Annual Reading Goal Challenge for 2016 - Come and join us!

[Swimnoid]

continuing...

48. Sins of the Father by Jeffrey Archer
49. Best Kept Secret by Jeffrey Archer
These are volumes 2 & 3 of the Clifton Chronicles following the life of Haryy Clifton from childhood through new generations.
A typical Archer saga. I like it.

50. The Paris Mysteries by James Patterson
This is the third in the Confessions series centering on a teenager and her siblings as they solve crimes, beginning with the murder of their parents. This one has Tandy finding her lost love who her parents had been trying to keep her from before they died as were his. There are some twists and revelations that drive the series. It is a YA book.

51. Pray For Silence by Linda Castillo
52. Gone Missing by Linda Castillo
These are part of a series starring Kate Burkholder who is the chief of police in an Amish town. Usually there is a murder happening within the Amish community. There are good twists in each story and enough action to keep you interested.

53. The Death Cure by James Dashner
The last of the Maze Runner series. You should read it if you have read the other two but this was just ok. Not enough explanation of why.

54. Ice Fire by David Lyons
From Goodreads: In this explosive debut thriller, a judge from the Louisiana bayou goes up against a company on the verge of causing an ecological disaster.

Cajun-born Jock Boucher has overcome modest beginnings to assume the prestigious position of U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana. One of his first cases on the bench involves a scientist who has been hiding in mortal fear for more than twenty years. The fugitive claims that another judge accepted bribes and helped a relentless global energy company steal his intellectual property: a way to recover energy from below the subsea bed that could end America’s dependence on foreign oil.

Boucher takes on the company and its powerful founder, risking not only his judicial career but his life. He follows a trail of cryptic clues to the bottom of the ocean, and soon finds himself the target of killers—and too far from the law to ever return.

Very good.

55. Saving Ceecee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
From Goodreads: Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she’s been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille— the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it’s 1967 and they live in Ohio, Camille believes it’s 1951 and she’s just been crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia.

The day CeeCee discovers Camille in the front yard wearing a tattered prom dress and tiara as she blows kisses to passing motorists, she knows her mother has completely flipped. When tragedy strikes, Tootie Caldwell, a previously unknown great-aunt comes to CeeCee’s rescue and whisks her away to Savannah. Within hours of her arrival, CeeCee is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricities—a world that appears to be run entirely by women.

Good fun read.

 

[willowsnn3]

#55/72

Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben

From Goodreads:
Former special ops pilot Maya, home from the war, sees an unthinkable image captured by her nanny cam while she is at work: her two-year-old daughter playing with Maya’s husband, Joe—who had been brutally murdered two weeks earlier. The provocative question at the heart of the mystery: Can you believe everything you see with your own eyes, even when you desperately want to? To find the answer, Maya must finally come to terms with deep secrets and deceit in her own past before she can face the unbelievable truth about her husband—and herself.

I am a fan of Coben but this one was just ok to me. Kinda all over the place at times and all of the characters seemed superficial.

 

[nemofans]

I fell behind in posting on here. Our Disney trip was canceled due to the hurricane and we ended up making a quick road trip to Indy instead. Now I am trying to figure out another time to fit a Disney trip in with DH starting a new job and has less time off. Oh & I met my goal for this year. I purposely chose a lower goal than usual so I would't feel stressed about finishing it.

Finished book #65/65 - The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

This is a cute story about a man experiencing adventures while trying to find information about his deceased wife's past. I liked it.

Sixty-nine-year-old Arthur Pepper lives a simple life. He gets out of bed at precisely 7:30 a.m., just as he did when his wife, Miriam, was alive. He dresses in the same gray slacks and mustard sweater vest, waters his fern, Frederica, and heads out to his garden.
But on the one-year anniversary of Miriam's death, something changes. Sorting through Miriam's possessions, Arthur finds an exquisite gold charm bracelet he's never seen before. What follows is a surprising and unforgettable odyssey that takes Arthur from London to Paris and as far as India in an epic quest to find out the truth about his wife's secret life before they met--a journey that leads him to find hope, healing and self-discovery in the most unexpected places.


Finished book #66/65 - Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom Riggs

This is the prequel to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. It is made up of short stories of events that happened way before the story takes place. One story I did like which was about the 1st Ymbryne. The rest was okay.

