Here it is - the OFFICIAL 2014 READING GOAL CHALLENGE THREAD

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

14/52 diary of a dork a kid adjusting to middle school with her little sister getting in the way

15/52 the station two after getting adjusted to life after suicide she finds she belongs else were

 

[Jafar30]

The second book in the Han Solo adventures: Han Solo's Revenge. This will be 13/25

The first book in the series Han Solo at Star's End was good old fashioned fun in a galaxy far far away.

 

[Glynis]

Goal - 70 books

Book #20 - "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs

From Goodreads: The extraordinary journey that began in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children continues as Jacob Portman and his newfound friends journey to London the peculiar capital of the world. But in this war-torn city, hideous surprises lurk around every corner. Like its predecessor, this second novel in the Peculiar Children series blends thrilling fantasy with never-before-published vintage photography to create a one-of-a-kind reacting experience.

My review: I am really enjoying this series! I love the photographs that are dotted throughout the book. They give it a nice, macabre feeling. The story is ok, somewhat plodding and predictable, but I'll forgive it that, because of the photos!

Next up: "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand

 

[StephMK]

#20 - Island of Lost Girls - Jennifer McMahon - from Amazon - "While parked at a gas station, Rhonda sees something so incongruously surreal that at first she hardly recognizes it as a crime in progress. She watches, unmoving, as someone dressed in a rabbit costume kidnaps a young girl. Devastated over having done nothing, Rhonda joins the investigation. But the closer she comes to identifying the abductor, the nearer she gets to the troubling truth about another missing child: her best friend, Lizzy, who vanished years before.

From the author of the acclaimed Promise Not to Tell comes a chilling and mesmerizing tale of shattered innocence, guilt, and ultimate redemption."

I would give this 2.5 stars. Chilling and mesmerizing is quite a stretch but it did pull me in. It was hard to keep up with the relationships between the characters for awhile and it skips between past and present. I finally got them sorted out and there were some good side storylines. I did not like how the main story line ended and there was a glaring question that was never answered satisfactorily. Other mysteries in the book had better resolutions and made more sense.

 

[timsprincess]

Book #19 of 30

Robert B Parker's Damned If You Do by michael Brandman

3 stars

This is a Jesse Stone novel. It is an enjoyable trip but not deeep or sophisticated. I like to picture Tom Selleck as Jesse as he did a couple JS TV movies.

Peggy

 

[Colleen27]

#38 - A Clash of Kings
#39 - A Storm of Swords

Well, this series has really slowed down my pace - these are some LONG books but completely engrossing. I didn't realize just how much time I was spending reading until I finished the almost 1200 page A Storm of Swords last night with a week to spare before my e-book loan expires! I am loving the story, though the prose is a bit wordy and very reminiscent of Tolkien (who I've read precious little of because of his writing style). The characters are just so very complex and the intrigues so all-encompassing that the series is very hard to put down.

Up next, A Feast for Crows.

 

[sj&k]

Finished "The Whole Golden World" by Kristina Riggle over the weekend, so number 5/30. I'm going really slow and unfortunately not enjoying much of anything I'm reading so far this year. This one was just sad to me on a lot of levels. I have taken a break for a few days because I'm waiting for the arrival of my pre-ordered copy of "Written in My Own Heart's Blood" by Diana Gabaldon, which should be at my door tomorrow. It took me a year and a half to read the Outlander series (unless I'm on vacation I usually only have time to read a chapter or two a night) and I have been anxiously awaiting the release of this new book for quite a while now. Hopefully I will be able to report that I enjoyed it in a few weeks!

 

[threeboysmom]

Finished #19/30

Innocence by Dean Koontz

This book wasn't even on my "to read" list - it was an impulse grab at the library while checking out. Wish I wouldn't grab books on a whim... they never turn out well, lol.

I didn't care for this book. While reading, I was semi-intrigued, but I really thought the book was going to take me somewhere spectacular... and it didn't. I felt let down when I finished.

Oh well.

Onto #20 - New Year Island by Paul Draker.

Think I added this book to my "to read" list because of a DIS review on it. I loved Hunger Games, and I love the TV show, Survivor, so I'm hoping this book will be right up my alley. About 200 pages in and am enjoying it so far!

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Onto #20 - New Year Island by Paul Draker.

Think I added this book to my "to read" list because of a DIS review on it. I loved Hunger Games, and I love the TV show, Survivor, so I'm hoping this book will be right up my alley. About 200 pages in and am enjoying it so far!

I LOVED this one!

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Under the Dome
Stephen King

(I won't add a synopses. I think everyone is pretty familiar with the book.)

I liked it. It was entertaining. I'm not a huge King fan(this is actually the first book of his I've ever finished) but it kept me engaged.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay. Here is where I admit that I don't think I'll even make my lowered goal of 30 books this year(You don't have to change anything Threeboysmom, I'm still going to try).

