2013 BOOK CHALLENGE! Are you in?

[Glynis]

Goal - 50 books

Book #12 - "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

This is the 3rd book in the Heroes of Olympus series. I have read these with my 13 year old son, and we both love all of Rick Riordan's books! He twists myths with modern day kids, and it makes a wonderful mix. My son has loved them so much he signed up for a Mythology class in middle school, and found that he was actually bored, because he knew all the myths!

I like that the characters are well written, the plot engaging, and the fact that some mythology is being learned while kids are being entertained! I highly recommend all Riordan's books!

Next up: finishing "Team of Rivals" and "Pompeii."

 

[tiggrbaby]

If you are up for young adult I would recommend go ask Alice I keep hearing how good it is not that I have read it yet

Is that the same book from the early 70's?

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Is that the same book from the early 70's?

I think so,have you read it

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I am SO behind on my goal! I am still on #2!!!

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I am SO behind on my goal! I am still on #2!!!

That is why I lowered my goal

 

[kimblebee]

Goal 50


#12 The Litigators by John Grisham

4.5/5 The man does not disappoint. I can't think of one book of his that I haven't loved. The characters are so human, flaws and all that you really feel yourself getting invested in them. The books always make me want to be a lawyer LOL The book made me want more, as always. If you like his other books, you will enjoy this one.

But you don't have to take my word for it. ; )

Next up will be The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service, based on reviews from this thread.

 

[tiggrbaby]

I think so,have you read it

Back in the 70s! I remember it as being sad. At the time, I believed it was real.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Back in the 70s! I remember it as being sad. At the time, I believed it was real.

Wow well I am going to take a stab at some point soon but what ism trying to understand is it based on a true story

 

[tinkerbellfan6880]

I have so far read 9 books out 80 so far. I am currently reading The Warlock by Michael Scott. It's the fifth book in The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel.

 

[tiggrbaby]

Wow well I am going to take a stab at some point soon but what ism trying to understand is it based on a true story

It was marketed as a diary back then, but I've heard since then that it was fiction based on some aspects of someone's life. I would say it is a cautionary tale; the spiral can happen to anyone.

 

[portia9]

11 of 75

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

FINALLY finished this! I started it last summer when my daughter played Meg in the Little Women opera. She put the book on my Kindle and I started it back then. It just couldnt hold my interest to keep at it and I would drop it for weeks at a time.

I love Little Women. It's such a wonderful classic and so familiar to me that I can't imagining someone not loving it.

You are so right! She's my favorite author.
Do you prefer Thomas and Charlotte Pitt or William Monk? I can't decide. Have you read her WWI series? It's only five books, and she says she's not going to expand that series - I hope she changes her mind. She also writes a short Christmas novel each year featuring one of the more minor recurring characters from either the Pitt or Monk series.

In case you hadn't heard, the newest Thomas Pitt book comes out in hardback on April 16 or delivered to your Kindle on April 9

Queen Colleen

I have only just discovered Anne Perry. I started reading her Christmas novellas late last year. So I have lots and lots of Anne Perry to catch up on. I love it when I find a new prolific author.

Goal 100

Book #21 The Personal Shopper by Annie Valentine-a recommendation from this thread! I really enjoyed this. It was a light, easy read but well written. I am looking forward to reading the rest in the series.

Currently reading 11/22/63 again recommended in this thread. I am about 1/3 of the way through and really enjoying it.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

That is why I lowered my goal

I can do it. For some reason I just seem to be doing something else when I could be reading...Crocheting...Watching TV...Sleeping.

I guess that's why they call it a challenge!

 

[stacy347]

Goal 30
Book #7

The Undertaker by William Brown

Amazon description:
Pete Talbott is a California native and harried Boston computer wonk still grieving over the death of his wife Terri, when he found himself at the wrong end of Gino Parini's .45 reading his own obituary torn from that morning's newspaper. Talbott figured it was all a big mistake until Parini showed him his wife's obituary too, and this was a mystery Talbott couldn't leave alone. From a funeral home in Indiana, to car chases on the Dan Ryan, a bloody Back Bay townhouse, snipers in New York City's Washington Square, sleazy lawyers, corrupt County sheriffs, mafia hit men, the FBI, an army of Chicago cops, and that unforgettable scene in the upper berth of an Amtrak Train, The Undertaker is a thrill ride with a touch of humor and romance.

I love a good conspiracy, and this premise was actually plausible. A few parts dragged on a bit, but I enjoyed it. I give it 4/5.

My main complaint (and it is not specific to this book):
The typos on the Kindle books drive me insane! Missing quotation marks, double typed words, misspellings ~ it is so annoying! Don't get me wrong, I love my Kindle, but I really wish the editing on these books was a bit better.

