New Year Resolutions

HAHAHA, its the time to make a load of promises to ourselves that we know the chances of us keeping them are slim, its a wonder why we bother year after year.... but i guess you never give up hope and a new year is the best time to think of new starts and if you have several resolutions and keep to just one of them then thats good i guess :)

Resolutions for 2010:

• Learn to do the splits
• Read another 100 books
  
• Revise FULLY for exams and hopefully get into a good uni :)
• Learn to write more concisely in essays etc

I guess its at least worth a try :)
I would put in the typical ones: excercise more, eat less and healthier, monitor my bad language and help out more, but i guess that goes without being said. Been my resolutions so many times, but never quite managed to suceed for longer than a few weeks...

Methinks perhaps it would be better to lay out a couple of resolutions for each month and take things in bitesiezed chunks, therefore:

January Resolutions: (0/4)

• No more reading (unless exam related or book club) before re-sits
• REVISE, REVISE, REVISE.
• Not hang around in the hall talking with friends but burrow self away in library and... revise.
• Find a mousse recipe that works :) (for me at least)
  

2009 100+ Challenge Wrap-up

The aim of this challenge was to read 100+ books in 2009, and i almost thought i wouldn't make it! (Finished the last one this morning!), I'm going to publish the finished list below, which is copied from the original post i've been updating. I will confess the fact that i've been cheating slightly - there are several books that i've read twice this year and i've counted those aswell, not sure whether it technically counts or not, but everytime i've finished a book i've written it down - for the most part i've made a note of when i was reading one again, anyhee, here goes:

100 Books Read in 2009:

1. Blue Moon Rising - Simon Greene
2. Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine
3. Tithe - Holly Black
4. Crown Duel - Sherwood Smith
   
5. The Princess Academy - Shanon Hale
6. Club Dead - Charlaine Harris
7. Touch the Dark - Karen Chance
8. Claimed by Shadow - Karen Chance
9. Embrace the Night - Karen Chance
10. Midnight's Daughter - Karen Chance
11. Remember Me - Sophie Kinsella
12. Eclypse - Stephene Meyer
13. Curse the Dawn - Karen Chance
14. Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
15. The Rangers Apprentice, the Ruins of Gorlan - (need to find out author)
16. An offer from a Gentleman - Julia Quinn
17. Storm Front - Jim Butcher
18. Bella - Jilly Cooper
19. Persuasion - Jane Austen
20. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac - Gabrielle Zevin
21. Kitty and the Midnight Hour - Carrie Vaughn
22. Beauty - Robin McKinley
23. Star-Crossed - Rachael Wing
24. Emily - Jilly Cooper
    
25. Minx - Julia Quinn
26. Harriet - Jilly Cooper
27. The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella
28. Brighter than the Sun - Julia Quinn
29. Splendid - Julia Quinn
30. Dancing at Midnight - Julia Quinn
31. To Catch an Heiress - Julia Quinn
32. Teen Idol - Meg Cabot
    