The reason being that I am going to start the Game of Thrones books. I don't know how long they will take me to get through. I could really enjoy them like a PP and not have it slow my pace too much, or it could have the opposite effect. In any case, I am excited to begin!

 

[CaliBear]

Goal 70 books
Book #19 "The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat" by Edward Kelsey Moore

This book sounds like something I'd enjoy, thanks!

 

[CaliBear]

19/30 The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

from amazon:

Mrs. Sookie Poole of Point Clear, Alabama, has just married off the last of her daughters and is looking forward to relaxing and perhaps traveling with her husband, Earle. The only thing left to contend with is her mother, the formidable Lenore Simmons Krackenberry. Lenore may be a lot of fun for other people, but is, for the most part, an overbearing presence for her daughter. Then one day, quite by accident, Sookie discovers a secret about her mother’s past that knocks her for a loop and suddenly calls into question everything she ever thought she knew about herself, her family, and her future.

This was a nice sweet novel. After two darker reads, I was ready for it.

Up next: The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker

 

[WowLookAtThat]

Book #44 City of Nets:A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s by Otto Friedrich

Book #45 Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, From A Game of Thrones to A Dance with Dragon by Assorted Writers

Book #47 The Brides by Gila Berkowitz

 

[portia9]

#57 Volunteering by Melanie Oppenheimer-I read this for one of my uni subjects.

#58 Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R.Tolkien

#59 The Two Towers by J.R.R.Tolkien

#60 Return of the King by J.R.R.Tolkien

 

[Glynis]

This book sounds like something I'd enjoy, thanks!

Hope you like it!

 

[rigs32]

#20 - Chain Letter by Christopher Pike

This was for my Retro Teen Novel bookclub. They tried to update it but a lot of the plot has holes in the age of cell phones.

 

[wilma-bride]

Book #23 - Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse

A whirlwind romance. A perfect marriage.

Hannah Reilly has seized her chance at happiness. Until the day her husband fails to come home . . .

And can you ever really know what happened before you met?

Dubbed the British version of Gone Girl, I wasn't really sure whether I would enjoy this. While I enjoyed Gone Girl (eventually), I found the writing style a little difficult and the plot and characters hard to follow at times. This was much more simplistic, yet still intriguing and clever. With lots of twists and turns, every time I thought I'd figured it out, something else happened and I changed my mind again. And even though I kind of guessed how it would end, it still didn't detract from the story at all. A really great read

 

[Pig Pen]

#18 of 25 - Twelve Years a Slave.

This is the autobiographical account by Solomon Northrop of his kidnapping and sale into slavery, written in 1853. I have mixed feelings about the book. While it is an amazing and important first-hand account of slavery, it wasn't the best reading experience. It felt like "required reading" for a history class. Actually it SHOULD be required reading!

If you were expecting something like "Roots" this isn't it.

I haven't seen the movie yet but I can understand the fascination with the subject.

So now I am going back to "The Goldfinch."

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

16/52

The first nancy drew book she learns about a seconded will trying to fallow in her dad's foot steps

 

[mumloveseeyore]

76/150aunty dimity digs in by nancy atherton fun fluff read
80/150 the ten second staircase by christopher fowler
81/150the white corridor by christopher fowler more from Bryant and May and the peculiar crimes unit
82/150the poisonwood bible by Barbara Kingsolver
from Amazon
when Barbara Kingsolver sends missionary Nathan Price along with his wife and four daughters off to Africa in The Poisonwood Bible, you can be sure that salvation is the one thing they're not likely to find. The year is 1959 and the place is the Belgian Congo. Nathan, a Baptist preacher, has come to spread the Word in a remote village reachable only by airplane. To say that he and his family are woefully unprepared would be an understatement: "We came from Bethlehem, Georgia, bearing Betty Crocker cake mixes into the jungle," says Leah, one of Nathan's four daughters. But of course it isn't long before they discover that the tremendous humidity has rendered the mixes unusable, their clothes are unsuitable and they've arrived in the middle of political upheaval as the Congolese seek to wrest independence from Belgium. In addition to poisonous snakes, dangerous animals, and the hostility of the villagers to Nathan's fiery take-no-prisoners brand of Christianity, there are also rebels in the jungle and the threat of war in the air. Could things get any worse?

In fact they can and they do. The first part of The Poisonwood Bible revolves around Nathan's intransigent, bullying personality and his effect on both his family and on the village they have come to. As political instability grows in the Congo, so does the local witch doctor's animus toward the Prices, and both seem to converge with tragic consequences about halfway through the novel. From that point on, the family is dispersed and the novel follows each member's fortunes across a span of more than 30 years.