Just Read...

Faefever

by Karen Marie Morning.

Loved it. See how much, here.

--Me

Just Read...

Bloodfever

by Karen Marie Morning

Omygosh these books are so good! I finished this one in about 6 hours. I need to tell my friend to bring me the rest on Monday! Book Report!

--Me

Darkfever by Karen Marie Morning

Darkfever

By Karen Marie Morning

Rating: a strong PG-13

Spoiler Alert: a little, but no details

Coffee Bean Rating: 4.5/5 (I really want to give it a 5!)

Finished a fun, fast, and exciting book. Darkfever by Karen Marie Morning. A friend of mine gave it to me (along with the 2nd and 3rd in the series) a LONG time ago, but I never got around to reading it until now.

I picked it up and finished it in a few days (which is impressive for me right now since it’s 350 pages and I really had to look under couch cushions and behind doors to find time to read it). I read the last page today, halfway through my lunch and was very upset to find that the remaining 10 or so pages were just flyleafs (or is it like the leaves on a tree and is ‘flyleaves’?) and other “non-Mac related” writings! I plan on zipping home and promptly grabbing the next one off my shelf and starting that one. I have a strong feeling that I’ll be starting the third one by Monday. Some books just do that to me (City of Bones series, Sookie Stackhouse, Hunger Games, and Fever series just to name a few).

Enough babbling! Onto the review!

MacKayla (Mac for short) Lane just found out that her sister, while studying abroad in Ireland, has been murdered in a cruel and horrible way. Against her parents’ pleas, Mac quits college (she’s 22) and goes to Ireland and demand that the police reopen her sister’s case and solve the murder. And if they don’t, then by golly, she’s gonna do it for them (and without breaking one of her perfectly pink nails).

She ends up getting a disturbing and cryptic message from her sister via voicemail just hours before she was killed. Trying to seek answers to the clues she was given, she asks the wrong man for help about a book, Jericho Barrons. Turns out, he’s looking for it too, and thinks she's a liability.

Well, that just causes Mac to dig in her heels and try harder (like she says, ‘pride is her special little problem’). Things happen and cause Mac and Barrons to partner up, although reluctantly. There’s so much tension and unacknowledged attraction between them that neither of them sees, or at least will admit to. But I saw it!! And I was soooo hoping that something would happen between them. I knew they were destined for each other the moment they met (but I’m not going to tell you what happens. But I will say this, I am both pleased and very, very not-pleased with how Morning grants my wish).

While trying to track down her sister’s killer and find the book that will help her do it, Mac is plunged into a world she had no idea existed complete with fae, and vampires and all manner of creepers in the shadows. All with a man she knows nothing about or what his true intentions are. With her or with the book.

Morning tells the story from Mac’s pov and does it with sass and humor that made me instantly connect and fall in love with our heroine. Morning is witty and funny, created multiple forms and types of tension with masterful skill that had me turning the page under my desk at work (just kidding, of course. Or am I? Mwahaha).

A warning in advance: I looked on the spine of the book to find out what genre it was and read, Romance. Hmmm…while there are scenes not intended for the faint at heart (which may or may not include me) this was by no means a typical “romance/bodice ripper” type book. But, I’ll admit here and now, I was rooting the entire way through the book for Barrons and Mac to kiss. :)

--Me

Just Read...

Darkfever
by Karen Marie Morning

omygosh this book was GREAT!
--Me

The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes by Marcus Sakey

The Two Deaths of Marcus Sakey

by Daniel Hayes

Crime/Mystery

Content Rating: PG-13 (mild sex)

Spoiler Alert: Are you kidding me??? Heck no!

Coffee Bean Rating: A strong 4/5
Release Date: June 9, 2011

The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes by Marcus Sakey is quite simply, a brilliant book. And while I’m at it, Sakey is a brilliant author. I’m not much into crime/who-done-it books, but this has made me a believer; there’s something to them! At least there is to Sakey’s.

Daniel Hays wakes up naked and near death on a Maine beach. He has no idea who he is or how he got where he is, but he’s determined to find out. He finds a car with clothes his size, an insurance card with a California address, and a gun inside the glove box, but other than that, Daniel has nothing to go on. Sakey takes us though Daniels journey of retracing his steps back to California, towards the magnetic pull of a female star on a fictional TV drama. What I love most, is that Daniel knows nothing of what’s happening, and as a result, neither does the reader; and it feels very authentic and refreshing that way.

