Ameise1's American Discoveries

I'll give this thread a try because I'm reading a lot of American books. Therefore I'll hope that I'll be able to discover all 50 states.



create your own personalized map of the USA (49.01%)

Alabama
Alaska
....................................# 29 Impotent Geckos: and Other Modern Curiosities by Wolfram Donat
Arizona
Arkansas

California
....................................# 3 Bones by Jonathan Kellerman
....................................# 12 The 5th Horseman by James Patterson
Colorado
Connecticut
....................................# 34 Fear The Worst by Linwood Barclay

Delaware
District of Columbia
...................................#23 Ameristocracy by Paul Moxham

Florida
...................................#27 Predator by Patricia Cornwell
Georgia
...................................#22 The Cornerstone by Anne C. Petty
Hawaii

Idaho
Illinois
...................................# 36 The Fifth Floor by Michael Harvey
Indiana
...................................# 38 The Magnificent Amberson by Booth Tarkington
Iowa

Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
..................................# 14 Zola Jackson by Gilles Leroy
..................................# 20 The Bourbon Street Ripper by Leo King

Maine
...................................# 31 Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Maryland
...................................# 24 After The War by Libby Sternberg
Massachusetts
...................................# 4 Rough Weather by Robert B. Parker
...................................# 7 The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
Michigan
Minnesota
...................................# 35 Storm Front by John Sandford
Mississippi
...................................# 8 The Appeal by John Grisham
The Appeal by John Grisham
Missouri
Montana

Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
...................................# 9 Just Take My Heart by Mary Higgins Clark
...................................# 18 One For the Money by Janet Evanovich
New Mexico
...................................# 37 A Bodkin for the Bride by Patrice Greenwood
New York
...................................# 15 New York by Edward Rutherfurd
...................................# 16 Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow
...................................# 17 Die For You by Lisa Unger
...................................# 19 Summer Crossing by Truman Capote
North Carolina
North Dakota

Ohio
..................................# 11 Songs for the Missing by Stewart O'Nan
Oklahoma
Oregon

Pennsylvania
..................................# 13 The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon
Rhode Island

South Carolina
South Dakota

Tennessee
..................................# 26 Whispers of the Dead by Simon Beckett
Texas

Utha
..................................# 30 Forty Days at Kamas by Preston Fleming
Vermont
..................................# 10 The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
..................................# 21 Let Slip the Dogs of War (A Bard's Bed & Breakfast Mystery) by Sara Barton
..................................# 28 Testimony by Anita Shreve
Virginia
..................................# 32 Tribute by Nora Roberts

Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
..................................# 33 Birthing House by Christopher Ransom
Wyoming
..................................# 25 Fine Just the Way It Is by Annie Proulx

California Los Angeles



This was my 2nd Alex Delaware thriller and like the last one I've really enjoyed reading it. Amazingly, all characters are set out right from the beginning, but it took me as far as the last fifth of the book until I was able to recognize who the murderer really was. The plot is psychological cleverly arranged and extremely gripping.

(4 stars)

Massachusetts Boston



It was an easygoing read, nothing spectacular to think about, just an entertaining story. It was soon clear who has set off the kidnapping and also why.

(3 1/2 stars)

Welcome to our quiet little corner of LT, Ameise1. Some folks have completed their personal goals and moved on to other challenges. Some of us are still quietly working away at it, and we're always happy to see new challengers join us. Wow! You're doing Endless Europe and Fifty States at the same time! I'm doing Fifty States plus Canada, and find even that is taking me awhile! Good luck with your challenge!

Hello countrylife!

Thanks a lot for your warm welcome. Well, I join the 50 Books Challenge and the ABC challenge and because of this I'm reading different books. So I thought that I could fill them in the European and American Challenge as well.
Happy reading to you too :-)

Massachusetts Boston



It is a brilliant narration about the time 1918/19 in Boston. Also this book is a fiction Lehane is giving a clear inside view of those turbulent period. Based on the life of a police family the story is telling about their suffer and campaign for better conditions of employment but also shows the conflicts of opinion inside of a family. Additionally there is also discussed the point of race relations with a deep friendship between a white and a colourd man.

(4 stars)

Mississippi



As always, it was a gripping Grisham plot and a fast-paced read. Even though it's a fiction there is a lot of truth in it. All over the world politicians are affected by lobbyists and to be honest not always in a good manner. Money makes the world go round is unfortunately true and therefore only a handful is able to benefit from the lobbying. Whenever I hear of such extortionate settlements I can only disbelieving shake my head. In Europe we are not used to such amounts.

