Annual Reading Goal Challenge for 2016 - Come and join us!
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Kogo Shuko
There is no Kogo Shuko, only Zuul.
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Book 4 was the best book, in my opinion. I suppose because vampire Eric is so complex and I was madly in love with him while reading lol
#12 The Upgrade: A Cautionary Tale About Life Without Reservations by Paul Carr
The story of a tech writer who decides to live nomadically in hotels for a year. Lots of stories about bad drunken behavior and his decision to go sober.
It was an interesting read but also made me question why some people are successful and others are not.
The story of a tech writer who decides to live nomadically in hotels for a year. Lots of stories about bad drunken behavior and his decision to go sober.
It was an interesting read but also made me question why some people are successful and others are not.
mommysaurus
Mouseketeer
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- Jan 22, 2016
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5/24 The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I very much enjoyed it, but another poster a few pages back didn't so ymmv.
From goodreads:
The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.
The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.
The Glass Castle is truly astonishing--a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family. (less)
From goodreads:
The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.
The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.
The Glass Castle is truly astonishing--a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family. (less)
Christine
DIS Legend
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#9/50 - The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende. I really enjoyed this book. Takes place mainly in the San Francisco area and jumps around from World War II and the flee from Poland by the main character, to her relationship in San Francisco of a Japanese family later interred after the Pearl Harbor attack. It goes back and forth between then and today. It is a love story, as well as a story about enduring friendships and family. Very well developed characters.
mommysaurus
Mouseketeer
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- Jan 22, 2016
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- 172
6/24: Born Survivors by Wendy Holden
I rate this one 3/5....I feel terrible rating a holocaust survivor book that low but I didn't care for the writing. Too slow/too much detail in some parts and then things I would have liked to hear more about were glossed over.
From good reads: The Nazis murdered their husbands but concentration camp prisoners Priska, Rachel, and Anka would not let evil take their unborn children too—a remarkable true story that will appeal to readers of The Lost and The Nazi Officer’s Wife, Born Survivorscelebrates three mothers who defied death to give their children life.
Eastern Europe, 1944: Three women believe they are pregnant, but are torn from their husbands before they can be certain. Rachel is sent to Auschwitz, unaware that her husband has been shot. Priska and her husband travel there together, but are immediately separated. Also at Auschwitz, Anka hopes in vain to be reunited with her husband. With the rest of their families gassed, these young wives are determined to hold on to all they have left—their lives, and those of their unborn babies. Having concealed their condition from infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, they are forced to work and almost starved to death, living in daily fear of their pregnancies being detected by the SS. In April 1945, as the Allies close in, the inmates are sent to Mauthausen concentration camp on a hellish seventeen-day train journey.
On the seventieth anniversary of Mauthausen’s liberation from the Nazis by American soldiers, renowned biographer Wendy Holden recounts this extraordinary story of three children united by their mothers’ unbelievable—yet ultimately successful—fight for survival.
I rate this one 3/5....I feel terrible rating a holocaust survivor book that low but I didn't care for the writing. Too slow/too much detail in some parts and then things I would have liked to hear more about were glossed over.
From good reads: The Nazis murdered their husbands but concentration camp prisoners Priska, Rachel, and Anka would not let evil take their unborn children too—a remarkable true story that will appeal to readers of The Lost and The Nazi Officer’s Wife, Born Survivorscelebrates three mothers who defied death to give their children life.
Eastern Europe, 1944: Three women believe they are pregnant, but are torn from their husbands before they can be certain. Rachel is sent to Auschwitz, unaware that her husband has been shot. Priska and her husband travel there together, but are immediately separated. Also at Auschwitz, Anka hopes in vain to be reunited with her husband. With the rest of their families gassed, these young wives are determined to hold on to all they have left—their lives, and those of their unborn babies. Having concealed their condition from infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, they are forced to work and almost starved to death, living in daily fear of their pregnancies being detected by the SS. In April 1945, as the Allies close in, the inmates are sent to Mauthausen concentration camp on a hellish seventeen-day train journey.
On the seventieth anniversary of Mauthausen’s liberation from the Nazis by American soldiers, renowned biographer Wendy Holden recounts this extraordinary story of three children united by their mothers’ unbelievable—yet ultimately successful—fight for survival.
/
nemofans
DIS Veteran
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- 2,662
Finished book #10/65 - The Intern's Handbook by Shane Kuhn
This is written as a survival guide written by the top assassin close to retirement. There's tons of action, humor, twists, and craziness in this story. I can totally see this as a movie. I enjoyed it.
