I don’t think we ever left with less than ten new books.

As I got older the walks with my mom would be supplemented by rides with friends on our bikes—library bag still in tow. Kids books replaced by teen novels and books by Stephan King and Edgar Allen Poe. When G-tot came along the library bag once again found itself stuffed full of kids books (along with DVDs and CDs).

Then, a couple of years ago, I realized that I wasn’t reading for ME nearly as much as I used to. Now don’t get me wrong, I was still reading a lot. But instead of novels just for pleasure it was primarily children’s books and books on design theory and technical manuals. Not exactly the kind of page-turning stuff this 30-something was dying to read.

So I set a goal. Read 10 books in 2008 just for me. It renewed my passion for reading. In 2009 I upped the goal to 15 books. And in 2010 I set my goal to read 20 books just for me. I hit that goal in the middle of December.

This is what I read last year.

1. Restaurant at the End of the Universe—Douglas Adams
2. Life, the Universe, and Everything—Douglas Adams
3. Eat, Pray, Love—Elizabeth Gilbert
4. A Rather Charming Invitation—C.A. Belmond
5. Bright Lights, Big Ass—Jen Lancaster
6. Moose (A Fat Camp Memoir)—Stephenie Klein
7. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies—Seth Graham
8. A Bad Day for Pretty—Sophie Littlefield
9. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner—Stephenie Meyer
10. The Hunger Games—Suzanne Collins
11. Catching Fire—Suzanne Collins
12. Mockingjay—Suzanne Collins
13. The Alchemyst—Michael Scott
14. The Magician—Michael Scott
15. Gods Behaving Badly—Marie Phillips
16. So Long and Thanks for All the Fish—Douglas Adams
17. Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter—Seth Graham
18. The Sorceress—Michael Scott
19. The Necromancer—Michael Scott
20. Committed—Elizabeth Gilbert

Some were great, some were just okay, and a few were OH MY GOD GET ME THROUGH THIS NOW! My absolute favorites from last year were The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I hated Pride and Prejudice and Zombies but really enjoyed Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter—both written by Seth Graham. Committed was one of those books I could have done without but by the time I realized it was just, eh, I was (ironically) already committed to finishing it.

My goal for this year is 25 books. I’ve already read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire (both by Steig Larsson) and The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. I’m currently reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (also by Steig Larsson). I think I’m well on my way to hitting my 2011 goal.

How about you? Do you like to read just for pleasure? What are some of the best things you’ve read recently? And are you on Good Reads? If so, have we connected yet?

I hit the 2008 goal in August of last year and this morning I hit the 2009 goal. I’m considering exchanging an unfinished item on my list with a new goal—read 20 books in 2010. Either way, setting those two goals have me back on the path to enjoying all the great—and not so great—literature out there. Plus, there is just something special about reading an actual book. Not listening to one—which is also great—or reading one on an electronic device, but an actual book. The crisp pages, the black ink set in a specific font, the cover art, the smell of the pages that instantly declare whether the book is new or old. I love it.

So here is what I read this year to hit my goal. Some were better than others with #13 and #14 being the worst. In any other situation I would have given up on #14 but I got to a certain point and I was committed. I could not give up. But the payoff? Not worth it. Oh well. I do find it interesting that entirely by accident I started and ended with a books written by David Sedaris. I guess I like his writing, #15 was a quick 2 day read after two painstaking weeks of reading a poorly typeset 250+ page crap heap that might have been a good story had it been only 20 pages.

But anyway, the list.

1. Me Talk Pretty One Day—David Sedaris, 1.09
2. The Graveyard Book—Neil Gaiman, 2.09
3. Watchmen—Moore/Gibbons, 2.09
4. Tuesdays with Morrie—Mitch Albom, 3.09
5. When You are Engulfed in Flames—David Sedaris, 5.09
6. It Sucked and Then I Cried—Heather Armstrong, 6.09
7. The Road—Cormac McCarthy, 6.09
8. Ender’s Game—Orson Scott Card, 7.09
9. World War Z—Max Brooks, 9.09
10. I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone—Stephanie Kuehnart, 9.09
11. Slaughterhouse Five—Kurt Vonnegut, 9.09
12. The Alchemist—Paulo Coelho, 10.09
13. The House on Mango Street—Sandra Cisneros, 10.09
14. The Picture of Dorian Gray—Oscar Wilde, 10.09
15. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim—David Sedaris, 11.09

Next up is Mercury Falls written by fellow blogger Rob “Diesel” Kroese. I’ll let you know what I think.