Before Miss Peregrine gave them a home, the story of peculiars was written in the Tales.
Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-tongued princess. The origins of the first ymbryne. These are but a few of the truly brilliant stories in Tales of the Peculiar—known to hide information about the peculiar world—first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series.
Riggs now invites you to share his secrets of peculiar history, with a collection of original stories, as collected and annotated by Millard Nullings, ward of Miss Peregrine and scholar of all things peculiar.


Finished book #67/65 - The Lost Girls by Heather Young

It takes place in alternating timelines (1999 & 1935). In 1935, a young girl disappears while the family is staying at their lake house. In 1999, a mom inherits her great aunt's lake house and decides to move there with her daughters for a fresh start. Wanting to find out what happened to the girl kept me interested, otherwise it's just okay.

In the summer of 1935, six-year-old Emily Evans vanishes from her family’s vacation home on a remote Minnesota lake. Her disappearance destroys her mother, who spends the rest of her life at the lake house, hoping in vain that her favorite daughter will walk out of the woods. Emily’s two older sisters stay, too, each keeping her own private, decades-long vigil for the lost child.
Sixty years later Lucy, the quiet and watchful middle sister, lives in the lake house alone. Before she dies, she writes the story of that devastating summer in a notebook that she leaves, along with the house, to the only person to whom it might matter: her grandniece, Justine.
For Justine, the lake house offers a chance to escape her manipulative boyfriend and give her daughters the stable home she never had. But it’s not the sanctuary she hoped for. The long Minnesota winter has begun. The house is cold and dilapidated, the frozen lake is silent and forbidding, and her only neighbor is a strange old man who seems to know more than he’s telling about the summer of 1935.
Soon Justine’s troubled oldest daughter becomes obsessed with Emily’s disappearance, her mother arrives with designs on her inheritance, and the man she left behind launches a dangerous plan to get her back. In a house steeped in the sorrows of the women who came before her, Justine must overcome their tragic legacy if she hopes to save herself and her children.

 

[tiggrbaby]

#67/75: Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear (4/5) (Maisie Dobbs #12) (historical fiction/pre WWII) (latest in the series; now I have to wait for the next installment!)

#68/75: The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny (4/5) (Inspector Gamache #8) (Canadian mystery)

#69/75: In the Clearing by Robert Dugoni (4/5) (Tracy Crosswhite #3) (mystery)

#70/75: It is Well by James D. Shipman (3/5) (historical fiction/ WWII)

 

[Swimnoid]

Catching up some more...

56. Lost December by Richard Paul Evans
From Goodreads: When Luke Crisp graduates from business school, his father, CEO and co-founder of Fortune 500 Crisp’s Copy Centers, is ready to share some good news: he wants to turn the family business over to his son. But Luke has other plans. Taking control of his trust fund, Luke leaves home to pursue a life of reckless indulgence.

But when his funds run out, so do his friends. Humbled, alone, and too ashamed to ask his father for help, Luke secretly takes a lowly job at one of his father’s copy centers. There he falls in love with a struggling single mother and begins to understand the greatest source of personal joy.

A typical bad turns good Evans novel but it was enjoyable.

57. Enclave by Anne Aguirre
From Goodreads: New York City has been decimated by war and plague, and most of civilization has migrated to underground enclaves, where life expectancy is no more than the early 20's. When Deuce turns 15, she takes on her role as a Huntress, and is paired with Fade, a teenage Hunter who lived Topside as a young boy. When she and Fade discover that the neighboring enclave has been decimated by the tunnel monsters--or Freaks--who seem to be growing more organized, the elders refuse to listen to warnings. And when Deuce and Fade are exiled from the enclave, the girl born in darkness must survive in daylight--guided by Fade's long-ago memories--in the ruins of a city whose population has dwindled to a few dangerous gangs.

Good YA dystopian novel with some action and twists.

58. XO by Jeffrey Deaver
From Goodreads: Kayleigh Towne is gorgeous with a voice that is taking her to the heights of the country pop charts. Her hit single “Your Shadow” puts her happily in the spotlight, until an innocent exchange with one of her fans leads Kayleigh into a dark and terrifying realm.

The fan warns, “I’m coming for you,” and soon accidents happen and people close to Kayleigh die. Special Agent Kathryn Dance must use her considerable skills at investigation and body language analysis to stop the stalker—but before long she learns that, like many celebrities, Kayleigh has more than just one fan with a mission.

