Annual Reading Challenge 2019
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willowsnn3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2009
#63 Blaze by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)
Clayton Blaisdell, Jr., was always a small-time delinquent. None too bright either, thanks to the beatings he got as a kid. Then Blaze met George Rackley, a seasoned pro with a hundred cons and one big idea. The kidnapping should go off without a hitch, with George as the brains behind their dangerous scheme. But there's only one problem: by the time the deal goes down, Blaze's partner in crime is dead. Or is he?
Was just ok.
Clayton Blaisdell, Jr., was always a small-time delinquent. None too bright either, thanks to the beatings he got as a kid. Then Blaze met George Rackley, a seasoned pro with a hundred cons and one big idea. The kidnapping should go off without a hitch, with George as the brains behind their dangerous scheme. But there's only one problem: by the time the deal goes down, Blaze's partner in crime is dead. Or is he?
Was just ok.
Kirby
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2000
50/50 - The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis. Genre - Historical Mystery
Fiona Davis's stunning debut novel pulls readers into the lush world of New York City's glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women, where in the 1950s a generation of aspiring models, secretaries, and editors lived side by side while attempting to claw their way to fairy-tale success, and where a present-day journalist becomes consumed with uncovering a dark secret buried deep within the Barbizon's glitzy past.
When she arrives at the famed Barbizon Hotel in 1952, secretarial school enrollment in hand, Darby McLaughlin is everything her modeling agency hall mates aren't: plain, self-conscious, homesick, and utterly convinced she doesn't belong - a notion the models do nothing to disabuse. Yet when Darby befriends Esme, a Barbizon maid, she's introduced to an entirely new side of New York City: seedy downtown jazz clubs where the music is as addictive as the heroin that's used there, the startling sounds of bebop, and even the possibility of romance.
Over half a century later, the Barbizon's gone condo and most of its long-ago guests are forgotten. But rumors of Darby's involvement in a deadly skirmish with a hotel maid back in 1952 haunt the halls of the building as surely as the melancholy music that floats from the elderly woman's rent-controlled apartment. It's a combination too intoxicating for journalist Rose Lewin, Darby's upstairs neighbor, to resist - not to mention the perfect distraction from her own imploding personal life. Yet as Rose's obsession deepens, the ethics of her investigation become increasingly murky, and neither woman will remain unchanged when the shocking truth is finally revealed.
Fiona Davis's stunning debut novel pulls readers into the lush world of New York City's glamorous Barbizon Hotel for Women, where in the 1950s a generation of aspiring models, secretaries, and editors lived side by side while attempting to claw their way to fairy-tale success, and where a present-day journalist becomes consumed with uncovering a dark secret buried deep within the Barbizon's glitzy past.
When she arrives at the famed Barbizon Hotel in 1952, secretarial school enrollment in hand, Darby McLaughlin is everything her modeling agency hall mates aren't: plain, self-conscious, homesick, and utterly convinced she doesn't belong - a notion the models do nothing to disabuse. Yet when Darby befriends Esme, a Barbizon maid, she's introduced to an entirely new side of New York City: seedy downtown jazz clubs where the music is as addictive as the heroin that's used there, the startling sounds of bebop, and even the possibility of romance.
Over half a century later, the Barbizon's gone condo and most of its long-ago guests are forgotten. But rumors of Darby's involvement in a deadly skirmish with a hotel maid back in 1952 haunt the halls of the building as surely as the melancholy music that floats from the elderly woman's rent-controlled apartment. It's a combination too intoxicating for journalist Rose Lewin, Darby's upstairs neighbor, to resist - not to mention the perfect distraction from her own imploding personal life. Yet as Rose's obsession deepens, the ethics of her investigation become increasingly murky, and neither woman will remain unchanged when the shocking truth is finally revealed.
