First off, Happy New Year!

As my first resolution, I'm going to read 100 books this year.

Sadly, I am going to have to cheat & start a day early :)


The 100 Books of 2009

1. December 31: Graceling - Kristin Cashore* * * * *
2. January 3: Rebel Angels - Libba Bray* * * *
3. January 9: Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn - Sarah Miller* * *
4. January 11: Outside Beauty - Cynthia Kadohata* *
5. January 18: Headlong - Kathe Koja* * *
6. January 21: Hush (an Irish Princess' Tale) - Donna Jo Napoli* * *
7. January 24: An Abundance of Katherines - John Green* * *
8. January 26: Letters to a Bullied Girl - Olivia Gardner* *
9. Janurary 28: Looking for Alaska - John Green* * * *
10. January 30 (technically because it was 2 am): Perfect Chemistry - Simone Elkeles* * * *
11. February 1: The After Life - Daniel Ehrenhaft* * *
12. February 4: The Nature of Jade - Deb Caletti* * * *
13. February 5: Jellicoe Road - Melina Mancetta* * * *
14. February 6: Living Dead Girl - Elizabeth Scott*
15. February 8: Cracked Up To Be - Courtney Summers* * *
16. February 8: What Would Emma Do? - Eileen Cook* * *
17. February 9: The Secrets of my Suburban Life - Lauren Baratz-Longsted* *
18. February 16: Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac - Gabrielle Zevin* * * *
19. March 4: I Love You Beth Cooper - Larry Doyle* *
20. March 5: L'engranage - Louise Turgeon* *
21. March 16: The Secret Countess - Eva Ibbotson* * *
22. March 20: The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan* * * *
23. March 20: The Fetch - Laura Whitcomb* *
24. March 25: Choke - Chuck Palahniuk* * *
25. April 5: Dream Factory- Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler* * *
26. April 5: Le malade imaginaire - Molière* *
27. April 11: Something, Maybe - Elizabeth Scott* * * *
28: April 25: Love Is Hell - Melissa Marr (and 4 others)* * * *
29. April 29: Paper Towns - John Green* * *
30: May 3: Bones of Faerie - Janni Lee Simner* * * *
31. May 4: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - author unknown* *
32. May 8: The Secret Life of Prince Charming - Deb Caletti* * *
33. May 10: Wintergirls - Laurie Halse Anderson* * * *
34. May 16: The Druid's Tune - O.R. Melling* * *
35. May 17: Stravaganza: City of Secrets - Mary Hoffman* * *
36. May 18: The Singing Stone - O.R. Melling* * * *
37. May 20: Skunk Girl - Sheba Karim* * * *
38. May 29: North of Beautiful - Justina Chen Headley* * * *
39. June 18: Suicide Notes - Michael Thomas Ford* * *
40. June 20: Tender Morsels - Margo Lanagan* * * *
41. June 24: Princess of the Midnight Ball - Jessica Day George* * *
42. June 25: The King's Rose - Alisa Libby* *
43. June 26: Along For The Ride - Sarah Dessen* * *
44. June 27: The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han*
45. June 27: Lullaby - Chuck Palahniuk* * *
46. June 28: The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald* * * * *
47. June 28: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll* *
48. July 5: I Am the Messenger - Marcus Zusak* * * * *
49. July 7: A Map of the Known World - Lisa Ann Sandell* * *
50. July 8: Sophomore Switch - Abby McDonald* * * *
51. July 9: Sea Change - Aimee Friedman* *
52. June 6: The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy* *
53. July 17: The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath* * * *
54. July 17: Six Steps to A Girl - Sophie McKenzie* * 
55. July 18: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling* * * *
56. July 18: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J. K. Rowling* * * * *
57. July 19: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J. K. Rowling* * * *
58. July 21: Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix - J. K. Rowling* * * 
59. July 23: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling* * * *
60. July 25: Impossible - Nancy Werlin* * *
61. July 26: Fairy Tale - Cyn Balog* * *
62. July 26: After the Moment - Garret Freymann-Weyr* *
63. July 28: The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory* * * *
64. July 30: The Virgin's Lover - Philippa Gregory* *
65. August 2: Child of the Pheonix - Barbara Erskine* * * 
66. August 3: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling * * * *
67. August 7: Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt* * * *
68. August 8: Vacations From Hell - Libba Bray (and others)* * *
69. August 11: The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beale* * *
70. August 13: Love You, Hate You, Miss You - Elizabeth Scott* * * * *
71. August 15: Eyes Like Stars - Lisa Mantchev* * * * *
72. August 16: The Chosen One - Carol Lynch Williams * * *
73. August 16: Candor - Pam Bachorz * * * *
74. August 19: Lipstick Apology - Jennifer Jabaley* * * *
75. August 20: The Comeback - Marlene Perez* * *
76. August 21: The Treasure Map of Boys - E. Lockhart* * * * *
77. August 22: The ABC's of Kissing Boys - Tina Ferraro* * * *
78. August 23: A Little Friendly Advice - Siobhan Vivian* * *
79. August 28: This Book Isnt' Fat, It's Fabulous - Nina Beck* * * * *
80. September 1: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins* * * * *
81. September 5: The Eternal Kiss - Anthology* * *
82. September 7: The Prophecy of the Sisters - Michelle Zink* * *
83. September 10: Fire - Kristin Cashore* * * * *
84. September 14: Hush, Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick* * *
85. September 15: Shiver - Maggie Stiefvater* * * * *
86. September 15: The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare* * *
87. September 23: Jumping Off Swings - Jo Knowles* *
88. September 29: Cote-des-negres - Mauricio Segura* *
89. October 2: Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? - Louise Rennison* * *
90. October 4: Lament - Maggie Stiefvater* * * *
91. October 11: Wondrous Strange - Lesley Livingston* * *
92. October 12: Unclaimed Heart - Kim Wilkins* *
93. October 17: Catcher In The Rye - J. D. Salinger* * *
94. October 20: Haunted - Barbara Haworth-Attard* * *
95. October 24: Raven - Allison Van Diepen* * *
96. October 25: Evernight - Claudia Gray* *
97. November 14: Ballad - Maggie Stiefvater* * * * *
98. November 15: The Crucible - Arthur Miller* *
99. November 22: Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell* * *
100. November 22: Perfect You - Elizabeth Scott* * * *
101. November 27: Secrets de famille - Jean-Yves Soucy* *
102. December 19: The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde* * *
103. December 25: The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke* * * *
104. December 26: The Supernaturalist - Eoin Colfer* * *
105. December 27: Stravaganza: City of Masks - Mary Hoffman* * * * *

