Seasonsoflove's 2012 Challenge

So I only got about halfway through my goal last year-going to try really hard to do better this year! It shouldn't be hard as there are tons of great-looking books calling to me from my shelves.

My goal is 60 books again this coming year. My rule is that they must have been on my shelf already before Jan.1, 2012 (or, a recent revision to this, be Early Reviewer or Member Giveaway books, as I don't want to be discouraged from reading those in an attempt to reach my goal here.)




January 2012
1. Heartless by Gail Carriger
2. Cemetery Girl by David Bell
3. Blood is the New Black by Valerie Stivers
4. Tenderness by Robert Cormier
5. The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
6. The Mousetrap and Other Plays by Agatha Christie
7. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
8. Unnatural Causes by P.D. James

February 2012
1. Bone Island Mambo by Tom Corcoran

March 2012
1. The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie
2. Hollywood Boulevard by Jaynce Stefan-Cole

April 2012
1. Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser
2. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
3. Scrapbook of Secrets by Mollie Cox Bryan
4. The Best American Crime Writing 2004 edited by Otto Penzler

May 2012
1. The Unseen by Katherine Webb
2. The Sherlockian by Graham Moore
3. The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver
4. Life Sentences by Laura Lippman
5. Vows, Vendettas, and a Little Black Dress by Kyra Davis
6. The Thomas Berryman Affair by James Patterson
7. Death of a Kitchen Diva by Lee Hollis

June 2012
1. Predators, Prey, and Other Kinsfolk: Growing Up in Polygamy by Dorothy Allred Solomon
2. A Study in Sherlock edited by Laurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger
3. An Image of Death by Libby Fischer Hellmann

July 2012
1. The Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Susan McBride
2. Cold Case by Stephen White

August 2012
1. Death in a Wine Dark Sea by Lisa King
2. Claude and Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell
3. Perfect is Overrated by Karen Bergreen
4. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

September 2012
1. The Inheritance by Simon Tolkien
2. All the Way Gone by D. James Eldon
3. Haunted House for Sale by Jane Monson
4. Awakening by Ray N. Kuili

October 2012
1. Great Neck, Mass by Ryan Coons
2. Timeless by Gail Carriger
3. Darke Academy: Secret Lives by Gabriella Poole
4. The Monster of Minnesota by Mark Sumner

November 2012
1. The House on Sprucewood Lane by Caroline Slate
2. Gamers by Thomas K. Carpenter
3. American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century by Howard Blum
4. Malice Poetic by Betty Rowlands
5. Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Murder of Lord Darnley by Allison Weir
6. The Becoming by Jeanne C. Stein

December 2012
1. Drood by Dan Simmons
2. Are You There Vodka, It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
3. Goodnight Irene by Jan Burke
4. The Best American Crime Writing 2006 edited by Mark Bowden
5. The Haunting of America by Troy Taylor
6. The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Scroll of the Dead by David Stuart Davies
7. Blood Calling by Joshua Grover-David Patterson

Good luck!

Hi Seasonoflove, I'll be dropping in to root you on!

Thanks so much to you both!

Happy New Year and good luck! :)

Remember to have a good time while you work your way through your shelves this year!

Happy New Year to you both, and thanks!

I have so many great-looking books on my shelf, I know it will be fun!

Good luck! You can do it!

Thanks so much!

1. Heartless by Gail Carriger
What I love about this series is how it manages to be a romance without being cliched, supernatural and paranormal within an actual historical time period, tension-filled, character-driven, have twisty surprising plots, and be funny, all within a few hundred pages.

This was an excellent addition to the series-the plot was especially clever, with some really surprising twists. It's these twists, and the wonderful characters the author makes us care about so much, that keep this series fresh and fascinating.

Hooray! The first bomb detonated. I'm hoping to start this series this year, heard so many good things about it.

I'm really excited to have my first one done, and such a good book too! I really can't recommend this series enough.

I have the fourth one cued up on my Nook!

It's so good! I really hope you like it!

