Traci Tries Again in 2017

Well the last 2 years have pretty much been a bust for me in these challenges. Having a baby in 2015 really put a damper on what I am realistically able to accomplish. And, while I've done a decent amount of reading this year, I've not had any time at all to actually log it into my challenge, so I gave up somewhere around March...

That said, I am determined to try again in 2017, this time with categories based around one of my most favorite things, zombies - specifically, The Walking Dead. I'll be using titles from the comic series as my categories. Seventeen categories, five books per cat 2,017 pages per cat (changed my mind).



CATEGORIES
1. Days Gone By (Book 1): Historical Fiction
2. Miles Behind Us (Book 2): Armchair Travel
3. Made to Suffer (Book 8): Long Books (600+ pages)
4. The Heart's Desire (Book 4): Love Stories
5. The Best Defense (Book 5): Legal Thrillers
6. The Calm Before (Book 7): Storms Play a Role
7. What We Become (Book 10): Dystopian / Post Apocalyptic
8. Life Among Them (Book 12): Aliens / Sci-Fi
9. Too Far Gone (Book 13): Time Travel
10. No Way Out (Book 14): Murder Mystery
11. We Find Ourselves (Book 15): Books on My Bookshelf
12. A Larger World (Book 16): Fantasy
13. Something to Fear (Book 17): Scary Stuff
14. What Comes After (Book 18): Sequels / Books in a Series
15. A New Beginning (Book 22): New to Me Authors
16. Life and Death (Book 24): Undead / Zombies
17. No Turning Back (Book 25): Rereads

Recommendations are welcome and appreciated!

DAYS GONE BY: Historical Fiction (2,040 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead 306 pages (finished 01/01)
2. An Echo in the Bone - Diana Gabaldon 813 pages (finished 03/26)
3. Written in My Own Heart's Blood - Diana Gabaldon 825 pages (finished 04/05)
4. Tender Wings of Desire - Colonel Sanders 96 pages (finished 05/12)

MILES BEHIND US: Armchair Travel (2,152 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. Wild - Cheryl Strayed 312 pages (finished 03/01)
2. Lights Camera Travel - Don George 263 pages (finished 06/06)
3. Private Berlin - James Patterson 429 pages (finished 06/23)
4. The Librarians and the Lost Lamp - Greg Cox 296 pages (finished 07/30)
5. Tears of the Giraffe - Alexander McCall Smith 256 pages (finished 07/30)
6. Still Life - Louise Penny 312 pages (finished 08/12)
7. The Librarians and the Mother Goose Chase - Greg Cox 284 pages (finished 08/21)

Made to Suffer: Big Books (600+ pages) (2,380 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. The Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss 1,000 pages (finished 01/03)
2. The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O - Neal Stephenson 740 pages
3. 2312 - Kim Stanley Robinson 640 pages (finished 07/21)

THE HEART'S DESIRE: Love Stories (1,536 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. Heart of Fire - Linda Howard 320 pages (finished 06/01)
2. After You - Jojo Moyes 448 pages (finished 06/04)
3. Midnight Rainbow - Linda Howard 302 pages (finished 06/06)
4. The Hypnotist's Love Story - Liane Moriarty 466 pages (finished 06/12)
5.Outlander - Diana Gabaldon 863 pages (currently reading)

THE BEST DEFENSE: Legal Thrillers / Police Procedural (2,022 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. The 16th Seduction - James Patterson 350 pages (finished 05/21)
2. The Brass Verdict - Michael Connelly 419 pages (finished 06/22)
3. French Kiss - James Patterson 145 pages (finished 06/22)
4.The Trial: a Bookshot - James Patterson 144 pages (finished 01/02)
5. Bruno, Chief of Police - Martin Walker 290 pages (finished 07/12)
6. Murder Below Zero - John Lawrence Reynolds 130 pages (finished 07/18)
7. Finders Keepers - Stephen King 544 pages (finished 01/13)

THE CALM BEFORE: Storms Play a Role (in the story, title, or cover art) (2,319 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. We Are Unprepared - Meg Little Reilly 368 pages (finished 01/08)
2. The Storm - Clive Cussler 464 pages (finished 02/07)
3. Let It Snow - John Green 353 pages (finished 04/20)
4. The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan 377 pages (finished 05/06)
5. Murder Most Howl - Krista Davis 304 pages (finished 07/17)
6. Havana Storm - Clive Cussler 453 pages (finished 08/11)

WHAT WE BECOME: Dystopian / Post Apocalyptic (2,199 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. The Girl with All the Gifts - M. R. Carey 448 pages (finished 04/04)
2. Call to Arms - Robert Kirkman 136 pages (finishes 04/04)
3. The Whisperer War - Robert Kirkman 136 pages (finished 03/07)
4. Quarantine: The Loners - Lex Thomas 432 pages (finished 05/07)
5. The 100 - Kass Morgan 327 pages (finished 08/04)
6. All the Birds in the Sky - Charlie Jane Anders 320 pages (finished 07/29)
7. The Boy on the Bridge - M.R. Carey 400 pages (finished 07/31)

LIFE AMONG THEM: Aliens / Sci-Fi (2,105 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. Another Life - Peter Anghelides 253 pages (finished 04/04)
2. Sick Building - Paul Magrs 243 pages (finished 02/19)
3. Agent of Chaos - Kami Garcia 307 pages (finished 05/12)
4. Class: The Stone House - A.K. Benedict 261 pages (finished 05/15)
5. Doctor Who: In the Blood - Jenny T. Colgan 337 pages (finished 05/22)
6. Mars One - Jonathan Maberry 448 pages (finished 07/05)
7. Doctor Who: Winner Takes All - Jacqueline Rayner 256 pages (finished 06/25)

TOO FAR GONE: Time Travel (2,095 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. Royal Blood - Una McCormack 235 pages (finished 01/15)
2. Big Bang Generation - Gary Russell 236 pages (finished 01/15)
3. Engines of War - George Mann 312 pages (finished 02/13)
4. The Girl from Everywhere - Heidi Heilig 444 pages (finished 02/22)
5. Death's Deal - Darren Jones audio book (finished 03/16)
6. Code of the Krillitanes - Justin Richards 112 pages (finished 04/18)
7. The Revisionists - Thomas Mullen 435 pages (finished 06/27)
8. Deep Time - Trevor Baxendale 251 pages (finished 06/29)
9. Destiny of the Doctor: The Time Machine - Matt Fitton 70 minutes (finished 07/22)

NO WAY OUT: Murder Mystery** (2,135 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. Murder in the Mystery Suite - Ellery Adams 277 pages (finished 01/02)
2. The Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware 352 pages (finished 01/29)
3. Glory in Death - J. D. Robb 300 pages (finished 02/16)
4. Cockroaches - Jo Nesbo 384 pages (finished 04/15)
5. Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty 486 pages (finished 05/09)
6. Fatal Fixer-upper - Jennie Bentley 336 pages (finished 07/09)
7. CSI: Bad Rap - Max Allan Collins 134 pages (finished 07/31)

**Bonus if it's a locked room mystery :)

WE FIND OURSELVES: Books on my bookshelf** (2,064 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. Someday, Someday Maybe - Lauren Graham 368 pages (finished 02/11)
2. Curious Minds - Janet Evanovich 336 pages (finished 02/17)
3. Strawberry Shortcake Murder - Joanne Fluke 320 pages (finished 07/01)
4. Wicked Appetite - Janet Evanovich 352 pages (finished 07/21)
5. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder - Joanne Fluke 336 pages (finished 05/27)
6. Coyote Kiss - Christa Faust 352 pages (finished 08/30)

A LARGER WORLD: Fantasy (2,097 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. Supernatural: The Heart of the Dragon - Keith R. A. DeCandido 310 pages (finished 01/04)
2. One Year Gone - Rebecca Dessertine 335 pages (finished 01/11)
3. Midnight Crossroads - Charlaine Harris 384 pages (finished 01/26)
4. Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare 544 pages (finished 06/09)
5. Aunt Dimity's Death - Nancy Atherton 256 pages (finished 07/07)
6. Murder Buys a T-shirt - Christy Fifield 266 pages (finished 07/11)

SOMETHING TO FEAR: Scary Stuff (2,402 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. Dark Matter - Blake Crouch 354 pages (finished 02/23)
2. The Husband - Dean Koontz 447 pages (finished 07/14)
3. Spackled and Spooked - Jennie Bentley 320 pages (finished 07/15)
4. CSI: Serial - Max Allan Collins 143 pages (finished 07/30)
5. Zoo 2 - James Patterson 160 pages (finished 07/09)
6. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry - Neil deGrasse Tyson 224 pages (finished 08/09)
7. The Fireman - Joe Hill 754 pages (finished 01/18)

WHAT COMES AFTER: Series Reads (2,135 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. Turbo Twenty-Three - Janet Evanovich 288 pages (02/01)
2. Blue Gold - Clive Cussler 403 pages (finished 02/09)
3. Real Murders - Charlaine Harris 209 pages (finished 05/26)
4. Cooking Up Murder - Miranda Bliss 233 pages (finished 07/12)
5. Death Al Dente - Leslie Budewitz 304 pages (finished 07/14)
6. Blueberry Muffin Murder - Joanne Fluke 320 pages (finished 07/15)
7. Through the Grinder - Cleo Coyle 288 pages (finished 07/20)

A NEW BEGINNING: New to Me Authors (2,334 of 2,017 pages complete)
1. Witch Is When It All Began - Adele Abbott 208 pages (finished 02/20)
2. The Storied life of A.J. Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin 272 pages (finished 04/10)
3. The Rook - Daniel O'Malley 482 pages (finished 04/18)
4. Aunt Dimity's Death - Nancy Atherton 256 pages (currently reading)
5.At the Mountains of Madness - I.N.J. Culbard 126 pages (finished 06/05)
6. On What Grounds - Cleo Coyle (audiobook) 288 pages (finished 07/04)
7. Death of a Cozy Writer - G.M. Malliet (audiobook) 287 pages (finished 07/07)
8. Murder Is Binding - Lorna Barrett 415 pages (finished 07/10)

LIFE AND DEATH: Undead / Zombies / Vampires (2,058 of 2,017 pages complete)

1. Zombiellenium: Gretchen - Arthur de Pins 48 pages (finished 03/28)
2. Black Dawn - Rachel Caine 400 pages (finished 06/08)
3. Bitter Blood - Rachel Caine 432 pages (finished 06/11)
4. Fall of Night - Rachel Caine 368 pages (finished 06/13)
5. Daylighters - Rachel Caine 384 pages (finished 06/15)
6. Labyrinth Lost - Zoraida Cordova 336 pages (finished 07/22)
7. Doctor Who: Night of the Whisper - Cavan Scott 90 minutes (finished 07/22)

NO TURNING BACK: Rereads (2,293 of 2,017 pages)
1. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris 341 pages (finished 04/23)
2. Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris 280 pages (finished 04/25)
3. Club Dead - Charlaine Harris 258 pages (finished 04/04)
4. Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan 285 pages (finished 05/18)
5. Titan's Curse - Rick Riordan 310 pages (finished 05/23)
6. The Battle of the Labyrinth - Rick Riordan 367 Pages (finished 06/12)
7. The Last Olympian - Rick Riordan 452 pages (finished 06/16)

1.
2. Another Life
3. Blueberry Muffin Murder
4. After You
5. Wild
6. Supernatural: The Heart of the Dragon
7. The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
8.
9. The Girl with All the Gifts
10. Death's Deal
11. Murder in the Mystery Suite
12. Murder Most Howl
13. Finders Keepers
14.
15. The Lightning Thief
16. The Storm
17. Blue Gold
18.
19.
20. We Are Unprepared
21. Cockroaches
22. Living Dead in Dallas
23. Big Little Lies
24. The Underground Railroad
25. The Wise Man's Fear

Welcome back. I love your Walking Dead theme as I am a huge fan both of this series and all things zombie!

Love the selection of titles for each category! Excellent choices. :D And welcome back!

Very cool setup!

Oh, those are such cool titles! The storm category looks very intriguing!

Welcome back! I'm not a fan of zombies, but your set-up is brilliant! :)

That's great - the matches between titles and categories are very clever. Looking forward to seeing what you'll read!

Welcome back! I love how you have created categories around your "Walking Dead" theme!

Thanks, guys! I can't wait to get started.

Apparently, my little man is ready, too. Caught him sneaking books off my bookshelf this morning.

What a sweet picture. Looks like you're bringing up another reader! :)

Is that Neal Gaiman??? You are indeed bringing up a reader!

>28 DeltaQueen50: I'm definitely trying. :)

>29 mamzel: It is Gaiman, though Henry prefers Fiona Watts That's Not My... books.

Very creative. Good luck with your reading!

I absolutely love how you've derived topics from each title. How clever!

Maybe you can fit in a category to record all the books you read with Henry, his own category so to speak. It would be fun to follow his reading, too.

Hope you both have a wonderful year of reading in 2017!

Great (and very long) theme!

>32 mamzel: That's a great idea. At the moment, we are loving the Lost My Name book my mother got Henry for Christmas. I think for anyone with littles in their life, it is a must have. I'd seen the ads for it on TV and assumed it would just have pages with say a hippo and an H, an elephant finding an E, etc, but it was so much more. The story is just as wonderful as the fact that it's personalized. I read it out loud to the whole family, and everyone thought it was quite clever.



>33 The_Hibernator: Lol. When I started doing this in 2008, it was much simpler with just 8 categories. I keep thinking at some point I will have to step away from matching the year to the category total. Maybe next year. :)

I had a great holiday haul this year. My parents and in laws ask that we all create amazon wish lists at Christmas so they can be sure to get gifts that are truly wanted. It makes things easier on everyone with shipping and all. This year, I mostly had books on my list. Well, books and Walking Dead socks (which I got from my mom, and they are awesome!)

Books I got:
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Turbo Twenty-three by Janet Evanovich
and The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

I also got a Barnes and Noble gift card and some cash (which I'd normally just use for groceries or something, but this year I bought more books). Today is my 9 year Thingaversary so I figured it was a great day to spend it.

Books I got for myself with Christmas money and gift cards :
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell you She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
The Rules of Civility by Richard Brookhiser
and Finders Keepers by Stephen King

I'm also planning to get the Hamilton biography by Ron Chernow, but I'm going to opt for Kindle with that one.

Looks like some great purchases and great reads!

2016 Book Meme Saw this on Lori's (thornton37814) thread and thought it looked like fun. :)

Describe yourself: A Royal Pain

Describe how you feel: Book Lust To Go

Describe where you currently live: Sanctuary

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?: Beach House

Your favorite form of transportation: The Raft

Your best friend is: A Man Called Ove (or Stan...)

You and your friends are: Dying to Retire

What’s the weather like?: H2O

You fear: Rum and Razors

What is the best advice you have to give?: It's Not About the Tapas (actually my advice would be to not read that book)

Thought for the day: In the Sea There Are Crocodiles

How I would like to die: Coffee, Tea, or Murder

My soul’s present condition: No Turning Back

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

*applause* Great meme answers! I liked the friends one best ;) Perfect!