33. How to Marry a Marquis - Julia Quinn
34. AQA Britain (1483-1529)
35. The Lost Duke of Wyndham - Julia Quinn
36. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever - Julia Quinn
37. Everything and the Sun - Julia Quinn
38. Curse the Dawn - Karen Chance (re-read)
39. A Midsummer Nights Dream - William Shakespeare
40. Resenting the Hero - Moira J Moore
41. Addition - Toni Jordan
42. Mr.Cavendish, I Presume - Julia Quinn
43. And then there were none - Agatha Christie
44. Love you to Death - Meg Cabot
45. High Stakes - meg Cabot
46. Mean Spirits - Meg Cabot
47. Young Blood - Meg Cabot
48. Grave Doubts - Meg Cabot
49. Fantastic Mr Fox - Roal Dahl
50. Heaven Sent - Meg Cabot
51. The Sweet Scent of Blood - Suzanne McLeod
52. Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
53. Magic Study - Maria V. Snyder
54. Touch the Dark - Karen Chance (again)
55. Claimed by Shadow - Karen Chance (again)
56. Embrace the Night - Karen Chance (again)
57. Graceling - Kristin Cashore
58. The Secret Countess - Eva Ibbotson
59. The Singing - Alison Croggon
60. Warprize - Elizabeth Vaughan
61. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
62. Bella - Jilly Cooper (again)
63. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Attwood
64. Animal Farm - George Orwell
65. When he was Wicked - Julia Quinn
66. Bridget Jone's Diary - Helen Fielding
67. Angus, thongs and full frontal snogging - Louise Rennison
68. Its OK, I'm wearing REALLY BIG Knickers! - Louise Rennison
69. Knocked out by my Nunga-Nungas - Louise Rennison
70. Dancing in my Nuddy-Pants - Louise Rennison
71. '...and thats when it fell off in my hand' - Louise Rennison
72. '...then he ate my boy entrancers.' - Louise Rennison
73. '...startled by his furry shorts!' - Louise Rennison
74. 'Luuurve is a many trousered thing...' - Louise Rennison
75. 'Stop in the name of pants! - Louise Rennison
76. 'Are these my basoomas i see before me?' - Louise Rennison
77. Cinderella - Never-Never Land Stories
78. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Never-Never Land Stories
79. Little Red Riding Hood - Never-Never Land Stories
80. The Musicians of Breman - Fantasy Land Fairy Tales
81. Polo - Jilly Cooper
82. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
83. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever - Julia Quinn (again!)
84. The Changeover - Margaret Mahy
85. The Magic Finder - Roald Dahl
86. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
87. Minx - Julia Quinn (again)
88. Beastly - Alex Flinn
89. Everything and the Moon - Julia Quinn (again)
90. Slam - Nick Hornby
91. Brighter than the Sun - Julia Quinn (again)
92. Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews
93. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris
94. How to Marry a Marquis - Julia Quinn
95. Love Struck - Rachael Wing
96. Tales from Russia - James Mayhew
97. Emily - Jilly Cooper (again)
98. Midnight's Daughter - Karen Chance (again)
99. Wicked Lovely - Melissa Marr
100. Old Magic - Marianne Curley

Its a bit of a mix, there are some i'm proud of, others less so, but for me personally i feel i have achieved something because previously i don't think i'd read any classics or books like that, i read purely for pleasure (which i don't see much of a problem with, but sometimes i feel i should read more 'intellectual' books aswell), but i'll put a breakdown below.

Books i'm particularly proud of having read: (If 'proud' is the right word...?)

• Gone with the wind - (WOOP! first classic! - i really chose a short one didn't i? :P)
  
• Persuasion -(my first jane austen!)
  
• AQA Britain 1483-1529(I read a textbook woop! :P)
• A midsummer night's dream - (my first shakespeare!)
• And Then there were none - (My first agatha Christie! - and no, i didn't get the murderer right ):
• Pride and Predudice
  
• A Handmaid's Tale
• Animal Farm
• Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury (totally out of my usual comfort zone)
• To Kill a Mockingbird - (AND it was relevant to my history course!)

Books I Particularly Enjoyed:

• Touch the Dark/Claimed by Shadow/Embrace the Night/Curse the Dawn - Karen Chance - (urban fantasy series which IMO = Awesum :P)
• Midnight's Daughter - Karen Chance (spin off series)
• Gone with the Wind - (Because Rhett Butler = amazing; but the end is so sad!! NOOOOOO!)
• Minx - Julia Quinn (Because it made me smile on a dark day :)
• A midsummer night's dream - (because the language is amazing)

Anyway, thats a rough summary :P Of all the challenges i attempted this year this is probably the one i enjoyed the most (an excellent excuse for excessive reading ;P) so thankyou very much for hosting it :) :) I shall hopefully try again next year, but i have a couple of pesky exams to get out of the way first :P

Thanks, and Happy New Year! :D:D xxxx