2016 Book List

Just going to dump it all here. This list does NOT contain rereads:

1. The Mermaid's Sister (Carrie Anne Noble)
2. Ethics and Infinity (Emmanuel Levinas)
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens Novelization (Alan Dean Foster)
4. Shadow and Bone (Leigh Bardugo)
5. My Reckless Valentine (Olivia Dade)
6. Tatooine Ghost (Troy Denning)
7. Proposal - The Mediator (Meg Cabot)
8. Remembrance - The Mediator (Meg Cabot)
9. The Bye-Bye Bouquet (Chi Yu Rodriguez)
10. Java Frost (Courtney Hunt)
11. Skating on Thin Ice (Jami Davenport)
12. The Opposite of Wild (Kylie Gilmore)
13. Sweet Reunion (Melanie Shawn)
14. True Pretenses (Rose Lerner)
15. Listen to the Moon (Rose Lerner)
16. In for a Penny (Rose Lerner)
17. Yours Until Dawn (Teresa Medeiros)
18. A New Dawn (John Jackson Miller)
19. Seducing Mr. Knightley (Maya Rodale)
20. The Danger in Tempting an Earl (Sophie Barnes)
21. The Bad Boy Billionaire's Wicked Arrangement (Maya Rodale)
22. The Bad Boy Billionaire's Girl Gone Wild (Maya Rodale)
23. The Rogue Not Taken (Sarah MacLean)
24. It Takes a Scandal (Caroline Linden)
25. Love and Other Scandals (Caroline Linden)
26. Finding Miss MacFarland (Vivienne Lorret)
27. How the Marquess was Won (Julie Anne Long)
28. The Elusive Lord Everheart (Vivienne Lorret)
29. I Married a Duke (Katharine Ashe)
30. I Loved a Rogue (Katharine Ashe)
31. All I Want for Christmas (collection)
32. How to Rescue a Rake (Jayne Fresina)
33. A Good Debutante's Guide to Ruin (Sophie Jordan)
34. Save the Last Dance for Me (Cora Lee)
35. How to Dance with a Duke (Manda Collins)
36. How to Romance a Rake (Manda Collins)
37. How to Entice an Earl (Manda Collins)
38. How to Catch a Wild Viscount (Tessa Dare)
39. Diary of an Accidental Wildflower (Jennifer McQuiston)
40. What Happens in Scotland (Jennifer McQuiston)
41. Her Highland Fling (Jennifer McQuiston)
42. The Dress of the Season (Kate Noble)
43. Love Match (Lily Maxton)
44. The Short and Fascinating Tale of Angelina Whitcombe (Sabrina Darby)
45. I Kissed a Rogue (Shana Galen)
46. Married to a Perfect Stranger (Jane Ashford)
47. The Game and the Governess (Kate Noble)
48. The Proposition (Judith Ivory)
49. Follow My Lead (Kate Noble)
50. If I Fall (Kate Noble)
51. Let It Be Me (Kate Noble)
52. The Spinster's Guide to Scandalous Behavior (Jennifer McQuiston)
53. A Matter of Class (Mary Balogh)
54. Lady with a Black Umbrella (Mary Balogh)
55. Slightly Married (Mary Balogh)
56. Slightly Wicked (Mary Balogh)
57. Full Steam Ahead (Kate Witemeyer)
58. To Win Her Heart (Kate Witemeyer)
59. Head in the Clouds (Kate Witemeyer)
60. A Tailor-Made Bride (Kate Witemeyer)
61. Short Straw Bride (Kate Witemeyer)
62. Stealing the Preacher (Kate Witemeyer)
63. With This Ring (Kate Witemeyer)
64. Fancy Pants (Cathy Marie Hake)
65. Serendipity (Cathy Marie Hake)
66. That Certain Spark (Cathy Marie Hake)
67. Bittersweet (Cathy Marie Hake)
68. Love on the Mend (Kate Witemeyer)
69. Meeting Her Match (Mary Connealy)
70. Slightly Sinful (Mary Balogh)
71. Slightly Scandalous (Mary Balogh)
72. Simply Love (Mary Balogh)
73. A Most Inconvenient Marriage (Regina Jennings)
74. Because of Miss Bridgerton (Julia Quinn)
75. Tempted by a Lady's Smile (Christi Caldwell)
76. Heir to the Duke (Jane Ashford)
77. Kiss Me Annabel (Eloisa James)
78. Happily Bedded Bliss (Tracy Anne Warren)
79. The Ugly Duchess (Eloisa James)
80. The Wrong Bride (Gayle Callen)
81. The Colonel's Lady (Laura Frantz)
82. The Forbidden Lady (Kerrelyn Sparks)
83. Less Than a Gentleman (Kerrelyn Sparks)
84. The Groom Wore Plaid (Gayle Callen)
85. Suddenly You (Lisa Kleypas)
86. Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire)
87. I Adored a Lord (Katherine Ashe)
88. Beyond All Dreams (Elizabeth Camden)
89. With Every Breath (Elizabeth Camden)