The story is told from three different points of view. Largely from Daniel’s, but there are two other’s whose take on what’s going on is both valuable and widely entertaining. Sakey’s way of writing is unique (quick, intense descriptions, short choppy sentences) and it’s quickly addictive. It adds so much to the novel and almost immediately, I was drawn into Daniel’s character.

Here’s a description that particularly caught my attention:

And finally, Malibu, nestled like a jewel in the warm bosom of the other coast. More beautiful than any place had a right to be. Golden sunlight, salt tang in the air, bungalows in faded shades of mint and turquoise next to multimillion-dollar wonders of glass and stone, waves rolling surfers to shore in long, slow breaks. Twenty-seven miles of beach and canyon, of palm trees and skies that promised never to cloud—except from wildfire smoke or mudslide rain. Celebrities huddled behind security gates while homeless philosophers dispensed wisdom outside organic cafés.

There are several flashbacks in the book, as Daniel is hit with bits and pieces of his memory, and I LOVE the say Sakey shows them to us. Since Daniel is a screenwriter, it only makes sense that his memories come back to him, and thus to us, in screenplay form. The impact these scenes have is wonderful. The story and plot is expertly woven together with great “didn’t see that comin’” twists.

As I don’t read this genre very much, I knew nothing about Sakey, other than Lee Child (a name I am familiar with because my mom loves him) made a connection between Sakey and Harlan Coben (another familiar name thanks to my mom) in a blurb for the book. So I was tickled pink when I saw that Sakey has 4 other books (all best sellers) and three of those four books are in development as films.

Why the PG-13 rating, if it was such a GREAT book? There are some vulgar subjects sporadically throughout the book—granted it’s through the unsavory character we get this info, so it has to be done—and a brief, non-detailed sex scene.

With action, twists and turns like the PCH, and SUPERB storytelling, The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes is a book you will not regret buying. Now go read it!

Happy Monday, my friends!

--Me

Just Read...

Finished a GREAT book yesterday. It went on sale June 9th, so pick it up!

The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes

by Marcus Sakey

Review to come soon! Review HERE!

--Me

Just Read....

Behind the Gates

By Eva Gray
MG Distopian

RCB #8

Diego the Tornado

by Joachim Masannek

Elementary age Fiction

RCB #7

--Me

Reading Challenge

It's that time again. Thanks to Random.org, book #79 has been selected, Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris.

But that did not make me happy...so instead, I've opted for Cassandra Clare's new book, City of Fallen Angels. :) Now, I am happy.

Sorry, Charlaine, but I've been waiting over a year for book 4 to come out. Grab a copy and read it with me!

--Me

Just Read...

Water for Elephants
by Sara Gruen

BEST book ever. Read my review here.

--Me

Water for Elephants Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants

by Sara Gruen

Adult Fiction

Spoiler: None

Rating: R
Coffee Beans: 5/5 (I am able to look past the "downside" I mention below to see the story as a whole, and it is breathtaking)

I’m happy to report, that next to The Gargoyle, I’ve just finished my favorite book of all time. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. This book--from beginning to end--was amazing. The setting was perfect, the opening perfect, and the ending wonderful and memorable, and absolutely…you guessed it…perfect.

Alright! Enough with my gooey perfect-ness. Time to review! Seriously.

I remember buying this book at B&N when it first came out, back in 2006. I picked it up, glanced at the back and said, “Hmm. Looks interesting.” It sat on my bookshelf for four years, untouched and forgotten, becoming one of my many “I’ll read you next” books. It wasn’t until I saw a preview for the upcoming movie (April 22, 2011) that I remembered I owned the book. I was talking with a co-worker about the movie and told her I had the book if she wanted to read it. She did, and in a few days finished it, telling me it was amazing. I decided to read it to be prepared for the upcoming movie.

And I’m so glad I did. There are some books, that when you finish them, you sit back and relish the experience you just had. The story of someone’s life that you’ve just lived. And that’s what Water for Elephants was. The life of Jacob Jankowski. Not a work of fiction conjured up by Gruen. Water for Elephants was a living, breathing creature—well written and well told.

Set in depression-era America, the book opens with Young Jacob studying for his final exams at Cornell University to become a veterinarian, like his father. He’s ready to write his final when devastating news is delivered that his parents had been killed in a car accident, his father had been taking payment for veterinary services in beans and rice, his parents had taken out a mortgage on their house to pay for Jacob’s college, and the bank now owned the house and the vet practice.