2. Cemetery Girl by David Bell

This book was not entirely what I expected, but that didn't end up being a bad thing at all.

Going into it, I had expected this to be similar to other books I had read surrounding a mystery and secrets...I expected the matter of who had done the kidnapping and what had happened in those four missing years to be a mystery with a shocking twist at the end.

But while we didn't find out until much later in the book who actually did the kidnapping, and how it had happened, and where the little girl had been, these answers were not great shockers. And I think that was the point of the book. That these things can and do happen, that small moments can tragically change lives forever, and that what mattered in this book wasn't solving these mysteries, but figuring out how to keep living when everything has changed.

5. Blood is the New Black by Valerie Stivers

After reading some books with pretty heavy subject material, I decided I needed something a lot lighter for my next book-and this definitely fit the bill. This was a really fun, occasionally ridiculous, thoroughly enjoyable read-humor, romance, a resourceful and likeable narrator heroine, and some flying bloodsucking fashion magazine staff members.

6. Tenderness by Robert Cormier
As he has done so well in his other books, Cormier creates a complex protagonist who, because of Cormier's exemplary writing, you extraordinarily actually hope for for split seconds at a time, despite him being a murderer of innocent young girls. And even though you know that these characters are too sad and too broken to have happy endings, and even though one of them seems to be truly truly evil (though Cormier manages to create shades of gray even with this) you can't help but hope that somehow everything will turn out okay in the end anyway. The ending of this book was particularly powerful, and the foreshadowing was really well done.

9. The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

This book was a fascinating look at what, at first glance, one would assume would be a very straightforward part of history. As a true crime buff, I had absolutely no idea that the dictionary I reference all the time was, in part, created by a murderer locked in an insane asylum.

The author did a great job of interspersing the history of the creation of the dictionary, the sad and troubled history of Dr. Minor, and the history of the time period itself. For a history of a book I know I've always just taken for granted, there were so many shocking moments in the decades it took to create, and I learned a lot from this really enjoyable read.

I love just how much was contributed to the OED by the mentally ill. There's something about putting that sort of energy to something so massive and worthy that I love.

I listened to the audiobook version a couple years ago, but I probably ought to read it again. Properly read it this time so I pick up more of the fascinating history.

Adding The Professor and the Madman to the TBR list! That does indeed sound fascinating.

#18-I completely agree. I had no idea about the contributors, and I loved how much it helped Dr. Minor to have something so amazing and important to focus on.

It's definitely worth a re-read...there's so much history in it.

#19-Yay! It's really a great book-it manages to be multiple biographies, true crime, a history of the English language, a history of the OED, and a history of that time period, all in one well-written book.

The Mousetrap and Other Plays by Agatha Christie

This was such a fun read. Reading some of these was like reading brand new mysteries, because she rewrote the endings for the stage. With those where the endings were the same, it was so great to be able to read and envision how they would play out on the stage.

13. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Ms. Anderson has a talent for taking topics that are incredibly difficult to think about and read about, and making you have to read her books because her prose style is so unique and so beautiful.

This book was no exception. The topic, young girls struggling with anorexia and bulimia, is certainly not an easy one to read about, especially given the detail Anderson goes into. But it is an important topic, and one she manages to handle with beauty, sadness, hope, and grace.

Her prose style is so unlike any other current authors, and so beautiful, that you feel like you are right in the main character's head, and while this is certainly uncomfortable given the topic, it also insures that you continue reading, and understand the message she is getting across-that life can be hard, but it is always worth living, and that asking for help does not mean you're weak.

14. Unnatural Causes by P.D James

A mystery writer is killed, seemingly in the same way as a suggestion for his next book, and the close-knit inhabitants of a small remote village seem to be the only suspects.

Another excellent mystery from one of the Queens of Crime. I loved that she tied in writers as both victims, detectives, and suspects, giving a great glimpse into the varied and fascinating literary world.

The solution was particularly clever and dramatic, and the method of confession very creative. By the time I got to the last few chapters, I absolutely couldn't put it down.

