Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic 50 Book Challenge 2013/What I've Read In 2013

Happy New Year!

Well, what a terrific year 2012 was for sharing our books. I loved seeing what everyone was reading and getting ideas for books to check out. Looking forward to more of the same this year. I've already started on my new hoard of books received for Christmas.

Info on how this works can be found here .

Enjoy your reading in 2013!

LabRat :-)

This is actually a leftover from 2012, but since that topic is closed...

The Clark Kent Chronicles by Pamela Fagan Hutchins - I read the e-book version of this in one day this past week. It was an extremely fast read, but an interesting, enjoyable, and educational one.

Despite its name, it has nothing to do with the man inside the Suit. It is actually a collection of blog entries written by the mother of a 17-year-old who has ADHD and Asperger Syndrome. I've a very good friend who also has a son who has both conditions. I found myself recognizing many of my friend's son's behaviours in the author's son, and the book really helped me to get into his head.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in ADHD, and especially to anyone who takes care of a child with ADHD.

Joy,
Lynn

My #1 entry for 2013 is also a leftover from last year:

Big Boned - Meg Cabot

It's the third in the Heather Wells series, but the first I've stumbled upon. I thought it was a stand-alone at first but there was previous context hinted at throughout the book (from the previous murders on Fischer Hall to her relationship with love interest Cooper) and after a quick Google search I was finally enlightened about the Heather Wells series.

I found it a little mild for a sort-of-detective series but entertaining and light fun in a not-to-be-taken-seriously kind of way.

I'm going to read the rest of the series now. Just because.

1) Day of the Dead by J.A. Jance . A suspense novel. Not one of my favorites. I usually like her novels but this one was a bit too graphic with the violence.

#1 The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

While I didn't agree with some of how this book handled things, for the most part, the overall message about treasuring the time you have was a good one.

Joan

#2 When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

This futuristic book brought up a lot of hot issues. It opens with a girl who got an abortion being punished by being injected with a virus to make her entire body red. Although I didn't always agree with the writer, it made me think about religion, abortion, woman's rights, and punishment.

Joan

1. J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey and
2. The Road To Middle-Earth by Tom Shippey.

Seeing "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" made me pull out my copy of "Lord Of The Rings" and read it all over again.

Shippey has some very good critical essays on Tolkien and LOTR. For example, he muses on the nature of evil. Is evil only an absence, the absence of good? Or is it a presence, something inherent in itself? He points out that in "Return of the King", the Nazgul Lord shows both: he is without form and only able to be harmed by the sword "wrought with spells"(absence) but he is able to wield a weapon and interact physically with others (presence.)

He also made the point that many authors of the twentieth century felt the need to deal with the big topics (world war, the Holocaust, death and destruction) by means of fantasy. For example, Ursula K. LeGuin's classic short story, "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" raises the question of responsibility. Kurt Vonnegut tried to deal with the fire-bombing of Dresden in his books. And Tolkien, obviously, put in questions of good or evil into his works, but hid those questions in story.

What made Tolkien's Middle-Earth so interesting, among other things, was the sense of the ages before the events of "The Hobbit" and "LOTR". For example, in "The Hobbit", Bilbo and the others find Sting, Orcrist, and Glamdring in the troll hoard. It's mentioned that these swords were made in Gondolin, long ago. Readers really didn't have a clue about Gondolin (where was it? Why did it fall?) till the publication of "The Silmarillion", forty years after "The Hobbit" was published. And that's just one of the many details adding verisimilitude. The poem about Beren and Luthien that Aragorn sings. The mention of Galadriel being exiled to Middle-Earth, away from the realms of the Valar. The passages of untranslated Elvish. Narsil being re-forged into Anduril, a repairing of a sword that was broken 3000 years earlier.

Another example of Tolkien's detail is the bit about King Theoden's horse - not only do we know the horse's name, we know the horse's mother's name.

All of these things let us know that Middle-Earth has a complicated and full backstory.

And then there's the exchange that makes me cry every time:

Shippey touches on this and how it applies to both Tolkien and to the current day.

The author discusses many more things than I can mention here. If you are a Tolkien fan, as I am, you will find these books highly rewarding and very thought-provoking. There is a considerable amount of overlap between the two books (it's obvious the author re-used some of his essay material) but in my opinion, both are worth reading.

3. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Reading Shippey's essays and re-reading "LOTR" caused me to read once more about the Making of Arda, all about the Valar, Feanor and his siblings, the Two Trees, who was Ungoliant, the downfall of Numenor, and so many other things. "The Silmarillion" is one of those books that's best re-read several times so that you can pick up all the stuff you missed the first time around.

4. "Jiffy" - A Family Tradition: Mixing Business and Old-Fashioned Values by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds.
Fascinating history of the Holmes family, owners of the Chelsea Milling Company, the manufacturer of Jiffy baking mixes, corn muffin mix, pie crust mix, etc. The company is over 100 years old and is tiny compared with behemoths such as General Mills, but it is able to have a large share of the market due to their focus on quality and value. The company doesn't advertise other than putting pictures of the Jiffy Mix box on their delivery trucks, counting on 100 years of goodwill and good value to get the word out to consumers. Four generations of the family have survived world wars, the Great Depression, personal tragedies, and monumental changes in the food industry. The book is chock full of historic photos and has a mouth-watering picture of Jiffy corn muffins on the cover.

1. A Christmas Bride by Susan Mallery She's always been a bit even, though never terrible. This book actually has two stories. The first one is 72 pages, and it is way too rushed, and there are some editing issues (there are no line breaks between scenes, which makes things a bit hard to read). I've seen authors do much in that amount of space, so I guess that's just not her forte. The second story is okay.

I had to finish it up quickly, since A Memory of Light comes out today. The Wheel of Time is complete!

LOL, Karen. My copy of MOL hit the doormat this morning. Mucho excitement.

It's going to be a bit of time before I get to it though. I've had the previous two books sitting on my shelf unread because I decided to wait till it was complete and then start from book one and read straight through, so I was fully up to speed.

I confess I'm intrigued to finally get a look at what Sanderson's done with the series.

LabRat :-)

#3 The Sisters Grimm: The Council of Mirrors by Michael Buckley

Last book in the series about two Grimm sisters acting as fairy tale detectives. I started reading this series with my kids several years ago and it's been great.

Joan

This year I've decided to include all the chapter books I read to my kids, since that's mostly what I get to read nowadays.

1. Nicholas St. North and the Battle with the Nightmare King - by William Joyce and Laura Geringer

I thought it was a little advanced for even my almost 8 year old. Lots of big words, on which she kept asking me for definitions. The story is interesting though, a different origin story for Santa Claus (aka Nicholas St. North), who starts out like as a warrior bandit, only to become a wizard to protect children from the Nightmare King. My 5 y.o. son liked the drawing of North's weapons.