>39 rabbitprincess: :) Thanks

Henry has gotten really terrible about pulling all my books off the bookshelves in my living room, so as much as I loved having them in there, we decided to move the shelves to the master bedroom. I spent a few hours last night alphabetizing and organizing them. My husband thinks I'm a bit of a loon for how much I enjoy doing that, but it just makes me feel like all is right with my world when they're all arranged correctly. These are just my TBR shelves (except for the Harry Potters on the top shelf) - I've got a couple others that house my already read books and my kids' books. They're in desperate need of organizing, but it'll have to wait a bit longer.



I also cleaned off my nightstand (which was mostly covered with empty water bottles and hair scrunchies) and stacked up books I want to get to sooner rather than later, adding a lamp that had to be removed from the living room also to avoid little fingers. It all has made me feel like our bedroom is much cozier, like my own little retreat from the world. I'd love to have an entire room to dedicate to a library, but for now this will do.

I love the image of the stack of books. Ah yes, the little hands get quite busy don't they? No matter how much I straighten up when I know the grandchildren are coming over, they always find something that fascinates them. Loose change, bobby pins, the remote, I could go on and on:)

Hi! Thanks for visiting my thread. You have quite the ambitious challenge here. I love your bookshelves and books on the nightstand.

Maybe you can put something in front of thebookshelves to distract Henry. My son had one of those activity boards he loved to play with. If you leaned something like that in front of your shelf might give him something else to do.

>41 lsh63: I'd forgotten how quickly little hand get into things. Our older two are 19 and 14. It's been quite an adjustment getting used to our happy little surprise.

>42 tymfos: :) Thanks

>43 mamzel: That's a good idea. So far we've only had one casualty. Dragon, which had seen better days any way, is now missing half its pages. My bigger concern is that he's gotten so into climbing. Those shelves are very tempting for a little monkey.

First book finished:



Title: The Underground Railroad
Author: Colson Whitehead
My Rating: ★★★★
Category: Days Gone By
Number of Books Read: 1
Own or Loan : Own

This was quite a different book from what I was expecting. I thought it was just going to be straight historical fiction, and at one point, I actually Googled "When was the first elevator in use in the United States?" I can't say whether I feel that the alternative timeline aspects to the story did it any favors or not. I'm just not sure. I will say I don't think it detracted from it (other than in the beginning when I was scratching my head wondering if I was supposed to believe they had actual underground locomotives). All in all, it was a really good, albeit not a feel good, story. This was my fist Whitehead novel, but I don't think it'll be my last. I enjoy his writing style, and the story was unique in ways I wasn't anticipating. Definitely a good start to my reading year.

My favorite quote:
"The almanac had a strange, soapy smell and made a cracking noise like fire as she turned the pages. She’d never been the first person to open a book."

Title: Murder in the Mystery Suite
Author: Ellery Adams
My Rating: ★★★
Category: No Way Out
Number of Books Read: 2
Own or Loan: Own

This is the first book in the Book Retreat Mystery series and the first book by Ms. Adams that I've read. My feelings were somewhat mixed with this one. For the first 100 or so pages, I struggled to get through it. Honestly, if I adhered more to the Pearl rule or if I didn't own this copy (a signed one at that), I'd probably have given up on it. But I didn't, and it ended up redeeming itself somewhat along the way. I actually think Adams is a very good writer. I enjoyed her descriptive style, and I really liked the setting she created. But the plot was mediocre and extremely implausible. I know Murder mysteries aren't big on realism necessarily, but the cloak and dagger / ninja aspects of this one bordered on ridiculous. That said, once I got about halfway into it, I found it hard to set down, so it certainly wasn't all bad. I do think I'd give book two a try at least.



Title: The Trial: Booshot
Author: James Patterson
My Rating: ★★
Category: What Comes After
Number of Books Read: 3
Own or Loan: Loan (Overdrive)

Sigh. I feel like I'm about ready to give up on James Patterson. If it wasn't bad enough that he slaps his name on just about anything these days, whether he's written any of it, or in some cases maybe even read it, these bookshot things just seem like such a lazy money grab. Ok, so I wanted to give one a try because I'm seeing them EVERYWHERE. But I refused to shell out $5 on something I knew would take me about 45 minutes to finish. So I checked this one out on Overdrive. The writing, albeit not likely Patterson's but Maxine Patreo's, wasn't bad in itself (hence the 2 stars), but it was so pointless. It was a story within the Women's Murder Club series, set after book 15, but while it had the cast of characters from the novels, aside from Lindsey, they barely made an appearance. There was no mystery, no real plot. It was absolutely unnecessary to move the story forward. And maybe that's the point of these "bookshots." You can skip them and not miss a single thing. But then why pick them up at all? If you need to kill an hour while waiting for someone at the airport or sitting in the dentist's chair, go ahead, I guess. But only if you can get it from the library. I certainly don't think they are, based at least on this one, worth actually paying for.

Title: The Wise Man's Fear
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
My Rating: ★★★★
Category: No Turning Back
Number of Books Read: 4
Own or Loan: Loan (friend)

This is the second book in the Kingkiller Chronicles series. I enjoyed the first book, The Name of the Wind quite a lot (though it did start out slow). Wise Man's Fear started out much better, leading off with Kvothe at University. I was all set to give 5 stars until I got to around page 500 or so (out of 1,000). Then it got so bogged down with the fae scenes and later Kvothe's time spent with the Adem. Literally 300+ pages of what I can only assume was added to meet some page quota. I actually set the book down for over a month at around page 750. That said, once I picked it back up and got to around page 800, the pace intensified, and it got back to the best parts of the book. I really love this story, and I can't wait for Rothfuss to finish book 3, though the prospects of that happening any time soon seem slim to none. Still, it's a great series that I would highly recommend. Just maybe be prepared to skim the bits from around page 500 to 800.

Currently Reading:
We Are Unprepared

We were supposed to get slammed with over a foot of snow last night and today, though it's looking to be maybe half that. Still, my weekend plans were to sit in our cozy little house and read a stormy book or two. We may not have gotten as much snow as expected, but I'm not going to let that mess up my plans. Hope you're all having a nice, cozy weekend of great books!

I'm not including Doctor Who: WhoGraphica in my challenge because I didn't actually read it cover to cover as much as browse and read only the bits that interested me. But I thought I'd share my thoughts anyway for those who may be fans of The Doctor. Or fans of statistics. Or both. It's really quite a neat little book. There's loads upon loads of information. One of the more interesting tidbits I discovered was that in 826 episodes (the book covers up to the 2015 Christmas episode), only 2.72% were written by women and 7.51% were directed by women, while 99.76% had the make up done by women. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by these numbers, but it did make me feel there is ground to be made up here.

It's a full color (and actually very pretty) book with tons of adorable graphics. My son checked it out from the library, but it's one I think would be well worth buying.

>45 virginiahomeschooler: Murder in the Mystery Suite is one I definitely want to read. It's already on my wish list. Sounds like it was good for a first in series, but not quite as good as one would hope from an established author.

>48 thornton37814: After some time away from it, I definitely feel pulled to read the second in the series. Her writing is certainly good. I'm not sure what exactly bugged me about the plot - it reminded me somewhat of those Noah Wylie tv movies "The Librarian" 1, 2, 10... Hiding literary 'treasures' and defending them with our lives sort of thing. It was just a bit over the top. But still worth reading.



Title: Supernatural: The Heart of the Dragon
Author: Keith R. A. DeCandido
My Rating: ★★★★
Category: A Larger World
Number of Books Read: 5
Own or Loan: Own

This is the 4th Supernatural tie-in novel and the 2nd one I've read. I browsed the reviews of this one prior to reading it, and I sort of set out thinking, based on those reviews, that I wouldn't like it. The biggest complaint I kept seeing was that Sam and Dean barely made an appearance. One reviewer said that the author seemed to want to capitalize on the SPN Fandom by throwing a few characters into his own story. Well, maybe. But, maybe that's better than trying to take the characters and weave a story around them. I don't know. My thoughts are that the plot was strong. While tales of ronin and feudal Japan and dragons aren't really my thing, I felt like DeCandido did a fine job telling his tale. It's set in 3 distinct time periods (well, four, but 3 with our familiar characters). This first pat of the story revolving around the Campbells (Mary, Samuel, and Deanna), the second part centering on John Winchester (with a glimpse at young Sam and Dean), and finishing off with present day Sam and Dean, with a little Cass and Bobby thrown in.

The biggest gripe I have usually with these tv tie-ins is when they get the voices wrong, but I felt like this author knew his characters well. I could hear the dialog in my head, and it never felt off at all. Like I said, the plot was solid and well-written , if just a tad boring in the beginning. All in all, I think this is a very good addition to the Supernatural canon. I'm currently reading One Year Gone, which is book 7 and takes place during the year when Dean thought Sam was in Hell. So far, it's not nearly as good, but I'm hopeful it'll improve. Having the boys separated (and the fact that Sam is at this point soulless) is, I think, going to make this a not as enjoyable story. But we'll see.

Title: We Are Unprepared
Author: Meg Little Reilly
My Rating: ★★★
Category: The Calm Before
Number of Books Read: 6
Own or Loan: Own

I was so looking forward to this book. I started it this weekend while the snow fell in heaps outside, so much that I've still not ventured outside our neighborhood. I thought this would be the perfect book to accompany the quiet solitude of a winter storm. The problem, though, is that what I thought was a book about a massive storm turned out more to be an introspective relationshipy drama. Major complaint? The characters were hard to like. I found myself picturing the couple from Gone Girl, just maybe a little toned down and blurred around the edges. But unlikable nonetheless. It was also slow and dull for at least the first half. Once we actually did progress to the major storm, the pace picked up a bit, but by then it was too little too late for me. Reilly's writing isn't bad. I think if she'd had a better story to tell, she'd have been able to create a pretty good book. But this wasn't it. I give this one 3 stars because it wasn't badly written, and if you enjoy reading about relationship issues of annoying couples, this might be right up your alley. Just wasn't for me.

Currently Reading:

The Fireman


One Year Gone

>50 virginiahomeschooler: if you enjoy reading about relationship issues of annoying couples, this might be right up your alley.

I think I'll pass on that one!

>45 virginiahomeschooler: I was a bit underwhelmed by the one Ellery Adams book I read (A Killer Plot from the Books by the Bay series.) And I have pretty much given up on James Patterson, though I'm "officially" still listing the Alex Cross series as a series I'm reading.

>50 virginiahomeschooler: Sorry the first book of the weekend wasn't all you hoped it would be, I hope you have more success with The Fireman, I have seen lots of good reviews on it around LT.

>51 tymfos: The last Alex Cross book I finished was the 12th, Cross. I had to go back and look because it's been a while, but I remember being disappointed and feeling like the series was being drawn out well beyond its time. I do have the 13th, and I may give it a shot since I have it on my shelf anyway.

>52 DeltaQueen50: I'm enjoying The Fireman. I'm not finding it amazing, but it's unique and interesting enough to keep me reading. I do think Joe Hill inherited his dad's talent for creativity.



Title: One Year Gone
Author: Rebecca Dessertine
My Rating: ★★★
Category: A Larger World
Number of Books Read: 7
Own or Loan: Own

In the foreword to this Supernatural tie-in, we learn that the author is the personal assistant to the shows creator and that she knows the show backwards and forwards as well as anyone. I think maybe this preface sets her up for failure because if anyone should get every detail perfect about the characters, she should, right? Unfortunately, another thing that dooms her from the start is her choice of when she set her story. "One year gone" is a reference to Sam's year away from Dean (when Dean believed Sam was rotting in Hell, but while he was actually hunting with their previously dead grandpa...have you seen this show? It's like that). Anyway, Sam also is not at this moment in possession of his soul, so he comes off a little lacking in personality and...well, soul. If I were going to write a Supernatural book, it wouldn't be at a time when the boys are separated, and it certainly wouldn't be when one of them is a cardboard cutout of his actual self. But, this is where she chose her setting, so...

I wavered all through this book from 'this is kinda boring' to 'you know, it's really not that bad,' to 'good god, why didn't someone hire an editor??,' and back to "the story really has its moments.' My overall opinion was that Supernatural fans may enjoy this one well enough. The plot was pretty good. I just think Dessertine chose poorly when it comes to when she placed this in the SPN universe. It hurt her story. I also think that there were so many spelling and grammatical errors that it was distracting. I'm glad I read it, but I'd never pick it up again, and I feel like the cost ($8...my library doesn't have any of these, so I buy one every now and then) wasn't worth it.

What Henry's Reading:



First 100 Words is my little guy's current favorite. There's no story involved, just bright images with captions on each page of the board book. He loves holding my finger and using it to point to whatever picture he wants me to "read." I think I saw somewhere that this was a top seller on Amazon in 2015, which doesn't surprise me because it's inexpensive (around $4, I think) and very cute. I think we're going to have to replace it soon, though, as the cover of ours is barely hanging on.

>53 virginiahomeschooler: I read two books beyond that in the Cross series. I gave both an underwhelmed 3 stars. I remember being particularly unenthralled by Cross Country, and haven't felt much like picking one up to read since.

>54 tymfos: Hmm, we'll maybe I should just give up on it for now. Not like I don't have plenty of other options. :)



Title: The Fireman
Author: Joe Hill
My Rating: ★★★★
Category: No Turning Back
Number of Books Read: 8
Own or Loan: Loan (borrowed on Overdrive)

This was my first Joe Hill book, but it won't be my last. Hill has definitely inherited his dad's (Stephen King) talent for storytelling. While I enjoyed all of the novel, it took about 300 pages (of nearly 800) for me to get to the "unable to put this down" feeling. I finished the last half in one night, staying up way past my bedtime. The characters were well fleshed out, flawed and believable. Overall, it was a really good book, and I'm looking forward to more from Joe Hill. I'm thinking NOS4A2 will probably be next on my list.



Title: Finders Keepers
Author: Stephen King
My Rating: ★★★★½
Category: What Comes After
Number of Books Read: 9
Own or Loan: Own

I didn't intend to pick up a Stephen King book right on the heels of his son's novel, but I asked my daughter to just pick something for me. Of the hundreds I have on my shelves, she chose Finders Keepers because "it was Stephen King, and I know you like him." Yes, I do, and this one was no exception. It's the second in the Bill Hodges trilogy, and I think I enjoyed it even more than the first. It sucked me in from the beginning and reminded me of all the reasons I do love King. He's got an excellent sense for what makes a good story, but I think the thing I love most about him is his way with words. There were several moments when I would stop and read lines out loud to my husband saying "wasn't that just the perfect way to say that?" I'm sure it got annoying, but luckily he puts up with my little quirks. :) I have a feeling this will be one of my favorites of the year. And in typical King fashion, it left me sufficiently creeped out in anticipation of End of Watch.

>55 virginiahomeschooler: I just bought The Fireman yesterday! LOL. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I liked his Heart Shaped Box.

