Annual reading challenge 2018- Join in on the Fun

[bobbiwoz]

Such Good Girls: The Journey of the Holocaust's Hidden Child Survivors by R.D. Rosen. Non-fiction. The book starts off by telling the stories of three different Jewish girls, one Polish, one French and one Dutch that survived the holocaust because they were hidden. The books goes beyond what happened during the war and explores what happened in the aftermath and the effect the "hiding" had on them for the rest of their lives.

23/52

28/50

I read this book based on this recommendation, and I am so glad I did!

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

#12 The 9th Girl by Tami Hoag

Not bad detective book, though it was also at points a high school coming of age book as about half of book dealt with detectives son tied into one of the murders being investigated.
Two partners drawing different conclusions was interesting. All in all not a bad read.

If anyone is interested, I would gladly send a kindle gift version of any of my works “Written for You”, “Three Twigs for the Campfire”, “Cemetery Girl” or “Reigning”. You can see them all reviewed at Goodreads. If you are interested in reading any just Private Message here.

 

[rigs32]

What I read in May:

22) Inferno by Dan Brown. A re-read because we went to Italy.

23) Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and my Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill. Not much new because I've read a fair amount about hard core scientologists, but it was interesting to read how they treat children.

24) Charming Thirds by Megan McCafferty. The third book in the Jessica Darling series. It felt like it was written by a different author. The pacing was strange and one book covered four years without much depth.

25) Ghost by Jason Reynolds. A fun YA read about a young man joining the track team.

26) Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way by Jon Krakauer. It's shocking to me how many people write books that are fiction and try to pass them off as truth. As if no one would ever think to fact check them. Or the people talked about may never say something didn't actually happen.

 

[bobbiwoz]

29/50
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny....it happens in April. The plot to disgrace Gamche backfired, though he lost his best friend. I am reading through the series.

 

[KevM]

In May I read 16 books, bringing my total for the year so far to 85. The books I read this month were:

70) Call Me by My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh By Tich Nhat Hanh - Very good poetry collection of over 100 poems spanning about 40 years of this pretty famous Buddhist monk and Zen Master. 4.25/5

71) Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover - Utterly fascinating and captivating memoir of a woman who grown up in a Mormon survivalist family in Idaho and her journey to earning a history PhD from Cambridge. 4.75/5

72) Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in American by Firoozeh Dina’s - Enjoyable Memoir of growing up as an immigrant in SoCal. 4/5

73) A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow - Decent mystery novel that stands that caught my attention by being set in wide open Alaska and the protagonist is an Aleut native. Good enough that I’ve picked up the second in the series. 3.5/4

74) The MacGyver Secret: Connect to Your Inner MacGyver & Solve Anything by Lee Davis Zlotoff & Dr. Colleen Seifert - Interesting book on creative problem solving. 3.5/5

75) Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found by Cheryl Strayed - Cheryl wasn’t always the easiest person to like, which frankly makes for a good Memoir. Her thousand mile trench of the PCT was pretty entertaining. 3.5/5

76) The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America’s Enemies by Jason Fagone - Elizabeth Smith Friedman was one of the women written about in Code Girls, which I read back in March. She and her husband William Friedman were pioneers in cryptology. This biography on her is very good. 4.25/5

77) Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey - The first book in The Expanse series. The Expanse is one of my favorite shows and I have finally gotten around to starting the series it’s based on. I’m glad I did because the first book is excellent. 4.5/5

78) Get Well Soon: History’s Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them by Jennifer Wright - Wright does a great job of making what could have been a very dreary subject instead a very humorous while still giving the subject the respect it deserves. Covering everything from the antonine plague to the AIDS crisis. 4.25/5

79) Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North by Blair Braverman - Braverman is an adventurer and musher. This memoir covers her journey which includes years spent living in northern Norway, including in a Sami community, to her time spent as a guide in Alaska. 3.5/5

80) The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner by Daniel Ellsberg - Ellsberg is most famous for the release of the Pentagon Papers. But in his long time in the government, from The Rand Corporation to presidential advisor he had a very intimate knowledge of the US’s nuclear plan. Utterly fascinating. 4.75/5

81) Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor - The concluding chapter in Okrafor’s afrofuturism Binti trilogy. This was an excellent trilogy. Of the three books this was probably the “weakest”, which isn’t even the right word. It just speaks to how great the first two are. 4.25/5

82) What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami - Murakami’s Memoir On being a runner. An enjoyable read. 4/5