This is the book "Rise of the Guardians" movie was based upon.


2. DC's Showcase presents "Superman" - V.1 - numerous authors.

500+ pages of old June '58 - Nov. '59 Superman comics. I felt like I got went through an intensive course on Superman reading this one, learning a bunch of Superman comic canon all in one book, including Brainiac, Krypton city in a bottle, Lex Luthor, Metallo, Lori Lemaris (the Mermaid Clark asked to marry him back in college), SuperGirl, Krypto, Mxyzptik, and Bizarro. Apparently, Lois wasn't only obsessed with Superman but that they were actually DATING. It makes her seem like she's only interested in Superman because of his super abilities.

There's also a comic where Lois gets glimpses of Superman's future wife (and children, who have super abilities from toddlerhood), but she can never see the woman's face, so she doesn't see that it's her (or whom the Reader assumes will be her).

Superman often lets people think that he's being duped, only to show it was the villain (or Lois, as the case maybe) who was being hoodwinked by Superman.

Only major annoyances were Lois trying to "trick" Superman into marrying her (her main goal in life, it seems, back then) and referring to herself as "girl reporter".



Okay, I have to admit, I read this one mostly to myself and not my kids.

Married In Haste by Cathie Maxwell.
Aristocratic Rich Heroine Whose Name I Forgot Already is turning into an old maid when she makes a bet with the other girls at the society ball - which one of them can get a marriage proposal first? At the same time Hero Whose Name I Forgot Already needs a wealthy wife to rebuild his tumbledown manor. Complicating factor: Brother of Rich Heroine, Both of Whose Names I Already Forgot has misspent Rich Heroine's fortune. A pretty standard romance, nothing special.

The Rake by Mary Jo Putney.
This is a romance that does it right. Reggie Davenport is a rake and a drunkard. Alys Weston is a woman with a mysterious and painful past, who has made a new life for herself as the steward of Strickland - an estate which formerly belonged to the Earl of Wargrave, but has been deeded over to Reggie (because it was his mother's estate originally - long backstory here.) Reggie has decided to turn a new leaf and leave his wastrel ways in London, and to move to Dorset where his estate is.
He meets Alys and decides to keep her on as his steward. He's attracted to her. She's attracted to him. But he's a drunkard and she's got her own issues. The story shows us how each of them perseveres through problems, changes, and grows, and how they find love together. I didn't forget anyone's name in this story. Well worth reading if you like romance and well worth reading as a story in its own right.

Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson.
Very interesting tome on why some nations get ahead and have good times, and why some nations are hellholes. The authors use countries with political borders for some of their examples - e.g., North and South Korea. The countries share similar climate, heritage, culture, and racial identity. Yet, due to the imposition of a border during the Korean War, and due to differing political systems, South Korea is prosperous and North Korea is facing famine. Or the difference between Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Mexico - the photograph shows the stark contrast. The authors argue that it's the presence of institutions - the rule of law, property rights, "inclusive" vs. "extractive" institutions, pluralism - that make all the difference. They discuss the oligarchy rule - maybe the leadership of a country is overthrown, but a new set of leaders come in and they do all the same things, except maybe worse. Example: The Tsar's reign in Russia (millions of peasants laboring in servitude, a few incredibly rich aristocrats at the top) was replaced by the Soviets (millions of 'comrades' laboring in servitude, a few incredibly rich 'comrades' at the top, along with a genocide of a few million people along the way.)

If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell.
Everybody's favorite B-movie actor ("The Evil Dead", "Army of Darkness", Autolycus on "Xena", and of course Bill Church, Jr., on "L&C") talks about how he got his start in acting, along with some of his buddies (Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and others.) Bruce doesn't take himself too seriously and the book is loads of fun.



Make Love The Bruce Campbell Way by Bruce Campbell.
In the second book, he gives his unique spin on making a movie with Mike Nichols, Renee Zellweger, and Richard Gere. (Warning: some events may be fictional. In fact, the whole book is probably fictional. But it's funny.)


When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro.
The blurb: "Born in early-twentieth-century Shanghai, Banks was orphaned at the age of nine after the separate disappearances of his parents. Now, more than twenty years later, he is a celebrated figure in London society; yet the investigative expertise that has garnered him fame has done little to illuminate the circumstances of his parents' alleged kidnappings. Banks travels to the seething, labyrinthine city of his memory in hopes of solving the mystery of his own, painful past, only to find that war is ravaging Shanghai beyond recognition-and that his own recollections are proving as difficult to trust as the people around him." A good book.

Judging by how I did last year, I haven't a hope of getting anywhere close to 50 books, but I'm going to try anyway!

1: Carte Blanche by Jeffrey Deaver.

Been big into James Bond recently & this is a new 007 novel. I like Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books so gave it a bash. And was pleasantly surprised to find half of it set in my neck of the woods, South Africa. An entertaining enough read.

The House At Riverton - Kate Morton

I just adored this historic mystery novel, set mostly in the Downton-esque world between 1914-1920. Young housemaid Grace is set on a tragic course when her life becomes increasingly entangled with her young mistress and the upper class family she serves.

A skifully drawn plot and intriguing characters you can empathise with pulls you effortlessly along, leaving enticing breadcumbs that draw you to the tragic conclusion. I especially love the way that the ultimate tragedy could be traced back to a simple, single and seemingly harmless white lie, so many years before.

LabRat

2. A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

It's done! It's done! The series is done! It was a long road, that's for sure. I'm still a little unsure about the ending. In one way, it's the perfect ending. In another, it's "I need at least 20 more pages!" Which is funny considering the series is 14 books long. Labby, Brandon Sanderson actually did a pretty good job of finishing the series, in my opinion. Things actually moved better, but I'm not sure if that's Brandon, or just because it's the end of the series. I've heard rumors of followup books, so maybe I'll get the answers I want.

Right - I'm going in. <rolls up sleeves and packs emergency supplies> Book 1, here I come. Wish me luck!

LabRat

#4 Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer

My daughter recommended this one. It's about what happens to a family after the moon is hit by an asteroid and all sorts of natural disasters take place.

Joan

3. Knight's Castle - by Edward Eager

Read this to my kids. Semi-Sequel to "Half-Magic", but it was a bit more confusing. I recommend reading Ivanhoe first to know about the knight characters the book refers to.

My daughter loved this writer.

Joan

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess .
Hilarious collection of essays about her childhood and her life. I had to read it just for the ethically taxidermied mouse on the cover. The mouse is standing on his hind legs, dressed as Hamlet with a velvet cape and a lace ruff, and holds a cleaned and polished mouse skull in his right paw.

