ANNUAL READING GOAL CHALLENGE for 2015!

[Christine]

#19/50 - Brain Maker - Dr. David Perlmutter.

This is the second book put out by this neurologist and I find it fascinating. I've mainly been reading his theories (now fairly backed by science) in which the posits that our depleted "microbiomes" are contributing to inflammation in the body which is causing the skyrocketing rates of Alzheimer's/autism/etc as well as other neurological disorders. Well written for the lay person, it really makes you think.

 

[tiggrbaby]

Way behind in posting! #20 - 26/45:

Paper Towns by John Green (YA/4/5*)
W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton (5/5*)
Shelter by Harlan Coben (YA/4/5*)
The Black Echo by Michael Connelly (4/5*)
Twisted Vine by Toby Neal (4/5*)
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (YA/5/5*)
The Girl in the Green Raincoat by Laura Lippman (4/5*)

 

[nemofans]

Finished book #45 - All I Could Ask For by Mike Greenberg

I read this book for my book club. It's a quick read (I read it in 24 hrs) about 3 very different women dealing with adversaries in their lives. I am surprised this book was written by a man b/c the story is very moving about these women's lives and their feelings. Warning: This book will make you cry. I did keep getting 2 of the women mixed up through the 1st half of the book though. At first I didn't understand Brooke's (married woman) decision in the end, but I did come to realize why she chose that route which made me wonder what I would do in her place.

Brooke has been happily married to her college sweetheart for fifteen years. Even after the C-section, the dog poop, the stomach viruses and the coffee breath, Scott always winks at her in just the right moments. That is why, for her beloved, romantic, successful husband’s fortieth birthday, she is giving him pictures. Of herself. Naked.
Newlywed Samantha learns of her husband’s cheating heart when she finds the goods on his computer.
High-powered career woman Katherine works with heartbreaker Phillip, the man who hurt her early on in her career.
Brooke, Samantha, and Katherine don’t know each other, but their stories are about to intertwine in ways no one could have imagined.
And all three are about to discover the power of friendship to conquer adversity, the satisfaction of unexpected delights, the incredible difference one human being can have on other lives--and that they have all they could ask for, as long as they have each other.

 

[Deffenm]

#19/30 - Last One Home - I really liked the book. It was a good beach read.

From Goodreads: Growing up, Cassie Carter and her sisters, Karen and Nichole, were incredibly close -- until one fateful event drove them apart. After high school, Cassie ran away from home to marry the wrong man, throwing away a college scholarship and breaking her parents’ hearts. To make matters worse, Cassie had always been their father’s favorite -- a sentiment that weighed heavily on her sisters and made Cassie’s actions even harder to bear.

 

[Simba's Mom]

#19/30 - Last One Home - I really liked the book. It was a good beach read.

From Goodreads: Growing up, Cassie Carter and her sisters, Karen and Nichole, were incredibly close -- until one fateful event drove them apart. After high school, Cassie ran away from home to marry the wrong man, throwing away a college scholarship and breaking her parents’ hearts. To make matters worse, Cassie had always been their father’s favorite -- a sentiment that weighed heavily on her sisters and made Cassie’s actions even harder to bear.

How was it? I'm a big Debbie Macomber fan, and have that one on my list of "to read"s. Will it be worth it?

 

[Deffenm]

How was it? I'm a big Debbie Macomber fan, and have that one on my list of "to read"s. Will it be worth it?

I really liked the book. I thought it was worth reading. The main character was a hard working, loving, single mother who was doing everything she could to make a better life for herself and her daughter while trying to make things right with her sisters.

 

[willowsnn3]

#43 The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey

From Goodreads:
After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.
Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker.
Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

This is supposed to be the first book of a trilogy but I think instead of starting with the "Fifth Wave", the author should have started with The 1st Wave, then The 2nd Wave and so on because those are barely explained in this, the first book.
To me it was just ok, probably won't continue with the other 2 of the set.

 

[threeboysmom]

I'm up to Chapter 4. I can't make a call until what she did is revealed lol

Did you finish yet? I finished yesterday... and I think I must have missed something?