90. The Lady Most Likely (Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, Connie Brockway)
91. The Earl Next Door (Charis Michaels)
92. The Lady of Bolton Hill (Elizabeth Camden)
93. The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy (Julia Quinn)
94. To Wed a Wicked Earl (Olivia Parker)
95. Guarding a Notorious Lady (Olivia Parker)
96. Devil in Winter (Lisa Kleypas)
97. Uprooted (Naomi Novak)
98. Kindred Spirits (Rainbow Rowell)
99. Rebel of the Sands (Alwyn Hamilton)
100. Bama Boy (Sheri Cobb South)
101. It's a Match (Ana Tejano)
102. The Scandalous Miss Sophie Valentine (Jayne Fresina)
103. Quiet Neighbors (Catriona McPherson)
104. The Autumn Bride (Anne Gracie)
105. The Runaway Duke (Julie Ann Long)
106. A Bride in the Bargain (Deanne Gist)
107. P.S. I Like You (Kasie West)
108. Heroes are My Weakness (Susan Elizabeth Phillips)
109. The Secret History (Donna Tartt)
110. The Weaver Takes a Wife (Sheri Cobb South)
111. Brighton Honeymoon (Sheri Cobb South)
112. Miss Darby's Duenna (Sheri Cobb South)
113. The Heiress of Winterwood (Sarah E. Ladd)
114. Clean Sweep (Ilona Andrews)
115. Sweep in Peace (Ilona Andrews)
116. The Reluctant Widow (Georgette Heyer)
117. Miss Wonderful (Loretta Chase)
118. Keep the Faith (Ana Tejano)
119. Nice Dragons Finish Last (Rachel Aaron)
119. One Good Dragon Deserves Another (Rachel Aaron)
120. No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished (Rachel Aaron)
121. Spotless (Camilla Monk)
122. Beating Ruby (Camilla Monk)
123. To Kiss a Thief (Susanna Craig)
124. The Best Man (Kristan Higgins)
125. The Perfect Match (Kristan Higgins)
126. Goddess of the Hunt (Tessa Dare)
127. Surrender of a Siren (Tessa Dare)
128. The Talisman Ring (Georgette Heyer)
129. Friday's Child (Georgette Heyer)
130. False Colours (Georgette Heyer)
131. The Nonesuch (Georgette Heyer)
132. The Tollgate (Georgette Heyer)
133. The Corinthian (Georgette Heyer)
134. The Grand Sophy (Georgette Heyer)
135. A Madness in Spring (Kate Noble)
136. A Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong (Cecilia Grant)
137. The Devil's Delilah (Loretta Chase)
138. Mr Impossible (Loretta Chase)
139. The Season (Sarah MacLean)
140. The Virgin and the Viscount (Charis Michaels)
141. Revealed (Kate Noble)
142. The Summer of You (Kate Noble)
143. Miss Goodhue Lives for a Night (Kate Noble)
144. Kiss Me, Kill Me (Lauren Henderson)
145. Get in Trouble (Kelly Link)
146. The Public Has the Right to Know (Bienvenido A Tan)
147. The Perks of Loving a Scoundrel (Jennifer McQuiston)
148. Do You Want to Start a Scandal (Tessa Dare)
149. Tarnished Knight (Bec McMaster)
150. The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace (Bec McMaster)
151. Kiss of Steel (Bec McMaster)
152. Heart of Iron (Bec McMaster)
153. Prep and Prejudice (Miren B. Flores)
154. Another Word for Happy (Agay Llanera)
155. If the Dress Fits (Carla de Guzman)
156. Settle the Score/Hustle Play (Tara Frejas)
157. Desperately Seeking Suzanna (Elizabeth Michels)
158. This Modern Love (Will Darbyshire)
159. Shuffle, Repeat (Jen Klein)
160. A Summer for Scandal (Lydia San Andres)
161. Slade House (David Mitchell)
162. Dare to Love (CP Santi)
163. Coma Girl (Stephanie Bond)
164. The Crystal Whisperer (Camilla Monk)
165. The Communist Manifesto (Karl Marx and Fredreich Engels)
166. The Analects of Confucius (Confucius)
167. The Nakano Thrift Store (Hiromi Kawakama)
168. Njal's Saga
169. The Mountain of Kept Memory (Rachel Neumeier)
170. A Scot in the Dark (Sarah Maclean)
171. After Lambana (Eliza Victoria and Merv Malonzo)
172. Changing His Game (Megan Erickson)
173. How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days or Less (Elizabeth Michels)
174. Mai Tai'd Up (Alice Clayton)
175. Screwdrivered (Alice Clayton)