Well worth reading, but alerts for adult language and situations. Highly recommended.

Understanding The Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien Criticism edited by Rose Zimbardo and Neil Isaacs.
Darn it, every time some Tolkien-based movie comes out, I relapse into my addiction. Sure, I can read only one chapter.... OK, maybe two... now I have to read more about the Ents! Get away while I look up some hobbit family trees, you!

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling.
A local councillor dies and there is much jockeying for his vacated position. It would have helped if I had known more about British small town governance (although Rowling makes it clear from context.) The author is excellent at characterization. However (SPOILER WARNING) this doesn't end as happily as the Harry Potter books did.

Agent of Hel: Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey.
The author of the "Kushiel" series stays in the current world, where the title character is a half-demon, half-human girl who is literally the Agent of Hel, Hel being the Norse goddess of the underworld, and the liaison between the human and eldritch communities. Things aren't going well in Pomkowet, a small resort town - there has been a murder and there's a link to the Underworld. Well-written, snappy, and light-reading fun.

A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix.
I've liked Nix's work ever since I read "Sabriel" years ago. He doesn't disappoint with this stand-alone novel about a Prince of the Empire. The Emperor is abdicating in two years and all the Princes of the Empire are angling for his position. One of the ways to get ahead is to kill your competition. Our hero comes of age and has to grow up. Not as good as the "Sabriel" trilogy but still enjoyable reading.

#5 Cinderella ate my Daughter by Peggy Orenstein

Some one on this list mentioned this book and I just had to check it out. Interesting commentary on the influence of girlie-girl culture on our daughters.

Joan

#2 - Size 12 is Not Fat - Meg Cabot

Catching up on the Heather Wells series. The first book is okay but not life changing. Just a cozy murder (apparently it's a sort of genre) for rainy days.

#3 - The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne

It's been on my to-read list since forever. I finally got the time and it was worth it.

#4 - Liz Tells Frank What Happened In... - Liz Shannon Miller

The book got me addicted to the blog with the same name. Basically, a friend tells the other what happens in tv series, books, movies... Want to know what happened in Bones since season 1 but don't have time to watch? Liz tells you (and Frank) about it. Never read Flowers in the Attic? No problem. It's also there (among many other pop-culture snippets). The writer is funny and witty in her way of giving exposition. It's totally worth it.

P.S. @IolantheAlias: So that's what those books of Bruce Campbell were about! A friend of mine had them and that's how I've learned of their existence. I never got around to borrow them and the curiosity has been nagging at me ever since. I'll try to find them and to read them somewhere in the future.

#6 Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

Very touching and disturbing story of two families in the South post WWII. It did an excellent job showing women's issues and racial prejudice for those times.

Joan

Conquests and Cultures by Thomas Sowell.
The author points out that when a "higher" culture conquers a "lower" one, the "lower" culture is enriched. Examples given are the British taking over some African countries and establishing law and order. When a lower culture conquers a higher one, there is usually loss of, well, just about everything, as the barbarians destroy things. One example given: The Romans conquer Britain, and bring in roads, aqueducts, bricks, etc. The Romans leave and Britain falls apart into a plethora of warring principalities. Bricks were not made in Britain between Roman times and the 17th century - it took that long to regain the technology. He shows that civilization is a fragile thing. The author doesn't shy at examining many controversial topics and backs up his conclusions with meticulous research.

Superman: Earth One by J. Michael Straczynski. A new and different take on the Superman origin story. I'm not sure why they decided they had to change it. It's OK and it ends up with Clark Kent being Superman and also working at the Daily Planet with Perry, Lois, and Jimmy.

#7 Enders by Lissa Price

Interesting futuristic novel in which older people can rent younger people's bodies. Definitely set up for a sequel.


Joan

Storm From The Shadows, Mission of Honor and A Rising Thunder by David Weber.
Space opera, interstellar naval battles, and political intrigue in Weber's "Honor Harrington" series.

The first book of the Honor Harrington series, On Basilisk Station , is available for free download from Baen Books. I remember reading this book many years ago and thinking, Hey, this is pretty good.. Twenty years and twenty books later, this series based on the life of British Admiral Horatio Nelson continues to entertain.

I like Baen Books as they are DRM-free and they have many books available for free so you can get hooked. (like the drug dealers, the first dose is free. )

Mister Monday, Grim Tuesday, and Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix.
Arthur Penhaligon gets a mysterious key and must find the pieces of the Will, torn apart ages ago into seven sections. These are the first three books of the YA "Keys of the Kingdom" series. I like it so far.

The Mirror of Her Dreams Mordant's Need Book One

A Man Rides Through Mordant's Need Book Two

Both books are by Stephen R. Donaldson. These two books are delicious to read on a quiet winter's night. Excellent characters, refreshing plot accented by Donaldson's crisp sharp writing. I promise you will never 'look' at full length mirrors the same way again.

Okay, so I didn't get back in time to finish posting the books I finished last year! Oops! But I'll write them down anyway, and then start counting from there.

-47) The Short, Victorious War - by David Weber
Another Honor Harrington book finished with my dad (we've agreed to take a break and read some Star Wars books next, thankfully), and again, it has an interesting story and a well-drawn setting, but the writing is incredibly unwieldy, always skipping important scenes and going on for chapters about things that don't really matter in the long run. Still, at least my favorite character didn't die this time!

-48) Illusion - by Paula Volsky
I always enjoy this book. The language is very beautiful and it's a flowing, poetic book that sets the French Revolution on a fantasy world. The way it demonstrates how quickly those who are searching for freedom can fall into anarchy is terrifying, as is the depths of class stigma, but it also draws out hope and overcomes the social problems to have an engaging love story.

-49) The Gates Of Twilight - by Paula Volsky
I'd never read this one before, but I'm glad I found it. It's set several hundred years after Illusion and paints a beautiful country (I believe it's based off of India?) that is both trying to work with and trying to be independent of its more 'advanced' neighbors (probably England?). The story of the spy who sneaks into the temples to find out the truth behind their cult is very nicely balanced by the old world princess trying to do her best for her country yet still live a life she's happy with.

-50) Land Of The Burning Sands - by Rachel Neumeier
The second in the Griffin Mage trilogy, I found this one even better than the first! The story of a slave who's searching so desperately for freedom yet keeps finding himself enslaved over and over again was so beautiful, in part, I think, because he was such a smart, kind man himself that could never turn away from helping others. And the engineers who couldn't keep a conversation going without degenerating into technical jargon were a lot of fun to read. Aside from the character story, though, the overarching plot concerning the griffins definitely amped up its danger and suspense!

