Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic 50 Book Challenge 2014/What I've Read In 2014

10. - "The Frog Princess" - By E.D. Baker - Emeralda is a princess. Her mother wants her to marry a man she doesn't love. So, while avoiding her mother by walking by the swamp behind her castle, Emeralda (Emma) comes upon a talking frog who says that he used to be Prince Eadric. He asks for a kiss and she grants his request with unforeseen consequences.

I had heard rumors (i.e. the back of the book) that this story was the one the Disney movie was based on. If so, it only borrowed one plot point from it. That the "princess" turns into a frog.


11. - "How to Train Your Dragon: Book 2: How to be A Pirate" - by Cressida Cowell - Hiccup and the Horrible Haddocks are back, only this time they've discovered the coffin of famous dead pirate. What they find inside this coffin (yes, they open it, looking for treasure), sends them on a wild adventure.

While my son *loved* the first book in the series, he found this one too slow with very little action (for the first half of the book). He complained that all they were doing was talking and not doing anything. Plus, I believe the concept of opening a casket was gruesome to him. I have to admit that this story is not for the queasy stomached as the characters and what they come up against are quite disgusting at times. My daughter and I enjoyed it, though, because Toothless is hilarious and the antics of the Viking clan funny.

29. Legend, by Marie Lu

A young adult dystopian novel, set mostly in a future Los Angeles. One of my students told me I just had to read it, so I did. It's a pretty good book -- a little slow at times, but still a good read, and this dystopian future is definitely an unpleasant one.

#22 Dust by Hugh Howey

Last of the Wool trilogy. Enjoyable but I do have some continuity nitpicks.

Joan

To Kill Or Cure: The Thirteenth Chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew - Susanna Gregory

This was more my area - medieval England - and I greatly enjoyed the rich array of interesting characters. Although I was much more interested in how they would deal with the sly conman pretending to be a doctor (rather satisfyingly as it happened) than the central whodunnit.

LabRat

34) Killing Willis by Todd Bridges
35) Real Girl Next Door by Denise Richards
36) The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry
37) The Devil’s Gold by Steve Berry (short story)


34 & 35) Autobiographies. Todd Bridges story shows the devastating effects of child abuse. Denise Richards shows the terrible effects of drug abuse.

36 & 37) Both good thrillers.

The Ghost of Blackwood Lane - Greg Enslen

When he was 15 years old, Chris was hypnotised to make him forget his highschool sweetheart in order to save him and his father from a mobster. Years later, Chris is haunted by dreams of a woman he does not know. A woman in deadly danger from her abusive husband...

The first of my Kindle free books, this was actually a pretty decent thriller, although the characters were somewhat simplistic and stereotypical.

A Legacy of Light: The Dragon War Part I - Daniel Arenson

There was little that was original in this fantasy tale of siblings at war, evil tyrants, brave rebels, et al, but I greatly enjoyed it nonetheless. Interesting characters who were able to change into dragons at will got me past the often clunky dialogue and scenery-chewing.

LabRat

Thrice Upon a Time - James P. Hogan

Murdoch's grandfather called...he's built a time machine in his basement. Crazy? Yes. For real? Yes, when your grandfather is Sir Charles Patrick Ross, inventor, nuclear physicist, Nobel Laureate. The machine can send messages forward or backward in time one day. What good is a time machine that can only send information and only has a range of one day? Sure, it can change a life, but can it save the world? And who gets the girl?

This book has been a favorite for some time. Having read a several of Hogan's stories recently, I was very surprised when I checked the copyright date of this book. This book flowed so well that I was sure it was one of his later novels and found that it was written early in his career. Good mix of A and B plots. Highly recommended for FoLCs.

Favorite quote: "Goes together like gravy and ice cream."

Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton by Jeff Pearlman.
Good biography of the Chicago Bears NFL football player, from his birth and upbringing in rural Mississippi (still segregated into the 1970's) to his death from bile duct cancer in 1999. He lived only 46 years, but many have fond memories of a good man.

Enchantment's Reach: The Orb Undreamed - Martin Ash

When the author was actually telling the story this was actually a pretty decent fantasy novel. There were some pacing issues early on but once it settled down it certainly engaged me and I'd quite like to find out what happens next.

LabRat

38) The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger. Classic #4

I enjoyed this book.

30. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
31. Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
32. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins

I've read all of these before, but I felt like reading them again, so I carried them backstage with me and read between scenes. The Hunger Games is an excellent dystopian series, and I liked it as well as the last couple of times I read it.

33. Prodigy: A Legend Novel, by Marie Lu

This one was better than the first book in the Legend series. I'm a bit surprised this is considered YA (not that there were any particularly "adult" scenes in it -- kissing was as far as it went). The political concepts were complex, though, more like what one would find in a novel written for adults instead of teens. I think the reason it's YA is that the two protagonists are teenagers.

Cain's Blood - Geoffrey Girard

I love to read and when I entered the local bookstore and saw the book mentioned above, I just fell for it. "Cain's Blood" is a Thriller, which the moment you start reading won't let you go until the very last page. Only for people with iron stomachs and please don't read it in bed before going to sleep, if you're not used to Thrillers with loads of blood and guts in it!