>56 VictoriaPL: Oh, I hope you like it as much as I did. If you're doing the CulterCAT, I think it'd work for February's medical / public health theme. :)



Title: Royal Blood
Author: Una McCormack
My Rating: ★★½
Category: Too Far Gone
Number of Books Read: 10
Own or Loan: Own

AND



Title: Big Bang Generation
Author: Gary Russell
My Rating: ★★★
Category: Too Far Gone
Number of Books Read: 11
Own or Loan: Own

A while back, I took my kids to the local comic book store for Free Comic book day. Whenever we do things like this, I like to make a purchase because I feel guilty going in, getting something for free, and not contributing something to the little shop that's providing this event. I suppose I feel like if enough people do this it will keep these little shops running. Unfortunately, in this cse, it didn't work, and the shop closed last October. :( Anyway, at this particular event, I bought, among other things, three Doctor Who books that featured the 12th Doctor. I didn't read the blurbs or really look very hard at them. I knew I didn't have them, so why not? Well, I finally picked one up the other day, Big Bang Generation . I got about halfway through it, and I just kept feeling so confused, like I was missing something, so I looked it up on LT, and what do I find but that it is book two. Great. Fortunately, the other 2 books I'd picked up that day were actually one and three. Huzzah! So, I put book two down and picked up book one, Royal Blood .

First of all, I would like to say that reading book one helped tremendously with understanding book two. I'd like to say it, but I'd be lying. It really was fairly irrelevant to the plot of book two. You could read these in any order and get the same result. Both books revolve around the Doctor and something called the Glamour. I feel as though the authors didnt actually talk to each other before writing their stories because there was no continuity between them at all. Clara makes an appearance in Royal Blood , but she is absent from Big Bang Generation. Neither book was particularly good. It's been maybe 10 days since I finished them, and I honestly couldn't tell you how either one ended. I read a lot and stay pretty busy, but still. The second book was extremely confusing to me because I felt like there were characters being introduced I was meant to already know. Apparently one of them was a companion for, I think, the seventh Doctor in comic book. Still, the story was far better than the first book, which was just boring. Perhaps I'd have enjoyed both more if I was a bigger 12 or Clara fan. I'm not big on either, to be honest. But I still watch the show, and I'd like to think I'd enjoy a good story regardless of which Doctor is showcased. I do have book three, and I'm sure I'll get to it eventually, but I'm not in a hurry. Though, the author is different, so there's still hope.



Title: The Woman in Cabin 10
Author: Ruth Ware
My Rating: ★★★½
Category: No Way Out
Number of Books Read: 12
Own or Loan: Loan (borrowed from Overdrive)

I was really looking forward to this one. Perhaps that's the kiss of death in some ways. Too much hype often leads to disappointment. I think that may have been the case here. I'd been on the holds list for this one for several months now, and unfortunately it was kind of a letdown. It wasn't a bad book. The writing style was fine. The characters weren't spectacular, but they weren't terrible either. I didn't much care for the main character. She reminded me a bit of the main character in The Girl on the Train. In fact, the whole thing was a bit reminiscent of that, though maybe not as well written. Overall, it was a decent, fairly satisfying mystery. Will I remember it 6 months from now? Probably not.



Title: Midnight Crossroad
Author: Charlaine Harris
My Rating: ★★★
Category: A Larger World
Number of Books Read: 13
Own or Loan: Loan (borrowed from Overdrive)

This is the first in the Midnight, Texas series by Charlaine Harris. I'd heard that they are turning it into a TV series, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. It was sort of a mystery, I guess. But there was so much going on (in a supernatural sense) that the mystery sort of lost steam. By the end, I didn't really care who did it, and what happened after it was discovered who the killer was just left me scratching my head. I wouldn't say I'd never pick up another in the series or that I wouldn't watch the show, but I won't be going out of my way to do either.

Currently Reading:

My last few have been mostly busts, but I'm really hopeful about what I'm reading right now. I'm not enough into it to say one way or the other, but it seems like it's going to be a good one:

>57 virginiahomeschooler: Thanks Traci, I'm sure I will. He's pretty dependable. I'm not sure when I'll get to it, though. I don't really do the CATs, KITs and DOGs.

Big Bang Generation *doesn't* have Clara in it? Whew! Thanks for the info! I didn't realize that that batch of Twelve books were part of a series of sorts, or were interconnected (beyond having the same Doctor and companion). Will keep that in mind if I ever come across them.

>59 rabbitprincess:, Nope, no Clara in that one. Though she does seem to be in the third one, Deep Time. And it is a trilogy of sorts, but judging by the first two it's not a cohesive story. Although, the third could tie it all together, I suppose.

Too bad the Ruth Ware book didn't live up to its hype.

I hope you do enjoy The Girl With All the Gifts as I loved it. Of course, I am a huge fan of zombie fiction. ;)

>61 thornton37814: Eh, my fault. I love the idea of that setting, and with all the praise I kept seeing, I sort of set it up to not meet my expectations. It was an ok read, though.

>63 DeltaQueen50: I finished it this morning, and it was amazing! I actually didn't know anything really about it besides people saying it was great, and it had a striking cover (I know you're not supposed to judge, but I can't help myself). My copy didn't have a blurb on the cover. I seemed to remember it was something relating to zombies, but I wasn't even sure about that, so I was pleasantly surprised by the plot - I'm a total sucker for good zombie fiction (or nonfiction, though I've not actually come across that yet). I especially love it when you can root for the zombies in some way (like in Warm Bodies).

Just a heads up that there is an epilogue chapter for The Girl With All the Gifts which is available to read here.

>65 AHS-Wolfy: Oh, awesome! Thank you. :)

ETA: I love how it circled back around there at the end with Justineau in the cell.
Any idea why that wasn't included within the book?

>46 virginiahomeschooler:
I really need to get around to that one! I wanted to wait until the 3rd one came out, but who knows when that'll be...

>66 virginiahomeschooler: No idea at all. Looks like it was being used as a marketing tool by Orbit to gain exposure on social media. "Press like to see a deleted scene" type of thing. Not even sure where I first encountered the link but just passing it on to those who might be interested.

>67 -Eva-: I kind of wish I'd waited. I'm sure I'll be lost by the time the third one comes out.

>68 AHS-Wolfy: Well, I appreciate you passing it along. It was a nice little bonus. :)

Title: Turbo Twenty-Three
Author: Janet Evanovich
My Rating: ★★★½
Category: What Comes After
Number of Books Read: 14
Own or Loan: Own (was a 2016 Christmas present)

This was a typical Stephanie Plum book. No real forward motion for the characters, but after 23 books I think we all know what to expect. These aren't great literary masterpieces, but they are generally great fun. I adore Grandma Mazur and Lula, and to be honest, at this point they are what keep me reading this series. The plots are all generally the same in these books. Stephanie is still just as wishy washy in her love life. But when one needs a few hours of fluff reading, these fit the bill. It was a nice little diversion with a few laugh out loud moments. I'll continue with the series, but I do wish she'd tie up some of the loose ends with Stephanie in the romance department. I'm guessing that won't happen til she's done with the series, though...



Title: The Girl with All the Gifts
Author: M. R. Carey
My Rating: ★★★★½
Category: Life and Death
Number of Books Read: 15
Own or Loan: Own

Love Love LOVE this book. I am partial to zombie fiction, but I think I'd have enjoyed this even if they weren't my thing. It's thrilling and smart, and the characters are very real. It reminded me a bit of Warm Bodies and a bit of 28 Days Later, but it was better than both. It was at times gruesome, and I did have a nightmare or two of being chased by zombies, but I really enjoyed it. I do think I'll pass on the film version. For one, I'm not sure it could ever live up to the book, and I also feel like some of it might be a little too much played out on a big screen. But I'd highly recommend the book. Especially if you have ever felt even a little sympathy for the undead.

This was my February CultureCAT read, as it delves quite a bit into the medical / public health issues of the epidemic.



Title: The Storm
Author: Clive Cussler co-author Graham Brown
My Rating: ★★★★
Category: The Calm Before
Number of Books Read: 16
Own or Loan: Loaned (Borrowed from Overdrive)

This is the 10th book in the NUMA Files series and the second I've read. I enjoy reading Cussler every now and again. They're almost always a fun escape with a little science thrown in. I actually picked this one because it fit my storm theme, and I think it may be the best book of his I've ever read. Like most of his recent work, this one had a co-author, and I think he had much to do with how good it was. I never felt bogged down with the scientific jargon, and it was really funny in parts. The characters are a bit too good (or bad) to be believable, but that's true of all of Cussler's books. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable read.



Title: Call to Arms
Author: Robert Kirkman
My Rating: ★★★★½
Category: Life and Death
Number of Books Read: 17
Own or Loan: Loaned (Borrowed from Hoopla)

I'm starting to enjoy the Walking Dead comics more than the show. This one, covering comics 151-156, was really good. I love where the story is going. I'm not big into graphic novels or comics, but these are highly enjoyable and not just because I dig zombies. I actually find the zombies to be really background noise to this series. It's the characters and how they interact, the conflicts they face, and the humanity (or lack thereof). It's really a great series of comics, and I find they just keep getting better and better.

Currently Reading:

Title: Another Life
Author: Peter Anghelides
My Rating: ★★★½
Category: Life Among Them
Number of Books Read: 18
Own or Loan: Loaned (Borrowed from the library)

This is the first in the Torchwood series, and about the 12th that I've read. I haven't felt it necessary to read them in order since they follow the timeline of the tv series, and I've seen all of the episodes. I enjoyed this one because it's early on, so it has all of the cast still. I did find it a bit hard to follow at times, and I wonder if I lived in England if it would've been less confusing. It seemed at times like I was meant to know more about the locations than I did. Anyway, the story was pretty good, and the characterizations were pretty accurate, so all in all it was worth the read. I'm sad, though, because this was the last one my local library has, so I'll have to start purchasing them. The fact that I wouldn't reread them, and nobody else in my house would read them makes me hesitant, though. Plus I hate having 5 or 6 odd books from a series and not having all of them.



Title: Engines of War
Author: George Mann
My Rating: ★★★★
Category: Too Far Gone
Number of Books Read: 19
Own or Loan: Loaned (Borrowed from the library)

This is, I believe, the only Doctor Who novel that involves the War Doctor, and I thought it was quite good. The story revolves around the war with the Daleks and their creation of a new weapon that not only destroys their target but also erases all evidence of their existence. It was a really entertaining story and one that I could easily see as an episode. It was fast paced and well written. I can't say if I found the characterization of the Doctor to be particularly spot on because for some reason I kept picturing 12 when reading the dialogue. But overall I found it to be a really good addition to the series.



Title: Someday, Someday Maybe
Author: Lauren Graham
My Rating: ★★★★
Category: We Find Ourselves
Number of Books Read: 20
Own or Loan: Own

I've become a big fan of Gilmore Girls in the past few months. My daughter and I have been watching the series for the first time, and we're actually on the next to last episode (I'm quite sad to see it end). I enjoy Lauren Graham, and when I saw she'd written this book (after initially being drawn to it's cute cover), I had to buy it. I get the feeling that this is a bit autobiographical, being about a young actress trying to find her way in an industry that seems bent on crushing her spirit. I have to admit that until the last half of the book, I was set to give the book 2 1/2 stars at most. I knew by page 30 how the book would end (I wasn't wrong), I wasn't enamored with the characters or the story all that much, and it was sort of slow going. But then it picked up around midway through it, and by the last 100 pages I was actually laughing out loud and shedding a tear or two. It's definitely chick lit, which isn't my favorite, so perhaps I'd have enjoyed the first half more if I were more a fan of that genre. I would recommend the book, though, if you don't mind pushing through a bit to get to the good stuff.

Currently Reading:

I'm reading two YA fantasies at the moment, and I'm not sure what I think of either just yet. The Girl from Everywhere reminds me quite a bit of Inkheart, which I loved. Caraval has been so hyped lately that I'm afraid it could never live up to the expectations.


What Henry's Reading:

Henry turned 2 on Wednesday, and he got lots of books. His favorites right now seem to be these cute little Splat the Cat books. They're a bit wordier than ones we had been reading, which is building patience for both of us. :) He also got some Seek and Find books that he is enjoying. They're a bit like Where's Waldo but with Paw Patrol and Sesame Street.



Another photo of him on his birthday just because. This one is a big deal for us because for so long Henry showed no affection. He didn't like being touched, and getting hugs was just not happening (not even for his toys like this). He also had some speech delays which we've been working on, and he has improved a lot - he said mama for the first time the day before Christmas! But the hugs are just the best. He still doesn't hug us this way, but he does have this little thing he does when he's feeling affectionate where he'll lean in to me, and touch his forehead to mine. I'm still hopeful I'll get hugs like Laa Laa gets someday. :)

Traci, Henry is just adorable, I love to see kids enjoying their books!

>71 virginiahomeschooler: How precious! I wish I had photos of me reading at a young age.
I also loved Inkheart. I may have to look into The Girl from Everywhere.

Those milestones will be all the sweeter when they come, I think.

What wonderful pictures of Henry! So sweet!

>72 DeltaQueen50: Thanks. It makes me so happy that he loves them so much. I hope it sticks.

>73 VictoriaPL: I finished The Girl from Everywhere, and it was very good. Not as good as Inkheart in my opinion (it would be hard to be), but it was still really enjoyable.

>74 mamzel: Definitely.

>75 lkernagh: Thanks :)

Title: Curious Minds
Author: Janet Evanovich
My Rating: ★★★★
Category: We Find Ourselves
Number of Books Read: 21
Own or Loan: Own

This was a cute start to a new series. Like Evanovich's other works, there's lots of humor, a little romance (though less in this than in most of the others I've read of hers - which is a positive for me). I like the cast of characters pretty well, the story was a bit different, and it was a light little diversion from life for a bit. Being the first in the series, I feel like much of this one was spent in getting to know the characters, so I'm thinking I'll like the others in the series possibly even more. I'm looking forward to them.



Title: Witch Is When It All Began
Author: Adele Abbott
My Rating: ★½
Category: A New Beginning
Number of Books Read: 22
Own or Loan: Loan (Borrowed from Kindle Prime)

So, occasionally Facebook will have these sponsored ads pop up in my feed, and that was how this book came to me. There were quite a few of them (like a dozen or so) in the ad photo, the covers were really cute, and there were comments like "I'VE READ ALL 12 OF THESE AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE TO COME OUT!!!!!!!" (Overuse of caps and exclamation points should've clued me in that I might be disappointed by these books). So, the good first. Well, I mentioned that the covers were cute. They are. Bright, with pretty colors and a cute little witch. Cute, right? What else? Well, the grammar is particularly good for what I am assuming must be a self-published work. I only saw a couple of errors, which were most likely typos. Certainly not the worst I've seen in that respect. And it was short. I mean, if you're going to read a bad book, you want it to be short, right? So, that's a positive. Unfortunately, that's where the good ends. There was so much not good with this book. To begin with the writing was mediocre at best. The plot was completely unoriginal and boring. The main character was really annoying and unlikable. There were plot holes galore (For example, the main character, who discovers she's a witch, has family in this town that is only accessible if you are a supernatural creature. While she's there, time in the real world stops - so she can go and spend a week, and her real life will pick up right where she left off. But if her cousins come to visit from the town, then go back, then come back, time passes for them. This hole is never discussed, and I'm assumed was overlooked by the author, but it bugged the crap out of me). It was just bad. So bad. Ordinarily, I'd give it just 1 star, as it was that bad. I'm giving her an extra half star for the not terrible grammar and spelling.



