Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic 50 Book Challenge 2008

Jojo started this thread last year and I deeply regret that I lost track halfway through and stopped counting.

So I thought it might be fun to repeat the process this year and this time I will keep track!

So far this year, I've read:

1. Sara Douglass:
The Nameless Day
The Wounded Hawk
[I love this trilogy which mixes real medieval history with the author's fantasy and am eagerly waiting for book 3 to arrive. I'm also going to check out her other books, too.]

2. Tess Gerritsen
Body Double
[I was given this for my birthday. An author I'd never heard of, but which I really loved. A great thriller, full of twists and turns. I've got the rest of her books on my wish list now. ]

3. Michael Connelly
Void Moon
[I had been expecting this to be another Harry Bosch book, but it was about a female heroine and I found it really refreshing. Kept me on the edge of my seat.]

4. Lost Light
[This one was Harry Bosch - I went through a phase of reading a lot of these in a short period of time and although I enjoyed them, I got fed up and haven't read any for a while, till now. It was nice to catch up with Harry again.]

5. Robert Goddard
Never Go Back
[I discovered RG in a charity shop and have picked up several of his books since. I love how no two are the same and he covers all kinds of situations/periods/characters. His books are always fresh and a surprise. I have to say though that this one wasn't one of my favourites. Still an enjoyable read, though.]

6. Jeffrey Deaver
The Cold Moon
[Another one I was given for my birthday. I've never been a huge fan of the Lincoln Rhyme books and characters, but this one introduced a fascinating new female character called Kathryn Dance. It looks as though his next, yet to be published novel deals with her exclusively and I'm looking forward to reading that one, now, as I really enjoyed the book because of her.]

7. John Farris
Fiends
[I picked this one up in my charity shop. It was an enjoyable, quirky and original horror novel.]

8. Phillip Pullman
Northern Lights
[Yup, finally got around to reading this one. I actually enjoyed it, after convincing myself that I wouldn't. I thought it had an old-fashioned style to it that greatly reminded me of favourite childhood authors like Alan Garner. It didn't hook me and I wasn't terribly keen to read on, but it was a good story that I enjoyed reading.]

That's been it, so far. I'm in the middle of book two of His Dark Materials, The Subtle Knife. So far, it's not engaging me as well as NL, but it's not bad.

So...what's on your list?

LabRat

Well, yesterday I finished the last half of Plot by Ansen Dibell. Then, around 10pm or so, I started Wild Seed by Olivia E. Butler.

Around 1:30 this morning or so, I tried to go to sleep. I was half-way through the book already, and I knew that later today I'm going to be going to my grandmother's house--it's her 76th birthday.

But sleep was not in the cards for me, it seems--I just couldn't get comfortable, and my mind was too awake. So, I picked up the book again and finished it about 20 minutes ago. It's almost 6:30am now.

Next, I'm going to read The Chimes of Resdorn by DonnaLee Wheeler, who happens to be my other grandmother. I've been promising her that I'd read it for months now, but I was stuck in the middle of that other book, and I wanted to read Wild Seed before anything else, because of the snippets I'd read in Orson Scott Card's book on writing sci-fi and fantasy--he made it sound so utterly intriguing that I could not resist!

After my grandma's book, I have a few other books that a lady from church gave to me since she and I share a love for sci-fi/fantasy and she doesn't have as much time (nor, I suspect, as good eye sight) as she used to for reading.

Lab, JD's first Kathryn Dance novel is called The Sleeping Doll and it came out last year. Haven't read it - I like Lincoln Rhyme and co, so I tend to limit myself to those of his books, although did enjoy The Cold Moon, so maybe I'll give it a try.

So far this year I've read about 1 chapter of Rhett Butler's People, which I have owned for approximately 2&1/2 months. Don't think I'll be making 50 this year!

I started up a list last year, but halfway through the year I stopped updating it, so I have no idea how many books I'd read. I got myself a library card last week after not having one for almost 10 years, and I'm abusing it already. There were a few books I wanted to read but I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy, and the library is the perfect solution! Unfortunately, as one of those is the His Dark Materials trilogy, I have to get on a waiting list for the books. Bah.

So far this year, I have:

Shadow Dance - Julie Garwood
Air Apparent - Piers Anthony (the latest Xanth novel)
Someone to Love - Jude Deveraux
Confessor - Terry Goodkind (The final book in the Sword of Truth series)
Temptation - Jude Deveraux
A Summer to Remember - Mary Balogh
Quinn's Woman - Susan Mallery

I think I'll be starting Northern Lights sometime today.

Really? When I tagged it on Amazon the entry said pre-order. Maybe that was the paperback. I'll go check it again. Thanks.

ETA: Yeah, that's the paperback. Published on June 2008. Strangely, the only availability on the hardback is secondhand, which is odd for a book only published in June last year.

Ah well - can't afford to be buying anything at the moment anyway, so I can probably wait for the paperback to come out.


LabRat

Well then, I guess it's lucky for me that I bought the whole trilogy a few years ago. I liked the series as a whole, though there were parts that just made me shiver. I can't believe they're treating it as a children's series in the movie--even though the main characters are children, I don't think the books are really written for that age group.

Maybe I'll re-read them once the co-worker I've been lending them to is finished with book three. . . . After I've read my grandma's book, and the three that I've gotten from the lady at church first, of course.

Gotta make sure my "to be read" list doesn't fall into chaos, after all.

Well, it's not exactly a children's novel, but it is listed as Young Adult. The PG-13 rating is equivalent, but yeah, the trailers were geared more towards young kids.

From the last thread:

No I read this book through the White Dragon when I was in High school. I also read the bard versions of the events. My library only had random ones of the series after that and I never finished. I want to try to read more of them this year.

My list for this year so far:

1. Kiss of Midnight (The Midnight Breed, Book 1) by Lara Adrian
2. It Happened One Autumn (Wallflower Quartet, Bk. 2) by Lisa Kleypas
3. Devil in Winter (Wallflower Quartet, Bk. 3) by Lisa Kleypas
4. Scandal in Spring (Wallflower Quartet, Bk. 4) by Lisa Kleypas
5. Someone to Watch over Me by Lisa Kleypas
6. Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black
7. Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie by Holly Black
8. Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale by Holly Black

I really enjoyed the books by Holly Black. I hope she continues to write this series. ^__^

Currently I am reading: Beauty by Robin McKinley since I have gotten into the retelling of fairy tails. Anyone know of any other good ones along that vein?

Also Labrat: as for the Dark Materials books... I too made it through the first book and thought it was an okay story. The second book I was okay with until about halfway through and then not only did I struggle with the writing style but at the end of the book I decided not to read the last one because the plot line was just to nonsensical to me. Let me know if you finish the third one though. I'd like your opinion of it as I made just give it another go.

I absolutely love that book and how it mixes up the fairy tale. I haven't read any others by the author, but have heard that they're also good as well.

alcyone

Currently Reading : The Wicked Ways of a Duke by Laura Lee Guhrke

and loving it so far.

Funnily enough, it's been exactly the opposite for me. TSK didn't really spark for me until about two thirds in and then I really quite enjoyed it. I'm not even sure why it wasn't catching my interest up till then because in many ways I think it's a much more interesting story than NL. But finished it now and it wasn't half bad. I wouldn't mind reading book three, but I'm not desperate to, if you know what I mean. I will get around to it at some point though. Probably before the end of the year.

So...adding in...

9. Phillip Pullman
The Subtle Knife

LabRat

I might know of some, but I'd have to think about it a while first. Something almost like a fairytale re-telling though: Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip. It's really interesting, though I can't really remember a fairytale that it might be a re-telling of, for some reason, "Snow White" keeps popping in my head. Either that, or there's this one fairytale with an ice queen in an ice palace or something (can't remember the name of it, but I'm pretty sure it's either a Brothers Grimm or a Hans Christian Anderson tale) that the book is closer to.

I've not read Beauty, so I'm not sure what genre it would come into. But a marvellous retelling of the Snow Queen is done in Joan D. Vinge's SF/Fantasy novel of the same name. It's always been one of my favourites.

