Books Read in 2011

I just finished reading the "Mortal Instruments" for the second time, so I think it's safe to assume that I have now completed 40 books this year.  I set a challenge for myself to read 75 books in 2011. I made it through 40 books, which is not so bad.  I was on a real World of Warcraft streak for a while, so that was about 2 months of this year.

40 books in a year means.... 
40 books =3.333 books/month (or 3 books + a third of a different book.)
40 books=.76 books/week (or almost finishing a book every week.)
40 books=.1095books/day (or I read about 10% every day.)

There were good books, bad books, tedious books and some that were completely awesome.  I didn't make notes on every book; I'm terrible with reliability.  So, I guess....

if you are what you READ, this is me :)

1. Where She Went by Gayle Forman (ARC from LibraryThing Early Reviewers program) 5 stars
2. Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy, Book 6) by Richelle Mead 5 stars--so ridiculously amazing and perfect, and if you read just one YA paranormal series, it should be Vampire Academy!
3. Secret Society by Tom Dolby 3 stars
4. Matched by Ally Condie 3 stars
5. Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda 5 stars--unlike anything else on the YA market, very "girl-power," and if you don't want your daughter to read the Twilight books, let her read this.
6. Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook 3 stars
7. Virals by Kathy Reichs 3 stars
8. Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon 4.5 stars
9. Department 19 by Will Hill (ARC from LibraryThing Early Reviewers program) 5 stars
10. Extraordinary by Nancy Werlin (ARC from LibraryThing Early Reviewers program) 1 star
11. Hunger (Riders of the Apocalypse) by Jackie Morse Kessler 4.5 stars
12. On the Edge (The Edge, Book 1) by Ilona Andrews 4.5 stars
13. Just Between You and Me: A Novel of Losing Fear and Finding God by Jenny B. Jones 4 stars
14. Night Myst (Indigo Court, Book 1) by Yasmine Galenorn 4 stars
15. Kiss Me Deadly: 13 Tales of Paranormal Love 4 stars overall
16. Blood Heat (Blood Lines, Book 4) by Maria Lima 5 stars, I love this series and it deserves a lot more attention than it has.
17. I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies) 4 stars, and I'm not listing "Pitticus Lore" as the author because he isn't, he's a character in the series.
18. The Sight by Judy Blundell 4 stars
19.The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman 2 stars--I really had to struggle to stick with this one. Also, I received it as an ARC from the LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.
20. I Thought It Was Just Me (but it isn't): Telling the Truth About Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power 5 stars--If you've ever struggled with Perfectionism, READ THIS!
21. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White 5 stars, and one of the best I've read in a long time!
22. Rise of the Wolf: Book 1 (Wereworld) by Curtis Jobling 2 stars--I just couldn't get into the setting/world at all. Younger male readers may really enjoy this one though. I'm having to compare it to 5 star books like Nightshade and Linger, so it's not fair. (ARC from LibraryThing Early Reviewers program)
23. Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon 3.5 stars
24. Blood Sacrifice by Maria Lima 5 stars! Superb ending, though I hope to see more of Keira and Adam one day.
25. Bloodlines by Richelle Mead 3.5 stars, and a slow start to a new series set in the same world as Vampire Academy. I'm enough of a fan to be sure the storyline will pick-up in future books.
26.Wolfsbane (Nightshade, Book 2) by Andrea Cremer (I much prefer the previous cover art, but oh well.) WOW!! One of the best books this year!! 5 stars
27. Dark Descendant by Jenna Black 4 stars, an excellent Urban Paranormal
28.Firelight by Sophie Jordan 2.5 stars..not my cup of tea. maybe for a younger audience?
29. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa Wow! I can see why everyone is excited about this series--it's very good! 5 stars for making the "generic" faery tale new again!
30.The Fallen 1: The Fallen and Leviathan by Thomas E. Sniegoski 3.5 stars
31. Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book One) by Kevin Hearne 5 stars, seriously, I'm so in love with Atticus...or Oberon--and you will not read a funnier paranormal novel like this one
32. Hexed (The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book Two) by Kevin Hearne 5 stars, same feeling as with book 1--freaking awesome, don't miss this one!
33.The Magnolia League by Katie Crouch totally dropped the ball at the end 3 stars at most
34. As an ARC from the Early Readers group on LibraryThing: Tempest: A Novel (Tempest - Trilogy) by Julie Cross Finished and loved! read my review :)
35. Split by Swati Avasthi loved! read my review :)
36.Cast in Shadow (The Chronicles of Elantra, Book 1) by Michelle Sagara Not too bad, a solid 3.5 stars and now I'm on to book 2!
37. Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves This got a little "out there," even for me... If you're living in a strange, seriously messed-up town, why don't you simply MOVE? I couldn't really believe in the story because I kept wondering why people still lived in that town. 2.5 stars :(
38. AGAIN and still loving every second of it!City of Bones (Mortal Instruments book 1) by Cassandra Clare
39. AGAIN and still loving every second of it! City of Ashes (Mortal Instruments book 2) by Cassandra Clare
40. AGAIN and still loving every second of it! City of Glass (Mortal Instruments book 3) by Cassandra Clare

Upcycling At Its Finest!

