Booking the Books

I read a fair bit in 2010. By signing my name to the 10-10-10 Challenge, I also read in categories I would not normally have. Of course, I read a lot of romance. I found the source for this blog from Fizzy Thoughts and modified it a bit. Without further ado, here are the stats...

How many books did you read in total?

173: an average of one book every two days

How many works of fiction and how many non-fiction?

Nonfiction: 3, Fiction: 170 (wince)

Which percent of male versus female authors did you read?

Male: 2.9% (double wince)

How much romance versus all other genres?

More than 85%

Which was your top favorite book?

Barely a Lady by Eileen Dryer

Which were your surprise favorite books and why?

The Candidates by Inara Scott, my first young adult (YA) book, and Token by Alisa Kwitney, my first manga comic book.

Which were the oldest and newest books, by pub date?

Flowers from the Storm (Oct 1992) by Laura Kinsale and Somewhere Along the Way by Jodi Thomas (Nov 2010)

Which were the longest and shortest book titles?

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Token by Alisa Kwitney

Which were the longest and shortest books?

Seize the Fire by Laura Kinsale and Special Orders: Poems by Edward Hirsch

Who were the most read authors of the year, and how many books by each author?

I bought and re-read the entire backlists for Jo Beverley (36) and Laura Kinsale (12). I was in thrall the whole year of the sheer talent the authors had in unfolding every nuance of every character in every situation.

Which author was new to you in 2010 that you now want to read the entire works of?

Michael Jecks who writes murder mysteries set Devon and Cornwall in the Late Middle Ages.

Any translated books?

No.

Any re-reads?

Books by Jo Beverley, Laura Kinsale, Jennifer Cruise, Joanna Bourne, Jo Goodman, Meredith Duran, Mary Balogh, Connie Brockway, Julia Quinn, Anne Gracie, Monica McCarty, Loretta Chase, and Julie Garwood

Which books you wouldn’t have read without someone’s specific recommendation?

The Amelia Peabody Victorian mystery series by Elizabeth Peters without the specific urging of Robin L of DearAuthor.com and Pieces of Sky by Kaki Warner on recommendation by Janga of JustJanga.blogspot.com. Janga is my favorite go-to person for book recommendations

Which books are you annoyed you didn't read?

Magic Flutes by Eva Ibbotson

Did you read any books you have always been meaning to read?

Special Orders: Poems by Edward Hirsch, Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

New Sub-Sub-Genre

On Twitter, Tessa Dare enquired: What type of show would Torchwood Regency-style be called?

Referring to Georgette Heyer's Regency cant, I came up with: barquestepper.

Since barquestepper would be to Regency what steampunk is to Victorian, I decided to employ two similar terms from the cant and smush them together.

Thus, steam has the equivalent in stepper as in high stepper for a horse of excellent bloodlines. And punk finds it's companion in barque as in a person who wants to be outside the social norm.

So here you go, a new sub-sub-genre of romance novels: barquestepper.

Personal Mission Statement

A Personal Mission Statement is a set of mottoes for your life that define the boundaries of who you are, what your deepest held beliefs are, how you interact with others, and what you think of yourself.

The Personal Mission Statement (with the unfortunate acronym of PMS) will support you in achieving your Life List. It is not a list of goals, whether short term or long term, but rather, an overarching definition of your personality, of the qualities that make you a unique human. So it who you are, not who you want to be.

So "exercise thrice weekly" is a goal, but "I exercise every day no matter what's happening around me" is a motto.

The mission statement empowers you in the midst of life's stresses by being the core of who you are, what you're about, and what you value. It's an affirmation document to return to re-read when you feel overwhelmed or discouraged or disappointed that maybe perhaps you aren't who you thought you were.

Take a large piece of blank paper or a stack of them. This activity is best done longhand on a dead tree product, because of the tactile working feeling in addition to the visual payoff. Now pick up a bunch of colored markers. Find a room free of all distractions for 30&8211;45 minutes. Set a timer for 30 minutes, and grab a marker. Write down anything about you that first pops up in your mind. Next, grab a different colored marker to write down your next motto or trait.

