Annual reading challenge 2018- Join in on the Fun

59/50. Murphy ‘s Law by Rays Bowen...I enjoyed this, the second I have read by this author. Young Irish gal comes to NYC. Here under false pretenses, but it all works out. Setting is NYC at the time of Tammany Hall, Irish political power.
 
Update time-

#47/60-"Emergency Exit"-I'd thought this would be a humorous book about the life of a flight attendant, but it was neither funny, nor much about being a flight attendant. Barely 2/5
#48-"In His Father's Footsteps", Danielle Steel, an enjoyable read, but I wish there'd been some mention of current events, 4/5
#49-"Peterson's Guide to Bird ID", only enjoyable to the serious birder, so I liked it, 4/5
#50/60-"Any Dream Will Do", Macomber. An extremely predictable romance. Although it isn't billed as Christian Romance, it could be. 4/5
 
60/50. The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover by Susan Wittig Albert....I enjoyed it as much as the puzzle named book of hers. I really enjoy reading the tidbits of news from the 1930’s.
 
13 of 20: Leverage in Death by J. D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts)
Lieutenant Eve Dallas puzzles over a bizarre suicide bombing in a Wall St. office building in the latest in the #1 New York Times bestselling series…

For the airline executives finalizing a merger that would make news in the business world, the nine a.m. meeting would be a major milestone. But after marketing VP Paul Rogan walked into the plush conference room, strapped with explosives, the headlines told of death and destruction instead. The NYPSD’s Eve Dallas confirms that Rogan was cruelly coerced by two masked men holding his family hostage. His motive was saving his wife and daughter—but what was the motive of the masked men?

Despite the chaos and bad publicity, blowing up one meeting isn’t going to put the brakes on the merger. All it’s accomplished is shattering a lot of innocent lives. Now, with the help of her billionaire husband Roarke, Eve must untangle the reason for an inexplicable act of terror, look at suspects inside and outside both corporations, and determine whether the root of this crime lies in simple sabotage, or something far more complex and twisted.

This many books into a series, the tropes start to get tiresome. Eve and Roake always have some dumb fight about something. Peabody gets on Eve's nerves at some point. Loud ties. Baxter is kind of a creep. Roarke helps with the case. Summerset is just there to give them all a hard time. Galahad is fat, etc.

Still, I live the characters. The story was pretty engrossing, even if it was a fairly simple murder plot. But I feel like these characters aren't really growing. It's been 47 books over the span of like 2 1/2 years of "novel time". I feel like Nora is starting to not know what to do with the characters.

3.5 stars.

There is no way I'm getting to 20 this year.
 


Im reading a book called "Our little lies" , its about a Surgeons wife, who talks of how great her husband is, but then she tells us, he beats her, and is having all kinds of affairs, but the Doctors say she needs pills cause she anit right. So the rub is you dont know who to believe cause your not sure if the narrator is "right"
 
Im reading a book called "Our little lies" , its about a Surgeons wife, who talks of how great her husband is, but then she tells us, he beats her, and is having all kinds of affairs, but the Doctors say she needs pills cause she anit right. So the rub is you dont know who to believe cause your not sure if the narrator is "right"

Wow that sounds similar to book I am writing now. Just about author telling it and not being sure of his state of mind.
 
Catching up!

50. All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda
From Goodreads: Like the spellbinding psychological suspense in The Girl on the Train and Luckiest Girl Alive, Megan Miranda’s novel is a nail-biting, breathtaking story about the disappearances of two young women—a decade apart—told in reverse.

It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.

51. Charlatans by Robin Cook
From Goodreads: Noah Rothauser is the new super chief resident at Boston Memorial Hospital. Housing state-of-the-art medical facilities, it’s always been Noah’s dream to work for such an esteemed institution. But the pressures of the role become all too clear when a seemingly routine operation results in the tragic death of an otherwise healthy man. With potential malpractice suspected it falls to the newly appointed surgical doctor to investigate what happened.

