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

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.

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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.