2013 BOOK CHALLENGE! Are you in?

That's a REALLY good idea!!! And I'm so thankful I kept a running list of my books; otherwise I'd be up a creek trying to remember what I read, lol.

That's one of the reasons I love Goodreads-as soon as I finish a book, I often forget the title. I'll admit that even while I'm reading a book, when I go to post it on Goodreads, I often have to open my Kindle to get the title.
And I LOVE the idea of naming our top 3 for 2013. Just promise me you won't laugh at mine-so often I'll see people enjoy "deep" books, while I stick with mindless fluff. Hey, my favorite book of all times is a Sophie Kinsella "The Undomestic Goddess". Deep literature it wasn't!
 
Goal - 28 books

Book #25 - Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen - A sobering documentary on the over-development of the Florida keys. Also, the best book I've read this year. :rotfl:

Please tell me the Governor with the wonky eye and the shower cap is in this one:lmao:

Please tell me the name of THAT book! :hyper:

Next up - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey - This has been on my "to read" list forever. I was probably supposed to read in high school. Now that my high school aged daughter is reading it, I guess I'll finally pick it up. She says it's really good. She said the same thing about every book in the Twilight series. :rolleyes1
 
That's one of the reasons I love Goodreads-as soon as I finish a book, I often forget the title. I'll admit that even while I'm reading a book, when I go to post it on Goodreads, I often have to open my Kindle to get the title.
And I LOVE the idea of naming our top 3 for 2013. Just promise me you won't laugh at mine-so often I'll see people enjoy "deep" books, while I stick with mindless fluff. Hey, my favorite book of all times is a Sophie Kinsella "The Undomestic Goddess". Deep literature it wasn't!

I always forget the name of the book when I am using my Kindle! Right now I am reading a "deep" book and am so, so ready to be done with it. I really want to finish it, but I am hoping it is done by Sunday when we leave for Fall Break. I've already put a fun book on my Kindle. Nope, do not remember the name!
 
Two of my library books came in via my kindle - Gone Girl and the Death Cure. They expire right after my cruise so hopefully I can get some reading done! :)
 

Goal - 28 books

Book #25 - Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen - A sobering documentary on the over-development of the Florida keys. Also, the best book I've read this year. :rotfl:



Please tell me the name of THAT book!:hyper:

Next up - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey - This has been on my "to read" list forever. I was probably supposed to read in high school. Now that my high school aged daughter is reading it, I guess I'll finally pick it up. She says it's really good. She said the same thing about every book in the Twilight series. :rolleyes1

The ex-governor was actually in several of the books. I think his name was Skunk or Skink. All the books have a similar feel so if you enjoyed Bad Monkey, I'd recommend trying a few others.
 
Finished book #64- The Husband's Secret by Laine Moriarty

This is a quick read & enjoyable. I give it 3.5/5 stars. All the characters in the book are somehow connected & there are a few secrets that come out.

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secretsomething with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .
Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it allshes an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Ceciliaor each otherbut they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husbands secret.
 
Goal - 28 books

Book #25 - Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen - A sobering documentary on the over-development of the Florida keys. Also, the best book I've read this year. :rotfl:



Please tell me the name of THAT book! :hyper:
Next up - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey - This has been on my "to read" list forever. I was probably supposed to read in high school. Now that my high school aged daughter is reading it, I guess I'll finally pick it up. She says it's really good. She said the same thing about every book in the Twilight series. :rolleyes1

The Governor (Skink) is featured in the following books (see link) I warn you, the books are old but what a character this guy is :rotfl:

http://www.goodreads.com/series/106705-skink
 
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Have now read 69 out of 80 books. Have ten more books to go until my goal of 80 books. I am now reading four books only because they have to go back to the library on the 17th.

Lucky Stuff by Sharon Fiffer

Scary Stuff by Sharon Fiffer

Erased the other two books by Joanne Fluke. Don't have time to read them at all. Will read them some other time. Finished Lucky Stuff late Saturday morning. So have read 70 out of 80 books.
 
