Goals Twentyeleven

I usually don't make resolutions or goals or anything for the New Year, but I feel like 2011 is going to be a big year and should be recognized as thus. Therefore, my goals:

-exercise more

I know this is the most clichéd of goals/resolutions, but nonetheless, still something I want to do. I do alright with exercising when it's warm out and can run, but now that it's cold I need to find something else to do.

- cook real meals more often

This will be difficult to do until I finish school, but I'm really tired of eating pasta all the time and would like to branch out.

- get my Masters

This one should be easy to keep! I can't wait until May!

-celebrate said Masters with a trip somewhere I've never been

I'm looking at you, Peru!

-learn Spanish

If I ever get that Rosetta Stone program loaded on my computer, I'm going to start on learning Spanish once again, especially if we make it to Peru.

- get a new job

Another cliché of a goal, but one that I think I can make happen with aforementioned Masters

- go to Boston

It's been too long! Preferably in the warmer months.

- spend more quality time with Amber and Gabriel

Since they've moved to KY, I get to see these kids a ton, but only for short periods and usually there's other stuff going on. Since I don't know how long they'll be in KY (or me and Luis for that matter) I want to spend time doing fun things with them.

- have Marielly up for a visit in the summer

I love spending time with Luis' little sister and would love to be able to spend some quality time with just her. This one might be hard to do with our travel plans/job hunting.

-see Jill and Kathy

Also not sure how this will work out, but if we can make it happen, it'll be awesome.

- read less

I'm probably the only person in the world who wants to read LESS. I do love reading and spend a lot of time doing it, but I think I could spend less time reading and more time doing other things. I think I get so immersed in my books that I tend to ignore everything else around me. So I'd like to read less and try other things, like getting back into photography and conquering Goldeneye Wii.

Yup, it looks like 2011 is going to be an interesting year.

books 2010

In 2010, I read a lot less books than previous years, (last year's list can be found here) but I'm going to blame that on this being the first year I was in school for the entire year (even summer!). Still, I managed 115 books, the majority being young adult books. I had to read a lot of YA books for school, but a lot of them were really good.

Highlights include:

-7 re-reads, most due to grad school

- reading Paper Towns and meeting John Green

- meeting Patrick Rothfuss

- finally reading Ender's Game and discovering it is as awesome as everyone says

- I read 2 Newbery Award winners, When You Reach Me and The Midwife's Apprentice

Favorites:

Leviathan and Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (more Percy Jacksonesque books!)

Fool's Errand and discovering how much I love Robin Hobb's books

Paper Towns and Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green

The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Here's the list, as always, starred books are re-reads:

