Annual Reading Goal Challenge for 2016 - Come and join us!

[xlsm]

Finished #3 - Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King.

I am a pretty big SK fan, and I generally love his short story collections. He writes some real doozies, they start out seeming so innocuous, then BAM...and then you just can't get your head right for awhile.
I was nervous about this collection, because it wasn't getting great reviews. But I'm glad I put on my "He's my favorite and I don't care" hat, because I was thoroughly entertained. Some stories were leaps and bounds better than others, but all of them were readable.
What I liked best about this collection was the note he wrote before each of them, kind of telling where he was/what he was going through when he wrote them. A lot of them were inspired by people in his life, and dedicated to them, which was interesting.
At this point in my relationship with his writing, it's like sitting and talking with an old friend, and I love that.

Next up is Shadow Spell by Nora Roberts. It's the 2nd book in the cousins O'Dwyer trilogy. I read the first one a couple years ago when it first came out, and yes, it's taken me this long to get around to reading the second installment. It wasn't high on my list, but I found it on the discount rack at Barnes and Noble, and thought, "why not?"


It's nice to start the year with an increase in reading.I won't have as much time this spring because I will be planning a large event for school, so I want to get in as much as I can now

 

[CallieMar]

I feel your pain! I have one or two that I've been waiting for since November also. Not sure why some are SOOOO slow and others aren't. I can see that there are multiple copies.

The waiting really slows me down because I often go a weeks here and there with no book. I'm too cheap to buy them!

I'm not sure if you have an e-reader or not, but I create wish lists for this very reason! If I'm between holds, I'll check my wish list and download one of the books that is available now. I also used to create lists for physical books before I got my Kindle.

My library system has a good variety of e-books, but there is an even bigger library 100 miles away that also tends to have more copies of the popular titles. The only requirement is that you have a state drivers license, so I applied for a card on a day that I had already planned to be in that city, and now just log into their Overdrive site. I have two lists I can pull from, and just wait for whichever one becomes available first.

 

[wilma-bride]

Hey put me down for 12 please

My fav book last year was the longest ride

Welcome

#2 - Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming

This memoir is emotional and personal and utterly engaging. I've always been a fan of Alan and am so glad I read this. Highly recommended.

The bad reviews on goodreads seem to come from people who'd seen an episode of a BBC show chronically part of what the book discusses. But it's average rating there is 4 stars. I gave it 5.

And I don't need to be in the overall list for this thread. I'll number my contributions as I go.

OK

2/120 - Undertow by Michael Buckley (another one recommended here)
I was immediately pulled into this solely because the main character suffers from migraines like my daughter does. This is the first in a series and I will definitely read the others.

"First, we feared them. Then we fought them. Now they might be our only hope.

Sixteen-year-old Lyric Walker’s life is forever changed when she witnesses the arrival of 30,000 Alpha, a five-nation race of ocean-dwelling warriors, on her beach in Coney Island. The world’s initial wonder and awe over the Alpha quickly turns ugly and paranoid and violent, and Lyric’s small town transforms into a military zone with humans on one side and Alpha on the other. When Lyric is recruited to help the crown prince, a boy named Fathom, assimilate, she begins to fall for him. But their love is a dangerous one, and there are forces on both sides working to keep them apart. Only, what if the Alpha are not actually the enemy? What if they are in fact humanity’s best chance for survival? Because the real enemy is coming. And it’s more terrifying than anything the world has ever seen."

3/120 - Until We Touch by Susan Mallory
Another installment of the author's Fool's Gold series and a nice simple read. I do enjoy reading the romance series, because it's nice to keep seeing some of your favorite characters. A bit predictable, but when you're reading for pleasure, it doesn't all have to be serious and suspenseful.

I'm still waiting on three books I have on hold to become available. One is from another romance series, one is from Nora Roberts, the third is John Grisham's latest. I love using my library's online system (Overdrive) but get impatient having to wait. I've been waiting since early November for the Grisham novel.

That first one sounds interesting.

Is it too late to join?

I would like to aim for 52 books- that's only one book a week so easy to reach.

Never too late, have added you

I feel your pain! I have one or two that I've been waiting for since November also. Not sure why some are SOOOO slow and others aren't. I can see that there are multiple copies.