• I read a lot of romances (unsurprising) and of those, a lot of historical romances. I'd like to think this was my year of historical romances, when I really tried to consume as many books from my favorite romance authors (Georgette Heyer, .

• Discovered instant favorites, like Kate Noble (with every book, she teaches me how to write a line that goes beyond how I would write it), Rose Lerner (such well-rounded characters in 'trope' situations, with very human, relatable struggles and fears), and the cheeky, cheeky Camilla Monk.

• Enjoyed the growing #romanceclass titles -- why can't there be more hours in a day to help me read everything?

• I went through an inspirational romance phase, a steampunk phase, and an urban fantasy phase this year. I want more.

• I read more books by female authors.

• I bought a lot of books on sale. The Georgette Heyer e-books, for instance, were purchased during a sale. I'd give myself a ceiling price each time. It now hurts to be without a corporate (foundation) job.

• I also read a lot of fanfiction. I always read fanfiction.

• Work-related stress helped me tackle my reading list. I'd start a book before going to bed, then read it when I woke up, take it with me as I ate breakfast, showered, and got ready, read it on the bus, on the jeep, in between breaks, during lunch, while waiting in line, on the way home. Some books I finish during lunch, others right before I sleep -- it all depends on how good the story is. Then rinse and repeat. When I resigned from my job, my reading pace took a major hit!

• I don't think I can ever read 175 books in a year again. But I shall try!

Still Reading

It's been such a crazy year so far with more downs than ups. That's one of the main reasons why I haven't gotten around to posting a lot of reviews. But I'm still reading (no worries)! Always a good thing.

My book list, in no particular order:

1. The Ghost Bride (Yangsze Choo)
2. Snapshot (Angie Stanton)
3. Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes (Denise Grover Swank)
4. Forget Me Not (Addie Lynn Co)
5. Frozen Heat (Richard Castle)
6. Tokyo Heist (Diana Renn)
7. Kids These Days (Luna East authors)
8. Staking His Claim (Tessa Bailey)
9. Temporarily Yours (Diane Alberts)
10. Dirty Trick (Christine Bell)
11. The Love Detective (Alexandra Potter)
12. The Ghost Writer (John Harwood)
13. The Year of the Gadfly (Jennifer Miller)
14. Blossoms and Shadows (Lian Hearn)
15. Blast from Two Pasts (Kristel Villar)

I'm trying to remember if there's anything I have missed so far. It feels like such a short list to me, compared to my reading progress a few years ago.

Books by female authors: 12/15 (+ one female-dominated anthology)
Books by male authors: 2/15
Books by Filipino authors: 2/15 (+ one local anthology)
• Noting here that Yangsze Choo is Malaysian-Chinese, Alex Potter is British, and Lian Hearn and John Harwood are Australians, but I still think I need to read more diverse people. Love Detective is set in India, while Tokyo Heist and Blossoms and Shadows are set in Japan.

There have been a lot of romances on my list so far and not enough fantasies or mysteries. I also have the #buqosteamyreads stories on my iPad so don't expect my romance reads to let up any time soon. I am also buddy-reading A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar but I'm thinking of sneaking a Perry Mason mystery in while I'm waiting for my buddy to catch up. I also have Murakami's IQ84 lined up, since it's on my reading list for 2014. Let's see if I can make more progress soon.

