May 2012 Reads

 

37 Ballistic by Mark Greaney
38 Wife 22 by Melanie Gideon
39 Bellwether Revivals by Benjamin Wood
40 The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
41 The Lost Saints of Tennessee by Amy Franklin Willis
42 The Kissing List by Stephanie Reents
43 Whiplash River by Lou Berney
44 Comeback Love by Peter Golden
45 Chomp by Carl Hiaasen
46 I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits
47 The Strangler by William Landry

Many great reads this month.  I loved The Dog Stars by Peter Heller and The Lost Saints of Tennessee by Amy Franklin Willis.  Both were debut novels.  It's so hard to get published, these days, I'm usually delighted to read a fantastic first novel.  I highly recommend both novels.

Chomp by Carl Hiaasen is a quick read, targeting middle-schoolers.  It's really a wonderful story, for anyone over 10 years old.

Wife 22 is a perfect summer read.  It's an intriguing story of an unhappy wife and how far her husband will go to save their marriage.

I Am Forbidden, was an eye-opener.  Very few novels let outsiders into the insular world of Hasidic Judaism.  Great writing, I learned a lot, I'm sure glad I don't have to live in this world.

Ballistic and Whiplash River are very different novels, but they're both exciting and you won't be sorry you picked them up.

What are you reading?

The Fiction or Not Book Club

{no source, link leads to spam!  but I like the graphic.}

Are you on Pinterest? Are you a reader? I started a new board The Fiction or Not Book Club, if you want to join in with short reviews, let me know. I already invited a few to post, but the more the better. Let me know.

What are you reading?

April 2012 Reads

pin, source

28  Soft Target by Stephen Hunter
29  The Coldest Night by Robert Olmstead
30  The Orphanmaster by Jean Zimmerman
31  American Assassin by Vince Flynn
32  Calico Joe by John Grisham
33  Girl Gone by Gillian Flynn
34  A Chance In The World by Steve Pemberton
35  The Tarnished Eye by Judith Guest
36  A Good American by Alex George

Update ~ When I posted this earlier, I was in a hurry and didn't even take the time to tell my blog readers what I thought of the books I read in April.  Now, that I've had time to slow down I want to say that every book from last month was fabulous, not one book that I had to slog thru.  Some of my favorite authors Hunter, Grisham, Olmstead and Vince Flynn, turned in great reads, as usual.

I have to add a "new" Flynn to my favorites, Gillian Flynn.  Her thriller Girl Gone was hard to put down.  Bob and I have different taste in books, but I keep telling him what was happening, and he really couldn't wait for the next "report".

A Chance In The World, is one of the most touching/uplifting memoirs I've read in a long time.  Talk about taking lemons and making lemonade.

The Orphanmaster is a historical mystery that takes place in the 1600's in NYC.  Zimmerman's research for writing this novel was great.  I felt very involved with the story, and I even recognized some of the streets.  They're still there in lower Manhattan.

What are you reading?

Lucky, that's me.

I love getting free stuff, don't you.  Each week I get shipments of an ARC or fabric I've won.  It's great to be lucky.  Today it was a nice box from Random House.  Four ARC's from the Hogarth imprint and a new book bag.  Yay! 

I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovits

The Kissing List by Stephanie Reents

The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya

and The Dead Do Not Improve by Jay Caspian Kang

I'll let you know what I think, as I read them.

What are you reading?

Winner Chicken Dinner

I'm a bit late drawing a winner for a free book.  I offered the winner's choice of any of the books I read in March 2012.


Here's the list:
 19 There's a (slight) chance I might be going to hell by Laurie Notaro
20 Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
21 The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
22 Heart of the Hunter by Deon Meyer
23 Cell 8 by Roslund & Hellstrom
24 The Paris Directive by Gerald Jay
25 The Widow's Daughter by Nicholas Edlin
26 Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
27 By the Iowa Sea by Joe Blair

I used Random Number Generator to pick the winner.  I didn't want to play favorites.