And, if you enjoy it, there are at least two sequels - World's End and The Summer Queen.

LabRat

From the description, it sounds like Snow White and Rose Red, which is nothing like the Snow White story itself. Snow White and Rose Red are two sisters who befriend a bear, who is not what he seems. I'm going to have to get my book of fairy tales out some time to reread that story.

Edit: Oh, never mind, here's the story of Snow White and Rose Red .

Hmmm . . . Nope, Winter Rose isn't a re-telling of "Snow-White and Rose-Red." There are a couple of similarities though--like the two sisters, one who prefers to stay home, and the other who likes to be outside in the forest.

There are also similarities to "The Snow Queen," I think, but I can't really name them.

Whether or not it's a re-telling of a classic fairytale, I'd still recommend Winter Rose, just for the imagery (great discription in that book, there is) and for McKillip's rather neat writing style. Not to mention, the story itself is an intriguing fantasy/mystery.

Wow. Here I thought that I was on track with my book-per-week plan, and you're all way ahead. <g> Anyway, here's my list for this year so far:

Phillip Pullman - The Ruby in the Smoke. Phillip Pullman, is, I swear, my new favourite author. This book was just fantastic and regrettably short. I've been trying to get my hands on the sequels, but so far, I probably haven't looked hard enough.

Phillip Pullman - The Golden Compass. Of course... seems everyone is reading it now. <g> This started out with my not really getting why there was a huge fuss about the release of the movie, and my friend informing me that it's a rather popular book. <g> I'd heard of His Dark Materials, but I didn't know the separate titles. So I picked it up at a used bookstore... and loved it more than words can say. Best book I've read in years. (And I'm a little miffed that the movie made so many changes - put me off wanting to go see it.)

Meg Cabot - Big Boned. This was meant as a light buffer before picking up The Subtle Knife. It's the 3rd in a series of mysteries, and one aimed at adults rather than Meg's usual YA. Cute.

And now gleefully reading the Subtle Knife.

Julie

Julie: oh!!! Big Boned is out??? I loved her others from that series so I'm going to have to run out and get that one.

Yup! It's been out for a little while already. Long enough that I found it in a used book store, too! I was so shocked to see it there (but very happy <g>).

Julie

How is everyone doing on their books?

I'm on number 14 now.

Anyone run across any good reads?

Updating:

10. Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell

I spent much time last year reading through BC's Viking, Arthurian and Grail Quest series. This was a bit of a change of pace from those but I just loved it. It had a lot to say about the death penalty in the 1800's and the hypocrisy and callousness of those in charge of the system. But although thought-provoking it was no heavy read. With wonderful characters - I especially loved Sally! - and whipsharp dialogue, often very funny, I wouldn't mind seeing more adventures of Rider & Co. in the future.

11. The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara II : Antrax by Terry Brooks

I'd read part one of this last year and although it was by no means a dud, it didn't exactly set me on fire to read the rest either. But I did pick up this one when I saw it in the charity shop and it was just as good if not slightly more entertaining. I'm still not desperate to find out what happens next, but if I ever come across part 3, I'll pick it up.

12 & 13. Indigo Slam by Robert Crais / Bad Luck & Trouble by Lee Child

Okay, I confess it – I'm in love with Elvis Cole and Jack Reacher. Robert Crais' laconic detective in the style of Mike Hammer is fairly new to me – I picked up two of his books last year – but I'm rapidly catching up, fast as I can. I love the snappy dialogue and characters, especially the relationship between Cole and his taciturn partner, Pike.

I've read every JR book out there and this one was the latest. A bit of a change of pace, with Jack meeting up with his old army team, rather than being on his own, but it made for a great read and it was interesting to see him interacting with the others and what it said about him. Had a ball with both of these and can't wait to visit with Elvis and Jack in the future.

14. California Angel by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg

I was new to this author and the book wasn't really what it was presented on the cover. Instead of the courtroom thriller (the court stuff was dealt with in about half a page!) it turned out to be a kind of modern fairytale about a woman who, for years, has had dreams that she is saving children from death and danger. She finds out the events in her dreams are real and gradually comes to believe – with the help and hindrance of the other characters around her – that she is a modern-day angel. Despite it not being my usual genre, I found it an enjoyable read. I probably wouldn't look out for the author again, but I certainly didn't find it a waste of my time and I even found myself welling up just a tad at the ending.

15. The Ballad of Frankie Silver by Sharyn McCrumb

I found this one intriguing – it sought to marry the true story of Frankie Silver, a young woman hanged for the murder of her husband in 1833, with the modern tale of a young Sheriff in the same county who, while convalescing after being shot and disturbed by the case of a young man he helped convict whose execution is due shortly, becomes intrigued with her case. It did a good job of working the two together and the characters were sympathetic and likeable.

16. The Echo by Minette Walters

I've read a few of MW's novels now, and this was the first that I had trouble with. After an intriguing start, I found it very hard to get into and it wasn't until two-thirds of the way through, when three of the main characters came together and began interacting with one another, that I really became interested.

17. Kisscut by Karen Slaughter

I had to check back to the cover of this one to remember what it was about – which probably tells you all you want to know. It was a fairly standard thriller. If I found more from her I'd probably pick them up and read them.

18. The Angel Gateway by Jane Adams

This was the second book in my latest reading batch that sought to marry an old story with the new. In this case, a weary, newly-retired detective, suffering the mental and physical wounds of a horrific attack, takes over his deceased aunt's country cottage and finds it haunted (although in the most tenuous sense) by the ghost of a young woman who was hanged for witch-craft. I found it really enjoyable. I learned some things I'd not known about how witchcraft trials were conducted – how thoroughly, for instance, that the deck was stacked against the defendant; they really had no chance in hell of proving their innocence, despite the most tenuous of evidence against them. I found myself less interested in the modern mystery as our detective sought to discover who had attacked him and why, but the two elements meshed fairly well.

19. Life Support by Tess Gerritson

My second book by this author, new to me who I'm seeking to catch up with. This was one of her medical thrillers – I tend to be less interested in medical thrillers than others – in the style of Robin Cook et al. I actually found it to be not very original, there were few surprises in it for me and the so-called shocks I'd guessed about half a book back. But it was saved for me by some very sympathetic characters.

20. Circle of Pearls by Rosalind Laker

The second book I've read by this historical author and just as enjoyable as the last one. Despite her unwavering bias towards all things royal. <G> This one was about a Royalist family struggling to survive in the England of Cromwell and the Puritans, spanning several decades. Enjoyable.

21. Child of the Phoenix by Barbara Erskine

This author is a source of both enjoyment and frustration for me. I've only read a few of her books so far, but with every one I've had the same problems : forced angst, dependant half the time on characters behaving immensely illogically or stupidly and plot themes which repeat over and over when they should have been resolved after the first incident. This one was no different. Despite the flaws though, there's always something about them that has me still reading and I enjoyed it – as I have the others – despite its many flaws. I'm at a loss as to how she manages that, but she seems to!

That's me for now. I had a stroke of the most bizarre luck this week. I'd run out of books and couldn't get to my usual charity store. I had a doc appointment on Thursday and suggested to Stuart that I'd pop into my local health centre on the way back, see if I could pick something up there. I wasn't hopeful because I never tend to find anything to my tastes there – certainly never thrillers which are rare – but if I could pick up even one or two to tide me over it would be better than nothing.

Well, I went in and stood there with my mouth open. Every shelf of the two low bookcases was stuffed with thrillers! Many my favourite authors, most of them in mint condition. It was like someone had stocked the place just for me. I basically just emptied the bookcases into my bag. I ended up with 25 books – so I'm settling in for some great reading! I was on a high all day.

LabRat :

Wow, Labrat, 25 books?!? That is awesome! And I'm sure for a fraction of the price than what you would have paid at Barnes & Noble or something.

I am a HUGE reader. Always have been. I was the kid the mean librarian would glare at and say, "Dear, the check-out limit is 50 books."

I am currently reading "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult, and the last book I read was her "My Sister's Keeper," which I devoured while on vacation last month. She is a great writer.

50, eh? I bet I could do that. Sounds nice and relaxing. Sigh.