1) A Memory Of Light - by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
I actually had the chance to go down to Provo, UT for the midnight release of this book and get to meet Brandon Sanderson personally. He's a really great author and a very likable person, so it was quite an amazing trip. But even more amazing was the ending of this series. As I mentioned, I've been reading this series for most of my life, and I am comfortable saying that I found the ending satisfactory. I finished it 24 hours after I received it, so I'm sure there's plenty I missed that I'll get the chance to go back and discover anew, but overall, I am very content. I definitely cried, and I laughed even, and there were a surprising number of happy, bittersweet scenes, but in the end, it was everything we've been building up to, which is tough when it's such a large, encompassing series. Amazing congratulations to Brandon Sanderson for being able to so competently tie up such an involved storyline, even when he's admitted there are things he didn't understand about Robert Jordan's notes. There are still questions, but there are more answers and conclusions and wonderful character moments, and so...I'm definitely happy. And I better stop before I start dropping spoilers!

2) Law Of The Broken Earth - by Rachel Neumeier
The last of the Griffin Mage trilogy, and I found it enjoyable from beginning to end. It was nice to get a resolution from the characters in the other books, and I quite liked the completion of the storyline about controlling the griffins. I'll definitely be looking into anything else this author might have written so far!

3) The Black Ship - by Diana Pharaoh Francis
This was kind of a 'meh' book. It started out very interesting with an engaging character, but after the two-hundredth thing had gone wrong before nightfall, I was a bit tired of trying to cheer the characters out of their dark moments. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great, and the language was a bit crude.

#5 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruíz Záfon

A mystery about a cemetery of forgotten books, a faceless man who obsessively seeks the last copies of an author's work to burn them and the boy who protects the only surviving (and sought after) copy of "The Shadow of the Wind".
And it's set in Barcelona.

I make it seem simplistic, but it's a very powerful romance with some gothic and fantastic elements, as well as a great love story.

Sir Thursday, Lady Friday, Superior Saturday, and Lord Sunday, all part of the "Keys of the Kingdom" series by Garth Nix.
Arthur Penhaligon continues his quest to gain all seven keys and reunite the Will of The Architect. Twist ending is enjoyable. A YA series and a quick read.

#8 The Island by Elin Hilderbrand

Nice story about two sisters and two daughters spending time together on an island and working through relationship issues. I like this writer but I don't always agree with her take on human nature.

Joan

#9 The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecelia Galante

My daughter recommended this one. It's about two girls who have been raised in a commune. One of their grandmothers learned they are being abused so she takes them away.

Joan

4. - Trixie Belden #2: The Red Trailer Mystery by Julie Campbell - Trixie and Honey go in search of a runaway boy named Jim and come across a mystery in the RV park.

This story is scarier than Trixie Beldon #1 book we read last year. Runaways, RV thieves, and a family on the run, so full of much excitement. A bit scary for my 5 y.o. but my almost 8 y.o. LOVED it!

Trixie Belden series is like a younger version of Nancy Drew (so I've been told) with horses. Written and set in the 1950s.

Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold.
Set in Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan continuity, this has Miles going to the planet Kibou-daini to investigate suspicious going-on in the cryonics industry. Better than I'm making it sound, but not the best book in the Vorkosigan series. Now that Miles is an Imperial Auditor, it's tougher to place him in bad situations - Bujold can't pull the "have to report to my superiors" card anymore. But she still manages to work in lots of drama and conflict!

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold.
Ivan finally gets married. To whom? You'll have to read the book to find out.

The Defector by Daniel Silva.
Israeli spy and art-restorer Gabriel Allon fights for truth and justice in this thriller.

You're reading Trixie Belden!!


I grew up thinking every American teenager was just like Trixie and Honey, Jim and Brian. (And it was here that I learned what a jalopy was!)

I found a fanfic site once, but it gave my computer a virus, so be warned. (And the one story I did read was very ordinary.)

Keep reading. The one set in Arizona (#6?) was my favourite.

At some stage, the author changes from Julie Campbell to Kathryn Kenny. IMO, the books weren't as good after that.

Corrina.

Well, I'm spending all my free time writing instead of reading, so I've decided to include the books I'm reading aloud to my daughter at night at bedtime. (My son still prefers picture books, but he listens in as well). I wanted to read her Nancy Drew, but thought it might be too scary, so the librarian suggested Trixie. I had never heard of her stories before, but my older sister has read her books and said she LOVED them too.

I always find it fun to read the "classics" or books written during an earlier era to see how much has changed. Kids used to have much more freedom than they do nowadays. I'm also reading my daughter the "Fudge" books by Judy Blume (started with "Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing") because I thought she'd appreciate her brother more after hearing about how Fudge tortured Peter. These books were fairly new when I read them as a kid, but I've already noted difference between now and then. The dentist who doesn't let mothers come in while he's checking the kid's teeth, was seen as super-cool by Peter, while nowadays no mother would allow that (out of fear of pedophiles).

Times, they are a changing.

#10 Winning Balance by Shawn Johnson

A good read. It made me laugh when she kept insisting how 'normal' she was.

Joan

When I was a child, I *loved* Trixie Belden. I never really got into Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, but Trixie always appealed to me. I never knew anyone else to share my enjoyment in her stories.

Out of curiosity, did anyone here ever read Encyclopedia Brown? His series was another one I enjoyed as a child, but about whom I had had no one to share my pleasure.

Joy,
Lynn

#5 -"Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great" by Judy Blume - Second book in her "Tales of the 4th Grade Nothing" series (otherwise known as Fudge).

This book takes a look at life from Peter's nemisis, Sheila Tubman's POV. I didn't find her a very sympathetic character and can understand why Peter doesn't like her. It's about a pre-teen girl making friends with some girls while spending the summer out of the city (NYC). She refuses to admit that she's ever wrong, that she's ever afraid (although, that she is of *everything*), and that she should ever compromise. Hmmmm. Sounds like another character we know and love. It doesn't make me look forward for the next few years with my daughter. I'm hoping my daughter won't turn into such a pill.

I found a few cheap Kindle books and hit the online library.

3. Stop the Wedding - Stephanie Bond. This was a few weeks ago, so I can't remember most of my reaction. Guess it wasn't that memorable.

A few false starts as I picked up a book or two and couldn't get past the first few pages.

4. The Knitting Diaries - Debbie Macomber, Susan Mallery, Christina Skye. Susan Mallery is hit or miss for me, but this was on the good side. I'd never read Debbie Macomber before, and I wasn't too thrilled with her story here. It almost made me dread the other book I'd borrowed from the library...