Interns are invisible. That’s the mantra behind HR, Inc., an elite "placement agency" that doubles as a network of assassins-for-hire, taking down high-profile executives who wouldn't be able to remember an intern’s name if their lives depended on it.
At the ripe old age of twenty-five, John Lago is already New York City’s most successful hit man. He’s also an intern at a prestigious Manhattan law firm, clocking eighty hours a week getting coffee, answering phones, and doing all the grunt work no one else wants to do. But he isn't trying to claw his way to the top of the corporate food chain. He was hired to assassinate one of the firm’s heavily guarded partners. His internship is the perfect cover, enabling him to gather intel and gain access in order to pull off a clean, untraceable hit.
The Intern’s Handbook is John Lago's unofficial survival guide for new recruits at HR, Inc. (Rule #4: "Learn how to make the perfect cup of coffee: you make an exec the best coffee he’s ever had, and he will make sure you’re at his desk every morning for a repeat performance. That’s repetitive exposure, which begets access and trust. 44% of my kills came from my superior coffee-making abilities.")
Part confessional, part how-to, the handbook chronicles John’s final assignment, a twisted thrill ride in which he is pitted against the toughest—and sexiest—adversary he’s ever faced: Alice, an FBI agent assigned to take down the same law partner he’s been assigned to kill.
Finished book #11/65 - Hostile Takeover by Shane Kuhn
This is book 2 to the book I just reviewed above. Not as good as the first, but still a quick read with twists and action.
At the end of The Intern’s Handbook, John tracks down his nemesis Alice but instead of putting a bullet in her head, he puts a ring on her finger and marries her. Together, they execute a hostile takeover of Human Resources, Inc., the “placement agency” that trains young assassins to infiltrate corporations disguised as interns and knock off high profile targets. As HR’s former top operatives, they are successful until conflicting management styles cause an ugly breakup that locks John out of the bedroom and the boardroom.
But when Alice takes on a new HR target, John is forced to return to the office battlefield in a role he swore he would never play again: the intern. What starts out as a deadly showdown turns into the two of them fighting side by side to save HR, Inc.—and their marriage.
This is written as a survival guide written by the top assassin close to retirement. There's tons of action, humor, twists, and craziness in this story. I can totally see this as a movie. I enjoyed it.
Interns are invisible. That’s the mantra behind HR, Inc., an elite "placement agency" that doubles as a network of assassins-for-hire, taking down high-profile executives who wouldn't be able to remember an intern’s name if their lives depended on it.
At the ripe old age of twenty-five, John Lago is already New York City’s most successful hit man. He’s also an intern at a prestigious Manhattan law firm, clocking eighty hours a week getting coffee, answering phones, and doing all the grunt work no one else wants to do. But he isn't trying to claw his way to the top of the corporate food chain. He was hired to assassinate one of the firm’s heavily guarded partners. His internship is the perfect cover, enabling him to gather intel and gain access in order to pull off a clean, untraceable hit.
The Intern’s Handbook is John Lago's unofficial survival guide for new recruits at HR, Inc. (Rule #4: "Learn how to make the perfect cup of coffee: you make an exec the best coffee he’s ever had, and he will make sure you’re at his desk every morning for a repeat performance. That’s repetitive exposure, which begets access and trust. 44% of my kills came from my superior coffee-making abilities.")
Part confessional, part how-to, the handbook chronicles John’s final assignment, a twisted thrill ride in which he is pitted against the toughest—and sexiest—adversary he’s ever faced: Alice, an FBI agent assigned to take down the same law partner he’s been assigned to kill.
Finished book #11/65 - Hostile Takeover by Shane Kuhn
This is book 2 to the book I just reviewed above. Not as good as the first, but still a quick read with twists and action.
At the end of The Intern’s Handbook, John tracks down his nemesis Alice but instead of putting a bullet in her head, he puts a ring on her finger and marries her. Together, they execute a hostile takeover of Human Resources, Inc., the “placement agency” that trains young assassins to infiltrate corporations disguised as interns and knock off high profile targets. As HR’s former top operatives, they are successful until conflicting management styles cause an ugly breakup that locks John out of the bedroom and the boardroom.
But when Alice takes on a new HR target, John is forced to return to the office battlefield in a role he swore he would never play again: the intern. What starts out as a deadly showdown turns into the two of them fighting side by side to save HR, Inc.—and their marriage.
