Ok, so my goal for the year was 26. Just finished my 26th book last night!
I'm a reading machine I guess. I haven't updated in a looong time, so hang on and here goes! Oh, and if you read this whole thing I think it should count as a book towards your goal.
The Unit It was ok. Nothing to really write home about.
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One day in early spring, Dorrit Weger is checked into the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material. She is promised a nicely furnished apartment inside the Unit, where she will make new friends, enjoy the state of the art recreation facilities, and live the few remaining days of her life in comfort with people who are just like her. Here, women over the age of fifty and men over sixty–single, childless, and without jobs in progressive industries–are sequestered for their final few years; they are considered outsiders. In the Unit they are expected to contribute themselves for drug and psychological testing, and ultimately donate their organs, little by little, until the final donation. Despite the ruthless nature of this practice, the ethos of this near-future society and the Unit is to take care of others, and Dorrit finds herself living under very pleasant conditions: well-housed, well-fed, and well-attended. She is resigned to her fate and discovers her days there to be rather consoling and peaceful. But when she meets a man inside the Unit and falls in love, the extraordinary becomes a reality and life suddenly turns unbearable. Dorrit is faced with compliance or escape, and…well, then what?
THE UNIT is a gripping exploration of a society in the throes of an experiment, in which the “dispensable” ones are convinced under gentle coercion of the importance of sacrificing for the “necessary” ones. Ninni Holmqvist has created a debut novel of humor, sorrow, and rage about love, the close bonds of friendship, and about a cynical, utilitarian way of thinking disguised as care.
Catching the Westbound Interesting book. I enjoyed it.
- He came into this world with two distinctive qualities—an extraordinary vision and an indomitable spirit, but at the age of ten years old, R.J. Watkins was banished from his small Appalachian community after being unjustly accused of igniting a mining accident. With a little help from fellow riders of the rails, R.J. learned how to survive on his own, but eventually his train came to rest with the Benton and Walters Best Show in America, where R.J. cultivated his unusual talents.
At seventeen, R.J. answered another whistle call of destiny, and he met the powerful McClennan family. Like a dazzling display of fireworks to their fourth of July picnic, R.J. provided the perfect blend of flavor for their family that had long since grew stale. But when he had hard time adjusting to the lavish extremes of the East Coast high society, R.J. learned to navigate their foreign world by completely transforming himself. A metamorphosis so complete that within a few short years he was the talk of the town, a man he barely recognized. Still all the talk was for naught because with the closing bell on a single autumn day in 1929, the McClennan fortune, which took generations to amass, was gone.
The List If you are into gross books, this one you would like. Pretty graphic for me and usually that doesn't bother me.
- A billionaire Senator with money to burn...
A thirty year old science experiment, about to be revealed...
Seven people, marked for death, not for what they know, but for what they are...
The Storm Glass A good fluff book.
- Like a thunderhead heedlessly bearing down—The Storm Glass builds in fearsome intensity, drawing the good, the truly evil, and the innocent together when a despicable crime rocks the small city of Hannibal. Wilson is powerless to stop the heart rending violence and brutality. Getting revenge is an entirely different matter.
Jim Wilson, a fiftyish ‘regular’ guy, is anything but. For a decade he has used an extraordinary antique ring, a trinket found in an antique store, to feed the kitty, as he likes to put it. Using the invisibility and ability to levitate that the ring magically allows…Wilson is, arguably, the world’s greatest sneak thief; a phantom with a sense of humor and a taste for dopers’ dollars.
On a well-deserved vacation, a cruise the length of the Mississippi on his boat, the Thief of Hearts, Jim and Iris encounter a sprightly retired admiral, Hans, and his charming wife, Millie, who are heading downstream to their home in Hannibal, Missouri.
None of them are aware of the convoluted plot to utterly destroy a local bank, a crime involving millions of dollars and cold blooded murder. None of them suspect the portly local banker of the depravity and homicide he’s capable of, aided by a hardened thief and killer just out of prison and lusting for the biggest score of his life.