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

#16

Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives
Thomas French

"This story, told by a master teller of such things, does more than take you inside the cages, fences, and walls of a zoo. It takes you inside the human heart, and an elephant's, and a primate's, and on and on. Tom French did in this book what he always does. He took real life and wrote it down for us, with eloquence and feeling and aching detail."
-Rick Bragg, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author

"An insightful and detailed look at the complex life of a zoo and its denizens, both animal and human."
-Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi and Beatrice and Virgil

Welcome to the savage and surprising world of Zoo Story, an unprecedented account of the secret life of a zoo and its inhabitants. Based on six years of research, the book follows a handful of unforgettable characters at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo: an alpha chimp with a weakness for blondes, a ferocious tiger who revels in Obsession perfume, and a brilliant but tyrannical CEO known as El Diablo Blanco.

The sweeping narrative takes the reader from the African savannah to the forests of Panama and deep into the inner workings of a place some describe as a sanctuary and others condemn as a prison. Zoo Story shows us how these remarkable individuals live, how some die, and what their experiences reveal about the human desire to both exalt and control nature.

This is an amazing book.

Lowry Park is a place near and dear to me as a Tampa Bay area kid. I can't count how many times I've gone growing up and now I even bring my own children there now.

I loved hearing the stories of the different animals and keepers. Their feelings...Back stories. It definitely has changed how I look at some species and the zoo.

 

[jenny105]

Did you finish yet? I finished yesterday... and I think I must have missed something?

Not yet I'm about halfway through. I'll get back to you when I do!

 

[Swimnoid]

Trying to catch up with my posting...

46. Missing You by Harlan Coben
From Goodreads: It's a profile, like all the others on the online dating site. But as NYPD Detective Kat Donovan focuses on the accompanying picture, she feels her whole world explode, as emotions she’s ignored for decades come crashing down on her. Staring back at her is her ex-fiancé Jeff, the man who shattered her heart—and who she hasn’t seen in 18 years.

Kat feels a spark, wondering if this might be the moment when past tragedies recede and a new world opens up to her. But when she reaches out to the man in the profile, her reawakened hope quickly darkens into suspicion and then terror as an unspeakable conspiracy comes to light, in which monsters prey upon the most vulnerable.

Good suspense novel.

47. Promise Me by Richard Paul Evans
From Goodreads: Beth Cardall has a secret. For eighteen years, she has had no choice but to keep it to herself, but on Christmas Eve 2008, all that is about to change. For Beth, 1989 was a year marked by tragedy. Her life was falling apart: her six-year-old daughter, Charlotte, was suffering from an unidentifiable illness; her marriage transformed from a seemingly happy and loving relationship to one full of betrayal and pain; her job at the dry cleaners was increasingly at risk; and she had lost any ability to trust, to hope, or to believe in herself. Then, on Christmas Day, as she rushed through a blizzard to the nearest 7-Eleven, Beth encountered Matthew, a strikingly handsome, mysterious stranger, who would single-handedly change the course of her life. Who is this man, and how does he seem to know so much about her? He pursues her relentlessly, and only after she’s fallen deeply in love with him does she learn his incredible secret, changing the world as she knows it, as well as her own destiny.

This book was kind "meh" for me. I cant even remember most of it and I just read it two months ago.

48. The Private School Murders (Confessions #2) by James Patterson
From Goodreads: In the sequel to the #1 New York Times bestseller Confessions of a Murder Suspect, James Patterson keeps the confessions coming breathlessly as Tandy Angel delves deeper into her own tumultuous history-and proves that she can rise above the sordid Angel legacy.

Wealthy young women are being murdered on Manhattan's exclusive Upper West Side, and the police aren't looking for answers in the right places. Enter Tandy Angel. The first case she cracked was the mystery of her parents' deaths. Now, while she's working to exonerate her brother of his glamorous girlfriend's homicide, she's driven to get involved in the West Side murder spree.

This is the second installment of a series aimed at the YA crowd. I liked the characters. The story took the typical Patterson course. I did not read the first installment and I dont think you really needed to but I want to read it anyway. good story that kept you interested.

49. The Lion by Nelson DeMille
From Goodreads: In this eagerly awaited follow-up to The Lion's Game, John Corey, former NYPD Homicide detective and special agent for the Anti-Terrorist Task Force, is back. And, unfortunately for Corey, so is Asad Khalil, the notorious Libyan terrorist otherwise known as "The Lion." Last we heard from him, Khali had claimed to be defecting to the US only to unleash the most horrific reign of terrorism ever to occur on American soil. While Corey and his partner, agent Kate Mayfield, chased him across the country, Khalil methodically eliminated his victims one by one and then disappeared without a trace. Now, years later, Khalil has returned to America to make good on his threats and take care of unfinished business. "The Lion" is a killing machine once again loose in America with a mission of revenge, and John Corey will stop at nothing to achieve his own goal -- to find and kill Khahil

This is #5 in the John Corey series. This particular book was based on a previous book in the series The Lion's Game. You really need to read that one first to know what's going on here. But there is a lot of action and I enjoy the John Corey character.