Jacob is homeless with nothing to lose. So he hops a train to see where it takes him, only to find out it’s a circus act on the move. His story is told in first person present tense from Young Jacob’s POV, but there are chapters that we jump to the present-time, 91 (or is it 93?) –year-old Old Jacob.

I found myself wishing the entire book was written in just the circus timeframe and not with the flash forwards, but having completed the book, I see that in order to get the complete story and really obtain that “Wow” factor, Gruen had to tell us the story through Old Jacob’s eyes and failing mind.

I didn’t find myself as bothered by the present-tense story telling as much as I did when I was reading Hunger Games--this was much more natural and very smooth. The only thing I would call a “downside” to this book, were all the (what I deem) inappropriate sex and sex-type scenes. I guess I can see why Gruen put them in there (to show us how innocent and naive Jacob was), but I think she already established that in the very beginning when Jacob talked about a girl he liked at Cornell. Anyway, there were 3 or so of those scenes that probably could’ve been ommitted and the book still would've been a-ma-zing.

That was the only “downside” to the story, but I’m not much into reading scenes like that to begin with. It may be a selling point to you. There were a lot of scenes in the book that I’ll be interested to see how they handle in the movie (abuse of the animals, etc).Overall, it was a superb book. I’m planning on seeing the movie soon and I’ll let you all know how it compares to the book. I hope they don’t let me down.

I won’t tell you much more, because I don’t want to ruin it for you, you really need to consume and absorb this book for yourself. But I will tell you this much: Jacob is taken on as the circus’ vet where he makes friends and enemies, falls in love, and finally becomes a man--in more ways than one.

Oh! I should probably tell you this funny story before I go: I was in Costco the other day looking for a book. I was considering Jane Eyre, but was unsure because it was unabridged and I’m not that adventurous when it comes to that.

An older woman (50’s or 60’s) told me it was an amazing book and I should get it. Feeling I should return the favor, I told her she should pick up Water for Elephants (the cover was the movie poster with Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson), that it was really good. I left her to consider it and went to the other side of the book table to browse.

Next thing I know, there’s another older woman standing with the first lady at Water for Elephants. I hear her say, “Yes, they’ve made it into a movie and it has that young man who plays in that vampire movie.” I glance up with a smirk, just in time to see the first lady snatch up a copy of Water and scamper away. It was priceless!

Trailer 1

Trailer 2

--Me

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

First Grave on the Right

by Darynda Jones

Paranormal Mystery/Romance

Spoiler: Kinda-sorta, yeah
Rating: Strong PG-13
Coffee Beans: 3/5


Charley sees dead people. That’s right, she sees dead people. And it’s her job to convince them to “go into the light.” But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (i.e. murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she’s been having about an entity who has been following her all her life…and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. (Summary courtesy of http://www.darynda.com/index.php/first-grave-on-the-right/)


Join Charlie Davidson, Danger, and Will Robinson on a crazy, laughable adventure complete with mystery hunks, lurking dead people, and that pesky, hot detective that keeps showing up to ruin your day. Charlie is part-time PI, part-time Police consultant, and full time grim reaper. THE grim reaper.

Charlie's visited by three lawyers, all killed the same night, all partners at the same law firm, and all working on the same case. Coincidence? Me thinks not. Helping the dead lawyers say their goodbyes and find out who killed them takes Charlie to the police case she ends up working with her uncle and the hot, annoying detective (both of which know her secret of talking to the dead).

Throughout the book, Jones has two other subplots and back story woven in, and it's done pretty well. One of Charlie's cases as a PI is a faint blip on her radar, only really popping in at the beginning and then again at the very end. The other is a mysterious hot dude she keeps having dreams about and is madly in love/obsessed with.

That part kinda bothered me. She eventually figures out that he's in prison and in a coma, and oh yeah, he's the guy that threatened to rape her when she was like twelve after she saw him get beat up by his dad and offered to call the police.

Way to fall for a winner, Charlie. This is worse than an obsessive-stalker-vampire boyfriend.

