Marcia's Literary Journey

It's been forever and a day since I updated. Um... yeah. I have been reading, although not quite as much as usual. I've been, well, both busy and depressed. Besides the usual internship stuff that I have going on, my dad died on March 31st and I've been not up to much since. It's a struggle to do anything, even the things that interest me, like reading or blogging. So here's a catch-up, first installment. I have far more I've read, but I don't have time to write them up all in one sitting.


11.) Title: Guilty Little Secrets
Author: Connie Lane
Marcia's Grade: B. ( Comments )

12.) Title: Men in Kilts
Author: Katie McAlister
Marcia's Grade: C. ( Comments )

13.) Title: Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls
Author: Bennett Madison
Marcia's Grade: D. ( Comments )

14.) Title: The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank
Author: David Plotz
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )

15.) Title: Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith
Author: Martha Beck
Marcia's Grade: B+. ( Comments )

16.) Title: The Tattoo Artist
Author: Jill Ciment
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

17.) Title: Einstein's Dreams
Author: Alan Lightman
Marcia's Grade: A+. ( Comments )

18.) Title: To Marry an Irish Rogue
Author: Lisa Hendrix
Marcia's Grade: B. ( Comments )

19.) Title: The Anglophile
Author: Laurie Gwen Shapiro
Maria's Grade: D. ( Comments )

20.) Title: Memories of My Melancholy Whores
Author: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, translatd by by Edith Grossman
Marcia's Grade: A+. ( Comments )

21.) Title: Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey into Manhood Or Back
Author: Norah Vincent
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

22.) Title: A Season For the Dead
Author: David Hewson
Marcia's Grade: C+. ( Comments )

23.) Title: The Mad Miss Mathley
Author: Michelle Martin
Marcia's Grade: B. ( Comments )

24.) Title: Enemy Husband
Author: Nina Bruhns
Marcia's Grade: C. ( Comments )

25.) Title: After Midnight
Author: Teresa Medeiros
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )


That's it for now. More to come when I have the time.

Just the most basic, bare bones of a list, without even comments. Basically, I'm busy as all hell. I will get reviews up for these (and the last batch, too) eventually, and when I do, I'll link 'em. In the meantime, no frills list of books 6-10.


6.) Title: Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China
Author: Rachel DeWoskin
Marcia's Grade: C+

7.) Title: Ten Miles From Winnemucca
Author: Thelma Hatch Wyss
Marcia's Grade: B

8.) Title: Love in the Driest Season: A Family Memoir
Author: Neely Tucker
Marcia's Grade: A+

9.) Title: Orphans of Chaos
Author: John C. Wright
Marcia's Grade: A+

10.) Title: Seven Up
Author: Janet Evanovich
Marcia's Grade: A-


Currently reading:
The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank by David Plotz
Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls by Bennett Madison

Without further ado, here are the first five books I read in this shiny new year.

1.) Title: Hot Six
Author: Janet Evanovich
Marcia's Grade: A+. Review here.

2.) Title: Fast Women
Author: Jennifer Crusie
Marcia's Grade: A+. Review upcoming.

3.) Title: The Foretelling
Author: Alice Hoffman
Marcia's Grade: B. Review upcoming.

4.) Title: The Professor's Daughter
Author: Emily Raboteau
Marcia's Grade: A-. Review upcoming.

5.) Title: Faking It
Author: Jennifer Crusie
Marcia's Grade: A+. Review upcoming.

I will link to the reviews for the rest when I get them written. *g*


Currently Reading:
Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China by Rachel DeWoskin
Seven Up by Janet Evanovich

So, I'm almost done with my fifth book of 2006, so I was thinking, "Gosh, I'll have to write up an entry after this one," when I realized that I hadn't finished up with the last books I read in 2005. Here they are. It was a big batch, so the last 11 or so don't have comments, just grades. As for the last five (147-151), they're all ones I read for class, so I didn't grade them, since I wasn't reading them for my own enjoyment.

