Annual Reading Challenge 2019

[Kirby]

55/50 - Her Fear by Shelley Shepard Gray. Genre - Inspirational
Sadie Detweiler never imagined she'd move to Kentucky, yet here she is: a pregnant, unmarried Amish girl banished by unforgiving parents to live with kin she barely knows. The men are gruff and her cousins are secretive. Worst of all, elderly matriarch Verba becomes mysteriously ill shortly after Sadie moves in. When EMT Noah Freeman arrives, Sadie immediately notices he's unlike any other Amish man she's met. Noah is warm, confident, and has an easy way with practically everyone in the community, both Amish and English. Though Sadie is drawn to him, she has little hope he will reciprocate her feelings once he learns she's with child.

Noah can't understand how a girl as sweet and lovely as Sadie ended up sleeping on a cot in Verba Stauffer's kitchen. He also senses Sadie is terrified of something. Concerned, he checks up on her. Eventually they strike up a friendship and soon their attraction is undeniable. When Verba later dies at the hospital and her death is followed by two others, Noah's boss wants him to dig around the Amish community for clues. He agrees - for Sadie's sake - because only the truth will keep her safe and by his side.

 

[mmouse37]

Ok...here we go wrapping up some of the books from 2019

30/30 - Song of Kali by Dan Simmons - A good thriller
Praised by Dean Koontz as “the best novel in the genre I can remember,” Song of Kali follows an American magazine editor who journeys to the brutally bleak, poverty-stricken Indian city in search of a manuscript by a mysterious poet—but instead is drawn into an encounter with the cult of Kali, goddess of death.

A chilling voyage into the squalor and violence of the human condition, this novel is considered by many to be the best work by the author of The Terror, who has been showered with accolades, including the Bram Stoker Award, the International Horror Guild Award, and the Hugo Award.

31/30 - The Doctor by Lisa Stone
When Emily and Ben move in next door to Dr Burman and his wife Alisha, they are keen to get to know their new neighbors. Outgoing and sociable, Emily tries to befriend the doctor’s wife, but Alisha is strangely subdued, barely leaving the house, and terrified of answering the phone.

When Emily goes missing a few weeks later, Ben is plunged into a panic. His wife has left him a note, but can she really have abandoned him for another man? Or has Emily’s curiosity about the couple next door led her straight into danger?

32/30 - The Walk by Lee Goldberg - Liked it a lot. You can just imagine what LA would be like after the " Big One"
It's one minute after the Big One. Marty Slack, a TV network executive, crawls out from under his Mercedes, parked outside what once was a downtown Los Angeles warehouse, the location for a new TV show. Downtown LA is in ruins. The sky is thick with black smoke. His cell phone is dead. The freeways are rubble. The airport is demolished. Buildings lay across streets like fallen trees. It will be days before help can arrive.

Marty has been expecting this day all his life. He's prepared. In his car are a pair of sturdy walking shoes and a backpack of food, water, and supplies. He knows there is only one thing he can do ... that he must do: get home to his wife Beth, go back to their gated community on the far edge of the San Fernando Valley.

All he has to do is walk. But he will quickly learn that it's not that easy. His dangerous, unpredictable journey home will take him through the different worlds of what was once Los Angeles. Wildfires rage out of control. Flood waters burst through collapsed dams. Natural gas explosions consume neighborhoods. Sinkholes swallow entire buildings. After-shocks rip apart the ground. Looters rampage through the streets.

There's no power. No running water. No order.

Marty Slack thinks he's prepared. He's wrong. Nothing can prepare him for this ordeal, a quest for his family and for his soul, a journey that will test the limits of his endurance and his humanity, a trek from the man he was to the man he can be ... if he can survive The Walk.

33/30 - The Girl Who Wrote in Silk by Tracy Chevalier - Nice book, predictable.
Inara Erickson is exploring her deceased aunt's island estate when she finds an elaborately stitched piece of fabric hidden in the house. As she peels back layer upon layer of the secrets it holds, Inara's life becomes interwoven with that of Mei Lein, a young Chinese girl mysteriously driven from her home a century before. Through the stories Mei Lein tells in silk, Inara uncovers a tragic truth that will shake her family to its core — and force her to make an impossible choice.

34/30 - The Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - Loved this book. A glimpse of what the plague was like in a small English village and the strong people who tried to survive it.
When an infected bolt of cloth carries plague from London to an isolated village, a housemaid named Anna Frith emerges as an unlikely heroine and healer. Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition. As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love. As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."

Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. Written with stunning emotional intelligence and introducing "an inspiring heroine" (The Wall Street Journal), Brooks blends love and learning, loss and renewal into a spellbinding and unforgettable read.

35/30 - If You Tell by Gregg Olsen - Like this a lot. True story of a whacky mother who abused her 3 daughters. I could not believe someone could be so cruel.
After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now.

For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined. Even as others were drawn into their mother’s dark and perverse web, the sisters found the strength and courage to escape an escalating nightmare that culminated in multiple murders.

Harrowing and heartrending, If You Tell is a survivor’s story of absolute evil—and the freedom and justice that Nikki, Sami, and Tori risked their lives to fight for. Sisters forever, victims no more, they found a light in the darkness that made them the resilient women they are today—loving, loved, and moving on.

36/30 - The Boy Between Worlds by Annejet van der Zijl - Was just OK.
When they fell in love in 1928, Rika and Waldemar could not have been more different. She was a thirty-seven-year-old Dutch-born mother, estranged from her husband. He was her immigrant boarder, not yet twenty, and a wealthy Surinamese descendant of slaves. The child they have together, brown skinned and blue eyed, brings the couple great joy yet raises some eyebrows. Until the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands explodes their promising life.

What unfolds is more than the astonishing story of a love that prevailed over convention. It’s also the quest of a young boy. Through the cruelty of World War II, he will fight for a connection between his father’s South American birthplace and his mother’s European traditions. Lost and displaced for much of his life, but with a legacy of resilience in his blood, he will struggle to find his place in the world.

Moving deftly between personal experience and the devastating machinations of war, The Boy Between Worlds is an unforgettable journey of hope, love, and courage in the face of humanity’s darkest hour.

37/30 - In the Woods by Tana French - Very good detective series. This is Book 1 and soon to be an Starz series called The Dublin Murders
As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.

Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

MJ

 

[bobbiwoz]

83/75 Kiss the Girls and Make them Cry by Mary Higgins Clark

I read it on the recommendation of a friend. It‘s a good book by one of my favorite authors.

 

[Colleen27]

#127/130 - Siege and Sacrifice by Charlie N. Holmberg

The third book in a series I started a long time ago, around the time the second book was published, I didn't realize the last book was out until it popped up on my Kindle recommendations. It did not disappoint. The supernatural plot, centered around a girl who was taken into a sort of slavery and made into a vessel for summoning demons into the mortal world, resolved in an unexpected and completely satisfying way that solved the key mystery of the city in which the story is set and the romantic sub-plot continued in a way that made sense and didn't detract from the action. It was a really enjoyaYA series from start to finish, and I'm glad Kindle reminded me to go back to read the conclusion.

#128 & #129 - Stolen Enchantress and Piper Prince by Amber Argyle

Another storybook series, inspired by classic children's tales and turned into YA/"new adult" type fiction. This one is a Pied Piper story, set in a medieval sort of world where a mysterious monster in the forest lures girls from the villages into the woods, never to be seen again. Of course, the 'monster' isn't what it seems and the druids that wield power in the villages aren't the paragons of virtue they make themselves out to be. Although the broad strokes of the story are a little on the predictable side, with monsters that turn out to be good guys and corrupt leaders in league with the true monsters, the world is beautifully described and the characters are compelling enough to keep a reader hooked. I'm looking forward to the third book (assuming Kindle reminds me, because with a fall 2020 release date, I'm not likely to remember to look for it on my own!)

#130 - The Walk by Lee Goldberg

I downloaded this one based on a review on this thread and read it in a single day. It was an excellent post-disaster narrative with fascinating psychological dimensions and a satisfying conclusion, set in a devastated L.A. just after the "Big One". I won't rehash the entire premise (@mmouse37 posted a good summary a few posts back), but it is the kind of book you don't want to put down. Just the thing for a day of being under the weather, curled up on the couch with cocoa.

