I am a reading machine!

No really, I am. I read 23 books last year which I'm pretty sure is 22 more books than I readin 2007, so hot damn I'm proud of myself. And what are the books that occupied my time you ask? Why of course I want to share and tell you which ones I think you should read and why:

Wicked by Gregory Maguire. As I mentioned last week, Wicked, the musical, was one of my big obsessions in '08, so it came as no surprise that I would want to read the book. However I am still torn about it. It's so drastically different from the musical and dark that I may have to give it another shot in a year or so, but ultimately I liked it.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni. LOVE IT. Kite Runner is one of my favorite books so I had to check this one out and I was in no way dissapointed. It was amazing. At times hard to read simply because of how intense the story is, but overall amazing, amazing I say.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. Another tough subject read but ohmygoodness amazing. My best friend lent me her copy and insisted I read this book and I'm glad she did. I love how Jodi writes from every characters perspective and has lots of flashbacks to outline such a great story.

Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich. A quick, funny read as part of the Stephanie Plum novels. A good upper in between such serious books.

19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Another tough subject written amazingly. I think I actually liked this one better that My Sister's Keeper. A school shooting is never an easy subject to write about but Jodi captures it all brilliantly. Definitely another serious read, but so worth it to get through.

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. The first in the Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter, chick lit novels that my mom recommended to me and definitely a quick, funny and easy read in between books.

The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. I really felt like I was the last female alive to read this book, haha. But I loved it. I had already seen the movie so I sort of knew what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised at how funny it was.

The Devil Wears Prada by Laura Weisberger. Now I had also already seen this movie before reading it so I sort of had an idea about it but I liked it a lot as well. I don't really know much about the fashion world nay from what I see on shows like Top Model and Stylista so it was definitely an eye opener for me, haha.

Two for the Dough and Three to get Deadly by Janet Evanovich. Two more highly entertaining and good quick reads to pass the time.

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. Another book I had been meaning to read forever, especially since I love the movie so much. But I must say, I wasn't too impressed. I guess the movie version had been ingrained in me too much because I didn't like the flow of the book that much. However, with that said, it is still a great love story and picturing Ryan Gosling as I read was definitely a plus.

The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks. Who knew there was a follow up book to the Notebook? I sure didn't. But to be honest, I liked it a little bit more. It follows Noah and Ally's daughter and her family and Noah is very present in the story as well. I think this story flowed better and was a little bit more realistic. I say if you've read the Notebook, check it out.

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey. Despite Oprah's outrage and distaste for the man I really liked the book. I thought it was an incredible story that definitely makes you look at yourself and what addiction really means. Definitely a good one.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Amazing. Another tough subject read but I couldn't put the book down it was so good.

The Secret Life Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Another good one. I read the book shortly before I saw the movie and was a fan of both. And I thought the story definitely displayed innocence as well as the harshness of American society.

Four to Score and High Five by Janet Evanovich. Two more incredibly funny stories of Stephanie Plumm and her Jersey girl bounty hunting stories where ultimately a car gets blown up and a hot man is involved, haha.

Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. Haha. I laugh because I'm afraid every comment will be "We know how much you loved the Twilight series Katelin, get over it already!". But um yeah, clearly my fave four books of the bunch for the year and with my sweet hard back copies I may just have to reread them in '09.

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold. I went from stories of love and vampires to a story about a woman who kills her mother and the events that follow. Yeah definitely a bizarre switch and I still don't know how I feel about this one.

Q&A by Vikas Swarup. AMAZING. I think this book would be right after Twilight for my favorite of the year. By recommendation of Lauren I picked up this book and could barely put it down. Basically it's the base story for Slumdog Millionaire and it's amazing. So good, so so good. Go out and read it now!


And that my friends is what I read in '08. So what's next for '09 since I have set my goal for 25 books ? Well right now I am reading Alice Sebold's memoir Lucky and next up is James Frey's My Friend Leonard, and then Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. So anything else you think I should add to the ever growing book list?

And what are you reading these days?



happy wednesday!