2013 Book Challenge ... FAIL

I failed my Goodreads book challenge, reading only 77 books out of a committed 100. Which totally sucks, because even though I had a very large life change, I've had more than enough time to read in the past 4 months.

I've lost my intense desire to read, which is incredibly sad to me. There have been days that I actually didn't pick up a book at all, which a year ago would have been unheard of! So in 2014, I commit myself to those 100 books and half an hour of reading every day.

Here is the 2013 Wrap-Up.

Books Read (by genre)

Fiction

Big Brother by Lionel Shriver

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding

Dare Me by Megan Abbott*

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

The Dinner by Herman Koch

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Audio) by Stieg Larrson

The Help (Audiobook) by Kathryn Stockett*

Inferno by Dan Brown

The Leopard by Jo Nesbo*

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

Story of O by Pauline Reage

Tampa by Alissa Nutting

There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister's Husband, and He Hanged Himself: Love Stories by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya

Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple*

SF/Fantasy/Horror:

City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Doomed by Chuck Palahniuk

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry*

The Giver by Lois Lowry*

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Horns by Joe Hill *

Little Star by John Ajvide Lindqvist*

Messenger by Lois Lowry*

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

The Shining (Audio) by Stephen King

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Son by Lois Lowry*

The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker

Graphic Novels

100 Months by Johnny Hicklenton*

Are You My Mother by Alison Bechdel *

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli*

Buffy Season Nine vol 10 by Joss Whedon et al

Buffy Season Nine vol 11 by Joss Whedon et al

Buffy Season Nine vol 12 by Joss Whedon et al

Buffy Season Nine vol 13 by Joss Whedon et al

Buffy Season Nine vol 14 by Joss Whedon et al

Buffy Season Nine vol 15 by Joss Whedon et al

Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White by Lila Quintero Weaver*

Fables, Vol 18: Cubs in Toyland by Bill Willmingham*

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel *

Locke and Key, Vol 1: Welcome to Lovecraft  by Joe Hill*

Locke and Key, Vol 2: Head Games by Joe Hill*

Locke and Key, Vol 3: Crown of Shadows by Joe Hill*

Locke and Key, Vol 4: Keys to the Kingdom by Joe Hill*

Locke and Key, Vol 5: Clockworks  by Joe Hill*

Locke and Key, Vol 6: Alpha & Omega by Joe Hill

My Brother’s Book by Maurice Sendak

My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf*

Raven Girl by Audry Niffenegger*

Saga Vol 1 by Brian K Vaugh and Fiona Staples*

Saga Vol 2 by Brian K Vaughn and Fiona Staples*

Sailor Twain by Mark Siegel*

Sweet Tooth, Vol 1: Out of the Deep Woods by Jeff Lemire *

Sweet Tooth, Vol 2: In Captivity by Jeff Lemire *

Sweet Tooth, Vol 3: Animal Armies by Jeff Lemire *

Unterzakhn by Leela Corman*

Wanted by Mark Millar*

Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan (Book 1) *

Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan (Book 2) *

Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan (Book 3) *

Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan (Book 4) *

Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan (Book 5) *

Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan (Book 6) *

Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan (Book 7) *

Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan (Book 8) *

Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan (Book 9) *

Non-Fiction

The Amityville Horror (Audio) by Jay Anson

Brain on Fire (Audio) by Susannah Cahalan

Dave Ramsey’s Complete Guide to Money by Dave Ramsey

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

I Can Barely Take Care of Myself by Jen Kirkman

Let’s Pretend this Never Happened (Audio) by Jenny Lawson *

* denotes library book.

Bold denotes genre favorite.

Links are to my reviews.

Bookish Stuff You Should Know

One of my favorite series is the Millenium Trilogy (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). As many know, Larsson died after writing the 3rd book, and lovers of the series see it as an incomplete work. Larsson's notes to continue the story were found but no action has taken place.

So, the news? The news is that a fourth "Girl with" book is to be released in 2014. Swedish journalist, David Lagercrantz, is currently writing the novel, and from what I understand its completely without any of the previously mentioned notes. So either, this can be awesome or it can destroy one of my favorite series. 

Speaking of, when is Fincher going to make the Girl who Played with Fire (my favorite of the series)?? He's killing me. Its been 2 years since the first came out and it was amazing. 

Hello, Hiatus!

Blah, blah, personal stuff, blah, blah a bit backlogged. Anywho, fear not dear reader this site has not been abandoned.  

While I catch up on my review list, enjoy the vignette below from Media Bistro. Librarians are complete badasses. 

Beastie Boys + Librarians =

I am currently reading The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker, this review should come out shortly. 

Bookish Stuff You Should Know (vol 4)

Mostly slow week in the book world, but here are some cool things that surfaced on the internet: ​

​Photo source: NPR.org

​J.K. Rowling will donate an annotated version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for a charity auction. How does this benefit the readers? The Guardian will have the annotations online for viewers to scroll through. 

