2011 Wrap-Up Survey

This meme or survey cycles most of the blogosphere every year, and I'm doing it here on Read.Knit.Spin.Blog.  I'm not going to be quite so candid with my answers as I would be in private, because this is a public blog, but I'm going to be pretty honest.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you had never done before?

So many little things.  I filed my taxes jointly as a married couple.  I celebrated Easter with my in-laws for the first time (every other year, David's been working or we've just been with my parents).  In May, I learned how to fire-spin.  In August, I attended my first Wildfire retreat.  In November, we celebrated our first year of marriage.

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't really "do" resolutions, per se.  Most of the things I resolve to do are things I've already been working on.  The only resolution I'm making for this year is the following: love everyone, and be kind.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Three of David's cousin's wives gave birth in April, May, and June.  My friend Heather gave birth (in Germany, where her husband is stationed), and my friend Kim had her baby Lily in August.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No.  *fingers crossed for the last 24 hours*  And I'm hoping it stays that way.

5. What countries did you visit?None.  In all of 2011 I only went to Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island.  But we're going to Mexico the second week of January!

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

Greater security.  A husband who is happy in his career.  David didn't start working as an EMT until after Thanksgiving, so for the majority of the year he was pretty unhappy where he was working.  Hopefully we're going to get pregnant in 2012.  We've talked about it but I don't know when we're going to start TTC.

7. What dates in 2011 will remain etched in your memory?

Happy days?  August 19 - 22 was Wildfire, and that was wonderful.  September 12 was my birthday.  September 19 David found out that he had passed his EMT exams.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Re-applying and being re-accepted into graduate school.  I start on January 18th.

9. What was your biggest failure?

There are things I wish I had said, but didn't, and times I wish I had held my tongue, and spoke.  I wish I could take those back, but I can't.  Any minute that I made anyone upset, or angry, or anxious, or was anything less than kind, I regret.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Besides a fall from my bicycle the first week of April (resulting in a minor concussion, some bruised ribs and some major roadburn on my legs), I was very healthy this year.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

A queen-size bed.  Heaven.

12. Where did most of your money go?

Bills.

13. What did you get really excited about?

Wildfire.  David's job.  Getting back into school.  Moving from our teeny apartment into our much bigger and better one.

14. What song will always remind you of 2011?

"Choices" by the Hoosiers, and "Shattered" by Trading Yesterday

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
Happier or sadder? Wiser.

Thinner or fatter? Thinner, but not by much

Richer or poorer? Poorer, but making more money, if that makes sense

16. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Just enjoying life and my husband and what we have.

17. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Emotional eating.  Worrying about the future.

18. How did you spend Christmas?

David worked, so I spent it with my parents and extended family.

19. What was your favorite TV program?

Dave and I discovered Once Upon a Time.  I still love The Tudors and Law and Order: SVU

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

The Pillars of the Earth was my favorite.  Also The Hunger Games series.

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

Trading Yesterday, The Hoosiers, Florence and the Machine

22. What were your favorite films of the year?

New films that came out this year?  Probably Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.  I was pleasantly surprised by it.  Dave and I don't go to the movies that often, so I can't remember many others that I saw.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?I turned 28.  I worked from 8 AM - 3 PM, then David took me apple-picking and to dinner at Thai Gardens in Middletown.  Then we went home and watched "The Young Victoria."  It was a very nice birthday.

24. What one thing would have made your year more satisfactory?

Less worrying.  On everyone's part.  More kindness.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

What fashion concept?  I can't dress myself.  I wear jeans, shirts, and sneakers.  I'm not fashionable.

26. What kept you sane?

Reading.  Knitting.  Good friends.

27. What's a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011?

Sometimes you can't look to tomorrow.  Sometimes you have to live in the moment, and trust that tomorrow is going to come.

100 Books in 2011: A Reflection

When I first made the decision to read 100 books in 365 days, I really didn't think it would be that difficult.  I hadn't done the math -- it meant reading an average of two books a week -- and I had overestimated my reading ability.  Until 2011, I was largely a "re-reader".  I had a bookshelf of books that I knew I liked, that I had read, some of them to tatters, hundreds of times.  I'm fairly certain I could recite To Kill a Mockingbird and most of Gone With the Wind.  Most often, if I felt like reading, I would reach out, grab a book that I was familiar with, open it up to a random passage that I liked, and start reading.  I didn't branch out into new books, I didn't read things from cover-to-cover most of the time.

And then I set out to read 100 books in a year, and I realized that my old methods weren't going to cut it.  First off, I didn't own 100 books.  Second, most of the books I did have?  Nonfiction history, and all over 300 pages long.  There was no way that I was going to read 100 of those books in a year without some serious warping of the space-time continuum.  Such a vast quantity of books meant fiction, or at least, shorter nonfiction, and I was going to have to branch out a bit.

I started dipping into genres I hadn't read in years.  I realized that my previous prejudice for Young Adult literature was keeping me from some really enjoyable books.  I re-read some old favorites from my youth, and discovered that I didn't like them quite so much at almost-30 as I did as a teenager.  I discovered books that absolutely made my spirit soar.  I realized how much I truly love reading.  I realized how difficult it was, reading 100 books in a year.

But how incredibly rewarding it has been.

Goal: 100 books.

Achievement: 100 books.