52. Dashing Through the Snow by Debbie Macomber
From Gooodreads: Ashley Davison, a graduate student in California, desperately wants to spend the holidays with her family in Seattle. Dashiell Sutherland, a former army intelligence officer, has a job interview in Seattle and must arrive by December 23. Though frantic to book a last-minute flight out of San Francisco, both are out of luck: Every flight is full, and there’s only one rental car available. Ashley and Dash reluctantly decide to share the car, but neither anticipates the wild ride ahead.

53. Fever Dream by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (Pendergrast #10)
Form Goodreads: Yesterday, Special Agent Pendergast still mourned the loss of his beloved wife, Helen, who died in a tragic accident in Africa twelve years ago. Today, he discovers she was murdered. Tomorrow, he will learn her most guarded secrets, leaving him to wonder: Who was the woman I married? Why was she murdered? And, above all . . . Who murdered her?

54. Under the Knife by Kelly Parsons
From Goodreads: Morgan Finney, a biotechnology tycoon, is a shy, highly intelligent but socially awkward and emotionally fragile man. It was his wife, Jenny, with whom he connected and who enabled him to connect with others. When Jenny dies of complications during a surgery led by Dr. Rita Wu, Finney’s grief turns to rage. He vows to kill Rita just as he believes she killed his wife. But first he will systematically destroy her life.

55. Flat Broke With Two Goats: A Memoir of Appalachia by Jennifer McGaha
From goodreads: Just as the Great Recession was easing in some parts of the country, Jennifer McGaha experienced an economic crisis of epic proportions. Her home was in foreclosure; she had $4.57 in the bank; and worst of all, she had recently discovered that she and her accountant husband owed four years of back taxes to the state of North Carolina and the IRS. And then things got really bad…

Flat Broke with Two Goats takes readers on a wild adventure from a Cape Cod-style home in the country to a hundred-year-old, mice-infested, snake-ridden cabin in a North Carolina holler. With self-effacing humor and unflinching honesty, Jennifer chronicles the joys and difficulties of living close to nature, and in the process she comes to discover the true meaning of home.

56. The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
From Goodreads: Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common, and who are separated by years and experience. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.
 


27/20: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green.
28/20: China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan - I am enjoying this trilogy and now that I've seen the movie for the first book, I really like it! Lighthearted and funny.
29/20: The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwan
30/20: Beartown by Fredrik Backman - Really enjoyed this one even though I'm not into high-school level ice hockey. Great story.
 
I know I'm not on the list, but I have a couple books to add if people are looking for good things to read:

The Outsider - Stephen King - not really horror, but more in the genre of the Mr. Mercedes trilogy. Loved it!

For some cozy mystery series, I found the Donna Andrews series about Meg Lanford to be very fun and light hearted. Same with Lea Wait's Mainely needlepoint series. Nice quick reads between some meatier ones.
 
#58 The Trapped Girl by Robert Dugoni
When a woman’s body is discovered submerged in a crab pot in the chilly waters of Puget Sound, Detective Tracy Crosswhite finds herself with a tough case to untangle. Before they can identify the killer, Tracy and her colleagues on the Seattle PD’s Violent Crimes Section must figure out who the victim is. Her autopsy, however, reveals she may have gone to great lengths to conceal her identity. So who was she running from?

After evidence surfaces that their Jane Doe may be a woman who suspiciously disappeared months earlier, Tracy is once again haunted by the memory of her sister’s unsolved murder. Dredging up details from the woman’s past leads to conflicting clues that only seem to muddy the investigation. As Tracy begins to uncover a twisted tale of brutal betrayal and desperate greed, she’ll find herself risking everything to confront a killer who won’t go down without a deadly fight.
 
27/20: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green.
28/20: China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan - I am enjoying this trilogy and now that I've seen the movie for the first book, I really like it! Lighthearted and funny.
29/20: The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwan
30/20: Beartown by Fredrik Backman - Really enjoyed this one even though I'm not into high-school level ice hockey. Great story.
I loved Beartown and its sequel, Us Against You
 
#58 The Trapped Girl by Robert Dugoni
When a woman’s body is discovered submerged in a crab pot in the chilly waters of Puget Sound, Detective Tracy Crosswhite finds herself with a tough case to untangle. Before they can identify the killer, Tracy and her colleagues on the Seattle PD’s Violent Crimes Section must figure out who the victim is. Her autopsy, however, reveals she may have gone to great lengths to conceal her identity. So who was she running from?