Cogswel_Cogs
DIS Veteran
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- Feb 5, 2005
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- 5,747
#2 The Crossing by Michael Connelly
Never read a book by author before and even though this is like the 20th book with this detective it stood alone fine. In fact I had a herd time believing there were so many books with the character, but possibly because this seemed to be the first book with him retired for LA police force. Like the pace of the book and Bosch and his half brother the lawyer. Probably check out another book in the series.
(If anyone is interested in reading any of my works, I would gladly send kindle gift version (Written for You , Cemetery Girl, Three Twigs for the Campfire, or Reigning).
Never read a book by author before and even though this is like the 20th book with this detective it stood alone fine. In fact I had a herd time believing there were so many books with the character, but possibly because this seemed to be the first book with him retired for LA police force. Like the pace of the book and Bosch and his half brother the lawyer. Probably check out another book in the series.
(If anyone is interested in reading any of my works, I would gladly send kindle gift version (Written for You , Cemetery Girl, Three Twigs for the Campfire, or Reigning).
Kirby
DIS Legend
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- Apr 7, 2000
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- 13,286
8/80 - The Wolf by Lorenzo Carcaterra. Genre - Thriller
In this thrilling novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra - the number-one New York Times best-selling author of Sleepers, Gangster, and Midnight Angels - organized crime goes to war with international terrorism in the name of one man's quest for revenge.
My name is Vincent Marelli, though most people call me The Wolf. You've never met me, and if you're lucky you never will. But in more ways than you could think of, I own you.
I run the biggest criminal operation in the world. We're invisible but we're everywhere. Wherever you go, whatever you do, however it is you spend your money, a piece of it lands in our pockets.
You would think that with that kind of power I would be invincible. You would be wrong. I made a mistake, one that a guy like me can never afford to make. I let my guard down. And because I did, my wife and daughters are gone. Murdered by terrorists with a lethal ax to grind.
That was my mistake.
But it was also theirs.
I wasn't looking for a war with them. No one in my group was. But they've left me with nothing but a desire for revenge - so a war is what they'll get. The full strength of international organized crime against every known terrorist group working today. Crime versus chaos.
We will protect our interests, and I will protect my son. We won't get them all, but I will get my revenge, or I will die trying.
They will know my name.
They will feel my wrath.
They will fear The Wolf.
This book was an easy read and I could hardly put it down. I give it 5/5.
In this thrilling novel by Lorenzo Carcaterra - the number-one New York Times best-selling author of Sleepers, Gangster, and Midnight Angels - organized crime goes to war with international terrorism in the name of one man's quest for revenge.
My name is Vincent Marelli, though most people call me The Wolf. You've never met me, and if you're lucky you never will. But in more ways than you could think of, I own you.
I run the biggest criminal operation in the world. We're invisible but we're everywhere. Wherever you go, whatever you do, however it is you spend your money, a piece of it lands in our pockets.
You would think that with that kind of power I would be invincible. You would be wrong. I made a mistake, one that a guy like me can never afford to make. I let my guard down. And because I did, my wife and daughters are gone. Murdered by terrorists with a lethal ax to grind.
That was my mistake.
But it was also theirs.
I wasn't looking for a war with them. No one in my group was. But they've left me with nothing but a desire for revenge - so a war is what they'll get. The full strength of international organized crime against every known terrorist group working today. Crime versus chaos.
We will protect our interests, and I will protect my son. We won't get them all, but I will get my revenge, or I will die trying.
They will know my name.
They will feel my wrath.
They will fear The Wolf.
This book was an easy read and I could hardly put it down. I give it 5/5.
nemofans
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2007
- Messages
- 2,662
Finished book #12/65 - Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
This is a YA book about a girl with a rare disease in which she cannot leave the house. Then a boy moves in next door that piques her interest. It's a super quick read, like 1 day. Good story with a twist.
My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.
This is a YA book about a girl with a rare disease in which she cannot leave the house. Then a boy moves in next door that piques her interest. It's a super quick read, like 1 day. Good story with a twist.
My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.
MochaDrinker
Mouseketeer
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- 363
18/200 Game Change by Mark Halperin and John Heileman. About the 2008 election.
StitchesGr8Fan
DIS Veteran
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- Jul 17, 2009
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- 5,994
5/15 - The Secret
Yes, I listened to the Secret. I liked that it encouraged positive thinking, even if I'm skeptical about some of the claims in the book.
Yes, I listened to the Secret. I liked that it encouraged positive thinking, even if I'm skeptical about some of the claims in the book.
FlightlessDuck
Y kant Donald fly?