Title: Dark Matter
Author: Blake Crouch
My Rating: ★★★★½
Category: Something to Fear
Number of Books Read: 23
Own or Loan: Loan (Borrowed on Overdrive after waiting on hold for 4 months - totally worth the wait!)

I'd been seeing lots of good things about this book, so I placed it on hold without really knowing anything about it. And I waited, and waited, and waited some more. And it was absolutely worth waiting for. What a great page-turner. The story, equal parts philosophy, science fiction, and thriller, pulled me in so quickly that I finished it in less than a day (after staying up way past my bedtime to see how it ended). The writing style wasn't flowery prose or particularly elegant. It reminded me quite a bit of Andy Weir's writing in The Martian, and I think for this type of book, the style worked really well. I had a few moments where my brain hurt trying to grasp the turns the story took, but in a good way. It was really something that made me think of the what ifs, and it was pretty terrifying. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes science or science fiction even a little bit.



Title: Blue Gold
Author: Clive Cussler
My Rating: ★★★½
Category: What Comes After
Number of Books Read: 24
Own or Loan: Loan (Borrowed from Overdrive)

This is book 2 in the NUMA Files series. I think I'd have liked this one more had I not just finished book 10 of the series because so much of the plot was similar - bad guys trying to control the world's drinking water. It was still good, but not quite as good, and reading it right on the heels of the other just made the similarities stand out. The funny thing about these books is that they generally follow a formula. I don't mind that. But the formula is that you have the two main guys, in this case Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala. Then you have a secondary, but somehow connected storyline involving another set of characters, in this case, Paul and Gamay Trout. For me with this book, I enjoyed the Trout's plotline so much more than Austin's, and I really wish there'd been more time spent with them. Overall, it was a good solid read.



Title: The Girl from Everywhere
Author: Heidi Heilig
My Rating: ★★★★
Category: Too Far Gone
Number of Books Read: 25
Own or Loan: Loan (Borrowed from Overdrive)

Time travel on a pirate ship? Yes, please. This was a really good story, with exceptional writing. It reminded me so much of Inkheart, which is in my top 10 of all time favorites, so that's high praise. Heilig's writing is very polished, especially considering this was her debut novel. The story was action packed, and there's actually quite a bit of history thrown in, and the characters were well written (especially Kashmir). My only complaint is that it was a bit slow in the middle, but overall it was thoroughly enjoyable.



Title: Sick Building
Author: Paul Magrs
My Rating: ★★
Category: Life Among Them
Number of Books Read: 26
Own or Loan: Loan (Borrowed from the library)

Ugh, this book. It started out with so much promise. The Doctor (10, my favorite) and Martha land on a planet in which everything is about to be consumed by a large worm-like alien called the Voracious Craw (ok, not so much promise with the alien's name). They set about to save the day and end up in a bit too smart smart house. From here the book just took a sharp nosedive into the ridiculous. The Doctor didn't stay in character. There was a robot vending machine and a robot tanning bed. There were plot holes galore. It was quite a disappointment.



Title: Glory in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
My Rating: ★★★★
Category: No Way Out
Number of Books Read: 27
Own or Loan: Loan (Borrowed from Overdrive)

This is the second book in the In Death series. I'd read the first one quite a while ago, so I was somewhat concerned that I'd have forgotten some important thing, but it turned out not to be an issue. Having read quite a few Nora Roberts romance novels, I find it interesting that she writes these futuristic (though not so futuristic any more - I wonder if we really will be planet hopping in 40 years time) thriller / mystery books so well. I'd guessed the whodunnit part fairly early on, but it was still a fun read.

Currently Reading:



Wild is pretty good, but I'm not enjoying Caraval, and I'm finding American Gods slow to get into.

I'm happy to see you liked both Dark Matter and The Girl From Everywhere as I am planning on reading both of those at some point. I don't think I've seen a bad review for Dark Matter everyone seems to enjoy it.

>78 DeltaQueen50: I've not seen a bad review of Dark Matter either. There's talk that it will be made into a film, which, if done well, I'd love to see. It could also be ruined, so...we'll have to wait and see, I guess.

I keep hearing about Dark Matter too - decided it was time to finally put a hold at the library for it.

The Henry photos are adorable!

I've heard of Dark Matter for the first time now, but with your great review and all the positive comments I'm counting this one as a book bullet.

I found Sick Building to be ridiculous - Who can be silly at times, but this one was over the top.

>77 virginiahomeschooler: I'll take a book bullet for Dark Matter as well - your review pushed me over the fence.

>80 LittleTaiko:, >82 Chrischi_HH:, and >84 LisaMorr:, I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. :)

>81 tymfos: Thank you! :)

>83 -Eva-: Exactly. It was just too much.



For those of you who enjoy Doctor Who, Humble Bundle has an audio book set for sale at the moment (only for the next 5 days!) of various Doctor Who stories and some Torchwood. The way it works is you pay what you want...some of the money going to the charity of your choice. If you pay at least $1, you get some, at least $8 you get some more, and for at least $15, you get the full set of 25. I've only listened to one of them, Death's Deal, and it was brief (only just over an hour) but enjoyable. I definitely will be getting the full set as that's where you get the ones with 9, 10,11, and the Torchwoods. https://www.humblebundle.com/books/doctor-who-torchwood-audiobooks

>85 virginiahomeschooler: WHOA. That is awesome! I think I'm going to have to get on that!!

Title: Wild
Author: Cheryl Strayed
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 28
Own or Loan: Loan (Borrowed from Overdrive)

Wild is the story of Cheryl Strayed's solo hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, a journey of introspection as she comes to grips with the loss of her mother. I have to admit that while this book has been on my radar for a while (I do love travel memoirs), I finally picked it up after watching the Gilmore girls Netflix special. That said, I'm glad I finally did read it. I very much enjoyed her description of the trail itself and the high and low points (literally and figuratively) of the journey. I think I'd have liked the book more as a whole if I had felt more connection with Strayed. While I'm not unsympathetic to her experiences, there was just this lingering feeling of self pity that never seemed to be able to separate from the story. Still, it was a nice escape, and like Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, it made my extreme distaste for the outdoors seem to hide away for a few fleeting moments while I actually thought I might want to hike the trail myself. Sanity quickly returned, and I realized I have no business in nature. I think I'll stick to living those experiences through books from the comfort of my lazyboy.



Title: The Whisperer War
Author: Robert Kirkman
My Rating: ★★★★★
Number of Books Read: 29
Own or Loan: Own

I've been pretty disappointed in the most recent season of The Walking Dead, but the graphic novel just keeps getting better and better. This was one of my favorites so far. I can't wait for the next installment.



Title: Death's Deal
Author: Darren Jones
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 30
Own or Loan: Loan (borrowed from Hoopla)

This audio presentation (more like a play than a book really) featured the 10th Doctor and Donna Noble, and was narrated by Catherine Tate (Donna). Firstly, the narration was great. Tate is very good at getting the distinct voices down, and she does a pretty good 10 impression. Her pacing was good, and the little sound effects added to the overall enjoyment of the story. I did have some issues with the volume going up and down. I listened to it in my car, and parts of the dialogue I could barely hear while some of the other bits nearly blew my eardrums out. Perhaps that's an issue with my sound system, but I tend to think not. As for the story itself, it was pretty good. The length was just over an hour, so it was very brief, not really giving enough time to truly delve into the characters and plot as much as I'd have liked. But overall it was a nice way to spend an hour.



Title: Zombiellenium
Author: Arthur de Pins
My Rating: ★★
Number of Books Read: 31
Own or Loan: Loan (borrowed from the library)

I don't know what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. The art was cute, but that's it. The story was just mediocre. I'll skip the rest of these.

>87 virginiahomeschooler: The Whisperer War will be the next volume of The Walking Dead for me and I am looking forward to it. I have really liked this most recent storyline. I didn't hate this years Walking Dead TV season, but I was happy with the last episode to see Rick and everyone finally fighting back!

>88 DeltaQueen50: I didn't hate this season, but I didn't count the hours until the next episode like I have in seasons past. I'm hoping they'll incorporate the whisperers into the show at some point. I've enjoyed that storyline in the comics.

I'm thinking of making a bookshelf quilt, but I'm having trouble deciding on specifics. For example, I don't know if I should do something of a moderate size to hang on the wall or one to fit my queen size bed. The main issue with the bed is that hardly anyone would ever see it besides my husband and kids. And it would see more wear. But, I don't know...

There's also the issue of style. There are so many options, such as something like this amazing Harry Potter themed one:



It's a tad busy with non-book items, for my taste. I'd prefer more books, but I could certainly add in things like the broom and the hogwarts express bookends, maybe an owl. I like the embroidered book titles. I don't have an embroidery machine, but I could get them done for me, I think.

Then there's a simpler, yet visually striking option where I'd go more for colors I like:



And then there's an option of printing copies of my own favorite books' spines onto fabric and incorporating them into a quilt to make it more personal.

I realize this is a tad off topic, but I figured if anyone could understand my bookshelf obsession, it would be all of you wonderful people. So, any thoughts, suggestions, ideas? I'd love to hear what you all think.

I like the background of the HP quilt but the books on the regular bookshelf quilt. So theoretically you could combine the two, and get rid of some of the non-book items in favour of more books.

That is so cool that you can print copies of your favourite books' spines onto fabric! I didn't know that was possible. Would that be easier to do than embroidering the titles? (I don't quilt, so I have no idea how long things take.)

And I'd probably make it as a wall hanging so that more people can see it and it has less chance of getting wrecked.

Whatever you decide to make, be sure to share it with us! You could do a quilting challenge à la dudes22 :)

>91 rabbitprincess: Printing would be easier for me, since to embroider them I would either have to do it by hand (omg, that would take forever) or have it done by someone else. It may be a silly reason, but I'm hesitant to do that since then it wouldn't be all my work.

They make paper-backed sheets of fabric specifically for printing your own images. I've made several quilts with photos on them, sort of like a quilt scrapbook. I also made this TARDIS quilt for my son (it's not completely finished in the photo, but you get the idea). The worded parts (police public call box across the top and the white part with the "instructions") were printed onto the sheets. They're great when you need something custom like that.

Wow, a book quilt would be simply spectacular! I also like the regular book shelf the best but would perk up the border with a more interesting fabric. The Tardis quilt is beautiful!

>92 virginiahomeschooler: That looks FANTASTIC! (to quote Nine) The orange and yellow in the background are reminiscent of Gallifrey :)

>93 DeltaQueen50: and >94 rabbitprincess: Thanks! :)

HAPPY EASTER!

and

Title: An Echo in the Bone and Written in My Own Heart's Blood
Author: Diana Gabaldon
My Rating: ★★★★★
Number of Books Read: 32 and 33
Own or Loan: Loan (borrowed from Overdrive)

I started this series about 4 years ago. I've enjoyed it very much, some of the books more than others. I found books 5 and 6 to be a bit slow, but Echo (7) and especially Blood (8) are far and away my favorites. I'm glad (I hope at least) that she's not done writing these, but I honestly feel like 8 ended in such a way that if it was the end of the series, it would be a satisfying finale. When I finished 8, I was crying, and I just had this feeling that the book was just utter perfection.



Title: The Storied life of A.J. Fikry
Author: Gabrielle Zevin
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 34
Own or Loan: Loan (borrowed from Overdrive)

I was a little worried about starting another book right on the heels of Written in My Own Heart's Blood, thinking anything would suffer in comparison. I needn't have worried, though, because A.J. Fikry was a delightful little book. It reminded me a bit of A Man Called Ove. It's the story of a youngish widower who's sort of rambling when a series of events occur that upend his life. It's short and sweet and we'll worth the read.



Title: Cockroaches
Author: Jo Nesbo
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 35
Own or Loan: Loan (borrowed from Overdrive)

This is the second in the Harry Hole series. I picked up these books initially because I was interested in reading something with a Nordic setting. Unfortunately, while Harry is based in Norway, the first book is set in Australia, and this one took place in Thailand. I'm assuming we'll eventually make it to Norway. I'm told the series gets better, and I like it well enough so far, so I'm sure I'll continue with it.

Currently Reading :

>96 virginiahomeschooler: I've read 7 of the Jo Nesbo books, and I recall all were set in Norway (or at least mostly in Norway). However, I'd started with The Redbreast, following the publication order of the English translations, so I've not read the first 2 novels yet.

>97 mathgirl40: Thanks, I was hoping that was the case. I don't know if it's something other readers do or if it's just me, but sometimes I just get an itch to do some reading in a certain location.

>96 virginiahomeschooler: I'll be interested to see what you think of The Rook! It's been on my TBR list for a while, but nothing has pushed it to the top yet...

>99 christina_reads: To be honest, if I didn't own The Rook, I probably would've given up on it about 70 pages in. Initially, I got irritated with the way the author constantly used letters to the main character to introduce every new character or whatever info he wanted to get across. But I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did. It won't be on a list of favorites for the year, probably, but it was pretty good, and I did end up liking the main character quite a lot.

>100 virginiahomeschooler: Hmm...well, if/when I end up reading it, I'll know to expect a slow start! Glad to hear that it gets better as it goes on.

Title: The Rook
Author: Daniel O'Malley
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 36
Own or Loan: Own

A friend of mine recommended this book to me. Came to find out after I bought the book that she'd not actually read it, she just thought it looked good. No big loss, as I buy lots of books with no recommendation at all. Anyway, it started out just ok. I liked the premise well enough, but I found the use of letters from the protagonist to her amnesiac future self to be sort of a cheat to give the reader mass amounts of information dumps. Every time I'd turn the page to see a massive block of italicized text, I'd sort of groan to myself. I waded through, and about midway I started to enjoy the story enough to not be as bothered by the letters. By the end of the book, I was fine with them. If I was rating the book in parts, I'd give the first half 2 stars and the last half 4 1/2. As a whole, I think 3 1/2 is fair.

>101 christina_reads: I wouldn't not recommend it. But I won't gush over it and say you just must read it either.

>102 virginiahomeschooler: Fair enough! :) Seems like it might not be the right book for me right now, but I'll probably check it out in the future.

Title: Let It Snow
Author: John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 37
Own or Loan: Loan (borrowed from Overdrive)

I'm not sure what tempted me to pick this up. I'm not much for short stories or novellas (this probably leaning more towards 3 novellas, I suppose, due to the length?). But, I love John Green and Maureen Johnson, so maybe that was what caught my attention. The 3 stories, each told by a different author, are connected but about different characters. All 3 are love stories centering around Christmas. I thought of the 3 Johnson's was the strongest (it was also the firsr), then Green's (the second story). I didn't care for the main character of Myracle's story at all, but that one tied the three separate stories together nicely, so it wasn't entirely a waste. All in all, it was an enjoyable little Sunday afternoon read.

Title: Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, and Club Dead
Author: Charlaine Harris
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 38-40
Own or Loan: Own

Sometimes I get an itch to reread comfy old favorites. I started rereading the Sookie books, and I'll probably reread the whole series by the end of the year. They aren't great, or even particularly good, literature, but there's something about them that just comforts me when I'm feeling low. Like coming home after a hard day at work and relaxing in a lukewarm tub with a glass of mediocre wine. As I read them again (this is my 3rd read, by the way), I find myself rolling my eyes at the same cheesy dialogue and ridiculous situations in which Sookie finds herself. But still, I enjoy the experience. I can't explain it, and I try not to think about it too much, to be honest.