(3 1/2 stars)

New Jersey



It is a fantastic story. It was enthralling from the first until the very last page. There are strong personalities and I've got quickly familiar with all of them. It also shows, that it's not up to somebody's education or social position whether they stand on the good or on the worse side of the law. On the other hand there is also a hint how the public view works when trial are discussed on broadcast. In this case it was helpful but that could easily turn around into the contrary.

(4 stars)

Vermont Audiobook Burlington



It is a great story. Throughout the listening I was very close to Laurel the main character. There was also a slightly risk to get addicted like herself. It was so enthralling that I couldn't stop listening. Meeting with characters from the The Great Gatsby was enjoyable. I'm glad that I knew this story so it was much easier and interesting to understand the context and the follow-up of Laurel's investigation. The story's outcome is absolutely astonishingly. I couldn't have been able to predict it up front.

(4 stars)

Ohio Kingsville



It is an interesting story about a family whose daughter has been kidnapped. The story starts with the last hours of this young adult and her friends and her family's normal life before the abduction. After that, the main characters way of changing their attitudes, feelings and adaptation to a life without Kim are carefully worded. There is no craving for sensation, on the contrary the story shows how people come to terms with the incomprehensible act.

(3 1/2 stars)

California Audiobook San Francisco



It is a thrilling story. There are two different cases which are solved by the fabulous women's murder club. As always they are involved not only in a professional way but also in a personal way. For a long time it was impossible for me to guess who the bad guys are. There are such a lot of fantastic twist and angles. The outcome was a real surprise.

(4 stars)

Pennsylvania Pittsburgh



It didn't really catch me, perhaps I'm too old for young adult's summer season or I'm simply not familar with the American way of life. Anyway, the story is telling about how five young adults are spending their summer term, how a young male is caught in finding his sexual preference and also is trying to become independent from his father. His father's mafioso relationship doesn't really fit into the plot and was for me more annoying.

(3 stars)

Louisiana Gentilly-New Orleans



This is a very insightful book about an old woman who struggles through the Hurrican Katrina, whereas her mind is living in the past. This past is helping her to do everything right. She thinks that her dead son is telling her what she has to make correct that her house will not be demolished. This woman has a strong ego and when also several people try to rescue her she won't get with them because she can't leave her dog behind her. The end is a real surprise.

(4 stars)

New York Manhatten



It is a gorgeous historical fiction in a wonderful written language. The story about New York is extending to the last 350 years. It starts with the first Dutch merchants and ends with their New Yorker's descentants. It's not only the history of a single city but also the Amerikan Independency. It narrates the most important American progress and on the other hand the City's development. It's carefully discribed how the buildings and old Manhatten could have been in the 17th and what major transformations it took up until now. On the basis of a family chronicle it was very easy to dip into the story and also to learn about different social points of view. Money and its rise and fall is not only in our days a major subject but also in the earlier time this family was depended on it. All the important Wall Street affairs can be found in this story aswell.

(4 1/2 stars)

New York 5th Avenue, Manhatten



It looks like I'm sticked in New York. Homer and Langley is a wonderful story about two brothers which are living at the Fifth Avenue during the 20th century. Homer had lost his eyesight when he was a teenager, but his other senses were really sharp especially his sense of hearing. They have lost their parents early and were living together their whole live. The most important 'credo' was their self-reliance and they worked it out excessively. During nearly the whole century they were confronted by all different kinds of social changes and it seems that they were diving into those adventures with a great pleasure.

(4 stars)

New York



Well, the praises for this book from a lot of writers (on the back of the cover) don't really fit in my opinion. O.k. it's a 'crime thriller' but each step is too obvious and so it isn't really a surprise. On the other hand there is a lot of romantic relationships which are in my point of view much more important than the criminal actions are themselves. It is an easygoing reading but not actually gripping.

(3 1/2 stars)

New Jersey Trenton



This was my first Evanovich but definitely not the last one. It is one of the most funniest books I've read since a long time. Stephanie Plum's character is amazing on the one side she is pretending to be tough and confident always in charge to stand her ground. On the other hand she stumbles very often over her boldness and mindlessness and luckily she is getting help from all over. The love-hate relationship between her and Jo Morelli is gorgeous and longs for more, so I'm really looking forward to reading more of them.