5. Call Me Mrs. Miracle - Debbie Macomber. I'd seen the movie on Hallmark, so I was curious. It was a cute story, and it was easy to imagine the actors portraying the characters as I read. (I'm a visual reader)

The Year's Best Science Fiction Stories edited by Gardner Dozois.
Haunting the library, I picked up this edition which featured stories published in 1991. One of the most interesting parts was the editor's prologue, where he gives kind of a "State of the SF Universe" speech. He talks about publishers, and how "e-books are on the horizon". It makes me realize how much computers, the internet, etc., have changed in the last 20 years. When I was a kid, my grandparents had a vacation cottage with old books lying around in it. I read many a book on those slow summer days, and I was fascinated by "Tom Swift and his Photo Telephone":



I love seeing the cover, where Tom is talking into a weirdly mixed style of phone - the video screen is right from the 2000's, but the telephone handpiece and speaking tube are more 1870's. Just an example of technological change.

Oh yes, the SF stories in the "Year's Best" anthology were excellent, too.

#11 Where We Belong by Emily Giffin

Girl gives up baby for adoption. Eighteen years later she's visited by her daughter. Entertaining read.

Joan

The Shape of Desire and Still Life With Shapeshifter, both by Sharon Shinn.
I've liked Sharon Shinn's work ever since I came across her "Archangel" series. In these two books, she examines what life would be like if you were the person who loved a shapeshifter. What if the person you loved couldn't control his or her transformation into an animal shape? What if they were hurt or killed in their other shape? How would you ever know what happened to them? Haunting and moving.

I finished that one a couple of weeks ago and I'd definitely recommend it, too. Rowling has such a great eye for little details in her characterizations.

Thus far this year, in addition to The Casual Vacancy (make that #1), I've also read:

2. Katherine by Anya Seton. It's an old book, recently reissued that is a fictionalized telling of the love affair between Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt. As you'll see from the rest of my list, I wallow in English history.

3. Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II by Paul Doherty. A re-examination of the events surrounding the death of Edward II. In the end, Doherty postulates the Edward escaped and some unfortunate doppelganger is buried in Gloucester Cathedral. I'd come to this book after reading Alison Weir's "Isabella" and I've now started "The Greatest Traitor" by Ian Mortimer (about Isabella's lover, Roger Mortimer).

4. 1066, The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth. A fun slice of life kind of book, putting you back in 1066 and explaining how people lived ordinary (and recognizable to modern eyes) lives in the midst of a world-changing year.

5. The River at the Center of the World by Simon Winchester. I love ALL of Simon Winchester's books and started off the year by rereading this one. He documents his journey up the Yangtze River just before the Three Gorges Dam was built. He touches on history, culture and geography. He's a wonderful storyteller with a keen eye for human nature (including his own lesser moments).

Currently, I have three books going. I'll report back when I'm through them.

Mark me down as having adored Trixie Belden as a kid. I inherited a ton of books from an older cousin. Trixie Belden, The Bobbsey Twins, The Happy Hollisters, and The Boxcar Children are the ones I chiefly remember. I also gorged myself at the library on Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I personally collected all the Encyclopedia Brown books. And then I hit about 12 and someone loaned me Flowers in the Attic and I went on a trashy reading binge that lasted for years.

The Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan

The Eye of the World
The Great Hunt
The Dragon Reborn
The Shadow Rising
The Fires of Heaven
Lord of Chaos
A Crown of Swords

So, halfway through now and I find that I'm enjoying all of this tremendously. Even more than I did first time round, I suspect.

Reading this on the Nexus is a real pleasure because when I get confused over who someone is, I can quickly pop onto Google and check them out, so I find I'm following events much more easily than I did before and am more able to keep up.

LabRat

2. Salmon fishing in the Yemen - Paul Torday.

3. A Full Cupboard of Life - Alexander McCall Smith.

4. A guide to the birds of East Africa - Nicholas Drayson.

#12 Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

My daughter liked this one so I thought I'd try it. I was a little worried it was a Twilight knockoff but it seems to have more to it.


Joan

The Bright Empires series by Stephan Lawhead
6. The Skin Map
7. The Bone House
8. The Spirit Well

This is books 1-3 of a 5 book series. The last two haven't been published yet. Kit Livingstone one day takes a shortcut through a London street, and meets his great-grandfather, who introduces him to travel through ley lines, which can take a person to any point and time in history, or just around the world (never the future). When Kit tries to show his girlfriend that he's telling the truth, he loses her. What follows is an adventure through various times and places as he looks for both her and the Skin Map.

The books are a bit confusing at times (after all, it is about time travel, which is never linear). Book 1 ended with "How did that person get there?!" It doesn't follow just Kit, but also several other travelers. But for the most part it's an enjoyable read.

#13 Teach Your Children Well - Parenting for Authentic Success by Madeline Levine

It's refreshing to read about ideas you already believe in and see them backed up by research.

Joan

#6 - Death, and the death of Quincas Wateryell - Jorge Amado

Tragicomic story about a stubborn man that died twice because the first death wasn't to his liking. Amado is a master at storytelling.

#7 - The Gospel according to Jesus Christ - José Saramago

It was (and is) considered a very controversial book because in it Jesus Christ is portrayed as a regular male, who happens to be a living puppet in the hands of a mean God - his father.

#8 - Beowulf

It took me a few days and a good dictionary to get used to the old English, but after that I greatly enjoyed the epic poem.

#9 - Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maud Montgomery

I don't know where this book was while I was growing up. It was one of the best I've ever read, this tale of an awkward and imaginative red haired girl who grows up to be very special.

#10 - The Drama of the Gifted Child - Alice Miller

The premise is interesting: some children are born gifted but, because of their narcissistic parents, end up wasting their potential and becoming themselves narcissistic adults. That said, the book centers on psychoanalysys and how it could help discover those childhood traumas. The problem is that the author of the book in the preface of the most recent editions discredits the value of psychoanalysys. The book is pretty much bereft of any credibility and is only interesting from an anedoctal point of view.

#11 - Stranger to History - Aatish Taseer

It was hard to follow for someone like me who doesn't have a profound knowledge of the islamic nations. I found it confusing in some parts, but it's noticeable the effort that the author put into this first-person report of his voyage through islamic lands.

WAR and PEACE by Tolstoy

Its time I read this one.

6. - Trixie Belden #3: The Gatehouse Mystery by Julie Campbell.

Trixie and her friend Honey find a diamond in the dirt of the old abandoned Gatehouse of Honey's estate. With the help of Jim, Honey's adopted big brother, and Trixie's older brothers, Brian and Mart, now home from camp, they piece together the clues to find out who had stolen the diamond and dropped it in the Gatehouse.