Really enjoyed this one!

59. Beach House Memories by Mary Alice Monroe
From Goodreads: Autumn brings its own haunting beauty to the sun-soaked beaches and dunes on Isle of Palms, where Olivia “Lovie” Rutledge lives in her beloved Primrose Cottage with her daughter, Cara. Looking back as summer fades, Lovie can remember many island summers, but especially one. . . .

In 1974, America was changing, but Charleston remained eternally the same. Lovie had always done what was expected—marrying the son of a historic Charleston family, Stratton Rutledge, and turning over her fortune and fate to his control. But one thing she steadfastly refuses to relinquish: her family’s old seaside cottage. The precious summers spent on the barrier island are Lovie’s refuge. Here, she can escape with her children from the social expectations of her traditional Southern mother, and her overbearing husband’s ambition and philandering. Here, she indulges her lifelong vocation as a “Turtle Lady,” tending the loggerhead sea turtles that lay their eggs in the warm night sand and then slip back into the sea.

This summer, however, is different. Visiting biologist Russell Bennett arrives on the island to research the loggerheads. What begins as a shared passion for the turtles changes to a love far more passionate and profound than Lovie has ever known—but one that forces her to face the most agonizing decision of her life.

For Charleston’s elite, divorce is an unforgivable scandal, and Stratton’s influence is far-reaching. If Lovie dares to dream beyond a summer affair, she risks losing everything: her reputation, her wealth, even her precious children.

If you are in the mood for a good angsty romance this is it.

60. Missing Child by Patricia MacDonald
From Goodreads: Heart-pounding domestic suspense from an internationally-bestselling author - One morning Caitlin Eckhart receives a phone call that changes her life forever – her much-loved six-year-old stepson Geordie has disappeared from school. It soon becomes clear that someone must have deliberately taken him. Distraught, Caitlin and her husband, Noah, make an anguished public appeal for his return. But Caitlin has a secret from her past that is about to catch up with her, and as Geordie’s continued absence brings her relationship with Noah to breaking point, she stands to lose everything that she loves.

I love how MacDonald projects normal people into thriller situations. This one keeps you enthralled.

61. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling
I'm still working my way through the series for the 7th time. This is my second favorite of the series.

62. Manhattan Mayhem: New Crime Stories from Mystery Writers of America edited by Mary Higgins Clark
This is an anthology of stories set in Manhattan neighborhoods featuring several famous mystery writers including Lee Childs, Jeffrey Deaver, Mary Higgins Clark and Margaret Maron. Some of the stories were really good. Some seemed almost unfinished. Worth the read though.

63. Lethal Velocity by Lincoln Child
From Goodreads: It’s like nothing anyone has ever seen before. Utopia is the brand-new frontier of theme parks, a fantastic collection of Worlds each so authentic it takes the average visitor’s breath away. Teeming with cutting-edge holographic and robotic technology, it has captured the nation’s imagination. But it has also attracted a group of ruthless criminals. After infiltrating the park and its computer systems, their leader—calling himself John Doe—sets the parameters: If their shocking demands are met, none of the visitors to the park that day will be harmed; if not, then all hell will rain down. Dr. Andrew Warne, the brilliant engineer who designed much of the park’s robotics, suddenly finds himself in a role he never imagined—trying to save the lives of thousands of innocent people . . . one of whom just happens to be his daughter.

I love Child's works and this is no exception. Very action packed.

64. Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd
From Goodreads: DIGGING FOR PEAT in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds the body of a child, and it looks like she’s been murdered. As Fergus tries to make sense of the mad world around him—his brother on hunger-strike in prison, his growing feelings for Cora, his parents arguing over the Troubles, and him in it up to the neck, blackmailed into acting as courier to God knows what—a little voice comes to him in his dreams, and the mystery of the bog child unfurls.

Set in Ireland this book goes back and forth in time between the lifetime of this person whose body they found and the people who found her. Interesting contrasts but left me with questions.

65. The Wolf by Lorenzo Carcaterra
From Goodreads: My name is Vincent Marelli, though most people call me The Wolf. You’ve never met me, and if you’re lucky you never will. But in more ways than you could think of, I own you.

I run the biggest criminal operation in the world. We’re invisible but we’re everywhere. Wherever you go, whatever you do, however it is you spend your money, a piece of it lands in our pockets.