Pages Read: 35,573 (holy crap)

Best Book of 2011: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

I'm not going to lie and say that this decision was easy.  I read SO MANY amazing books this year.  But of all of these, Pillars stands out, head and shoulders above the rest.  This is the book to read.  It is phenomenal.

Most Disappointing Book of 2011: Abandon by Meg Cabot

I wanted to like this book.  Meg Cabot was one of my favorite authors when I was younger -- I loved her "Princess Diaries" series.  But Abandon was awful from the get-go.  Trite plot, simpering Bella Swan-esque female character, brooding and unrelateable male character, zero story arch, boring cliffhanger ending.  There was nothing good about this book except the cover.  It did have a good cover.

Most Surprising (in a good way!) Book of 2011: The White Queen by Philippa Gregory

I had all but given up on Philippa Gregory's "historical fiction" after reading The Other Boleyn Girl and its abysmal "sequel", The Boleyn Inheritance.  But The White Queen was really good!  I enjoyed it more than I ever expected, although I was once again brought back to earth with its boring sequel, The Red Queen.  Oh well.  Can't win 'em all.

Book You Recommended Most To People in 2011: The Pillars of the Earth and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

This is a toss-up.  Depending on if the person liked long books and historical fiction, I would recommend Pillars.  I would recommend Hunger Games to anyone (my husband, a non-reader, is reading it right now!).

Best Series You Discovered in 2011: The Hunger Games 

Close second (thus far): Divergent by Veronica Roth.  I'm reading The Bronze Horseman right now though, which will probably qualify as a discovery in 2011, and it's definitely giving Divergent a run for the money.

Favorite New Authors You Discovered in 2011: John Krakauer, Antonia Frasier, Suzanne Collins.

Best Book That Was Out Of Your Comfort Zone or Genre: Divergent

After the debacle that was Twilight, I swore off YA lit.  I'm glad I re-thought that.

Most Thrilling, Can't-Put-It-Down Book of 2011: Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Such a sad book, but so amazing.  I read it in one day.

Book You Most Anticipated in 2011: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Everyone talked this book up to me.  Once I read it, I understood why.  It was awesome.

Favorite Cover of a Book: Shine by Lauren Myracle.

Most Memorable Character(s): Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, Jack Jackson from The Pillars of the Earth.

I divided it into male and female.  Those were by far my two favorite.

Most Beautifully-Written Book of 2011: Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay

This book reads like poetry.  It is just beautiful.

Book That Had the Greatest Impact On You In 2011: Into Thin Air by John Krakauer

This book haunted me long after I put it down.  It was just amazing.

Book You Can't Believe You Waited Until 2011 To Read: The Pillars of the Earth

My parents have had this book knocking about their house for as long as I can remember.

Favorite Passage/Quote From a Book in 2011: The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

"The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself, and die singing.  At the very instant the thorn enters, there is no awareness of the dying to come: it simply sings and sings until there is not the life left to utter another note.  But we, when we put the thorns in our breast, we know.  We understand.  And still we do it.  Still, we do it." 

Book Read in 2011 That You're Likely to Read in 2012: The Hunger Games, The Pillars of the Earth, Sarah's Key, The Help

All of the above. 

Book Scene That Left You Reeling and Wanting to Talk About It: To nobody's surprise, The Pillars of the Earth

The end is astounding.  Especially to someone who is into English history.  I saw the ending coming as I reached the last few pages and it blew. My. Mind.  Absolutely amazing.  Can't recommend it enough.

...So where does this leave me?

I won't be setting a goal of 100 books in 2012.  For one thing, I'm going back to school in January, and I'm not going to have as much free time to read.  My goal for 2012 is to read 50 "new-to-me" books, and however many others I can do after that.  I have a lot of re-reading that I want to do...so we'll see.

Tuesday Book Survey

I stole this from my younger sister.  You can check out her blog (which isn't where I stole it from) at Movies.  Manga.  Anime.  Whatever.  

The books I am reading:
Emma by Jane Austen. 

The book I am writing:
*sigh*  I'm attempting to write some historical fiction.  I have two pieces going right now -- one about a family living in 17th century New England, and the other about Alys, Countess of the Vexin.  Neither is going very well, unfortunately.

The book I love most:
Eek.  How can you ever pick?  I have quite the list.  I love Francis Hodgeson Burnett's books, The Secret Garden (which I'm re-reading right now) and A Little Princess (do not even start to make fun of me for this, I love them and they bring me back to my childhood, and I'm okay with that). For fiction, I also really like The Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird.  My favorite historical nonfiction author is Alison Weir, and my favorite book by her is definitely The Six Wives of Henry VIII.  But my all-time favorite book that I have read probably at least 50 times is Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels.  So underrated, such fantastic historical fiction, and it won the Pulitzer.  Fantastic book.

The last book I received as a gift:
I can't find the title of this one.  My father bought it for me and it's home on my bookshelf.  It's a newly-released, enormously thick account of the Civil War that got a great review in The Economist, but damned if I can find out the title.  However, the last book I received before that was Knitter's Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman.

The last book I gave as a gift:
I gave a Debbie Macomber book to my mom for Christmas.  She laps those things up.

The nearest book on my desk:
I don't have any on my desk at work.  But my Kindle is in my purse -- does that count?