9. Bone Island Mambo by Tom Corcoran

I'm one of those people who hate to give up on a book and stop reading it.

So by the time I realized/accepted that yes, I really wasn't going to enjoy this book as much as hoped by the back cover, I was halfway through, and decided I had to push through and finish.

Bone Island Mambo was one of those fun $2 impulse paperback buys at a book fair. These buys frequently turn out well for me, with fun mysteries I would otherwise never have read coming into my book-loving life.

Sadly, this was not the case with this book. The back cover described a mystery where crimes from the past were being replicated in the present, and a photographer, who becomes the main suspect, must figure out how the secrets of the past are connected to the never-ending cycle of murders suddenly occurring.

What I got, however, was a completely unbelievable main character, one straight out of a stereotypical action movie, who dodges exploding motorcycles, knives thrown at him on two separate occasions, and at least ten different people trying to kill/bring him down; caricature supporting characters including multiple one-note women who all talk with the same seeming swagger but drop anything and everything to help the protagonist because he's that irresistible; and a mystery that becomes a complete side note to the protagonist's "heroic deeds" and is wrapped up quickly and with no real revelations in the last few pages.

I've definitely just added The Professor and the Madman to the TBR - these threads can be so dangerous!

Hi Becca, regarding Bone Island Mambo, which by the way is a title I would not be able to resist, I guess we have to read some less than stellar books so we can appreciate the really good ones when they come along.

#25-It's such a good read! I totally agree about these threads being dangerous...I've added so many books to my TBR because of them!

#26-I totally agree Judy, it made me appreciate the book I'm reading now even more.

Finally read another book from my shelf! I need to be better about this for sure.

10. The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie

The review is in my 75 Books Challenge-I can't quite figure out how to copy and paste on this IPad ;)

11. Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser

As before, copy and paste sadly continues to elude me on this IPad (grabbing a minute to update this while my students are having Reading Buddies), so the review is in my 75 Books Challenge thread again.

12. Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

A high school girl with a seemingly normal life gets paired up in Biology class with a mysterious transfer student, one who seems to have no known past, and some mysterious scars on his back. She starts seeing things that others don't, including a dangerous person in a ski mask who seems to always know where she is, and with her life seeming to be in grave danger, the only person she can rely on is the one person she's not sure she should trust.

I really enjoyed this book. I do think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it before the whole Twilight craze, if simply because then the idea of a young girl who is inexplicably drawn to a mysterious supernatural boy would have come off as a bit more original and a bit less occasionally cliched. But Becca Fitzpatrick is a very clever author with a real talent, and manages to make her take on this tale both highly creative and well-written. I will definitely be reading the other books in this series.

I've heard so many good things about Hush, Hush, I should probably put it on my TBR list! Looking forward to Mark's get-together in a week! (You're going, right?)

I am going! Really looking forward to it too!

14. Best American Crime Writing 2004 edited by Otto Penzler

One of the things I love best about these anthologies is that I get to read about a lot of things I never would have otherwise, and get to read a lot of writers I never would have otherwise.

What was particularly great about 2004's edition is the new perspective it gave on crimes/groups I had previously read about, including the Vioduq Society, and the murder of Martha Moxley. I really enjoyed and appreciated being exposed to new ideas and opinions on these things.

This edition covers everything from Megan's Law to interrogation techniques to the death penalty, from crimes that may or may not have actually happened, to an elderly bank robber, to the seemingly never-ending cycle of violence and murder in Juarez.

I'm always tempted to buy these "Best American..." books, but I have a hard time reading short stories. But I guess these aren't short stories in the traditional sense, more like articles? Hmmmm... maybe I should pull the volume I have (Travel Writing, 2000) from my shelf and start reading it.

I tend not to love short stories either, but the format really works well for non-fiction I think, especially with true crime.

15. The Unseen by Katherine Webb

This was my second ER book, and definitely way better than the first. It's one of those books that makes me so glad I sign up for ER books, because I might never have heard of or read this great book otherwise.

