Books I Read in 2010

1. The Charnel Prince--Greg Keyes

2. The Book of the Dead--Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (re-read)

3. The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening--L.J. Smith (I have a feeling the TV series is better.)

4. The Wheel of Darkness--Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (re-read)

5. The Scarpetta Factor--Patricia Cornwell

6. Truly, Madly--Heather Webber (An ARC from Goodreads.)

*7. Dispatches from the Edge--Anderson Cooper

8. Dead Until Dark--Charlaine Harris

9. The Likeness--Tana French

10. The Blood Knight--Greg Keyes

11. Whiskey Sour--J.A. Konrath

12. The Stand--Stephen King (re-read--I read it almost every year)

13. Lost in a Good Book--Jasper Fforde

14. Death of a Gentle Lady--M.C. Beaton

15. House Rules--Jodi Picoult

16. The Scarecrow--Michael Connelly

17. The Lost Symbol--Dan Brown

18. The Born Queen--Greg Keyes

19. Sharp Objects--Gillian Flynn

20. Death of a Valentine--M.C. Beaton

21. Airhead--Meg Cabout (re-read)

22. Death of a Witch--M.C. Beaton

23. Fatally Flaky--Diane Mott Davidson

24. Columbine--Dave Cullen (re-read--I wanted to start reading before I visited the Columbine memorial this year)

25. Changes--Jim Butcher

26. Dark Places--Gillian Flynn

27. The Spellmans Strike Again--Lisa Lutz

28. The Summoning--Kelley Armstrong

29. The Weight of Silence--Heather Gudenkauf

30. Love Is Hell--various authors

31. Being Nikki--Meg Cabot (re-read)

32. The Boyfriend List--E. Lockhart

33. Wings--Aprilynne Pike

34. Madapple--Christina Meldrum

35. Insatiable--Meg Cabot

36. Getting the Girl--Susan Juby

37. Shutter Island--Dennis Lehane

38. Angelica--Sharon Shinn (re-read)

39. Austenland--Shannon Hale

40. Runaway--Meg Cabot

41. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo--Stieg Larsson

42. Shades of Grey--Jasper Fforde

43. The Surgeon--Tess Gerritsen

44. Living Dead in Dallas--Charlaine Harris

*45. So Brave, Young, and Handsome--Leif Enger

*46. Never Let Me Go--Kazuo Ishiguro (re-read)

*47. Fever Dream--Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

48. The Girl Who Played With Fire--Stieg Larsson

49. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief--Rick Riordan

*50. Peace Like a River--Leif Enger (re-read)

51. The Colorado Kid--Stephen King

52. The Apprentice--Tess Gerritsen

*53. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake--Aimee Bender

*54. The Prestige--Christopher Priest

55. Marked--P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

56. Storm Front--Jim Butcher (re-read)

57. Half Magic--Edward Eager

58. Where Are You Now?--Mary Higgins Clark

59. Flight of Shadows--Sigmund Brouwer

60. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters--Rick Riordan

61. Club Dead--Charlaine Harris

62. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest--Stieg Larsson

63. Pretty Little Liars--Sara Shepard

64. Just Take My Heart--Mary Higgins Clark

65. Sunshine--Robin McKinley (re-read)

66. Queen of Babble--Meg Cabot (re-read)

67. Flawless--Sara Shepard

My count is off by two. Not sure why. :P To sum up my year, let me just say that it's gooooooood to have a library two minutes away. :D

2010 Recap of Sorts

My lovely Mary did this on her blog, which inspired me, although I must say, it was really hard. Some of these lists took me a few days.

10 Best (or Most Significant) Events of 2010

1. CleanPlace Moot

2. Living in our new place

3. The King Tut exhibit in Denver

4. Having Heather here for a week

5. Playing "Where Are Your Keys?"

6. CleanPlace Moot concert

7. Watching Eclipse with Gina

8. Seeing the first episode of Doctor Who with the Eleventh Doctor

9. Getting the piano

10. Cooking Christmas dinner (all by myself!)

10 Random Specific Moments in 2010

1. Sitting next to Rebekah while she got caught up on the pages of my novel she hadn't read yet--AWESOME

2. Reading Kendra's poem at the Moot poetry workshop

3. Watching a Bollywood movie with Heather

4. Kayla and I laughing hysterically over iPhone apps meant to entertain four-year-olds

5. "On TUESDAY!"

