Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: 

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers

So I watched them move smoothly forward noticing other things about them. How they stayed in a perfect diamond formation that never was the slightest bit out of line no matter how the terrain changed under their feet." ~the short second life of bree tanner an eclipse novella

I just had to see for myself. (Not real impressed at this moment but I just started.

So what's yours?

I have a major book collecting addiction. I have books everywhere and they aren't just limited to the physical forms that encase the place I call my room. With the addition of the Kindle app on my iPhone, I now have a plethera of books at my disposal at all times. Especailly since Amazon.com offers free books weekly. So at this moment I have more books than I can possibly read this year with a list of books to be released this year that I really want to read. Add to that the fact that I am taking classes and have tons of required reading, I'll never get through it all. So how do I stop myself? I need a 12 step program for book buying/getting addiction. Unfortunately, I know of no such thing and with my luck they'd have books to go along with the program and I'd be right back at square one. I'll continue my semi-fight to literary freedom (well, truthfully no I'll continue to aquire more than I can handle)...Meanwhile, here's a list of the ones I've picked up of late:




























































There's a bunch more but I won't bore you with the long list. In any case, I'm either going to have to drop off the planet and read for the next year, quite all together, or find some kind of middle ground to live my life, read, and stay on top of my want to read list. Life is such a burden. ha! ha! Happy Reading!

I use an online bookshelf to keep track of things I read (that's it over there on the right--->>). I stumbled acrossed it last year and fell in love with it. aNobii.com A quick rundown: You enter the books you've read, you are reading, you want to read, and even review books. You can check out other peoples shelves, read their reviews, and even see your compatability. My favorite feature is the Groups. Groups are  based on your interests. Its fun. One I belong to is a 50 Book Challenge. Some people do more. Some do less. Either way its a fun way to keep yourself accountable.

One of the members has added a twist to their challenge. They're going to blog each of their books. I thought this was a wonderful idea. I'll give it a go here. It'll help me come up with content for this blog. Plus it'll combine my two great loves: reading and writing. I always look for excuses to combine the two.

Looking back at 2009, (at least since I joined the site sometime in late spring, early summer), I've read 34 books (not counting text books) equalling 13,525 pages. Probably not alot for most but I impressed myself. Especially in the short time I recorded my reading list not to mention the countless pages of text material I covered last year.

Looking ahead to this year, I set my goal for the 50 books. I hope to pass ithat. No. I know I will pass that. More importantly, I have set a goal to read more variety. This past year I allowed myself to get caught up in the Paranormal Romance genre (aka vampire love stories). I'm not big on romance. I suppose when they threw in a few gory fight scenes they hooked me. So for 2010, I'll branch out.

At the moment, I'm reading On Writing by Stephen King (love this one) and The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr (this one I'll reread forever). I'm attempting my first audiobook with Dan Brown's The Symbol. I've never made it through one because the narrator's irk me. I'm going to look past that or at least attempt to. I spend a good half hour in the car one way Monday through Friday. I should put that time to good use.

That's my plan. At least my reading plan. I've been writing as much as reading. A writer friend and professor here where I work gave me some great advice last year. Just do it. Don't think. Just write. So far this year, its working. But that's a story for the other blog.

Happy New Year and Happy Reading!

As with this time every year, I find myself not only reflecting on the year that is passing but also focusing on the up coming year. This year was my reading revival year. Loving to read is one thing but dedicating and finding time to read hasn't always been a priority. This year I made time to read, even if only for a few minutes (which usually turned into a few hours) at bedtime. With the coming year I want to continue to find the time or rather make the time to read for pleasure and personal growth. With one year left on my degree I'll be focusing quite a bit on required reading in the fun and fascinating fields of Science and Math (never put of your least favorite subjects til the end...it will come back and bite you). However, I plan to squeeze in some leisure reading (as well as writing). With that in mind here's a small list of what I've planned for the very first month of 2010.

"On Writing" by Stephen King

Technically I've already started this one. So far its great. Fascinating even. I love to learn how people get where they are. King lays it out there and doesn't bother to pretty it up. Which I respect and prefer in autobiographies/how to books.

Since the holidays are in full swing, I more than likely will not get this one finished before the New Year.


The Cape Refuge Series By Terri Blackstock

This is one of her earlier series but after reading the Restorations series, I can't wait to dive into this one. Terri Blackstock writes beautiful real life characters. Blackstock left the mainstream romance genre and dug her feet into the Christian fiction genre and thank God she did because her books leave you laughing, crying, and thinking. Her books aren't all about the sunshine and roses and I have yet to find an Amish settlement in her books. (Just a thing I have about Christian fiction, seems to have to involve an Amish settlement in someway). There's murder, theivery, deception, love, and a whole lot of the characters digging deep inside themselves in very realistic struggles. Terri Blackstock definately has a grasp on being a Christian in modern society.



Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot

Well actually I've already read the Queen of Babble but I indend on reading the second and third books: Queen of Babble in the City and Queen of Babble gets Hitched. These are some seriously light hearted reading. But I love them. I love Cabot's writing because its quick, light, and lets you get lost in a whole bunch of fun and zanniness that I think we as adults forget to have from time to time.

Cabot is best known for her Princess Diaries series.



There's a few others such as:

The Elements of Styl By Willaim Strunk Jr.
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost
Hey Yeah Righ Get A Life by Helen Simpson
Vanish by Tom Pawlik
Already Dead: A Novel by Charlie Huston
Unbreakable by Sydney Somers
The Keeper by Sara Langan
The Mammoth Book of Irish Romance by Tricia Telep

There's at least a good start to the New Year. If it weren't for the whole having to eat, sleep, work, and interact with the real world I could get a pretty good dent in those books. Something I've learned this year after staying up half the night multiple times just dying to get to the end of a good book, is that some books are like a good wine or a warm soup on a very cold day, its better to take your time and savor the good stuff. With that in mind, I am not setting a numeric goal for 2010 but rather a quality goal. I want to read good things and those that are bad I want to finish and figure out what made them bad. Best of luck in the coming year and happy reading!