50. The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham
From Goodreads: In the town of Ada, Oklahoma, Ron Williamson was going to be the next Mickey Mantle. But on his way to the big leagues, Ron stumbled, his dream broken by drinking, drugs, and women. Then on a winter night in 1982, not far from Ron's home, a young cocktail waitress named Debra Sue Carter was savagely murdered. The investigation led nowhere. Until, on the flimsiest evidence, it led to Ron Williamson. The washed-up small-town hero was charged, tried, and sentenced to death--in a trial littered with lying witnesses and tainted evidence that would shatter a man's already broken life...and let a true killer go free.

This is a true story that reads like a documentary. It follows Ron Williamson's trial, conviction, and appeal process over the years. Very interesting.

51. California by Eden Lepucki
From Goodreads: The world Cal and Frida have always known is gone, and they've left the crumbling city of Los Angeles far behind them. They now live in a shack in the wilderness, working side-by-side to make their days tolerable despite the isolation and hardships they face. Consumed by fear of the future and mourning for a past they can't reclaim, they seek comfort and solace in one other. But the tentative existence they've built for themselves is thrown into doubt when Frida finds out she's pregnant.

This book is set in the not too distant future where America has fallen apart. They dont really tell you what has happened and why the country is like it is but it hints more at environmental abuse. This couple is trying to survive under very miserable and sparse conditions. Once Frida finds out she is pregnant they seek out aid from a village nearby where they are shocked by who they meet. This is a dystopian novel but with a different twist. Very good.

 

[WowLookAtThat]

Book #48 Crazy Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan

Book #49 To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt

Book #50 A Good Indian Wife by Anne Cherien

Book #51 The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel

Book #52 Spellbound Falls by Janet Chapman

Book #53 Black Dahlia by James Ellroy

Book #54 One Good Earl by Sarah McLean

Book #55 A Rogue by any other name by Sarah McLean

Book #56 Charmed by his love by Janet Chapman

Book #57 Heroes and Outlaws of the Bible by Don Reid

Book #58 No Good Duke by Sarah McLean

Book #59 Casanova's Women by Judith Summers

Book #60 The Secrets of the Grand Canal by Alberto Toso Fei

 

[willowsnn3]

#44 The Lost Children by Mary MacCracken

When Mary MacCracken joined a school for emotionally disturbed children as a volunteer, she quickly found herself rocked to the core. On the outside most of the children looked healthy. But the reality was far sadder--locked away from love and any human contact, these children struggled with life every day.
Mary MacCracken was a natural and gifted teacher. Using her instincts, observations and common sense, she was able to establish a rapport with even the most difficult children. She helped them to take their first steps towards feeling love and trust. There are no miracle workers in this story, just one remarkable woman who refused to give up.

 

[JaneBanks]

Goal - 30 books.

#7 - The A.B.C. Murders - Agatha Christie 4/5

From Goodreads -

There's a serial killer on the loose, bent on working his way through the alphabet. And as a macabre calling card he leaves beside each victim's corpe the ABC Railway Guide open at the name of the town where the murder has taken place. Having begun with Andover, Bexhill and then Churston, there seems little chance of the murderer being caught - until he makes the crucial and vain mistake of challenging Hercule Poirot to frustrate his plans.

#8 - Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie 5/5

From Goodreads -

"The murderer is with us - on the train now..."

Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. One of his fellow passengers must be the murderer.

Isolated by the storm and with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer amongst a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again...

 

[nemofans]

Finished book #46 - My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

I loved this story so much! My favorite book of the year! It is whimsical, funny, heartbreaking and I just loved the main character, Elsa. I loved her love of Harry Potter, her wit, her tenacity, her love for her granny. I wish I grew up with Granny's fairy tales! The message in this story is it is okay to be different. Please read this!

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.
When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

Next Book: After I Do

 

[threeboysmom]

Finished book #46 - My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

I loved this story so much! My favorite book of the year! It is whimsical, funny, heartbreaking and I just loved the main character, Elsa. I loved her love of Harry Potter, her wit, her tenacity, her love for her granny. I wish I grew up with Granny's fairy tales! The message in this story is it is okay to be different. Please read this!