Write slantwise, backwards, upside down, but be sure to lock your inner censor firmly away. There's no wrong answer. Be fearless, even if a few undesirables crop up. It's who you are, and that's OK. If you feel that you don't like them, you can change them via your annual goals. Thus, your mission statement now becomes a laundry list of what is in present time and day.

Once you have spent 30 minutes brainstorming, spend the next 15 minutes grouping it into categories, such as morning & bedtime rituals, journaling, living in the moment, purpose of my life, self-reliance, etc. Check to be sure that items are "I am" type statements, not "I will" or "I want."

The first time I did this was in September 2006. Everything I wrote in there's still valid today. This can be a good thing (haven't worsened) or a bad thing (haven't improved). Heh. But it is who I am today. This is my personal mission statement. What's yours?

End of Year Meme

The rules of this end-of-year meme is to post the first sentence from the first post of each month.


Date: January 1
Title: Picture Day Friday
Line: Happy 2010! Kick up your heels and celebrate the start of the new year and new decade!

Date: February 1
Title: Giveaways: Lessons in French
Line: As promised on Friday, here's more information about the LESSONS IN FRENCH by Laura Kinsale giveaways.

Date: March 1
Title: Children in Stories
Line: We visited a working farm this past weekend, on one of those rare spring days when they open it up to visitors, particularly the little ones, who enjoy seeing baby animals.

Date: April 2
Title: Picture Day Friday
Line: You know how some things cause your heart to thrum in excitement? Here're what does it to me...

Date: May 3
Title: Going Historical...1
Line: In a departure from my usual blog style, here are bits and pieces of the Middle Ages in the news currently...

Date: June 1
Title: Our London Itinerary
Line: My husband proclaimed that if we all forgo inessentials, such as eating, sleeping, and bathing, and all three of us do things in parallel (the old English war tactic of divide and conquer) and then compare notes, we might, possibly, be able to cover the main items on my list (per advice from all of you).

Date: July 2
Title: Picture Day Friday
Line: Robin Hood's Bay, England

Date: August 2
Title: I am Home...And in a Video
Line: Smart Bitch Sarah Wendell took a music video of folks at the RWA Literacy Autographing last Wednesday evening. She had various people lip-synching to a soundtrack.

Date: September 10
Title: Picture Day Friday
Line: (image)

Date: October & November
Title: No posts

Date: December 5
Title: Health!
Line: Open Letter to the Readers of Cogitations and Meditations: I apologize for the long unexplained silence my end.

Top Twenty Books

In 2010, I read books published in 2010 as well as books from my TBR and those pubbed before 2010. As a result, I have a Top Twenty list for all the books I read in 2010 (some of them re-reads) and a Top Twenty list for all the books pubbed in 2010 that I read in 2010. The items in the lists are in no particular order.

Read in 2010

—Special Orders: Poems by Edward Hirsch
—These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer
—The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
—Tropical Classical: Essays from Several Directions by Pico Iyer
—Somewhere Along the Way by Jodi Thomas
—Scoundrel's Kiss by Carrie Lofty
—The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne
—Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale
—Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale
—Barely a Lady by Eileen Dryer
—All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot
—Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
—Whisper of Scandal by Nicola Cornick
—Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley
—Devilish by Jo Beverley
—An Arranged Marriage by Jo Beverley
—His at Night by Sherry Thomas
—Last Night's Scandal by Loretta Chase
—Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James
—The Secret of Everything by Barbara O'Neal

Pubbed & Read in 2010

—Somewhere Along the Way by Jodi Thomas
—The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne
—Last Night's Scandal by Loretta Chase
—The Dangerous Viscount by Miranda Neville
—His at Night by Sherry Thomas
—Barely a Lady by Eileen Dryer
—Whisper of Scandal by Nicola Cornick
—The Secret of Everything by Barbara O'Neal
—She's Gone Country by Jane Porter
—Countess of Scandal by Laurel McKee
—The Irish Warrior by Kris Kennedy
—My Reckless Surrender by Anna Campbell
—Chivalrous Captain, Rebel Mistress by Diane Gaston
—A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James
—Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale
—The Secret Duke by Jo Beverley
—Pieces of Sky by Kaki Warner
—The Golden Season by Connie Brockway
—Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James
— Emily and the Dark Angel by Jo Beverley