No, Jim’s biggest worries are that Iris wants him to retire from the business and he fears that Hans, who is actually ex-CIA, may know more about the ring than Jim likes.
But after heart-rending tragedy befalls during the robbery, Jim and Hans mount their own investigation heedless of the threats by the inept local Sheriff and the confused FBI agent in charge of the case.
They don’t have to follow the rules and they aren’t trying to put the bad guys in jail…they’re after payback…call it justice or retribution—or the cold-blooded quest for revenge that it actually is.
They’re bringing the bad guys down and they’re not afraid to use Jim’s ring to make that happen.
Rivals Didn't like this book at all. Kinda dumb.
- What does it take to turn a brother against his sister?
Brent, Maggie and their father used to take hikes in the desert. It used to be fun. Until the day they found something... unearthly... and it changed them all forever. The thing that killed their father turned Brent and Maggie into something more than they had been. It made them stronger and faster. It made them superheroes... and celebrities.
It made them rivals. Archenemies.
The thing in the desert tore their world apart. And now nobody is safe...
Jimmy Not a bad book. Good for a freebie.
- High school can be a difficult time in a young person’s life, especially toward the end where one has to start making the sudden transition into adulthood. For Jimmy Hawthorn it is even worse. Not only does he need to successfully make that transition, he has to do it while hiding the fact that he is the one responsible for the disappearances of two fellow high school girls, both of whom are prisoners in a secret underground fallout shelter he discovered behind an abandoned house on the outskirts of town.
Trade Secrets I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was way better then I thought it would be. Worth a read.
- Trade Secrets is a fast- paced thriller-a story of financial greed that has never been told. It takes the reader on the trading floor of the world’s largest Exchange where money is pocketed before a trade is processed. When Remy Masterman becomes a member of the Exchange to unearth the details surrounding her father’s car crash, she comes head to head with Zach Silverman, once her father’s partner and now Chairman of the Exchange. During the crash of 1987 when Zach’s bagman, Jason, faces bankruptcy, his high-heeled wife, Sarna, learns to trade to save their mansion from foreclosure. As the lives of these two women intersect, Remy falls in love with Ken Baldwin, never imagining how their careers will collide, and Sarna begins a steamy affair with a trader who turns out to be an undercover agent for the FBI during its probe into trading infractions at the Chicago Exchanges. When Jason’s clerk is pummeled, along with those investors who misplaced their money with their faith, he and Sarna create a bold, sexy scheme to save Remy and rid the Exchange of those who try to get away with murder. The author, a CPA, was a member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for twenty-two years.
As I Close My Eyes I really enjoyed this book and the sequel that is listed below.
- You know you are alive, but what if you are dead?
Danielle Grayson is a beautiful, intelligent young woman in present-day Georgia, but when she closes her eyes, she becomes someone else in a different time, one hundred years earlier in fact.
Danielle's other life is as entrancing and romantic as her current one, and the contrast between the lifestyles is intriguing and enlightening, but what starts out as being dreamlike soon becomes real and strangely familiar.
Worse, whatever happens to her as Danielle seems to change the past, if it is a true past.
And when she finds she is not alone in being able to flip between the two worlds, life, love and death become really disturbing.
As I Wake
- If we are fated to the same destiny through every life, can we change it?
Readers entranced by ‘As I Close My Eyes’ will once again be thrust into the enchanting life of Danielle Grayson in ‘As I Wake’, the second book in the ‘Breaking Fate’ series.
A secret of Dani’s past is revealed and she must find the answers before it’s too late. Can she change the fate of her one true love or will he suffer the same destiny for all time?
As Dani rekindles her relationship with Ben, she finds herself torn between her present-day life in Sugar Hill, Georgia, and a new past she has yet to discover.
But something in her past makes her question the journey she has chosen. Time is running out and she is the only one who can understand the path that must be taken.
But will it be enough? Has the story of Dani and Ben been written in stone, never to be undone?
My Story (Marilyn Monroe) A writer she was not.
Very repetitive. Nothing scandalous or exciting.