Yeah, I got the lot for £8. Charity stores are the only way I can afford to pay for my voracious reading habit. Luckily, I have a really good one locally where I can usually find about a dozen or so every few months. And you get the added satisfaction of donating to charity, too. So it's a good deal for me.

LabRat

Here's the addition to my list:

The Golden Compass (Northern Lights) - Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife - Philip Pullman
Twist of Fate - Mary Jo Putney
The Positronic Man - Isaac Asimov & Robert Silverberg
Full Bloom - Jayne Ann Krantz
The Amber Spyglass - Phillip Pullman
Randall Pride - Judy Christenberry

I have to say, I wasn't really impressed by the His Dark Materials trilogy. It had nothing to do with the religious connections and everything to do with the way the characters acted.

The Positronic Man is based on a short story by the same name, and is the basis for the movie Bicentennial Man. The beginning of the book is very like the movie, but the last half is different. It's really an interesting look at the question "what is humanity". I kept comparing Andrew to Sonny in I, Robot, and of course to Data in Star Trek. Andrew, like Sonny, shows the ability to be more than other robots like him, and like Data, wants to be more human.

I foresee a lot of romance novels in the near future, as my aunt has shipped a whole box to my mom. Though I may take some time out to reread The Dark Is Rising sequence, since I'm in the mood for a really good children's novel. And I cleaned out a book stall in the local flea market of all of her Jim Butcher books (which was sadly only 4), and I picked up 2 books of his that I hadn't read yet.

Updating with:

22. Jonathan Nasaw - Fear Itself.
23. Suzanne Wood - Stargate SG1: The Barque of Heaven
24. Gregg Hurwitz - I See You
25. Val McDermid - The Grave Tattoo
26. Jonathan Kellerman - Rage
27. Val McDermid - The Distant Echo
28. John Harvey - Ash & Bone
29. Paul Johnston - The Death List
30. Chris Jordan - Taken
31. Robert Gregory Browne - Kiss Her Goodbye.

LabRat

Updating with:

31. Iris Johansen - The Search

32. Stephen Booth - The Dead Place

33. Tana French - In The Woods
This was an incredible first novel by this author. Absolutely spellbinding and I now have her second book on pre-order.

34. Jonathan Nasaw - 27 Bones

35. Val McDermid - A Place of Execution

36. Claire Seeber - Lullaby

37. David Baldacci - Simple Genius

38. Scott Turow - Limitations

39. John Grisham - The Innocent Man

40. Carol Smith - Fatal Attraction

41. G. M. Ford - A Blind Eye

42. Stephen Booth - Black Dog

LabRat

15. All I Need Is You - Johanna Lindsey
16. Husband on Demand - Leigh Michaels
17. Irresistible - Mary Balogh
18. Say You Love Me - Johanna Lindsey
19. Lady Whistledown Strikes Back - Julia Quinn, Suzanne Enoch, Karen Hawkins, Mia Ryan
20. Falling for Gracie - Susan Mallery
21. The Lion's Lady - Julie Garwood
22. When We Meet Again - Victoria Alexander
23. Just a Small-Town Girl - Patricia Kay
24. Beyond Seduction - Stephanie Laurens'relo
25. Vendetta - Ruth Langan
26. Cover-up - Rught Langan
27. Over Sea, Under Stone - Susan Cooper
28. The Dark Is Rising - Susan Cooper

29 isn't finished, but it's Greenwitch by Susan Cooper. I'm reading through the series right now.

I'm so far behind! >_< I'll update my list later today when I finish my current book.

Okay an update since book 8:

#9 Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin Mckinley
#10 Marked (House of Night, Book 1) by PC Cast
#11 The Fairy Godmother (Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, Book 1) by Mercedes Lackey
#12 One Good Knight (Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, Book 2) by Mercedes Lackey
#13 Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer Series, Book 1) by Karen Chance
#14 Beyond the Highland Mist (The Highlander Series, Book 1) by Karen Marie Moning
#15 To Tame a Highland Warrior (Highlander, Book 2) by Karen Marie Moning

I really enjoyed the Mercedes Lackey books. The Fairy Godmother was just a riot and I recommend it to everyone.

I was pretty dissapointed with Karen Marie Moning's Highlander series. It was entertaining but it was your typical romance novel. After her Fever series I started last year (and which were some of my favorites read last year) I had high hopes.

Updating with:

43. John Harvey - Cutting Edge
44. Denise Mina - Garnethill
45. Elisabeth McNeill - Turn Back Time
46. George Dawes Green - The Juror
47. Joy Fielding - Don't Cry Now
48. Harlen Coben - The Woods
49. David Eddings - The Diamond Throne
(this was my fourth attempt to read this, the first three I just couldn't get into it. This time I read it all the way through and quite enjoyed it. I'd read the rest of the trilogy if it came my way, but I'm not tempted to rush and get them and I still don't think The Ellenium comes close to matching The Belgariad or The Mallorean series.)

LabRat

OK, I am retiring and moving to Scotland so I can read as fast as Labrat. Seriously, I am a really fast reader, but I have no time! Does fic count?

I have now finished:

1. Burnt Toast - Teri Hatcher
2. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
3. Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult
4. Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult
5. Perfect Match - Jodi Picoult

and I am reading A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl, widow of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. It's really good so far.

I am totally counting books I have read for school (but not textbooks or compilations of articles, since I haven't read every single article). So nyah.

1. Nichomachean Ethics- Aristotle
2. The Inferno- Dante
3. Discipline and Punish- Michel Foucault (although I'm not sure if this should count because I didn't understand a damn thing the man said.)
4. 1984- George Orwell
5. Newjack: Guarding Sing-Sing- Ted Conover
6. First Fieldwork- Barbra Anderson
7. I Am Legend- Richard Matheson
8. Dearly Devoted Dexter- Jeff Lindsay
9. Darkly Dreaming Dexter- Jeff Lindsay

Care to guess the three I read for fun and not for school?

Both books I read a long time ago and thoroughly enjoyed. I actually liked the twist in the book, I am Legend, a lot better than the movie but of course the movie was more exciting. I read that book back in HS so when the movie came out, I was super stoked.

1984 I read in HS too and looooved it. Sorry to all you Hillary lovers out there but me and my hubby joke around by calling her Big Brother. Ha!

Umm... I guess the three fun books were the last 3.

LOL. Yes, time is the X factor. No kids, no work, able to read 24/7 if I like and a hubby who doesn't mind the housework slipping if I really get into a book and would prefer to spend the afternoon reading in the sun in the garden rather than hoovering upstairs (like today ) ...it all helps. <g>

Trinity, Darkly Dreaming Dexter is on my current list. What did you think of it?

LabRat

Haha! That is too funny. I actually read it for my Theories of Crime Control class, one of the capstone classes I need for my degree.
(16 DAYS TIL GRADUATION!)

I loved it. Strangely enough, there are things I actually like about the show better. Usually I'm one of those "the book is always better than the movie/tv show" but this was different. Not to say the show is better, there are naturally things about the book I liked better as well.

But the book was great, and if you like it, I would suggest taking a look at the tv show too.

I'm currently reading the latest installment of the series, "Dexter in the Dark", when I'm not reading for school.

Oh go sit on a rat trap.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?tag=50+Book+Challenge&view=jojo_da_crow

There is a full list of all my books for this year.

Here is the shortlist to update:

#16. The Highlander's Touch (The Highlander Series, Book 3) by Karen Marie Moning
#17. Kiss of the Highlander (The Highlander Series, Book 4) by Karen Marie Moning
#18. The Dark Highlander (The Highlander Series, Book 5) by Karen Marie Moning
#19. Single White Vampire (Argeneau Vampires, Book 3) by Lynsay Sands
#20. A Quick Bite (Argeneau Vampires, Book 1) by Lynsay Sands
#21. Love Bites (Argeneau Vampires, Book 2) by Lynsay Sands
#22. Tall, Dark & Hungry (Argeneau Vampires, Book 4) by Lynsay Sands


Don't ask me about this new vampire fetish... I blame Twilight. *shakes fist*

The Lynsay Sands books are proving to be entertaining and I like her take on the origins of Vampires. They are pure fluff though so don't expect huge sweeping plotlines like JR Wards stuff.

