2013 BOOK CHALLENGE! Are you in?

[Christine]

103/150 - The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I really enjoyed this book. It was so original and beautifully written. My heart was breaking for the main character through many parts of it. Wonderful!

Loved this one too!

 

[WowLookAtThat]

Book #66 B****es of Brooklyn by Rosemary Harris

Review: Not going to lie I bought it because of the title. The book itself is tedious and the author keeps bringing up the food the women eat like she's George RR Martin. Anyways, four friends discover a note a fifth friend sent them stating she has run away with one of their men. Of course this drives the women crazy and leads them to figure out which man in their life has left with her.

The author found her inspiration from A Letter to Three Wives, a classic movie that I totally suggest but beyond that there is little redeeming in the book. Too many details and anecdotes that make little sense to the story. The story actually seems to wander off without little explanation and later the book becomes a mystery in the disappearance of their friend. In the end, everything is wrapped up like a neat package but at that point, I stopped caring. The ties to the friends' men (three are married and one is dating) and Abby (the friend who ran off the with the guy) aren't even there! The women just see it in their mind but don't try to think rationally. It was an ok book but I feel like I wasted my time.

 

[threeboysmom]

103/150 - The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I really enjoyed this book. It was so original and beautifully written. My heart was breaking for the main character through many parts of it. Wonderful!

Took a look at this one on Goodreads and added it to my list - thanks for the review!

 

[keenercam]

Loved this one too!

I'm so glad to find that others enjoyed it.

Took a look at this one on Goodreads and added it to my list - thanks for the review!

I think you'll really like it. Can't wait to hear!

 

[KrazyPete]

Old Goal - 24 books
I've got 4 months left to read 4 more books. Let's reset that to two books every month for the remainder of the year. New goal 28 books.

Book #20 - Women by Charles Bukowski - Henry Chinaski is completely disconnected from emotion and surrounded by a cast of characters all of whom are varying degrees of crazy. It was a like watching a reality television show that was frequently interrupted by short bursts of graphic but apathetic sex. I kept waiting for the vulgarity to coalesce into something meaningful. It did get more human in the closing chapters of the book. However, it didn't redeem itself enough that I would consider recommending it to anyone. That said, it did have its introspective moments and I would read another book by Bukowski. I do like his sparse writing style. He says a lot without wasting words.

Next up - Alice in Zombieland by Nickolas Cook, Lewis Carroll - This was a Nook freebie a while back. The Goodreads reviews are lukewarm. As much as I like a good zombie story, I'm not expecting much from this one. I'm giving it a shot just to move an older title off my to-read list.

 

[3smithboys]

#34 Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

From an early age, Kate and her identical twin sister, Violet, knew that they were unlike everyone else. Kate and Vi were born with peculiar “senses”—innate psychic abilities concerning future events and other people’s secrets. Though Vi embraced her visions, Kate did her best to hide them.

Now, years later, their different paths have led them both back to their hometown of St. Louis. Vi has pursued an eccentric career as a psychic medium, while Kate, a devoted wife and mother, has settled down in the suburbs to raise her two young children. But when a minor earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the normal life Kate has always wished for begins to shift. After Vi goes on television to share a premonition that another, more devastating earthquake will soon hit the St. Louis area, Kate is mortified. Equally troubling, however, is her fear that Vi may be right. As the date of the predicted earthquake quickly approaches, Kate is forced to reconcile her fraught relationship with her sister and to face truths about herself she’s long tried to deny.

 

[Caseheidi]

Books 48-51 of 100

48 - The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan
49 - The Sea of Monsters ( Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2) by Rick Rioedan
50 - The Titan's Curse ( Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3) By Rick Riordan
51 - The battle of the labyrinth ( Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4) by Rick Riordan

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is Written for young adults. It is about a young boy Percy Jackson who discovers that His father is Poisdian, the Greek God of the Sea. This series follows his adventures as he attends Camp Half blood, Which is a safe place for demigods. He learns that as a sign of one of the big three he may possibly be the one to destroy or save civilization as he knows it. These are fun stories that makes Greek mythology with current everyday life.

I am currently reading the fifth and last of the series. They are fun easy reads, and great to read with your kids. I know children 8-14 who are obsessed with these stories.

 

[portia9]

Goal 100

Book #86 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

 

[portia9]

103/150 - The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I really enjoyed this book. It was so original and beautifully written. My heart was breaking for the main character through many parts of it. Wonderful!

I loved that book. Probably my favourite book I've read this year.

 

[threeboysmom]

Old Goal - 24 books
I've got 4 months left to read 4 more books. Let's reset that to two books every month for the remainder of the year. New goal 28 books.

