Help! I am in a Reader's Advisory class right now, and I need recommendations. It's centered around books for adults. I am mostly useless in that department as I have transferred all almost my energy to young adult novels.

For this class I have to read a recent (last 5-10 years) book in a bunch of different genres. These are the ones I don't have covered yet:

• Fantasy
• Science Fiction
• Westerns
• Romance / Romantic Suspense
• Multicultural / International
• Horror
• Literary Fiction

PLEASE leave comments and give me your suggestions. I am badly in need of guidance.

Thanks!

P.S. Becky & Christina: Do you think The Lover's Dictionary would work as my romance choice?

I bet you thought I had forgotten about this. No worries though, I am just really late in putting it together.

As many of you know, I obsessively keep a log of every book I read. I don't know where I got the idea, but I started it halfway through 2004 and have never stopped. I love it. It helps me to keep track of what I read and gives me a good snapshot of my year in reading. Here are the posts recapping 2008 and 2009.

This past year I have extended this obsession to Goodreads, which is by far my favorite of all the book community sites I have tried. And yes, I have tried several sites. I'm a book nerd, deal with it. Anyway, it does sometimes complicate things because there are books I listed as read in 2010 on Goodreads that I didn't add to my reading log for whatever reason. I am going to try not to do that this year.

I read 66 books I hadn't read before (75 according to Goodreads, which includes rereads), adding up to 20,915 pages. 

Owned: 10 
From Library: 56 

Adult Fiction: 13 
Nonfiction: 6 
Young Adult Fiction: 41 
Juvenile Fiction: 6 

Books Reread: 4 

Began 2010 with: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl 
Ended 2010 with: Vixen by Jillian Larkin 

Shortest: 96 pages - Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute by Jarrett J. Krosoczka 
Longest: 563 pages - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl 

Oldest: 1869 - Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868 according to Goodreads) 
Newest: Dec. 2010 - Vixen by Jillian Larkin (I read 20 books published in 2010) 

Quickest to Read: 1 day - Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
          (I read 3 different books in 1 day, but this one had the most pages) 
Longest to Read: 21 days - Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 

Favorite: The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins (I read all three in 2010) 
Least Favorite: Scatterheart by Lili Wilkinson
          (I ordered this from Australia because it wasn't released here and I was so excited
          about it, but the story was weird and not at all what I was expecting.)
Most Surprising: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
          (I don't like contemporary fiction as much, but this one blew me away, I loved it!)  
Most Disappointing: Matched by Allie Condie
          (This one had so much hype, I read it before it was published, and it was OK,
          but not the amazing novel I was hoping for.) 
Most Outside My Usual Choices: City of Thieves by David Benioff
          (I don't remember why I read this one, but it is adult fiction, about two guys
          searching around Russia for eggs during a war so they don't get killed. And I didn't
          love it, but I liked it.)

Favorite New Author: Megan McCafferty (Sloppy Firsts series, so great!)

I started 2011 by reading Patti LuPone's self-titled memoir. I've already read 9 books in 2011 so far though, again I am very late in posting this.

I don't know that I will have as much time to read this year now that I am back in school, but there are so many books I am excited about. Happy reading!

If you don't know what challenge I am talking about, read this.

I survived the first month with no permanent damage. Other than the cheesecake incident I mentioned in my original challenge post, I have lived a dessert-free existence. Only 11 more months to go!

As I mentioned when I have done these challenges before, once I make the decision to say no, it comes quite easily for the most part. There were no difficult moments where I almost gave in.

I have been eating a lot more dry cereal though. I am a bored eater all the way, so instead of popping chocolate in my mouth to keep it busy, I have been munching on Crispix! It's been my favorite non-sugar cereal since I was a kid. It's awesome with or without milk.

I do think the next couple of months will be the most difficult part of the year for me. Easter is right around the corner, and the stores are already selling Cadbury cream eggs and other delicious things. Easter is when all my favorite seasonal chocolate comes out, and has always been a very big impulse-control issue for me. This year I intend to survive Easter with nary a chocolate egg entering my system!