Book Challenge - 25% done

Some of you may remember my post about goodreads.com.  It is a cool website where you can keep track of what you read, read reviews, post your own reviews and more.  I challenged myself to read 20 books this year.  I did pick the number conservatively since I did not want to get to the end of the year (at Christmastime when I am reading less) and be too far from my goal.  I have never really tracked how many books that I read. Sometimes, like yesterday, I can read a book in a day.  Other times, I labor over the same book for a month or more (like the book that I finished the day before).  Well, I just checked my progress and I am already 25% completed of my goal.  It is only mid-February and I have 4 months worth of reading done.  Now, I am wondering if I should change my goal or leave it, complete it and then make a new one.

I thought that I would give you my review of the 2 books that I did read:

Book 1 - "Eat, pray, love : one woman's search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia" by  Elizabeth Gilbert.
Description (from Amazon):  At the age of thirty-one, Gilbert moved with her husband to the suburbs of New York and began trying to get pregnant, only to realize that she wanted neither a child nor a husband. Three years later, after a protracted divorce, she embarked on a yearlong trip of recovery, with three main stops: Rome, for pleasure (mostly gustatory, with a special emphasis on gelato); an ashram outside of Mumbai, for spiritual searching; and Bali, for "balancing."

I originally check out this book this summer from our local library.  It had been made into a movie with Julia Roberts and everyone was raving about it (the book, I mean), so I figured that I would give it a shot.  I always prefer to read the story before seeing a movie.  Now granted, biography is not my usual genre. I must say that I have never read a book like this, but I liked the idea of it nonetheless.  I did not get very far into it, before I had to return it to the library.  We get 3 weeks and it came when I was already reading something else, so I did not start it right away.  I checked it out again in November and only got through the first 1/3 (where she is enjoying Italy).  I did like her living life, eating pasta and learning Italian.  All too quickly my 3 weeks was up and I was in only in the India section.  I asked for it for Christmas, so that I could finish it once and for all.  I found her "praying" in India to be full of whining.  I couldn't stand her diatribe about how she just couldn't get out of her own way to meditate.  It took me forever to get through this section.  Finally, she made her way to Bali to fall in love.  She was much more enjoyable here, although, now I had a sour taste in my mouth.  Maybe I should not be that hard on her since it really isn't my normal reading material, but I have to say that when I finally finished her book, I exhaled a sigh of relief.  Thank goodness it was over.  If it wasn't for my need to finish all the books that I start, I would have left her in India.  She is doing a follow-up book, which I will be passing!  

Book 2: Awakened (House of Night, book 8) by PC & Kristen Cast

Description (from the library): 

Zoey has returned from the Otherworld to her rightful place as High Priestess at the House of Night. Her friends are just glad to have her back, but after losing her human consort, Heath, will Zoey--or her relationship with her super-hot Warrior, Stark--ever be the same?  Let me begin by explaining that this is a young adult novel series.  To me, they are like brain candy - probably bad for me, but fun to chew on.  After reading something long or time-consuming, I love to sit down with this quick books.  This is the 8th in a series about a world where vampires are a normal part of life that some people just "become" as a teenager.  When I first started this series ages ago, I really enjoyed it.  It was fun and different.  However, I don't think that this mother/daughter author team know how to complete a story line.  Most books should be a story by themselves.  If they are a series, the characters may have new adventures, but one adventure is finished in each book.  Not so with this series.  Nothing ever gets finished, it just keeps going on and on.  Every time a new book comes out, I think, okay, this time they will finish it.  8th book finished - still to be continued!  She never vanquishes the bad guy.  The story itself is always interesting, but I think that this might be my last House of Night book, even though a new one comes out soon - as always. So, that's it.  Now I am on to The Thirteenth Tale and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Have you read anything interesting?  Drop me a line! Meagan