I've been on a roll:

#23. The Switch by Lynsay Sands
#24. A Bite to Remember (Argeneau Vampires, Book 5) by Lynsay Sands
#25. The Kitchen Witch (The Accidental Witch Trilogy, Book 1) (Berkley Sensation) by Annette Blair
#26. Bite Me If You Can (Argeneau Vampires, Book 6) by Lynsay Sands
#27. The Accidental Vampire (Argeneau Vampires, Book 7) by Lynsay Sands
#28. My Favorite Witch (The Accidental Witch Trilogy, Book 2) (Berkley Sensation) by Annette Blair

Updating with:

#50 (Yay! ) John Ramsey Miller - The Last Family
[I found this to be a pretty routine thriller with a plot that isn't a million miles away from lots of others in the genre. The hype on the cover was a tad overstated imo. Either that or the reviewer who lost sleep thinking about the plot was easily freaked.]

#51 Robin Cook - Harmful Intent
[RC is one of those 'easy reading' authors for me. I tend to zip through his novels and forget them soon as I finish. This one was a little deeper than most.

#52 Sue Grafton - O Is For Outlaw
[I'm not a huge fan of this series. In fact, I've only read one and realised a few pages into this that this was it! But I kind of enjoyed it all the same as I couldn't remember much of the plot anyway from first time around.]

#53 Jefferson Parker - Red Light
[Routine thriller - enjoyed it, but wouldn't go out of my way to find more from this author.]

#54 Robert W Walker - Primal Instinct
[Same here. Killed a few reading hours, but nothing special.]

I've got a few more piled up to add in, but they're downstairs and - lazy sod that I am - I can't be beggered fetching them right now. I'll add them in tomorrow.

LabRat

Good job, Labby!

Let's see...

30. The Grey King - Susan Cooper
31. Silver on the Tree - Susan Cooper
32. The Wedding Bargain - Lisette Belisle
33. Small Favor - Jim Butcher
34. Furies of Calderon - Jim Butcher
35. Academ's Fury - Jim Butcher
36. The Brides of Claybourne - Julie Garwood
37. For the Roses - Julie Garwood
38. Come the Spring - Julie Garwood

I really need to find the rest of the Codex Alera books by Jim Butcher. I found the first two at the flea market, and my local used book store doesn't have the rest.

What did you think of the Susan Cooper books, Karen? I've not heard of her, but checking them out from your post, they remind me a lot of the children's books by Alan Garner - one of my favourite authors when I was a kid. Look interesting.

ETA: I found a book containing the entire five book 'Dark Is Rising' series in Amazon's secondhand stores for just £6, including postage, so I had to buy and try them out. <g>

LabRat

Updating with:

#55 Jeff Lindsay - Darkly Dreaming Dexter
[Trinity, I absolutely agree with you - I thoroughly enjoyed this. When I picked it up in the charity store I'd assumed it was a TV novelisation. It wasn't until I began to read it that I realised it was the other way about - an original novel that the show was based on. As such, of course, it had more depth than I was expecting. It takes a lot to come up with something original in this genre these days, so kudos to JL for bringing something fresh to it. I'll be looking out for the other books.]

#56 Peter Robinson - Aftermath
[Thrillers set in the UK are definitely second on my list of things to read, but I found this one to be a pretty good read.]

Mary Higgins Clark:

#57 Daddy's Little Girl
#58 Let Me Call You Sweetheart
#59 Night-Time Is My Time
[MHC is another 'popcorn novel' author for me, like Robin Cook. I enjoyed these ones more than most and they provided the usual few hours of easy entertainment.]

#60 Elizabeth Adler - No Regrets
[Not much to say about this. Standard thriller fare. Which isn't to say I didn't enjoy it. Just that it's nothing out of the ordinary or particularly special.]

LabRat

Oh, I love the Dark is Rising sequence. I've read the books at least half a dozen times over the past 15 years. It would have been more, but it took 10 years for me to actually buy the book.

I'm hopelessly behind, but at least I passed all my university courses.

Okay, serious. Has anyone else been tempted into reading the new (ish) book craze, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer?

A friend of mine was *raving* about it, and I heard other people mention it was good too. This friend of mine is an avid book reader, and I generally would trust her selections. However, I picked it up, and though I'm only halfway through it, I've come to an agreement with two other friends who did the same. This book... is trash. Or in the words of one of them, a really bad fanfic.

S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
A
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E
A
D

The two main characters might as well be named Mary and Gary.

Meet Bella. She's 17, and tells the story from her POV. She has a pale complexion and inability to catch a tan, as well as a slender build ("soft, obviously not an athlete."). Boys didn't like her back home in Phoenix, but the boys at her new school in Forks all like her, and she gets three invitations to the school dance in one day (the way she treats those boys pretty much clears up the 'never had a boyfriend' mystery). Her main (only) flaw is her balance issues, which is exaggerated to the point where it's clearly an inner-ear thing. She faints at the sight of a drop of blood.

Edward is a vampire who is 17, and has been 17 for a while. His eyes change colours from black, to honey, to ocher, to topaz. He has two mood settings: amused and angry. He also often goes from one to the other in about 0.5 of a second. Bella keeps describing his face as flawless, beatifull, angelic, perfect. Oh yeah, and he can read minds - but not Bella's. He's a knight in shining silver Volvo.

The rest of the cast are 2-dimensional cardboard cut-outs who barely get any relevant dialogue.

My favourite part of the book so far? Where the gym teacher required more than a full period to explain the rules of badminton. I didn't think it was such a complex game. Heh.

I will say this: if I read it and imagine that it's just a bad fanfic, I can get a good laugh.

Anyone with agreements or contrasting opinions? <g>

- Julie

LOL. You're definitely not the only one. I read about the craze on the blogosphere and a lot of people commented the same thing. I believe a lot of them thought the "glittering-ness" was particularly hilarious. I think most of the people I read thought it was a throwback to books like the Vampire Diaries, etc. which also struck that same chord. Kind of like trashy romances for teens.

They're making a movie out of it now for better or worse. I heard the male protagonist is hot.

alcyone

XD I loved the Twilight books. Keep in mind folks they are Young Adult fiction and not meant to be intellectual thrillers.

I loved the characters and fell in love with Edward. Were parts of it a bit cheesy? Well yes. But I can hardly say it was any more cheesy than some of the silly plots we saw in the LnC series.

I don't think it is the BEST book ever like some people do but it was entertaing and I really liked the characters myself.

I think many people I have personally found who are really upset about the books are because they don't feel that the vampire myth was handled to their liking. To me though that is kinda silly. There are tons of vampire novels out there and everyone explains it a bit differently. They are a mythical creature that don't exist so to me... it is neat to see the different ways that people explain their existance and how they live.

I wasn't looking for something deep and meaningful so I think I walked away with a much more enjoyable experience.

You're absolutely right, they're YAs and not meant to be the novel of the century... I know. But I've got to say that I've read many a YA book written from the POV of a teenage girl which were much better. (Hello, Meg Cabot fan here. <g>)

I'm not so much bothered about the loyalty to the myth. There are lots of spins on vampires in fiction and mythology. For example, vampires on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural are quite differently portrayed.

What did bother me is that she made him too physically perfect and beautiful - changing eyes, glittering skin, a perfect body and a perfect face. I can't see him, so what I'm more interested in is his personality, and he often comes across as kind of condescending and cold.

In addition, he seems to need someone else to know about him and Bella as an incentive to bring her home alive - so he and his family stay out of trouble. Having your girlfriend stay alive is not enough of an incentive, apparently, and he tells Bella as much. when he calls her suicidal and also insinuates that without him watching out for her, she wouldn't survive a week. If I were her, I doubt I'd have been swooning over him.

Anyway, I'll look forward to the movie! I definitely want to see what they make of it. Maybe it will make me connect with the characters better (and poor Jess and Mike might even get a few lines).

The main actor is definitely hot!