 

[Swimnoid]

72. Windigo Island by William Kent Krueger
73. The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans
74. Dragon Teeth by Michael Chrichton
75. Damaged by Lisa Scottoline
76. Ambush by James Patterson
77. The Ocean by the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
78. Resistant by Michael Palmer
79. Nothing Ventured by Jeffrey Archer
80. The Perfect Girl by Gilly MacMillan
81. Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown
82. The Institute by Stephen King
83. The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines
84. The Pharaoh Key by Douglas Preston
85. Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less by Jeffrey Archer
86. Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King
87. Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger
88. Merry, Merry Ghost by Carolyn G Hart
89. Gone by Michael Grant
90. Agatha's first Case by MC Beaton
91. 14th Deadly sin by James Patterson
92. The President is Missing by James Patterson and Bill Clinton
93. Unsolved by James Patterson
94. The Cartel by Ashley Antionette
95. A Low Country Christmas by Mary Alice Monroe
96. The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck
97. The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
98. The 15th Affair by James Patterson
99. The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements
100. Collared by David Rosenfelt
101. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling
102. The Cuckoos Calling by Robert Galbraith
103. Constant Fear by Daniel Palmer
104. The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson

 

[OKW8297]

44. The White Christmas Inn by Colleen Wright. Very sweet story

 

[willowsnn3]

#130 - The Walk by Lee Goldberg

Have this one on hold at my library & it is 'in transit'. Sounds good.

 

[Tiggerish]

Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan

I'm on a roll with the ebooks I've borrowed from the library lately. This one is a fictionalized telling of actual events, inspired by the friendship-turned-romance between author Joy Davidson and C.S. Lewis, and had a timeless way of addressing the struggles of being a woman with both a passion for her career and a family to care for while simultaneously bringing familiar literary figures to life on the page and delving into the Christian theology that was so central to Lewis's life and work. It was a really ambitious and well-researched story that made me want to pick up some of the books the author cited as invaluable to her research for the novel.

Based on this I got on the waiting list for this book and it was worth the effort. Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan is the book that fulfills my 104 goal for the year.

104 of 104

 

[Disney_Alli]

65/50 - The Berets: Brotherhood of War Book V - W.E.B. Griffin

Started The Generals realized something was very wrong - checked book order, realized they slipped this one in the middle, started this one. One of my absolute favorite characters dies in this book and I hate the way they did it - it's basically the book equivalent of an off-screen death in a movie or tv show and always annoys me!

 

[willowsnn3]

#68 Long Road to Mercy by David Baldacci
Atlee Pine, an FBI special agent assigned to the remote wilds of the western United States. Ever since her twin sister was abducted by a notorious serial killer at age five, Atlee has spent her life hunting down those who hurt others. And she’s the best at it. She could be one of the Bureau’s top criminal profilers, if she didn’t prefer catching criminals in the vast wilderness of the West to climbing the career ladder in the D.C. office. Her chosen mission is a lonesome one–but that suits her just fine.

Now, Atlee is called in to investigate the mutilated carcass of a mule found in the Grand Canyon–and hopefully, solve the disappearance of its rider. But this isn’t the only recent disappearance. In fact, it may be just the first clue, the key to unraveling a rash of other similar missing persons cases in the canyon. . .

I am usually a big fan of David Baldacci but this book fell well short of his talent. Supposed to be the first of a new series but I don't think I will be reading any of them.

 

[bobbiwoz]

84/75 An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole

I too had to read about Daniel! Good Book!

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

Need some help. Any Nora Roberts readers here, wanted to get one more small gift for mother in law she likes Nora Roberts. Can anyone suggest similar author.

 

[Kirby]

56/50 - The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George. Genre - YA Fantasy
Becca King and her mother are on the run from her stepfather who has used Becca's talent for hearing 'whispers' to make a large and illegal sum of money. Now their options for safety are running out. In the town of Langley on Whidbey Island, Becca finds refuge in the home of her mother's childhood friend while her mother continues on to Canada in search of safety. But on her first day in town Becca meets sixteen years old Derric Nyombe Matheson a Ugandan orphan who was adopted as a ten-year-old by the town's Deputy Sheriff. Derric has a secret that one one on Whidbey Island knows. Derric and Becca form an un-severable bond. Becca is convinced that she's the only person who can truly help him, and just maybe Derric can convince Becca that life is too short to live on the run.

 

[Kirby]

56/50 - The Edge of Nowhere by Elizabeth George. Genre - YA Fantasy
Becca King and her mother are on the run from her stepfather who has used Becca's talent for hearing 'whispers' to make a large and illegal sum of money. Now their options for safety are running out. In the town of Langley on Whidbey Island, Becca finds refuge in the home of her mother's childhood friend while her mother continues on to Canada in search of safety. But on her first day in town Becca meets sixteen years old Derric Nyombe Matheson a Ugandan orphan who was adopted as a ten-year-old by the town's Deputy Sheriff. Derric has a secret that one one on Whidbey Island knows. Derric and Becca form an un-severable bond. Becca is convinced that she's the only person who can truly help him, and just maybe Derric can convince Becca that life is too short to live on the run.