Her feelings for him were completely unbelievable for me, no matter how 'hot' she thought he was. And the cherry on the sundae? The thing she finds out about him at the end that was totally out of left field......not gonna tell ya what it is, though. Find out for yourself. :-)

The storyline wasn't overly original, and I'll tell ya why. When you're writing about something (grim reapers, vampires, angels, etc) paranormal (or not) that has a pretty monotonous/predictable/cliche storyline to it, you HAVE to jazz it up a lot to make sure you grab the right kind of attention from your readers. And a groan followed by the words, "Another Twilight?" doesn't count.

It was almost like Jones took a page from The Ghost Whisperer TV show with Jennifer Love Hewitt. Which is fine--if she would have twisted it and made it her own, which I didn't really feel she did. Both Whisperer and Grave had the identical premise of helping the departed cross over into the light, and it was their job to find out why the lingering earthbound spirits were here, and help them finish any unfinished business so they could cross over.


Jone's writing is good and I think it's a good debut novel. The mc was witty, sharp, and funny. But by the middle of the book, it was getting obnoxious. I got to the point in a scene where I could say to myself, "Cue witty remark...now" and there it would be. (I have mad skills, people, mad). I mainly just glossed over the parts where I knew they would be.

I felt the characters weren't as developed as they could've been, even Charlie, and the side characters in the novel were flat and almost cliche, but they served their purpose in helping to get the story told and keep the plot moving.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and even with all the pet peeves I mentioned above, the book was still entertaining and fun to read and had a pretty good mystery to solve. It went by fast and had a little bit of steam and a lot of wit. If you get the chance, pick it up and give it a read. It's entertaining and a fast read, but not one of the best books I've read.

--Me

Just Read...

The Internet is a Playground

by David Thorne

If your looking to pee yourself in a fit of laughter, this book is for you.

Book report. Check it.

--Me

Just Read...

First Grave on the Right

By Darynda Jones

Paranormal Mystery/comedy/little bit o' steam

This is a funny and fast-paced debut novel with a paranormal element--but not overbearingly so. Charley Davidson--part time police consultant, part time PI, part time Grim Reaper; full time sass--gets more than she bargains for when three dead lawyers show up at her front door and she finds that her romanitc dream boy is a prison convict in a comma.

--Me

Read my book report, here.

Reading Challenge New Selection!

Random.org has happily supplied me with my next reading selection!

#99 - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

:) I'm pluggin' along...

--Me

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

The Gargoyle

by Andrew Davidson

Spoiler: Yes

Rating: PG-13

Coffee Beans: 5/5

It's amazing.

One of my favorite books is a nontraditional love story called The Gargoyle by Canadian author Andrew Davidson. Davidson has a remarkable talent of delivering a captivating and engaging story that recounts an unnamed main character and his short, but emotionally electric, relationship with a woman named Marianne Engel. To tell you the truth, I didn’t even realize the main character didn’t have a name until a friend asked me what it was. That’s how good the book is. I didn’t need to know his name. But for purposes of my review, I’m going to call him MC.


Here’s the set up: MC is handsome, sexy, a famous porn star/producer, rich, unfulfilled, selfish, arrogant, and an alcoholic/drug addict. A perfect combination for a fall from grace, after all, a man can only take so much. One night, on a drunken binge and a bottle of liquor between his legs, he gets into a horrific, fiery car crash, landing himself in the hospital burn unit with third degree burns covering his entire body, including that pesky and oh-so-important-to-a-porn-star spot between his legs. MC’s a man who’s entire sense of self worth and life is based on his sexuality, and with the emergence of the monster he’s become, he’s devastated.

During MC’s long stint in the hospital—complete with detailed scenes of bodily skin scrubbings—he’s visited by a dark-haired beauty with tattoos covering her body, who’s escaped from the psych ward in the hospital. Marianne explains that she releases stone gargoyles as they call out to her, and that she has dozens of hearts in her chest. Each creation she unearths is gifted with one. She tells him when her last heart is given away, she will finally get to go home.

Something about her intrigues MC and he uses that interest as a source of strength during his painful rehabilitation hours, looking forward to her visits. During his months of recuperation, Marianne paints vivid stories about the depth and strength of love, spanning eras and cultures, as well as their own love story that has lasted through hundreds of years and dozens of past lives. MC knows that she is crazy, but her moments of lucidity are what he falls in love with.