83) Two Hawks From Earth by Philip José Farmer - Farmer is considered a giant of Alt-History. This is the first book of his I have read. Taking place on a completely different Earth, North & South America never rose from the sea and India never connected to Asia, made for an engrossing read. But keeping track of all the different names for the countries did occasionally make for some difficult following of who’s who. 3.5/5

84) “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”: Further Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard Feynman & Ralph Leighton - Stories from the life of the Nobel Prize winning physicist. About half of this book dealt with Feyman’s time on the presidential commission investigation the Challenger explosion. For that reason this was a nice companion to Sally Ride’s autobiography that I read back in March, since she too was a member of that commission. 4.25/5

85) My Dyslexia by Philip Schultz - At 58, Pulitzer Prize winning poet Schultz’s young son was diagnosed with dyslexia. This led Schultz to discover he was also dyslexia. In this memoir he looks back on a difficult
childhood with a new understanding and talks about life presently with this knowledge. 3.5/5

 

[disneychrista]

#14 - Creation in Death by JD Robb
#15 - Eternity in Death (Novella) by JD Robb
#16 - Strangers in Death by JD Robb

 

[Tiggerish]

If I Live by Terri Blackstock. Christian mystery/thriller. This is the third and final book in the If I Run series. Casey is still trying to evade Police Officer Keagan, the dirty cop who is framing her for the murder of her best friend. In book two, private investigator, Dylan has become convinced of her innocent and he is now actively helping her. The plot has many twists, some unbelievable but makes for an interesting read. The entire plot is finally wound together and resolved.

The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard. WWII fiction about the people that worked at the secret government facility in Tennessee that enriched uranium for the nuclear bomb. It had many details about this huge, "secret" facility and how it worked.

27 and 28/52

 

[Simba's Mom]

Tiggerish, how was "The Atomic City Girls"? Did you enjoy it? I've got my name on the waiting list for this book.

 

[Tiggerish]

Tiggerish, how was "The Atomic City Girls"? Did you enjoy it? I've got my name on the waiting list for this book.

I thought it got off to a slow start but I stuck with it and about half way through, I found myself engaged and enjoying it. I really liked the ending where the author revealed what the main characters were up to years after the atomic bombs were dropped and the war ended. I also got this after waiting on my library's e-books holding list for several weeks.

 

[mmouse37]

#13 - I am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll

#14 - Flat Lake in Winter by Joseph Kempner

#15 - Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho

#16 - The Passage by Justin Cronin - really liked this book. Was about how we survive in the future after a virus wipes out most of the world. Had a Stephen King “The Stand” vibe to it. It was very long and spans about 100 years but I enjoyed it. Want to read the sequel.

#17 - Little Girl Lost by Carol Wyer

#18 - Company of Liars by Karen Maitland - I liked this one very much as well. About the plague in England

#19 - Cold on the Mountain by Daniel Powell - This was interesting. About a family driving to the Grand Canyons only to wind up in a high mountain town that holds all of the villians of the world like John Wayne Gacy, Hitler, etc. Evil people from all walks of life. The family has to try to and get out. All about good and evil.

#20 - Queen of the South by Arturo Perez-Reverte - great book about the #1 female drug lord of our time.

These are not in order of read.

MJ

 

[bobbiwoz]

30/50

A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny...the next in the Armand Gamache series.

 

[tazdev3225]

31/50 Gavin by Hazel Hunter
Though Gavin McShane is happy for his sister and her new life, his own has foundered. As he tries to recover from his lover’s betrayal, he finds solace in the work of being a fisherman in the Orkneys. On his tiny island he finds relief in seclusion—until he meets the ghostly Blue Lady of Marr.

Young druidess Catriona Haral is no phantom. But her hidden existence has made her seem so, even to herself. When Gavin wanders into her secret glen, she wonders if she’s found a reason to want to live again.

But Catriona wasn’t hiding on a whim. When her reasons are revealed, the might of the McDonnel clan and the judgement of the druids land at her doorstep.

32/50 Tormod by Hazel Hunter
When a modern day archaeologist lands in medieval Scotland, she leaves behind the one thing that might truly help—her memory.

But Jema McShane doesn’t make the trip alone. Her twin brother Gavin falls through time with her. Separated immediately, Gavin must fend for himself. But Jema lands in the powerful arms of the only Viking member of the McDonnel clan, Tormod.

The giant Norseman can scarcely believe how the fates have favored him. His only desire is to protect the strange and beautiful woman, even if it means keeping her existence a secret.

