2011 Wrap Up-(100 book-goal, blog stats, overviews, awards/lists, etc.)

This is a cool picture that has nothing to do with this post. (~alexanderborisov on deviantart)

Happy New Year!

Hi guys! Be geared for a long post!



This was intended to be published a lot earlier, but I got sick...and..yeah. I say "this year" later in this post because I originally wrote this on Dec. 30th, but I got sick and now I'm finishing it up on Jan. 1st. When I say "this year" I mean 2011, kay? I'm sure it won't be too hard for you to understand because I'm guessing it's hard for you to remember it's 2012 now, as well.

So my one week family reunion is over! It was a lot of fun. There weren't a lot of planned activities, so it was pretty relaxing. We played games, sang AVPM songs, listened to Percy Jackson books, and talked and talked. This morning we got up and watched HPDHP1, but they had to leave most of the way through it. The movie was good, but pretty dark.

I got back into Percy Jackson. Since I read most of them in the beginning of the year, it had sort of died down, but now with the release of The Son of Neptune I'm all fired up again. The ending of that book still gives me chills of epicness every time I read it. It is ages better than The Lost Hero. One thing I've noticed with these series and The Kane Chronicles is that they are a lot more...I don't know, serious than Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson was intended for middle schoolers, and these two series are aimed for a broader audience. It's not like they're darker or scarier, but the books are longer and the plot is more sophisticated, with more somber characters and more peril.



And I learned how to ride a dirtbike! It was a long lesson, from about 10 in the morning to 3:30 in the afternoon. It's a lot of fun! It sounds hard, but I just have to nail the technique of it. I can ride over obstacles, go on trails, stand up on the bike, and everything!

So, 2011....
 Stuff that happened this year:

-I visited Yosemite and Sequoia
-I learned to sail
-I learned to ride a motorcycle
-I got a year older
-I moved up a grade
-I discovered awesome things like Harry Potter, AVPM, and Artemis Fowl
-I helped found The Lakehouse


 

This year I had a goal: to read 100 new books.

I didn't quite make this goal, but I made quite a bit of headway on it.Here's the list of all the books I read this year...brace yourself. XD These are all first-time books. Bolded are favorites.

The Mysterious Benedict Society     Trenton Lee StewartRepublic Commando: True Colors    Karen Traviss
Republic Commando: Order 66    Karen Traviss
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief    Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters    Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse    Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth    Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian    Rick RiordanDark Nest 1: The Joiner King    Troy Denning
Esperanza Rising    Pam Ryan
Dark Nest 2: The Unseen Queen    Troy Denning
Dark Nest 3: The Swarm War    Troy Denning
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma    Trenton Lee Stewart
Magyk    Angie Sage
Flyte    Angie SagePhysik     Angie Sage
Queste    Angie Sage
Vortex    Troy Denning
Frankenstein    Mary Shelley
The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey    Trenton Lee Stewart
Syren    Angie Sage
Every Young Womans Battle    Shannon Etheridge
Journey To The Center of the Earth    Jules Verne
Omen    Christie Golden
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident    Eoin ColferLittle Women    Louisa May Alcott(first time reading unabridged version, which is much longer than the abridged
How To Train your Dragon: How to cheat a dragon's curse    cressida Cowell
The Scarlet Pimpernel    Baroness Emma Orczy
Inkheart    Cornelia Funke
Lessons From San Quentin    Bill Dallas
Artemis Fowl    Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code    Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception    Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony    Eoin Colfer
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone    JK RowlingHow To Train Your Dragon: How to twist a Dragon's tale    Cressida cowell
Maximum Ride: The Angel Expiriment    James PattersonBeauty fades, dumb is forever    Judy Sheindlin
Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox    Eoin ColferLeprechauns, Unicorns, and Mark Kurrian    Curtis Cornell
20, 000 Leagues under the Sea    Jules Verne
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets    JK RowlingThe Search for WondLa    Tony Diterlizzi
Maximum Ride-Schools Out-Forever    James Patterson
Maximum Ride-Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports    James PattersonMaximum Ride-The Final Warning    James Patterson
Maximum Ride-Max    James Patterson
Maximum Ride-Fang    James PattersonMarry Smart    Christine Whelan
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban    JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire    JK RowlingThe Supernaturalist    Eoin Colfer
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix    JK Rowling
Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex    Eoin Colfer
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince    JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows    JK Rowling
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother    Amy ChuaRadioactive    ?
Recipes from my Mother    ?
The Cardturner    Louis Sachar
Airman    Eoin Colfer
Darke    Angie sage
The Red Pyramid    Rick Riordan
The Throne of Fire    Rick Riordan
The Hunger Games    Suzanne CollinsCatching Fire    Suzanne Collins
Maximum Ride: Angel    James Patterson
The Lost Hero    Rick Riordan
Conviction    Aaron Allston
Dance    Scholastic
En Pointe    ?The Great Gatsby    F. Scott Fitzgerald
Artemis Fowl The Arctic Incident(graphic novel)    Eoin Colfer
Howl's Moving Castle    Diana Wynn JonesAscension    Christie Golden
The Son of Neptune    Rick Riordan
On The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness    Andrew Peterson
North! Or Be Eaten    Andrew Peterson
The Monster in the Hollows    Andrew PetersonHelping your Children Survive Divorce    ?
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader    CS Lewis


The numbering got all screwed up, but there are eighty two in all. I don't really know why I didn't make the goal this year...I think I was just too lazy and doing other things XD. I'm pretty proud of myself though. I only ever read one book at a time.

I liked almost all the books I read, but only the bolded ones make it on my all-time favorites list. If you're looking for something to read, you should try them!

Now here are my lists:

Top series:

 1.) Harry Potter  
I know, cliched. But, to paraphrase a reviewer, the reason these books are so popular is simply because they're so good.
2.) Series by Rick Riordan(Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, The Kane Chronicles)
The reason I'm putting them all together is that they're pretty similar, and besides, they'd take up way too much space on my list if I put them separately.
3.) Artemis Fowl


Honorable mention: Maximum Ride-Funny, clean, lighthearted, and definitely worth reading-but somewhat confusing and directionless.

Top single books:
1. Howl's Moving Castle 
2. The Mysterious Benedict Society(just the first one)
3. En Pointe 
 

Top Fictional Crushes

1. Artemis Fowl from Artemis Fowl
2. Nico di Angelo from Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus
3. Howl from Howl's Moving Castle
4. Anubis from The Kane Chronicles
5. Fang from Maximum Ride





Blog stats:
I've been lazier this year with the blog-there's a whole ton of posts in draft stage, and I haven't done an inspirational post in FOREVER :P. All these stats exclude my own views.

But readership/viewership has increased, and I'm happy for that.

Top post: not unfortunately a dramatic picture post.with 735 views
Top traffic source: Abby's blog, Castles Quills and Cameras, with 395 unique references. Thanks, Abby!

Top search keywords: "nian gao" (???!!) followed closely by "nico di angelo" (that's much better).

Stuff I'm looking forward to in 2012:
-Working more on this years NaNo novel, and hopefully getting the copies of it
-Those releases I mentioned in an earlier post
-All the opportunities God has in store!


Thank you everybody for helping me grow and learn this year. I could never have envisioned what this year has been like, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm really excited for 2012! Happy New Year!