Another fun adventure with these young teens. The amount of time they allow younger brother Bobby to spend time alone with a total stranger (Honey's new chauffeur, aptly named "Dick") is another example how today isn't the 1950's.

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova.
"Sarah Nickerson, like any other working mom, is busy trying to have it all. One morning while racing to work and distracted by her cell phone, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In that blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her over-scheduled life come to a screeching halt. After a brain injury steals her awareness of everything on her left side, Sarah must retrain her mind to perceive the world as a whole. In so doing, she also learns how to pay attention to the people and parts of her life that matter most." Good novel about facing the world when you're not aware of your left side (due to right brain injury). You can't walk because you not aware of where your left leg is. You can't read because you can't see the left side of words. Powerful and moving.

In The Dark Of Dreams by Marjorie M. Liu.
OK romance about two lovers sharing dreams. Apparently Liu has written for the comics which might explain how much action happens in this book and how it takes a long time for our protagonists to actually communicate with each other.

The Dream-Hunter by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
"Dr. Megeara Kafieri watched her father ruin himself and his reputation as he searched to prove Atlantis was real. Her deathbed promise to him to salvage his reputation has now brought her to Greece where she intends to prove once and for all that the fabled island is right where her father said it was. But frustration and bad luck dog her every step. Especially the day they find a stranger floating in the sea. His is a face she's seen many times.... in her dreams.
What she doesn't know is that Arik holds more than the ancient secrets that can help her find the mythical isle of Atlantis. He has made a pact with the god Hades: In exchange for two weeks as a mortal man, he must return to Olympus with a human soul. Megeara's soul."
Part of Kenyon's "Dream Hunter" series and a serviceable read.

Be Still My Vampire Heart by Kerrilyn Sparks.
Romantic fluff and fun. The vampires are the good guys in this series. You might guess it's comedy when the first book in the series was titled "How To Marry A Millionaire Vampire".

Long Hot Summoning by Tanya Huff.
Laugh-out-loud book 3 of the "Keeper's Chronicles" where our heroes must stop an encroaching of Hell into our dimension... yes, Hell is in a shopping mall.

In Fury Born by David Weber. Space opera.

A Princess of Roumania by Paul Park.
"Many girls daydream that they are really a princess adopted by commoners. In the case of teenager Miranda Popescu, this is literally true. Because she is at the fulcrum of a deadly political battle between conjurers in an alternate world where "Roumania" is a leading European power, Miranda was hidden by her aunt in our world, where she was adopted and raised in a quiet Massachusetts college town."

Over The Wine-Dark Sea
The Gryphon's Skull
The Sacred Land
Owls To Athens
all by H.N. Turteltaub (pseudonym for Harry Turtledove)
Sostratos and Menedemos are cousins (Menedemos is the captain, Sostratos is the toikarkhos or business manager) on the "Aphrodite", an akatos (ship with twenty oarsmen) that plies the luxury trade in the Mediterranean about 310 BC, about 15 years after the death of Alexander the Great. Over the series, they travel from their home island of Rhodes to various destinations - Great Hellas (southern Italy), Sicily, various Greek islands, Phoenicia, and (obviously) Athens. Very enjoyable if you like to read "how things really were" in those days. Not so fun if you were actually living at that time - the Macedonian marshals were squabbling over Alexander's empire and common people get caught up in the affairs of the great.

Schism
The Final Key
by Catherine Asaro.
Very readable and fun books in her "Skolian Empire" series. However, there is a big vulnerability to the good guys' empire: If your huge galactic empire depends entirely on only two people (Rhon telepaths) that can keep the infrastructure going, you've got a big problem.

Ike's Bluff: President Eisenhower's Secret Battle To Save The World by Evan Thomas.
It's the 1950's, you're Dwight Eisenhower, you've just been elected president, and you have control over the nation's nuclear arsenal. Should you wage pre-emptive war on the Soviets? Should you bomb North Korea to end the Korean war? Should you support the troops at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam and perhaps drag American into another Asian land war? Should you support the British and the French in the Suez crisis? Eisenhower navigated his way through the stormy shoals of statecraft and he never got full credit for it - he's a hugely underrated president.

#14 Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

A wife goes missing and her husband is suspecting of foul play. But there's far more going on than initially meets the eye.


Joan

Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child by Bob Spitz.
Well-written and readable bio of the famous TV chef who was a rich debutante, went to Smith College, joined the OSS during World War II, traveled the world, met her husband, moved to Paris, and learned how to cook. And yes, they do reference the famous "Saturday Night Live" Dan Aykroyd skit - "Save the liver!"

The Wheel of Time Series - Robert Jordan

The Path of Daggers
Winter's Heart
Crossroads of Twilight
Knife of Dreams

By Brandon Sanderson

The Gathering Storm
Towers of Midnight
A Memory of Light

Wow. Well, that's that then. It took over 22 years, but finally we reach a conclusion. And I have to say, right up front, that I thought Sanderson took over the series absolutely masterfully. All kudos to the man, it can't have been an easy task.

LabRat

Oh, I love it. In fact, you've made me remember that I meant to read it again once I finished A Memory of Light. Must get to it this week.

#15 11/22/63 by Stephen King

I think I've mentioned before that I've enjoyed his earlier books but haven't been as impressed by later offerings. This book was one of the best I've read of his in a long time. A man discovers he can use a portal to go back in time so he decides to try to prevent the assassination of Kennedy. A great read!

Joan

#12 - Gabriela Clove and Cinnamon - Jorge Amado

#13 - The Old Sailors - Jorge Amado

# 14 - Brandwashed - Martin Lindstrom

#15 - Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafón

#16 - Love Poems from Ancient Egypt - anonymous

The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons.
Entertaining and downright hilarious book about the National Basketball Association. Worth reading for the footnotes alone.

Great North Road by Peter Hamilton.
Doorstopper with excellent plot that I couldn't put down. Twenty years ago, Bartram (one of the patriarchs of a very rich and influential family of clones) was brutally murdered, along with the rest of his household, in his billionaire's stronghold. One woman, Angela Tremalo, lived, and was convicted of the murders. She denies it and says that an alien did the deeds. She is now in prison - and yet another murder of another member of the clone family (the Norths, giving a double meaning to the title) with the same modus operandi, happens and makes people think - maybe she was right. Police Detective Sid Hurst gets the unenviable and highly politicized job of finding out what really happened. There's a lot more to the book than this; recommended as a very good read. Hamilton doesn't disappoint.

The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde.
Fforde's patented absurdity in the next volume of the adventures of Literary Detective Thursday Next. Too much fun to summarize. Best if read from the beginning of the series, which starts with The Eyre Affair . Don't miss this series if you love books.