(4 stars)

New York



This was an interesting reading about young people spending a heated summer in New York in the 50s. They were from different society and were trying to escape from their own social class into the other. What first looks like a summer experiment which shouldn't have got any consequence, finally turns into the contrary where in the end there wasn't any possibility to turn back.

Louisiana New Orleans



It's a wonderful mix between a thriller and a crime mystery. I liked the self-contained chapters which are related but also focused on an other part of the story. Every now and then they are crossing their path, it looks like an update for all protagonists before they leave each other for travelling their own route before meeting with each other again. Everybody puts himself in jeopardy when also they are working in pairs and it seems that all the characters have difficulty to trust their next. There is a story in the present which is related to an unsolved story from the past. It's fast-paced and extremely enthralling. The only disappointment came in the end when I had to find out that this book is only the first part of the story and a sequel is following. It leaves me hanging in the nothingness. What a pity!

Vermont Lake Champlain



This is the first book from a wonderful new espionage serie. It's written in a marvellous humorously way. It's fast-paced sometimes too quickly, so that I had to go back a few pages to be sure that I understood the point correctly. Nevertheless this story is definitely set out in a fascinating way to introduce all the main characters which we'll see probably in the future books of this serie. The links between the protagonists kept me guessing until the very end and therefore the reading is always enthralling.

Georgia Atlanta



The story is starting out in old Irland a couple of hundred years ago as an old pagan fairy tale. This start is important because the whole story which is taking place in our days is based on this inception. The most part of the story takes place in Atlanta at the Janus Theatre where a group is rehearsing the play The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. Like in this play where Faustus sold his soul to Mephistoteles, in the Irish fairy tale had Christopher Marlowe sold his soul, too. He is the owner of the Janus Theatre and the director of this play and also the keeper of an old stone which is in the basement of the theatre. During the rehearsal the old vow from the early Irish time starts to break. An interesting aspect was that it took me a while to find out which characters were from the old time and which are only related to the present.

DC Washington DC



It's an action based story without a lot of profoundness. It's more the shooting between the good and bad guys. I miss a good story behind it. The reading was more like watching a 'crime' serie on the TV. For all those who like action, shooting and so on they'll probably like this story.

Maryland Baltimore



It's a wonderful sensitive story. I'm very impressed by Libby Sternberg's way of approach to each of the characters. It's made with a great love and an ever greater respect for her protagonists. I've got very quickly familiar with all the persons and it was a fascinating expedition to learn from their past, their present and their wishes during a time after WWll wich is always present. Even though each of them is related in an accidentally or familiar way, what each of them is sharing is a strength faith in himself or in a religious manner.
I can strongly recommend it.

Wyoming



This book comprises nine short stories which are set out in Wyoming. The stories are from different times from 1885 up until our date. What they've got in common is that all are showing the families hard way of life. They are struggling every day for getting something to eat, finding an occupation and earning money, raising up a family and the failure of it and love that never could be fulfilled. I had the feeling, that those are very sad stories and luck must live on another planet.

Tennesse Knoxville



This was my third Beckett and as the two beforehand I enjoyed the reading very much. It is fast-paced and enthralling and kept me guessing until the very last page who is the evil one. David Hunter has left his British ground to join his friend in Tennessee. This trip should help him to recover and to pick up his courage for his work back in England. Although he was forced to vault his shadow his inquisitiveness to help solving the case was much bigger. He's got strength to help others and has found back his gut instinct on which he always can rely.

Florida Broward County



In the beginning I was a little bit disappointed because it wasn't so fast-paced like the other Scarpetta's. It took me a little while to make all the links, probably because it looked like their were a lot of different cases, which weren't related so obviously. Nevertheless after the first third the pace took up and it was getting enthralling. Due to the fact that the main characters have got major problems with their relationships and faith in each other it kept me guessing until the very end how the outcome will be.

Vermont



It's a wonderful written story about a tragic occurrence at a privat school in Vermont. The incident is written on the point of view from participants which are different in age as well in the involvement of their part. As a reader I've got an insight without any estimation for one or the other. Even though what had gone on was something anybody wouldn't wish for someone else and could change life of many people it is also a situation where anybody can drop in. As parents we are obliged to protect our children from such circumstances by explain them how to conduct themselves in those situations but we'll get never the security if it'll work out in a good way.

