ANNUAL READING GOAL CHALLENGE for 2015!

1st Book: Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

This is a great memoir based on Piper Kerman's time in a woman's prison. I binge watched Orange is the New Black on Netflix last summer, and ever since I was really interested in reading this book.

Next up:

2nd Book: :coffee: Browsing.....can't decide!
 
1st book completed! :) The book was "Maude" by Donna Mabry. It was about a women's life growing up in early 1900s until her death in the 1960s. For my rating, I give it 3 out of 5 stars. While it was an interesting and certainly not a boring book, It just was a bit depressing. I kept thinking her life has to get better but it kept going down hill. I also liked the main character in the beginning but she seem to grow bitter towards the end. So, while the book was interesting enough, it was just too sad.
1/25
 
Book 3. the President's Lover by Rebecca Lee

It was horrible. Poorly written, lots of graphic sex and crazy to follow story line.
 
3 SUMMER KNIGHT by jim butcher he fourth in the dresden files urban fantasy seies, ienjoyed re reading this 4/5
 

Finished my first two:

#1 Bodily Harm by Robert Dugoni. From Amazon:

"Bodily Harm opens with a big win for David Sloane and his new partner, Tom Pendergrass, in a malpractice case centered on the death of a young child. But on the heels of this seeming victory, an unlikely character—toy designer Kyle Horgan— comes forward to tell Sloane that he’s gotten it all wrong: Horgan’s the one who’s truly responsible for the little boy’s death and possibly others—not the pediatrician Sloane has just proven guilty.

Ordinarily, Sloane might have dismissed such a person as a crackpot, but something about this case has always troubled him—something that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. When Sloane tries to follow up with Horgan, he finds the man’s apartment a shambles— ransacked by unknown perpetrators. Horgan has vanished without a trace. Together with his longtime investigative partner Charles Jenkins, Sloane reexamines his clients’ son’s death and digs deeper into Horgan’s claims, forcing him to enter the billion-dollar, cutthroat toy industry. As Sloane gets closer to the truth, he trips a wire that leads to a shocking chain of events that nearly destroys him.

To get to the bottom of it all and find justice for the families harmed, Sloane must keep in check his overwhelming desire for revenge. Full of nail-bitingly tense action scenes as well as edge-of-your-seat courtroom drama, Bodily Harm finds Robert Dugoni at the very top of his game."

First time I've read this author and I really liked the book. It turns out that its the third in a series and I liked it well enough that I'm going to get the first two.

#2 She Can Run by Melinda Leigh. From Amazon:

"Elizabeth was a young widow with two small children when she met Congressman Richard Baker. Handsome and wealthy, with a sparkling public image, Richard seemed like the perfect man to provide the security that Beth and her kids were craving. But when she uncovers a dangerous secret about her new husband, Beth realizes he will go to any lengths—even murder—to keep it. After barely escaping with her life, she and her children flee. They eventually make their way to a secluded estate in the Pennsylvania countryside, where Beth dares to hope she has found a safe place at last...

Forced into retirement by an unexpected injury, Philadelphia homicide detective Jack O’Malley is mourning the loss of his career when his uncle abruptly dies, leaving Jack to dispose of his crumbling country house. Unbeknownst to him, his uncle engaged a caretaker just before his death, a mysterious woman with two children and a beautiful face that haunts his dreams. Determined to know her, Jack begins an investigation into Beth’s past. When he uncovers the shocking truth, and a local woman is viciously murdered, Jack puts his own life on the line to keep Beth and her children safe."

I've read other books by this author and, while this one was ok, it wasn't as good as others I have read. It got a bit clichéd at times and at a couple of points it got too far-fetched. Two unrelated incidents resulting in two men trying to kill the heroine was too much for me. I think it would have been better had the author picked one story line and stuck to it.
 
Book 2 of 30:

The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
From Goodreads: Two kids with the same name lived in the same decaying city. One went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. Here is the story of two boys and the journey of a generation.