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy, standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.
When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

Next Book: After I Do

Sounds awesome! Thanks for the review & recommendation! Will add it to my list now!

 

[nemofans]

Finished book #47 - After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This is just okay for me. A married couple realizes after fighting so much & always being angry with each other, that they need a change. They agree to separate for a year in hopes they will remember why they fell in love. A month seems more likely than a year. So much can happen in a year. I get having time away from each other, but then why the whole dating others thing? I don't think this is how I would try to fix my marriage.

When Lauren and Ryan’s marriage reaches the breaking point, they come up with an unconventional plan. They decide to take a year off in the hopes of finding a way to fall in love again. One year apart, and only one rule: they cannot contact each other. Aside from that, anything goes.
Lauren embarks on a journey of self-discovery, quickly finding that her friends and family have their own ideas about the meaning of marriage. These influences, as well as her own healing process and the challenges of living apart from Ryan, begin to change Lauren’s ideas about monogamy and marriage. She starts to question: When you can have romance without loyalty and commitment without marriage, when love and lust are no longer tied together, what do you value? What are you willing to fight for?

 

[willowsnn3]

#45 The Troop by Nick Cutter

I'm so sick of seeing other authors rave about new books by new authors! They must get paid a lot for their praise quotes, lol. For example:
"The Troop scared the hell out of me, and I couldn't put it down. This is old school horror at its best. Not for the faint hearted, but for the rest of us sick puppies, it's a perfect gift for a winter night." Stephen King

Well, sorry, SK. You might be one of my favorite authors, but way off the mark on this one and another one you raved about a while back.

Anyway, it is about a boy scout troop taking their last 'outing' as a troop. The five boys are all 14 and looking forward to other things. Camping out on an island close to their home, an infected man lands his boat on the island and the virus starts spreading....Government has been keeping tabs on this man and quarantines the island leaving the boys & their troopmaster stranded. Pretty predictible after that.

 

[Carstairs38]

Oh boy. It's been a month. Hang on for a massive update.

68/100 Fatal Reservations by Lucy Burdette (Key West Food Critic Mysteries #6) – 5
Tensions are building all over Key West with restaurant wars and a string of burglaries. However, it’s the fight over the Sunset Celebration lease that erupts in murder when Bart Frontgate is found dead. The police are looking at Hayley Snow’s friend Lorenzo, a man she knows couldn’t have committed the crime. But Lorenzo is hiding something. Can Hayley clear him, or will his secret convict him for murder?


I have completely fallen in love with Key West thanks to these books, and it was wonderful to visit again. The characters are strong, with Hayley showing some growth and Miss Gloria as delightful as ever. The plot is strong, combining several storylines into a cohesive and entertaining whole, although I do wish we didn’t have the constant Hayley is afraid for her job sub-plot.


69/100 Murder on the Bucket List by Elizabeth Perona (Bucket List Mysteries #1) – 5

Francine and her friends are working hard at crossing off the items on their bucket lists. Last one night while meeting at Alice’s pool to go skinny dipping, they find a dead body instead. Charlene is thrilled since solving a murder is the top item on her list. But can the friends do it?


I picked up this book because the characters, all in their 70’s, sounded like fun. Boy was I right! They are a hoot, and I was smiling as I enjoyed the entire story. The number of characters is a little overwhelming at first, but I was quickly able to sort them all out. The plot is strong with some nice revelations and twists before the end. I can’t wait to meet this feisty group of ladies again.


70/100 Time’s Up by Janey Mack (Maisie McGrane Mysteries #1) – 3

Maisie is set to follow in the footsteps of some of her older brothers and her father and become a cop. That is until she fails the psych evaluation. So she decides to prove she can handle being hated by becoming a meter maid. But can she really handle the job?


This was a mixed bag. First of all, it is not a mystery. The dead body and who killed him is a poorly handled sub-plot at best. However, the coming of age aspect I did enjoy at times. At other times, it was slow. Likewise, some of the characters never rose above cliché while others were lots of fun. There’s potential for some good stories here, but this book isn’t at that level yet.


71/100 Mrs. Pollifax Pursued by Dorothy Gilman (Mrs. Pollifax #11) – 5

The last thing Mrs. Pollifax expected to find that day was a young woman hiding in her closet. Kadi is afraid of the men who have been driving by in a van for the last couple of days, and Mrs. Pollifax’s efforts to sneak her out of the house end with both of them on the run. A call to Carstairs at the CIA leads them to an unusual safe house and another mystery. Are the two related?


