2013 BOOK CHALLENGE! Are you in?

[KrazyPete]

Goal - 24 books

Book #15 - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - I flew through this one pretty quick because it was really hard to put down. At first, I could find no protagonist. I didn't like any of the characters but was still being pulled into the story. By the end of the book, I still didn't like any of the characters but I understood why and I appreciated the way they were developed. I know some people don't like the ending itself. It's not a gratifying conclusion but at least it's not cliche. The author had several opportunities to take the easy out and she chose to give the story one more twist. Great Book!

Next up - Old Man's War by John Scalzi - I got this as a part of an indie publisher bundle (probably StoryBundle or Humble eBook Bundle) about a year ago. I'm not usually a big fan of sci-fi. The summary makes it sound like "Ender's Game" with senior citizens. The reviews are high but my expectations are low.

 

[portia9]

Haven't been here for a couple of weeks to post. I have been studying so doing lots of reading but not book type reading.

Goal 100

Book #79 The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

Kate Morton books are great. Always a bit of mystery and very evocative.

 

[portia9]

I believe there is a movie being made of Death Comes To Pemberley.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/death-comes-to-pemberley-casting.html

 

[zippitydoo]

Book 26 of 30

Two Guys Detective Agency by Stephanie Bond

Two estranged sisters (whose last name is Guy) find themselves husbandless and broke, and decide to take on a faltering P.I. agency in a strip mall. The women get off to a shaky start--their work styles and lifestyles are like oil and water, and every case seems to resurrect old family quarrels and distrust. But ultimately the women have a revelation: Who better to deal with clients who have shocking secrets than two women who harbor so many secrets of their own?

 

[DisneyWalle]

#24 - Thr3e by Ted Dekker

Ooo! Another great book by this author! It kept me guessing til the last 25 pages.

By all accounts seminary student Kevin Parsins is leading a good, if not virtuous, life. But like all people, Kevin has his secrets. And someone wants them revealed.
While driving home from a day at graduate school, Kevin receives a call from a mysterious stranger who calls himself Slater. Slater demands Kevin confess his sin in the next three minutes or the vehicle he is manning will be blown to pieces.
Thus starts a harrowing chain of events. After narrowly escaping his exploding car, Kevin continues to receive phone calls from Slater, each with another riddle, another consequence, and another three minutes to confess his sin.
The problem is Kevin is unsure of what that sin might be. And Slater's cycle won't stop until he figures it out.

 

[WowLookAtThat]

Book #58 Mermaids: The Myths, Legends and Lore by Skye Alexander

 

[dizluvah]

Book 71 (original goal 75, upped to 125)
The Great Escape by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Bride runs away from the altar - and ends up falling in love with a bodyguard hired by her family. I really enjoyed this book - fun light read with enough offbeat plot lines to keep it from being formulaic.

Book 72 Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
great read - thanks to those who recommended this one

 

[willowsnn3]

Goal 72

#51 While I Was Out by Sue Miller

"In the summer of 1968, Jo Becker ran out on the marriage and the life her parents wanted for her, and escaped--for one beautiful, idyllic year--into a life that was bohemian and romantic, living under an assumed name in a rambling group house in Cambridge. It was a time of limitless possibility, but it ended in a single instant when Jo returned home one night to find her best friend lying dead in a pool of blood on the living room floor."

That quote is what made me want to read this book. The only thing is there was so much rambling on before & after the good parts that it was a very boring read for me.
Have seen lots of raves for the author's other books that I might try another of her books. Maybe.

 

[threeboysmom]

#22 - Obsessed by Ted Dekker

Oh my! One of the best books I have read in a long time. Highly recommended especially if you like Ted Dekker. Great book!

Stephen Friedman is making a good living in good times. He's just an ordinary guy. Or so he thinks.
But one day an extraordinary piece of information tells him differently. It's a clue from the grave of a Holocaust survivor. A clue that makes him heir to an incredible fortune . . . a clue that only he and one other man can possibly understand.
That man is Roth Braun, a serial killer who has been waiting for Stephen for thirty years. Roth was stopped once before. This time nothing will get in his way.

Gosh, I can't remember if I read this one! Title sounds SO familiar, but I don't remember that plotline. Guess I'll need to look this one up!

Goal - 24 books

Book #15 - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - I flew through this one pretty quick because it was really hard to put down. At first, I could find no protagonist. I didn't like any of the characters but was still being pulled into the story. By the end of the book, I still didn't like any of the characters but I understood why and I appreciated the way they were developed. I know some people don't like the ending itself. It's not a gratifying conclusion but at least it's not cliche. The author had several opportunities to take the easy out and she chose to give the story one more twist. Great Book!

Glad you liked it! I loved Gone Girl so much that I'm currently rereading it, lol!

#24 - Thr3e by Ted Dekker

Ooo! Another great book by this author! It kept me guessing til the last 25 pages.

By all accounts seminary student Kevin Parsins is leading a good, if not virtuous, life. But like all people, Kevin has his secrets. And someone wants them revealed.
While driving home from a day at graduate school, Kevin receives a call from a mysterious stranger who calls himself Slater. Slater demands Kevin confess his sin in the next three minutes or the vehicle he is manning will be blown to pieces.
Thus starts a harrowing chain of events. After narrowly escaping his exploding car, Kevin continues to receive phone calls from Slater, each with another riddle, another consequence, and another three minutes to confess his sin.
The problem is Kevin is unsure of what that sin might be. And Slater's cycle won't stop until he figures it out.

My FAVORITE Ted Dekker book!!

Have you read his Circle series yet?

 

[keenercam]

90/150 - Cutting Ties (Book 2 in the Piper Anderson series). I really like the first one in the series and was waiting for this to be published to Kindle. I was worried weather it could be as suspenseful and interesting as the first, and it was.