The waiting really slows me down because I often go a weeks here and there with no book. I'm too cheap to buy them!

I hardly ever buy books. And we can't 'borrow' e-books here in the UK. Either from the library or Amazon. I download most of mine as freebies I have a HUGE library of Kindle books so if there is anything in particular you are desperate for, if you send me a PM I can have a look and see if I can find it. Only epub or Kindle format though, although I think you can find online file converters.

I would like to pledge to read 50 books this year! I am retiring at the end of the month, so I will hopefully have time!

I have actually read two books so far:

#1/50: At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen (4/5 stars) (WWII in Scotland chasing down the Loch Ness Monster)
#2/50: Special Circumstances by Sheldon Siegel (4/5 stars) (lawyer mystery; first in a series; Kindle owner lending library choice)

Welcome, thanks for joining in

Finished #3 - Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King.

I am a pretty big SK fan, and I generally love his short story collections. He writes some real doozies, they start out seeming so innocuous, then BAM...and then you just can't get your head right for awhile.
I was nervous about this collection, because it wasn't getting great reviews. But I'm glad I put on my "He's my favorite and I don't care" hat, because I was thoroughly entertained. Some stories were leaps and bounds better than others, but all of them were readable.
What I liked best about this collection was the note he wrote before each of them, kind of telling where he was/what he was going through when he wrote them. A lot of them were inspired by people in his life, and dedicated to them, which was interesting.
At this point in my relationship with his writing, it's like sitting and talking with an old friend, and I love that.

Next up is Shadow Spell by Nora Roberts. It's the 2nd book in the cousins O'Dwyer trilogy. I read the first one a couple years ago when it first came out, and yes, it's taken me this long to get around to reading the second installment. It wasn't high on my list, but I found it on the discount rack at Barnes and Noble, and thought, "why not?"


It's nice to start the year with an increase in reading.I won't have as much time this spring because I will be planning a large event for school, so I want to get in as much as I can now

I do like Stephen King but I find him hard to read sometimes. I read 11/22/63 a couple of years ago and enjoyed it but everything I've tried to read since then, I have struggled with.

I'm not sure if you have an e-reader or not, but I create wish lists for this very reason! If I'm between holds, I'll check my wish list and download one of the books that is available now. I also used to create lists for physical books before I got my Kindle.

My library system has a good variety of e-books, but there is an even bigger library 100 miles away that also tends to have more copies of the popular titles. The only requirement is that you have a state drivers license, so I applied for a card on a day that I had already planned to be in that city, and now just log into their Overdrive site. I have two lists I can pull from, and just wait for whichever one becomes available first.

I love that you are able to 'borrow' books electronically. i wish we had that system here, although I am never short of anything to read.

 

[nemofans]

My goal is 65 books. Decided to lower it and enjoy the books a little more than just trying to read so many.

My favorite book of 2015 was My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman.

Finished book #1/65 - The Monster In The Hollows by Andrew Peterson

This is book 3 in the Wingfeather Saga which is a series for kids aged 10 & up and it was a really good book. I love going on this journey with the Wingfeather children.

Finished book #2/65 - The Warden and Then Wolf King by Andrew Peterson

This is the 4th and final book of the series and boy was it a great one! I love this series and the author finished it with a bang. It had me feeling joyful and sad and the tears in my eyes were due to both feelings. I wish there will be a 5th to continue the journey of the Wingfeather children growing up as I didn't want to say goodbye to them. I have a feeling this series will be my favorite for 2016 and I will definitely be recommending this to my DS (11).

Finished book #3/65 - Star Wars: Before the Awakening by Greg Rucka

This was reviewed on here already. Nice to read more about the new Star Wars characters. Not a whole lot to add though except Poe's story.

 

[willowsnn3]

3/72

A Head Full Of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

From the jacket:
The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when 14yr old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia.
To her parents' despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie's bizarre outbursts and subsequent descent into madness. As their home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggest an exorcism: he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is eager to document the Barretts' plight for a reality tv show. With John, Marjorie's father, out of work for more than a year and medical bills looming, the family reluctantly agrees to be filmed. When events in the Barrett household explode in tragedy the show and the inidents it captures become the stuff of urban legend.
Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie's younger sister, Merry. As she recalls those long ago events from her childhood, she was just 8yrs old, painful memories and long buried secrets that clash with the tv broadcast begin to surface. A mind bending tale of psycological horror is unleashed, raising disturbing questions about memory and reality.

