Epic Fantasy/Non-Urban Fantasy
i. Children’s/Juvenile Fiction
j. Young Adult Fiction
3. What were your favorite books this year?
4. What was your absolute favorite book? Why?
5. Any surprise favorite books out of your reading? Why?
6. Did you read any new genres this year?
7. Any reading disappointments? Why?
8. Any books you thought you’d like but didn’t?
9. Who are your favorite authors this year?
10. Did you glom any authors this year?
11. Who are the new authors you discovered this year?
12. Any authors you’re giving up on after disappointments this year?
13. Did you discover some new favorite characters and which ones if yes?
14. What was the most unique storyline you encountered this year? Was it a success?
15. What are your goals for next year? List as few as one and as many as you’d like.
16. Anything else you want to say about your reading in 2011.
17. What will 2012 represent as far as literary ideas for you? For example: 2012 is The Year of Paranormal Romance.


I hope that you had a good reading year. Good books are such a blessing, and I hope that you truly experienced the joy of good reading in 2011. May 2012 be an even better literary year for you!

[Fani *loves angst*]

1. How many books did you read this year? Did you meet your goal? Did your reading for this year surprise you in some way?
I read 150 (probably will reach 151, 152 until the end of the week). My goal was for 150 so yes, I reached my goal. It susprised me in that I didn't read as much in my holidays as I usually do, not for lack of time, but because I didn't feel like it.
2. What categories of books did you read? Feel free to add/delete any categories to reflect your own reading:
a. Historical Romance
b. Paranormal Romance
c. Urban Fantasy
d. Category Romance
f. Mystery/Suspense (does romantic suspense count?)
g. Non-Fiction - Self guides
h. Epic Fantasy/Non-Urban Fantasy
j. Young Adult Fiction
k. Historical fiction
l. Classic Literature
3. What were your favorite books this year?

4. What was your absolute favorite book? Why?
That's a very hard one. It's a toss between and . Both have lovely writting, amazing descriptions, extraordinary heroes and moved me immensely.
5. Any surprise favorite books out of your reading? Why?
. I read it when I had come to the decision that the YA genre was not for me and showed me how wrong I was.
Also . I'm new to m/m romance and never thought I'd like it so much.
6. Did you read any new genres this year? Yes: M/M romance.
7. Any reading disappointments? Why?
& for not living up to hype.
for not living up to the previous books' in the series high standards.
8. Any books you thought you’d like but didn’t?
See answer above
9. Who are your favorite authors this year?
Amanda Stevens, Susan Ee, Kresley Cole (even with an unlikable hero, she wrote a book that rocks), Bonnie Dee, Madeline Urban & Abigail Roux
10. Did you glom any authors this year?
Bonnie Dee, Madeline Urban & Abigail Roux
11. Who are the new authors you discovered this year?
Amanda Stevens, Susan Ee, Bonnie Dee, Madeline Urban & Abigail Roux, Eileen Dreyer, Anne Mallory
12. Any authors you’re giving up on after disappointments this year?
Richelle Mead
13. Did you discover some new favorite characters and which ones if yes?
Raffe and Penryn from Angelfall, Amelia & Devlin from The Restorer, Elle from Stone Cold Seduction
14. What was the most unique storyline you encountered this year? Was it a success?
The Night Circus was very unique, but, though not bad, I did feel as if the plot was too weak.
15. What are your goals for next year? List as few as one and as many as you’d like.
a. Read less books - spend more time with family
b. Read more paperbacks from my TBR list
c. Don't download free/arc ebooks that I'm not really interested in.
d. Don't get pushed by others into reading books I know I'll probably dislike (mainly YA).
16. Anything else you want to say about your reading in 2011.
It was great! And surprisingly, many of my fave books, though they had romance, did not belong in the romance shelf.
17. What will 2012 represent as far as literary ideas for you? For example: 2012 is The Year of Paranormal Romance.
It's the year of paperback romance and cleaning my TBR:) Plus, I intend to read more non-romance books, as I find myself getting a bit tired from the genre.

[Danielle The Book Huntress , Certifiable St. Vinnie's Ninny]

Wow, Fani. You are organized. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Autumn]

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" (Gatadelafuente) | 2828 comments End of the Year Reading Recap 2011

Share with us an overview of your reading adventures in 2011. Here are some suggested questions for you:

1. How many books did you read this year? Did you meet your goal? Did your reading for this year surprise you in some way?

As of 12/31 I read 168 books, meeting my goal of 150. I was surprised at my willingness to try different genres. (a difficult thing for me to do)

2. What categories of books did you read? Feel free to add/delete any categories to reflect your own reading:
a. Historical Romance YEP
b. Paranormal Romance YEP
c. Urban Fantasy Yep (new intro for me)
d. Category Romance
e. Horror: no
f. Mystery/Suspense: yes
g. Non-Fiction: I tried to add more but failed. Guess fantasy has so much appeal LOL
h. Epic Fantasy/Non-Urban Fantasy :YEP
i. Children’s/Juvenile Fiction : yeah! surprisingly so!
j. Young Adult Fiction: a new genre for me, too!

3. What were your favorite books this year? MM that is a tough one.. Let me think..I guess my favorite books would be the ones that stayed with me. those would be:

ALL I-TEAM from Pamela C, and all the books by Nalini Singh! .. what a pleasure that was!!

4. What was your absolute favorite book? Why?
a tie between: the utterly uniqueness and beautiful manipulation of emotions on all 3 had me not getting enough of them. love them all

5. Any surprise favorite books out of your reading? Why?

Im fairly new to romance genre, and even more greener on PNR. so, for me to have given them a chance it was huge improvement.