Goal 72

#68 Hide Your Eyes by Alison Gaylin

From the back cover:
Samantha already has a self centered self-help guru for a mother, a cadre of off kilter Greenwich Village pals, and an ex boyfriend who cheated on her with both sexes. She doesn't need more grief. But when she accidentally spies two people dumping a dubious looking ice chest into the Hudson River, she has an unsettling feeling about its contents....

At first I didn't care for this book then it got better, then by the last third it was really good. Altho the ending seemed to wrap it all up, there does seem to be a sequel that I may or may not read, lol.
 
Goal: 100 books this year.

#79 - down and done.

The Sleeping Salesman Enquiry by Ann Purser is the fourth of Purser's Ivy Beasley mysteries. Ivy Beasley and Roy Goodman, sprightly 80-ish residents of Springfields Luxury Retirement Home in Suffolk, have finally decided on a date for their wedding.:love: Their private enquiry agency has a light work load right now, and the other two members of their team, Deirdre Bloxham and Augustus Halfhide, can handle anything that comes up in the meantime.

Then Stephen Wright, Roy's nephew and best man-designate, turns up dead; there is an undisclosed impediment to reading the banns in preparation for the marriage; and several wedding party members, including the vicar, receive threatening notes predicting dire consequences for all if the wedding takes place.

Purser writes well, her descriptions are vivid and her plots are believable. My only truly truly minor complaint is the lovey-dovey talk between Ivy and Roy, but as this is the first real romance for either of them, it's to be expected.:)

Queen Colleen
 
I lost count but I think I am close to my goal. Just finished THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER by Megan Shepard.

Following accusations that her scientist father gruesomely experimented on animals, sixteen-year-old Juliet watched as her family and her genteel life in London crumbled around herand only recently has she managed to piece her world back together. But when Juliet learns her father is still alive and working on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the old accusations are true. Accompanied by her father's handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward, Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father's insanity. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father's dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it's too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father's geniusand madnessin her own blood.

I loved it; I have a thing for love triangles . . . and it's historical, too. Now moving onto the sequel, HER DARK CURIOSITY. I am not sure if I will get into it, because I feel like the first book was enough.
 
Goal 72

#69 A Step of Faith by Richard Paul Evans

From the jacket:
"Alan lost his heart when his wife was killed in an accident almost one year ago. He lost his trust when his business partner stole his advertising business. He lost his home when the bank took his house. So Alan decided to leave his painful memories behind and walk from Seattle to the farthest point on the map, Key West...."

This is the fourth book in this series and I finally got it at the library last week. Read it in less than one day. I thought it was the final book, but noooooo, the fifth one is coming out May 2014.
This is a great little series. I really would recommend & give each of them 5 + stars. Now to wait til May.....
 
Books 56 - 58 of 100 ( boy, am I way behind!)

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

This is a follow-up series to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. It picks up where the last series left off, adding new characters, but including Percy Jackson and Annabeth from the old. In this series you discover that there is a second camp for Demi-Gods, only they are children born from the Roman Persona of the Gods. And the Romans and Greeks always end up warring. This time howeve, the best Demi-Gods from both camps must work together to keep Geah from waking and destroying chili action as they know it.

In order to unite the Greeks and the Romans, Hera/Juno has taken Percy Jackson from Camp Half Blood and Jason Grace from Camp Jupiter, taken their memories, and traded places for them. An exchange of leadership to help bond the camps and build trust between 7 Demi gods who must work together.

Just like the last series, these books are full of adventure. I love learning someos the mythology that is intermingled with the story and meeting many characters we have heard legends of. I retread this series as the next book House of Hades came outlast week. I will be starting it soon.
 
I just finished The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer and it was so amazing. I wanted to give the book a hug when I finished it. I'm finding it tough to explain why I loved it so much -- I think I just really related to the characters, so your mileage may vary. Moving on to Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures by Emma Straub.
 
#22

Life As We Knew It
Susan Beth Pfeffer

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

I wanted to love this book. I was excited when I started it! But then it got boring VERY quickly and never picked back up.

It is exactly as described. The diary of a teenaged girl, complete with boring, unrelatable(to me) fluff. It is a survival story, but there is no excitement...Nothing MOVING about this particular book. I know that it is probably as true to life as it supposed to be, but as a fiction book, I needed more.
 