Next up - Alice in Zombieland by Nickolas Cook, Lewis Carroll - This was a Nook freebie a while back. The Goodreads reviews are lukewarm. As much as I like a good zombie story, I'm not expecting much from this one. I'm giving it a shot just to move an older title off my to-read list.

OK, will update your goal to 28!

Can't WAIT to hear your review on this book! LOL!

 

[Christine]

#34 Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

From an early age, Kate and her identical twin sister, Violet, knew that they were unlike everyone else. Kate and Vi were born with peculiar “senses”—innate psychic abilities concerning future events and other people’s secrets. Though Vi embraced her visions, Kate did her best to hide them.

Now, years later, their different paths have led them both back to their hometown of St. Louis. Vi has pursued an eccentric career as a psychic medium, while Kate, a devoted wife and mother, has settled down in the suburbs to raise her two young children. But when a minor earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the normal life Kate has always wished for begins to shift. After Vi goes on television to share a premonition that another, more devastating earthquake will soon hit the St. Louis area, Kate is mortified. Equally troubling, however, is her fear that Vi may be right. As the date of the predicted earthquake quickly approaches, Kate is forced to reconcile her fraught relationship with her sister and to face truths about herself she’s long tried to deny.

Did you like this? It's next up on my Kindle. Ive read good reviews.

 

[willowsnn3]

Goal 72

#58 The Traveler by John Katzenbach

From book jacket:
A serial killer is loose, a professional photographer taking a 'sentimental journey' around the country, murdering as he goes and recording the deaths for his private collection. With him is a college girl he has kidnapped to be his biographer, and whom he has terrorized into submission. Pursuing him is a woman police detective whose own niece has been one of the victims, and the killers brother, a psychiatrist who must search his mind and memory to figure out where his brother might strike next.

Pretty good. A little drawn out in places but good.

 

[nemofans]

Books 48-51 of 100

48 - The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan
49 - The Sea of Monsters ( Percy Jackson and the Olympians #2) by Rick Rioedan
50 - The Titan's Curse ( Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3) By Rick Riordan
51 - The battle of the labyrinth ( Percy Jackson and the Olympians #4) by Rick Riordan

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is Written for young adults. It is about a young boy Percy Jackson who discovers that His father is Poisdian, the Greek God of the Sea. This series follows his adventures as he attends Camp Half blood, Which is a safe place for demigods. He learns that as a sign of one of the big three he may possibly be the one to destroy or save civilization as he knows it. These are fun stories that makes Greek mythology with current everyday life.

I am currently reading the fifth and last of the series. They are fun easy reads, and great to read with your kids. I know children 8-14 who are obsessed with these stories.

Yeah, my 8 yr old is reading them now. I never have, so I guess I should.

 

[wilma-bride]

Just downloaded Language of Flowers, sounds great

 

[3smithboys]

Did you like this? It's next up on my Kindle. Ive read good reviews.

I did like Sisterland... it was not my favorite book that I've read this summer, but I enjoyed it. I thought it was a bit slow in places, but it was good enough that I wanted to continue reading to see what happens.

 

[DisneyWalle]

#30 - The Other Bolyen Girl by Philippa Gregory

Two sisters competing for the greatest prize: the love of a king
When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her familys ambitious plots as the kings interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands.

Good book --- the book and the movie are nothing alike except Anne still dies, of course.

 

[Christine]

Just finished Linwood Barclay's Never Look Away. This is a suspense-thriller book as are all of Barclay's and it's pretty good. I don't find his writing as sophisticated as some and they are "easy reads" but still good stories/page turners.

This one is about a guy whose son gets "taken" at an amusement park. As he and his wife split up to find the child, strange things begin. The son is found very quickly and the wife is then missing. The rest of the story is this guy's attempt to find his wife while looking more and more to the outside world that he murdered her.

I've lost count of my books but I think I'm way over my goal!!!

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

#9
Polio: Brilliant non fiction book on the battle to find cure for the disease. Don't read that much non fiction did originally for research still I liked the book so much read the whole thing.

#10 Hungarian Folk Tales: Some were better than others and some well I guess you just have to be Hungarian.

 

[phorsenuf]

#32- The Other Boleyn Girl. Loved this book and I'm recommending it all the time! Thanks to those who suggested it to me.

#33- The Stand by Stephen King. An oldie but a goodie.

Not sure what's next.....

 

[willowsnn3]

#32- The Other Boleyn Girl. Loved this book and I'm recommending it all the time! Thanks to those who suggested it to me.

#33- The Stand by Stephen King. An oldie but a goodie.

Not sure what's next.....

I loved The Stand! One of the few books that I can read more than once.