In December 2000, the Baltimore Sun ran a small piece about Wes Moore, a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper also ran a series of articles about four young men who had allegedly killed a police officer in a spectacularly botched armed robbery. The police were still hunting for two of the suspects who had gone on the lam, a pair of brothers. One was named Wes Moore.

Wes just couldn’t shake off the unsettling coincidence, or the inkling that the two shared much more than space in the same newspaper. After following the story of the robbery, the manhunt, and the trial to its conclusion, he wrote a letter to the other Wes, now a convicted murderer serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. His letter tentatively asked the questions that had been haunting him: Who are you? How did this happen?

That letter led to a correspondence and relationship that have lasted for several years. Over dozens of letters and prison visits, Wes discovered that the other Wes had had a life not unlike his own: Both had grown up in similar neighborhoods and had had difficult childhoods, both were fatherless; they’d hung out on similar corners with similar crews, and both had run into trouble with the police. At each stage of their young lives they had come across similar moments of decision, yet their choices would lead them to astonishingly different destinies.

Told in alternating dramatic narratives that take readers from heart-wrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, The Other Wes Moore tells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a hostile world

Disclaimer. I read this book for a book discussion at work. However, I'm including it, because once I learned about it, I realized that it was a book that I would have read anyway. I work with a very diverse group of students economically, and these could be my students. I found this book to be very engaging, very well written, and inspiring, yet haunting. It really left me with a lot to think about.

I'm definitely adding this to my list :)
 
I think I'd like to join the challenge this year. I followed this thread last year and read several books I really enjoyed becuase of it. Last year I read 75 books but I'm not sure I'm going to have as much time this coming year to read so I'd like to set my goal at 50.

So far this year I've read

1. The List by JA Konrath - I enjoyed his Jack Daniel's series but this one was kind of weird.
2. With a Twist - a short story by JA Konrath
3. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty - I really enjoyed this book. I read What Alice Forgot last year and loved it too.

I'm currently reading book 4 - Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty and enjoying it a lot as well.

Welcome kt_mom! (your name seems really familiar btw...)

Glad you could join us this year!
 
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Wow! You all are off to a GREAT start!! :thumbsup2

Have I missed anyone up to this point?
 
threeboysmom, we're both reading Voyager right now. I'm only on Chapter 7 though. I want to take breaks between books and read something different but I'm not sure I can because I can't wait to find out what happens to everyone.

However, if I get All the Light We Cannot See from the library (#531 right now) I will definately stop to read that one first.
 
Finished book #2 - Everfound by Neal Shusterman

This is book 3 in the YA Skinjacker series. After reading book 1, I wasn't sure I was going to read the rest. I am glad I did. I really enjoyed the series and how the author ended it.

While Mary lies in a glass coffin aboard a ghost train heading west, her minions are awaiting her re-awakening by bringing lots of new souls into Everlost to serve her. Meanwhile Jackin’ Jill has met Jix, a furjacker—a skinjacker who can take over the bodies of animals, most notably jaguars. Jix serves a Mayan god who collects Everlost coins to use in his Wurlitzer, which predicts the future. In the concluding volume of The Skinjacker Trilogy, Neal Shusterman reveals new sides of the characters of Everlost, who are pitted against each other in a battle that may destroy all life on Earth.

Next book: This is Where I Leave You
 
Working my way through the Princess Diaries series since December. I just finished up Princess in Pink. Book 1 of 45 for the new year!

Next up - The Heiresses by Sara Shepard.
 
Book #1 of 50: Darkness & Shadows by Andrew E. Kaufman
Book #2 of 50: Obsessed(Lizzy Gardner #4) by T.R. Ragan
 
Day off due to dangerous cold temps and problems with heat in a couple schools in the district means I finished book 3 of 30. Perhaps I should have set my goal higher.

