The links go to where I've reviewed the books here and also to The Book Book blog, where I'm one of many writing book reviews. Feel free to comment there or here if you agree or disagree with my reviews!
Key:
- library=either 'regular' or eBook library
- coll=book from my collection for the Read Your Own Books challenge
- 40 new-to-me books read (goal = 52)
- 50 books read in total
- 35 eBooks, 15 paper books
- 27 from my unread collection (goal for 2009 = 30)
- Stephanie Bond, "In a Bind" (purchased at www.fictionwise.com) Reviewed December 10, 2009 on my own blog and on The Book Book blog (ebook, coll)
- Faith Bleasdale, "The Love Resort" (discount table at Chapters) Reviewed December 10, 2009 on my own blog and on The Book Book blog (ebook, coll)
- Nancy Warren, "Speed Dating" (downloaded for free, I've forgotten where!) Reviewed December 10, 2009 on my own blog and on The Book Book blog(ebook, new)
Ah, other months, where did you go? I HAVE been reading but not tracking. So everything I know I've read between June and November will go in here.
- Kathleen Tessaro, "Innocence" (discount table at Chapters) Not as good as I'd hoped, unfortunately. I liked her "Elegance" but this one felt watered down. I read it two weeks ago and can barely remember it, which is never a good sign. (paper, coll)
- Jessica Brody, "The Fidelity Files" (bought at Chapters.) I saw mention of this on Facebook and it sounded interesting so I bought it. It WAS interesting. A woman hires herself out to test men's fidelity. Well written, no random/coincidental occurrences that weren't also plausible, and a bit of a mystery running through it. (paper, coll)
- Karen Miller, "Empress (Godspeaker Trilogy Book 1)" (ebook purchased from ereader.com) I liked this a lot. The ending was very "here's your hat, what's your hurry" but since it's a trilogy I assume the story continues in the next books. (ebook, new)
- Wendy Markham, "Mike, Mike, and Me" (ebook purchased from fictionwise.com) I liked the writing here but oh, the main character made me crazy. When she said something about how she was a childish jerk I had to restrain myself from standing up and cheering. (ebook, new)
- Holly McQueen, "The Glamorous (Double) Life of Isabel Bookbinder: A Novel" (eBook purchased from ereader.com) Oogh. A huge pile of coincidences and unrealistic behaviour and not much else, I'm afraid. (ebook, new)
- Garrison Keillor, "Love Me" (discount table at Chapters) Not at all what I expected, but I did like it. A middle-aged man comes to terms with who he is and who he won't be. It's dark and sad and hilarious in places and the ending surprised and saddened me. (paper, coll)
- Holly Shumas, "Five Things I Can't Live Without" (eBook purchased from fictionwise.com) Really well done. This did NOT have the typical "everything falls into place without struggle at the end" issues I see with a lot of women's fiction... the character really worked for what she wanted and even at the end there's still work to be done. I will read more by Holly Shumas! (ebook, new)
- Gitty Daneshvari, "The Makedown" (eBook purchased from fictionwise.com) The blurb describes it as an unattractive girl making her hot boyfriend less attractive so he won't leave her. It IS that, but it's a whole lot more. It's about self-confidence and self-knowledge and I was surprised by its depth. Another author I'll look for again. (ebook, new)
There were more in August, but the biggie is finishing "Infinite Jest"!
June: (1 book: 1 new)
Actually, there have certainly been more, but I kind of forgot about this tracking thing. :) Nothing on my to be read list looks like I've already read it, so I figure I was rereading stuff and I won't stress about it.
