2013 BOOK CHALLENGE! Are you in?

[portia9]

#138 The Christmas Shoppe by Melanie Carlsson. Nice little Christmas story.

 

[PigletsPal2]

Piglet's Pal-I don't know if you can get it there but there is a BBC series of Lark Rise to Candleford. It differs from the books but it is a really lovely, well acted series with some wonderful characters in it.

DD#2 says we do get it here, so I'm going to research the broadcast schedule. Thanks for the heads-up!

Queen Colleen

 

[nemofans]

Finished book #84- No Time For Goodbye by Linwood Barclay

A teenage girl wakes up one morning to find her family gone. No note, nothing. This is a quick read with a decent mystery. As the clues came in, I was able to figure out what happened though. So no shocker at the end.

Fourteen-year-old Cynthia Bigge woke one morning to discover that her entire familymother, father,brotherhad vanished. No note, no trace, no return. Ever. Now, twenty-five years later, shell learn the devastating truth.
Sometimes its better not to know. . . .
Cynthia is happily married with a young daughter, a new family. But the story of her old family isnt over. A strange car in the neighborhood, untraceable phone calls, ominous giftssomeone has returned to her hometown to finish what was started twenty-five years ago. And no ones innocence is guaranteed, not even her own. By the time Cynthia discovers her killers shocking identity, it will again be too late . . . even for goodbye.

Next book: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

 

[Simba's Mom]

Would people like a separate thread with favorite books organized? If so, post your top three or so books from 2013 here, and I'll organize and post them all on a separate thread after Christmas. Part of this is selfish-I'd like to see everyone's top three alphabetically by author so I can get some ideas of what to read next year.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Would people like a separate thread with favorite books organized? If so, post your top three or so books from 2013 here, and I'll organize and post them all on a separate thread after Christmas. Part of this is selfish-I'd like to see everyone's top three alphabetically by author so I can get some ideas of what to read next year.

If you want to do that more power to you! Should we post on that thread or are you going through this one?

 

[Simba's Mom]

No, just post here. Then I'll organize stuff and just put the results up for favorites of 2013 by DISers.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

No, just post here. Then I'll organize stuff and just put the results up for favorites of 2013 by DISers.

Okay! I posted already. Good idea!

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I would love you to do that simbas mom if you don't mind taking the time do do it

 

[Glynis]

I posted my top 3 earlier in the thread. Do I need to do it again?
1

 

[Simba's Mom]

I posted my top 3 earlier in the thread. Do I need to do it again?
1

Np I'll poke thru this thread between Christmas and New Years.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

Np I'll poke thru this thread between Christmas and New Years.

I love that you are doing this

 

[Glynis]

Goal - 100 Books

Book #68 - "Little Century" by Anna Keesey

From Goodreads - "Orphaned after the death of her mother, eighteen-year-old Esther Chambers heads west in search of her only living relative. In the lawless frontier town of Century, Oregon, she’s met by her distant cousin, a laconic cattle rancher named Ferris Pickett. Pick leads her to a tiny cabin by a small lake called Half-a-Mind, and there she begins her new life as a homesteader. If she can hold out for five years, the land will join Pick’s already impressive spread.

But Esther discovers that this town on the edge of civilization is in the midst of a range war. There’s plenty of land, but somehow it is not enough for the ranchers—it’s cattle against sheep, with water at a premium. In this charged climate, small incidents of violence swiftly escalate, and Esther finds her sympathies divided between her cousin and a sheepherder named Ben Cruff, a sworn enemy of the cattle ranchers. As her feelings for Ben and for her land grow, she begins to see she can’t be loyal to both."

My review - I read this for my book club. It was not something that I would have voluntarily picked up, and I don't know if I liked it enough to recommend. It was ok, but the characters were not really believable until more than halfway through the book. There was promise in the story, but it never really realized the promise.

Next up: "Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck

I think it's pretty clear that I am not going to meet my current goal of 100 books. Since I originally set a goal of 50 books, I'm feeling pretty good about things. I can't wait until next year! This has been a fantastic way to keep myself reading and challenged! As a SAHM, sometimes I can go many days without speaking to another "adult" besides my husband, so it's been nice to be able to come here and exchange titles and thoughts. I'm so looking forward to 2014. My birthday comes up in January, and DH knows that the only thing I want is my library card renewed!