- Written at the height of her fame but not published until over a decade after her death, this autobiography of actress and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) poignantly recounts her childhood as an unwanted orphan, her early adolescence, her rise in the film industry from bit player to celebrity, and her marriage to Joe DiMaggio. In this intimate account of a very public life, she tells of her first (non-consensual) sexual experience, her romance with the Yankee Clipper, and her prescient vision of herself as "the kind of girl they found dead in the hall bedroom with an empty bottle of sleeping pills in her hand."
The Marilyn in these pages is a revelation: a gifted, intelligent, vulnerable woman who was far more complex than the unwitting sex siren she portrayed on screen. Lavishly illustrated with photos of Marilyn, this special book celebrates the life and career of an American icon—-from the unique perspective of the icon herself.
Yellow Star I read many books about the Holocaust. It seems weird to say I enjoy reading about it, but I find it all very fascinating and I especially love to read survivors stories.
- "In 1945 the war ended. The Germans surrendered, and the ghetto was liberated. Out of over a quarter of a million people, about 800 walked out of the ghetto. Of those who survived, only twelve were children. I was one of the twelve." For more than fifty years after the war, Syvia, like many Holocaust survivors, did not talk about her experiences in the Lodz ghetto in Poland. She buried her past in order to move forward. But finally she decided it was time to share her story, and so she told it to her niece, who has re-told it here using free verse inspired by her aunt.This is the true story of Syvia Perlmutter — a story of courage, heartbreak, and finally survival despite the terrible circumstances in which she grew up. A timeline, historical notes, and an author's note are included.
Wading Home I remember hearing about this book in the past so I finally broke down and bought it when it was offered a reduced price. It was a good book and very interesting.
- When Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, chef and widower Simon Fortier knows how he plans to face the storm--riding it out inside his long-time home in the city's Treme neighborhood, just as he has through so many storms before. But when the levees break and the city is torn apart, Simon disappears. His son, Julian, a celebrated jazz trumpeter, rushes home to a New Orleans he left years before to search for his father. As Julian crisscrosses the city, fearing the worst, he reconnects with Sylvia, Simon’s companion of many years; Parmenter, his father's erstwhile business partner and one of the most successful restaurateurs in New Orleans; and Velmyra, the woman Julian left behind when he moved to New York. Julian’s search for Simon deepens as he finds himself drawn into the troubled history of Silver Creek, the extravagantly beautiful piece of land where his father grew up, and closer once again to Velmyra. As he tries to come to grips with his father's likely fate, Julian slowly gains a deeper, richer understanding of his father and the city he loved so much, while unraveling the mysteries of Silver Creek.
1929 This was a really good book. The sequel has been released but I haven't read it yet.
- Jonathan Garrett has just lost everything. He and his two best friends were operating one of the top brokerages in New York City until the stock market crash of '29. With nothing but the clothes on their backs, these men must start over. Renting a shabby apartment from a business rival with his eye on tormenting Jonathan, they begin to rebuild as best they can. Their wives struggle to make the best of their situations, each coping in her own way. They begin to make friendships that promise to last a lifetime. As the jobs become fewer and danger is at their backs, the stakes get higher for these men to find a way out. Their current poverty, their respective pasts, and their own struggles all threaten to ruin them. With hope, close friends, and a lucky twist of fate, they escape the city just in time. They return to their hometown of Rockport Massachusetts to begin a new life. Living modestly, and faring better than the friends they left behind in the city, they begin to think things are taking a turn for the better. But tragedy is never far behind...
The Right Wrong Number I like Barbara Delinsky, although I hadn't read anything by her in a long time. When I pre-ordered this (as a Freebie) I didn't realize it was a short story. It was 'eh'.
- In this 30-page short story by bestselling author Barbara Delinsky, Carly Kelly has just been presented with a life-changing business opportunity for tiny nursery and flower store, Plant People. But she only has four days to decide, which means she will most likely have to cancel her weekend trip away. She dials her friends to let them know, and excitedly launches into a speech about the opportunity. But when she pauses, a sexy, inquisitive stranger is on the other end, and he’s eager to hear about her store, her passions and her life. She’s dialed the wrong number--- and the man on the other end, with his deep voice, his charming jokes and his excellent advice, is a surprise she never expected…
Angela's Ashes Very griping book! Didn't know it was a true story until I was done.