As a book with almost 300 pages, it was interesting enough until about page 200 when it got better and I really wanted to see how things turned out. Billed as a "terrifying tale" but didn't quite make the horror grade for me, a die hard horror fan.

 

[camreesmom]

I finished book #1 and started on a 2nd one.

#1 - Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay
This was just ok. I finished reading it because I hate leaving a book once I've started it but I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone. It wasn't terrible but definitely not one of his best.

From Goodreads:
“The night they killed our neighbors, we never heard a thing.”

In a quiet suburban neighborhood, in a house only one door away, a family is brutally murdered for no apparent reason. And you think to yourself: It could have been us. And you start to wonder: What if we’re next?Linwood Barclay, critically acclaimed author of No Time for Goodbye, brings terror closer than ever before in a thriller where murder strikes in the place we feel safest of all. Promise Falls isn’t the kind of community where a family is shot to death in their own home. But that is exactly what happened to the Langleys one sweltering summer night, and no one in this small upstate New York town is more shocked than their next-door neighbors, Jim and Ellen Cutter. They visited for the occasional barbecue and their son, Derek, was friends with the Langleys’ boy, Adam; but how well did they really know their neighbors?

That’s the question Jim Cutter is asking, and the answers he’s getting aren’t reassuring. Albert Langley was a successful, well-respected criminal lawyer, but was he so good at getting criminals off that he was the victim of revenge—a debt his innocent family also paid in blood? From the town’s criminally corrupt mayor to the tragic suicide of a talented student a decade before, Promise Falls has more than its share of secrets. And Jim Cutter, failed artist turned landscaper, need look no further than his own home and his wife Ellen’s past to know that things aren’t always what they seem. But not even Jim and Ellen are ready to know that their son was in the Langley house the night the family was murdered.

Suddenly the Cutters must face the unthinkable: that a murderer isn’t just stalking too close to home but is inside it already. For the Langleys weren’t the first to die and they won’t be the last.

Up next: The Accident by Linwood Barclay (yes, him again )

 

[piglet too]

4/120 Notoriuous by Allison Brennan
First book of a new series about an investigative reporter. I was truly surprised by the revelation of the "who done it" and look forward to the other books.

I've been getting so many good suggestions here, and am about to start on The Cuckoo's Calling. Only drawback so far is that I'm staying up super late to finish the books, lol.

 

[wilma-bride]

My goal is 65 books. Decided to lower it and enjoy the books a little more than just trying to read so many.

My favorite book of 2015 was My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman.

Finished book #1/65 - The Monster In The Hollows by Andrew Peterson

This is book 3 in the Wingfeather Saga which is a series for kids aged 10 & up and it was a really good book. I love going on this journey with the Wingfeather children.

Finished book #2/65 - The Warden and Then Wolf King by Andrew Peterson

This is the 4th and final book of the series and boy was it a great one! I love this series and the author finished it with a bang. It had me feeling joyful and sad and the tears in my eyes were due to both feelings. I wish there will be a 5th to continue the journey of the Wingfeather children growing up as I didn't want to say goodbye to them. I have a feeling this series will be my favorite for 2016 and I will definitely be recommending this to my DS (11).

Finished book #3/65 - Star Wars: Before the Awakening by Greg Rucka

This was reviewed on here already. Nice to read more about the new Star Wars characters. Not a whole lot to add though except Poe's story.

Welcome, nice to have you on board. Happy reading

3/72

A Head Full Of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

From the jacket:
The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when 14yr old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia.
To her parents' despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie's bizarre outbursts and subsequent descent into madness. As their home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggest an exorcism: he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is eager to document the Barretts' plight for a reality tv show. With John, Marjorie's father, out of work for more than a year and medical bills looming, the family reluctantly agrees to be filmed. When events in the Barrett household explode in tragedy the show and the inidents it captures become the stuff of urban legend.
Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie's younger sister, Merry. As she recalls those long ago events from her childhood, she was just 8yrs old, painful memories and long buried secrets that clash with the tv broadcast begin to surface. A mind bending tale of psycological horror is unleashed, raising disturbing questions about memory and reality.

