Sunday, February 08, 2009

Blog Improvement Project 3.3: A list post

Perhaps this list should've been written up around New Year, which is mostly the time for looking back. But I am going to make it now as a part of the Blog Improvement Project. One of the "tasks" this time is to make several kind of blogposts. The first two were easy enough for me (a link-post and a short post) and I did them in two days. And one should think that making a list-post would be even easier. There are so many things to list. But for some reason, I haven't been able to come up with anything at all. So now I have grabbed my old "A Book Lover's Diary" where I used to list all my read books. And I am jumping back to 2004 and am making a list here of all the books I read in 2004:


Silent Prey by John Sandford 1/4/04
Secret Prey by John Sandford 1/8/04
Blessings by Anna Quindlen 1/12/04
The Beach House by James Patterson 1/15/04
Spellbound by Jane Green 1/23/04
Mind Prey by John Sandford 2/3/04
Naked Prey by John Sandford 2/13/04
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown 2/27/04
Crow Lake by Mary Lawson 3/12/04
Circus of the Damned by Laurell K. Hamilton 3/16/04
Disordered Minds by Minette Walters 3/20/04
Cry the Darkness by Donna L. Friess 3/22/04
Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende 3/25/04
Fall on Your Knees by AnnMarie MacDonald 3/31/04
The Lunatic Cafe by Laurell K. Hamilton 4/12/04
Shopaholic ties the knot by Sophie Kinsella 4/20/04
Winter Prey by John Sandford 5/4/04
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane 5/10/04
Certain Prey by John Sandford 5/15/04
Pompeii by Robert Harris 5/20/04
Mortal Prey by John Sandfor 5/25/04
The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen 5/29/04
A Kiss of Darkness by Laurell K. Hamilton 6/10/04
Bloody Bones by Laurell K. Hamilton 6/25/04
e by Matt Beaumont 6/26/04
Distant Shores by Kristin Hannah 7/1/04
Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by Marian Keyes 7/30/04
Spelling Mississippi 8/12/04
Monday Mourning by Kathy Reichs 8/14/04
What Look Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day by Pearl Cleage 8/21/04
Easy Prey by John Sandford 9/4/04
Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris 9/15/04
The Killing Hour by Lisa Gardner 9/20/04
Rules of Prey by John Sandford 9/23/04
The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton 10/1/04
Burnt Offering by Laurell K. Hamilton 10/4/04
Indelible by Karin Slaughter 11/4/04
The 5 People you Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom 11/7/04
Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg 11/15/04
Cat & Mouse by James Patterson 11/23/04
A Caress of Twilight by Laurell K. Hamilton 11/26/04
Shopaholic and Sister 11/28/04
Blow Fly by Patricia Cornwell 12/12/04
Wifey by Judy Blume 12/14/04
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What does this list tell me? First of all, it is clear, that I was mostly into thrillers in 2004 with a lot of vampire and fantasy in between plus the odd chick lit thrown in. Not so much contemporary fiction on this list. It was also the year where I was really into John Sandford and Laurell K. Hamilton. I also read more than I do now. And I can also see that I didn't have time for reading much in July 2004, as that was the year where we went to USA for a month and did so many things and saw so many people that I barely had time for reading. In March 2004, where I read many books, I was working abroad for a month, which explains why I had time for reading. I've also reviewed most of the books I read in 2004 on Amazon (and here) and there are several pretty bad reads among all those listed above. I have given two stars to the following books: Spellbound, Cry the Darkness, The Apprentice, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married and Shopaholic and Sister. On the other hand, some of the books which were to become some of my all time faves were also 2004-reads: Fall on your Knees and Fried Green Tomatoes. I also gave a 5 star rating to What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day and Burnt Offerings. But I haven't re-read those books, so that was probably just a spur of the moment thing.

One of my not-so-good-reads from 2004: Lucy Sullivan is getting married by Marian Keyes.

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This is the 3rd post in the Blog Improvement Project # 3. You can read more about the project on Kim's page by clicking here or on the image in the sidebar.

5 comments:

Beth F said...

What a fun look back! Great idea for a list post.

Lisa said...

That is a great idea for a post. I should type up my lists.

Terri said...

Hey Louise - responding to your comment on my Sunday Salon post re: The Flying Troutmans. Here's what I wrote on my 125 challenge page:

What a fun romp this is! Told from Hattie's point of view, she is sister to Min - a woman with some mental health challenges - and aunt to Logan, a 15 year old boy, and Thebe, quite a precocious 11 year old. When Min is hospitalized yet again, Hattie takes Thebes and Logan on a road trip to find their father, Cherkis. Of course, there are many challenges along the way. Toews writes the road trip with humor and heart. This book is very funny with undertows of sadness and pain. An excellent read, highly recommended. If you liked Little Miss Sunshine, you'll love this book.

Have a great Sunday!

Julia Phillips Smith said...

My husband's a big fan of the Sandford Prey series. We've probably got all of those kicking around our apartment.

Louise said...

Thanks a lot for your comments and thanks to Terri for the review of the Toews-book.

:o)