Meghan's 75 Book Challenge

1. The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan.

2. F is for Fugitive by Sue Grafton.

*I've noticed on my account that I haven't read much of what I've added. So, for this year I will read 75 books that I added to my account prior to January 1st, 2012. These books will be numbered 1-75. As I'm confidant that I will read more than 75 books given 2 out of the 3 years I've done it (year 2 had some familial issues going on and so I didn't feel like I could do100), books added to my account after January 1st, 2012 will be numbered 76 and onwards. Because you know, there are always kick-butt awesome books coming out every year.

*It's almost halfway through the year and I've only read 10 books on my list. I don't think I'm going to get to 75 at this rate. I'm now just doing the regular 75.

Looks like a good goal for you this year, Meghan. I think a lot of our members are trying to read more off their shelves.

Welcome back!

3. The Mislaid Magician by Patricia Wrede.

4. G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton.

5. Dancing at Midnight by Julia Quinn.

Welcome back Meghan!

Thanks!

Looks like you've had a good start! Love Wrede's stuff, and I'm hoping to get to Carrie Ryan's series this year. :)

6. Disintegration: the Splintering of Black America by Eugene Robinson. Audiobook. Very well read.

7. The Girl Is Murder by Kathryn Haines. An awesome mystery novel focusing on a German Jew named Iris and the beginning of WWII. Iris has to deal with the complexities of moving from her Upper East End apartment and private all-girls school to the Lower East End and public school as well as her ethnicity when being a white Anglo-Saxon was the standard. It also deals with patriotism, moral complexities, and some feminism. An excellent book.

8. Daughters of the North by Sarah Hall.

9. Cubicle Warfare: 101 Office Traps and Pranks by John Austin.

I realize that this is non sequitar, but I've realized I'm stuck in a rut and don't feel like reading at all. I go to the library, read a couple pages, like it, then I let languish on the amoire forever. Does this happen it anybody else?

10. Lunacy and the Arrangement of Books by Terry Belanger.

11. Slightly Tempted by Mary Balogh.

12. Forbidden by Tabitha Suzumua.
13. Virago Book of Erotic Myths and Legends by Shahrukh Husain.

14. Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin. A lovely story about two children's and a husband's perspectives about their traditional mother/wife in South Korea after the war. A little hard for me at first because a second person's perspective (using "you"), which rarely happens in writing. Very moving characters, complex feelings towards them, and I would read this book again.

15. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier. Read a 500-pg. novel in two days. It sucks you right in.

16. Fault lines by Nancy Huston.

17. The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht.

18. The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner.
19. Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham.
20. Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham.

21. Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett.

#11 I think we all go through spells when it's hard to concentrate on books. I find that when my life is chaotic I have a hard time focusing. But it doesn't last!

22. The Duke is Mine by Eloisa James.
23. The Orchid Affair by Lauren Willig.

24. The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett.

Did you like it?

25. Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore. Finally! After four years she has written another 7 Kingdoms book! It was so worth the wait!

26. The Brick Bible: A New Spin on the Old Testament by Brendan Powell Smith. Like Legos? Want to read the Bible with Lego characters? Here's your book! A nice visual guide to accompany your biblical reading.

27. Bookmarked for Death by Lorna Barrett.

#24 It was ok. I probably won't read the sequels. It's a lot of Jane Austen and Jane Eyre synthesized into one with some magical features into it.

28. Beguiling the Beauty by Sherry Thomas.
29. The Garden Intrigue by Lauren Willig.

30. Legacy by Cayla Kluver. The writing's a bit clunky and Cayla Kluver can be repititive in her descriptions. She likes to frequently remind the reader that the bodyguards accompanied the princess and the color of every ones' eyes and hair. And is Ms. Kluver a closted foodie? She likes to give rather long descriptons of what's available to eat at the feasts. There are other things that her style of writing needs work on, but with a good editor could be rectified.

31. The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. Nice premise: what happens to an Afghani family of 9 females as they are forced from their jobs and pursuing an education to indoors and making a highly successful business venture "hidden" from the Taliban from sewing. Very poor writing. Author is former journalist whose tendancy to write factually and concisely is very much evident and leaves much to be desired for a better emotional portryal amongst family members. Furthermore, Ms. Lemmon's writing is very confusing. She sometimes doesn't mention a person for a long while and then 30-40 pages later they make a random appearance or people disappear without a reason.

32. Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham.
33. Fables: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham.
34. The Princess and the Peer by Tracy Anne Warren.
35. Allegiance by Cayla Kluver.

