Well folks, summer is officially here and that means that the Spring Reading Thing hosted by Kat @ Callapidder Days is officially over. I challenged myself to read 10 books this Spring and I came so achingly close to meeting that goal! I am nearly finished with my 10th book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, which my book club will be discussing on Thursday (it’s also going to be my first time hosting book club in the new house! woohoo!)

Here are the books I read this Spring:

1. Shadow of the Wind (kindle) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (March Book Club Pick) – Finished March 24, 2011 – This was one of the better written books that I’ve read in awhile – beautiful descriptions without feeling tedious, a fascinating story that gets more complex with each chapter, but brilliantly. I really enjoyed this book which seemed to offer a little bit of everything. – full review –
2. Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz & David Hayward – Finished April 2, 2011 – I am a huge fan of Lisa Lutz so I was beyond eager to read this book which she wrote with her ex, David Hayward. This book was hysterical and a really cool peek into the writing process – I’d recommend it to any writers or mystery buffs. – full review –
3. Much Ado About Anne (Mother Daughter Book Club, Book Two) by Heather Vogel Frederick – finished April 10, 2011 – I think these books send a really positive message to teens and tweens while still being fun and an enjoyable read. I loved reading about reading about Anne of Green Gables, one of my favorite classic books / series. Definitely looking forward to reading future books in this series.
4. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman (April Book Club Pick) – finished April 24, 2011 – I found this book interesting but not necessarily enjoyable. It reads like a series of short stories about various employees of a small European newspaper. As you read, the stories begin to feel somewhat interconnected, but at the same time not really. I felt the format made it difficult to get attached to any of the “characters” and the depressing nature of the book didn’t help matters. I think this was exactly what the author was going for though.
5. The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa de la Cruz – finished May 12, 2011 – This series gets more and more interesting with each book. If you are into the whole “vampire genre” I think you will find this a very refreshing, unique take on the genre. Eagerly looking forward to reading the next book!
6. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote (Classics Challenge) – Finished May 16, 2011 – I have a hard time reading books when I’ve already seen movie adaptations and this book was not much different. It kept me entertained just enough to keep reading with a few differences from the movie and interesting quotes, etc. but on the whole I was a bit bored.
7. Sweet Valley Confidential: 10 Years Later by Francine Pascal – Finished May 23, 2011 – This book had a lot of potential, with an interesting plot that picks up 10 years later when the Twins are 27 years old, eight months after a shocking betrayal!  Unfortunately I really found this book poorly written, a bit too crass and awfully depressing. Jessica’s Valley Girl accent was just too much and none of the characters felt authentic. It felt very teenish except too vulgar for teens.  I don’t know… I didn’t love it. – full review –
8. Fifth Avenue, 5 a.m. by Sam Wasson – finished May 27, 2011 – I really enjoyed this book. It had so much information on the making of both the book and the movie, giving a lot of perspectives on both projects and filling in on what the time period was like and how hard it was to get a movie like that made back then. And of course I am such a big Audrey fan, that just getting to learn more about her life was awesome. Wonderfully written, very interesting.
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett – finished June 8, 2011 – This was definitely the best book I’ve read so far this year. It’s a book that will touch your heart and move you – make you think even when you don’t want to think. I learned a lot from this book about things I hadn’t expected to be learning, along with the things you would expect. I’d recommend it to anyone. – full review –

I also started reading Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery this spring but abandoned it after much debate. Part of the problem was having seen a film version that (loosely) included the plot from this book among others, which was kind of a major spoiler. It was also, frankly, one of the less interesting books and I know I am not alone in feeling that way!

If you’d like to see my original reading goals for the Spring, you can see my post here detailing which books I’d expected to read and why. I did stray a bit from the original list, but I’d kind of figured I would, knowing my reading habits and accounting for review books that might come my way, etc. But a lot of the original books mentioned did get read, so all in all, I’m pretty happy with my results!

For fun, here are a few superlatives to describe my spring reading.

Favorite Book: definitely The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Least Favorite Book: book I finished : The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman ; book I abandoned: obviously Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery

Most Disappointing Book: Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal, I’d been really hoping to love this one

Biggest Surprise Book: Fifth Avenue, 5 a.m. by Sam Wasson – this was such an impulse read, I requested it from the library within minutes of first hearing about it and I have to say, I loved it. I liked it better than actually reading Breakfast at Tiffanys!

What did you read this Spring? What did you love reading? What did you hate?