The Unseen contains two storylines, one set in the 1900s, one set in 2011. A woman in 2011 is trying to identify the body of a dead soldier, found with two mysterious letters on him. This man, and the letters, are connected to a rectory in the 1900s that, while peaceful perfection on the surface, contains many harmful secrets within.

What I especially liked about this book was how it explored how small moments, and the entrances and exits of people into each others' lives, led to deception, cover-ups, and even murder. Exploring everything from fairy photographs to the suffragette's movement to love itself, this is a book I would strongly recommend.

Oooh, this sounds really good! Thanks for the great review, and for making me aware of the book! Hope you're having a good week, despite all of the rain showers. :)

It is really good, Laura! I would definitely recommend getting your hands on a copy when it is officially released next month.

I am having a good week, thanks-exhausted because I was at the Bulls' game last night and it was a late one and I had to get up for work this morning-but so happy because we won! Hope you are having a good week too!

# 16 The Sherlockian's review is in my 75 Books Thread.

17. The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver

While not as good as his Lincoln Rhymes and Amelia Sachs series, this was still a good mystery with some well-executed twists. I also liked the inclusion of a cult figure as the main murderer, as I've been reading quite a bit of true crime lately centered around cults.

This novel looks at the impact of the past on the present, and how crime can affect everyone, not just the direct victim. One family was destroyed when Daniel Pell murdered a man, two of his children, and his wife, with one little girl surviving due solely to her being asleep among her stuffed animals, and thus overlooked. One Family was formed by Pell, which ended up destroying the lives of the young women he ensnared. Kathryn Dance, a kinestics expert, must piece together past and present to stop Pell from killing again.

19. Life Sentences by Laura Lippman
Review on my 75 Books Challenge thread

A third of the way there!

20. Vows, Vendettas, and a Little Black Dress by Kyra Davis
This is a series I've enjoyed a lot since the beginning, but this entry was not as good as I had hoped. Whereas the previous books had such great humor, almost Janet Evanovich-like, this book tried to tackle too many complicated and tragic issues.

When I pick up a book like this, I'm expecting, and want, fun, great dialogue, romance, and a good mystery. And while I did get these things, the book was brought down by the attempt to suddenly get very serious. There are other authors who deal with heavy subjects within mysteries, but when I go for a Kyra Davis, I don't expect to read about a best friend getting shot and possibly never walking again, a possible stalker, and what feels like eight hundred fights between the main character and her boyfriend. I fell in love with this series for the romance and the humor, which felt strangely lacking in this book.

That said, I did enjoy the book, though not even close to as much as the other books in the series. There was still some great humor, especially surrounding one of the characters wanting a Disneyland wedding, and the mystery was clever and well-executed. I will be reading the new book in this series in hopes it gets more of its magic back.

21. The Thomas Berryman Number by James Patterson

One of Patterson's much earlier works, this book, predominantly through flashbacks, follows the story of a journalist writing a book about the truth behind the assassination of a mayoral candidate in the South, and the various parties involved.

While interesting, this book was disappointing. It felt like Patterson was trying too hard to write a "tough" story, but never really found his footing. This could definitely be due to how early it was in Patterson's career, that he hadn't yet settled into his writing style.

22. Death of a Kitchen Diva by Lee Hollis
This was an enjoyable Member Giveaway, and a fun mystery. The main character is a very relatable and like able single mother who recently was asked to write the food and wine column for the local newspaper. When her rival is murdered, she is the immediate prime suspect.

The characters are well-differentiated, interesting, and a lot of fun. The romance is intriguing, and the mystery well-resolved.

56. Predators, Prey, and Other Kinfolk: Growing Up in Polygamy by Dorothy Allred Solomon

"I am the only daughter of my father's fourth plural wife, twenty-eighth of forty-eight children-a middle kid, you might say, with the middle kid's propensity for identity crisis."

Writing this fascinating and heartbreaking story as a first person memoir (as opposed to the fictional format the author originally considered) just makes it all the more powerful.