And the winner is:

2 

Mimi said...

I am reading the Stieg Larsson series and am on the last book (The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest) - it is an incredible story!!

April 15, 2012 10:45 AM 

I've already sent Mimi an email.

What are you reading?

March 2012 Reads

 

source, pin

Thanks to The National Library of Ireland for this image

There once was a man from Glenageary. 

Who worked on the Liverpool Ferry. 

But, in his spare time, >

Without reason or rhyme, 

Walked tightrope in the Trinity Library.

March Reads

19 There's a (slight) chance I might be going to hell by Laurie Notaro
20 Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
21 The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
22 Heart of the Hunter by Deon Meyer
23 Cell 8 by Roslund & Hellstrom
24 The Paris Directive by Gerald Jay
25 The Widow's Daughter by Nicholas Edlin
26 Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
27 By the Iowa Sea by Joe Blair

Have you read The Idiot Girls Action and Adventure Club by Laurie Notaro?  You should, I read it years ago, in fact most of the booksellers at my store did.  And we all just about died laughing.  Based on that experience, I bought her novel There's a (slight) chance I might be going to hell,  It did not disappoint.  I love Notaro!

Half-Blood Blues, was well written and very worth reading.  It explores what it meant to be Black during the start of Nazi-ism, in Germany.  Dark subject matter, lightened a bit because it centers around Jazz and musicians.

Heart of the Hunter, was a fun "boy" read, full of action, motorcycles and adventure that takes place in South Africa, and neighboring countries.  The book was hard to put down, I breezed thru 400 pages.

Cell 8 by Roslund & Hellstrom, the cop and criminal writing partners is another can't put down read.  The death penalty  is the topic and the story leaps back and forth between Ohio and Sweden. It is an engaging story and you turn each page waiting to see what comes next.

The Paris Directive, will be published in June.  I think it's a must read.  A ruthless hitman botches a job, for the first time in his career.  A renown Paris detective, currently living in the small town where the murders take place leaps into action.  There's also an American connection.  It's all good, and it's a good read.

By the Iowa Sea, was the only memoir I read this month.  It's the candid story of a man loosing his way in his marriage and life, and finding his way back.  I really loved this book, of course having motorcycles involved didn't hurt, and I had to find out about the Iowa Sea, didn't I?

Fifty Shades of Grey, I bet you haven't missed the hoopla about this book.  It's been billed the Twilight series for grown ups, you know, adult soft-porn.  I decided to read it because I always want to know what's going on in the book world and words are just words.  First the comparison with Twilight, there is no comparison with the writing.  E.L. James can actually write.  I think the editors could have done a better job, but since it was first published in chapter by chapter format, according to my daughter's review, that you can read here.
Carrie says in her review:  "Fair warning, the story is not for the conservative minded, buttoned down, or reserved person.  So, if you are not shy about sex and erotica, I highly recommend these books – go read them!"  And I concur.

I'm not sure who reads my review/recommendations, but I know I have 23 followers on this blog.  Just to see if anyone has read to the end, I'm going to have a give away.

Leave a comment telling me what's on you nightstand to read, and tell me if you read physical books, use an e-reader, and which one, or do you read both books and e-reader?

The give away is for your choice of the books I've read this month, so tell me your choice, too.  I'll pick a winner, via Random Number Generator, on 4/15.

What are you reading?

I read a lot.

source, pin

I really do read a lot.  I'm a tenacious reader.  I pick up my book and read whenever I have an extra minute or two.  While Bob watches television, my book is open and I'm reading.  Depending on the year, and what's going on in my life, I read between 100 and 150 books a year.

You might think that I read fast; after all,  2-3 books a week is more than most people read.  But, I'm a slow reader, according to the "What Speed Do You Read" test on the Staples.com website.  Check out your reading speed, here.  This is not a scientific test, just fun.  My rate was 280, the national average for adults is 300.

What are you reading?