 

[MrsPete]

I'm in. Last year I set a modest goal of 10. I'm gonna bump it up to another modest 15 But I am going to throw in a few extra challenges for my self.

Read a book I own but haven't read yet. ( Hunchback of Notre Dame--we'll see about this one)
Read a book published the year I was born. (The Black Cauldron or Gentle Ben)
Read a classic romance. (Might be tough, I've read a lot already)
Read 1st book by a famous author.( I'm looking at you Neil Gaiman)
Read a non-fiction
Read a book made into a movie. (Psycho, if I can find it)
Read a novelization from a movie. (Alien)
Re-read a favorite from childhood/youth.(Eight Cousins)

I have a few others but they are the basics: mysteries, sci-fi, biography etc.

My dd did say to read a book by an author I don't like and/or on a subject I don't like. This would be tough because If I'm not interested I don't think I could finish

I'm not motivated to shoot for a certain number (reading is my job, and people hand books to me all the time, so it's not really fair to compare my numbers to other people's), but I like your concept. It's a way to branch out /widen my reading horizons.

If your looking for light and more of a fluff read it’s a great pick!

Nothing wrong with reading a bit of fluff now and then.

#1/30: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (5/5).

This series is one of my all-time favorites!

I'm going to join in this year. My goal is 50. I've already read 1. Now I just need a way to knit and read at the same time to achieve my goal for reading and for another handmade Christmas... (12 pairs of socks, at least 10 dishcloths and maybe a blanket...)

Audio books? I can't stand 'em myself, but a lot of people enjoy them.

I picked this one up through Amazon First Reads ...

Attention, all Kindle readers: if you're not on the Amazon First Reads email list, join now! Make it a New Year's Resolution.

Does anyone else belong to a book club?

My life is book club. Seriously, as a literature teacher, my colleagues and I constantly read /talk books -- and it's literally my job.

I finished my first of the year: Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon. The fourth book in the Outlander series and I must say that I am obsessed with this series at this point! I had finished Voyager and started this immediately. I love her attention to detail, and the characters she’s created. The books are long and I’m glad as I don’t want the series to end! I have not watched the series yet.

Love that series! I agree that I don't want it to end, but I've read two rumors on that subject: Diana Gabaldon has supposedly said the series will eventually contain 10 books (which means we have two more coming), and it will end in the year 1800.
You say you haven't watched the series yet; it's enjoyable, but it pales in comparison to the books. I've heard that the TV series will stop at Book 5.

4/30 - Night by Elie Weisel

I was very fortunate to hear Mr. Weisel speak -- it was a long time ago, and it was very moving.

#23/130 - Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

Have you read Scratch Beginnings by Adam Shepherd?
He was a college student who read Nickle and Dimed for class and thought (as I did), "No, that's not right." So he set out to recreate the experiment -- but whereas Ms Enrenreich set out to prove you can't get by on minimum wage, Shepherd started with the hypothesis that he COULD be successful. After college graduation, he randomly chose a city, bought a bus ticket and with only a duffle bag and $25 in his pocket, he set out to prove his point. He took only jobs that would be available to anyone with a healthy back and a high school education. I highly recommend it.

12/50 - Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.

I'm not sure I can say I "enjoyed" a book in which children were stolen /abused, but I was glued to the book /couldn't stop reading. I was completely unaware that such crimes happened, but I was captivated by the children's experience.

15/50 Educated by Tara Westover This memoir was the February selection for my book club, but the copy I had on hold at the library didn’t come up until recently. I’m glad I read it, but I didn’t like it as much as Hillbilly Elegy or The Glass Castle.

I just finished Educated earlier this week -- I think I'm still processing it. I'm not really convinced I believe all of it; I mean, the pieces don't add up. Regardless, it was a great read.
I also read Hillbilly Elegy (maybe a year ago); I think I enjoyed it more than Educated.

#55/130 - Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Yeah, I've never loved that book. I have to like the characters to enjoy a book, and no one in this book is admirable. No one.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

I loved this book! Yes, the author did a great job of weaving fairy tales with an original story. Would love to read more by this author.

Last thought -- here are some of my recent reads, which I recommend to anyone who's putting together a list for New Year's resolutions:

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. The characters begin as students at an elite English boarding school, yet the reader immediately realizes something is "off". None of the characters ever talk about home or siblings, never receive letters from home, and aren't really taking classes to prepare themselves for advanced education /career. The author drops hints about the truth of their situation, and the truth slowly comes to light.