Solomon grew up living a secret life, unable to tell anyone the structure of her family to anyone for fear that the authorities will arrest them and take the children away. While she chafes against the Principle's expectations for her and the submissive role of women within the family, she also attempts to reconcile her deep love for her family and the comfort she finds in them.

The only time this book goes astray is when Solomon attempts to philosophize and use metaphors. When she doesn't just let the amazing story she is telling speak for itself, the book gets corny and cliched, and jolted me out of the story more than once. But I always got sucked right back in.

24. A Study in Sherlock edited byLaurie R. King and Leslie S. Klinger

This is a great compilation of original stories either about Sherlock Holmes or inspired by him and his legacy, by some really incredible writers. The book is recent enough as well that it does a great job of incorporating the many, many Sherlock adaptations.

25. An Image of Death by Libby Fischer Hellmann

The premise of this book is very interesting. A professional video-editor (and single mother) in Chicago receives a mysterious videotape left on her doorstep. When she views the tape, she finds it's a snuff film, and attempts to find out who the murdered woman was, and catch the murderers.

The book, unfortunately, does not live up to the premise. It is not a bad read, but it is not a great one either. The mystery gets very convoluted and confusing, to the point where the solution does not feel satisfying. The writing also can get very corny out of nowhere, with at least one paragraph written with so many cliches it jolted me out of the story.

That's a shame - I was intrigued by your write-up of the premise and was hoping it would be a good read.
Hope you have better luck next book!

I was really hoping it would be good too-the premise did sound so interesting!

I just finished The Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Susan McBride. I had really enjoyed the first book in this series, but the second one was merely okay. It definitely wasn't bad, it just wasn't good enough to inspire me to read the rest of the series.

Cold Case by Stephen White was a pretty good mystery, tying in two unsolved cases (two murdered girls, and a woman taken hostage and killed) trying to be solved by a group similar to Vidocq. There are a lot of good twists and turns, though occasionally they get to be a little much, and while the mystery is a good one, it's not quite good enough to get me reading the rest of the series.

28. Death in a Wine Dark Sea by Lisa King

"...but then a lot of people thought she was obnoxious and oversexed."

I hate writing negative reviews, especially of a book I was given as an Early Reviewer, but unfortunately the above quote from Death in a Wine Dark Sea perfectly sums up how I feel about the main character, and about the book in general.

The protagonist, Jean Applequist, seems to me to be the very definition of a Mary Sue, a woman who can do everything, who every man wants, who knows everything about wine and can't go five steps without being hit on. Even when she messes up, she is forgiven within three pages, and most likely talking about her expansive and never-ending sex life.

Besides getting so exasperated by the main character that I actually rolled my eyes while reading this book, the mystery isn't very good either. It starts out intriguingly, with the classic box of blackmail material and thus a wide range of suspects with motives. But the mystery becomes second fiddle to Jean and her "shelf" (as her expansive chest is constantly referred to as) and the many men lining up outside her door, to the point where I couldn't even keep all the male characters straight, and didn't even care about the solution to the mystery.

29. Claude and Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell

Monet is my favorite painter of all-time; I can't count how many times I've visited his paintings at the Art Institute, and walking through his gardens at Giverney was the experience of a lifetime.

This book was not only beautifully written, but gave such insight into Monet the person as well as Monet the painter. From his relationships with his friends to his almost obsessive need to capture the world through his paintbrush to his never-ending love for Camille, Cowell makes Monet and his life come alive.

31. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

As a lover of both the gothic genre of literature and Jane Austen, it was inevitable that I would read and enjoy this book. Witty and extremely clever, this book skewers the familiar story of an imaginative young woman who finds herself in a mysterious home where the mistress is dead and her son is out of the heroine's league but still highly appealing. This book will have you laughing out loud.