You would think that with that kind of power I would be invincible. You would be wrong. I made a mistake, one that a guy like me can never afford to make. I let my guard down. And because I did, my wife and daughters are gone. Murdered by terrorists with a lethal ax to grind.

That was my mistake.

But it was also theirs.

I wasn’t looking for a war with them. No one in my group was. But they’ve left me with nothing but a desire for revenge—so a war is what they’ll get. The full strength of international organized crime against every known terrorist group working today. Crime versus chaos.

We will protect our interests, and I will protect my son. We won’t get them all, but I will get my revenge, or I will die trying.

They will know my name.

They will feel my wrath.

They will fear The Wolf.

Really interesting thriller.

 

[willowsnn3]

#56/72
The Singing Bone by Beth Hahn

From Goodreads:
1979: Seventeen-year-old Alice Pearson can't wait to graduate from high school and escape the small town in upstate New York where she grew up. In the meantime, she and her three closest friends spend their time listening to Led Zeppelin, avoiding their dysfunctional families, and getting high in the nearby woods. Then they meet the enigmatic Jack Wyck, who lives in the rambling old farmhouse across the reservoir. Enticed by his quasi-mystical philosophy and the promise of a constant party, Alice and her friends join Mr. Wyck's small group of devoted followers. But once in his thrall, their heady, freewheeling idyll takes an increasingly sinister turn, and Alice finds herself crossing psychological and moral boundaries that erode her hold on reality. When Mr. Wyck's grand scheme goes wrong, culminating in a night of horrific murders, Alice's already crumbling world falls into chaos, and she barely makes her way back to normal life.

Twenty years later, Alice has created a quiet life for herself as a professor of folklore, but an acclaimed filmmaker threatens to expose her secret past when he begins making a documentary about Jack Wyck's crimes and the cult-like following that he continues to attract even from his prison cell. Jack Wyck has never forgiven Alice for testifying against him, and as he plots to overturn his conviction and regain his freedom, she is forced to confront the long suppressed memories of what happened to her in the farmhouse—and her complicity in the evil around her.

The Singing Bone is a spellbinding examination of guilt, innocence, and the fallibility of memory. Weaving together folklore, seventies-era anxiety about sex, drugs, and cults, and dominated by the indelibly menacing Jack Wyck, this richly imagined novel heralds the arrival of a remarkable new voice in literary mystery.

This one was very good.

 

[Kewz1]

#9/12 The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton.

Like her other novels, this one kept me enthralled and guessing from beginning to end. Also like her others she masterfully weaves the past and present together creating a story that I couldn't wait to finish but also didn't want to end.

Here's what bn.com has to say: During a picnic at her family’s farm in the English countryside, sixteen-year-old Laurel Nicolson witnesses a shocking crime, a crime that challenges everything she knows about her adored mother, Dorothy. Now, fifty years later, Laurel and her sisters are meeting at the farm to celebrate Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday. Realizing that this is her last chance to discover the truth about that long-ago day, Laurel searches for answers that can only be found in Dorothy’s past. Clue by clue, she traces a secret history of three strangers from vastly different worlds thrown together in war-torn London—Dorothy, Vivien, and Jimmy—whose lives are forever after entwined. A gripping story of deception and passion, The Secret Keeper will keep you enthralled to the last page.

 

[willowsnn3]

#57/72
The Killing Lessons by Saul Black

From Goodreads:
When the two strangers turn up at Rowena Cooper's isolated Colorado farmhouse, she knows instantly that it's the end of everything. For the two haunted and driven men, on the other hand, it's just another stop on a long and bloody journey. And they still have many miles to go, and victims to sacrifice, before their work is done.

For San Francisco homicide detective Valerie Hart, their trail of victims--women abducted, tortured and left with a seemingly random series of objects inside them--has brought her from obsession to the edge of physical and psychological destruction. And she's losing hope of making a breakthrough before that happens.

But the murders at the Cooper farmhouse didn't quite go according to plan. There was a survivor, Rowena's ten-year-old daughter Nell, who now holds the key to the killings. Injured, half-frozen, terrified, Nell has only one place to go. And that place could be even more dangerous than what she's running from.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

19 The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

I read a couple of the Percy Jackson books. This was similar in fashion but biggest difference is the role reversal. Instead of a person stepping into a Demigod role we have a God becoming human. I liked Apollo's character, and the book moved along well. I do not read a lot of YA and occasionally grab a book my daughter has, as was the case here.