- "When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood."
So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy-- exasperating, irresponsible and beguiling-- does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father's tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies.
Perhaps it is story that accounts for Frank's survival. Wearing rags for diapers, begging a pig's head for Christmas dinner and gathering coal from the roadside to light a fire, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors--yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance and remarkable forgiveness.
Elvis Has Not Left The Building Campy book, silly premise but it was a fun read. Good fluff book.
- It's tough being the King.
Which is why in 1977 Elvis faked his own death and endured massive facial reconstruction surgery, and disappeared from the limelight to live a normal life as the unassuming Aaron King. Unfortunately, leaving fame behind also meant leaving his fortune behind, too, and now Elvis finds himself broke and living in near poverty in a small apartment in Los Angeles. Luckily for him, it turns out he's a pretty good private investigator.
Now in his seventies and contemplating a return to music (discreetly, of course), Elvis is hired to solve a baffling missing person case. The King digs deeper, and soon finds himself surrounded by the seedier elements of Los Angeles, from nefarious Hollywood producers who prey upon the young, to twin brothers with a very dark secret.
And as Elvis pieces the bizarre puzzle together, he slowly makes his singing comeback—and will be reunited on stage with someone even the King himself never dreamed possible.
Valley Of Death, Zombie Trailer park Surprisingly not too bad of a book. Could have been worse. LOL
- Just a few miles outside of Albuquerque New Mexico there's something horribly wrong in a remote valley. To their eternal regret some people have mistaken the screams echoing in the hills as coyotes singing to the moon. When Josey drives his truck down into the valley he quickly learns the horrifying truth. It's not coyotes howling- it's men or what used to be men. Josey discovers that the valley is home to the depraved, the noble, the damned, the innocent, the beautiful, and of course the walking dead. When the least dangerous thing you encounter is an angry rattlesnake you know you've made a wrong turn in Albuquerque.
Dying to Forget I really really liked this book a lot! It's a very interesting premise. I enjoyed the second one very much too.
- Piper Willow dies the summer after her high school graduation but she doesn’t make it to Heaven or Hell…instead she finds herself in a spiritual terminal called the Station. She’s given only two choices: Return to Earth as the subconscious for a person in need of some outside assistance, or move on and spend an eternity lost in her own sorrow and pain.
Does Piper have what it takes to save a life - to be the nagging voice inside someone else’s head - or will she fail and end up lost and tormented in limbo...forever?
Dying to Remember
- The next installment in The Station Series by
Amazon Bestselling Author, Trish Marie Dawson, takes readers on another lively journey through the after-life adventures of eighteen year old Piper Willow.
Piper has new challenges to overcome, new names to learn and is faced with a new Station occupation. Did she make the right choice - choosing to stay at the Station and become a Volunteer? Does she really want answers to the questions that never leave her mind? How did the Station come to be? What lies beyond? Who is Andurush and what, exactly, does he want with Piper?
She must ask herself once again if she has what it takes…but this time it isn't about saving lives, it is about discovering what lies beyond death.
Would you want to know?
The Road Through Wonderland If you know who John Holmes is
it's worth a read. Sad how his (and dawn's) life were so spun out of control.
- Painstakingly honest, this chilling memoir reveals how a teenager became immersed in the bizarre life of legendary porn star John Holmes. Starting with a childhood that molded her perfectly to fall for the seduction of “the king of porn,” this autobiography recounts the perilous road that Dawn Schiller traveled—from drugs and addiction to beatings, arrests, forced prostitution, and being sold to the drug underworld. After living through the horrific Wonderland murders of 1981, she entered protective custody, ran from the FBI, and turned in John Holmes to the police. This is the true story of a young girl’s harrowing escape from one of the most infamous public figures, her struggle to survive, and her recovery from unthinkable abuse.
I have to say I haven't read the other one you listed yet, but Defending Jacob is one of my favorite books so far this year.