Tiggerish
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 1999
What If It's True by Charles Martin. Non-fiction. A re-telling of stories from the New Testament with the author's take on what the story implies for everyday Christian living. The author is a well known fiction author (When Crickets Cry, The Mountain Between Us, Long Way Home, etc.) It took me nine weeks to read this book because it called for much personal reflection and deep thinking so I only did part of a chapter every day.
Leftover Girl by C.C.Bolick. A combinations of high school drama, first love and science fiction. This was the first in a series so the end is not the resolution of the story but a cliff hanger.
Better With You by Gianna Gabriela. This was the first book in the Bragan University Series. This is YA romantic fiction and was a free download.
98, 99 and 100 of 104
Leftover Girl by C.C.Bolick. A combinations of high school drama, first love and science fiction. This was the first in a series so the end is not the resolution of the story but a cliff hanger.
Better With You by Gianna Gabriela. This was the first book in the Bragan University Series. This is YA romantic fiction and was a free download.
98, 99 and 100 of 104
willowsnn3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2009
#64 The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry
Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, turns up at their hospital, Christopher forms an instant connection with her, and he convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own.
But Janie is no ordinary child, and her damaged psyche proves to be more than her new parents were expecting. Janie is fiercely devoted to Christopher, but she acts out in increasingly disturbing ways, directing all her rage at Hannah. Unable to bond with Janie, Hannah is drowning under the pressure, and Christopher refuses to see Janie’s true nature.
Hannah knows that Janie is manipulating Christopher and isolating him from her, despite Hannah’s attempts to bring them all together. But as Janie’s behavior threatens to tear Christopher and Hannah apart, the truth behind Janie’s past may be enough to push them all over the edge.
This one was ok. Each chapter was told by either Christopher, Hannah or Piper (social worker). And maybe one or two by Allison (Hannah's sister), so made it difficult for fully developed characters. And as another reviewer on Goodreads said there just wasn't an ending. More like the end of a chapter with none to follow. Deliberate, no sequels in the making.
Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, turns up at their hospital, Christopher forms an instant connection with her, and he convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own.
But Janie is no ordinary child, and her damaged psyche proves to be more than her new parents were expecting. Janie is fiercely devoted to Christopher, but she acts out in increasingly disturbing ways, directing all her rage at Hannah. Unable to bond with Janie, Hannah is drowning under the pressure, and Christopher refuses to see Janie’s true nature.
Hannah knows that Janie is manipulating Christopher and isolating him from her, despite Hannah’s attempts to bring them all together. But as Janie’s behavior threatens to tear Christopher and Hannah apart, the truth behind Janie’s past may be enough to push them all over the edge.
This one was ok. Each chapter was told by either Christopher, Hannah or Piper (social worker). And maybe one or two by Allison (Hannah's sister), so made it difficult for fully developed characters. And as another reviewer on Goodreads said there just wasn't an ending. More like the end of a chapter with none to follow. Deliberate, no sequels in the making.
Disney_Alli
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2010
58/50 - The Lieutenants: Brotherhood of War Book 1 W.E.B. Griffin
This is my second favorite of Griffin's series after The Corps. I read Book 9 after picking it up at Chapters when I was about 16 maybe and then found out my dad owned the whole original series so I stole those and read them all. They're how I found The Corps series which I generally prefer although I do love Lowell's character possibly more than any other.
This is my second favorite of Griffin's series after The Corps. I read Book 9 after picking it up at Chapters when I was about 16 maybe and then found out my dad owned the whole original series so I stole those and read them all. They're how I found The Corps series which I generally prefer although I do love Lowell's character possibly more than any other.
Tiggerish
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 1999
The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. I read this after OKW8297 mentioned it a couple of months ago. I had to get on a waitlist to get it downloaded from the local library but it was worth the wait. The book jumps between the Sage's story in current time, her grandmother's story during WWII, Josef's story about him being a Nazi officer in a death camp, Leo's story in current time a a Nazi war crimes hunter and the fantasy story the grandmother wrote during the war. The author managed to draw these stories together and kept me enthralled to the end.