As a book with almost 300 pages, it was interesting enough until about page 200 when it got better and I really wanted to see how things turned out. Billed as a "terrifying tale" but didn't quite make the horror grade for me, a die hard horror fan.

Looks like we have some of the same books on our reading lists Susan ;-)

I finished book #1 and started on a 2nd one.

#1 - Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay
This was just ok. I finished reading it because I hate leaving a book once I've started it but I don't think I'd recommend this to anyone. It wasn't terrible but definitely not one of his best.

From Goodreads:
“The night they killed our neighbors, we never heard a thing.”

In a quiet suburban neighborhood, in a house only one door away, a family is brutally murdered for no apparent reason. And you think to yourself: It could have been us. And you start to wonder: What if we’re next?Linwood Barclay, critically acclaimed author of No Time for Goodbye, brings terror closer than ever before in a thriller where murder strikes in the place we feel safest of all. Promise Falls isn’t the kind of community where a family is shot to death in their own home. But that is exactly what happened to the Langleys one sweltering summer night, and no one in this small upstate New York town is more shocked than their next-door neighbors, Jim and Ellen Cutter. They visited for the occasional barbecue and their son, Derek, was friends with the Langleys’ boy, Adam; but how well did they really know their neighbors?

That’s the question Jim Cutter is asking, and the answers he’s getting aren’t reassuring. Albert Langley was a successful, well-respected criminal lawyer, but was he so good at getting criminals off that he was the victim of revenge—a debt his innocent family also paid in blood? From the town’s criminally corrupt mayor to the tragic suicide of a talented student a decade before, Promise Falls has more than its share of secrets. And Jim Cutter, failed artist turned landscaper, need look no further than his own home and his wife Ellen’s past to know that things aren’t always what they seem. But not even Jim and Ellen are ready to know that their son was in the Langley house the night the family was murdered.

Suddenly the Cutters must face the unthinkable: that a murderer isn’t just stalking too close to home but is inside it already. For the Langleys weren’t the first to die and they won’t be the last.

Up next: The Accident by Linwood Barclay (yes, him again )

I agree, Too Close to Home is not one of his better books. I read that a while ago, when it first came out, and remember feeling a bit let down.

4/120 Notoriuous by Allison Brennan
First book of a new series about an investigative reporter. I was truly surprised by the revelation of the "who done it" and look forward to the other books.

I've been getting so many good suggestions here, and am about to start on The Cuckoo's Calling. Only drawback so far is that I'm staying up super late to finish the books, lol.

I am staying up far too late reading too. I keep forgetting that Chrsitmas is over and I have to work the next day

 

[kmb584]

#3: Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle - From Goodreads:

Widowed for the second time at age thirty-one Katherine Parr falls deeply for the dashing courtier Thomas Seymour and hopes at last to marry for love. However, obliged to return to court, she attracts the attentions of the ailing, egotistical, and dangerously powerful Henry VIII, who dispatches his love rival, Seymour, to the Continent. No one is in a position to refuse a royal proposal so, haunted by the fates of his previous wives - two executions, two annulments, one death in childbirth - Katherine must wed Henry and become his sixth queen.

Katherine has to employ all her instincts to navigate the treachery of the court, drawing a tight circle of women around her, including her stepdaughter, Meg, traumatized by events from their past that are shrouded in secrecy, and their loyal servant Dot, who knows and sees more than she understands. With the Catholic faction on the rise once more, reformers being burned for heresy, and those close to the king vying for position, Katherine's survival seems unlikely. Yet as she treads the razor's edge of court intrigue, she never quite gives up on love.

 

[threeboysmom]

Finished #2 Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

Kate's in the middle of the biggest meeting of her career when she gets the telephone call from Grace Hall, her daughter’s exclusive private school in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Amelia has been suspended, effective immediately, and Kate must come get her daughter—now. But Kate’s stress over leaving work quickly turns to panic when she arrives at the school and finds it surrounded by police officers, fire trucks, and an ambulance. By then it’s already too late for Amelia. And for Kate.

