2011 In Review

This will be lengthy post as I reminisce over last year's reading.
2011 was a year of reading way out of my comfort zone and finding a genre that has quickly become a favorite (Dystopia).  My goal for the year was to be choosy about the books I accepted for review in order to keep reading as stress free as possible.  Success!

 I reviewed almost every book that I read and (mostly) it was easy to get a few thoughts down about said book.  At times I found myself searching for something to say about a book that had not been said, and other times feeling like I did not say enough in order to get my thoughts down in order to fulfil my goal of reviewing every book.  In 2012 I will not be pressuring myself to review every book (except for those that I accept for review) and see where that takes me.

I participated in 41 challenges and totally failed in only 1!  A complete wrap-up of the challenges can be found here.  So far I have decided to participate in 20 challenges for 2012 - ones that will really challenge me.

AudioBooks were my biggest surprise of the year.  I listened to 39 audiobooks and discovered a few new to me narrators that have made it to my favorite list.  My favorite audios of the year are:  Fever series by Karen Marie Moning (Joyce Bean, Natalie Ross & Phil Gigante ), Iron House by John Hart (Scott Sowers), These Things Hidden by Heather Gudendauf  (Ali Ahn, Angela Lin, Angela Goethals) and Your're Next by Greg Hurwitz (Scott Brick).

Reading Stats:

Complete listing of titles read can be found here.

Books Read - 287
   Fiction - 281
   Non-Fiction- 6
     Adult - 212
     YA - 69

ARCs - 62
Audio - 39
Classics - 3
Male Authors - 65
Female Authors - 222
Debut Authors - 26
Did Not Finish - 5
Did Not Review - 15

It is always hard to choose favorites.  I will choose a favorite adult and young adult from each month:

Jan. - Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
          The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearlsey

Feb. - Please Ignore Vera Dietz by AS King
          Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Mar. - Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson
           Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers

Apr. - Undercover by Beth Kephart
          Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkaen

May - Matched by Ally Condie
          These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf

Jun. - The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
         Madame Tussaud by Michele Moran

Jul. - Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
        The Ridge by Michael Koryta

Aug. - Wither by Lauren DeStefano
           The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn

Sep. - Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
           The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

Oct. - Red Glove by Holly Black
          The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

Nov. - Divergent by Veronia Roth
           The Bronze Horseman by Paulinna Simons

Dec. - Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
           Iron House by John Hart

Where I've Read:
Alabama 1
Alaska  3
Arizona 2
Arkansas 0
California 11
Colorado 2
Connecticut 0
Delaware 0
Florida 7
Georgia 4
Hawaii 0
Idaho 2
Illinois 7
Indiana 2
Iowa 2
Kansas 0
Kentucky 1
Louisiana 7
Maine 6
Maryland 1
Massachusetts 10
Michigan 4
Mississippi 1
Missouri 0
Montana 3
Nebraska 3
Nevada 1
New Hampshire
New Jersey 5
New Mexico 1
New York 27
North Carolina 9
North Dakota 0
Ohio 3
Oklahoma 0
Oregon 3
Pennsylvania 9
Rhode Island 2
South Carolina 2
South Dakota 0
Tennessee 3
Texas 8
Utah 1
Vermont 3
Virginia 1
Washington 4
Washington DC 5
West Virginia 1
Wisconsin 4
Wyoming 1

Africa 1
Amsterdam 1
Australia 3
Bahamas 2
Bosnia 1
Brazil 1
Canada 4
Denmark 2
England 35
France 8
Germany 1
Greenland 1
India 4
Ireland 8
Lithuania 1
Prague 1
Romania 1
Russia 3
Scotland 3
Siberia 1
Sweden 3
Turkey 2
Spain - 1