I love Thrillers, Fantasy and (don't laugh!!!) romantic novels. Here are a couple of others I read in the last 1,5 months:

The Impaler - Sam Markham
The Sculptor - Sam Markham
Deeper Than the Dead - Tami Hoag
The Sword of Truth - Terry Goodkind (whole series)
The Loop - Nicholas Evans
Night of Wolves - David Daldlish
The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova
The Night Angel Trilogy - Brent Weeks (only have a couple of chapters left in the last book of the trilogy)

#23 Picture Perfect: The Jodi Arias Story by Shanna Hogan

Typical true crime. Not much mystery as to what happened.

#24 Feed by Mira Grant

I originally downloaded this YA tittle thinking my kids might like it. Zombies don't do much for me and this book is all about a post apocalyptic Zombie world. I was completely surprised by this book. The details the author used, creating the world, letting us understand exactly how these developments came about. The characters, aspiring journalists 16 year old brother and sister Shaun and Georgia, were well developed, as well as the plot to determine who was targeting the presidential candidate. I was really impressed. And there's a sequel!

Joan

Ooooh, Lara. A woman after my own heart. Thrillers/Fantasy are my first choices, too.

I've posted on quite a number of both genres in this and previous Book Challenge threads if you're looking for inspiration/new authors! Looking forward to seeing what's been on your list, too!

LabRat

@LabRat: Sounds fantastic! I love books...and I'm a really fast reader
I have to see what else I've read since the beginning of 2014, but I'm sure there's gonna be one or the other you might enjoy as well ^^

34. Lean Mean Thirteen, by Janet Evanovich

After her ex-husband disappears, Stephanie Plum has to clear her name.

The God King: Heirs of the Fallen I - James A. West

An enjoyable fantasy. Interesting characters although the plot was none too original and I did get tired of major characters dying only to be miraculously resurrected instants later. As this first book ended as a complete story with no cliffhanger, I'm in no rush to read what happens next. But if I get the chance at some point, I wouldn't mind visiting with Kian and his companions again.

Daughter Of The Sea - Mira Zamin

This fantasy set in Rome and Atlantis skimmed along the surface somewhat and never really dipped beneath, still I enjoyed it and it was just the light-reading ticket for a sunny afternoon.

Tribes - John Wilson

America is bankrupt. As society crumbles and inferstructures fail, Tom and his neighbours in a small, gated community struggle to survive an increasingly hostile world. Inevitably, this reminded me of Jericho or Under The Dome. It was an interesting idea but, sadly, never made it past the superficial.

LabRat

Coming of the Horseclans - Robert Adams

The Horseclans have been nomads of the post-apocalyptic North Americal plains since their founding 600 years prior. No one knew what caused the failed crops, the plagues, the earthquakes or whether they were related or coincidental. But they and the limited nuclear skirmishes took a massive toll on humanity. Milo the "undying", a human with a mutation giving him an exceptional healing capacity, saved two dozen refugees from Los Angeles by teaching them how to live as nomads on the Great Plains. After a fruitless 200 year quest to find a population of similar mutants, Milo is returning to the Clans to guide them through Mercenaries, "Dirtmen" (i.e. farmers), and the descendants of Greek invaders to their fabled home by the sea, Elhai.

Adams has created an interesting world for the Horseclans to live within. He never says what starts the catastrophes in the 1980's-1990's but he says that the nuclear exchanges are as a result of them, not the cause. The Eastern seaboard was devastated by tidal waves, permanently changing the coastline. Florida is essentially a swamp. Prariecats inhabit the plains, descendants of genetically recreated sabertooth tigers that escaped captivity after the disasters. In addition to Milo's "undying" mutation, significant numbers of the Clans can "mindspeak" and can communicate directly with each other, their horses and the prariecats.

I last read this book/series about 20 years ago. I was looking to read an adventure story and pulled it down again. (What can I say, I'm cheap and have more SF books by more authors than any three libraries near me combined.) While I like the Horseclans universe and enjoyed the overall story, there is a significant amount of graphic material (mainly violence) that I hadn't remembered. Adams's day-job was as a porn writer and he apparently had axes to grind when we wrote this series. There are some truly great characters in the series but Adams died before finishing the story.

This would definitely receive my recommendation for a Mature rating.

35. Champion: A Legend Novel, by Marie Lu

The third and final novel in the Legend trilogy. The Colonies invade, with the help of one of the two world superpowers, Africa, seeking to impose their worldview on the Republic. Meanwhile, the Republic seeks the help of the other superpower, Antarctica, which is reluctant to help without certain concessions.

This is a very complex series, not unlike some good classic political fiction (notably, the author was inspired in part by Les Miserables). The Republic is based in part on North Korea, while the Colonies are the worst aspects of capitalism taken up to 11. The superpowers, Africa and Antarctica, remind me a bit of the United States and the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, no one is absolutely right, no one is absolutely wrong, and the dystopian countries, the Republic and the Colonies, have positive aspects in spite of themselves. Some parts of the trilogy are tearjerkers, but the ending is hopeful.

36. Lois & Clark: A Superman Novel, by C.J. Cherryh

This novel is based on the LnC TV show, though it strays somewhat from show canon. A disaster happens in Metropolis while Clark is half a world away, and Lois winds up being the hero. It's not bad, though I think I've been spoiled by reading so much good fanfic here. I might have appreciated the novel more if I'd given in to my impulse to buy and read it in the mid-90's, but I decided not to do so because I liked comic books better.

I read this one a few years ago and was disappointed as well. It just didn't compare well to the fanfic that I had read.