Almost every time I read a YA book aside from Harry Potter series, I can usually guess what is going on and that for a good part here I was seldom surprised, aside from the villains. But to my knowledge there were no hints as to who the villains were.
One thing I will say about book is that there is some huge unresolved issues. I wasn't really planning on reading next but I hate when there are big unresolved issues and I don't read next book. Still I use to love mythology and do enjoy researching some characters after they appear in author's books.

(If anyone is interested, I would gladly send kindle gift versions of any of my works, Written for You , Cemetery Girl, Three Twigs for the Campfire, or Reigning. You can see them reviewed on goodreads. Just PM here or there.)

 

[zippitydoo]

Book #46/50: Awake (A Fairytale Trilogy, #1) by Jessica Grey

From Goodreads:
Alexandra Martin didn’t believe in fairytales…

Alex has always been more interested in rocks and science than stories about princesses and magic. Now she’s far too busy with her summer internship at the Gem and Mineral Museum to think about children’s stories. Between avoiding her former best friend and high school baseball star, Luke Reed, and trying to hide her unrequited crush on her mentor at the museum, the real world is occupying all of her time.

…Until she walked into one.

It turns out fairytales aren’t all fun and games. A curse has turned her neat and orderly world upside down, and to break it, she bands together with a fellow intern and a recently awakened princess who’s been asleep for 900 years. Can this trio of unlikely heroines put an end to an ominous enchantment, discover true love, and keep an ancient and evil magic from being unleashed on modern-day Los Angeles?

 

[Swimnoid]

66. Beach Colors by Shelley Noble
From Goodreads: The perfect beach read, Beach Colors tells the story of a respected New York City fashion designer who returns to her tiny coastal Connecticut home town when her city life implodes—only to find herself falling hard for a local policeman, even though romance could seriously threaten her big career comeback.

It really is the perfect beach read. Just a nice story.

67. Gatefather by Orson Scott Card
From Goodreads: The much-anticipated third installment in Card's New York Times bestselling Mithermages series

Danny North is the first Gate Mage to be born on Earth in nearly 2000 years, or at least the first to survive to claim his power. Families of Westil in exile on Earth have had a treaty that required the death of any suspected Gate Mage. The wars between the Families had been terrible, until at last they realized it was their own survival in question. But a Gate Mage, one who could build a Great Gate back to Westil, would give his own Family a terrible advantage over all the others, and reignite the wars. So they all had to die. And if the Families didn't kill them, the Gate Thief would—that mysterious Mage who destroyed every Great Gate, and the Gate Mage, before it could be opened between Earth and Westil.

But Danny survived. And Danny battled the Gate Thief, and won.

What he didn't know at the time was that the Gate Thief had a very good reason for closing the Great Gates—and Danny has now fallen into the power of that great enemy of both Earth and Westil.

The description above makes it sound a lot more interesting than it is. The first book of this series was great, the next one not so much. This one took me months to get through and was mostly spouting philosophy and dialogue. This is kind of typical of Card's series and I should know better than to continue. And yet some of Card's works are my favorite books!

68. Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegasar
Yes, this is the book that the tv show was based on. I watched the whole series so I just had to try this out. The show really does follow the book with a few minor tweaks. Not compelling enough to continue the series.

69. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Loved it!

70. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
I dont know how I was never assigned this in school and as such I never wanted to pick it up but I'm glad I did. At first I was thinking so why is this so great but after the middle I loved it and of course watched the movies and the whole bit.

71. Appalachian Daughter by Mary Jane Salyers
A coming of Age story of a young girl in the east Tennessee mountains. Maggie wants to leave for a better life but her mother is against her seeking education and skills. Revolves around her high school years and her extended family and tiny town. Very enjoyable.

72. the Third Gate by Lincoln Child
From Goodreads: Under the direction of famed explorer Porter Stone, an archaeological team is secretly attempting to locate the tomb of an ancient pharaoh who was unlike any other in history. Stone believes he has found the burial chamber of King Narmer, the near mythical god- king who united upper and lower Egypt in 3200 B.C., and the archaeologist has reason to believe that the greatest prize of all—Narmer’s crown—might be buried with him. No crown of an Egyptian king has ever been discovered, and Narmer’s is the elusive “double” crown of the two Egypts, supposedly possessed of awesome powers.

