52 books 2011 recap

So you will recall I had a goal to read 52 books in 2011 . I surpassed that in June and decided I would try for the rather lofty goal of 100 books in 2011....

I didn't quite make it, but pretty close!

Grand total: 96.

I'm pretty stoked with my efforts, it's been many years since I have been able to truly indulge and read to my heart's content and I have loved reading so many books this year.

The best in 2011?

Best new (to me) author: Geraldine Brooks. I read People of the Book and Year of Wonders. Both were excellent. I love her style of writing and the historical research she does to make her books come alive. I have March (a tale of the civil war) to read in 2012.

Best series: The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carringer. Fun, light hearted, steampunk at it's funniest. Extremely enjoyable reads.

Best fantasy/epic saga/omg the size of these books! : Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin. I read 3 books in this series and loved them. They are epic, long and complicated, and sometimes frustrating, but great story telling.

Best unexpectedly good read: World War Z by Max Brooks. Superb. Scary. Engrossing. Excellent.

Best Audio: Feed by M T Anderson.

Best YA: Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey. A NZcentric supernatural thriller set in Christchurch. I can't wait to read more of Healey's work.

Other excellent and highly recommended books:

Room by Emma Donaghue
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia
Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones
13 reasons why by Jay Asher
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Schaffer (also gets the tearjerker award!)
The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell
Water for Elephants and Ape House both by Sara Gruen
City of Glass, City of Bones, and City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (YA)
The Guildhunter series by Nalini Singh.

What was your favourite read/s in 2011?

Merry Christmas!!!

To all my readers - Merry Christmas!
I hope the festive season is full of fun times and lots of yummy food! May 2012 bring you much joy..and yarn :)

2011 has been a pretty shit year to be honest. 2010 was bad, and I never considered 2011 would bring even worse. The earthquakes did so much damage - to our beautiful city, to our family. I think we will be carrying the effects of those months for many years.

In spite of everything - the exhaustion, the stress, the worry and fear, the move to the other end of the country and leaving behind loved ones and a broken city, 2012 has ended on a high note...

The sweetp family bought our first home a few weeks ago (hence the blog silence for a bit there)! It is everything we were looking for - modern (warm and dry with no draughts), with a nice view, close to town but still a little bit isolated. We've been enjoying the novelty of knowing it is OURS to do with as we wish, and have spent the last few weeks settling in and getting things sorted. It is exciting and nice to end the year with something special just for us.
































And what new house would be complete without a new yarn/book storage area? I call this sweetp's corner and it makes me smile every time I look at it.

















So summer for us this year will be quiet as we settle in to our new home and recover from a busy term/stressful year. I'm looking forward to doing not a lot of anything, hanging out at the beach and maybe a few day trips to local sights and beaches.
I hope you have lots of nice stuff planned too and have a lovely day tomorrow with your loved ones x