monthly mix:
december 2009


( there's magic in the air tonight )
 

a couple songs about the sea


the sea

♥ are for favorites


( & i could write a song, a hundre miles long )

( will you hold my hand when i go? )

entire zip - coming soon (comment if you'd like it)

image credit

xxhushdarling

Filthy rich and whip-smart, Riley thinks nothing of kissing her best friend's crush or taking incrimating photos of her future stepmom. But Riley has a secret. This school break, Riley will be crunching, dieting, and complaining her way to a thin new shape at New Horizons, a special program in Upper Nowheresville, New York.
 

Thanks Dad.

Of course, New Horizons is a nightmare: like military school without carbs. But then Riley meets adorable Eric, a boy who can go toe-to-toe with her snark, but also seems to see beyond her tough exterior. Could it be that her time away from the glitz and glamour of home will change not Riley's figure... but her heart?
 

Don't count on it.

*****

So first off, we're throwing in a couple more routinely, factual bits to our reviews. Add a little structure :) Alright, not really but we're trying to shake things up here so bear with it.

First Impression: Not crazy excited - I got a pile of books from the libary and it's the last one I picked up. Just sounds like overweight Gossip Girl.

So, not super pumped, but I am picky and there are a lot of books I just can't bring myself to read. So bonus points for make me... open it.

This Book Isn't Fat, It's Fabulous is about a girl named Riley, who lives a life pretty similar to the people in Gossip Girl. Upper East Side and whatnot. Plus, Riley is a pretty confident girl. So yes, it did start very much like Gossip Girl, but Riley is a much more entertaining character.

That was the first thing I liked. The style of writing, from Riley's POV, was very entertaining and funny. The book was comical. She was pretty synical & sarcastic, but all around very enjoyable. The book was also very believable in the sense that the way things worked, the character logic and whatnot, was plausible. Sometimes, I just can't understand reasoning behind other characters or things move too fast, but everything worked out perfectly for me.

So yes, Riley goes off to 'fat camp', where she definitely does not feel like she belongs. I liked that as well. Riley was so confident in herself (she constantly refers back to having the Fabulous factor) and I really commend her for that. I found the book to be very positive - especially towards teenage girls where there is so much pressure to be a certain way. I know I struggle with my body constantly but after reading this book, it made not want to care as much. This Book Isn't Fat, It's Fabulous was definitely a huge confidence & morale booster for me.

Final Impressions: This Book Isn't Fat, It's Fabulous is, in fact, fabulous to say the least. A great feel-good book with a cute love story behind it that encourages girls to love themselves for who they are - just not quite that cheesy lol.

Any Favorite Characters: Well, Riley of course. And Eric. They were really cute together -although he seemed a bit weird but I'm just going to try not to think about that. His assertiveness was cute.

5.5/6 shelves! Yay!