Redfield Farm by Judith Redline Coopey

From Goodreads: For Ann and Jesse Redfield, Quaker brother and sister, their hatred of slavery is as hard as Pennsylvania limestone. Ann's devotion to her older brother runs deep, so when he gets involved in the Underground Railroad, Ann asks no questions. She joins him in the struggle. Together they lie, sneak, masquerade and defy their way past would-be enforcers of the hated Fugitive Slave Law. Their dedication to the cause leads to complicated relationships with their fellow Quakers, pro-slavery neighbors and with the fugitives themselves. When Jesse returns from a run with a deadly fever, accompanied by a fugitive, Josiah, who is also sick and close to death, Ann nurses them both back to health. But precious time is lost, and Josiah, too weak for travel, stays the winter at Redfield Farm. Ann becomes his teacher, friend and confidant. When grave disappointment shakes her to her roots, Ann turns to Josiah for comfort, and comfort leads to intimacy. The result, both poignant and inspiring, is life-long devotion to each other and to their cause. Redfield Farm is a tale of compassion, dedication and love, steeped in the details of another time, but resonant with implications for today's world. The author brings a deep understanding of the details of the Underground Railroad which lend authenticity and truth to this tale of a life well-lived and a love well-founded.


I could not put this book down. Very easy to read, very engaging. Read the entire book today.
 
#2 Evil Ways by Justin Gustainis
Supernatural investigator Quincey Morris and his partner Libby Chastain, investigate a series of murders where white witches are being hunted and killed - and Libby may be next on the list.

3 Stars
I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did the first in the series.
 
I finished book #1, Stephen King's The Stand, two nights ago. If you've the time and/or patience to read a novel that's over 1,100 words I highly recommend it.. awesome read!

Description from Goodreads:
This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death.

And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides -- or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail -- and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.

In 1978 Stephen King published The Stand, the novel that is now considered to be one of his finest works. But as it was first published, The Stand was incomplete, since more than 150,000 words had been cut from the original manuscript.

Now Stephen King's apocalyptic vision of a world blasted by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil has been restored to its entirety. The Stand : The Complete And Uncut Edition includes more than five hundred pages of material previously deleted, along with new material that King added as he reworked the manuscript for a new generation. It gives us new characters and endows familiar ones with new depths. It has a new beginning and a new ending. What emerges is a gripping work with the scope and moral complexity of a true epic.

For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are reading The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.
 
Goal 72

#2 The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

Danny North knew from early childhood that his family was different, and that he was different from them. While his cousins were learning how to create the things that commoners called fairies, ghosts, golems, trolls, werewolves, and other such miracles that were the heritage of the North family, Danny worried that he would never show a talent, never form an outself.


Ok, this one started out interesting but quickly became tedious to read and I kept thinking about what else I could be reading but stuck it out anyway. This is first in this series but I won't be reading the sequels....
 
Book 1/75

The Insider - Kingdom Keepers #7
Ridley Pearson

4/5 stars

Loved the book. However at the beginning of the book, he states it is the last book in the series. We did not wrap up everything at the end. It clearly opened the doors for the next book. And after a moment of research, book 8 comes out in February.
 
threeboysmom, we're both reading Voyager right now. I'm only on Chapter 7 though. I want to take breaks between books and read something different but I'm not sure I can because I can't wait to find out what happens to everyone.

However, if I get All the Light We Cannot See from the library (#531 right now) I will definately stop to read that one first.

Hey, how cool is that!! I think I'm around page 650 mark or so. I really don't pay attention to chapter numbers, and I read on my Nook so it's not that easy to check like it is with a real book (wish they'd put the chapter title and number along each page for ppl like me, lol).

I'm loving it! Haven't decided if I'm going to jump right into #4 immediately or squeeze another book in between.

I have All the Light We Cannot See on my list too. Yikes, guess I'd better jump on the reserve list for it! Didn't realize it was such a hot book!!
 
I just finished Positive by Paige Rawl. It was amazing and I cried at the end. She writes about her struggle with being HIV positive and being bullied. It's fantastic and inspiring.

I also read Looking for Alaska by John Green. It was ok, but nothing great.
 

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