When he’s strong enough to leave the hospital, Marianne takes him to live with her, where she spins more tales of love and gives more of her hearts away to her stone creations. As the MC’s addiction to painkillers is revealed, Marianne does her best to wean him off the painkillers, but it is not an easy journey for him. In a feverish fit of sleep, MC goes to a place much like Dante’s Inferno, where he meets the characters of Marianne’s stories, all very real. Through this feverish journey, MC fights the demons of his addiction, his past, who he really is, and the very real possibility Marianne’s stories could their past. At the end of his journey, at the gates of hell, he must make a choice that will define the rest of his life; to go back or die.

He chooses Marianne and their love, but when he finally comes to, it’s to the realization that she has given away all of her hearts to more gargoyles. All but one, and that one she says, is for MC. At last, Marianne can go home. And at last, MC has found the love that he lost, so long ago.

Once I started it, I couldn’t put it down. It’s an incredibly visual and sensational story of pain, growth, love and acceptance. The ending wasn’t warm and fuzzy, but it was satisfying and fulfilling. After I finished, sitting on my couch, I thought to myself, it couldn’t have ended in a more perfect way. In fact, to try and imagine any ending other than the Davidson gave it, is impossible. It fits the voice and the characters in a way that I haven’t seen from a book in a long time. Even though The Gargoyle is an international bestseller, in my opinion, it is still grossly unknown. I do my part trying to change that by suggesting it to everyone I know and screaming about it from the rooftops. I even have an extra copy to lend out. So do your part, read this book and suggest it to others.

--Me

Reading Challenge List - Prepare to be Amazed...

164 books are sitting on my bookshelves screaming over the top of each other with their gripping summaries and creative covers. Some are old, some are new. Some are borrowed. Some, I want to read a lot more than others. So, to keep things fair and unprejudiced, I will have the next book I read selected by Random.org. Here’s how my self-imposed contest will work:

• I will pick a book.
• I will read the book (you can read it with me, if you want. Hey! We can do our own little book club!).
• I will post about the book.
• I will pick another book and start this all over again.
• Maybe even I’ll try and come up with some way cool contest and sweet prizes for fun.
• We can even have our own little book club (But we have to promise to be enjoying a big cup of coffee when we discuss the book).

'Cuz I’m cool like that.


--Me





















 