Julie

It's sorta funny... either you absolutely love Edward or you dislike him. I loved him. XD He is why I refuse to read the other books until someone tells me the ending of the last book. Haha. I guess we will see in August.

Also, I have seen clips from the movie. I hate to say it but I really think it is going to be awful. I'll be seeing it though.

Edward is Cedric Diggory from the Harry Potter movies in case you guys were wondering. I personally think he has an oddly shaped head and weird looking face but he is beginning to grow on me.

10. Dexter in the Dark- Jeff Lindsay

I FINALLY finished this one Sunday afternoon after trying to read it since spring break. It was really good, don't get me wrong. I've just been preoccupied.

11. Blood Noir- Laurell K. Hamilton

This is book number 16 in the Anita Blake series, my absolute favorite books ever. I devour them like they're my favorite candy. I started it Sunday afternoon and finished it yesterday (Monday) afternoon.

12. Twilight- Stephenie Meyer

I'm including this one because I will be finished with it in the next 6 hours, at the most (I'm including sleeping time here, since I haven't done that yet).

Apparently this book has been wildly popular, though how it managed to escape from my radar with it being a vampire love story (I love vampires like I love Superman) is beyond me. There's even a movie due out this December. It's sooo good. I started it yesterday about 5 minutes after I finished Blood Noir and have pretty much read nonstop (I have not been to sleep yet. I've read 325 pages of it since I started it 12-ish hours ago).

EDIT::

Because I am oblivious I hadn't even realized that the last several posts in this thread had been about Twilight and it's forthcoming movie, haha. Anyway, I finished it a couple hours ago and loved it. I'm a sucker for a vampire love story. I just loved watching the progression of their relationship and think it's incredibly sweet how much they care for each other.

I don't think the movie is going to be that bad. The author was on set the whole time so it can't really deviate from the book any more than she wants it to. Everyone seems really well casted, and I like Catherine Hardwicke as a director. She does good work.

PS: Labrat- I'm so glad you liked Dexter. Definitely try to find the other two, they are just as entertaining.

Updating with a pretty poor batch this time around. Only two or three books were really good reads.

#61 The Elder Gods by David & Leigh Eddings
The Belgariad is in my top three favourite fantasy series of all time and I cannot believe that it was written by the same authors as this codswallop. Dire.

#62 The Malice Box by Martin Langfield
This was a real disappointment. I made the mistake of judging a book by its cover and it was such a lovely cover, too, that it seemed to promise a cracking good thriller read. Sadly not. I became very bored early on with the constant flashing backwards and forwards and quickly wished that the author would stop trying to be clever and just tell the story. I had the impression there was a good story in there, if only it was told from start to finish and not in confusing chunks.

#63 Wolves At The Door by Tabitha King
Very mediocre and unoriginal. If you've seen any one of a million thriller movies on the same subject you needn't read this book. A young woman and her son, alone in a remote cabin are terrorised by a gang of drunken thugs. <yawn>. The author seemed to be aware of the book's deficiencies as she even tried the old trick of pointing them out to the reader in an attempt to deflect their attention. (At one point our heroine muses that her situation is like the movie Straw Dogs). It's a trick that can often work very well. But here it simply emphasised the problem.

#64 Devil's Corner by Lisa Scottoline
Not one I'd read again, but if I found anything by the same author I'd probably take it. A good enough way to pass a day or so.

#65 Circumstances Unknown by Jonellen Heckler
Same as above. Fairly standard thriller fare. Not a keeper but a pleasant enough read.

#66 A Dedicated Man by Peter Robinson
Again, an okay read. It suffers from the fact that my first interest isn't thrillers set in the UK - I find most of them too slow-paced for my tastes. This was in that genre, so it was never going to be a great read for me. But it passed the time.

#67 Storming Heaven by Kyle Mills
To borrow from the title, this was an absolutely storming read. I loved the characters and the tone, banter and character of our hero reminded me a lot of Jack Reacher and Lee Child's novels. Definitely a keeper and I'll be eagerly looking out for more of the same from this author.

#68 The Dark Is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper:
Over Sea, Under Stone
The Dark Is Rising
Greenwitch
The Grey King
Silver On The Tree

Karen, thank you so much for the pointer on these; I absolutely adored them. Not just a terrific read, but a wonderful sense of nostalgia too. Took me right back to my teen years and reading Alan Garner's novels. If you haven't read any of his, I think you'd enjoy them. Try Elidor and most especially The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and its sequel The Moon Of Gomrath, which are very close in tone and setting to Cooper's books. The Owl Service is good, too, but slightly more adult in tone and quite different to the others.

#69 The Demon Of The Air by Simon Levack
I haven't quite finished this one but with just a chapter to go I doubt my mind will change on it. I have just loved this one. It's a mystery set in the time of the Aztecs and just fascinating. Great characters and a very easy writing style which manages to pack in a wealth of details about the everyday lives of the Aztec society without it seeming like a history lesson. Wonderful. I'm going to buy the sequels ASAP.

I definitely will be, Trinity - I was really left wanting more at the end of that one. And I've rented out S1 of the show and am looking forward to watching that.

LabRat

I'm not going to keep track of all the books I've read, because nobody would have read them anyway.

But, the last one I read that was any good and in English was:

Suite Française by Ir&#269;ne Némirovsky

It's worth reading even though it wasn't finished. And I don't say that lightly! It's so tragic that she didn't get to live to finish it. I read it on the airplane and didn't even mind the incredibly ridiculous way pilots have to fly these days.

OK, I know it's July and I don't have any chance of hitting the 50 mark. But to start:

1. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows. Thank God for the library. I loved it, and desperately want to own it, but can't afford it.

2. Evan Handler - Time On Fire: My Comedy Of Terrors. A great book by the guy who plays Harry in Sex & The City, who I think would make a great Lex Luthor (certainly better than Kevin Spacey anyway), it tells of his struggle with Leukemia and how he overcame it. A must read. I look forward to reading his second book. A lot.

3. George Orwell: Animal Farm.

4. George Orwell: 1984.

5: George Orwell: Down & Out In Paris & London.

6. Spider-Man: Secret Of The Sinister Six. It's a novel, so it counts.

7. Does my own unpublished book count? If so, that goes at number 7. If not, I'll come up with a 7 later.

I've been slacking since my last post. Here is an updated list for me:

#29. Vampires Are Forever (Argeneau Vampires, Book 8) by Lynsay Sands

#30. Vampire, Interrupted (Argeneau Vampires, Book 9) by Lynsay Sands

#31. Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson

#32. The Darkest Fire by Gena Showalter

Well, I'm almost there.

39. Almost a Family - Marilyn Tracy
40. All I Desire - Rosemary Rogers
41. Something Wonderful - Judith McNaught
42. A Perfect Surprise - Caroline Peak
43. To Wed and Protect - Carla Cassidy
44. My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding - edited by P.N. Elrod
45. My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon - edited by P.N. Elrod
46. The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett
47. The Light Fantastic - Terry Pratchett

Updating with:

#70 The Torment Of Others - Val McDermid
I was delighted to realise that this was a Tony Hill/Carol Jordan novel. No surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Terrific characters.

#71 Disordered Minds - Minette Walters
Walters is a bit of a hit and miss author for me. This one wasn't one of the most enjoyable I've read, but it was okay.

#72 It - Stephen King
I found this relatively new copy in my charity shop and immediately snapped it up to replace the old battered and tattered one I've had for years. As it's my all time favourite King novel, I couldn't resist reading it for the...whatever...time. <g>

James Patterson:

#73 Honeymoon
#74 Judge & Jury
#75 4th Of July

I've noticed that recently, Patterson's books have all been co-authored with others - these three being prime examples. (Can't remember the names of the co-authors off the top of my head). Cynically, I'm wondering if he's been 'doing a Danielle' recently. It would explain why I found these three much more enjoyable than I normally do his novels. He's always been a 'vacation' writer for me. A reasonably easy read for a few hours and I mostly go through one of his books in a day. Often, I've struggled to explain his huge popularity. But these seemed to be a little cut above the norm. Which leaves me wondering how much of the book was Patterson and how much his co-authors.