6. Did you read any new genres this year? PNR, UF. YA. Yeah.. late party crasher! :p

7. Any reading disappointments? Why?
Nora Roberts. I started loving her books until they became so similar that their plots/characters intertwined in my head.

8. Any books you thought you’d like but didn’t?

yeah. Was recommended to me by Jodi Picoult when i attended a release of her lastest book.I couldnt get the point of the book.. it was just plain bad.
mmm I`ve just finished reading this one, and I`m upset because I care about the hero, and seeing him paired with such a twit for heroine had my blood boiling. there was also the writing style that is starting to get to me.
I enjoyed her previous books, and was static when this one came out. However, the modern dialogs, and the dullness of characters had me caring little for the book.

9. Who are your favorite authors this year? Pamela Claire and Nalini Singh. Hands down!

10. Did you glom any authors this year?

11. Who are the new authors you discovered this year? Many!! too many to list here. But ones that came out with new debuts,and i gave them a chance: Deborah Harkness, Simone Eskeles, Lisa Valdez,Karen Marie Mooning,Lauren Oliver.
12. Any authors you’re giving up on after disappointments this year? Nora R, Lindsay Sans, Stephanie Laurens, Jude Deveraux, and maybe Jeaniene Frost. not sure yet about that one.
13. Did you discover some new favorite characters and which ones if yes?

Lucas and Sacha, Judd,Clay and Tally, from the P shy-changellers series. Sophie and mark from "unlawful Contact" , Katherine and Gaby from "Naked edge" and last but never least Vishous from BDB I havent gotten to his book yet, but I love that man!

14. What was the most unique storyline you encountered this year? Was it a success?

I liked "fallen from Grace" a lot. It has everything working against the hero, but the author knew how to manage the touchy issue/conflict beautifully.
15. What are your goals for next year? List as few as one and as many as you’d like.

Read more non-fiction.
Buy less books.
Spend more times outdoors.
Be all about the present tense.

16. Anything else you want to say about your reading in 2011.

It was a fun ride. I enjoyed the books as much as the feedback from GR. It gave reading a whole new meaning.

17. What will 2012 represent as far as literary ideas for you? For example: 2012 is The Year of Paranormal Romance.

Its going to be the year of self awareness. first and foremost.

[Julianna]

1. How many books did you read this year? Did you meet your goal? Did your reading for this year surprise you in some way?
94 books total which exceeded my goal of 85. I was surprised that I didn't find more keepers in the romance category.

2. What categories of books did you read? Feel free to add/delete any categories to reflect your own reading:
a. Historical Romance
b. Paranormal Romance
c. Contemporary Romance
d. Category Romance
e. Erotic Romance
f. Mystery/Suspense
g. Non-Fiction
h. Epic Fantasy/Non-Urban Fantasy
i. Children’s/Juvenile Fiction
j. Young Adult Fiction

3. What were your favorite books this year?
Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt
The Secret Pearl by Mary Balogh
Whispering Rock by Robyn Carr
Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

4. What was your absolute favorite book? Why?
Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt - Everything about it was just perfect.:-)

5. Any surprise favorite books out of your reading? Why?
Nothing major, but I was a little surprised to like The Player's Club: Scott by Cathy Yardley as much as I did. I thought it was going to be about adrenaline junkies which isn't really my thing, but it had more depth to the characters than mere thrill seekers, so I really enjoyed it.

6. Did you read any new genres this year?
M/M Romance

7. Any reading disappointments? Why?
Again nothing major, but I was a little disappointed that Pirates by Linda Lael Miller, my first read by her, wasn't better. I know she's loved by many romance readers, but I just couldn't get into her writing style or connect with her characters.

8. Any books you thought you’d like but didn’t?
There were some books that I didn't like as much as I thought I would based on the hype, but none that I truly disliked when I was expecting something great.

9. Who are your favorite authors this year?
Elizabeth Hoyt, Bette Green, Janette Oke

10. Did you glom any authors this year?
I added a few new favorites but since they have extensive backlists, I decided to buy as I go rather than glom.

11. Who are the new authors you discovered this year?
Debora Dennis, Joan Johnston, AKM Miles, R.J. Scott, Cathy Yardley, Stephanie Burkhart, Vicky Dreiling, Ellen Levine and lots more, but these are the ones who gave me keepers.

12. Any authors you’re giving up on after disappointments this year?
None yet.

13. Did you discover some new favorite characters and which ones if yes?
Mickey & Silence - Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt
Mike & Brie - Whispering Rock by Robyn Carr
Preacher - Shelter Mountain by Robyn Carr
Adam & Fleur - The Secret Pearl by Mary Balogh
Sebastian & Bailey - Friends with Benefits by Lena Matthews & Maggie Casper
Tucker & Sallie - Tucker's Claim by Sarah McCarty

14. What was the most unique storyline you encountered this year? Was it a success?
Covet by J.R. Ward and yes it was a winner for me.

15. What are your goals for next year? List as few as one and as many as you’d like.
I hope to read about as many books as I did last year.
I hope to be able to read more books that I'm really excited about reading rather than reading just for reviews or challenges.

16. Anything else you want to say about your reading in 2011.
Oddly, I didn't have nearly as many 5-star romances as I've had in previous years, but neither did I have as many duds either. I guess most of the books I read fell somewhere in the middle.

17. What will 2012 represent as far as literary ideas for you? For example: 2012 is The Year of Paranormal Romance.
Hmmmmm...I hope that 2012 will be the year of lots of amazing books.;-)