32. The Inheritance by Simon Tolkien

As described by the various review blurbs, this book is a combination of Erle Stanley Gardner, Agatha Christie, and Dan Brown, and is a really intriguing, suspenseful read. While I didn't love this book as much as I love the authors' works it's compared to, the combination of a manor house murder mystery, a courtroom thriller, and a desperate search to decode a mysterious codex, definitely was a winning combination. I actually liked that the murder mystery took precedence over solving the codex, it was an interesting switch up from what I had expected.

33. All the Way Gone by D. James Eldon

(This was a Member Giveaway ebook I received)

This is one of those strange occurrences when I'm not exactly sure why I liked this book, but I did like it. The plot, concerning a man whose wife has disappeared and who is suspected of having murdered her, can't help but draw comparisons to Gone Girl. And while it doesn't live up to the brilliance of Gone Girl (though I'm not sure much of anything could to be honest), it is still an intriguing and suspenseful read. I enjoyed the various character-driven stories branching out from the main storyline as well. The ending was confusing, but I think I got it, though I can't be sure, which in this case was a mark against the book. Still though, I couldn't really put this book down, and did find it really intriguing.

34. Haunted House for Sale by Jane Monson
I wanted to like this so much more than I actually did. I love paranormal mysteries, but while this book was fine, it fell kind of flat for me. It was such a quick read, it felt more like a short story, which would explain why the characters didn't feel well-developed. It was a very quick, pretty fun read, but the flat characters and rushed storyline made this book merely okay.

35. Awakening by Ray N. Kuili

This was a Member Giveaway ebook.

The premise sounded great-a group of businessmen and businesswomen gather in a hotel on an island for a mysterious workshop. Unfortunately, the book didn't really live up to my expectations.

The story was definitely interesting, and the twist at the end completely caught me by surprise. The problem, however, was twofold. There were so many mistakes with the grammar and spelling that I kept getting taken out of the story. The other problem was the book frequently got very preachy-characters would launch into very long speeches about power, or would have very long internal monologues, all of which felt like being repeatedly hit in the head with the author's personal opinions on power.

36. Great Neck, Mass by Ryan Coons
(This was a Member Giveaway book)

A book that effectively manages to be a mystery, various character studies, and historical fiction, Great Neck, Mass was a really enjoyable read.

It tells the story of a man who is found injured one night, his mysterious head injury bringing on amnesia. But this man has not washed up on Great Neck's shores by accident, and his presence brings back the past in a violent and tragic way.

The story is a really intriguing one, and the flashbacks are well-done and keep you hooked. The writing style is very accessible and enjoyable, and the characters are three-dimensional. I look forward to what this author writes next.

37. Timeless by Gail Carriger

The last book in the Parasol Protectorate series, I put off reading this for quite a while because while I really wanted to read it, I didn't want the series to be over. This has been one of my favorite series to date, mixing fantastical historical fiction, wonderful complex supernatural characters, romance, humor, and mystery. I especially loved that this entry in the series was set in Egypt, a place I have always found fascinating. I found the resolution of this series really satisfying, and can't wait to read whatever Gail Carriger writes next.

38. Darke Academy: Secret Lives by Gabriella Poole

A great earlier entry in the young adult supernatural genre, Secret Lives centers around Cassie Bell, a foster child who is accepted on scholarship to the mysterious Darke Academy, a prestigious institution that moves to a different exotic locale every term.

Cassie soon discovers that there are secrets being kept at the Academy, and only the Few, a group of students who seem to hold power even over the administration, hold the answers.

I really enjoyed this-it was a great, quick read that kept me totally hooked. I am really looking forward to tracking down the rest of the series.

39. The Monster of Minnesota by Mark Sumner

A tabloid reporter gets a tip that there is a lake monster in Minnesota who has already claimed the lives of quite a few of the townspeople, and she goes down to investigate, tangling with a local sheriff and the chemical plant as she works to solve the mystery.

The premise was definitely clever and unique, but the ending was a let-down, a huge stretch even for a book based around a tabloid report on a lake monster. I unfortunately wouldn't pick up any more books in this series.