Final books of 2005:

131.)Title: For the Sake of Elena
Author: Elizabeth George
Marcia's Grade: B-. ( Comments )

132.) Title: Treasured Vows
Author: Cathy Maxwell
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

133.) Title: Define "Normal"
Author: Julie Anne Peters
Marcia's Grade: A.( Comments )

134.) Title: Sixth-Grade Glommers, Norks, and Me
Author: Lisa Papademetriou
Marcia's Grade: A.( Comments )

135.) Title: A Breath of Snow and Ashes
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Marcia's Grade: B-.( Comments )

136.) Title: Four to Score
Author: Janet Evanovich
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

137.) Title: The Bitch Posse
Author: Martha O'Connor
Marcia's Grade: C-. ( Comments )

138.) Title: Adventures of a Scottish Heiress
Author: Cathy Maxwell
Marcia's Grade: B. ( Comments )

139.) Title: I Had Brain Surgery, What's Your Excuse?: An Illustrated Memoir
Author: Suzy Becker
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

140.) Title: Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
Author: Mary Roach
Marcia's Grade: A+. ( Comments )

141.) Title: High Five
Author: Janet Evanovich
Marcia's Grade: A.

142.) Title: If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News From Small-Town Alaska
Author: Heather Lende
Marcia's Grade: A.

143.) Title: Nerd Gone Wild
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson
Marcia's Grade: C-.

144.) Title: Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her
Author: Melanie Rehak
Marcia's Grade: B-.

145.) Title: A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book Four)
Author: George R.R. Martin
Marcia's Grade: B+.

146.) Title: Kushiel's Dart
Author: Jacqueline Carey
Marcia's Grade: A+.

147.) Title: Much Ado About Nothing
Author: William Shakespeare
Marcia's Grade: N/A.

148.) Title: The Merchant of Venice
Author: William Shakespeare
Marcia's Grade: N/A.

149.) Title: Measure for Measure
Author: William Shakespeare
Marcia's Grade: N/A

150.) Title: 1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline
Author: Ray Huang
Marcia's Grade: N/A.

151.) Title: The Dragon's Village: An Autobiographical Novel of Revolutionary China
Author: Yuan-tsung Chen
Marcia's Grade: N/A.


I didn't read nearly as many books as I did in 2004 (180), but I think, in general, the books I read last year were longer and I read a lot more nonfiction and a lot less children's books and romances (both of which I miss and will have to increase my intake of this year).

For those of you with lots of time on your hands, here's the complete list of what I read this year:

( Books o' 2005 )

See you in a couple days with my first five books of '06!

1.) I'm almost done with A Breath of Snow and Ashes.
2.) A Feast for Crows came in the mail today. *giant squeeeeeeeeeee!*
3.) I went to the bag sale at the library, and due to my superior packing skills was able to grab 20 books (hardcover and paperback) for $1.00. A pretty good mix, with lots of romance, memoirs, and assorted fiction. My only disappointment was that by the time I got there (the bag sale started at 2:00, but the sale had been open since 11:00), the children's and YA books had been pretty thoroughly picked through. I forgot you have to go early to get the good ones of those. Next year's strategy: go in the morning for the kiddie lit and a first run to see if there's anything really rare or exciting, then come back later for the book sale and buy everything else I want.

Book sale purchases:
Birds of America by Lorrie Moore
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (which I'm not sure I don't already have a copy of)
The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper (Reread)
Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs
Everything and the Moon by Julia Quinn
Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie
Holding the Dream by Nora Roberts
How to Marry a Marquis by Julia Quinn (pretty sure I actually do have a copy of this one, somewhere, but I have no idea where)
Love, Loss, and What I Wore by Ilene Beckham
Manhattan Memoir (American Girl; Manhattan, When I Was Young; Speaking with Strangers by Mary Cantwell
Notes From the Underground, The Double, and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penham by Bruce Robinson
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek; An American Childhood; The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
The Princess of Flames by Ru Emerson
Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh
Stroke of Midnight by Carly Phillips, Janelle Dickinson, and Jacquie D'Allesandro
To Marry An Irish Rogue by Lisa Hendrix
Vampire Bytes by Linda Grant
Vinegar Hill by A. Manette Ansay

Don't know when I'll get around to reading these, of course, but it's nice to know they're here, waiting for me, after A Feast of Crows and my library books are finished. I still have ones from last year's book sale I haven't finished!