This is a bit of an unusual entry in the series since it takes place mostly in the US and Carstairs plays a much more active part in the story. However, I like it for that change of pace. The plot relies a bit more on coincidence than is normal for the series (which is saying something), but all the various threads do wind up playing a part in the end. Overall, another great entry in the series.


72/100 The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy (Hero’s Guide #2) – 5

When Briar Rose kidnaps Prince Liam to force their marriage, the League of Princes ride to his rescue. However, things go horribly wrong, and they find themselves on a new mission – this time for the very spoiled Briar Rose herself. But what is this princess really after?


I shouldn’t have waited so long before reading this sequel. It’s as delightful as the first one. I laughed the entire way through while enjoying how the characters continue to grow and evolve. The plot takes some nice twists along the way to a satisfying conclusion. This book also sets up some interesting possibilities for the climax of the series, and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.


73/100 A First Date with Death by Diana Orgain (Love or Money Mysteries #1) – 4

Georgia Thornton has hit a new low – contestant on a reality dating show. Her job is to figure out which of her bachelors are in it for love and which just want the prize money. However, the show’s first group date ends in a tragic accident. When another contestant dies, Georgia begins to question what she has signed up for. Meanwhile, her ex-fiancee has appeared on the show. Is he investigating? What is really happening on the show? Will Georgia figure it out and pick the right bachelor?


This book definitely plays up the reality show aspect of things, with that part of the plot often overriding the mystery. Only a few of the characters get much development as well. And yet, I really did enjoy the book. I always had a hard time putting it down, and the pages flew by all too quickly. I’ll definitely be back for the sequel.


74/100 The Chocolate Clown Corpse by JoAnna Carl (Chocoholic Mysteries #14) – 4

Clowns are the theme for the annual winter carnival in Warner Pier, which is ironic since the man who ran the clown themed store in town was murdered about a month before it starts. Since that store was next door to TenHuis Chocolade, Lee Woodyard is hoping to buy it to expand the business. That’s how she meets the family and gets further involved when evidence begins appearing suggestion the homeless man who has been arrest for the murder might be innocent. But if he is innocent, who actually did it?

The book started out a little slowly, but once it gained speed, I found it hard to put it down, as always. I did spot the ending a little early, but I was having so much fun I didn’t mind. Lee, her husband Joe, and the new characters are great, but I do wish we could see more of the supporting cast – another common complaint when it comes to this series. Still, fans of Lee’s will gobble this book down like always.


75/100 Commander Toad and the Planet of the Grapes by Jane Yolen – 4

Commander Toad and his crew aboard the Star Warts have found a new planet to explore. But when Lieutenant Lily starts sneezing and the Commander Toad gets swallow in a giant red bump, they may be facing more than they bargained for.


I recently remembered this series from when I was younger, and it seems like it’s not as popular as it once was. That’s a shame. While the story and characters are a bit simple, they are fun. Once we get the introductions out of the way, the story is interesting, and will definitely connect with young readers. Adults will love the spoofs on Star Wars and Star Trek and everyone will groan at the grape puns.


76/100 Killer Jam by Karen MacInerney (Dewberry Farm Mysteries #1) – 4

Investigative reporter Lucy Resnick has bought the farm – that is her grandparent’s farm outside the small town of Buttercup, Texas. However, just days after learning that the previous owner, Nettie Kocurek, retained the mineral rights in the sale and intends to drill for oil, Nettie is stabbed. With the police focusing on the outsider – Lucy – she has to act find to find the real killer.


This is a fun series debut filled with great characters and a fun small town that I really grew to love. The plot did blog down a little in the second quarter, but it soon started back up with plenty of twists and surprises to keep me confused until the end.


NOTE: I was sent an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.


77/100 The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley (Flavia DeLuce #2) – 3

11-year-old Flavia DeLuce finds herself involved in a second mystery when a traveling puppet show comes to town. She is asked to help them set up and settle in to their temporary home, but when murder makes an appearance, she begins to dig deeper to find the killer.


The murder doesn’t happen until almost the half way point, but the story doesn’t have the tension to keep our interest until then. Yes, what we learn comes into play later, but it could have been introduced later when we’d actually care and it would mean something to us. The characters continue to shine, however. The second half of the novel was wonderful. If the entire thing lived up to that level, it would be a wonderful book.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thanks so much. I love a good cozy mystery, and you listed several that I added to my "to-read" list on Goodreads.