LabRat

It is my favourite King novel too. Think I'll dig it out and read it. Thanks Labrat.

Enjoy!

LabRat

Ahhh, one of the last ones I read was a Patterson novel as well. It too was co-authored with someone else. It was entertaining but I couldn't say it was fabulous.

I do really love his teen books. The first one is Maximum Ride. Really good story and I think he writing style lends well to the teenage audience.

Updating with:

The Keepers:

#76 Minette Walters - Fox Evil
Best I've read from her, bar The Sculptress. Very enjoyable. A bit out there at times, plot-wise, but it didn't suffer from it and kept me guessing most of the way through.

#77 Michael Connelly - The Lincoln Lawyer
A bit of a departure from his usual for this author, but I have to agree with the blurb on the front of the book and say its his best novel to date. Wonderful stuff! I particularly liked that our hero was in fairly murky ground morality-wise, but still managed to be someone you could root for and like.

#78 Michael Connelly - Chasing The Dime
Not one of his best for me, but still a good read.

#79 Tami Hoag - Dark Horse
Hoag is on my list of hit and miss authors. Some books of hers I've loved, some I've despised. This was definitely in the former category. Perhaps that was partly due to its theme and setting of international horse shows.

And the duds of this batch:

#80 Alex Barclay - Darkhouse
Can I have the three hours of my life back, please?

#81 L. E. Modesitt Jnr - The Forever Hero
I have no clue why I picked this one up in the first place because I rarely enjoy pure SF these days, enjoying SFantasy much more. All the same, this one started very intriguingly and I thought it was going to surprise me. But in chapter two it shifted focus and it all went downhill from there on for this reader.

#82 Robin Jenkins - Lady Magdalen
This one was a bit of a puzzler. First of all, having read it, I have zero clue why most of the PR praise quoted were in agreement that the author is 'The greatest living fiction-writer in Scotland'. At its best, this one seemed to be a fairly pedestrian historical novel. An easy enough read, fairly enjoyable way to spend an hour or so, but nothing terribly exciting or special. I can only imagine the reviewers read another book before commenting. And secondly, by the end, I was wondering what the point had been in writing it. I'm left with no clue as to what point the author was making with the story. Unless it was to illustrate that most lives are pedestrian and boring and not much happens to ordinary folk.

#83 Iris Collier - Day of Wrath
Again, another fairly pedestrian novel in the category of medieval murder mystery. Held few surprises and the romance between the main characters was fairly lukewarm.

#84 Jonathan Gash - Prey Dancing
Big disappointment. Characters I couldn't understand and didn't believe in and a tepid plot that didn't make much sense to me.

Just back from the dentist and had one of my lucky days in the secondhand book corner. Some kind soul had been in before me and loaded the bookcases up with thrillers and historial novels about Rome. Bless 'em. So off to delve into the new batch. Got two or three more James Patterson among them, so going to further test this theory that his co-writers are doing most of the work these days...

LabRat

Updating with:

#85 Stephen Booth - Blind To The Bones
SB is becoming an exception to my general dislike of British thrillers. I still loathe the character of Diane Fry, but love Ben Cooper. Although in this one, Diane did elicit some sympathy. Perhaps she's loosening up a little.

#86 Dean Koontz - Velocity
#87 Jim Brown - Black Valley
#88 Richard Laymon - One Rainy Night

It's been way too long since I've read a pure horror novel and these 3 were darn good examples of the genre. I enjoyed all of them. ORN was firmly in the territory of James Herbert (The Fog, The Dark) so had few pretensions to depth, but fun all the same and with above average characterisations for that sub genre.

#89 Richard Montinari - Broken Angels

I loved this one. A genuinely original concept for the serial killer - the author brought off something of a coup by making him both evil and chilling and yet also something of a pathetic and sympathetic character. I'll be looking out for more from RM.

And the duds in this batch:

#90 Various - Tales From The Borderlands

This promised to be a horror anthology, but I found the stories to be just pretentious and boring. Even the contribution from Stephen King lost me within two pages. And, boy, do the editing team love themselves! :rolleyes:

#91 Ethan Black - The Broken Hearts Club

Not sure why this didn't click with me - the premise seemed interesting enough. But the writing style just didn't engage me at all.

#92 Nora Roberts - Birthright

NR is one of those authors whose huge success eludes me. I have zero understanding of why she sells books. I thought I'd give it another go, but I didn't enjoy this one any more than any of her others, so I'll be leaving her books on the shelf in future.

James Patterson:

#93 Violets Are Blue
#94 Four Blind Mice
#95 The Big Bad Wolf

Well, this did seem to confirm my theory. All of these were sole-authored by JP and all of them were good for killing the odd hour or so, but instantly forgettable thereafter. Admittedly, not helped by the fact that I've never really liked his Alex Cross character. Also, they do tend to be a tad repetitious. It's astonishing how many serial killers take pot shots at Alex's home and family...and miss every time! Who'd have thought so many psychopaths could be such lousy shots?

And ooops, not a dud, but got into that pile by mistake. I'll add it in here, because I'd have to adjust all those numbers if I tried to fit it in above.

#96 Paul Adam - Unholy Trinity

I really enjoyed this thriller. Perhaps because it had some 'Da Vinci Code' elements or the Italian locations, but the plot was intriguing and the central characters likeable.

LabRat

Here's the update for my list so far:

48. Fiance At Her Fingertips - Kathleen Bacus
49. Return to the Summerhouse - Jude Deveraux
50. The Lost Duke of Wyndham - Julia Quinn
51. Fantasy Lover - Sherrilyn Kenyon
52. That Summer Place - Debbie Macomber, Susan Wiggs, and Jill Barnett
53. Stardust - Neil Gaimon
54-60. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
61. The Secret - Julie Garwood

I got a good two boxes of books from my aunt last weekend, so I'll be busy for awhile.

33. The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld, Book 1) by Gena Showalter
34. After Midnight by Teresa Medeiros
35. The Vampire Who Loved Me by Teresa Medeiros
36. Faefever (Fever, Book 3) by Karen Marie Moning
37. The Darkest Kiss (Lords of the Underworld, Book 2) by Gena Showalter


None of the above books were really noteworthy except for Faefever which I could rant about all day long. It was just wonderful (although what do you expect from such an awesome series??).

The Darkest Kiss was actually really really horrible. I mean... REALLY bad. The plot line was good the romance story was just weird. It's why I kept going after book 1. I've read lemons from 13 year olds on fanfiction.net that had better love scenes. That's really my whole qualm with the books.

The other two were period pieces and your every day normal fluffy romance. I've begun to realize why I get so annoyed with many romance novels halfway through them. It's because the authors can't keep their characters in character. You start off with two people falling in love and by the time you get to the end you have two stupid saps who were nothing like the people you grew to love in the first half.

Bah! *shakes her cane*

An update, 3/4 of the way through the year:

62. Carolina Isle - Jude Deveraux
-- I swear, even though the numbers match up, I think someone dropped a few chapters on the way to the printers. If anyone finds the missing chapters, please let me know.

The next set is a series sent to me from my aunt:
63. Devil's Bride - Stephanie Laurens
64. A Rake's Vow - Stephanie Laurens
65. Scandal's Bride - Stephanie Laurens
66. A Rogue's Proposal - Stephanie Laurens
67. A Secret Love - Stephanie Laurens
68. All About Love - Stephanie Laurens
69. All About Passion - Stephanie Laurens
70. On A Wild Night - Stephanie Laurens
71. On A Wicked Dawn - Stephanie Laurens
72. The Perfect Lover - Stephanie Laurens
73. The Ideal Bride - Stephanie Laurens
74. The Truth About Love - Stephanie Laurens

75. American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Wow , well I joined a book club. So far I am in it only 3 months but I love it. Of course if children's books count, does reading The Cat The hat Comes Back 50 times count?


Some of the books I've read this year have more to do with health.

1 YOU on a Diet by Mehmet C. Oz and Michael F. Roizen

2 YOU Staying Young by Mehmet C. Oz and Michael F. Roizen. Very informative.

3 The Life of Pi Yann Martel. (Very strange, intense and full of double meaning.)

3 Loving Frank by Nancy Horan(about Frank Lloyd Wright and his mistress, fiction based on fact. Interesting, well done and sad.)