126.) Title: Nerd in Shining Armor
Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )

127.) Title: Sacred
Author: Dennis Lehane
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

128.) Title: Things Not Seen
Author: Andrew Clements
Marcia's Grade: A+. ( Comments )

129.) Title: The Cinderella Rules
Author: Donna Kauffman
Marcia's Grade: B-. ( Comments )

130.) Title: Three to Get Deadly
Author: Janet Evanovich
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )


Currently Reading:
A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
For the Sake of Elena by Elizabeth George

Haven't had much time to update lately, so ten books instead of five in this installment.

116.) Title: The Analects
Author: Confucius (or, rather, his disciples)
Marcia's Grade: N/A. ( Comments )

117.) Title: The Grey King (The Dark Is Rising Sequence, Book Four)
Author: Susan Cooper
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

118.) Title: One for the Money
Author: Janet Evanovich
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

119.) Title: Rage
Author: Jonathan Kellerman
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )

120.) Title: Brighter than the Sun
Author: Julia Quinn
Marcia's Grade: B+. ( Comments )

121.) Title: Jumping the Fence
Author: Stephanie Vaughan
Marcia's Grade: B. ( Comments )

122.) Title: Naked in Death
Author: J.D. Robb
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )

123.) Title: Sweetblood
Author: Pete Hautman
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

124.) Title: Night Swimming
Author: Laura Moore
Marcia's Grade: B. ( Comments )

125.) Title: Two for the Dough
Author: Janet Evanovich
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )


Currently reading:
Nerd in Shining Armor by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements

La la, time to update!

111.) Title: Black Ice
Author: Anne Stuart
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments. )

112.) Title: King Lear
Author: William Shakespeare
Marcia's Grade: N/A. ( Comments )

113.) Title: Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood
Author: Koren Zailckas
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )

114.) Title: Something Borrowed
Author: Emily Giffin
Marcia's Grade: B. ( Comments )

115.) Title: Darkness, Take My Hand
Author: Dennis Lehane
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )


Currently Reading:
Brighter than the Sun by Julia Quinn
The Grey King by Susan Cooper

I meant to do this when I posted my 96-100 list, but then I got so far behind. Anyway, after the big update, I'm definitely past 100, so I thought, for the terminally bored, I'd append a complete list of all the books I've read so far this year.

( The List )

Whoa, I totally have not been updating this. I finally passed the 100-book mark, but lo, it's looking doubtful that I will make 200 by the end of the year, esp. with school stuff going on and TV season starting back up. Damn it, I'll be lucky to get to 180 like I did last year. Anyhow, here's a big ol' update. 15 books, as opposed to the usual 5.

96.) Title: A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice And Fire, Book One)
Author: George R.R. Martin
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

97.) Title: Prom
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )

98.) Title: Well-Schooled in Murder
Author: Elizabeth George
Marcia's Grade: B+. ( Comments )

99.) Title: Jubana!: The Awkwardly True and Dazzling Adventures of a Jewish Cubana Goddess
Author: Gigi Anders
Marcia's Grade: C. ( Comments )

100.) Title: A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book Two)
Author: George R.R. Martin
Marcia's Grade: A+. ( Comments )

101.) Title: A Suitable Vengeance
Author: Elizabeth George
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

102.) Title: Playground: A Childhood Lost Inside the Playboy Mansion
Author: Jennifer Saginor
Marcia's Grade: F. ( Comments )

103.) Title: The Truth About Forever
Author: Sarah Dessen
Marcia's Grade: A+. ( Comments )

104.) Title: Luna
Author: Julie Anne Peters
Marcia's Grade: B. ( Comments )

105.) Title: A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book Three)
Author: George R.R. Martin
Marcia's Grade: A+. ( Comments )

106.) Title: The Dark Is Rising (The Dark Is Rising Sequence, Book Two)
Author: Susan Cooper
Marcia's Grade: A+. ( Comments )

107.) Title: Greenwitch (The Dark Is Rising Sequence, Book Three)
Author: Susan Cooper
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )

108.) Title: The Glass Castle
Author: Jeannette Walls
Marcia's Grade: A+. ( Comments )

109.) Title: The Historian
Author: Elizabeth Kostova
Marcia's Grade: B. ( Comments )

110.) Title: A Game of Sunken Places
Author: M.T. Anderson
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )

Whooo, that's it. So there were some great books in there (the George R.R. Martin books, The Truth About Forever, The Dark Is Rising, and The Glass Castle) as well as some clunkers (Jubana!, ewww, and Playground, quadruple ewwww). I'll try to read faster and update more regularly on my 5-book-an-update schedule in the future. I'll leave you with

What I'm Currently Reading:
Black Ice by Anne Stuart
Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas

Hmm, so my stated goal for the year was 200 books. I'm almost halfway there, but I don't know if I'm going to make 200 if I continue reading at this pace. I really need to step things up in August. Goodbye, social life! :-P

91.) Title: The Bookseller of Kabul
Author: Åsne Seierstad
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

92.) Title: Be More Chill
Author: Ned Vizzini
Marcia's Grade: B+. ( Comments )

93.) Title: Double Helix
Author: Nancy Werlin
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )

94.) Title: Fearless (Fearless #1)
Author: Francine Pascal
Marcia's Grade: B+. ( Comments )

95.) Title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Author: Douglas Adams
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

I am like the only person in the world who has not been swept up in the Harry Potter mania. Eh. I don't know, I'll probably read Half Blood Prince eventually, but I'm in no rush. I just never got that into the Harry Potter books, especially not after 2 or 3. I'll probably have to reread the whole series to understand what's going on in book 6, and there are so many books I want to read for the first time that rereading those is not exactly high on my priorities.

Anywho.

86.) Title: Out of the Fire
Author: Deborah Froese
Marcia's Grade: B+. ( Comments )

87.) Title: Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood
Author: Bill Hayes
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

88.) Title: The Fall of Fergal; Or, Not So Dingly in the Dell (The First Unlikely Exploit)
Author: Philip Ardagh
Marcia's Grade: B. ( Comments )

89.) Title: The Man Who Cast Two Shadows
Author: Carol O'Connell
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )

90.) Title: Magyk (Septimus Heap, Book One)
Author: Angie Sage
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

It's soooo hot. I've spent a lot of time these last couple days just sprawled out on my bed with the a/c cranked up, reading. Hence, a faster-than-usual update. I'm starting to pick up the pace on my summer readathon!

81.) Title: Payment in Blood
Author: Elizabeth George
Marcia's Grade: B-.( Comments )

82.) Title: The Dead Sit Round in a Ring
Author: David Lawrence
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )

83.) Title: Mysterious Skin
Author: Scott Heim
Marcia's Grade: B+. ( Comments )

84.) Title: Mallory's Oracle
Author: Carol O'Connell
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

85.) Title: Sahara Special
Author: Esmé Raji Codell
Marcia's Grade: A+. ( Comments )

I haven't been reading as much as I intended to this summer... I seem to spend the majority of my time staying out all night with my friends and then sleeping all day, with a pinch of fanfiction reading and writing on the side.

Also, I think I seriously hurt myself goals-wise by attempting to read too many books at once. I never get anything finished if I'm juggling 5 or 6 books at the same time. :-/

Anyway, books!

76.) Title: Lily Dale: The True Story of the Town that Talks to the Dead
Author: Christine Wicker
Marcia's Grade: B. ( Comments )

77.) Title: Firethorn
Author: Sarah Micklem
Marcia's Grade: A-. ( Comments )

78.) Title: Skinny-Dipping
Author: Claire Matturro
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

79.) Title: Best Foot Forward
Author: Joan Bauer
Marcia's Grade: A+. ( Comments )

80.) Title: The Hunter's Moon
Author: O.R. Melling
Marcia's Grade: A-.( Comments )


It's very cloudy and meh today. I think I shall go the library later this afternoon!

Love,
Mar

71.) Title: Galilee
Author: Clive Barker
Marcia's Grade: B. ( Comments )

72.) Title: He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys
Authors: Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo
Marcia's Grade: B-. ( Comments )

73.) Title: Southern Fried Divorce: A Woman Unleashes Her Hound and His Dog in the Big Easy
Author: Judy Conner
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )

74.) Title: Mystic and Rider (A Novel of the Twelve Houses)
Author: Sharon Shinn
Marcia's Grade: B-. ( Comments )

75.) Title: Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires
Author: Michael E. Bell
Marcia's Grade: A. ( Comments )