2014 Reading Challenge

My reading resolution this year will be simple. Here are some books that, for one reason or another, I've put off reading. This 2014, I'll try not to let my excuses get the better of me:

1. IQ84 by Haruki Murakami - My main excuse for not reading this book sooner was that the family's copy was at my cousin's apartment and it seemed redundant to have another copy of a book that took up a lot of space! I wasn't eager to read an ebook copy of a Murakami book, but I vow that this will be the year for me to finally pick it up when I'm in Katipunan.

2. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo - I've heard nothing but good reviews about this book. A fantastical take on an Asian historical tale. Sold.

3. The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken by Tarquin Hall - I must have the print edition of this one, since I already have the first two. A digital version won't do at all.

4. The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch - I was a fan of his Gentleman Bastards Sequence, but it's been a while since I read the last story. I want to reread the first two books before I attack this latest one, which was released just last year.

5. The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway - A time-travel story with both adventure and romance.

6. Errantry by Elizabeth Hand - Ms Hand is one of my favorite authors but I have yet to read her collection of short stories.

7. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki - Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, this novel has been on my TBR list for a while now. Just never found the time.

8. Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray - The first book made me shiver in delicious horror and I'm looking forward to the next installment in the Diviners series.

9. At the Mouth of the River of Bees by Kij Johnson - I sampled this on Kindle and I just love what I've read so far. But I've been putting off buying a copy since I'm watching my credit purchases. If I can find a copy at Fully Booked, I'm grabbing it right away.

10. Unbreak My Heart by Melissa Walker - It's been on my wish list for a while now but I just keep on setting it aside in favor of other books. I hope this year I'll stick to my guns and read it.

100 Book List Countdown

Possessed by either optimism or hubris last year, I vowed to finish 100 books for 2009. And though I've been quite slow blogging about them, I am happy to report to my three readers that I closed my last book on December 27, four days before the year was out. I picked up three fresh books after that, but have since been taking my own sweet time.