1. Tris’ Book – Tamora Pierce
2. First Lord’s Fury – Jim Butcher
3. A Sacred Landscape – Hugh Thomson
4. Odd and the Frost Giants – Neil Gaiman
5. Splendor – Anna Godberson
6. Hero Type – Barry Lyga
7. Stargirl – Jerry Spinelli
8. Identical – Ellen Hopkins
9. Whale Talk – Chris Crutcher
10. Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson
11. Jellicoe Road – Melina Marchetta
12. Living Dead Girl – Elizabeth Scott
13. Paper Towns – John Green
14. Angry Management – Chris Crutcher *
15. The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky *
16. Daja’s Book – Tamora Pierce
17. Parrotfish – Ellen Wittlinger
18. Green Arrow: Year One – Andy Diggle and Jock
19. The Arrival – Shaun Tan
20. Briar’s Book – Tamora Pierce
21. Manhood for Amateurs – Michael Chabon
22. Leviathan – Scott Westerfeld
23. Let It Snow – John Green, Maureen Johnson & Lauren Myracle
24. Feed – MT Anderson
25. The Adoration of Jenna Fox – Mary E. Pearson
26. The Killing Joke – Alan Moore
27. Graceling – Kristin Cashore
28. Nation – Terry Pratchett
29. Never Trust a Dead Man – Vivian Vande Velde
30. Chasing Vermeer – Blue Balliett
31. The Westing Game – Ellen Raskin *
32. Make Lemonade – Virginia Euwer Wolff *
33. A Step from Heaven – An Na
34. Climbing the Stairs – Padma Venkatraman
35. Purple Heart – Patricia McCormick
36. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian – Sherman Alexie *
37. Copper Sun – Sharon Draper
38. Sunrise Over Fallujah – Walter Dean Myers
39. The Boy who Dared – Susan C. Bartoletti
40. Exploding the Myths – Marc Aronson
41. Will Grayson, Will Grayson – John Green & David Levithan
42. Little Brother – Cory Doctorow
43. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
44. The Book of a Thousand Days – Shannon Hale
45. Fairest – Gail Carson Levine
46. Bad Boy – Walter Dean Myers
47. The Doppleganger Chronicles: The First Escape – G.P. Taylor
48. Chasing Harry Winston – Lauren Weisberger
49. The Gardner Heist – Ulrich Boser
50. Lies – Michael Grant
51. Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins
52. The God of the Hive – Laurie R. King
53. Ella Enchanted – Gail Carson Levine
54. Shutter Island – Dennis Lehane
55. The Midwife’s Apprentice – Karen Cushman
56. Tentacles – Roland Smith
57. Fire – Kristen Cashore
58. Changing the World – Mercedes Lackey
59. Riker’s High – Paul Volponi
60. Heist Society – Ally Carter
61. The Red Pyramid – Rick Riordan
62. Marcelo in the Real World – Francisco Stork
63. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Jane Austin & Seth Grahame-Smith
64. All the Lovely Bad Ones – Mary Downing Hahn
65. Cryptid Hunters – Roland Smith
66. From China with Love – Emily Buchanan
67. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – Grace Lin
68. Al Capone Shines my Shoes – Gennifer Choldenko
69. Socks – Beverly Cleary (audio book) * I had to listen to this, it’s read by NPH!
70. Magic Steps – Tamora Pierce
71. Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List – Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
72. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist – Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
73. The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle – Patrick Rothfuss
74. Street Magic – Tamora Pierce
75. Because of Winn-Dixie – Kate DiCamillo
76. When You Reach Me – Rebecca Stead
77. Framed – Frank Cottrell Boyce
78. Sophie Pitt-Turnbull Discovers America – Dyan Sheldon
79. Kentucky Curiosities – Vince Staten & Liz Baldi
80. Airhead – Meg Cabot
81. Going Bovine – Libba Bray
82. Cold Fire – Tamora Pierce
83. Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx – Max McCoy
84. Medium Raw – Anthony Bourdain
85. Shatterglass – Tamora Pierce
86. Uglies – Scott Westerfeld
87. Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins
88. The Day of the Djinn Warriors – PB Kerr
89. Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
90. Changes – Jim Butcher
91. Princess Mia – Meg Cabot
92. Behemoth – Scott Westerfeld
93. Pretties – Scott Westerfeld
94. How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy – Orson Scott Card
95. The Man who Loved Books Too Much – Allison Hoover Bartlett
96. Another Faust – Daneil & Dina Nayeri
97. The Lost Hero – Rick Riordan
98. Pet Sematary – Stephen King
99. Forge – Laurie Halse Anderson
100. Doomsday Book – Connie Willis
101. Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories – Zack Whedon
102. The Zookeeper’s Wife – Diane Ackerman
103. Boy Meets Boy – David Levithan
104. The Ring of Solomon – Jonathan Stroud
105. The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde
106. Mini Shopaholic – Sophie Kinsella
107. Zombies vs. Unicorns – Holly Black
108. Specials – Scott Westerfeld
109. Extras – Scott Westerfeld
110. Arrows of the Queen – Mercedes Lackey *
111. A Cook’s Tour – Anthony Bourdain
112. First Test – Tamora Pierce
113. Page – Tamora Pierce
114. Squire – Tamora Pierce
115. Fool’s Errand – Robin Hobb

First up for 2011: The Count of Monte Cristo, the unabridged version

What I'm looking forward to in 2011:

- Presenting at the McConnell Conference and meeting Sharon Draper (as well as other authors)

- reading the Newbery/Printz Award winners

- meeting Orson Scott Card in a few weeks and reading more of his books

- finally reading some of the huge stacks of books on my shelf

- Patrick Rothfuss' second book in The Kingkiller Chronicles

- the final Leviathan book