Hi Becca, just dropped by to give you some encouragement. I can't believe we are getting so close to the end of the year, I'm still hoping to reach my target, but I really have to stop visiting the library! You've reminded me of how much I enjoyed the first Gail Carriger book that I read, and I have to get back to that series, although I have to wait until I can visit the library again!

Thanks so much for the encouragement! Sending some right back at you! I've actually taken a break from the library myself and am doing a big final push to try to reach my goal!

The House on Sprucewood Lane by Caroline Slate

This book is, like a Joyce Carol Oates book I read recently, a fictionalized take on the Jon Benet Ramsey case (though as far as I could tell this was not something the author explicitly acknowledged?). A female child who excels at gymnastics is found murdered in her family's wine cellar, and suspicion falls on her mother, father, and socially awkward precocious brother.

The narrator of the story is the murder victim's long-estranged aunt, and it is through her brutally honest lens that we learn the secrets she and others have kept hidden.

I could not put this book down-it was gripping and suspenseful, with a twist always just around the corner.

Gamers by Thomas K. Carpenter

(This was a Member Giveaway e-book)

The concept behind this book is a great one. People are in LifeGame starting from birth. Everything they do earns them points, and only the top-ranked get to go on to University and the best jobs. This is decided in large part by the mysterious Final Raid.

Gabby, the protagonist, is an expert hacker who has used her intelligence to keep her and her best friend high up in the rankings, but as her year's Final Raid approaches, she learns that the system in place is not all it seems to be, and the stakes are much higher than anyone imagined.

I definitely enjoyed this book. The strong concept alone was enough to keep me interested, and the characters and backstory were really interesting as well. Once they were actually in the Final Raid, the more gamer-aspect of the book lost me a little, but I definitely want to know what happens next in this series.

American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century by Howard Blum

Examining a revolutionary historical time period (when the clash between big bosses and the unions almost led to another civil war) in the context of a horrific crime (the bombing of the Times building as well as many other locations) and the birth of a new wave of cinema, Blum tackles a lot of different threads, but handles them all expertly. The stories and personages all tie together, from Mary Pickford to Clarence Darrow, and Blum's excellent research lays bare a crucial time in history, while his writing keeps his readers hooked until the end, even if they know the outcome.

Malice Poetic by Betty Rowlands

A mystery writer heads off to a language school for a writers' retreat, only to discover mysterious haikus, secrets and lies, and murder.

This was one of those okay genre mysteries. It wasn't a bad read at all, though the ending got a little ridiculous. The characters were interesting, and I really liked the revelations about the pasts characters were hiding. It just wasn't exciting or engaging enough to make me choose reading more in the series over all the other books I want to read.

Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Murder of Lord Darnley by Alison Weir

I have been reading this book almost this year now, as it is a very long, very fascinating history of Mary Queen of Scots, and how the murder of her second husband set off a chain of events that resulted in her being removed from her throne, and eventually executed. I first became interested in learning more about Mary after reading The Italian Secretary, which centers around the murder of her confidant, Rizzio, and once I actually visited Holyrood Palace, I began looking for a book that could teach me more. I found a copy of Allison Weir's tome at a book sale, and snatched it up.

Weir has clearly done her research, and whether or not you agree with her final conclusion that Mary was innocent in the murder of Darnley, you can't help but get drawn into this amazing true story of intrigue, violence, mystery, love, betrayal, and the fate of two kingdoms. It is occasionally hard to keep straight who is who, but Weir does an excellent job of making all the facts easy to follow and easy to understand.

The Becoming by Jeanne C. Stein

Aptly named Anna Strong is a bounty hunter who, after a vicious attack, has been turned into a vampire. As she attempts to navigate her now dual worlds, she also must deal with evil from all directions, including from people and places she never expected.

I definitely enjoyed this book. I didn't love it on the level of Laurel K. Hamilton, an author Stein is compared to, but it was a clever and creative take on the vampire mythology, with a lot of excellent twists and turns. There was a really excellent suspense aspect to this novel that kept me engaged and engrossed.