6. Silly Songs with Twinkie

7. "How fascinating!"

8. Playing Rock Band with Dara and Sara

9. Seeing Annie smile as she did contact juggling

10. Talking stories with Kendra and Darcie

10 Songs That Meant Something to Me in 2010 (mostly for story-related reasons)

1. Beautiful Scandalous Night

2. Adagio in D Minor--Sunshine soundtrack

3. Somewhere--Within Temptation

4. Doctor Who Girl--Mitch Benn (not story-related, just unbelievably hilarious)

5. Forgiven--Battlestar Galactica Season 1 soundtrack

6. Ode to a Superhero--Weird Al

7. Little Amy--Doctor Who series 5 soundtrack

8. Where Are You Going--Dave Matthews Band

9. Hallelujah--Rufus Wainwright

10. Full of Grace--Sarah McLachlan

10 Good Books I Read (or Re-Read) in 2010

1. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake--Aimee Bender (best book I read in 2010)

2. Dispatches from the Edge--Anderson Cooper

3. The Prestige--Christopher Priest

4. Peace Like a River--Leif Enger

5. Never Let Me Go--Kazuo Ishiguro

6. Fever Dream--Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

7. So Brave, Young, and Handsome--Leif Enger

8. Dark Places--Gillian Flynn (for the grownups, okay, kids?)

9. The Spellmans Strike Again--Lisa Lutz

10. Changes--Jim Butcher (although I barely remember it--I think I read it too fast)

10 Lessons I Learned in 2010

1. Do not use upholstery cleaner on carpet.

2. If you give me Diet Coke, everything will be okay.

3. Those crazy ideas that pop into my head while I'm in the shower? Take them and run with them!

4. Sunblock!

5. My maternal instinct is satisfied by about 70 funny, brilliant, sometimes maddening CleanPlacers and former CleanPlacers.

6. I can sing by myself in front of people and not die of embarrassment.

7. Sometimes you have to kill a character you love.

8. Giving a book you've already read and dismissed a second chance could change your life.

9. TV can teach you a lot about writing. (see: Smallville, Doctor Who, not that I'm comparing them to each other AT ALL)

10. Beat the egg whites BEFORE you put in the sugar. And off-brand refrigerated pie crusts totally suck.

The Ultimate Jenny Lemon Playlist

Jenny Lemon is the lame working title (or appellation in lieu of an actual title) of my YA series. And it will definitely be a series, since I can now see the end of book #3 in sight, which paves the way for a fourth book. The basic premise is about a 16-year-old girl who is the only powerless person in a family where everyone has some kind of superpower.

Instead of actually writing last night, I stayed up late making a playlist in iTunes for the whole series. It's not in any specific order, but all the songs relate to the plot and/or characters in some way. Definitely shows my bizarre and wide-ranging tastes. :P

1. Battlefield--Jordin Sparks
2. Prelude 12-21--AFI
3. Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)--Muse
4. Perfect Girl--Sarah McLachlan
5. Superman--Five for Fighting
6. Awake and Alive--Skillet
7. Somewhere--Within Temptation
8. Where Are You Going?--Dave Matthews Band
9. Is There a Ghost--Band of Heroes
10. Believe It or Not (Theme from The Greatest American Hero)--Joey Scarbury
11. Someone to Save You--OneRepublic
12. Every Breath You Take--The Police
13. Alone--Heart (the version I have is from Glee, though)
14. Feeling Good--Michael Buble
15. October--U2
16. Ode to a Superhero--Weird Al
17. Hallelujah--Rufus Wainwright (Lots of people have covered this, but I like Wainwright's voice a lot.)
18. If We Ever Meet Again--Timbaland feat. Katy Perry
19. It's the Fear--Within Temptation
20. Enter Sandman--Metallica
21. Full of Grace--Sarah McLachlan
22. Spider-Man--Weezer
23. Going Out of My Head--Fastball
24. You're Not Sorry (CSI Remix)--Taylor Swift
25. All the Right Moves--OneRepublic
26. Jimmy Olsen's Blues--Spin Doctors
27. One More Day--VAST
28. Bulletproof--La Roux