The Highland Raven series by Melanie Karasak. This four-book series is the tale of Lady Macbeth, and Shakespeare's storyline is woven into the books -- but it's not the story you know. I loved every word and highly recommend it.

Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning. This is a ten-book urban fantasy series. It begins with a vapid young girl named Mac learning that her sister, who is studying in Dublin, has been murdered. Mac grows up fast /changes tremendously as she tries to get to the bottom of what happened to her sister. It's a quick-and-easy read /escapism fantasy.

The Kingkiller series by Patrick Rothfuss. Possibly the best fantasy story since Lord of the Rings. It's a complicated story about a young boy making his own way in a difficult world. An excellent musician and practitioner of magic, he's intriguing and endearing in spite of his arrogance. One problem: Rothfuss has been working on the last book in the series forever! I almost want to say, "Don't start this book until the man writes that last book." I am suffering waiting for that book!

Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas. This is YA, but my college daughter and I read it together and thoroughly enjoyed discussing it. We also enjoyed her better-known series Throne of Glass.

Daughters of the Lake and The End of Temperance Dare by Wendy Webb. I am not usually a mystery reader, but I thoroughly enjoyed these two novels.

The Kingfountain series by Jeff Wheeler. By now you'll have noticed a tendency towards fantasy in my reading selections, and this series is great. It's high fantasy, meaning the author has created a whole world in which his story takes place. I also enjoyed his StormGlass series, but Kingfountain is far superior.

The Two Family House by Lynda Loigman. It's a tale of two brothers who work together and share a duplex. One brother is the father of four boys, and the other is the father of three girls -- each wife is expecting a baby. The wives give birth on the same day, and each one finds herself happy with a health baby -- but disappointed in the child's gender. They make a choice that affects the family forever.

Light of the Fireflies by Paul Pen. It's the story of a family who experienced a terrible tragedy ... and they don't deal with it in a very healthy way, yet the train-wreck of a family is intriguing, and the author spins their secrets so artfully. You find yourself asking, "They're so wrong, but what would I do in that situation?"

And, of course no list could be complete without the Song of Ice and Fire Trilogy (usually called Game of Thrones) by George RR Martin. Such a wonderful story. Epic in scope, complicated background stories and plotline. Possibly the best thing I've ever read.

And one I do not recommend:

- The Boxed Scotch Series -- A Dark Contemporary Romance by Penelope Sky. This is pure trash. It's vile. I started the first book but didn't finish it; the premise is that a wealthy /violent man kidnaps a woman, holds her hostage, rapes and belittles her in multiple ways, and he plans to sell her to another man who will torture her to death. But -- in spite of her terror and the treatment she's received at his hands -- she finds herself "turned on" by being raped and falls in love with him. I actually reported this series to Amazon as the filth it is /that it glorifies violence and rape, but they did not see fit to remove it from their offerings.

 

[Disney_Alli]

66/50 - The Generals: Brotherhood of War: Book VI - W.E.B. Griffin

This book is much easier to read than listen to as it has multiple large time jumps that are only donated by the date at the beginning of the chapter. This book was originally the final book of the series so it ends with how every main character's career ended and when several of them died... and then three more books were added to the series that come after the final chapter of the book but before the epilogue so that's where I'll be next.

 

[bobbiwoz]

85/75 Spring House by Mary Ellen Taylor

 

[Disney_Alli]

67/50 - A Duke by Default- Alyssa Cole

Book 2 of her Reluctant Royals series. I think I liked it even better than book 1! Cole’s characters are so real!

 

[OKW8297]

45. The Clause in Christmas by Rachel Bloome a nice story for the last Christmas read. Looks like there’s a non Christmas sequel coming in the spring that I will read.

 

[willowsnn3]

#69 Sophia, Princess Among Beasts by James Patterson & Emily Raymond
Sophia is smart, beautiful, accomplished, a beloved princess devoted to the people and to reading books. The kingdom is hers, until a series of tragedies ends with her imprisonment in a nightmarish realm populated by the awful beasts she read about as a child.

The beasts are real. And so is the great army marching on her castle. The people look to Sophia for protection. They will all perish unless she can unlock an ancient secret as profound as life and death itself.

This was ok. Kinda read like a YA book altho wasn't billed as YA.
Trying to squeeze one more in before the end of the year so I'll have an even 70