---

Before the Storm by Diane Chamberlain The Book Theif by Markus Zusak The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Dead Funny by Tom Holt Falling Sideways by Tom Holt White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows Tuck by Stephen Lawhead Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski Storm Front by Jim Butcher The Horse Boy: A Fathers Quest to Heal His Son by Rupert Isaacson The Life of Pi by Yann Martel Belong to Me by Marisa De Los Santos The Paradise War Book One in the Song of Albion Trilogy The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy Tempted House of Night Book 6 by P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast (YA) Zombies vs. Unicorns by Black vs. Larbalestier (YA) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine Lengle (YA) Mondays New Beginning by Janice Hildreth Sundays Promise by Janice Hildreth The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning BloodFever by Karen Marie Morning Faefever by Karen Marie Morning Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes One For the Money by Janet Evanovich The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove (YA) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold Fireproof by Eric Wilson The Sea of Monsters by Rick Roirdan (YA) The Titans Curse by Rick Roirdan (YA) The Shadow of the Moon by M. M. Kaye The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye The Lost Cyclist by David V. Herlihy Jesus Freaks by D. C. Talk Jesus Freaks Revolutionaries by D. C. Talk Enders Game by Orson Scott Card (YA) Self-editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King Writing Fiction for Dummies by Randy Ingermanson & Peter Economy Stephen King on Writing a Memoir of the Craft The First Five Pages: A Writers Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman No Plot? No Problem! A Low-stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Vhris Baty The Writers Little Helper by James V. Smith, Jr. Revision & Self-editing by James Scott Bell *ARC - Death Cloud Young Sherlock Holmes the Legend Begins by Andrew Lane (YA) *ARC - The Girl Who Became a Beatle by Greg Taylor (YA) *ARC - Three Seconds by Roslund Hellstrom *ARC - When the Thrill is Gone a Leonid McGill Mystery by Walter Mosley *ARC - Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult *ARC - First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones *ARC - The Athena Project by Brad Thor Shakespeares Champion by Charliane Harris Shakespeares Landlord by Charlaine Harris Shakespeares Christmas by Charlaine Harris The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Gone Tomorrow A Reacher Novel by Lee Child Alvor by Laura Bingham (YA) The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle The Princess Bride by William Goldman The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (YA) The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison The Good, the Bad, and the Undead by Kim Harrison Every Which Way but Dead by Kim Harrison Harms Way by Stephen White Private Practice by Stephen White Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson (YA) Fool Moon by Jim Butcher Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur Whats a Ghoul to Do? Ghost of a Chance by Yasmine Galenorn Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels Grave Surprise by Charlaine Harris An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen Emma by Jane Austen Mansfield Park by Jane Austen First King of Shannara by Terry Brooks Rumours of Rain by Andre Brink The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf The Gospel of Judas by Simon Mawer A Sky so Close by Betool Khedairi On the Night Plain by J. Robert Lennon The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds Chalktown by Melinda Haynes Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson The Foxs Walk by Annabel Davis-Goff Forever by Pete Hamill The Whole Truth by David Baldacci Simple Genius by David Baldacci Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver Driftwood Summer by Patti Callahan Henry Dead Aim by Iris Johansen The Camel Club by David Baldacci The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Torment by Lauren Kate (YA) Cavedweller by Dorothy Allison The Blind Side by Michael Lewis Dark Visions by L. J. Smith (YA) Fencing the Sky by James Galvin River, Cross My Heart by Breena Clarke The Fallen by T. Jefferson Parker The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice Testimoney by Anita Shreve Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah Genesis of Shannara by Terry Brooks The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks Crow Lake by Mary Lawson The Hard Way by Lee Child Nevermore by Kelly Creagh (YA) Cold Pursuit by T. Jefferson Parker Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch Coal Black Horse by Robert Olmstead The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss Say Youre One of Them by Uwem Akpan Half a Heart by Rosellen Brown First Family by David Baldacci T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton Shadow Prey by John Sandford Bones by Jonathan Kellerman The Mercedes Coffin by Faye Kellerman True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich Back Spin by Harlan Coben Cross Country by James Patterson Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs Light Before Day by Christopher Rice The Confessor by Daniel Silva The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer The Dark Tide by Andrew Gross Divine Justice by David Baldacci Power Play by Joseph Finder Die in Plain Sight by Elizabeth Lowell In for the Kill by John Lutz Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell Damage COntrol by J. A. Jance Now & Then by Robert B. Parker Stranger in Paradise by Robert B. Parker The Bodies Left Behind by Jeffery Deaver Where Memories Lie by Deborah Crombie The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen Slow Kill by Michael McGarrity Dont Look Twice by Andrew Gross The Jury Master by Robert Dugoni Across the Universe by Beth Revis (YA) Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (YA) Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo Apologize, Apologize! by Elizabeth Kelly The Imperfectionist by Tom Rachman

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Reading Challenge Update

In putting my list together of all the unread books in my house (NOT including the two bags of mystery books dear old mum gave me, because, come on. I'm not that ambitious right now), I discovered many things.


1) I have A LOT of books (and sadly, this makes me want to go out and buy more. LOTS more).
2) I have carpel tunnel from typing my blasted list
3) I have 164 new reasons to be excited, and they're all GREAT ones (and that does include the books behind my couch. I had an extra cup of coffee).
4) Perhaps my goal of reading them all in a year was a bit much

(Hubby looking over my shoulder at the stacks of books at my feet, while simultaneously playing Call of Duty on Xbox Live: If you want to read all those in a year, you're gonna have to read like...a lot each month.)

That got me to thinking. He was right. But let's just keep that between you and me. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. I'd have to read about 14 books a month. I know I'm superhuman and all, but that's just a little out of my grasp.

So, new rules. I will try and read as much as I can in a year. :) There. I feel MUCH better now.

--Me

Reading Challenge!

So, this morning was the first morning in 26 LONG days that I actually got to enjoy a cup of coffee with creamer. I took the biggest mug I could find (my favorite one), filled it with wholesome goodness, and went into my reading room to enjoy the coffee and one of the ARCs I've started.

My couch faces my bookshelves, and a thought struck me. Unless I actively make an effort to read those books, they will always sit in my "unread" bookcase, never moving over into the "read" one. So, I had an idea.

Here it is: I'm going to read them. All of them. This year.

Here's the challenge I give to you: Read all the unread books (fiction, non, or both) you have in your house before the year is out.

Count them. How many unread books do you have that you're going to try to complete this year? Myself? I have 180 (164 of the are fiction. Those are the one's I'm going for).

I'm tossing around the idea of a friendly challenge and getting some prizes scraped together.

So what do you think? Can we do it??

--Me