The dig itself is located in one of the most forbidding places on earth—the Sudd, a nearly impassable swamp in northern Sudan. Amid the nightmarish, disorienting tangle of mud and dead vegetation, a series of harrowing and inexplicable occurrences are causing people on the expedition to fear a centuries- old curse. With a monumental discovery in reach, Professor Jeremy Logan is brought onto the project to investigate. What he finds will raise new questions . . . and alarm.

This is part of the Jeremy Logan series. All of the books can stand alone and they are all good.

 

[nemofans]

Finished book #68/65 - The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman

This is book 2 in the Invisible Library series. I am enjoying this series, but I wouldn't place it with some of my favorites. It's a solid 3 stars.

Librarian-spy Irene is working undercover in an alternative London when her assistant Kai goes missing. She discovers he's been kidnapped by the fae faction and the repercussions could be fatal. Not just for Kai, but for whole worlds.
Kai's dragon heritage means he has powerful allies, but also powerful enemies in the form of the fae. With this act of aggression, the fae are determined to trigger a war between their people - and the forces of order and chaos themselves.
Irene's mission to save Kai and avert Armageddon will take her to a dark, alternate Venice where it's always Carnival. Here Irene will be forced to blackmail, fast talk, and fight. Or face death.

Finished book #69/65 - The Beauty of the End by Debbie Howells

I found this story and the main character absolutely annoying. Talk about rose colored glasses, Noah was oblivious to real life and I just couldn't believe he was that blind to what was happening throughout his life. The only reason I give this 2 stars instead of 1 star is because of the chapters with Ella's story.

From the acclaimed author of The Bones of You comes a haunting and heartbreaking new psychological thriller about a man thrust into the middle of a murder investigation, forced to confront the secrets of his ex-lover's past.
"I was fourteen when I fell in love with a goddess. . ."
So begins the testimony of Noah Calaway, an ex-lawyer with a sideline in armchair criminal psychology. Now living an aimless life in an inherited cottage in the English countryside, Noah is haunted by the memory of the beguiling young woman who left him at the altar sixteen years earlier. Then one day he receives a troubling phone call. April, the woman he once loved, lies in a coma, the victim of an apparent overdose--and the lead suspect in a brutal murder. Deep in his bones, Noah believes that April is innocent. Then again, he also believed they would spend the rest of their lives together.
While Noah searches for evidence that will clear April's name, a teenager named Ella begins to sift through the secrets of her own painful family history. The same age as April was when Noah first met her, Ella harbors a revelation that could be the key to solving the murder. As the two stories converge, there are shocking consequences when at last, the truth emerges. Or so everyone believes. . .

Finished book #70/65 - Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

I read this for book club. Before I started reading this, I saw there was a dictionary in the back of the book which immediately I felt dread that this may be a difficult read. I prefer not to read the heavier stories where I feel like I am doing an assignment for school rather than reading for enjoyment. BUT my wariness was proven wrong. I was drawn into this story quickly and really enjoyed it. 4 stars

Secret Daughter, a first novel by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, explores powerfully and poignantly the emotional terrain of motherhood, loss, identity, and love through the experiences of two families—one Indian, one American—and the child that binds them together. A masterful work set partially in the Mumbai slums so vividly portrayed in the hit film Slumdog Millionaire, Secret Daughter recalls the acclaimed novels of Kim Edwards and Thrity Umrigar, yet sparkles with the freshness of a truly exciting new literary voice.

Finished book #71/65 - And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer And Longer by Frederik Backman

This is a very short story from one of my favorite authors. The POV is a man going through Alzheimers. This makes the story somewhat confusing, but it is supposed to so it shows what it is like going through it. This is sweet and sad. 4 stars

The New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry, and Britt-Marie Was Here offers an exquisitely moving portrait of an elderly man’s struggle to hold on to his most precious memories, and his family’s efforts to care for him—even as they must find a way to let go.

 

[willowsnn3]

#58/72
Missing You by Harlan Coben

From Goodreads:
It's a profile, like all the others on the online dating site. But as NYPD Detective Kat Donovan focuses on the accompanying picture, she feels her whole world explode, as emotions she’s ignored for decades come crashing down on her. Staring back at her is her ex-fiancé Jeff, the man who shattered her heart—and who she hasn’t seen in 18 years.