4 A New Earth by Ekard Tolle (spiritual)

5 I am currently reading The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva (Excellent and scary so far! All about terrorism in Great Brittan,Israel, Egypt and the world.)

I'm up to 38 but in my foggy I-need-to-go-to-bed state, I can't figure out how to get a nice neat list off of Goodreads. So, I'm cheating and just putting a link to my 2008 Goodreads list:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/765067?shelf=read-2008

If any of you use Goodreads, feel free to friend me!

I'm ridiculously far behind, but in my defense, I did get married this summer, lol.

12-15: The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
12. Twilight
13. New Moon
14. Eclipse
15. Breaking Dawn

I was really in love with this series. To the point where I got obsessed (and still am, for the most part). But I hated the last book. There's been a lot of controversy surrounding it, and I'm one of the ones that thought it almost ruined the whole series for me. Now I just pretend it doesn't exist. As much as I dislike the last book though, I'll always be grateful to this series for renewing my love of vampire novels.

16. Vulnerable by Amy Lane

I picked this up because someone told me it was a more graphic version of Twilight. The book was extremely hard to find, and I ended up having to buy it online. There were a lot of errors, which at first made me think it was self-published. That doesn't seem to be the case, but I get the feeling it would definitely be a lot cleaner if it was published through a bigger company. It's sort of like a mix between Twilight and the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton, but in the end I wasn't interested enough to read the rest of the books in this series (called the Little Goddess series, I believe).

17-24: The Sookie Stackhouse novels or the Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris

17. Dead Until Dark
18. Living Dead in Dallas
19. Club Dead
20. Dead to the World
21. Dead as a Doornail
22. Definitely Dead
23. All Together Dead
24. From Dead to Worse

I lovelovelovelove this series. After I finished the Twilight saga I saw commercials for a show on HBO called True Blood, premiering this fall that caught my attention. When I realized this show was based on this series of books, I picked up the first two to read on the plane ride to Hawaii on my honeymoon. I was instantly hooked. For people who want a bit of a lighter version of the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton, check out Sookie Stackhouse. I'd also highly recommend the HBO show, True Blood. It's only aired 3 episodes so far, but it seems to be following the first book pretty closely, while adding a few things here and there to make things a bit more interesting for television. It's a lot of fun.

38. A Kiss to Remember by Teresa Medeiros

39. Yours Until Dawn by Teresa Medeiros

40. Thief of Hearts by Teresa Medeiros

41. The Rogue Hunter (Argeneau Vampires, Book 10) by Lynsay Sands

42. Lady Pirate by Lynsay Sands


This was a really enjoyable batch of books. Nothing to thought provoking though. I think next year for my challenge I am going to require a certain amount of non-romance novels. XD

The Rogue Hunter was a little disappointing. I think that was mostly because I enjoyed book 9 so much. This one had a few to many silly moments and I think that may have been why I had problems with it. That and Sands decided to try to describe her male lead by comparing him to David Beckham. While he is a very nice looking man... the way she did it was just weird. Anyway still a great series.

Lady Pirate was probably my favorite of all of them. Corny name but I loved that the author kept the characterizations the whole time. The person you started with didn't change in personality. Well she did... but it was more of a growth in personality than a complete change. I really enjoyed that you started off with a strong woman and ended with one who was stronger and still kept her spunk after she married a man. Props to Mrs. Sands!

Trinity: I would try the Black Dagger Brotherhood series and the Argeneau series. They are both excellent vampire series. Much more adult and graphic though.

If you liked the YA adult feel of Twilight I also suggest Holly Black's Tithe books. Hmmm trying to think if there were any others that stood out. If you want more recommendations let me know.

~Jojo, who has felt like she has read every vampire novel known to man in the last year.

Oooooh, updates! Keep them coming - I love reading about what everyone else is reading!

I've more or less given up on updating because I'm aware that my main choice of genre isn't one that many people here are interested in. But I have come across two new favourite authors recently:

First is Mark Billingham. Thrillers set in the UK are generally of less interest to me than those set in the US, but his Tom Thorne series is clearly in the exception group if the rest of them are as enjoyable as the one I picked up recently.

"Lazybones" is the third in the series and I've put the rest on my wish list at Amazon.

And it's been waaaaaaaaay, way too long, but I've finally found a new SFantasy series that I just absolutely adore.

I picked up George R. R. Martin's A Feast For Crows at my charity shop recently and didn't realise until I got it home that it was book 5 in his A Song Of Ice and Fire series. A quick skim through the first couple of pages convinced me that this was something special that I wouldn't want to spoil. So I put it back down and bought book 1.

And I am well and truly hooked. Enchanted. Enthralled. Can't get enough. I bought book 3 two weeks ago, but have refused to read it because I don't want to get through this too quickly Especially with the next book not out till April '09.

But I am going to cave soon, I think. So far, I've just loved every single minute of these, I adore all the characters and it's had me on the edge of my seat, with my heart in my mouth, more times than I can count.

Plus - dragons. That was all he needed to hook me right there, really.

LabRat

Hah - once again you and John have very similar tastes in authors, Rat. He devours every Mark Billingham he can get his hands on. His other favourite author right now is Jeffrey Deaver - read any of his? And he also likes JD Robb (aka Nora Roberts) for a quick, lightweight read.


Wendy

I just read straight through Philippa Gregory's new novel about Mary Queen of Scots, "The Other Queen." I haven't liked any of her books as much as "The Other Boleyn Girl', but this one was fairly entertaining.

Well, I always said John was a man of taste.

I read a number of JD's books some years back, but the bulk of them are focused on his Lincoln Rhyme character, who, for some reason, I could just never get interested in.

I have enjoyed several of his non-LR books though and a small collection of those does grace my bookshelves. I think my favourite is A Maiden's Grave.

And I was given Cold Moon a while back which was a LR novel, but also featured a new character called Kathryn Dance, who did intrigue me. I was interested to note later that JD's next book focused on her, so it's on my wish list and I'll look forward to reading it.

Has John read anything by Michael Marshall? He's pretty graphic - somewhat in the style of John Connolly - but writes dang good thrillers. And I'd also recommend Tana French's In The Woods - a bit offbeat, part thriller, part lots of other things , but terrific characters and dialogue and a really intriguing mystery at the heart of it.

LabRat

Thanks for the rec, Jojo. I like YA just fine but I always prefer more adult and graphic.

Right now I'm re-reading the Merry Gentry Series by Laurell K. Hamilton because the new book is due out soon and I haven't read the last few because I didn't remember the series much. Not as good as Anita Blake, IMO but still fun.

After that though I plan on heading toward The Vampire Diaries books by L.J. Smith, one another friend's rec. Have you read those, Jojo?

I read them a long time ago. I was in highschool. I actually have the book sitting in my bedroom on the nightstand. It is another YA novel and if I recall they were great when I was a kid. (I never finished the series)

I'm probably going to tackle them soon. I read the first chapter but don't recall any of it. To be fair it has been *counts* 15 years since I read them.

43. The Pretender (Liars Club, Book 1) by Celeste Bradley

44. The Impostor (The Liars Club, Book 2) by Celeste Bradley

45. The Spy (Liars Club, Book 3) by Celeste Bradley

I have been reading this series of books by Celest Bradley for the past few days and I have to say that I am utterly enchanted by them. I love her characters and I love the stories. There are a bunch more in this series and in another series that is connected to Liars Club (The Royal 4) so I imagine I'll be happy for sometime on books.

Ooh, I've just bought all three Celeste Bradley series - taking a chance, because the first few pages of one of them looked well-written. Glad to know you recommend them!


Wendy

46. The Charmer (Liars Club, Book 4) by Celeste Bradley

47. To Wed a Scandalous Spy (Royal Four, Book 1) by Celeste Bradley

48. The Rogue (Liar's Club, Book 5) by Celeste Bradley

I've continued on with the Spy books and I'm still enjoying them a lot. I have to say I wasn't very impressed by "To Wed a Scandalous Spy" but sadly to understand the books after that you have to read it.