I took an old corkboard and 2 iron grates that my mom was going to throw away and made something I just love!

My mom originally had these iron grates just hung on her wall showing the paint color behind them.  I don't know if they are even iron, or if grate is the correct term, but that's ok.  The point is, she got married and combined households, so I got all kinds of cool things, these grates being one of them.

My initial plan was to turn one into a pinboard and the other into a ribbon-type card and photo display (but without the ribbon)--and then I found my ugly spray-painted corkboard along with my "good" stack of unused fabrics and inspiration struck!

Before Pictures: this is one of the two grates; it's leaning on the back cushion of the loveseat in the playroom that is hideously ugly, which I think increases the value of this "before" picture, lol.

1 of 2 iron grates

Horrible, isn't it? 

FYI: Metallic paint shows every s.i.n.g.l.e. imperfection--so it's not a good choice for anything unless you're going to spend time repairing and sanding, which I was not aware of and not willing to do for a $5 corkboard.  I had the same problem with Metallic Blue Turquoise on a picture frame.

My stack of fabrics I bought in August and had yet to use, in spite of designing a whole room color scheme around them!

I cut foamcore board so it would fit the inside of the grate.  I then trimmed and wrapped the fabric around the board.  So technically, they can still become pinboards.  So...this is a kind of an "in the middle of a project" type picture:

Here they are laying flat on the bed, with just a bit of my patterned fabric showing.

 

 

and the corkboard is now made...

And this is my final reveal--there are several because one picture kept throwing a glare:

After:

 I had to do a close-up of the pictures--my baby, back when he was a baby and then at his 1st birthday party.  He's 5 going on 15 now.....  I hot-glued flat thumbtacks to clothespins so my pictures wouldn't get holes in them.

So, there it is--and this is my first ever link-up to a party!  I have loved "Crafting With the Stars" over on Sew Dang Cute Crafts!  I loved all of the round 3 projects using fabric, too--they were a.m.a.z.i.n.g!

Almost Tuesday Already?

The past 2 days have absolutely flown by me!  But the 10 Tasks in 10 Days list is getting whittled on down....

1. Clean up my craft room and make it safe to become James's summer bedroom. Well, I'm still working on this.  I have crafts I want to do, crafts I might want to do, and crafts I'm not interested in at all right now.  This makes it hard to organize, but I'm trying.  It still looks like a tornado has been through there though.
2. Get a dresser downstairs for our clothes.  This has been discussed, but remains unfinished.
3. Organize my books.  Hmmmm, maybe this was a stretch.  I'm actually a full-on Bibliophile, and my "library" was completely organized.  But for the last 2 months, my books have been in boxes and I miss them.  This will take at least one full do-nothing-but-this day to complete.  Those are rare, so I may have to amend this task.  But that's ok!
4. Organize and clean up the playroom.  Get more seating in there (the rocker from James's room or Tifney's furniture from the garage.)  This is 90% completed, I just have to ask my husband to carry the rocker down here for me.  This room is organized, but still has very ugly walls.  I'm working on that though.
5. Set up the TV, Blu-ray and the Wii in the playroom.  Done!  But, true confession, this was mostly a "honey-do" situation, but I helped.
6. Try ONE new recipe.  I haven't even thought to look for a new recipe! 
7. Organize all my craft supplies.  OK, I just realized that my #1 has the information update for this task.  Anyway, this is incomplete.
8. Organize our bedroom.  Nope.  Not even close.
9. Laundry.  Then some laundry.  Then some more laundry.  Does anyone's laundry ever get caught up?  Where did we get all these clothes?  It's unreal!
10. Get the "technology" picked up and out of the way.  Again, this has been discussed, but remains right where it's been for longer than I care to think about.

So, overall, I'm ok with where I'm at!

A Busy Saturday

Well, I'm very proud of myself for my work on the Ten Tasks In Ten Days so far.  I've been in the craft room for HOURS today (although if not for my little one it would have been maybe 2 hours, lol.)  I would post a picture, but it's that stage between clean and dirty, where if you sit back and look you'll think that a bomb went off and get discouraged.  But it's really almost done.

I'm so thankful for Cha Cha of Sit, Relax and Read starting this challenge!  I would probably have not started to organize my craft supplies on my own.  But I'm so glad I did!

I also did 3 loads of laundry yesterday, and that's awesome too!  Woot!

Ten Tasks in Ten Days

I want to participate in Sit, Relax and Read's challenge, so this is where I'll make my list.

1. Clean up my craft room and make it safe to become James's summer bedroom.
2. Get a dresser downstairs for our clothes.
3. Organize my books.
4. Organize and clean up the playroom.  Get more seating in there (the rocker from James's room or Tifney's furniture from the garage.)
5. Set up the TV, Blu-ray and the Wii in the playroom.
6. Try ONE new recipe.
7. Organize all my craft supplies.
8. Organize our bedroom.
9. Laundry.  Then some laundry.  Then some more laundry.
10. Get the "technology" picked up and out of the way.

Today, I'm working on the laundry.