Kat feels a spark, wondering if this might be the moment when past tragedies recede and a new world opens up to her. But when she reaches out to the man in the profile, her reawakened hope quickly darkens into suspicion and then terror as an unspeakable conspiracy comes to light, in which monsters prey upon the most vulnerable.

As the body count mounts and Kat's hope for a second chance with Jeff grows more and more elusive, she is consumed by an investigation that challenges her feelings about everyone she ever loved—her former fiancé, her mother, and even her father, whose cruel murder so long ago has never been fully explained. With lives on the line, including her own, Kat must venture deeper into the darkness than she ever has before, and discover if she has the strength to survive what she finds there.

I am a fan of Coben and while this book got rave reviews, it just didn't work for me. Too many storylines going on, too many rabbit trails that didn't relate. I don't know. Was good in parts but lot of wasted words in there, lol.

 

[tiggrbaby]

#71/75: The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker (3.5/5) (fiction/ Burma/love story)

#72/75: Fear the Worst by Linwood Barclay (4/5) (contemporary thriller) (Thanks to the poster who recommended it!)

#73/75: Lady Cop Makes Trouble by Amy Stewart (4/5) (Kopp Sisters #2) (historical fiction/detective)

 

[zippitydoo]

Book #47/50: A Geeks Girl’s Guide to Murder by Julie Anne Linsey

From Goodreads:
IT manager Mia Connors is up to her tortoiseshell glasses in technical drama when a glitch in the Horseshoe Falls email system disrupts security and sends errant messages to residents of the gated community. The snafu’s timing couldn’t be worse—Renaissance Faire season is in full swing and Mia’s family’s business relies on her presence.

Mia doesn’t have time to hunt down a computer hacker. Her best friend has disappeared, and she finds another of her friends murdered—in her office. When the hunky new head of Horseshoe Falls security identifies Mia as the prime suspect, her anxiety level registers on the Richter scale.

Eager to clear her name, Mia moves into action to locate her missing buddy and find out who killed their friend. But her quick tongue gets her into trouble with more than the new head of security. When Mia begins receiving threats, the killer makes it clear that he's closer than she’d ever imagined.

Book #48/50: Body Count by P.D. Martin

From Goodreads:
In this taut and terrific debut novel (Womens Weekly), Sophie Anderson relocates to D.C. from Australia and quickly becomes the FBIs star profiler. Soon she begins having recurring nightmares and discovers she is dreaming of a serial killers victims.

 

[WowLookAtThat]

Book #54 Game of Crowns by Christopher Anderson
Book #55 The Gift Wrapped Bride by Maureen Lang
Book #56 The Evergreen Bride by Pam Gillman
Book #57 The Wet Nurse's Tale by Erica Eisdorfer
Book #58 Child Bride by Ssuzanne Finstead
Book #59 The Royal We by Heather Cocks
Book #60 The Gingerbread Bride by Amy Lillard
Book #61 The Yuletide Bride by Michelle Ule
Book #62 Royal's Bride by Kat Martin
Book #63 Jane fo Lantern Hill by LM Montgomery
Book #64 Rule's Bride by Kat Martin
Book #65 Reese' Bride but Kat Martin
Book #66 Worrier's Guide by Gemma Corrier
Book #67 Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
Book #68 Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
Book #69 Anne of Avonlea by LM Montgomery

Book #70 Ruth's Journey by Donald McCaig
Book #71 The Christmas Tree Bride by Susan Page Davis
Book #72 An unexpected Christmas Baby by Emma Morgan
Book #73 Anne of the Island by LM Montgomery
Book #74 The Nativity Bride by Miralee Ferrell
Book #75 A Sudden Christmas Family by Emma Morgan
Book #76 Anne of Windy Poplars by LM Montgomery
Book #77 The Festive Bride by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer
Book #78 A Lonely Christmas Bride by Emma Morgan
Book #79 Anne's House of Dreams by LM Montgomery
Book #80 Anne of Ingleside by LM Montgomery
Book #81 Rainbow Valley by LM Montgomery
Book #82 The Christmas Star Bride by Amanda Cabot
Book #83 Rilla of Ingleside by LM Montgomery
Book #84 The Blythes are Quoted by LM Montgomery

 

[Colleen27]

#78 - Queen of Shadows by Sarah Maas

Book four in the Throne of Glass, and I'm still really enjoying the series. It is YA, so light reading, but the characters are engaging and grow and change in convincing ways as the storyline unfolds. I love the whole "*** kicking chick" YA sub-genre and the heroine of this series is kind of the ultimate, a orphan raised to be a great assassin who later finds out she's a magic-user as well, and the whole series has just been really fun to read.