Here is the complete list, excluding titles that I merely re-read this year (so yeah, this list could have been longer had I concentrated on books new to me, but there's so much joy to be found in re-exploring a good book):
1. Stick Out Your Tongue (Ma Jian)
2. Special Topics in Calamity Physics (Marisha Pessl)
3. The Princess Diaries 10 (Meg Cabot)
4. Austenland (Shannon Hale)
5. My Swordhand is Singing (Marcus Sedgewick)
6. No one belongs here more than you. (Miranda July)
7. The Little Book of Forensics (David Owen)
8. Color: A National History of the Palette (Victoria Finlay)
9. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
10. An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England (Brock Clarke)
11. My Mistress' Sparrow is Dead (edited by Jeffrey Eugenides)
12. Night Watch (Sergei Lukyanenko)
13. Royal Assassin (Robin Hobb)
14. Becoming Bindy McKenzie (Jaclyn Moriarty)
15. Feeling Sorry for Celia (Jaclyn Moriarty)
16. The Princess and the Hound (Mette Ivie Harrison)
17. Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro)
18. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose (Laura Willig)
19. Malinche (Laura Esquival)
20. Getting to Know You (David Marusek)
21. The Stone Rose (Jacqueline Rayner)
22. Winter Rose (Patricia A. McKillip)
23. The Man of My Dreams (Curtis Sittenfeld)
24. Silent on the Moor (Deanna Raybourn)
25. Eat Pray Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)
26. What I Did For Love (Susan Elizabeth Philips)
27. The Changeling Sea (Patricia McKillip)
28. The Resurrection Casket/Doctor Who series (Justin Richards)
29. Kissed by an Angel (Elizabeth Chandler)
30. The Power of Love (Elizabeth Chandler)
31. Soul Mates (Elizabeth Chandler)
32. Tintin and the Secret of Literature (Tom McCarthy)
33. Proust and the Squid (Maryanne Wolf)
34. The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases (edited by Jeff Vandermeer and Mark Roberts)
35. The Sugar Queen (Sarah Addison Allen)
36. General Winston's Daughter (Sharon Shinn)
37. The Observations (Jane Harris)
38. Lady of the Glen (Jennifer Roberson)
39. Criss Cross (Lynne Rae Perkins)
40. A Curse Dark as Gold (Elizabeth C Bunce)
41. Belle/Once Upon a Time series (Cameron Dokey)
42. Pretty Monsters (Kelly Link)
43. The Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
44. My Imaginary Ex (Mina V. Esguerra)
45. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (E. Lockheart)
46. Carved in Stone (Linda Newbery)
47. The Mysterious Benedict Society (Trenton Lee Stewart)
48. When It Happens (Susane Colasanti)
49. Every Soul a Star (Wendy Mass)
50-53. Secret Sorceress (+ 3 other books)
54. The Ninth Stone (Kylie Fitzpatrick)
55. Devil's Cub (Georgette Heyer)
56. Ransom My Heart (Mia Thermopolis/Meg Cabot)
57. The Historian (Elizabeth Kostova)
58. Murkmere (Patricia Elliott)
59. Ambergate (Patricia Elliott)
60. The Reluctant Heiress (Eva Ibbotson)
61. The Red Queen's Daughter (Jacqueline Kolosov)
62. Agnes and the Hitman (Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer)
63. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (Joanne Fluke)
64. Eon Dragon Reborn (Alison Goodman)
65. Thirteen Reasons Why (Jay Asher)
66. The Book of Lost Things (John Conolly)
67. Carpe Diem (Autumn Cornwell)
68. Dracula's Heir: An Interactive Mystery (Sam Stall)
69. A Far Cry from Kensington (Muriel Sparks)
70. The Knife of Never Letting Go (Patrick Ness)
71. The Ask and the Answer (Patrick Ness)
72. The Lighting Thief (Rick Riordan)
73. The Sea of Monsters (Rick Riordan)
74. The Titan's Curse (Rick Riordan)
75. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Rick Riordan)
76. Odd and the Frost Giants (Neil Gaiman)
77. The Tea Rose (Jennifer Donnelly)
78. City of Bones (Cassandra Clare)
79. Impossible (Nancy Werner)
80. Making Money (Terry Pratchett)
81. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey (Trenton Lee Stewart)
82. I am a Dalek/Doctor Who series (Gareth Roberts)
83. Thud! (Terry Pratchett)
84. Blink (Malcolm Gladwell)
85. Salt A World History (Mark Kurlansky)
86. Stargazer: The Life and Times of the Telescope (Fred Watson)
87. Tigerheart (Peter David)
88. An Abundance of Katherines (John Green)
89. The Sultan and the Mermaid Queen (Paul Spencer Sochaczewski)
90. Fevre Dream (George R.R. Martin)
91. Grail Prince (Nancy McKenzie)
92. Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List (Rachel Cohn and David Levithan)
93. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Alan Bradley)
94. Bewitching Season (Marissa Doyle)
95. Wild Orchid/Once Upon a Time (Cameron Dokey)
96. Hush (Donna Jo Napoli)
97. The Glass Book of the Dream Eaters Volume 1 (Gordon Dahlquist)
98. The Woman in Black (Susan Hill)
99. The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Carrie Ryan)
100. Anathem (Neal Stephenson)


On the surface, I've learned that:
1) 100 books in a year is an average of 3.65 per book, but I can actually consume about 2-3 books in a day, provided they're really light reads. Much thanks go to YA and romances, which prove to be the quickest reads for me.

2) Of all the books I've read this year, only about 20 of them come highly recommended. Okay, the actual number might be a little off; I'll have to go over my list. Not that the others are bad. I have more than enough good words to say about most of them, but only a precious few have reached my personal favorites category. The ratio seems extremely disappointing to me at this point.

3) Anathem was the hardest book I've had to read in a long time. It's about math and philosophy and aliens and contains words like polycosmic metatheorics. But thank you, Mr Stephenson. It's an experience I won't soon forget.

4) This year, I read what could be the crappiest romance series I've ever encountered. It had angels. And cheese. Plenty of cheese. Urgh. Why didn't I stop?

5) I was disappointed with myself for not picking up more Filipino books. I actually read part of Sarge Lacuesta's Flames and Other Stories and Ricky Lee's Para Kay B but never got to finish them. I vow to read more next year.

I don't think I'm crazy enough to go for another hundred next year after this, not especially after feeling pressured by mid-December. I'm glad I tried this, though. 100 is a nice number, especially when my instinct tells me my annual average would fall between a comfortable 60-80 books/year range. Looking back, I realize my list has leaned towards the lighter side of the reading scale so perhaps for 2010, I'll try to challenge myself with wider, more diverse reading material. Now there's a resolution. Happy new year, friends!