91/150 - Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson -- This was an interesting FBI suspense novel with very strong undertones about Christian faith. I thought it was complex and interesting, but was surprised to read some negative reviews on Amazon. Apparently, Dee Henderson fans think this is not up to her standards. Now, I'm very curious to read her earlier books, since I was impressed with this one.

 

[willowsnn3]

Goal 72

#52 Never Look Away by Linwood Barclay

Very good thriller about a small time reporter whose wife goes missing & of course the husband is the main suspect. Lots of twists & turns.
4 & 1/2 half stars. Would definetly recommend.

 

[wilma-bride]

willowsnn3, I love Linwood Barclay's books, have read them all

I have just finished book number 63 - 314 by A R Wise

This was a Kindle freebie. They can be hit and miss, I find, but this one was one of the better ones.

Here is what the blurb says:

Alma Harper has been trying to forget what happened in Widowsfield 16 years ago. She has a good life as a music teacher now, and might rekindle her relationship with her one true love. However, the number 314 haunts her, and threatens to bring her back to the day that her brother disappeared. When a reporter shows up, just days before March 14th, Alma realizes that her past is coming back to haunt her. What happened on March 14th, at 3:14, 16 years ago? No one but The Skeleton Man can remember.

Whilst not stand out brilliant, for a freebie this was really pretty good. Within the first couple of pages, I was hooked (and scared witless). DO NOT READ THIS BOOK ON YOUR OWN There is a second one by the same author, a continuation of the story and I am definitely going to download it.

 

[portia9]

Goal 100

#80 Shakespeare by Bill Bryson. Not a lot I didn't know about Shakespeare but still an interesting read.

 

[threeboysmom]

#29 out of 50
A Salty Piece of Land by Jimmy Buffett

Nothing to rave about - book should have ended 100 pages or so earlier in my opinion. Certain parts just seemed to drag on. But it was the perfect summer read... and gosh did it awaken my wanderlust!!! I am *this close* to just packing it up and running away to the Caribbean to see what life awaits me there!

#30 out of 50
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I admit it... I read this book a SECOND time, lol! Ever since I finished it last year, I've been wanting to do a reread knowing what I knew after finishing. It was just as good the 2nd time around... if not even darker and more twisted, lol. LOVE this book! I've read all 3 of Gillian's books now, and this one is by far my favorite!

Next up: Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand

Book is set in Nantucket. I'm really not sure at this point what it's even about, but the setting alone makes it a good summer beach read for me!

 

[BearcatsFan]

39/50 - The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

From the New York Times bestselling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls comes a spellbinding novel of love, despair, and revenge—set in war-ravaged Tuscany.

1943: Tucked away in the idyllic hills south of Florence, the Rosatis, an Italian family of noble lineage, believe that the walls of their ancient villa will keep them safe from the war raging across Europe. Eighteen-year-old Cristina spends her days swimming in the pool, playing with her young niece and nephew, and wandering aimlessly amid the estate’s gardens and olive groves. But when two soldiers, a German and an Italian, arrive at the villa asking to see an ancient Etruscan burial site, the Rosatis’ bucolic tranquility is shattered. A young German lieutenant begins to court Cristina, the Nazis descend upon the estate demanding hospitality, and what was once their sanctuary becomes their prison.

1955: Serafina Bettini, an investigator with the Florence police department, has her own demons. A beautiful woman, Serafina carefully hides her scars along with her haunting memories of the war. But when she is assigned to a gruesome new case—a serial killer targeting the Rosatis, murdering the remnants of the family one-by-one in cold blood—Serafina finds herself digging into a past that involves both the victims and her own tragic history.

Set against an exquisitely rendered Italian countryside, The Light in the Ruins unveils a breathtaking story of moral paradox, human frailty, and the mysterious ways of the heart.

I wanted to like this, I really did, but it was a struggle for me to get through. In fact, I found myself making excuses not to read it and not to finish it, and that's never good.

IMHO, this book tried to be too many things, tried to tell too many stories. It was about war, love, loss, history, Italy, art, murder, family, rebellion. It bounced back and forth between years - one chapter was set in 1943/1944, the next in 1955, back and forth, back and forth ... so much so that it became confusing.

I got to where I no longer cared about the characters. The story was so drawn out, so long, and there were so many people I got confused about who was who (especially with the bouncing back and forth between time periods). When the murderer was finally revealed, I was relieved because I knew the end of the book was near.

The author uses a LOT of description - almost too much. It began to feel like filler after a while, like there was a minimum page requirement for publishing.

2/5 stars

Next Up: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

 

[luvmarypoppins]

#6 The Butler - A Witness to History by Wil Haygood

This book is about one of the white house butlers. The movie is coming out next month and Oprah is playing the butlers wife.

This was a quick book to read but really didnt cover that much of the butlers private or work life.

It was an ok read. I am sure the movie will be much different from the book.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Finished book 27 as you wish


It was so exciting everything from is a couple divorcing because of a life style change to is the male lead going to finally ask the female lead to marry him.

 

[GaBelle]

Not in my opinion. But if you would like the book, I will be happy to mail it too you media mail -- no charge. Just let me know. I have no interest in keeping it. (It's a hardback with the jacket cover)

Thank you so much for your kind offer. But as luck would have it, my neighbor lent it to me today.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Just finished book #51, "Porch Lights" by Dorothea Benton Frank. One of my favorite books ever. Something about the loving family interaction among grandmother, mother, child, and spouse were so endearing to me. Up next, "The PMS Murders" by Laura Levine.

 

[portia9]

Goal 100

Book #81 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K.Rowling

I am pretty sure everyone knows what it is about

This is a re read and I have now moved on to the second book.