Pick-a-Shelf discussion

OK, I know it's still early in the month and we still have about 25 more days in the year (and a lot can happen in those 25 days!), but the year is ending... and what a year it has been.

I'm curious, book-wise, how has the year been for you? How many books did you get to read? Did you get to read a lot more or less than the years before, and why, if you don't mind sharing? Did you find any hidden gems that surprised you or was there a book that you wish you'd never have read?

Feel free to share more stories from your 2008 :)

okay i'll start. one highlight of 2008 would be my discovering and joining GR! yipeee!!! and soon after, my reading habits have changed for the better. i was able to buy a complete set of Anne of Green Gables and then a few weeks after somebody "dumped" to me all her used books and so i was able to add more John Grishams to my TBR!

i'm looking forward to more "book-related" highlights before 2008 ends. :)

ooh, it's been a great year!! discovering GR is definitely one of them and most especially discovering reading challenges. I've read more than 100 books since July just to do the challenges and having to add more & more to my tbr!

In terms of books, my fave reads this year would be:
1. The Time Traveller's Wife
2. The Thirteenth Tale
3. Marley Me

I wish I'd never read Clockwork Orange - I think it's just Wrong!

What with finding you lot and reading over 100 books so far this year. Yeah 2008 bookwise has been good.

I didn't keep track that much until I have joined GR in July and it is a blessing!!!

I am on a roll now and I can now keep track of everything.

I've read over 70 books so far this year. I think the best ones I've read are

The Great Bridge, by David McCullough
and
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke.

I joined Goodreads in March. I love the way you can organize your books and keep track of what you have read. I think I've read about 60 books or so this year.

My favorite read this year was The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente.

I only started keeping track of what books I read in October, but since using GoodReads properly it makes it a lot easier (I joined in June I think, but didn't really use it until November). So GR is a highlight for me too!

Reading wise - favourite book of the year is Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris. I don't like any of her other books, but this one is outstanding!

Personally for me, the year has been a good one in terms of reading books. I read twice the amount of books I planned to read and managed to whittle down the "own but not yet read" pile from almost 70 to around 20 now! I'm crossing my fingers that I can finish all of them in good time!

The books I'm happy to have read is of course JK Rowling's Beedle the Bard and also happy to finally start reading Neil Gaiman books properly - they're a wonder! I also read all of Beatrix Potter stories and found out what I've been missing!

I just wish I could've stayed oblivious to the whole Twilight saga. My life would've been so peaceful.

Oh, and another highlight is to finally found a bookclub that I can fully participate in and enjoy. I've been in many bookclubs whose bookchoices and discussions have mostly been on the heavy side. Then I found this GR group! :D

I have read more books this year than previous years as I discovered a local book club in April then discovered Goodreads in September. It's wonderful to have books back in my life again as the last few years I had been reading but not so much. Now it is a priority again and I take my books everywhere with me.
My favourites this year were:
Life of Pi
The Book Thief
The Thirteenth Tale

Karen wrote: "ooh, it's been a great year!! discovering GR is definitely one of them and most especially discovering reading challenges. I've read more than 100 books since July just to do the challenges and h..."

I loved your three choices as well - TTW an all time standout for me (but I read it before 08). The book I wish I'd never read is American Psycho - perhaps that's another discussion thread!

I have actually been on Goodreads for over a year, but became much more active this past summer. I joined a few groups and added a lot of books to my TBR pile! I found books that I probably wouldn't have otherwise and am so happy I did, even if my bookshelves are overflowing.

My three favorites are The Book Thief, The Thirteenth Tale, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and I can credit my exposure to all of these books to several of the groups I am in.

You know Natasha, Snowcrash would not be a book I'd picked up myself but I was doing this challenge which made me pick up this book and I really enjoyed it. Whilst I didn't really like Cryptonomicon (too technical for me & the reason why I didn't think I'd like any other Neal Stephenson books), I find Snowcrash to be completely different and am looking forward to other Neal Stephenson books in this line.

I also joined Goodreads this year! And love it!

I have read around 100 books for about the last 4 years. This year is going to be about 20 books shy of 100. That's because, instead of sitting and reading during my lunch hour, I've been excercising at the Y. Sometimes I read while I am on the bike but it's not as much as I used to. That's OK though. 80 books is still a lot of books and I've become healthier as a result.

Some great surprises this year for me have been
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Audition by Barbara Walters. Two books that left a huge impression on me.

I've read quite a few books about WWII and the Holocaust like The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy, The Zookeepers Wife by Diane Ackerman, My Father's Keeper by Stephan and Norbert Lebert and Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum. Those Who Save Us was the best of the bunch by far.

I was happy to dip my toe into the classic pool and read A Tale of Two Cities and East of Eden. Both were not as bad as the intimidation led me to believe.

I could go on and on about every single book I read this year. They all have left their mark, no matter how big or small, in my mind some way. I am looking forward to what the next year brings in my literary world.

I have just finished my absolute highlight of the year!
The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel Loved every word of it! It somehow reminded me of The Time Travellers Wife, though the plot is not similar at all really. Beautiful writing.

I have read around 90 books so faar this year.
Still have a few days left....
Because of GRs, I have read some wonderful books, books I would never have picked up.
BLINDNESS, THE BOOK THEIF, LIFE OF PI, and a lot others.

thank you all my friends!!!

I have been a member of GR for over a year and I am so happy that a friend recommended this site to me!

I have read 138 books this year, but I am hoping to end the year with 140.

I have read so many books that I probably never would have picked up or known about if it had not been for this site or TNBBC. I have expanded my horizens!!! :)

Favorites this year:
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
All of Jen Lancasters (3)
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
All of Ellen Hopkins (Crank, Glass, Burned)

Disappointments:
The Red Leather Diary by Lily Koppel
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Diodan (sp)

It's been a great reading year for me, too. I've read about the same amount as years past (my goal is 52 a year), I've read 55 and should be able to make it to 56.

Finding GoodReads this year is certainly a highlight! I LOVE the challenges! Being a somewhat goal oriented person, it has pushed me to read books I normally wouldn't have read, and for that I've very grateful (even if some of them were truly bad).

My top reads for the year would be: The Gargoyle, The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel and Peony in Love

My top two stinkers would be: Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood and Ovation by Death: A Vic Bowering Mystery.

I think I've only read 31 books this year. My favorites, though, were Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and the Twilight series. I'm reading Emma right now and it's been disappointing - I had high hopes and it's not living up to them at all. Also not as good as I'd hoped were: The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, Playing for Pizza, A Great and Terrible Beauty, and The Sunday Philosophy Club. I despised Wizard's Hall (by Jane Yolen).