The Books of 2014

For 2014, my goal was to read 50 books, and I ended up with 52, which was fun. I'm trying to up the amount of books I read every year; I used to feel really good about reading 30 books in a year, then I made friends who read over 100 books a year. Which makes me feel a bit like a disappointment. But I do enjoy most of the books I read, and sometimes I have other hobbies that take up more of my time, so I'm trying not to feel too bad about that.

I think my favorite new discovery this year was the Lunar Chronicles series. It's a sci-fi take on classic fairy tales, and it is incredibly well written. Not to mention that each new book in the series features a strong, intelligent female character whose life isn't all about finding the right man, which I love. This world needs more of that. The only downside from finding this series was that I didn't know it was a series when I picked up Cinder, and the final installment doesn't come out until November of 2015. It's heartbreaking, really.

I also did quite a bit of rereading, which is one quirk I have. I love rereading books, especially when a new book in the series is coming out and I don't remember all the details of the previous books. And sometimes I just want to reread a book or a series because I love it so much. I think 2015 might continue some of that trend; I have quite a few series that I haven't read in four or five years, and I'm started to get the itch to read them again.

And now, on to my list!

1. The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel
2. Champion (Legend #3) by Marie Lue
3. Austenland by Shannon Hale
4. Steelheart (Reckoners #1) by Brandon Sanderson
5. Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale
6. The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman
7. Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
8. Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth
9. Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer
10. Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer
11. The House of the Scorpion (Matteo Alacran #1) by Nancy Farmer
12. The Lord of Opium (Matteo Alacran #2) by Nancy Farmer
13. The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football by Jeff Benedict
14. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
15. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
16. The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner #2) by James Dashner
17. The Death Cure (Maze Runner #3) by James Dashner
18. Partials (Partials Sequence #1) by Dan Wells
19. Fragments (Partials Sequence #2) by Dan Wells
20. Ruins (Partials Sequence #3) by Dan Wells
21. The Wide, Wide Sea (Chaos Walking #2.5) by Patrick Ness
22. Snowscape (Chaos Walking #3.5) by Patrick Ness
23. George's Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl
24. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
25. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
26. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl
27. Matilda by Roald Dahl
28. The BFG by Roald Dahl
29. The Thief (The Queen's Thief #1) by Megan Whalen Turner
30. The Queen of Attolia (The Queen's Thief #2) by Megan Whalen Turner
31. The King of Attolia (The Queen's Thief #3) by Megan Whalen Turner
32. A Conspiracy of Kings (The Queen's Thief #4) by Megan Whalen Turner
33. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
34. Vodnik by Bryce Moore
35. The Water and the Blood by Nancy E. Turner
36. This House Is Haunted by John Boyne
37. The Kill Order (Maze Runner #0.5) by James Dashner
38. Blackout (Blackout #1) by Robison Wells
39. The Rent Collector by Camron Wright
40. Dangerous by Shannon Hale
41. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
42. Shiver (Wolves of Mercy Falls #1) by Maggie Stiefvater
43. Linger (Wolves of Mercy Falls #2) by Maggie Stiefvater
44. Forever (Wolves of Mercy Falls #3) by Maggie Stiefvater
45. Sinner (Wolves of Mercy Falls #4) by Maggie Stiefvater
46. The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins
47. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins
48. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins
49. Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stiefvater
50. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan
51. The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2) by Rick Riordan
52. The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3) by Rick Riordan

Rejoining the World of Blogging

It has been a very long time since I have blogged, which is a shame because this past year has been quite the eventful one. I'm not even sure where to start to catch up on things. There have been a lot of ups and a few downs, but things have been good, for the most part.

So here's a brief catch-up on the goings-on of the Conelly household over the past nine months or so:

• We bought a house, obviously, and have spent a good amount of time decorating and doing minor DIY projects, mostly in the kitchen and dining room. Our current project is updating our framed photos (since our current ones are all engagement/wedding photos) and redoing the collage wall in the living room. I'm hoping to do a post with pictures of some of the little things we've done that I think look really nice.
• Andrew lost his job. Which was a very stressful time for a little while. But we have been blessed with how good my job is, and we have been fine financially. That means that once Andrew finds a new job, we'll be able to save most of his income, which will hopefully get us to our goals faster. 
• We went to Disneyland. This may seem a little frivolous after losing one income, but it had been half paid for before Andrew lost his job, and we had cash and gift cards we had been saving for the trip. The only thing we had to pay for out of pocket was the hotel, which made it feel like a very inexpensive vacation. And it was so much fun to be in Disneyland for Christmas. It's just so pretty. We had such a good time. 

• We adopted a kitty! Andrew and I had no idea we could be crazy cat people, but Bagheera has transformed us. This adorable little fuzzball has completely stolen our hearts and we love her to death. Bagheera is a really fun and rather affectionate cat, and she is spoiled rotten. But I think she deserves it after living in a shelter for six months and being burdened with the name Pink. But we saved her from both, and now she answers to Bagheera just fine. Well, when she wants to, anyway. We're even half considering getting an actual kitten at some point in the future so Bagheera has someone to keep her company, but we'll see.

• We celebrated a fun, quiet Christmas with just the two of us, and it was so relaxing and nice. We didn't have anything big under the tree, but that didn't matter; it was nice to be home together. New Year's was also low-key; I don't even think I made it to midnight. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep on the couch.
• I got a pretty awesome raise at work, which is such a blessing, especially considering it came completely out of the blue. I'm so incredibly grateful for my job and for the company I work for. My bosses care about me and want me to stay and be happy here, and the executives are all so careful in making sure their employees are taken care of. I am incredibly fortunate that I have followed my career opportunities to be where I am today.
• Andrew and I celebrated our second anniversary in the glorious Wizarding World of Harry Potter! We had been talking about this since last year, but when Andrew lost his job, we didn't think we would be able to make it work. But when we looked at our finances, the money was available, so we just went. And it was amazing. Seriously. The expansion with Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express is pretty incredible, and I loved every second of being there and feeling like witches and wizards really do exist. I geeked out hardcore and enjoyed myself thoroughly. This trip was only a couple of weeks ago, so I'm hoping to write up a more detailed post once Andrew edits the pictures he took.

And that brings us to the present, which isn't terribly exciting at the moment. Andrew has a couple of solid leads on jobs, so we're hoping and praying that one of them comes through for us. And if it doesn't, he'll keep trekking and keep looking, and we know that he'll find something eventually. We don't have any fun trips planned, so there isn't much to look forward to in that respect. But that's okay. I'm sure we will find fun things to do, and hopefully I will be able to stay up on blogging in the future.