I read Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill over the weekend. The first 1/3 really creeped me out and I had to take breaks from it. lol I don't know if it got less creepy or if I just got used to it. Anyway, it was a good October horror read. (I've had it for years.) If you want a creepy read for this month I would recommend this one. I give it 3.75/5. :)

That makes book 32 of 25. I want to read the Cell by SK this month then move on to light Holiday reads to finish up the year. (I want to read a Tree Grows in Brooklyn this year too. We'll see if it happens.)
 
I read Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill over the weekend. The first 1/3 really creeped me out and I had to take breaks from it. lol I don't know if it got less creepy or if I just got used to it. Anyway, it was a good October horror read. (I've had it for years.) If you want a creepy read for this month I would recommend this one. I give it 3.75/5. :) That makes book 32 of 25. I want to read the Cell by SK this month then move on to light Holiday reads to finish up the year. (I want to read a Tree Grows in Brooklyn this year too. We'll see if it happens.)

My husband loves Cell. He's read it about three times. (I'm not a King fan)
 
Gosh, it's been a while since I've updated so here goes...

#40 The Ragamuffin Gospel
Many believers feel stunted in their Christian growth. We beat ourselves up over our failures and, in the process, pull away from God because we subconsciously believe He tallies our defects and hangs His head in disappointment. Only when we truly embrace Gods grace can we bask in the joy of a gospel that enfolds the most needy of His flockthe ragamuffins.

I enjoyed this book for the most part. It was a message that I needed to hear at this stage in my life, and it gave me a different perspective on God's grace and His love for me.

#41 Calling Invisible Women
A mom in her early fifties, Clover knows she no longer turns heads the way she used to, and she's only really missed when dinner isn't on the table on time. Then Clover wakes up one morning to discover she's invisible--truly invisible. She panics even more when her family doesn't notice a thing. Her best friend immediately observes the change, which relieves Clover immensely--she's not losing her mind after all!--but she is crushed by the realization that neither her husband nor her children ever truly look at her.
Clover discovers that there are others like her, women of a certain age who seem to have disappeared. As she uses her invisibility to get to know her family and her town better, Clover leads the way in helping invisible women become recognized and appreciated no matter what their role.


I really liked the premise of this book and can certainly identify with Clover and her "invisibility" as I age, and it was an easy & lighthearted read. I think I found myself disappointed, however, with where the storyline actually went and how it ended... I don't know. Hard to put into words... just found it lacking somewhat.

#42 Look Again
When reporter Ellen Gleeson gets a Have You Seen This Child? flyer in the mail, she almost throws it away. But something about it makes her look again&The child in the photo looks exactly like Ellens adopted son, Will. But how could it be if the adoption was lawful? Everything inside her tells her to deny what she sees, but she cant shake the question: If Will rightfully belongs to someone else, should she keep him or give him up? Ellen makes the wrenching decision to investigate, following a trail of clues no one was meant to uncover. And when she digs too deep, she risks losing her lifeand that of the son she loves.

My sister recommended this book to me and I couldn't put it down. I love books that make me think and ponder what would I do if I found myself in the same situation.

#43 The Bell Jar
Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going undermaybe for the last time. The author brilliantly draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rationalas accessible an experience as going to the movies. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche, The Bell Jar is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic.

Huh? ?? I didn't get this book at all. I kept reading it thinking it would get better because of all the good reviews.... but nope. I honestly feel like I missed something along the way, lol. This is when a book club would have been handy & insightful...


Currently reading Mystic River, nearly done (10 pages or so). No idea what to read next - was hoping to start Bad Monkey but I'm still in line for that one...
 
My goal was 100 so I upped it and now I can't remember what to!

Haven't updated for a while, I haven't read a lot as I have been studying.

#101 Poison for a Poison Tongue by Sarah Waldock-kindle cheapie. It was ok, not great.

#102 Died True Blue by Sarah Waldock-see above.

#103 Story of a Soul by St Therese-journals of a Catholic nun.

#104 Mad About The Boy by Helen Fielding-the third Bridget Jones book. It was disappointing.

#105 Sons and Daughters by Karen Wasylowski-better than the first one that was about Darcy and Fitzwilliam so I am pleased I persisted.
 














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