#79 - Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance

From Goodreads: From a former Marine and Yale Law School Graduate, a poignant account of growing up in a poor Appalachian town, that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class. Part memoir, part historical and social analysis, J. D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy is a fascinating consideration of class, culture, and the American dream.

Vance’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love.” They got married and moved north from Kentucky to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. Their grandchild (the author) graduated from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of their success in achieving upward mobility for their family. But Vance cautions that is only the short version. The slightly longer version is that his grandparents, aunt, uncle, and mother struggled to varying degrees with the demands of their new middle class life and they, and Vance himself, still carry around the demons of their chaotic family history.

Delving into his own personal story and drawing on a wide array of sociological studies, Vance takes us deep into working class life in the Appalachian region. This demographic of our country has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, and Vance provides a searching and clear-eyed attempt to understand when and how “hillbillies” lost faith in any hope of upward mobility, and in opportunities to come.

At times funny, disturbing, and deeply moving, this is a family history that is also a troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large portion of this country.

This one came highly recommended by friends of mine and has been in the news a fair bit since the election, but to be honest I didn't feel like it lived up to the hype. It covered a lot of very predictable ground, in my opinion, though I'm a lot closer to that "hillbilly" rural culture than the friends who recommended it so maybe it really is insightful and revealing if it is a culture you haven't really encountered or experienced up close. The writing was excellent and the memoir aspect was at times heart-wrenching. I just didn't experience it as the powerful look into a completely different side of America that so many have characterized it as.

 

[willowsnn3]

#59/72

Mean Streak by Sandra Brown

From Goodreads:
Dr. Emory Charbonneau, a pediatrician and marathon runner, disappears on a mountain road in North Carolina. By the time her husband Jeff, miffed over a recent argument, reports her missing, the trail has grown cold. Literally. Fog and ice encapsulate the mountainous wilderness and paralyze the search for her.

While police suspect Jeff of "instant divorce," Emory, suffering from an unexplained head injury, regains consciousness and finds herself the captive of a man whose violent past is so dark that he won't even tell her his name. She's determined to escape him, and willing to take any risks necessary to survive.

Unexpectedly, however, the two have a dangerous encounter with people who adhere to a code of justice all their own. At the center of the dispute is a desperate young woman whom Emory can't turn her back on, even if it means breaking the law.

As the FBI closes in on her captor, Emory begins to wonder if the man with no name is, in fact, her rescuer.

Rave reviews on Goodreads. Brown has written many books but this is only the third one I have read. Probably the last as none of them has been as "awesome", "thrilling" page turners for me.
It's just ok on the mystery, suspense and all three of the author's books that I have read seem to just lead up to the sex scenes, lol. Too much so for me. Nothing wrong if you like mystery romance with lots of sex, I just prefer a good story line with a little (or none) romance/sex.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

20 The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel

I usually either love or hate spiritual book. My favorites like Illusions, I can read over and over again. This for the first time is one that I neither love or hate. And I am not sure if it is a spiritual book or exactly what it is. Three rather plain stories that somewhat tie them self together in the end. I am really not sure if I got out of it what author wanted me to. Most people did not like the first story but I found it enjoyable. I also enjoyed the third story especially when they made it his families town. All three stories have a ape like creature in them but the third one especially so. As the main character and ape move in together. I enjoyed the interaction between the man and ape, which is somewhat ironic because I have avoided reading Life of Pi because I felt I would not enjoy story of a man interacting with an animal. Would not recommend the book but would not deter readers for they might get something I just didn't get.


(If anyone is interested, I would gladly send kindle gift versions of any of my works, Written for You , Cemetery Girl, Three Twigs for the Campfire, or Reigning. You can see them reviewed on goodreads. Just PM here or there or like post.)

 

[zippitydoo]

Book #49/50: Lost Lives by Malcolm Richards