An academic overachiever despondent over getting caught cheating has jumped to her death. At least that’s the story Grace Hall tells Kate. And clouded as she is by her guilt and grief, it is the one she forces herself to believe. Until she gets an anonymous text: "She didn’t jump."

Sifting through Amelia's emails, text messages, social media postings, and cell phone logs, Kate is determined to learn the heartbreaking truth about why Amelia was on Grace Hall's roof that day-and why she died.

It was okay, just not my cup of tea. I can see why others have enjoyed this book though.

I'm not sure what to read next - I have quite a few holds out there, but nothing has come in just yet. I'll probably keep plugging away at Anna Karenina for a while until my next book comes in. I WANT to finish this book, but I'm struggling with it holding my attention...

 

[MochaDrinker]

Finished 4/200 Malcolm X a life of reinvention by Manning Marable. An excellent biography that won he Pulitzer Prize, it was really good and really readable.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Finished #2 Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight



It was okay, just not my cup of tea. I can see why others have enjoyed this book though.

.

I read that one a year or two ago and felt pretty much the same way

 

[rigs32]

#3 Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never Knew You Never Knew by Jim Korkis

I'd give this 3 out of 5 because I'd say at least half of the information is stuff I already knew. The projects that never went forward was definitely the more interesting parts.

I got this free through Amazon prime and I would consider reading another wdw book by this author if available free.

 

[KateP85]

Finished Book # 1: The Winter Children by Lulu Taylor

From Goodreads:

"Olivia and Dan Felbeck are blissfully happy when their longed-for twins arrive after years of IVF. At the same time, they make the move to Renniston Hall, a huge, Elizabethan house that belongs to absent friends. Living rent-free in a small part of the unmodernised house, once a boarding school, they can begin to enjoy the family life they've always wanted. But there is a secret at the heart of their family, one that Olivia does not yet know. And the house, too, holds its darkness deep within it . . ."

I really enjoyed this book. It was a little slow in places, and I found my interest waning, but the end was worth it. It was a bit predictable, although the epilogue is something I couldn't have predicted (and probably my favorite part of the book!) The author did a great job creating a foreboding atmosphere and it was the perfect book to read on a cold winters night. 4/5 stars.

 

[Glynis]

Finished book #2 - The Guardian. This was written by a family friend. I really enjoyed it. From Goodreads: When Carruthers "Danni" McAllister receives an antique pouch as a birthday gift from her grandfather, her first reaction is disappointment. "Don't assume that something is empty just because there's nothing there," her grandfather warns. Danni learns that for nearly two hundred years, the mysterious pouch--with its astonishing hidden secrets--as been handed down from generation to generation, and each new owner has had to discover how to access the power it holds, or suffer the penalty of using the pouch unwisely.

Book #3 - Saving CeCe Honeycutt. I really enjoyed this one. I didn't think I would, but the characters really grew on me, and I came to care for them quite deeply. From Goodreads: Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she’s been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille— the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it’s 1967 and they live in Ohio, Camille believes it’s 1951 and she’s just been crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia.

The day CeeCee discovers Camille in the front yard wearing a tattered prom dress and tiara as she blows kisses to passing motorists, she knows her mother has completely flipped. When tragedy strikes, Tootie Caldwell, a previously unknown great-aunt comes to CeeCee’s rescue and whisks her away to Savannah. Within hours of her arrival, CeeCee is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricities—a world that appears to be run entirely by women.

Not sure what's up next. Our library has been closed for 2 weeks for "mechanical upgrades." They were supposed to open up again today, but didn't. I'm hoping to try again tomorrow.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I want to join again! I really need to be better at posting. I am going to try for 30.

#1 - The Martian - I really enjoyed this book, and I am definitely not a science fiction fan. The guy who is left behind on Mars is a very entertaining character so you get to know his thoughts through his journal. I do want to see the movie now!

#2 - What She Left Behind by Ellen Wiseman - This is good but I wouldn't say great. The 1930's part was depressing. It goes back and forth between the 1990s and 1930s. It shows how horrible mental health patients were treated in the 1930s (at least in this book).