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- Jun 20, 2006
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- 21,804
I've been struggling to get through the book I'm currently reading (I keep waiting until I'm in bed, and then falling asleep!) so I'm going to "cheat":
Book 2 of 15: Ms. Marvel: No Normal
The only comics I read right now on a weekly basis are Star Wars related books. But this is a really good series. 4 out of 5 stars. Finished this first one earlier this month.
Book 2 of 15: Ms. Marvel: No Normal
The only comics I read right now on a weekly basis are Star Wars related books. But this is a really good series. 4 out of 5 stars. Finished this first one earlier this month.
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tinkerbellandeeyor
DIS Legend
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- Aug 4, 2011
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- 10,045
I hope Wilma is doing okay
Finished a couple of books I would like to share
Finished a couple of books I would like to share
MochaDrinker
Mouseketeer
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- Aug 5, 2015
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- 363
19/200 double down the sequel to to game change about the 2012 presidential election
Disneylover42
Mouseketeer
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- Mar 2, 2009
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- 138
Remembered this thread and subscribed for the future. I have read 12/52 so far.
1/52 was Fresh Doubt by Eva Hudson.
-Book 2 in the Ingrid Skyberh FBI thriller. Female action series set in the US EEbassy in London. Murder mystery with many twists and turns. 4/5
2-12/52 James Patterson Women's Murder Club series. Really liking this series although book 10 was just ok.
1/52 was Fresh Doubt by Eva Hudson.
-Book 2 in the Ingrid Skyberh FBI thriller. Female action series set in the US EEbassy in London. Murder mystery with many twists and turns. 4/5
2-12/52 James Patterson Women's Murder Club series. Really liking this series although book 10 was just ok.
zippitydoo
DIS Veteran
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- Jan 16, 2008
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Book #9/50: Dying For Danish by Leighann Dobbs
Book #10/50: Gateway to Fourline by Pam Brondos
Book #10/50: Gateway to Fourline by Pam Brondos
willowsnn3
DIS Legend
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- Mar 1, 2009
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- 47,409
#11/72
Freedom's Child by Jax Miller
Freedom Oliver has plenty of secrets. She lives in a small Oregon town and keeps mostly to herself. Her few friends and neighbors know she works at the local biker bar, they know she gets arrested for public drunkenness almost every night, they know she's brash, funny, and fearless.
What they don' know is that Freedom Oliver is a fake name. They don't know she was arrested for killing her husband, a cop, twenty years ago. They don't know she put her two kids up for adoption. They don't know she's now in witness protection, regretting ever making a deal with the feds and missing her children with a heartache so strong it makes her ill.
When she learns that her daughter has gone missing, possibly kidnapped, she becomes determined to find out what happened. Freedom slips free of her handlers, gets on a motorcycle, and heads for Kentucky, where her daughter was raised. As she ventures out on her own, no longer protected by the government, her troubled past comes roaring back at her: her husband's vengeful, sadistic family: her brief, terrifying stint in prison: and her kids' adoptive family, who are not at all as they seem.
This could have been so much better than it was. Instead it was very disjointed, and I couldn't warm up to any of the characters. They were just there, lol. Then they throw in an illegal gun buying operation that just doesn't make any sense with the story line. Anyway I finished it mostly to see what happened next.
Freedom's Child by Jax Miller
Freedom Oliver has plenty of secrets. She lives in a small Oregon town and keeps mostly to herself. Her few friends and neighbors know she works at the local biker bar, they know she gets arrested for public drunkenness almost every night, they know she's brash, funny, and fearless.
What they don' know is that Freedom Oliver is a fake name. They don't know she was arrested for killing her husband, a cop, twenty years ago. They don't know she put her two kids up for adoption. They don't know she's now in witness protection, regretting ever making a deal with the feds and missing her children with a heartache so strong it makes her ill.
When she learns that her daughter has gone missing, possibly kidnapped, she becomes determined to find out what happened. Freedom slips free of her handlers, gets on a motorcycle, and heads for Kentucky, where her daughter was raised. As she ventures out on her own, no longer protected by the government, her troubled past comes roaring back at her: her husband's vengeful, sadistic family: her brief, terrifying stint in prison: and her kids' adoptive family, who are not at all as they seem.
This could have been so much better than it was. Instead it was very disjointed, and I couldn't warm up to any of the characters. They were just there, lol. Then they throw in an illegal gun buying operation that just doesn't make any sense with the story line. Anyway I finished it mostly to see what happened next.
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