Title: Code of the Krillitanes
Author: Justin Richards
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 41
Own or Loan: Own (ebook)

This is one of the "Quick Reads" of the Doctor who tie-ins, and at just over 100 pages it is a very quick read. The story was very similar to that in the School Reunion episode of season 2, Krillitanes using potato products to make people smarter as a means of creating a super species. Though while the plot wasn't particularly original, it was a fun read. I find Richards to be really good at getting the character voices pretty near perfect, so I tend to like his books more than some others. I'd have liked maybe a bit more meat to the story, but for what you get with these almost more novellas than novels, it was a good little book.

Currently Reading:

>105 virginiahomeschooler: I enjoyed that Dr Who episode, so reading a book that has a similar plot would be fun. And now I want French fries! :P

>106 rabbitprincess: School Reunion is one of my favorite episodes. I've really been wanting to start back over and rewatch them all in order again from 9. I hate that they took them off of Netflix. :(

>107 virginiahomeschooler: Netflix has been a real jerk lately! They took away the first six seasons of Poirot, which was maddening because I specifically wanted to watch an episode from Season 3 (the one where Peter Capaldi is in it :D).

>108 rabbitprincess: Have you looked at Britbox? They have the first 6 seasons of Poirot (probably why Netflix no longer does, actually). I've no idea the cost, but you can apparently get seven days for free to try it out.

>109 virginiahomeschooler: Not available in Canada, like most things televisual :( It would need a VPN. Also no guarantee that the content will actually stay indefinitely. Makes me want to buy all the DVDs instead.

I checked Acorn TV as well, but they had the same seasons as Netflix.

>110 rabbitprincess: Aw, that stinks. But on the plus side, you have Justin Trudeau. Yum ;) I've thought about buying the dvds for Doctor Who, but since I've seen them all probably a dozen or more times easily, it seems sort of extravagant.

Title: The Lightning Thief
Author: Rick Riordan
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 42
Own or Loan: Own

This was another reread. I actually think I enjoyed it more this time around. Having seen the movie so many times, I was surprised that so much of the book felt new (being different from the film). I'm planning to try to finish up the series, so I felt like I needed to refresh myself with the ones I read ages ago. I really enjoy these books. I feel like I learn something new every time I read one, too, since I'm not particularly familiar with mythology.



Title: Quarantine: The Loners
Author: Lex Thomas
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 43
Own or Loan: Own

This book was sort of a Lord of the Flies / Gone combo that was pretty good, but could've probably been better. What worked particularly well, I think, was the drama and fear factor. It definitely had its edge of your seat moments, and I found it hard to put down (which led to a particularly sleepy day after I stayed up way too late saying "just one more chapter"). What didn't work so well was the believability factor. Yes, I know reading books like this require some suspension of disbelief. But the idea that "the government" would or even could quarantine a school and leave the children on their own with supply drops coming in every other week and nobody overseeing anything just left too many plot holes, in my mind. Where were the parents? I can assure you if my kids were in that situation, I'd have swum through a lake of fire to be sure my kids were ok. (This scenario worked better in the Gone series specifically because there was no option for the parents. They were completely cut off from their children, not that there weren't holes there as well, just not the same ones).

Anyway, all that aside, it was still an enjoyable read. There are two more books in the series, but I've not yet decided if I want to continue with it. On the plus side, it tied up somewhat nicely, so I don't feel like I have to read the other books.



Title: Big Little Lies
Author: Liane Moriarty
My Rating: ★★★★★
Number of Books Read: 44
Own or Loan: Own

Every so often I come across a book, and it's like everything aligns to make the perfect reading experience. Big Little Lies was one of those for me. I'm not even sure I can explain why I loved the book so much, but it was just...perfection. First, I found the idea of a mystery where you not only don't know the killer (assuming there was one) but also the victim, to be fascinating. I don't recall ever reading anything similar. But on top of that was a wonderfully flawed cast of characters that I really loved (and found myself thinking "don't let her be dead"), a writing style that was so pleasantly readable, and an original and fun plot. If I had one complaint, it might be that occasionally it seemed that there were some political / social ideas trying to peek through the story, but I tended to agree with those thoughts, so it didn't bother me. I can see where others might be put off and feel a little preached at, though.

I finished the book while my daughter was getting braces put on yesterday, and on the way home we stopped by Target to pick her up some ice cream, and while there I bought two more Moriarty books, Truly Madly Guilty and What Alice Forgot. I'm hoping they're as enjoyable.

P.S. I got my husband to start watching the show with me last night. We watched 3 episodes, and at the end of the 3rd episode, he had figured out something I don't see in the book til the very end. That was annoying. I blame the TV people because I feel like they made something that was, in my mind, pretty shocking at the end, to be fairly easy to see from the jump. Oh well, he keeps asking "will we find out who choked the little grl?", so I think he's hooked. ;)

>112 virginiahomeschooler: - I've enjoyed everything I've read by Moriarty including the two you just bought. I've been dying to watch the show but don't have HBO so will have to wait until it pops up on Netflix or something.

I've never read anything by Moriarty. Another author for me to want to try . . . (sigh . . . ;-)

>112 virginiahomeschooler: Traci: I enjoyed Big Little Lies very much when I read it recently also. Then I watched the mini series, which was great! I think my brother finished watching the series before me. I think my first book that I read was The Husband's Secret. When I found that all of her books had at least 100 holds ahead of me I bought Three Wishes and The Last Anniversary.

>113 LittleTaiko: We finished watching the show, and my thoughts are it was good, but the book was better (as it usually is). There were several changes, one that was pretty significant and left me scratching my head as to why they'd alter the story in that way. But it was worth a watch for sure.

>114 tymfos: LOL. I hope you enjoy her as much as I did. :)

>115 lsh63: That was my problem as well. I'd have been waiting for months and months if I wanted them from the library. I figure if I like the other 2 I bought, I'll just buy them all eventually.

>117 virginiahomeschooler: A+ Mother's Day greeting! :D

Title: Agent of Chaos
Author: Kami Garcia
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 45
Own or Loan: Loan (borrowed from library)

I am somewhat a fan of The X Files. Enough that I've seen most, but not all, of the episodes, and I would probably watch them again on a rainy Saturday afternoon if I had nothing else going on. So, I picked this up with some background knowledge but no fanatic excitement. I've read reviews that said there were some inconsistencies within the story, but I didn't notice them. The plot was ok, not anything worth gushing over. The characterization of a young Mulder seemed reasonably accurate. I think if you're a big fan of the show, it'd probably be worth picking up. If not, then I'd skip it. There's another book that delves into Scully's background story, but I doubt I'll seek that one out. I don't find her character as interesting. If I happened upon it at the library, I might pick it up.



Title: 16th Seduction
Author: James Patterson
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 46
Own or Loan: Loan (borrowed from library)

This is the 16th book in the Women's Murder Club series. The story centers around the trial of a bombing suspect who's only definite tie to the crime is that he confessed to Boxer. It was a pretty entertaining story, though if you enjoy the interactions between the women, they aren't really there in this one. I'd have given a higher rating but for the fact that Patterson (or whoever writes these for him) introduced a random piece of information early on and never got back round to it. It was a pretty substantial scene, and it just got dropped. Perhaps he'll get back to it in book 17, but who knows since it was just ignored completely after being brought into the story. If you've read the book, it was when Joe says "Sophie Fields" as he's waking up from his coma. Lindsey is upset and wonders who that could be, yet it's never mentioned again. Even at the end, they're together and she could at least think back and wonder who Sophie is so we know they'll probably get to it later on. As it is, it could just never be brought up. Ugh.



Title: Class: The Stone House
Author: A.K. Benedict
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 47
Own or Loan: Loan (borrowed from library)

This is a tie-in to the TV show, Class, a spin-off of Doctor Who. I've only seen 3 of the episodes, and it's not my favorite. But I thought I might enjoy the book more, or at least find a reason to like the show more. I think I did like the book a bit more than the show, though it was fairly slow going. I think if you really like the show, you'd really like the book.



Title: Tender Wings of Desire
Author: Colonel Sanders
My Rating: ★★
Number of Books Read: 48
Own or Loan: Own

Don't judge me. Ok, so I kept seeing this on my Facebook feed as some promotional Kindle book KFC was doing for Mother's Day. I haven't a clue what it's got to do with that particular holiday, but whatever. I figured it's only 96 pages, and it's free, and it's got to be funny, right? Well, yes, it was only 96 pages. And yes it was free (though I've heard they increased it to 99 cents). But funny it was not. I mean not even a little bit. It was....odd. First, there's the cover which shows a woman in jeans and with what appears to be car keys hanging from her purse. But the story seemed historical. Dresses and corsets and old fashioned ideas and travel by horse... I honestly don't know what they were thinking with this. I'm not much for romance novels, so maybe this would be good for someone who was. But to me it was just all sorts of weird. There wasn't even any mention of chicken. I gave it 2 stars because it was short so the torture didn't last too long, and there weren't any noticeable spelling or grammatical errors. I can't, though, think of anyone I'd recommend this to. I'd certainly not recommend anyone actually paying for it.

Currently Reading:



Amazon currently has this on sale for Kindle for $3.82. It's a full length (337 page) story featuring 10 and Donna (my favorite duo), so it's a pretty good deal. I'm over halfway done with it, and it's not the best tie-in I've read, but it's not bad.

>119 virginiahomeschooler: I read your review of the Colonel Sanders book and just shook my head. Maybe you could have given it another 1/2 star for not wasting any paper printing it.

Stopping by to get caught up and love the idea of a bookshelf quilt! I also learned something - I did not know that paper-backed fabric for printing even exists. How cool!

>120 mamzel: Haha. Yes, I guess I should be grateful for that.

>121 lkernagh: It's really a great product. I've made several memory quilts using photos, and the first few I made, I ironed white cotton fabric onto freezer paper and cut my own fabric sheets to run through my printer. The problem was, and something I didn't learn until after finishing several quilts in that way, is that if you don't treat the fabric with colorfast chemicals first, the first time those photos that were printed on the fabric come into contact with water, the image washes right off. They make this stuff that you can soak the fabric in and do your own sheets with the freezer paper still, and it's considerably cheaper than the ready made sheets. But considering the hassle (I always made a massive, smelly mess in my bathroom treating the fabric), I think it's worth the extra cost to go with the pre-made ones.

Title: Sea of Monsters & The Titan's Curse
Author: Rick Riordan
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 49 & 50
Own or Loan: Own

Continuing my reread of the Percy Jackson books, and I think I'm enjoying them more this third time around. The stories are loads of fun, and I love that Riordan has been able to introduce so many kids (and adults) to these myths in such a painless way. I feel like a kid reading them - especially when I'm giggling over all the dam jokes in Titan's Curse .



Title: In the Blood
Author: Jenny T. Colgan
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 51
Own or Loan: Own

The tenth Doctor and Donna Noble continue to be my favorite Doctor / Companion pairing. I love Ten and Rose, of course, but there's just something about Donna's storyline in particular that I really enjoyed. So, I was really excited to find this new(ish) story centering on them. I think if I wasn't such a fan of the two of them, I'd have rated this book lower. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either. Characterizations of the Doctor and Donna (and Wilf, who makes a few small appearances in this one) were pretty close to accurate, with a few moments of 'yeah, I don't think he'd have said that' (mostly in the case of the Doctor). The story itself wasn't bad, but I had a hard time following it. Overall, it was nice just to have a new Doctor / Donna story, and for under $4 for a full length novel, I can't complain.

Currently Reading:



In paperback and



On kindle. Probably a mistake reading these at the same time as I'm getting the plots mixed up a bit. I'm enjoying Real Murders a bit more.

Title: Real Murders
Author: Charlaine Harris
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 52
Own or Loan: Loaned (borrowed from Overdrive)

This is the first in the Aurora Teagarden mystery series, and it was short and pretty enjoyable. Most likely a result of a recent reread of several of the True blood books, but Aurora reminded me quite a bit of a brainier (though still not too brainy) Sookie Stackhouse. The plot, revolving around murders copycatting historic cases, was interesting, if not particularly original.



Title: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
Author: Joanne Fluke
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 53
Own or Loan: Own

I bought the first 2 books in this series to give to my mom for Mother's Day, but I ended up changing my mind and giving her something else. So they were just sitting on my kitchen counter. I'd seen the promo for the movies made from the series, and I thought I'd like to read them before watching them, so I picked it up. I was expecting it to be ... better. The main character, Hannah (owner of a bakery that seems to only sell cookies and coffee), was pretty tiresome. She was sort of an uppity know it all and self-deprecating at the same time, which was just a bit absurd. Also, the plot revolves around her becoming a major player in solving two murders in her small town to assist her brother-in-law in getting a big promotion. Somehow this cookie maker is more adept at detective work than the officers being paid to do the job. Does someone who has to rely on their sister-in-law, who never goes anywhere without a bag of fresh baked cookies by the way, to do their job really deserve a promotion? I think not. It did get a bit better, and really my main issue with the book was how little I liked the main character, so I gave it 3 stars (with some reluctance). I do think this is an instance where I may enjoy the show / movie more. I hope so, anyway.



Title: Heart of Fire
Author: Linda Howard
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 54
Own or Loan: Loaned (borrowed from Overdrive)

One of my favorite movies when I was a teenager was Romancing the Stone. I watched it recently and thought surely there are books that evoke similar feelings...that treasure hunting through exotic locations vibe. So, I Googled, and this is what popped up. I actually think it was a pretty good fit for what I was looking for. I could've done without all the sex and the build up to the sex. I'm not a prude, but it does nothing for me, and the language was a bit crude and repetitive (seriously, the words girth and sheath used WAY too much). That said, I really enjoyed the story. The main characters were sort of meh, but the plot and Howard's ability to capture the settting made up for it, I think. It was a nice little escape. I'd love to find other books with a similar backdrop if anyone has any recommendations.

Currently Reading:

Title: After You
Author: Jojo Moyes
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 55
Own or Loan: Own

I loved loved LOVED Me Before You, but I found the sequel, telling the story of Louisa's life after..., just didn't measure up. It was a pretty good book, on its own, and I still loved Louisa as a character. But I didn't have the emotional connection with this one, especially with the secondary characters. As much as I liked Louisa, I feel like her story could've, and maybe should've, ended with the first book.



Title: At the Mountains of Madness (illustrated classics)
Author: I.N.J. Culbard
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 56
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the library

This is a graphic interpretation of H.P. Lovecraft's story of an Antarctic expedition that turns deadly. Having not read the original story, I knew nothing about this before picking it up. I think maybe if I'd read the novel I might have enjoyed the graphic novel more. Not that I didn't enjoy it, but it felt like things were missing. Obviously, Culbard had to pare down the story to fit within his 120 page allotment, but with no background knowledge on my part, some things felt unexplained. I'd like to go back and read the original novel and learn a little more about the characters and their mission. That said, the brief retelling was a fun little story, and the art style worked well with the content.