Drood by Dan Simmons

This is an amazing, creative, gripping book that is very hard to put into words other than the author's own amazing ones. Ostentatiously, it is the story of Charles Dickens' final years on earth, told through the highly unreliable narrative lens of Wilkie Collins, and the explanation behind what drove Dickens' to write the tragically unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

I was drawn to this book originally because it seemed to be a literary thriller. It sat on my shelf for a while until I actually read The Mystery of Edwin Drood and told my dad I was sad I would never know the ending Dickens had in mind for it. My dad reminded me about Drood and I immediately picked it up.

It did move a little slow at first, but once it got moving, it never stopped. I quite literally could not put this book down by the end, and spent my lunch break during a full-day teaching conference curled up in a chair flipping pages. This book now has me wanting to read more Collins and Dickens, especially their biographies.

I have Drood on my TBR Pile, and keep not getting to it, among other reasons, because I can't help wondering if I should read The Mystery of Edwin Drood first, and I find it hard to motivate myself to read a novel with no ending. Do you think familiarity with it is useful or necessary for enjoying Drood?

I think Drood gives enough information about The Mystery of Edwin Drood that you can thoroughly enjoy Drood.

That's what I wanted to hear. Thanks!

No problem!

Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler

I've never been a Chelsea Handler fan per se. I don't actively dislike her, I've just never watched her show, or been interested in her. But a friend passed along this book, and after reading such an intense book for my last read, I needed something light and funny. And what completely surprised me was just how funny I found this book. I was actually laughing out loud on the bus, unable to stop giggling.

Some of the things in this book seemed to cross a line for me, but I'm guessing that's Handler's shtick, and the other parts of the book were so funny it all balanced out for me. I'll be reading another book of hers next time I need a funny read.

I feel the same way about Chelsea Handler. Good for a laugh or giggle, but otherwise it seems to be mostly about shock value. Hope you're doing well!

( for some reason my ticker won't let me edit it right now) Goodnight Irene by Jan Burke

When her best friend, a fellow reporter, is killed by a bomb delivered to his door, Irene Kelly picks up where he left off, investigating a decades-old mystery of an unidentified woman missing her hands and feet. Her investigation puts Irene in grave danger, and brings her closer to Frank Harriman, the policeman also working on the case.

This was an enjoyable read-the characters were complex and interesting, as was the mystery, and the romance was sweet and well-done. I would definitely think about reading more of this series someday.

Ticker Factory is having problems, none of us are able to update our tickers. Hopefully they will resolve this soon.

Thanks for letting me know! Both of mine seem to be working now luckily.

The Best American Crime Writing 2006 edited by Mark Bowden

Another great collection of essays on true crime, from a cowboy bank robber who is not what they appear, to a confessional booth hiding terrible secrets, to the ill-planned theft of money found during war. I highly recommend every book I've read so far in this series.

The Haunting of America by Troy Taylor
A bargain bin read from Barnes and Noble, this was an interesting read, but not great. The stories Taylor wrote about were almost entirely ones I had never heard, and the history was definitely interesting. The problem lay in his writing style, particularly the overenthusiastic use of exclamation points, and his tendency to go on and on about something to the point of it becoming tedious.

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Scroll of the Dead by David Stuart Davies
I love this series, it's so much fun to have so many new Sherlock Holmes' novels to read, and this was a good addition to the set. While not as good as Davies' earlier book The Veiled Detective, this was still a really fun and creative read. I loved that the book brought in Egyptology to Holmes and Watson's world, and the characters were all well-written and interesting.

Blood Calling by Joshua Grover-David Patterson

A new take on the vampire young adult genre, this started out interesting, with a young girl discovering her grandfather was a vampire hunter. The characters, especially the protagonist and the two vampires she ends up meeting and befriending, were interesting and compelling. But about halfway through the book, the story took a stereotypical turn that really bugged me, and made me not want to finish the book. While I'm glad I did finish the book, as the ending was interesting as well, the turn that tainted the story for me means I most likely will not be reading the rest of the series.