#3 - The Marvels by Brian Selznick - This is a children's novel. One of the teachers at school wanted my parent viewpoint so I read it in one afternoon. I loved it, but not as much as his first two. His stories are so imaginative, but I think adults appreciate them more. One of the main characters is gay, and that is getting some definite attention on Amazon reviews. The kids in the story don't see it as a big deal. I don't even know how to give a synopsis, but like Brian Selznick's other books, it is half pictures, half words. It is really beautiful and imaginative.

#4 - The Girl You Left Behind by Jo Jo Moyes - I checked the library for her newest which they didn't have but got this one instead. It was really good. It takes place during WW I and present day time. During WW I, Sophie is trying to keep her family alive while her husband is fighting. A German officer becomes enamored with her and a painting of her. Fast forward to present day time and the painting is in possession of Liv who is a young widow. What happened to Sophie and the painting?

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

3/72

A Head Full Of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

From the jacket:
The lives of the Barretts, a normal suburban New England family, are torn apart when 14yr old Marjorie begins to display signs of acute schizophrenia.
To her parents' despair, the doctors are unable to stop Marjorie's bizarre outbursts and subsequent descent into madness. As their home devolves into a house of horrors, they reluctantly turn to a local Catholic priest for help. Father Wanderly suggest an exorcism: he believes the vulnerable teenager is the victim of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is eager to document the Barretts' plight for a reality tv show. With John, Marjorie's father, out of work for more than a year and medical bills looming, the family reluctantly agrees to be filmed. When events in the Barrett household explode in tragedy the show and the inidents it captures become the stuff of urban legend.
Fifteen years later, a bestselling writer interviews Marjorie's younger sister, Merry. As she recalls those long ago events from her childhood, she was just 8yrs old, painful memories and long buried secrets that clash with the tv broadcast begin to surface. A mind bending tale of psycological horror is unleashed, raising disturbing questions about memory and reality.

As a book with almost 300 pages, it was interesting enough until about page 200 when it got better and I really wanted to see how things turned out. Billed as a "terrifying tale" but didn't quite make the horror grade for me, a die hard horror fan.

This one was in my top 5 from last year. I think what scared me(besides the fact that possession is maybe my biggest fear) was the anticipation of some of the scenes. I don't want to give anything away, but I think the author was good at building things up.

 

[wilma-bride]

Finished #2 Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

Kate's in the middle of the biggest meeting of her career when she gets the telephone call from Grace Hall, her daughter’s exclusive private school in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Amelia has been suspended, effective immediately, and Kate must come get her daughter—now. But Kate’s stress over leaving work quickly turns to panic when she arrives at the school and finds it surrounded by police officers, fire trucks, and an ambulance. By then it’s already too late for Amelia. And for Kate.

An academic overachiever despondent over getting caught cheating has jumped to her death. At least that’s the story Grace Hall tells Kate. And clouded as she is by her guilt and grief, it is the one she forces herself to believe. Until she gets an anonymous text: "She didn’t jump."

Sifting through Amelia's emails, text messages, social media postings, and cell phone logs, Kate is determined to learn the heartbreaking truth about why Amelia was on Grace Hall's roof that day-and why she died.

It was okay, just not my cup of tea. I can see why others have enjoyed this book though.

I'm not sure what to read next - I have quite a few holds out there, but nothing has come in just yet. I'll probably keep plugging away at Anna Karenina for a while until my next book comes in. I WANT to finish this book, but I'm struggling with it holding my attention...

OK, so what didn't you like about the book? It sounds like it should be a pretty good read. Just wondered if it was the writing style, the story, or something else?

Finished 4/200 Malcolm X a life of reinvention by Manning Marable. An excellent biography that won he Pulitzer Prize, it was really good and really readable.

Sounds like an interesting book

#3 Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never Knew You Never Knew by Jim Korkis

I'd give this 3 out of 5 because I'd say at least half of the information is stuff I already knew. The projects that never went forward was definitely the more interesting parts.

I got this free through Amazon prime and I would consider reading another wdw book by this author if available free.

