Chicks On Lit discussion

Hi all!

I haven't had free time to devote to reading (for pleasure) for several years, thanks to college and a demanding job. Thanks to a new job, I now have free time! I've probably never read more than 10 books in a year.. so I've set a goal to read 50 this year! I'm hoping to read books from all genre's and books "to read before you die".

Feel free to recommend books that you've really enjoyed or books you think I should read before I die. Any tips to reaching my goal are also welcome. :)

Below are the books I've read so far and I'll continue to post as I complete them.

1. The Language of Flowers-

2. Rules of Civility-

3. Animal Farm-

4. The Cookbook Collector-

Thanks for reading! I welcome anyone who wants to join this challenge with me.

Other readers have had success in reaching their reading goals when you read books 300pp or less. Also save any books over 500pp or more for things like Thanksgiving break, Christmas season and summer. Also it is good to have a reading goal per day like I am going to read 50pp a day. You can always read more than your page goal per day.

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Other readers have had success in reaching their reading goals when you read books 300pp or less. Also save any books over 500pp or more for things like Thanksgiving break, Christmas season and sum..."
Thanks for the great advice Jayme, I will definitely use it!

**Correction**

The 4th book I read was not The Cookbook Collector . (However, it is on my 'to-read' list)

The 4th book I read was..

The School of Essential Ingredients-

as you can see, the covers look very similar. :)

5. Gone Girl-

6. Elsewhere-

7.Little Women-

8. Defending Jacob-

9. Dark Places-

This one had my heart racing at the end!

10. Sharp Objects-

11. Look Me in the Eye-

I really enjoyed this!!

12. Case Histories-

Took me a long time to get into this one before I became invested in the characters but overall I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I have to gloat here just a little bit. When I set the goal of 50 books this year, I immediately regretted it and cursed myself for telling other people about it because I really didn't think it'd be obtainable. BUT I have to say, every day that goes by, I feel more and more confident that I will actually do it! (There are even some days where my ego exceeds itself and I think I'll fly right by 50 before the years over, haha)

I've never devoted so much of my life to reading, and I absolutely love it. However, I am on a spending spree at local used book stores and my TBR pile is growing faster than ever! It's so hard for me to choose my next book because I want to read all of them, right now!

I've been sticking to about 2 books at a time, but I just joined a new book club at work so I may bump up to 3.

I'd like to ask the opinion of other avid readers in regards to audio books? I've had some people say they don't think it counts to say you've read a book when it's actually an audio book. So, please share your beliefs about this!!

13. A Bad Day for Sorry-

I really enjoyed this one! I enjoyed the characters(who doesn't like a bada** female protagonist??) and I'm planning to read the next two books in this series.

Codi wrote: "I have to gloat here just a little bit. When I set the goal of 50 books this year, I immediately regretted it and cursed myself for telling other people about it because I really didn't think it'd ..."
Gloat away!! Glad you're enjoying your reading...pleasure! Audio books for me were great when I had a long commute to work. Great in the car but other than that, I can't get into them.
The Language of Flowers is still on my list!

I say audiobooks count in saying "I have read this book". People that say audiobooks don't count as a book being read need to stop being so nit-picky, in my opinion. :o)

I don't read a lot of audiobooks, but I would never exclude one from my "read" book list.

Sheila wrote: "I say audiobooks count in saying "I have read this book". People that say audiobooks don't count as a book being read need to stop being so nit-picky, in my opinion. :o)

I don't read a lot of audi..."

I totally agree! Glad other book lovers share that opinion. :)

Cindy wrote: "Codi wrote: "I have to gloat here just a little bit. When I set the goal of 50 books this year, I immediately regretted it and cursed myself for telling other people about it because I really didn'..."

I really enjoyed the Language of Flowers, so you should probably bump that up on your TBR list, just saying :)

14. Flowers for Algernon -

Can't believe I made it through my school years without having to read this. I really liked it, but (view spoiler)[was saddened by the ending. It was hard to see him acknowledging his intelligence degenerating. (hide spoiler)]

15. Die for You-

This book was entertaining with a few twists along the way. I enjoyed Gillian Flynn's novels more but since I've already read all 3 of hers, this was a good novel to get my suspense/mystery fix in.

16. If You Find Me-

Great story about the effects of child abuse/neglect on children and the struggles they face processing it.

17. Fragile-

Book 1 of 2.

18. Darkness, My Old Friend

Book 2 of 2.

Enjoyed both of these books by Lisa Unger.

19. Alone-

20. The Paris Wife-

Read this for the May group read. It was my nomination so I will be leading discussion!

21. Hide-

22. Bossy Pants

Have always loved Tina Fey. This was funny but also very interesting to get an inside look at 30 Rock.

23. The Neighbor-
This was book #3 in the Detective D.D. Warren's series by Lisa Gardner. I enjoyed this book so much and it was by the best in the series thus far. (#1 Alone, #2 Hide)

Usually while reading these suspense novels I can kind of see where it's going but this book had me guessing until the last chapter!

24. The Fault in Our Stars-

Heard wonderful things about this books so I thought I should read it. Glad I did. Fast read, easy to fall in love with the characters!

25. Live to Tell-

26. Deeper than the Dead-

27. Secrets to the Grave-

28. Down the Darkest Road-

29. Love You More-

30. Sworn to Silence-

31. Gone Missing-

32. Pray for Silence-

33. Breaking Silence-

34. The Reading Group-

35. Catch Me-

36. You Belong to Me-

Phew! Summer months are so busy, I don't get on here to update this more regularly.

37. No One Left to Tell-

38. Did You Miss Me-

39. Plant Life-

Codi wrote: "I have to gloat here just a little bit. When I set the goal of 50 books this year, I immediately regretted it and cursed myself for telling other people about it because I really didn't think it'd ..."

I love listening to audio books whenever I am doing household chores or during my walks and treadmill exercises. I have never had an issue with those, though a couple of times, I couldnot plough through mainly because of the narration style. Overall I would recommend audio books during all those 'spinal cord level chores' where you are able to utilize your brain and thinking towards other things.