101 of 104
101 of 104
OKW8297
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2017
I’m glad you liked it!
Disney_Alli
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2010
59/50 - Knit Tight Annabeth Albert
A very sweet story about a barista and a knitwear designer trying to find room in their complicated and messy lives for themselves... and maybe a partner. I really enjoy her style.
A very sweet story about a barista and a knitwear designer trying to find room in their complicated and messy lives for themselves... and maybe a partner. I really enjoy her style.
Kirby
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2000
51/50 - Beneath the Summer Sun: An Every Amish Season series by Kelly Irvin. Genre - Inspirational
It's been four years since Jennie's husband died in a farming accident. Long enough that the elders in her Amish community think it's time to marry again for the sake of her seven children. What they don't know is that grief isn't holding her back from a new relationship. Fear is. A terrible secret in her past keeps her from moving forward.
Mennonite book salesman Nathan Walker stops by Jennie's farm whenever he's in the area. Despite years of conversation and dinners together, she never seems to relax around him. He knows he should move on, but something about her keeps drawing him back.
Meanwhile, Leo Graber nurtures a decades-long love for Jennie, but guilt plagues him - guilt for letting Jennie marry someone else and guilt for his father's death on a hunting trip many years ago. How could anyone love him again - and how could he ever take a chance to love in return?
In this second book in the Every Amish Season series, three hearts try to discern God's plan for the future - and find peace beneath the summer sun.
It's been four years since Jennie's husband died in a farming accident. Long enough that the elders in her Amish community think it's time to marry again for the sake of her seven children. What they don't know is that grief isn't holding her back from a new relationship. Fear is. A terrible secret in her past keeps her from moving forward.
Mennonite book salesman Nathan Walker stops by Jennie's farm whenever he's in the area. Despite years of conversation and dinners together, she never seems to relax around him. He knows he should move on, but something about her keeps drawing him back.
Meanwhile, Leo Graber nurtures a decades-long love for Jennie, but guilt plagues him - guilt for letting Jennie marry someone else and guilt for his father's death on a hunting trip many years ago. How could anyone love him again - and how could he ever take a chance to love in return?
In this second book in the Every Amish Season series, three hearts try to discern God's plan for the future - and find peace beneath the summer sun.
Disney_Alli
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2010
60/50 - At Attention - Annabeth Albert
Another in her SEAL series and the last one of hers my library has. Going to have to hunt down some more as her writing style really works for me... and if you ever need to judge my insomnia levels just look for days when I finish more than one book.
Another in her SEAL series and the last one of hers my library has. Going to have to hunt down some more as her writing style really works for me... and if you ever need to judge my insomnia levels just look for days when I finish more than one book.
willowsnn3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2009
#65 War Room by Chris Fabry
Tony and Elizabeth Jordan have it all — great jobs, a beautiful daughter, and their dream house. But appearances can be deceiving. Their world is actually crumbling under the strain of a failing marriage. While Tony basks in his professional success and flirts with temptation, Elizabeth resigns herself to increasing bitterness. But their lives take an unexpected turn when Elizabeth meets her newest client, Miss Clara, a wise, older widow who challenges Elizabeth to start fighting for her family instead of fighting against her husband.
From the award-winning creators of Fireproof and Courageous comes War Room, a compelling drama with humor and heart that explores the power that prayer can have over marriages, parenting, careers, friendships, and every other area of our lives
Based on the movie 'War Room'. I really liked the movie & the book was just as good.
Tony and Elizabeth Jordan have it all — great jobs, a beautiful daughter, and their dream house. But appearances can be deceiving. Their world is actually crumbling under the strain of a failing marriage. While Tony basks in his professional success and flirts with temptation, Elizabeth resigns herself to increasing bitterness. But their lives take an unexpected turn when Elizabeth meets her newest client, Miss Clara, a wise, older widow who challenges Elizabeth to start fighting for her family instead of fighting against her husband.