Not much point having a book of things you never knew when you actually know them Got to love books about WDW though

Finished Book # 1: The Winter Children by Lulu Taylor

From Goodreads:

"Olivia and Dan Felbeck are blissfully happy when their longed-for twins arrive after years of IVF. At the same time, they make the move to Renniston Hall, a huge, Elizabethan house that belongs to absent friends. Living rent-free in a small part of the unmodernised house, once a boarding school, they can begin to enjoy the family life they've always wanted. But there is a secret at the heart of their family, one that Olivia does not yet know. And the house, too, holds its darkness deep within it . . ."

I really enjoyed this book. It was a little slow in places, and I found my interest waning, but the end was worth it. It was a bit predictable, although the epilogue is something I couldn't have predicted (and probably my favorite part of the book!) The author did a great job creating a foreboding atmosphere and it was the perfect book to read on a cold winters night. 4/5 stars.

Sounds like a good read, going to look this one up

Finished book #2 - The Guardian. This was written by a family friend. I really enjoyed it. From Goodreads: When Carruthers "Danni" McAllister receives an antique pouch as a birthday gift from her grandfather, her first reaction is disappointment. "Don't assume that something is empty just because there's nothing there," her grandfather warns. Danni learns that for nearly two hundred years, the mysterious pouch--with its astonishing hidden secrets--as been handed down from generation to generation, and each new owner has had to discover how to access the power it holds, or suffer the penalty of using the pouch unwisely.

Book #3 - Saving CeCe Honeycutt. I really enjoyed this one. I didn't think I would, but the characters really grew on me, and I came to care for them quite deeply. From Goodreads: Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she’s been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille— the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it’s 1967 and they live in Ohio, Camille believes it’s 1951 and she’s just been crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia.

The day CeeCee discovers Camille in the front yard wearing a tattered prom dress and tiara as she blows kisses to passing motorists, she knows her mother has completely flipped. When tragedy strikes, Tootie Caldwell, a previously unknown great-aunt comes to CeeCee’s rescue and whisks her away to Savannah. Within hours of her arrival, CeeCee is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricities—a world that appears to be run entirely by women.

Not sure what's up next. Our library has been closed for 2 weeks for "mechanical upgrades." They were supposed to open up again today, but didn't. I'm hoping to try again tomorrow.

Those sound like two pretty good books.

 

[wilma-bride]

I want to join again! I really need to be better at posting. I am going to try for 30.

#1 - The Martian - I really enjoyed this book, and I am definitely not a science fiction fan. The guy who is left behind on Mars is a very entertaining character so you get to know his thoughts through his journal. I do want to see the movie now!

#2 - What She Left Behind by Ellen Wiseman - This is good but I wouldn't say great. The 1930's part was depressing. It goes back and forth between the 1990s and 1930s. It shows how horrible mental health patients were treated in the 1930s (at least in this book).

#3 - The Marvels by Brian Selznick - This is a children's novel. One of the teachers at school wanted my parent viewpoint so I read it in one afternoon. I loved it, but not as much as his first two. His stories are so imaginative, but I think adults appreciate them more. One of the main characters is gay, and that is getting some definite attention on Amazon reviews. The kids in the story don't see it as a big deal. I don't even know how to give a synopsis, but like Brian Selznick's other books, it is half pictures, half words. It is really beautiful and imaginative.

#4 - The Girl You Left Behind by Jo Jo Moyes - I checked the library for her newest which they didn't have but got this one instead. It was really good. It takes place during WW I and present day time. During WW I, Sophie is trying to keep her family alive while her husband is fighting. A German officer becomes enamored with her and a painting of her. Fast forward to present day time and the painting is in possession of Liv who is a young widow. What happened to Sophie and the painting?

Welcome. The more people who recommend The Martian, the more I feel like I should read it. It just isn't really my genre of book. Maybe I'll give it a go.

I really like most Jojo Moyes books but The Girl You Left Behind was not one of my favourites.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

OK, so what didn't you like about the book? It sounds like it should be a pretty good read. Just wondered if it was the writing style, the story, or something else?

.

I am not threeboysmom, but I agree with her review. I read it a couple of years ago and was so disturbed by the amount of bullying and the actions of the high schoolers. To me, it was way too much and over the top.