Title: Lights, Camera...Travel!
Author: Don George
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 57
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive

This is an anthology of travel stories told by a variety of people in the entertainment industry. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, more introspection and less actual travel talk (one particular story wasn't about travel at all but for the fact that the author mentions being in Toronto and not New York, but was about his friend with ALS...Not a bad story, but it didn't fit within the anthology). I was most surprised by the negativity in so many of the stories. There was so much complaining. One of the stories was actually quite a bit racist, and the author made very clear his distaste for Americans. There were several standouts, though, that I found inspiring and enjoyable. A Day in Istanbul by Rick Steves, A Shaggy Dog Tale (again not so much about travel as about a shaggy dog, but I liked the story) by Ellis Kirwan, and Behind the Scenes: Filming Tomb Raiders by Nick Ray were particularly good and left me wishing their installments (particularly about the filming of Tomb Raider in Cambodia) were a bit longer.

Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 58
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive

This is the first in the supernatural steampunk The Infernal Devices series. I'd been looking at this book for several years thinking it looked good but never actually picking it up. And it was pretty good. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but it's also one of those that as a bit of time has gone by, I'm finding it's fading pretty quickly. I may go back at some point and finish the series, but I won't be in any hurry to do so.



Title: Midnight Rainbow
Author: Linda Howard
My Rating: ★★½
Number of Books Read: 59
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive

Ugh. So this is the kind of book that is why I don't read romance novels. I was looking for something with a particular setting, and this fit that, but that was the only thing enjoyable about it. The characters were flat and unbelievable, the plot was ridiculous, and the dialogue was inane. I like her descriptions of the setting, but the rest was just bad. Oh well. Always good to be reminded of why certain types of books stay off my radar.



Title: Black Dawn, Bitter Blood, and Fall of Night
Author: Rachel Caine
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 60, 61, and 62
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive

Books 12, 13, and 14 of the Morganville Vampires series. I started reading these books about six years ago. I'm currently reading the final book (15), and it's sort of bittersweet finishing a long series like this. So, overall, I really enjoyed these books for what they were, a fun little supernatural romp with some teen angst thrown in. The characters were at times annoying, and the main character turned out a bit too Mary Sue in my opinion, but I still found myself wanting to get back to Morganville when I was in between novels. I think I liked these books more for the side characters (usually the vampires, like Myrnin) than the main ones. I'm looking forward to seeing how she ties it all up in the end. Wonder what it says about me that I'm sort of rooting for Claire (the Mary Sue) to get bitten...

Title: Battle of the Labyrinth and The Last Olympian
Author: Rick Riordan
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 63 & 64
Own or Loan: Own

Books 4 and 5 of the Percy Jackson books. After rereading the entire series I feel like of the 5, book 3 is my favorite, but all of them are fun and enjoyable. I think the final two books get a bit darker but still manage to maintain the humor we saw in book one. All in all a great series.



Title: The Hypnotist's Love Story
Author: Liane Moriarty
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 65
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Overdrive

This was the second Moriarty book I've read, and while i didn't enjoy it as much as Big Little Lies, it was still pretty good in the end. The story revolves around a woman (a hypnotherapist) who becomes involved with a widower who comes with some baggage - namely a stalker. I have to admit, I wasn't particularly fond of the main two, Ellen or Patrick, and I actually found myself rooting a bit for the stalker. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say the ending was satisfying, and I finished the book sure that I'll be reading more of Ms. Moriarty's books.



Title: Daylighters
Author: Rachel Caine
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 66
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Overdrive

The finale to the Morganville Vampires series left me sort of disappointed. I guess everything was tied up well enough, I just feel like the last 4 or 5 books were somewhat of a letdown. As a whole, I enjoyed the series. I just think the author ran out of good material about book 11 or so.

Currently Reading:

Title: The Brass Verdict
Author: Michael Connelly
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 67
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Overdrive

This book is apparently an installment of several different series. As for me, I was reading it as book 2 in the Lincoln Lawyer series, but it included two other of Connelly's characters, Harry Bosch and Jake McEvoy. I've not read anything of those series, so I can't speak to how it fits within their storylines, but as an addition to the world of Mickey Haller, it was excellent. It follows the trial of a man who's been accused of murdering his wife and his wife's lover. Haller gets assigned the case when the original lawyer ends up murdered. With few exceptions, it was a pretty edge of your seat story. I really like Mickey Haller as a character. He's far from perfect, which is probably the biggest part of his appeal. If you like legal thrillers, these are loads of fun.



Title: Bookshots: French Kiss
Author: James Patterson
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 68
Own or Loan: Own

A few months back, my best friend came to visit, and she had bought this book at the airport. Since it was short, she was able to finish it on her flight, so she left it for me when she headed back home. It's not something I'd have paid money for, to be honest. I find James Patterson novels to be so hit or miss, I hesitate to buy them. I think this is a result of him using so many (SO MANY!) other authors to write his books, it's hard to know what you're going to get.

So, this book. Well, like all his bookshot books, it's short. Like 145 pages short. There's no room for character development. There's little time for plot development. I realize there are briefer things out there, short stories and novellas, but they tend to have a definitive point and a succinct way of getting to it. These bookshots just seems like someone didn't have enough of an idea to write a complete novel and just sort of muddled through. They may not all be that way, but the few I've read seem so. This one was ok. Story wise it was about a French detective who's made a name for himself in Paris for solving some big cases and is now on loan to the NYPD. When women around him start ending up dead, he heads back to France to seek answers. The premise seems pretty far-fetched (though I admit, I know squat about how international law enforcement agencies work). The characters are pretty basic (perhaps due to the brevity of the work?). It wasn't a bad read. And it's short enough that you don't feel like you've wasted tons of time on a mediocre story at least. But I wouldn't spend the $5 It cost for maybe an hour and a half of mediocrity. But that's me.



Title: Private Berlin
Author: James Patterson
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 69
Own or Loan: Own

Ok, another "James Patterson." I've read 5 or 6 of these Private books and enjoyed most of them. Down Under was disappointing, and I couldn't finish India (it was dreadful), but for the most part they're a nice easy and fun read. Berlin was really quite good. It focused a lot on Germany's recent history and the fall of the Berlin wall. I remember when that happened, but I was very young, and I don't know much of the history surrounding it. I feel like some things I was meant to know going into this novel that probably would have made the story easier to follow, but overall it was a good tale, if a bit dark and somber.



Title: Doctor Who: Winner Takes All
Author: Jacqueline Rayner
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 70
Own or Loan: Own

This Doctor Who installment features Nine and Rose. A bit homesick, Rose asks the Doctor if they can pop back home for a bit to check in with Jackie. When they arrive, they find that people are winning video games in which they set out to kill aliens. Of course, it all turns out to be a plot by some porcupine-like aliens, and the Doctor, Rose, and Mickey must work together to save the day.

The characterizations of Rose, Nine, Mickey, and Jackie were just about perfect. Rayner did an excellent job of getting the voices right, and I could really hear them in my head. The story was quite good (reminded me a bit of Ender's Game), though it got a bit slow towards the end. I feel like the first half was better than the second half, but all in all it was one of the better Doctor Who tie-ins that I've read. I'd recommend it. Especially if you enjoyed the Christopher Eccleston season.

Currently Reading:

Title: The Revisionists
Author: Thomas Mullen
My Rating: ★★★★½
Number of Books Read: 71
Own or Loan: Own

This was one of those books where the blurb on the back was really misleading. I went into it expecting a sci-fi tale of time travel. What I got instead was a sort of political / philosophical story. The thing is, it was less than what I was expecting, but it was also so much more in some ways. I devoured the last 200 pages in one sitting. I finished it 2 days ago, and I'm still going over it in my head. I don't know. Maybe it's a case of right time right book for me, but this one just spoke to me. I'd have given it 5 stars except for some ends that were a little looser than I'd have liked when all was said and done. Overall, though, I really enjoyed it and will be looking for more from Mr. Mullen.



Title: Doctor Who: Deep Time
Author: Trevor Baxendale
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 72
Own or Loan: Own

This is the third and final book in the Glamour Chronicles trilogy. To be honest, I didn't care for any of these books too much, but of the three, this was the best. It follows the Doctor (12) and Clara as they board a spaceship headed for a wormhole. I'm not a fan of Clara. I've enjoyed 12 more in this most recent season with Bill, but I struggled to get through the previous episodes with him. So, that probably is muddying my opinion of the book. Because the writing was really good, as in most of Baxendale's books. His depictions of the characters was pretty spot on, and the plot wasn't bad. So, if it'd had say 9 and Rose or 10 and Donna, or even 11 and Amy (Amy isn't a favorite for me either), I think I'd have quite enjoyed it. So, this series, if anything, was a lesson to me to stick with the books that don't feature Clara because I just can't seem to get past my (not very rational at all) dislike for her.



What Henry's Reading





Both of these have large colorful pictures and just enough words to hold a busy toddler's interest. We checked them out from the library, but I have a feeling I'll be buying them since I'm reading both about 427 times a day.

>129 virginiahomeschooler: Thank you for confirming that I should avoid the Clara books. Sigh. I wish I could erase her from all of 12's episodes :(

>130 rabbitprincess: I really don't know what it is about her that turns me off so much. It's actually made me dislike the actress to some extent, too. I mean, honestly, Jenna Coleman is adorable. And she's a fine actress. But I find myself really irritated with her characters. Of course, some of that is warranted - in Death Comes to Pemberley, she plays Lydia Wickham, who is pretty unbearable. Maybe she's just the sort of person who gets typecast to play annoying characters. I cannot figure out why I dislike Clara so much, but I agree the show would be better as a whole without her in it.

>131 virginiahomeschooler: I actually liked Clara better when she was a Zygon. As an evil character she was way more interesting. The rest of the time she was too bubbly and sparky for my liking. Contrast with Osgood, who was awesome and whom I loved on sight.

>132 rabbitprincess: I loved Osgood too. Both the human and her Zygon counterpart.

HALFWAY RECAP

Number of Books Read: 72
Number of Pages Read: 24,555
Number of Audiobooks: 1
Number of Categories Completed: 5
Number of Bingos: 2
Longest Book: The Wise Man's Fear - 1,000 pages
Shortest Book: Tender Wings of Desire - 96 pages

Best Book: Written in My Own Heart's Blood
Honorable Mention:
The Underground Railroad
The Revisionists
Big Little Lies
Dark Matter
Finders Keepers
The Girl with All the Gifts

Worst Book: Tender Wings of Desire
Dishonorable Mention:
Midnight Rainbow
Witch Is When It All Began

Looking back over the past six months, I'm pleased with how many of the 72 books I read that were really good. I only had a few duds. This may be due to the fact that lately I'm finding myself more willing to put down a book if I'm not feeling it. I'm also confident that I'll finish my challenge easily, since I'm (page-wise) 2/3 of the way there.

Happy Halfway Point!

>129 virginiahomeschooler: - I love the stories Thomas Mullen writes. I was so upset when I won a copy of The Revisionists through LibraryThing's ER program and the book never showed up. Glad to see the book was still a hit with you, even if it was slightly misrepresented. ;-)

>135 lkernagh: Lori, I won't be rereading it. I'd be happy to mail you my copy if you want to pm me with your address. It'll just sit on my bookshelf til I get round to donating it anyway. I'd love for it to go to someone who'd like to read it. :)

Title: Strawberry Shortcake Murder
Author: Joanne Fluke
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 73
Own or Loan: Own

I liked the story more in this one than the first, but I'm still not fond of Hannah. For just a fun and cozy mystery, though, they are pretty enjoyable.



Title: Aunt Dimity's Death
Author: Nancy Atherton
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 74
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Overdrive

I was expecting a murder mystery, which this wasn't. Instead it's more a sweet little story filled with a likeable cast of characters, an idyllic setting, and a bit of fantasy thrown in. I plan to read more from this series, though I do hope there's a bit more mystery in the later books.



Title: On What Grounds
Author: Cleo Coyle
My Rating: ★★★★
Narrator Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 75
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Overdrive

I spent a good bit of last week driving back and forth from VA to south Georgia (My mother had a stroke, and I went down to stay with her in the hospital - she's home and doing well now). I don't have much time to devote to audio books generally, but being alone in a car for over 25 hours, I was able to listen to a couple. This was the first one. Overall I found it enjoyable. Often I find that narrators either make or break a book for me (I attempted NOS4A2 this week, but after 5 hours I had to give up on the creepy narration. It fits the story, but the voice left me feeling a bit sick). This one, however, was a good fit for the story. Her voice was pleasant enough, and the pacing was good. I'd definitely get another from this series, either audio or on paper.



Title: Death of a Cozy Writer
Author: G.M. Malliett
My Rating: ★★★½
Narrator Rating: ★★★★★
Number of Books Read: 76
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Overdrive

This was another audio book, and while I didn't enjoy the story quite as much, the narrator was superb. The story was set in Great Britain, and the narrator sounded like a little old British granny. There's just something about a British accent that I love, and hers was perfect for this story. As for the story, it was just ok. The people in it were pretty awful, and by the end I really didn't care all that much who done it, but it was an ok way to pass about 10 hours. I'm not sure I'd seek this author out again, but if I ever find more from the narrator, I'd give it a listen.

As it may seem., I've gotten on sort of a cozy mystery kick lately. I'm somewhat new to the genre, but it's all I seem to be interested in lately. I'd love any recommendations for good ones.

>137 virginiahomeschooler: I have the next one (for me) of the Cleo Coyle series sitting near the couch, but I keep picking up something else instead. I saw it last night and said, "I need to get around to reading that one as soon as I finish all the ARCs." Whether I will do that or not remains to be seen.

>138 thornton37814: I have book 2 on audio checked out on Hoopla, but I'm thinking I may have to switch to the paperback since my listening time is so limited. I pretty much only listen to them on my evening walks, but it's so hot here that I'm only lasting about 30 minutes before I've given up. It'll take me a month to finish at that rate.

Title: Fatal Fixer-Upper
Author: Jennie Bentley
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 77
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the library

This was a really cute little cozy and a nice start to what I'm hoping will be a good series. I'd guessed who done it right from the jump, but it didn't lessen the enjoyment. The story was at times not very plausible, but it wasn't glaringly absurd. Character development was minimal, but that seems sort of par for the course with cozies. I like the idea behind the diy theme; I only wish the book had finished photos of the projects described. Overall, it was a nice, fun read. Looking forward to book two.



Title: Mars One
Author: Jonathan Maberry
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 78
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the library

I absolutely love the idea of interstellar colonization, and this book totally delivered. It's the story of a teenager who, along with his parents and 37 other individuals, has been selected to be one of the first people to live on Mars. There are several complications, not the least of which is some sort of religious group that is intent on stopping the mission, by any means necessary. It starts with quite a bit of teen angst about ending a relationship, and my one complaint about the book is that this bit went on far too long. Get to space already. But once we got to the science-y parts, I was hooked. I've never read anything by Maberry, but apparently he writes some YA zombie fiction that I am going to have to check out, because he's an excellent writer.

