Friday, September 2, 2011

Sandy's Summer of Magical Reading

Normally, I don't do recap posts.  Call me lazy.  But if you've been patient enough to listen to me blather on over the summer, you will know that I have had ONE AMAZING summer of reading.  So amazing, I thought it was worthy of sharing.

So what happened to make this occur?  Did I get lucky?  Did I get easy?  Is my mantra of "reading what I want" and staying away from the lure of the ARC paying off?  Who knows.  But the moons aligned for the months of June through August, and I accumulated eleven five-star reads...which is probably more than I racked up in all of 2010.  Here are the beauties that rocked my world:

1.  Revolution - Jennifer Donnelly (Audio)

2.  The House of Tomorrow - Peter Bognanni (Audio)

3.  Cutting For Stone - Abraham Verghese

4.  The Devil's Star - Jo Nesbo

5.  The Fates Will Find Their Way - Hannah Pittard

6.  The Doomsday Book - Connie Willis

7.  Clara and Mr. Tiffany - Susan Vreeland (Audio)

8.  What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty

9.  Faith - Jennifer Haigh (Audio)

10.  Bossypants - Tina Fey (Audio)

11.  The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (Audio)


So.  What do you think?  Any you agree or disagree with passionately?  What about your summer?  Was it magical for you? 

20 comments:

bermudaonion said...

Wow, you did have a good summer! I hope your fall rocks the same way.

Meg @ write meg! said...

Eleven five-star reads?!? Wow -- seriously, that's impressive. I don't think I've had eleven five-star reads in my entirety of blogging. That shows true talent for selecting books you think you'll enjoy -- and that's a skill we all work hard to cultivate! :) Glad you had an awesome summer of reading!

rhapsodyinbooks said...

Jennifer (LiterateHousewife) and I were also commenting on the amazing production of great books this year. Who knows why? I'm happy about it! And hah! You haven't even read The Language of Flowers yet!

JoAnn said...

Wow, I've never had 11 five star reads in a year! Maybe I should adopt a read-what-I-want policy, too.

caite said...

I can not say my summer was magical. but then I can not remember the last time I gave a book 5 stars (on Amazon, since I do not give stars on me wee blog)my summer was more like a bit crazy, with some good books and some not so good books.

Anonymous said...

I feel like I have had a good reading summer too, but I don't think I have been quite as successful as you have been! I am excited you gave The Fates Will Find Their Way five stars because I was really excited to read it but then I read a few reviews that were just lukewarm and got a little concerned.

Unknown said...

I've only had 2 5 star reads all year so you are obviously doing something right. Of the ones you mention the only two I've read (TTW and Cutting for Stone) have both been 4.5+ star reads for me. Sounds as though I should just abandon my reading plans and read your list...

Zibilee said...

Though I am not exactly reading on my own recommendations, I have had a few good reads this summer, and a few real stinkers as well. But I do have to put it in perspective, and say that this summer I have picked up quite a few interesting and really involving reads that I enjoyed, and hope to share with you too! Eleven 5 star reads seems like an embarrassment of riches, and I am thrilled for you that you found so many worthy reads. this time around. A lot of them made it on to my wish list, so your good fortune can be mine as well!

Jenny said...

I find that whenever I don't worry at all about ARCs and read literally just what I really want to that I have wonderful reading. You'd think that would be enough for me to not want to read ARCs but it's not true. Usually I have good reading times in January because I'm all excited about filling a new list of books (LOL) and I pick out just what I want to read. You did have a great month!

Kathleen said...

So glad you had a summer of magical reading! I'm hoping that my fall will be like that!

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

I couldn't belive how many fantastic reads you kept posting about over the last few weeks. You have made my TBR list so much longer.

Marie Cloutier said...

My summer was pretty magical. I enjoyed it more than any other in recent memory! Nothing special happened, but i got to be home with my kittens and my books, and I got to focus on writing. I'm hoping to continue all that in the fall! Eleven five star reads is a pretty good track record and while I can't say I agree with them all, I can certainly agree that great reading makes for a great summer.

Julie P. said...

You sure did have a great reading summer. I've read many of them and I agree with you that they are outstanding!

Jenners said...

I'm glad for your amazing magical summer … and I do think it is probably from picking what YOU want to read and are attracted to. I'm more stingy with my 5 star rankings than you (I should loosen up) but I've been on a good streak myself … I just haven't written my reviews yet!

natalie @ book, line, and sinker said...

wow! i am so pathetic (or maybe just a hardass) because i have yet to give 5 bookmarks/stars to anything i've reviewed. i've read books that are worthy but just haven't reviewed them. lol. i'm queen of the unmotivated some days! glad you had such a productive reading summer. now it's back to work for me--my reading time drops away until about november. have a great holiday weekend!

Beth F said...

Yes indeed and awesome summer of books. Wow!!

Melissas Eclectic Bookshelf said...

Wow...you know how to pick them! The only one I've read is cutting for stone...but I do want to read The Time Travelers Wife!

♥ Melissa @ Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf

Melissa said...

My audios have been good this summer. I listened to the Millennium trilogy and am listening to Faith right now.

Ti said...

I don't know about the summer but this year, I have read some good ones too. I've read three on your list and I've loved a handful of others too. I love when reading turns out the way you want it to.

Alice said...

I'm keeping this list for future reference. I was coincidentally looking for good books to read and I saw a few titles that I want to get my hands on!