Books Read In One Year...

I have been on a reading jag for the last year. It started November 17, 2008 when I picked up the first Twilight book to find out what all the craziness was about. While it isn't the best book I've read over the last year, it rekindled a love for reading that had taken a back burner to raising my son, dealing with special ed school issues and managing life in general.

I've always loved urban fantasy, but most of my reading over the last 15 years has been short books with little depth. It's hard to concentrate on a book when you're worrying about whether your child will get thru their day without disaster. Disaster happened a lot.

He's 14 now and finally seems to be getting the hang of navigating a world that has been less than friendly to him. I find myself with time on my hands.

I made a list of Urban Fantasy books. It encompasses all urban fantasy in Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction and Teen book sections. It's currently 31 pages long. I expanded to a second list of Urban Fantasy To Get, which is 21 pages at present. Both lists keep growing. On the original list of all books out there, I rated and reviewed the books I've read.

I have 3 bags of books (roughly 100) just waiting to be read. Borders loves me.

I have 6 more days until my year is up. So far, my grand total of books read is 304! Six of those are anthologies of short stories.

I believe I'll finish the current series I'm reading - Ilona Andrews - Magic Bites, Magic Burns, Magic Strikes - which I give 4 stars. I'm a sucker for bad-ass female protagonists with issues. I think the world she created where magic and tech are two sides of a coin is well thought out. Her vampires scare the crap out of me. Her weres are scary and still manage sexy. That's hard to do. The dialogue is smart. I'm forcing myself to read it slowly because books like this I tend to consume like chocolate.

Thank you to all the authors who pour their hearts and souls into writing. You are my escape and my solace on tough days, and my pleasure on good days.