New Spring - Robert Jordan

I enjoyed it. It was too short for me - this is why I rarely read novellas; generally they frustrate me too much - and I felt the ending was a bit rushed. But it was a nice fleshing out of Lan and Moiraine's meeting.

LabRat :-)

#16 Poisoned Love by Caitlin Rother

One of the aspects I like about true crime books is seeing all the pieces of evidence put together and how the trial lawyers present their cases. This book was great in that respect.

Joan

#17 The Kill Order by James Dashner

This was a prequel to the Maze Runner series. I've been reading these books with my son. While this book had lots of action and provided some explanations as to how the world got the way it was in the trilogy, it didn't answer some of the more interesting questions for me.

Joan

#18 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A boy's grandfather tells stories about children in old photos doing the seemingly impossible. As he grows older, he believes his grandfather is making it all up. Then he learns otherwise. It was an interesting premise but not highly engaging to read.

Joan

#17 - Nine Stories - J.D. Salinger

#18 - A Game of Thrones - George RR MArtin

#19 - Moving Pictures - Terry Pratchett

The Rigante Series - David Gemmell:

Sword In The Storm
Midnight Falcon
Ravenheart

I'm slowly becoming a great fan of Gemmell. His worlds may not be as densely populated as other fantasy authors, but his characters have heart and that goes a long way.

So, I enjoyed this series of linked stories set in an alternate world where various, thinly tweaked, historical peoples blend and merge. A world of psuedo-Romans, warring highland clans and forest spirits.

I got these three out on loan online from my local library and am slightly irked that book four is nowhere to be seen. But as each book contained a serious time jump, concentrating on new characters, I guess it won't hurt to wait for it.

So, I'm a little late to the game, but I haven't been able to do much outside reading due to RL and mostly schoolwork. (It never stops. I literally got one week off between the last set of classes and this one. Nine more weeks until my next break!! ) Anyways, read this in class and really enjoyed it.

#1: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

I really enjoyed it (Apparently the movie Blade Runner is based on this book). I love science fiction, and we're supposed to read more PKD this quarter, so I'm already on a better start than last year. :p

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray.
I thought this was going to be another boring Victorian novel - but it's not. It's a great book about Becky Sharp, orphan and adventuress, making her way through society in England from about 1810 to 1848. Becky is contrasted with Amelia Sedley, the "good girl" who marries the bad man. Much focusing on money and marriage prospects. I enjoyed this book (a book club assignment) a lot more than I thought I would.

It made me pull this book off my shelf and re-read it:
What Jane Austen Ate And Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox-Hunting To Whist - The Daily Facts of Life In 19th Century England by Daniel Pool.
What was a guinea? Which ranked higher, an earl or a baron? What was the difference between getting married by banns and getting married by a special license? What was a glebe? And all sorts of other information about the stuff in Victorian novels that everyone knew at the time but has now disappeared.
Answers: A guinea is a pound plus a shilling, so 21 shillings. An earl ranks higher than a baron but is less than a duke. Banns were announcements of a marriage from the pulpit in church, for three straight weeks. If no one forbade the banns the man and woman could be married. The banns were free, unlike a special license which had to be gotten from the Archbishop of Canterbury and cost a whacking great sum. And a glebe was the farmland attached to the clergyman's "living" - his position as a rector or vicar to a parish in the Church of England.

I have that book, although I can't tell you where it is currently located. Probably in a box with all my Agatha Christie novels. Ah, reminds me of my days as a hopeful Regency novelist. Sigh. Someday, I'll make it back to England and travel the countryside by coach or train (I'm sure both the English and I would prefer it I *didn't* drive myself). Eat real scones, drink real tea, walk through real gardens. Sigh. I hope all of you living in Britain take advance of that whenever you can, so the rest of us can live vicariously.

#19 The Blue Bistro by Elin Hilderbrand

Romantic fluff about a girl working at a bistro on Nantucket.

The Historical Atlas of the Bible by Dr. Ian Barnes.
Fascinating and copiously illustrated atlas of the areas mentioned in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Israel/Judea/Syria/Lebanon/Philistia was the important land route from Eurasia to Egypt/Africa, hence the constant battles over who ruled the area.

It's told in chronological order, so the map is often of the same territory, the only thing changing are the political boundaries.

The maps range from city-size (comparing the Jerusalems of David and Herod) to continent-wide (the empires of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire). Loads of fun to read if you like maps, like I do.

More David Gemmell:

Lion of Macedon
Dark Prince

Having adored Gemmell's Troy series last year, I was delighted to see him return to the Ancient World with his Greek series. I enjoyed this just as much.

White Wolf

I was sort of missold this one as the first book in a series. It is, but it's also part of the larger world of the Drenai series, begun with Legend. I suspect I should have read that first to ground myself. But that lack of knowledge didn't stymie me too much and I really loved this one. Full of excellent characters. I look forward to seeing more of them when I start Legend and read the second book in this series, which I've already ordered.

Book 4 of the Rigante series hit my doormat this morning, so off to immerse myself in that world again. Fun!

LabRat

#20 Kill For Me by M. Willam Phelps

True crime story. The author does a nice job of putting the pieces together.

Joan

#21 The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch

Average post-apacolytic tale.

Joan

Stormrider (The Rigante #4) - David Gemmell

Unlike the others in the series, this one didn't take a large leap into the future but picked a few years after book 3, tying up loose ends and more.

It's becoming clear that there are certain grand themes that Gemmell likes to cover in all of his books. I can forgive this lack of originality of plot because his characters are so heartfelt that I love spending time with them.

LabRat :-)

#22 Brady, Brady, Brady by Sherwood and Lloyd Schwartz

What can I say? I'm a sucker for this type of stuff.

Joan

The Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher

9. Furies of Calderon
10. Academ's Fury
11. Cursor's Fury
12. Captain's Fury
13. Princeps' Fury
14. First Lord's Fury

(From Wiki) The series chronicles the coming-of-age of a young man named Tavi in the realm of Alera, an empire similar to Rome, on the world of Carna. Every Aleran has some degree of command over elemental forces or spirits called furies, save for Tavi, who is considered unusual for his lack of one. As the aging First Lord struggles to maintain his hold on a realm on the brink of civil war, Tavi must use all of his intelligence to save Alera.

I love Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, so I was curious about this series. Butcher knows how to write interesting characters and plots, that's for sure. The series drew me in, and I couldn't wait to see how it would all end.

I absolutely adored the Codex Alera series. Such great characters and - as you might expect from Butcher - witty dialogue.

I also love the fact that Butcher wrote these as the result of a bet that he couldn't write a good book based on a lame idea and that he responded that he'd do it using TWO lame ideas of the challenger's choosing- which turned out to be "lost Roman legion" and "Pokemon".