​Commencement address given by David Foster Wallace, has been brought to life via this youtube.com clip. It's really amazing, I haven't read Wallace, but this makes me want to, any suggestions of where to begin? 

The text originates from a commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College on May 21, 2005. He is considered to be one of the top writers of the late 20th century. I'm starting his book Infinite Jest as soon as I can find the time.

​There is a Neil Gaiman short story available at Audible.com for FREE! Best part is that it's narrated by Neil himself. 

Nina Katchadourian has a neat project on her website of poetry made by strategic placement of book spines. Some are funny, some are poignant. The idea is pretty neat, head over to Nina's website to check them out. 

Nina Katchadourian

​Happy Reading! 

FREE STUFFS!! Shadow of Night Paperback Giveaway!!!!

In honor of the paperback release of Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness, Deborah's publisher has offered a iamjanesheart.com reader a free paperback copy of Shadow of Night as well as some adorable buttons. 

​Awesome buttons!

The first reader to leave a comment for this post on iamjanesheart.com will win the book/buttons. Please note that the publisher will only send to the continental US. ​ 

No need to leave your address in the comments, I will follow-up directly with you to protect your privacy. ​

​Click here for my review of the novels. 

​Also, Deborah will be in conversation with Book Talk Nation, reserve your space and personalized book today! 

Happy Pub Day!!!!!

To Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris. The FINAL book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I have a feeling that many Sookie fans are glad to see this wrapped up. The last 3 or 4 books have had poor reviews. Hopefully, Charlaine will give us a sweet goodbye to Ms Stackhouse. 

Bookish Stuff You Should Know (vol 3)

If you put any weight into book lists, then you may be aware of the GQ list of Book that Every Man Should Read. And if you put any weight into book lists you may be interested in knowing that GQ has updated their list to add 21st century books. So if book lists hold weight in your option, check it out here.

Photograph: Action Press/Rex Features

​Next, something crazy exciting for me. Last month, I read Horns by Joe Hill and (spoiler) I completely loved it. Joe recently tweeted out an article from The Guardian which talks about Daniel Radcliffe playing the lead character in Horns. It took me at least an hour to calm down. 

Free Comic Book Day!!

Hopefully everyone had an assume FCBD! I know I did.

Bookish Stuff You Should Know (vol 2)

First, Happy World Book Night! If you see book lovers wandering about handing out books, do not fear! They are giving away 20 books that mean something special to them, and they want to share it with you! I'm very excited/honored to hand out The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (lucky the WBN folks are considerate and will allow me to hand my books out when I get back from this trip. Atwood is a fantastic author. This was the first dystopian novel that I've read. I read it in my third year of college, in a class that was both listed in Literature and Women's Studies. I don't recall the reactions of my classmates, but I do know this book shook me. My grade school education existed in the halls of private Christian schools. When I moved onto a non-religious college, I was a bit sheltered. There was so much that I didn't understand of the world. Let's just say, I would not be friends with my college freshman self. I began to reject my upbringing and jumped at any opportunity for reading material that would help open my mind. Enter The Handmaid's Tale, this novel was decades before its time. The book is set in a very strict dystopian future, where women's rights are completely stripped from them. I applied to distribute this book because the timing seems so right after the craziness of the last election. Specifically regarding: Planned Parenthood, "legitimate rape," the ability for women to have birth control covered by their insurance, etc. This book is so important to me, and I hope that whomever receives my copies will allow this book to have a lasting effect on them. 

Second, it's pub day for David Sedaris's latests book Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, I'm so excited to have my copy! I had to catch transit to the local mall to pick up this copy. I got there so early that they books were still on the shelving cart. I'm just glad that I didn't have to beat up an old lady to get to this Mostly because I would beat up an old lady to get a copy. 

Bookish Stuff You Should Know

First, the Catching Fire trailer has been released. Yay! It looks great. The trailer doesn't spoil what will happen in the next film, which is rare in trailer. 

Coming to theaters November 22nd, 2013... Watch the trailer and experience the phenomenon like never before, only at the Hunger Games Explorer! - http://www.theHungerGamesExplorer.com THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE begins as Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark.

Second, ​ Penguin has come out with a fun iOS app to celebrate National Poetry Month. The app helps you memorize famous poems. I've played around with it a bit and its pretty fun (well, depending on what your definition of fun happens to be). Check out Poems by Heart

​Third, it's National Library Week! If you love your library, and want to find out how to help support your local library, check out the ALA website. 

Lastly, I am so disappointed in finding out today that Sam Tanenhaus is retiring as host of the NYTimes Book Review Podcast. I have spent many a Monday listening to Sam interview authors and collaborate with his colleagues on publishing news. It makes me sad to think of not hearing Sam every Monday, however, its an opportunity for those who are not aware of this awesome podcast to start fresh with a new host. NYTimes Book Review Podcast. 

That's all that I have for this week in publishing news. Happy Reading! ​