But for Gavin, the fates have a different path in store. His world becomes one of darkness, the likes of which he has never known.

33/50 Dougal: A Highlander Romance by L.L. Muir
Hannah is a socially introverted painter with a problem. At the Mendon Mountain Music Festival, she must sell some of her artwork to pay her taxes or she’ll lose her precious home. But if she sells her paintings to the wrong people, she’s afraid she’ll lose her soul.
Dougal, a Highlander ghost on leave from the battlefield, is anxious to help the lass, so he can collect a hero’s reward. But the independent miss has little need of him, and if he fails to solve her pressing problems, he’ll be sent on to the next world with no satisfaction at all!

34/50 Adam by L.L. Muir

My name is Adam Patrick Gordon, and I am a ghost of Culloden’s battlefield. Restless I am, for much unfinished business pulls at my soul—and my heart. I left my sweet wife, Mairi, behind, heavy with our first child, to face the Government Army on behalf of Prince Charles. I was one of the unlucky few from the Glenbucket Brigade who fell at Culloden that day in April, 1746.
What would I trade my ghostly existence for? Would a few minutes alone with our bonny prince give my soul the rest it deserves? I must convince Soni that all my heart desires is one more day with Mairi.

35/50 Macbeth by L.L. Muir
Along with the rest of Culloden’s 79, Macbeth is being forced to move on to the next life. But with a small, angry army waiting for him inside the gates of the hereafter, he’s got more reason than most to stay a ghost. Sadly, that's not an option. And if he can't resist the distraction of a tempestuous American lass, he’ll miss his final chance to redeem his name before the inevitable fight.

As if Catherine didn’t have enough to worry about, she’s attracted the attention of a hot-but-crazy guy who thinks he’s "The Highlander." Luckily for her, she is allergic to all things Scottish, so her heart is in no danger. Unfortunately, he thinks the best thing to do with his weekend is to barge into her life and endanger her grandpa’s delicate state of mind.

I may need to up my totals again at this rate.

 

[tiggrbaby]

29/50
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny....it happens in April. The plot to disgrace Gamche backfired, though he lost his best friend. I am reading through the series.

Love this series!

 

[tiggrbaby]

#41/90: Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann (4.5/5) (Nonfiction)
Goes over the exploitation and murders of members of the Osage tribe for their oil rights and how the fledgling FBI helped solve some of the crimes.

#42/90: Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate (4/5) (historical fiction/Tennessee adoption scandal)
Goes back and forth in time highlighting the horrors children went through under the Tennessee Children's Home Society.

#43/90: All By Myself, Alone by Mary Higgins Clark (3.5/5) (mystery)
Light and easy read about Willy and Alvirah aboard a cruise ship with a murder to solve.

#44/90: A Merciful Truth (Mercy Kilpatrick #2) by Kendra Elliot (3.5/5) (romantic mystery)
Mercy has come back to her home area and is investigating a series of arsons.

#45/90: The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain (3.5/5) (historical romance)
I enjoyed learning about the polio clinic built in the 1940s.

#46/90: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (5/5) (period fiction/domestic abuse)
I could not put this book down! A former Vietnam POW takes his family to a remote area in Alaska to start over. Their tale of survival is at times heartbreaking. The descriptions of the area make you want to visit!

 

[Tiggerish]

Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth. Autobiography. This book originally had another title, "The Midwife" but when it was turned into a mini-series on PBS, it was reissued with the same name as the tv program. I had a friend who strongly recommended it. I thought it was only a fair to middling book, more of a written soap opera. Maybe, I was not that interested in how the midwife system operated in London in the 1950's but I did read it all the way to the end. Unlike The Other Widow by Susan Crawford a psychological mystery which I gave up after reading the first third as it never captured my interest.

29/52

 

[bobbiwoz]

31/50

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

I decided to give it another try.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

#4
Bone White
Ronald Malfi

A landscape of frozen darkness punctuated by grim, gray days.
The feeling like a buzz in your teeth.
The scrape of bone on bone. . .

Paul Gallo saw the report on the news: a mass murderer leading police to his victims’ graves, in remote Dread’s Hand, Alaska.

It’s not even a town; more like the bad memory of a town. The same bit of wilderness where his twin brother went missing a year ago. As the bodies are exhumed, Paul travels to Alaska to get closure and put his grief to rest.