LabRat :-)

2. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Another great science fiction read, though drastically different from "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" :p

The Forgotten by David Baldacci.

Page-turning thriller where Army man John Puller, on leave, investigates the supposedly-innocuous (but really murder) death of his elderly aunt in a small Florida Gulf Coast town.

#23 Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors and Other True Cases by Ann Rule

I generally like Ann Rule but the shorter cases weren't capturing my attention as well.

#24 Austenland by Shannon Hale

A Jane Austin fan gets a fantasy vacation set in Regency England. Lots of fun.


Joan

The Secret Gift by Ted Gup.
"In hard economic times like these, readers will find bestselling author Ted Gup's unique book uplifting as well as captivating. Inside a suitcase kept in his mother's attic, Gup discovered letters written to his grandfather in response to an ad placed in a Canton, Ohio, newspaper in 1933 that offered cash to seventy-five families facing a devastating Christmas. The author travels coast to coast to unveil the lives behind the letters, describing a range of hardships and recreating in his research the hopes and suffering of Depression-era Americans, even as he uncovers the secret life led by the grandfather he thought he knew."

The Swords of Night and Day - David Gemmell

I adored this one. Gemmell's strength is definitely in his wonderful characters.

I always begin one of his books feeling sad because we've taken a vast jump forward in time and the characters I love are dead and gone and don't transfer from book to book.

But then Gemmell tosses in a whole bunch of new characters and I fall in love all over again.
(Although in this case three of the main characters did transfer over because they were Reborns).

LabRat

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

The author is an oncologist who mixes in case reports of his patients with historical notes about the diagnosis and treatment of cancer through the ages. Herodotus mentions Atossa, the Queen of Persia, who had her breast cut off because of a tumor - and this was back in 500 BC or thereabouts. Then in the 19th century, "weisses blut" ("white blood" or leukemia) was described. Mukherjee talks about the "Jimmy Fund" in Boston and how the original "Jimmy" (Einar Gustafson) was still alive at the time of writing - one of the few kids who survived leukemia.

From early treatments of surgery, primitive chemotherapy, and burning radiation, to today's more-targeted therapies of receptor antibodies and hormone therapy, the history of cancer is described. Fascinating reading.

Out of curiosity, do self-help books count?? I've been reading a lot of those lately...

(I'm currently in the process of trying to change this: )

#25 Fly Away by Kristen Hannah

A sequel to Firefly Lane. Engaging story about friends coping with the loss of a loved one.

#26 To Space and Back by Mark Goddard

As a Lost in Space fan, I had to read this. When I noticed it was only 125 pages, I had a feeling it wouldn't be that great. It wasn't. I've read more about LIS from magazine articles and TV show interviews over the years than the single chapter in this book. There was lots of name dropping about his heyday in the 60s but an overall lack of substance. You'd think switching gears midlife from acting to teaching would be more inspirational. This wasn't conveyed in this book. He either had a poor ghost writer or he isn't very deep.

Mouse - I think self help books count!

Joan

Mouse, if that's what you're reading...go for it.

LabRat :-)

#27 Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

A reporter returns home to look into the murder of two little girls. This author always delivers interesting (and disturbing) twists.

Joan

#28 Mugged by Anne Coulter

Joan

7. The Mysterious Benedtict Society - By Trenton Lee Stewart

The world has become a very dark place and the only people who can stop a crazy man from taking over the world are 4 orphaned and highly intelligent kids.

My daughter *loved* this book. I found it a bit predictable in places, but the plot and characters are very intriguing. NOTE: It's very long. (2" thick)


8. Superfudge - By Judy Blume

The next book in the Fudge / 'Tales of the Fourth Grade Nothing' series. Fudge and Peter's family gets a new baby and they move to Princeton, NJ for a year.

My son *loved* this book. Judy Blume did a re-write of this recently to update it to modern day (the items the kids wanted for Christmas, that sort of thing), which surprised me. If you read enough of the classics to kids, they are pretty adaptable if you explain that the book was written back in an earlier era (1970s, originally, because the Hatchers go and watch Superman in the cinema, hence the title). It also lets you talk to them about toys you (or your parents) wanted when you were kids. WARNING: this book may cause your children to question how babies are made (phew, luckily my kids haven't asked that one yet), and if Santa really exists. (I used selective editing to make it through that passage).


9. Mind in the Making - By Ellen Galinsky

I wasn't sure if I should include this on my list or not because, technically, I never finished it. It was my reading assignment for parenting class. Most of the advice works better for parents of newborns through toddler age, and I didn't find it very applicable to my family. Moreover is was very dry. Basically, she takes 1000s of psychological studies done on babies from birth onwards and goes through them... ALL, listing when, where, and who did the study and summarized what they "discovered" from said study. (Come on, people, do you really need a study to see that kids will get bored if you chop up a Sesame Street skit and show it to them out of order so that it doesn't make sense? Or that if you leave the TV on in the back ground, they won't be able to concentrate as well than if you turn it off, even if it's a "boring game show"? Note to psychologists: kids LOVE game shows and NEVER find them boring.) It reads more like a college thesis than a self-help book. Several of the studies, I found, like the ones referenced above, went in assuming that kids are stupid automatons, and lo and behold the studies found that kids have brains. :rolleyes: I'd say that the best parenting books are intriguing and funny, this book failed in both those respects. You need to keep your audience awake and entertained or you'll loose us, because we'd much rather be reading a novel (or LnC fanFiction) and our free reading time is very limited. If you're a new parent (or soon to be parent) this would be a better match for you than it was for me and my classmates, who mostly have 5+ aged kids, as I do recall thinking at times, "Well, I wished I had known that when my kids were infants." Alas, I can't recall off the top of my head what any of that stuff was, though.

Ironhand's Daughter - David Gemmell
Legend - David Gemmell

Last of Gemmell for now until I can afford to buy more. Directing my funds at a DVD backlog for now.

LabRat :-)

Call The Midwife by Jennifer Worth.
The book that the current PBS series is based on. A memoir of a woman who was a midwife in the East End of the London in the 1950's. Due to a lack of effective contraception, women were constantly pregnant and the midwives were constantly employed. One woman mentioned in the book had had 25 (yes, twenty-five!) children.

#29 Twenty Something: Why do young adults seem stuck? by Robin and Samantha Henig

Mother/daughter team writing about new and not so new factors affecting people in their twenties.

Joan

#30 Family Pictures by Jane Green

A woman seems happily married but you know something's going to happen. And it's big... Interesting read about women surviving personal disasters.

Joan

#31 Zoo by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

Animals aren't behaving normally. And they're starting to attack humans.

Joan