After evidence surfaces that their Jane Doe may be a woman who suspiciously disappeared months earlier, Tracy is once again haunted by the memory of her sister’s unsolved murder. Dredging up details from the woman’s past leads to conflicting clues that only seem to muddy the investigation. As Tracy begins to uncover a twisted tale of brutal betrayal and desperate greed, she’ll find herself risking everything to confront a killer who won’t go down without a deadly fight.

Really like this series!
 
#75/90: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (4/5) (historical fiction)
The lives of two girls in 1800s China as they grow and become women. The section on foot binding is heartbreaking!

#76/90: Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World by Clara Parkes (4/5) (memoir)
A series of articles from a knitting writer about her experiences at different US festivals and around the world.

#77/90: Where the Birds Never Sing: The True Story of the 92nd Signal Battalion and the Liberation of Dachau by Jack Sacco (4.5/5) (biography)
Written by the son, he tells of his father's start in Alabama through his experiences in WWII.

#78/90: The Wife by Meg Wolitzer (2/5) (fiction)
A woman decides that she is going to leave her husband just as he is about to receive a prestigious award. Most of the story is told in flashbacks. It was fairly easy to figure out the big shock at the end. I only finished it because it was for my book group.

#79/90: The Tumor: A Non-Legal Thriller by John Grisham (4/5) (informational)
Very short book starting with the fictional case study of a man with a brain tumor. Then the difference if focused ultrasound treatment was available to treat the tumor is described. This book is available free for the Kindle on Amazon.

#80/90: Gideon's Rescue (Gideon and Sirius #4) by Alan Russell (4/5) (mystery)
The detective/dog duo work to solve two separate crimes while a new serial killer may be working with Gideon's old foe.
 
#23/30 The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (3/5). This is a narrative retelling of the story of the Iliad, told from Patroclus's perspective. It was okay but not fantastic.
 
#77/90: Where the Birds Never Sing: The True Story of the 92nd Signal Battalion and the Liberation of Dachau by Jack Sacco (4.5/5) (biography)
Written by the son, he tells of his father's start in Alabama through his experiences in WWII.

I also enjoyed this book.
 
I read a book on our cruise!
61/50 Whiskey and Tonic by Nina Wright. Light mystery, some foolish antics by a dog, some emotions, just right to read for fun.
 
#81/90: Dark Sacred Night (Ballard and Bosch) by Michael Connelly (5/5) (LA detective)
Bosch's cold case intrigues Ballard and she decides to assist. Love the two of them working together!

#82/90: The Lines We Leave Behind by Eliza Graham (3.5/5) (historical fiction/WWII)
Post WWII in Britain, a woman struggles to understand what put her there. Told in flashbacks, she remembers her time in Yugoslavia and what led up to her confinement.

#83/90: The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison (2/5) (horror)
A man kidnaps young girls and tattoos them as butterflies, then sexually abuses them. Told through FBI interrogation of one of the girls and flashbacks.
 
#23/30 The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (3/5). This is a narrative retelling of the story of the Iliad, told from Patroclus's perspective. It was okay but not fantastic.

I agree....I read this over summer and found it interesting but not "Oh I love it"

I have so many to post that I read since my last post...have to go and gather all them.

MJ
 
#81/90: Dark Sacred Night (Ballard and Bosch) by Michael Connelly (5/5) (LA detective)
Bosch's cold case intrigues Ballard and she decides to assist. Love the two of them working together!

#82/90: The Lines We Leave Behind by Eliza Graham (3.5/5) (historical fiction/WWII)
Post WWII in Britain, a woman struggles to understand what put her there. Told in flashbacks, she remembers her time in Yugoslavia and what led up to her confinement.

#83/90: The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison (2/5) (horror)
A man kidnaps young girls and tattoos them as butterflies, then sexually abuses them. Told through FBI interrogation of one of the girls and flashbacks.

I loved the Butterfly Garden and I am currently reading The Lines We Leave Behind!

MJ
 

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