But the mystery is only beginning. What Paul finds are superstitious locals who talk of the devil stealing souls, and a line of wooden crosses to keep what’s in the woods from coming out. He finds no closure because no one can explain exactly what happened to Danny.

And the more he searches for answers, the more he finds himself becoming part of the mystery. . .

I liked this one a lot. There wasn't a ton of character development but the author was successful at setting the scene and mood. The mythology was interesting too, I had never heard of some it before so it was new, not some recycled storyline.

 

[adelaster]

In May I read 16 books, bringing my total for the year so far to 85. The books I read this month were:

70) Call Me by My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh By Tich Nhat Hanh - Very good poetry collection of over 100 poems spanning about 40 years of this pretty famous Buddhist monk and Zen Master. 4.25/5

71) Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover - Utterly fascinating and captivating memoir of a woman who grown up in a Mormon survivalist family in Idaho and her journey to earning a history PhD from Cambridge. 4.75/5

72) Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in American by Firoozeh Dina’s - Enjoyable Memoir of growing up as an immigrant in SoCal. 4/5

73) A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow - Decent mystery novel that stands that caught my attention by being set in wide open Alaska and the protagonist is an Aleut native. Good enough that I’ve picked up the second in the series. 3.5/4

74) The MacGyver Secret: Connect to Your Inner MacGyver & Solve Anything by Lee Davis Zlotoff & Dr. Colleen Seifert - Interesting book on creative problem solving. 3.5/5

75) Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found by Cheryl Strayed - Cheryl wasn’t always the easiest person to like, which frankly makes for a good Memoir. Her thousand mile trench of the PCT was pretty entertaining. 3.5/5

76) The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America’s Enemies by Jason Fagone - Elizabeth Smith Friedman was one of the women written about in Code Girls, which I read back in March. She and her husband William Friedman were pioneers in cryptology. This biography on her is very good. 4.25/5

77) Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey - The first book in The Expanse series. The Expanse is one of my favorite shows and I have finally gotten around to starting the series it’s based on. I’m glad I did because the first book is excellent. 4.5/5

78) Get Well Soon: History’s Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them by Jennifer Wright - Wright does a great job of making what could have been a very dreary subject instead a very humorous while still giving the subject the respect it deserves. Covering everything from the antonine plague to the AIDS crisis. 4.25/5

79) Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Fear and Finding Home in the Great White North by Blair Braverman - Braverman is an adventurer and musher. This memoir covers her journey which includes years spent living in northern Norway, including in a Sami community, to her time spent as a guide in Alaska. 3.5/5

80) The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner by Daniel Ellsberg - Ellsberg is most famous for the release of the Pentagon Papers. But in his long time in the government, from The Rand Corporation to presidential advisor he had a very intimate knowledge of the US’s nuclear plan. Utterly fascinating. 4.75/5

81) Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor - The concluding chapter in Okrafor’s afrofuturism Binti trilogy. This was an excellent trilogy. Of the three books this was probably the “weakest”, which isn’t even the right word. It just speaks to how great the first two are. 4.25/5

82) What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami - Murakami’s Memoir On being a runner. An enjoyable read. 4/5

83) Two Hawks From Earth by Philip José Farmer - Farmer is considered a giant of Alt-History. This is the first book of his I have read. Taking place on a completely different Earth, North & South America never rose from the sea and India never connected to Asia, made for an engrossing read. But keeping track of all the different names for the countries did occasionally make for some difficult following of who’s who. 3.5/5

84) “What Do You Care What Other People Think?”: Further Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard Feynman & Ralph Leighton - Stories from the life of the Nobel Prize winning physicist. About half of this book dealt with Feyman’s time on the presidential commission investigation the Challenger explosion. For that reason this was a nice companion to Sally Ride’s autobiography that I read back in March, since she too was a member of that commission. 4.25/5

85) My Dyslexia by Philip Schultz - At 58, Pulitzer Prize winning poet Schultz’s young son was diagnosed with dyslexia. This led Schultz to discover he was also dyslexia. In this memoir he looks back on a difficult
childhood with a new understanding and talks about life presently with this knowledge. 3.5/5

Your book picks are so interesting!

 

[willowsnn3]

#22/50

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

 

[pigletto]

#10 was Pachinko by Min Jin Lee . It was a great book .. below is a brief synopsis.. I would recommend this one .

Pachinko follows one Korean family through the generations, beginning in early 1900s Korea with Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, whose unplanned pregnancy threatens to shame them all. Deserted by her lover, Sunja is saved when a young tubercular minister offers to marry and bring her to Japan.