I'll try to get through another book or two before New Year's Eve, but with all 5 kids out of school for the holidays, who knows how that will go!

 

[PigletsPal2]

Goal: 100 books this year.

#94 down and done.

Thursday's Child by Pat Santarseiro. This is another Jane Austen fanfic, of which I can't seem to get enough! Recommended by portia9; I have to admit I was completely gobsmacked by the turn of events following the death of Elizabeth Bennett's father. I was also a little taken aback by the very descriptive love scenes; I'm not sure Jane Austen would have approved! But the story was well written and as far as I'm concerned, the ending was very satisfactory.

Queen Colleen

 

[nemofans]

Finished book #85- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

This book is written from an autistic boy's viewpoint. Reading this will help people understand the mind of a person with autism & how simple & complex it can be. Overall, the story was okay, nothing outstanding, but worth reading just to get inside an autistic mind.

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.
This improbable story of Christopher's quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

Next book: American Gods

 

[willowsnn3]

No, just post here. Then I'll organize stuff and just put the results up for favorites of 2013 by DISers.

Sounds good!! I posted my two fiction faves earlier then came back & posted my fave nonfiction book so 3 total.

 

[zippitydoo]

My top three.

3. Zoo by James Patterson
2. Defending Jacob by William Landay
1. The Innocent by David Baldacci

 

[portia9]

Goal: 100 books this year.

#94 down and done.

Thursday's Child by Pat Santarseiro. This is another Jane Austen fanfic, of which I can't seem to get enough! Recommended by portia9; I have to admit I was completely gobsmacked by the turn of events following the death of Elizabeth Bennett's father. I was also a little taken aback by the very descriptive love scenes; I'm not sure Jane Austen would have approved! But the story was well written and as far as I'm concerned, the ending was very satisfactory.

Queen Colleen

I only persisted with this because the writing was good. I didn't like the premise of the book but the author did handle the material well and she was reasonably true to the characters except for Lizzy.

Simba's Mom-looking forward to that list!

 

[Caseheidi]

Finished books 68-70 of 100


I decided to retread Divergent and Insurgent before reading Allegiant (All by Veronica Roth) I enjoyed retreading the first two, but agree with all the prior comments on Allegiant. I had a hard time with the change in format (from all being from the point of view of Tris, to going back and forth with Tobias) and had to keep reminding myself who was telling the story in each chapter. I also did not like how it was resolved, and felt this part of the story was much more depressing then the other two. I didn't get as sucked into the story as I had with the first two. Overall I am a little disappointed in this book that I has so looked forward to.

As for the best books I have read this year, they include
1) Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
2) Maze Runner by James Dashner
3) Partials by Dan Wells

 

[Christine]

I haven't posted much because my organizational skills are lacking!!! I know that I exceeded my goal of 24 books by quite a bit but I just didn't keep track of all of them. The ones I read on my Kindle are easy enough to figure out but the ones I got from the library--well, I can't find any history.

I just finished reading The Rosie Project. It was a quick, fun read and I recommend it highly. It is about a scientist (who is much like Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory), who sets up a project to try to find himself a wife. In the meantime, he gets dragged into helping this woman find her father (through another project). She is everything he DOES NOT want in a wife, however, predictably, they hit it off. I love the narrator's quirkiness and his approach to finding love.

My favorite books this year have probably been:

3. Defending Jacob
2. 11/22/63
1. The Fault in our Stars

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

#12
Tomorrow
C.K. Kelly martin

Won this in Goodreads Giveaway.
Actually won this and first book, but it was hard to figure which one to read first there was no indictors so I wound up readying this one. That said it stand alone, very well. Enjoyed the Canadian setting which of the past part of the book. Future setting was a little different due to changes in the world, but I enjoyed as well. I am not a huge scifi/dystop,but I finished this book, because I really enjoyed it. Much more than others I have read, but I am by no means avid reader of the genre. I would give it 31/2 out of five.

If anyone is interested will gladly send Kindle Gift Versions of "Written for You" or any other of my books.