 

[kimblebee]

Goal 50


#13 The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service by Beth Kendrick.

I honestly don't know how to rate this book. I liked the book but didn't like the main character. Keeping in mind where I am and the attitudes of people I will just say the main character is an uber dog lover and I don't agree with some of her positions. That shouldn't distract from the actual story. The story was just ok for me, with the ending being totally predictable. I did like the humor in the story though so I think I will read another book by the same author.

I'm torn as to what I should read next. I have a few in mind but just can't settle on one. I'll update when I decide.

ETA I'm going with Night Circus only because its due first and has already been renewed. I'm really iffy on this one for some reason.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I can do it. For some reason I just seem to be doing something else when I could be reading...Crocheting...Watching TV...Sleeping.

I guess that's why they call it a challenge!

I can relate

Btw started reading it and love it almost impossible to put down

 

[stacy347]

Goal 30
Book #8

Pearl by C.E. Weisman

Amazon description:
Pearl Water's childhood was shattered the night she stood at her bedroom window and watched her mother run away without a glance back. Only ten years old, Pearl was left to care for the family and take over her mother's responsibilities.
Eight years later as the approach of midnight beckons, Pearl finds herself on the edge of eighteen and running, as her mother did, in search of freedom and the youth she'd been denied.
But freedom has a price. She ends up on foreign turf; a farm in Oregon with her volatile boyfriend, Roy and his family, who seem to hold even more secrets than her own. As time goes by, Pearl is drawn into beautiful but also tumultuous relationships with these strangers in Oregon, all the while losing a bit of herself with each drop of booze Roy drinks.

I read this in one afternoon (209 pages on Kindle, so a quick read anyway). It was a book that really resonated with me, and I just couldn't put it down. I give this one a 4.5/5 rating.

 

[erincon23]

Currently reading "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck. I had no idea it was from 1932 when I bought my Kindle edition! Liking it very much.

MJ

I read that YEARS ago! It was very good.

Progress report -- I wasn't sure how to go about updating in this thread. I've been updating my "read" list in my original post. I'm up to 11 so far -- I seem to have been on a Nora Roberts streak, but in my defense (lol) I get caught up in series, and recently found her "MacGregor" family series, which has several spinoffs. So of course, I had to read all of them. And her alter ego, JD Robb, has a new book coming out this month, as well as a short story in a collection of 4 -- I read the JD Robb story, but the second story, I think, requires a huge amount of info about the series that it comes from. I don't know that I'll get into that one.

I saw the post about a commercial for an "Under the Dome" series -- hmmm. That was a very interesting book, but don't know if I'll have any interest in a series.

I'm looking for suggestions. I like spy/political/legal thrillers, preferably series, and NOT vampire series, and these are some of the authors I've read (well, not all, I'm sure): Michael Connelly, John Connolly, Grisham, Crais, Quintin Jardine, Brad Meltzer, Daniel Silva, Lee Child, John Sandford, Linda Fairstein, Sara Paretsky, Patricia Cornwell. Can anyone suggest anything along that line?

 

[quietgirll]

I read that YEARS ago! It was very good.

Progress report -- I wasn't sure how to go about updating in this thread. I've been updating my "read" list in my original post. I'm up to 11 so far -- I seem to have been on a Nora Roberts streak, but in my defense (lol) I get caught up in series, and recently found her "MacGregor" family series, which has several spinoffs. So of course, I had to read all of them. And her alter ego, JD Robb, has a new book coming out this month, as well as a short story in a collection of 4 -- I read the JD Robb story, but the second story, I think, requires a huge amount of info about the series that it comes from. I don't know that I'll get into that one.

I saw the post about a commercial for an "Under the Dome" series -- hmmm. That was a very interesting book, but don't know if I'll have any interest in a series.

I'm looking for suggestions. I like spy/political/legal thrillers, preferably series, and NOT vampire series, and these are some of the authors I've read (well, not all, I'm sure): Michael Connelly, John Connolly, Grisham, Crais, Quintin Jardine, Brad Meltzer, Daniel Silva, Lee Child, John Sandford, Linda Fairstein, Sara Paretsky, Patricia Cornwell. Can anyone suggest anything along that line?

Every tried any Harlan coben? Scott Turow? Or linwood Barclay?

 

[erincon23]

Every tried any Harlan coben? Scott Turow? Or linwood Barclay?

Coben and Turow, yes (although I find Coben to be up and down -- love his Myron Bolitar series, but his other books are kind of meh), never tried Barclay! On the list!

 

[Swimnoid]

I love Little Women. It's such a wonderful classic and so familiar to me that I can't imagining someone not loving it.

Well, I liked it enough to download Little Men. It just didnt keep me riveted.