Back from the beach in Kitty Hawk. Sighs. Now I know why people build houses right on the water's edge despite the risks. It's lovely.

36. Goodnight, iPad: a Parody for the Next Generation by Ann Droyd.
37. Palace of Dreams by Ismail Kadare. I don't care that it won the first Man Booker International Prize, it's still an awful book.
38. The Girl in the Blue Beret by Bobbie Ann Mason.
39. Starvation Lake by Brian Gruley. Knew what was going on, but didn't know the who were the murderer(s). Excellent series.

40. Darth Vader and Son by Jeffrey Brown.
41. The White Pearl by Kate Furnivall. This is one of her better books. I love Ms. Furnivall's novels in Southeast Asia and Russia.

42. Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James. A satisfying mystery read after Darcy and Elizabeth have been married and somebody has died on their estate. Kudos to those who can catch the allusions to Miss Austen's other works.

43. The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall. Her best works are The Russian Concubine and The White Pearl; her others not so much.

44. The Sherbrooke Bride by Catherine Coulter.

45. Bookplate Special by Lorna Barrett.

46. Chapter & Hearse by Lorna Barrett.
47. Due or Die by Jenn McKinlay.

48. The Hanging Tree by Brian Gruley.
49. The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes.

50. The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey.

51. Fables: The March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham.

52. Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt. If you liked the sarcastic Lord Vaughn in The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig, you'll like Lord Caire, who's like him.

Re-listening to audiobooks: Belle Weather: Mostly Sunny with a Chance of Hissy Fits and You Can't Drink All Day if You Don't Start in the Morning both by and read by Celia Rivenbark. Reading her books aren't nearly as fun as listening to them.

53. One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey.

54. Notorious Pleasures by Elizabeth Hoyt.
55. Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt.

*waving* at Meghan on my way through the threads

#41 Waves back merrily

56. When She Woke by Hillary Jordan with a fabulous voice actor for the audiobook. An extremely awesome book about the near future in the US when it has turned, more or less, into a theoracy and peoples' skins are turned different colors based on the severity of their crime. Hannah Payne is colored red for having an abortion, now illegal country-wide, and her experience with those closest to her and casual acquaintances. I highly recommend the audiobook read by Heather Corrigan to get the full effect.

57. First Comes Marriage by Mary Balogh.

58. The Skeleton Box by Bryan Gruley. Very good and I hope that Mr. Gruely continues this series. I love the character detail and situations in his books.

59. The Truth about Lord Stoneville by Sabrina Jefferies.
60. Colors: and What They Mean and How to Make Them by Anne Varicon.
61. The Period House: Style, Detail & Decoration 1774-1914 by Richard Russell Lawrence & Teresa Chris.

62. Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days) by Bill Willingham.
63. Fables: Wolves by Bill Willingham.
64. Fables: Sons of Empire Bill Willingham.
65. Peter and Max: A Fables Novel by Bill Willingham.

66. To Marry an English Lord or, How Anglomania Really Got Started by Gail MacColl and Carol Wallace.
67. A Hellion in Her Bed by Sabrina Jefferies.

68. Broken Harbor by Tana French.
69. Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage: The Titanic's First-Class Passengers and Their World by Hugh Brewster.

70. Carmilla (audiobook) by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.
71. The Green Baize Door by Ernest King.

72. Her Highness and the Highlander by Tracy Anne Warren.

73. The Iron Legends by Julie Kagawa.

74. The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen.

75. Under Heaven by Gavriel Kay (audiobook).

76. Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn.
77. Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn.

An awfully wonderful series (Lady Julia Grey) that has gotten hooked on it. A little slow in the first book, #76, but it does pick up fast. I only mean to read for an hour or two and wind up reading far longer into the night, much to my detriment the next morning, because the characters are engaging, the dialogue excellent, and the plot awesome. Highly recommend if you like strong female leads, tension of all kinds between characters, late Victorian Britain, social tensions, and ravens. I've checked out the next three from the library, but have left them there until Friday otherwise I would be staying up as late as possible reading them and I think work would frown upon that.

Congrats!

Thank you!

#78. Silent on the Moor by Deanna Rayburn.

82. India Black and the Widow of Windsor by Carol K. Carr.

80. Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn.
81. The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn.

83. The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn. It was okay given that it's a standalone novel. I much prefer her Lady Julia Grey series.

84. Iron House by John Hart.

85. Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape by Bill Willingham.
86. Jack of Fables: Jack of Hearts by Bill Willingham.