Currently Reading:

Title: Murder Is Binding
Author: Lorna Barrett
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 79
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the library



Title: Murder Buys a T-Shirt
Author: Christy Fifield
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 80
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the library



Title: Zoo 2
Author: James Patterson
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 81
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the library



Title: Cooking Up Murder
Author: Miranda Bliss
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 82
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the library



Title: The Husband
Author: Dean Koontz
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 83
Own or Loan: Own

>137 virginiahomeschooler: - I'd forgotten about the Aunt Dimity series. If you're wanting more mystery, I'm not sure these are for you. From what I remember they were light on mystery and more about the family. I stopped reading them at some point because they became just a little too light and cutesy for my taste. Maybe I read too many back to back?

>142 LittleTaiko: Hmm, well, I may wait a bit on any more of those. I liked the first one well enough, but I really was expecting someone to die (in a mysterious fashion). Sounds more like the Mitford books with maybe a smallish mystery but more about the town and the people than anything else. Thanks for the heads up.

Title: Bruno, Chief of Police
Author: Martin Walker
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 84
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Overdrive



Title: Spackled and Spooked
Author: Jennie Bentley
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 85
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Overdrive



Title: Death Al Dente
Author: Leslie Budewitz
My Rating: ★★½
Narrator Rating: ★
Number of Books Read: 86
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Hoopla

This was possibly the worst narration in an audiobook I've ever listened to. It sounded like text to speech. My kids said it was like listening to Siri read a novel. It was robotic and awful. The book may have not been that bad, but the reading was so bad I couldn't enjoy it. I didn't care who the killer was. I just wanted it to end. I ended up listening to most of it on 1.5 speed just to get through it. If you're gonna read this one, definitely avoid the audio version.

Currently Reading:

>140 virginiahomeschooler: Traci, if you like zombie fiction (like I do) then Jonathan Maberry's Benny Imura series is very good, in particular the first book of the series, Rot and Ruin. After than they got a little repetitive.

>145 DeltaQueen50: I do love a good zombie book. I'm going to look that one up as soon as I finish the stack I got from the library this week.

>144 virginiahomeschooler: I have the Al Dente book on loan from the library. Really hoping the print version is much better than the audio.

>147 LittleTaiko: I am sure the actual book was much better. I might have really enjoyed it, to be honest, but the narration was just so distracting from the story that it's impossible to know. I hope you do like it.

Title: Through the Grinder
Author: Cleo Coyle
My Rating: ★★★½
Narrator Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 87
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Hoopla



Title: Wicked Appetite
Author: Janet Evanovich
My Rating: ★★★½
Narrator Rating: ★★½
Number of Books Read: 88
Own or Loan: Own



Title: Murder Most Howl
Author: Leslie Budewitz
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 89
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Overdrive



Title: Murder Below Zero
Author: John Lawrence Reynolds
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 90
Own or Loan: Own



Title: Blueberry Muffin Murder
Author: Joanne Fluke
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 91
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Overdrive

Currently Reading:

Title: 2312
Author: Kim Stanley Robinson
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 92
Own or Loan: Own

This is as the first KSR book I've read, and so i had no expectations aside from maybe assuming it'd be similar to Neal Stephenson (not sure why I thought that other than he's one of the few hard science fiction writers I've read, and they both seem inclined to hugely fat tomes). I guess I liked this one well enough. At times I found it really enjoyable and fast paced, but there were also just as many pages I had to slog through. By the last 150 pages or so, I was skipping chapters labeled "list" or "excerpt" because, while it made sense somewhat by the end why he included these, I was pretty well done with anything that would unnecessarily drag it out any further. So, did I like it enough to read more from KSR? Well, I checked out New York 2140 from the library yesterday, so I suppose so. But I will be giving that one no more than 50 pages to grab my interest. If it drags, it's going back unfinished.



Title: All the Birds in the Sky
Author: Charlie Jane Anders
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 93
Own or Loan: Own (kindle)

Started and finished strong, but the middle was a slog to wade through. It's been less than 2 weeks since I finished it, and I can barely remember a thing about it. Maybe that says more about me than the book, but...



Title: Labyrinth Lost
Author: Zoraida Cordova
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 94
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the library

I'm looking at this one as a lesson to stop judging books by their covers. Well, ok, that's not going to happen, but I can only blame myself when I pick up something like this one with what I feel is very striking cover art only to be disappointed by the content. This was written for a teen audience, so I'm definitely not in the target demographic, but I still thought I'd like it. I was always kind of weirdly fond of Wizards of Waverly Place, and this sounded very similar. And in some ways it was. But it was really flat. The characters, the plot, all of it was just sort of blah. Except for the cover. I'm still loving that.



Title: Destiny of the Doctor: Night of the Whisperer and Destiny of the Doctor: The Time Machine
Author: Cavan Scott and Matt Fitton
My Rating: ★★★★ for both
Narrator Rating: ★★★★ for both
Number of Books Read: 95 and 96
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Hoopla

I really like these Destiny of the Doctor audio stories. I wish Hoopla had more of them. Of the two, I think I enjoyed the story in The Time Machine more, but both were great. The narration for both were really well done. I'm not a fan of Clara, but Jenna Coleman did an excellent job reading the story (she was an odd choice since Clara isn't actually in this one, but it worked). The narration for Whisperer was really good as well, with the exception of Captain Jack's part. Overall, they both were a fun, albeit brief, way to revisit old friends. Highly recommended for fans of 9 and 11.



Title: Tears of the Giraffe
Author: Alexander McCall Smith
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 97
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive

I know these books are really loved by lots of people, but I'm just not one of them. I don't know what it is, but I just don't feel anything for Mma Ramotswe. This was the second in the series, and I did enjoy it a bit more than the first (I liked that it was a more cohesive story than the first), but I think it'll be my last attempt with this series.



Title: The Boy on the Bridge
Author: M.R. Carrey
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 98
Own or Loan: Borrowed from The Library

I loved The Girl with All the Gifts. Boy is set in the same world, though for the most part the characters don't intersect. I definitely liked Girl more, but Boy was good too, and the ending was very satisfying.

Currently Reading:



I'd started reading It, but I just don't think it's gonna happen. I'm too much of a chicken.

Title: CSI: Serial and CSI: Bad Rap
Author: Max Allan Collins
My Rating: ★★★★ and ★★★
Number of Books Read: 99 and 100
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Hoopla

Graphic novels based on the earlier seasons of the tv show CSI. The artwork is pretty good, and the dialogue follows the way you'd expect from watching the show...corny one liners included. Serial's plot was much stronger than Bad Rap (which I didn't much care for). These were the first and third of the series, and the only ones Hoopla had. I'd consider reading more if I could find them to borrow.



Title: The Librarians and the Lost Lamp
Author: Greg Cox
My Rating: ★★★★½
Number of Books Read: 101
Own or Loan: Own

I love the show this book is based on (and the movies that preceded the show). The book alternates between 2006, following Flynn, the librarian introduced in the films, and 2016, following the librarians we meet in the show. Both timelines revolve around the hunt for Aladdin's lamp and keeping it out of the hands of the Serpent Brotherhood (The villainous group from both the movies and the show). The story is great, though I found myself enjoying Flynn's adventure a bit more than the present day librarians. The characterizations and dialogue were spot on. Definitely worth a read if you like the show or the movies.



Title: The 100
Author: Kass Morgan
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 102 (really missed a good opportunity...should have read this 2 books earlier)
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the Library

Hmm, logging these here makes it look like all I read is tv tie-in stuff. Ok, well, this was a show my family and I had watched maybe 5 or 6 episodes of when it first appeared on Netflix. None of us were particularly enamoured with it, so we've never gone back to watch more. But I saw that these books were the basis for the show, not the other way round, and I figured it'd be worth a try. I liked the idea for the show after all. I just felt the execution was lacking. The book, first in a trilogy aimed at a teen audience, was entertaining. The characters are pretty typical for current YA novels. It was a fast and easy read, if not particularly thought provoking or original. I'd consider reading the other two books if I was waiting for a library hold to come through, and just needed something quick and fluffy to get me through the wait.



Title: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
Author: Neil deGrasse Tyson
My Rating: ★★★★
Narrator Rating: ★★★★★
Number of Books Read: 103
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Hoopla

I think I made a mistake listening to this rather than reading it myself. Or at least getting the book and reading along. It was so easy to get distracted, and it's the sort of thing that if you miss a word here or there, it makes a big difference. That said, the narration was so great that I feel I would have missed something if I'd just read it myself. Neil has such passion for his field. It's infectious. Even when I had no clue what he was talking about, it was exciting nonetheless. It's a great overview of the subject and brief enough so you don't feel bogged down with loads of overly technical information (though I did feel sort of dumb from time to time). I think I enjoyed the final chapter most of all, which was less about the science of the universe and more about his take on our world and how we, as humans, interact with and affect it.

Currently Reading
I'm still reading the dodo book. It's really fun, but I'm having a hard time getting through it for some reason. Going on 5 days, and I'm only about 200 (of over 700) pages in. I'm also listening to Louise Penny's Still Life, which is terrific so far.

I'm excited to see that you're reading The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.! It's caught my eye at the bookstore several times, but I haven't quite gotten up the courage to purchase it yet. Will be interested to see your review!

>152 christina_reads:, I'm still 300 pages short of finishing Dodo, and I like it, but I'm finding it difficult to get through. It's not super technical jargon difficult, but it's all told in letters, memos, journal entries, dossiers, etc. It doesn't flow in the same way a novel generally does. But I am enjoying it. It's just taking me much longer than I feel most other novels of the same length would take.

>153 virginiahomeschooler:, thanks! :)

Title: The Librarians and the Mother Goose Chase
Author: Greg Cox
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 104
Own or Loan: Borrowed from library

The second in The Librarians series that follows the television show of the same name. This one was not as good as the first. It was slow, and I found myself just wanting to be done with it. While the first book alternated chapters of Flynn (The original Librarian) and the new Librarians, Flynn was absent in this one til the very end. It just all fell flat for me. I'd possibly pick up the third one (which comes out in a month or two, I believe), but I won't go out of my way for it.



Title: The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O
Author: Neal Stephenson
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 105
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the library

"When Melisande Stokes, an expert in linguistics and languages, accidently meets military intelligence operator Tristan Lyons in a hallway at Harvard University, it is the beginning of a chain of events that will alter their lives and human history itself. The young man from a shadowy government entity approaches Mel, a low-level faculty member, with an incredible offer. The only condition: she must sign a nondisclosure agreement in return for the rather large sum of money.

Tristan needs Mel to translate some very old documents, which, if authentic, are earth-shattering. They prove that magic actually existed and was practiced for centuries. But the arrival of the scientific revolution and the Age of Enlightenment weakened its power and endangered its practitioners. Magic stopped working altogether in 1851, at the time of the Great Exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace—the world’s fair celebrating the rise of industrial technology and commerce. Something about the modern world "jams" the "frequencies" used by magic, and it’s up to Tristan to find out why.

And so the Department of Diachronic Operations—D.O.D.O. —gets cracking on its real mission: to develop a device that can bring magic back, and send Diachronic Operatives back in time to keep it alive . . . and meddle with a little history at the same time. But while Tristan and his expanding operation master the science and build the technology, they overlook the mercurial—and treacherous—nature of the human heart."

I started out with high hopes for this one. Everything about it made me think I'd love it, and for the first half I really did. I enjoyed the way it was told with letters and journal entries and memos, etc. I loved the characters and the time travel and the descriptive way the settings unfolded. But around the middle, it started to drag a bit. Stephenson tends toward chunky books, so the size of this one wasn't surprising, but I felt it could have been reduced by a couple hundred pages and not lost anything. That said, I still really enjoyed it, and I'd recommend it. I would, however, recommend it on an reader if possible, cause it's freakin heavy.



Title: Still Life
Author: Louise Penny
My Rating: ★★★★
Narrator Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 106
Own or Loan: Borrowed on Hoopla

This is the first book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series, set in a rural village in Quebec. As much as I enjoyed the narration of this one, I think I'd have gotten more out of this one had I read it myself. It was good, but u had a bit of trouble following some of the characters. I like Gamache, though, and I'd definitely like to read more from the series.

Title: Havana Storm
Author: Clive Cussler
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 107
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive

Same old thing from Cussler in this Dirk Pitt story (his 23rd). Lots of action, explosions, kidnappings, etc. Mindless fun.



Title: The Last One
Author: Alexandra Oliva
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 108
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive

I really enjoyed this take on a sort of survival reality show meets pandemic. Someone described it as Survived/The Walking Dead, and though I'm not much of a reality show fan, I was hooked by that premise (there are no actual zombies in this, so I think it's more Survivor/Outbreak, but still). It worked really well, too. I can't say much more without giving too much away, but I'd recommend this one. Especially if you're into disaster type scenarios and survival stories.



Title: Coyote Kiss
Author: Christa Faust
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 109
Own or Loan: Own

This Supernatural tie-in started out strong. I was beginning to think it might be my favorite of the series so far, but something happened about a third of the way into it, and I really struggled to finish it. I don't know what the issue was, but it was just not great. Maybe it was because this one took place during the period of time when Sam was missing his soul. I just felt something was missing from the last 2/3rds of the book.



Title: Outlander
Author: Diana Gabaldon
My Rating: ★★★★★
Number of Books Read: 110
Own or Loan: Own

Love this series! Love love love it. This is my 3rd time reading Outlander, and I feel like I love it even more with every read. There is just something about this story that speaks to me. I don't generally care for love stories, but this story...I dont even know. It makes me happy.

So, I finished my categories a few weeks ago, and I'm sort of floundering. I want to read...something, but I'm finding everything I pick up to be uninspiring. I'm rereading Dragonfly in Amber, but I can't read that in bed (I have the paperback and it's too heavy and unwieldy, and my kindle lights up for night-time reading ). I've started half a dozen things on kindle and ended up leaving all of them unfinished. I even found out there was a Walking Dead book out that I hadn't read, and even that has sat unread. I think I need more structure like what my challenge gives me, and when it's over I lose focus. But at least I have Jamie and Claire for my daytime reading. Oh, and I've spent some downtime on crafty stuff.

>156 DeltaQueen50: I was going to tell you that I have taken a BB for The Last ONe but when I checked my wishlist , I see it's already listed. Not too surprising since I love survival books!

>156 DeltaQueen50: Beautiful Outlander cross-stitch!

>157 christina_reads: I hope you like it.

>158 virginiahomeschooler: Thanks. It was tons of fun.

I saw an article today that said Tom Hanks is set to star in a remake of A Man Called Ove. I'm so excited! I love Tom, and I adored Ove. I haven't seen the original movie yet, but it's on my list.
The Variety Article

I'll take book bullets for The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. and The Last One. I kinda like tomes and definitely enjoy pandemic books.

ETA - I read Outlander for the first time in 2009 and have two more to read - need to get back to this series! At first I didn't make the connection re: your cross-stitch, it's lovely, very creative.

>160 virginiahomeschooler: The last two Outlander books were the best two, in my opinion. In fact, I think the last book (last that's out so far) might be the best book I've read. I remember crying when it was over and closing it and thinking it was just perfection. I hope you enjoy The Last One and D.O.D.O. Both are worth a read.