- Marian Keyes, "That Charming Man" (paper, new)
- J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (paper, reread)
- J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (paper, reread)
- J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (paper, reread)
- J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (paper, reread)
- Kelly Hewins, "Waiting for Spring" (downloaded for free, I've forgotten where!) (ebook, new)
- Simon Finlay, "Hal Spacejock" (eBook, coll)
- Simon Rich, "Free-Range Chickens" (eBook, coll)
- Veronica Chambers, "The Joy of Doing Things Badly: A Girl's Guide to Love, Life, and Foolish Bravery" (eBook, new)
- Helen Hooven Santmyer, "...and Ladies of the Club" (paper, reread)
- Cormac McCarthy, "No Country for Old Men" (eBook, coll)
- J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (paper, reread)
- J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (paper, reread)
- J.K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (paper, reread)
- P.G. Wodehouse, "The Jeeves Omnibus" (eBook, coll)
- Sarah Mlynowski, "Me Vs. Me" (eBook, coll)
- Laurie Notaro, "The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death" (eBook, coll)
- Charlie Huston, "A Dangerous Man" (eBook, coll)
- Charlie Huston, "Six Bad Things" (eBook, coll)
- Arthur Conan Doyle, "A Study in Scarlet [Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection #1]" (eBook, coll)
- Jennifer Archer, "The Me I Used to Be" (eBook, coll)
- Terry Pratchett, "The Color of Magic" (eBook, coll)
- Tess Gerritsen, "The Surgeon" (eBook, coll)
- Emma Bull, "War for the Oaks" (eBook, coll)
- Iris Johansen, "And The Desert Blooms" (eBook, coll)
- Kristin Harmel, "The Art of French Kissing" (eBook, coll)
- Heather Wardell, "Seven Exes are Eight Too Many" (free from my files :) - just felt like re-reading it!
- "The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep" by Lawrence Block (eBook, coll)
- "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer (eBook, library)
- "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer (eBook, library)
- "Royal Assassin" by Robin Hobb (eBook, coll)
- "Assassin's Quest" by Robin Hobb (eBook, coll)
- "Caught Stealing" by Charlie Huston (eBook, coll)
- "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer (eBook, new)
- "Falling Under" by Danielle Younge-Ullman (paper, reread)
- Jacqueline Carey, "Kushiel's Justice". (paper) Fifth in a series of books about a courtesan's adventures, and second in the sub-series narrated by her foster son. (Since this is midway through the series, I'm not writing a formal review.) While I preferred the earlier books, this new narrator is growing on me, and the final book promises to be exciting.
- Debbie Macomber, "The Shop on Blossom Street". (eBook, coll) A two-time cancer survivor opens a knitting store, and she and her three first customers work together during a knitting class to make their lives better. Decent book, and far more enjoyable to my mind than the Friday Night Knitting Club.
- Chuck Palahniuk, "Choke". (eBook, library) Dark, weird, occasionally beautiful.
- Peter Crother, ed., "We Think, Therefore We Are" (eBook, coll) (collection of artificial intelligence-related short stories, purchased at www.fictionwise.com). I will write a review of this shortly, but I found it inconsistent. A few stories were very good, one was spectacular, and the rest just blurred together for me.
November 2008 (started tracking November 17th)
"Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs (Nov 24-) (ebook)- I stopped reading this on November 29th after the stupidest medical situation ever completely turned me off. I didn't like it from the start, though.- "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell (Nov 21-24) (ebook)
- "Unleashing the Ideavirus" (link points to free download) by Seth Godin (Nov 19-21) (ebook)
- "Time Management for Creative People" (link points to download) by Mark McGuinness (Nov 19) (ebook)
- "Risque Business" by Tawny Weber (Nov 18) (ebook)
- "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein (Nov 17-18) (ebook)
- "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer (Dec 29) (ebook borrowed from library)
- "You're Not Fooling Anyone When You Take Your Laptop to a Coffee Shop" by John Scalzi (Dec 6-8) (ebook)
- "1984" by George Orwell (Nov 25-Dec 4) (ebook)
- "The No S Diet" by Reinhard Engels (Nov 30-Dec 3) (ebook)
2 comments:
I love 1984. I've also got Twilight next to my bed... it's an uphill battle. I enjoyed the movie though.
Haven't seen the movie yet, but I will, I'm sure. I'd read 1984 before, of course, but it's well worth the re-read.
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