Alaska



I've got this copy free from the Member Giveaway. The reading wasn't so enjoyable because the paragraphs were set accidentally and mostly at the wrong places. I guess that this copy must have been one of the planning phase before a corrector has seen it.

Most of these short stories are really funny and are taken from real life. As a reader I could lively see the incidents and feel with the writer. Sometimes I got the giggles. In any case, it's a book everybody will like.

Heber/Wasatch mountains



It took me a while to drop into the story but then it was so gripping I wasn't able to put it away. The story is taking place in the future in a penal camp. The inmates are forced to endure inhuman labour and were treated less than an animal. Therefore they are organising strikes and a takeover of the camp. Among the inmates is Paul who isn't only trying to survive but also looking for a possibility to flee and to reunite with his family. He wasn't aware that one of his daughters was staying very close to the camp and especially at his tormentor's home.
It was a breathless and fast-paced reading. I enjoyed it very much.

Maine



This was a fantastic reading. Elizabeth Strout is describing Olive's world, all the people around her and the surrounding so vividly that as a reader I've got the feeling to be a part of them. All persons are described with a lot of love and respectfulness. All the little stories can take place all over the world because the characters of those people are the same than of any ordinary person on this planet. Strout shows that life is ephemeral with all its minor or bigger uncomfortableness but still worth living.

Virginia



This one was a gorgeous reading. I liked the setting in the rural Virginia with all those family clans which are going a long way back, their gossips and their secrets. I loved the main charater's capability the renovate her grandma's house and her familiarity to work with all those tools. Also the romance wasn't to miss out but it was also not so overloaded. It was very gripping and I was guessing until the very last page who was doing such harm to Cilla.

Wisconsin



Well, to be frank this book isn't one I would recommend. First I thought it's an easy-going reading with nothing to think about. But in the last part the story got really weird and I didn't like it at all.

Connecticut Milford



That was a very gripping reading. It tells the story how a father is looking for his teenage daughter who didn't turn up after work and everybody, he is asking about her whereabouts, turns him down. He fears the worst case and on his searching path there are more dead people than he wishes to have them. The police isn't much of a help and he is mostly on his own. Only his ex-wife and her new lover are helping him. During his investigation he stumbles across human trafficking and he gets nearly shot several times. It let me guess until the very last page how the outcome would be.

Minnesota Mankato



It was an easy reading. Sometimes I had the feeling that some parts of the story could have been shorten but nevertheless I enjoyed it. Virgil Flowers has to chase an ancient stele which was smuggled to his district from Israel illegal. Several parties are interested to put their hand on this artefact and Flowers is rather occupied to find out whom he can trust and whom he should put behind the bars. Sometimes he is acting unconventionally especially when his 'lady friend' Ma is involved.

Illinois Chigago



This was a fast-paced reading about a private detective in Chicago. When he is hired from an old girlfriend he is stumbling across scheming in politic but also within the police. He has not only to solve the puzzle but also to keep himself out of all those feuds. His work is like a balancing act on a high wire with one foot always in the abyss.
It was a gripping reading.

New Mexico



This is a lovely cosy mystery about a young teashop owner who finds on a regular base some deaths on her doorstep. This time she is haunted by a young dead man whom she saw at a local market selling decorated knives. Shortly after the market visit this young fellow is found dead in front of her aunt's house. Elli is sure that the knife plays a major role in solving the puzzle.
But this isn't the only thing she has to solve there is also her love-life and the next of her boyfriend to be as well as her aunt's wedding preparation which keep her busy. The only steady and comforting pole is her 'house ghost'.

Indiana

 The Magnificent Amberson
Pulitzer Prize Challenge

That was a very interesting reading. It shows the rise and fall of American families who leave a footnote in history or nothing. In this particular story the fall of the Amberson family is shown. Whereas George Amberson Minafer's grandfather was a wealthy and respected man, his offspring show no incentive to manage or enhance the asset. On the contrary, they feel that they can continue to live on a large foot as this was the case earlier, without doing anything for the community and also to pursue any profession. But the world turned quickly. New inventions such as the car has been made, the city kept growing and new names were more important to the community than the Ambersons. George Amberson Minafer started to work only when the whole family fortune was lost and he had to support his aunt so she could spend a pleasant retirement.