Title: The Medical Examiner
Author: James Patterson
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 111
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the Library

This is one of Patterson's Bookshots, a very short novel. The Medical Examiner ties into his Women's Murder Club series. I prefer longer books - this one finished at 125 pages, but it was a good, albeit short, story. There's no character or plot development with the main characters of the series, so it isn't necessary reading to follow the series, but I'd still recommend it for fans of the Women's Murder Club (especially Claire and Cindy).



Title: Mr. Monk Helps Himself
Author: Hy Conrad
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 112
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive

I really enjoyed the Monk series on television. And Lee Goldberg's novels about Monk were a great addition to the franchise. When Goldberg decided to stop writing the books, Hy Conrad stepped in. This was the second of his Monk books I've read, and while it was better than the other one (Mr. Monk Gets on Board), it wasn't great. Story-wise, I have no complaints. The plot was actually pretty good. And I don't have issues with his depictions of most of the characters, like Stottlemeyer and Natalie. My issue is his personification of Monk. For one, I feel that he isn't consistent with Monk's OCD. Mostly, though, I feel like his Monk is mean. Monk, the tv Monk and Goldberg's Monk as well, was thoughtless, rude, and annoying. But I never got the impression that he was cruel or intentionally mean. But that's the image I get from Conrad's Monk. Maybe it's just that it's hard to read tone. Perhaps if Tony Shaloub was acting out the dialogue, Monk would be a more sympathetic character, but I don't think so. I think Conrad is just getting something wrong. It just feels off.

My son won this bag from the Talk Like a Pirate Day event they had on here a few weeks ago, and he gave it to me. :)



It's fantastic. So well made and heavy duty enough to carry a million books. Well, maybe not a million, but at least a dozen or so.

That’s a great bag. Kudos to your son for solving all those riddles - they were quite challenging.

>164 virginiahomeschooler:, I had texted him asking for help in solving them. I think I figured out 2. He figured out the rest. I love puzzles, but my brain just wasn't up to the task.

Title: Humans, Bow Down
Author: James Patterson
My Rating: ★★
Number of Books Read: 113
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the Library

I think someone needs to tell James Patterson that it's ok to leave a genre or two to other writers. While he may be good at the fast paced, heavy on dialogue thriller, some things just aren't his forte. Whatever this was trying to be is a prime example. It reads really quickly, but that's about the only thing going for it. I guess at some point I am just going to have to give up on old James.



Title: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend
Author: Katrina Bivald
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 114
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the Library

This was a sweet little story about Sara, a young woman from Sweden, who journeys to Iowa to spend a few months with an older woman, Amy, whom she's befriended over their mutual love of books. However, when she gets to Broken Wheel, the sad little town where Amy was from, she finds out that Amy has died. I love books about books. This one was no exception. I do sort of wish it was told in the opposite way, though. I'd much prefer to read about a young Iowan setting off for Sweden. Probably because I've seen my share of middle of nowhere American towns (and lived in a few). So, that's just me. Still, it was a nice, heartwarming read.



Title: The Chemist
Author: Stephanie Meyer
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 115
Own or Loan: Own

I bought this book, and started it, on the day it was released. That was almost a year ago. Honestly, it's not a bad book. But it's one of those that I just kept putting down, and I didn't really care enough about it to pick it back up. If I'd not paid for it, I don't think I'd have ever finished it. I do think it was more a matter of not being in the proper frame of mind at the times I tried to read it more than that the story wasn't good enough. That said, if it had been fabulous, I doubt I'd have set it down so many times.

Title: Rain of Terror
Author: Mike Tucker
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 116
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the Library

This is one of the shorter (around 150 pages) novels featuring the 11th Doctor and the Ponds. The voices of those three were pretty well done, but there wasn't a lot of substance to the story. It was an ok brief installment.



Title: A Certain Doom
Author: Robert Kirkman
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 117
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Hoopla

Not as good as the past few volumes. But, that could be because I'd inadvertently stumbled upon a huge spoiler a month or so ago which kind of ruined something rather huge in the story line. I suppose that's one of the risks of not reading the comics on the day of release. It was still good, just not as great as previous ones.



Title: Warcross
Author: Marie Lu
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 118
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the Library

I was really enjoying this one up until the end. Part of that is because I felt like this could have been a great stand alone, and yet you get to the end and realize it's the first in a series. But, I think the bigger thing was that she did something with the story I wasn't really anticipating. Usually that's a good thing, I suppose, but this time I wish she had gone the direction I thought she was going. Still, it was a lot of fun, especially if you've ever played Warcraft or something similar.



Title: The Story of Martha
Author: Dan Abnett
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 119
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the Library

This follows Martha in the year she was traveling the earth telling people about the Doctor while Harold Saxon (The Master) wreaked havoc. It shows some of what she went through, but it's mostly used as a vehicle for several short stories featuring the 10th Doctor and Martha. All of the stories were pretty good, with maybe the exception of the last one which I didn't care for. Overall, this one was actually better than I'd been expecting.



Title: Lemon Meringue Pie Murder
Author: Joanne Fluke
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 120
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive

I like these Hannnah Swenson books. The stories are always enjoyable, and the writing is decent. The recipes sound like they would be good as well, but being that I can't have sugar, I will just have to assume that. The thing that bothers me about these is Hannah. She's exceedingly annoying. I think she's actually getting more annoying as the series progresses. First there's the whole love triangle, which is just ridiculous. But what I find even more irritating is Hannah's constant need to correct everyone's grammar. I can't imagine anyone wanting to spend more than 5 minutes with her. So, I read these for the mysteries, and I just sort of accept that Hannah will get on my nerves. One last thing. I'd have given this one 4 stars but for Mrs. Fluke's somewhat backwards view of people with disabilities. Repeated use of certain words to describe someone with mental challenges just left me shaking my head. And it's usually Hannah using those derogatory terms, which only increases my dislike of her. So, I'll continue with the series, but I'll find myself secretly hoping that maybe Hannah will either get her act together or choke on a chocolate crunch cookie.

>155 virginiahomeschooler: I hear what you're saying about Stephenson's chunky books! I'm currently reading Quicksilver on an e-reader and that does help. I will get around to The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. eventually. I do like Stephenson a lot, though I agree that it can be a slog getting through parts of his books.

>163 LittleTaiko: What a great bag!

Happy Halloween from Dr. Meredith Grey, Mickey Mouse, and me

Title: Origin
Author: Dan Brown
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 121
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Library

The latest Robert Langdon was not terrible but nothing special either. I had figured out the ending from pretty much the very beginning. The writing was ok, but there just didn't seem to be much in the way of plot, and there definitely weren't the clever clues and puzzles that made Angels and Demons and The da Vinci Code so good. It will likely make a decent movie if Tom Hanks continues the role, but I am thinking I may be done with these books. The last 3 have just not been of the same calibre of Brown's earlier work.



Title: Iced Chiffon
Author: Duffy Brown
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 122
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive

Somewhat typical cozy mystery revolving around a woman whose ex husband has been accused of murdering his current fiance. Because she's concerned she may lose her home over his legal fees (this seems really implausible to me), she opens up a consignment shop in her home selling her old clothes (that seem to go on forever) and starts investigating to keep from having to pay the lawyer to investigate. Aside from the rather ridiculous premise, though arguably not more ridiculous than most cozies, the book wasn't bad. I'd figured the who done it out pretty early on. But again that's fairly normal for cozies as they tend to follow a certain formula. Better than some others I've read, but it's probably not a series I'll continue.



Title: Murder Con Carne
Author: Holly Plum
My Rating: ★½
Number of Books Read: 123
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Kindle Prime

Some people just aren't meant to be writers. I feel like Ms. Plum is one of those people. I'll give her credit for decent grammar and spelling (or having a good editor), but the story for this cozy was just all over the place and completely lacking in substance and sense. It's a pretty short novel, but even short stories have better depth and cohesion than this mess. A cozy set around a Mexican restaurant might be an original idea, but that's where any creativity ended. There was no character development. Nothing really made sense and then the who done it part just sort of came out of nowhere. It was a complete waste of time. Fortunately it was short, so it was only a waste of about an hour and a half. My recommendation is to skip this author. Lots of other, much Better, cozies out there.

>169 virginiahomeschooler: Love the Halloween photo!

I hope you, Dr. Grey and Mickey had a great Halloween!

>171 DeltaQueen50: & >172 virginiahomeschooler: Thanks. We had a great time. Though Henry (Mickey) wanted to go inside all of the houses we went to and visit the dogs who lived there.



Title: Assault and Pepper
Author: Leslie Budewitz
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 124
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive

This is the first book in a promising series of Spice Shop mysteries. The style reminded me a lot of Cleo Coyle's Coffe House mysteries. The writing was good and very descriptive, with lots of great glimpses of the Seattle setting. The plot was well thought out, and the characters were defined enough for a cozy. But, something was just off, and I can't put my finger on it. Everything lined up to make this a really enjoyable read, but I found myself just wanting to be done with it. I'll give the series another go, and hopefully the next one will work out better. Because there's no real reason this one shouldn't have. I'm putting it down to mood.



Title: Plaster and Poison
Author: Jennie Bentley
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 125
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the Library

This is the 3rd book in the Do-it-yourself mystery series. It was Ok, but I enjoyed the first two much more. I do have a complaint about these books. I am of the opinion that a cozy mystery should not require a romantic side plot. I think the can stand just fine with the main storyline and no love interest for the heroine. That said, if you are going to have a love story side plot, then make it believable. The romantic part of these books makes zero sense. There is no feeling or sweet banter or anything between the two characters that makes you believe they care for each other. We're just told they are in a relationship, and asked to just buy into it. And I don't. I wish the author would have just skipped this part of the story or read a few Nora Roberts novels before writing (not talking about the sex stuff here, just the way the characters talk to each other...like they are more than random acquaintances). Anyway, I like the mysteries, and some of the do-it-yourself projects are kind of neat.



Title: Blue Christmas
Author: Mary Kay Andrews
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 126
Own or Loan: Own

This was apparently a small Christmas addition to a series of novels set in Savannah, Georgia. I think I'd have enjoyed it much more if I'd read the other books from the series. I found the writing to be fine, the story to be cute if short, and the descriptions of Savannah to be completely missing (maybe she goes into more detail in the other books). All in all, it was Ok but one I would skip if you hadn't read the other books from the series.

Currently Reading

Stopping by to get caught up. Great review for the Stephenson book! I seem to collect rather than read his books - I know, crazy! - so I was rather happy to see the Stephenson group read planned for next year. I may actually get around to reading one of his books after all! ;-)

YAY for crafty stuff! Your cross stitch is lovely!

>163 LittleTaiko: - That is a lovely bag!

>169 virginiahomeschooler: - Such a sweet picture!

Swinging by to catch up. I've read a couple of Stephenson's books, Reamde the latest. I will definitely keep my out for TRaFoDODO.

Title: Quiche of Death
Author: M.C. Beaton
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 127
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Hoopla



Title: Dragon Teeth
Author: Michael Crighton
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 128
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the Library



Title: Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas
Author: Stephanie Barron
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 129
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the Library



Title: The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye
Author: David Lagercrantz
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 130
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the Overdrive



Title: Brides for Brothers
Author: Debbie Macomber
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 131
Own or Loan: Own



Title: The Marriage Risk
Author: Debbie Macomber
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 132
Own or Loan: Own



Title: Deviant Strain
Author: Justin Rochards
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 133
Own or Loan: Own



Title: Pies and Prejudice
Author: Ellery Adams
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 134
Own or Loan: Own

Did you hear about the Big Finish "99 titles for 99p" sale? It has a lot of the titles that were in the Doctor Who / Torchwood Humble Bundle, but there are a few other stories you may be interested in (and a couple of free downloads to boot): https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/99-titles-for-99p

>177 virginiahomeschooler: No I didn't know about them! That's awesome. Thanks so much for the heads up. I just put 5 in my shopping basket. Considering a few other ones. :)

>178 rabbitprincess: Glad to share the news! I ended up buying 21 of them :D (well, 2 were free, so really I bought "only" 19).

>179 virginiahomeschooler: I decided on 11 of them, mostly the Unit ones. Yay! Thanks again.

>179 virginiahomeschooler: Excellent! I bought the UNIT Series 1 set, Dalek Empire III and IV, and Cyberman Series 1, and the two freebies (a UNIT story and what seems to be a behind-the-scenes about the making of The Sirens of Time). Oh yes and The Davros Mission, which seems to be linked to the I, Davros set.

Title: A Little Yuletide Murder
Author: Donald Dain
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 135
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive



Title: Fudge Cupcake Murder
Author: Joanne Fluke
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 136
Own or Loan: Own

I had been thinking (about a month ago) that I might hit 150 books this year, but I'm currently reading The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings, and it's really good but slow to get through, so I'm going to be lucky to hit 140. I'm fine with that, though. I'm more about quality than quantity. And J.R.R. Tolkien is a fine way to finish the year.

Title: A Vicarage Christmas
Author: Kate Hewitt
My Rating: ★★★
Number of Books Read: 137
Own or Loan: Own



Title: The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 138
Own or Loan: Own

Currently Re-reading:

>182 virginiahomeschooler: I managed to get to 125 today. I'll probably make it at least to 130 and possibly one or two more.

>176 rabbitprincess: - Oh, I see you have read the latest in "The Girl Who" series. How does Lagercrantz's writing hold up against Larsson's books? I rather enjoyed a back-to-back read of the three Larsson books but got a little pensive when I saw the Lagercrantz book was to come out.

>185 virginiahomeschooler: Lagercrantz is a good writer. The Girl in the Spider's Web was really good, though not as good as Larsson's works, in my opinion. I don't think Eye for and Eye was quite as good as Spider. The writing is good, and the story is good, but there wasn't enough Lisbeth and Mikael for me. The story sort of took off on its own with other characters, and like I said it was a pretty good story, but what I love about this series is those characters, specifically their interactions. That felt lacking in this latest one. I still feel that the Lagercrantz books are worth reading, though, and I hope he writes more.

>186 lkernagh: - Sounds good enough for me to consider reading The Girl in the Spider's Web for the January MysteryCAT - Nordic crime. Thanks for the explanation!

>187 virginiahomeschooler: I hope you like it!

After a long time deliberating on whether to continue with Lizbeth's story, I found a brand-new, looking like it had never been opened, copy at the library book sale. Kismet! I have just started reading it. I'm keeping track of the number of times the word "coffee" is used for a lark.

Hi Traci, stopping by to wish you and your loved ones peace, joy and happiness this holiday season and for 2018!

>189 lkernagh: ha ha! I didn't notice an overabundance of coffee talk. But then I am a coffee addict, so if you spent a day with me you'd probably be counting the number of times I say it too. Coffee!!

>190 virginiahomeschooler: what a sweet picture. I hope you had a wonderful holiday.

Title: Double Cross
Author: James Patterson
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 139
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Overdrive

Title: Plague Land
Author: Alex Scarrow
My Rating: ★★★½
Number of Books Read: 140
Own or Loan: Borrowed from Hoopla



Title: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares
Author: Rachel Cohn
My Rating: ★★★★
Number of Books Read: 141
Own or Loan: Borrowed from the Library

Books I Got for Christmas:
Hardcore Twenty-Four
Shroud of Sorrow
The Dalek Generation
Pecan Pies and Homicides
Peach Pies and Alibis