It wasn't that the book was totally bad... I just felt like that one was an after thought. Maybe because it is focusing on the Royal Four (the men who give the Liar's Club their targets and missions) and there wasn't as much action. Which was sad because I was looking forward to the main male character's story. All I know is that I didn't really care if the main characters got together.

I suppose that is my main complaint about the last two books on the list. I didn't really feel like the two of them cared much for each other. "The Rogue" did a nice job of showing you that they were attracted to each other but the love confessions that rang out later seemed contrived. How can one really know they are in love with someone with in a week of knowing them. Pffft! The story was exciting in that one though and I like that she ended that one by furthering the plot and not with mushy love stuff.

Anyway... two more books to go! Going to probably finish off the spy series and then take a break from books until December. I think next year I'm going to try to do a real review for every book. Not sure if you guys would be interested in it but I'll be posting those on my livejournal.

I'm also going to make myself read a certain amount of novels outside of just the romance genre.

EDIT: I also have to point out that I have now read 6 of these books and all of them are set in 1813. Come on lady!!! Span out the time frame a little. This is driving me nuts!

76. The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger
77. Almost Heaven - Judith McNaught
78. Double Standards - Judith McNaught
79. Rogue's Reform - Stephanie Laurens
80. Sweet Liar - Jude Deveraux
81. Remembrance - Jude Deveraux
82. Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
83. Anne of Avonlea - L.M. Montgomery
84. Anne of the Island - L.M. Montgomery
85. Anne of Windy Poplars - L.M. Montgomery
85. Anne's House of Dreams - L.M. Montgomery
85. Anne of Ingleside - L.M. Montgomery

Reading Rainbow Valley right now, but I think I'm going to skip Rilla of Ingleside. I'm waiting two more days before I can pick up the Southern Vampire Chronicles (Sookie Stackhouse). I swore not until the season was over, and it ends Sunday.

I still have yet to hit the 50-book mark in a single year of this challenge, but I did get closer this time. Since I'm probably not going to finish another book by midnight tonight, I figured I'd post my list now. I'm just copy/pasting from my LibraryThing account--not bothering with previous posts in this thread.

In the order that they're listed at LibraryThing when I pull up my "read in 2008" tag:

1. The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials, Book 1) - Philip Pullman
2. Classic Detective Stories from a Suitcase of Suspense - Reader's Digest
3. Classic Espionage Stories from a Suitcase of Suspense - Reader's Digest
4. Classic Murder Stories from a Suitcase of Suspense - Reader's Digest
5. Classic Mystery Stories from a Suitcase of Suspense - Reader's Digest
6. The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, Book 3) - Philip Pullman
7. The Subtle Knife (His Dark Materials, Book 2) - Philip Pullman
8. Dragons of Winter Night (Dragonlance: Dragonlance Chronicles) - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
9. Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance: Dragonlance Chronicles) - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) - J. K. Rowling
11. Plot (Elements of Fiction Writing) - Ansen Dibell
12. The Chimes of Resdorn - DonnaLee Wheeler (My maternal grandmother)
13. The Briar King (Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, Book 1) - Greg Keyes
14. The Charnel Prince (The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone, Book 2) - Greg Keyes
15. Temeraire Trilogy - Naomi Novik
16. Wild Seed - Octavia E. Butler
17. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Book 1) - Alexander McCall Smith
18. Tek War - William Shatner
19. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Roleplaying Game: Revised Core Rulebook - C.J. Carella
20. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
21. Persuasion - Jane Austen
22. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
23. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
24. Emma - Jane Austen
25. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen
26. The Jane Austen Book Club: A Novel - Karen Joy Fowler
27. Almost a Goddess - Judi McCoy
28. Serenity Role Playing Game - Jamie Chambers
29. Sister Light, Sister Dark: Book One of the Great Alta Saga - Jane Yolen
30. White Jenna: Book Two of the Great Alta Saga - Jane Yolen
31. The One-Armed Queen (Great Alta Saga) - Jane Yolen
32. What Would MacGyver Do?: True Stories of Improvised Genius in Everyday Life - Brendan Vaughan
33. The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible - A. J. Jacobs

Things that don't count, because they're more magazines or brochures, but that LibraryThing still allows as books, since they have ISBNs:

1. Buffy Directors Screen - Paul Chapman (There's a booklet that comes with the screen to help Buffy RPG directors with creating adventures, and there's also a pre-written adventure in it, about the size of a magazine, so it doesn't count.)
2. Those Left Behind (Serenity) - Joss Whedon (This is a comic book.)
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Vol. 0: The Origin - Christopher Golden (This is also a comic book.)
4. What's Your IQ Activity Kit (Book and Card Deck) (Petites Plus) - Janet Terban Morris (This is one of those card and hand-sized book sets from Barnes & Noble.)
5. The Story of My Life - Jantina Smittenaar (My paternal grandmother--this book doesn't have an ISBN, so I don't consider it a real book. In fact, half of it is genealogical information, so it's only about 50 pages worth of actual writing.)
6. The Essential Tarot: Book and Card Set (Gift Boxes) - Rosalind Simmons (This is one of those card and hand-sized book sets from Barnes & Noble.)

So, that's 33 books that actually count, and 6 that don't. If only I hadn't been stuck in the middle of Dragons of Winter Night for months on end, then I might've been able to get those last 17 books in before the end of the year. *sigh*

Oh well, there's always next year.

By the way, Labby:

I LOVE that series! It was actually recommended to me a couple of years ago, and I've got all of the books through A Feast for Crows so far. Though I loaned A Game of Thrones to another friend and he left it in his sister's room when he moved to Canada, so I haven't seen it in a while. Maybe I'll just buy a new copy.

I am just in love with Martin's books. A real rare and lucky find. I devoured them all up to FoC in a matter of weeks and cannot wait until DoD next year. I've pre-ordered it from Amazon. It's been a while since I've been so taken with a fantasy series.

Isn't it awful when you loan out a book and it's not returned? I've been caught more than once with that over the years. I ended up having to replace the entire 5-book series of David Edding's Belgariad after I leant it en masse to a neighbour who then moved with them!

I'll be starting a new thread for books tomorrow - I've really enjoyed reading about what everyone else has been reading throughout 2008 and it's even netted me a good book now and then.

Anyone out there a fan of Cornelia Funke or who is reading Inkheart? It was one of the gifts Stuart bought me for Christmas. He said it was a last minute impulse buy and he wasn't entirely sure I'd like it, but I'm loving every minute of it so far. And he's bought me Inkspell and Dragon Rider for my upcoming birthday (with a nudge or two ). I have InkDeath pre-ordered on Amazon.

She looks like a real find and I can't wait to read more. No spoilers, please, if you're a fellow fan!

Happy reading for 2009!

LabRat

ETA: BTW, I posted earlier that Jeffrey Deaver's The Sleeping Doll was on my wish list and I was looking forward to reading more about Kathryn Dance. Well, shortly after that I found a brand new copy in my charity shop. I love when that happens. Really enjoyed it, just as I suspected I would. I hope he writes more using this new character in the future.

Well, sadly I haven't reached my goal of 100 books this year. Only 1 away, and only 2 hours left in the year! AUGH! (I thought it was more, but I apparently had several 85's on the list. Whoops!

So my ending list is:

88. Rainbow Valley - L.M. Montgomery
89. Wizard's First Rule - Terry Goodkind (had to reread this while watching the tv show and after the hubby had read it, so I could remember bits)
90. The Blessing - Jude Deveraux
91. Christmas Getaway - Anne Stuart, Tina Leonard, & Marion Lennox
92. The Duke & I - Julia Quinn
93. The Viscount Who Loved Me - Julia Quinn
94. An Offer From A Gentleman - Julia Quinn
95. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton - Julia Quinn
96. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris
97. Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris
98. Club Dead - Charlaine Harris
99. Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris

I finally got to the Southern Vampire series! I had to wait until Christmas, since the roommate (a bookstore employee with a discount) decided it would be a better christmas gift than me paying him back.