From the award-winning creators of Fireproof and Courageous comes War Room, a compelling drama with humor and heart that explores the power that prayer can have over marriages, parenting, careers, friendships, and every other area of our lives
Based on the movie 'War Room'. I really liked the movie & the book was just as good.
Colleen27
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2007
#118/130 - Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northrup
It took me a long time to pick this one up but I'm glad I did. It wasn't an easy book to read. The story is heartbreaking - a free black man from New York kidnapped and sold into slavery, where he remained for a dozen years before he was able to get word to his friends and family - but offers a remarkable look at the institution of slavery in the pre-Civil War South from the perspective of one of the people most impacted by it.
#119 - Kiss of the Spindle by Nancy Campbell Allen
The second fairy tale-inspired steampunk mystery-romance I've picked up from this author, and I liked it much better than the Beauty and the Beast title in the same series. The characters were much more interesting, the conflict grander and more engrossing, and the steampunk world beautifully rendered.
#120 - Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan
I'm on a roll with the ebooks I've borrowed from the library lately. This one is a fictionalized telling of actual events, inspired by the friendship-turned-romance between author Joy Davidson and C.S. Lewis, and had a timeless way of addressing the struggles of being a woman with both a passion for her career and a family to care for while simultaneously bringing familiar literary figures to life on the page and delving into the Christian theology that was so central to Lewis's life and work. It was a really ambitious and well-researched story that made me want to pick up some of the books the author cited as invaluable to her research for the novel.
#121 - Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson
I think it was a recommendation from this thread that prompted me to pick this one up from the library. It was a really challenging read, morally and ethically, but very powerful and surprisingly readable/accessible. Dyson does a beautiful job of capturing the state of race relations from the perspective and experiences of a black man as well as calling upon a long tradition of grounding the battle for racial justice in Christian theology and moral appeal.
#122 - The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden
Another excellent ebook pick, this one is a romantic mystery set in Victorian London and centering on two very different writers in the literary genre dubbed the "penny dreadfuls". The romance and action are interspersed with chapters from the works they are each in the midst of as the story unfolds, connecting the modern "fluff" of light fiction to its historical equivalent in the era in which the story is set, which made for a fun story-within-a-story and a break from the intensity of the main plotline.
#123 - The Watchmaker's Daughter by C.J. Archer
#124 - The Mapmaker's Apprentice
#125 - The Apothecary's Poison
And the hot streak comes to an end. This series started out so strong... intriguing characters and engrossing mystery, perfectly set in a mostly realistic Victorian London where magic is a secret the city's skilled trades guilds are desperate to keep under wraps, with just enough romance to add another dimension to the story. The first two books were really good, but by the third, the conflict keeping the hero and heroine apart started to become absurd and ridiculous. I absolutely hate when authors create strong characters and then have them act in entirely inconsistent ways in order to support a storyline that just doesn't fit, and that's where this one was headed by book three. I'm not nearly invested enough in the characters to keep reading through the EIGHT more titles in the series.
#126 - Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
A detailed look at the data bias created and reinforced by a world view that casts men as the default, this takes on everything from medical trials to automotive crash tests to the design of cell phones and public transportation systems to illustrate how a historical and ongoing lack of attention to collecting gender-specific information impacts the way women exist in the world. This was a surprisingly readable book for dealing with such a statistic-heavy social analysis, and pointed out a number of potential areas of action that could produce better outcomes.
It took me a long time to pick this one up but I'm glad I did. It wasn't an easy book to read. The story is heartbreaking - a free black man from New York kidnapped and sold into slavery, where he remained for a dozen years before he was able to get word to his friends and family - but offers a remarkable look at the institution of slavery in the pre-Civil War South from the perspective of one of the people most impacted by it.
#119 - Kiss of the Spindle by Nancy Campbell Allen
The second fairy tale-inspired steampunk mystery-romance I've picked up from this author, and I liked it much better than the Beauty and the Beast title in the same series. The characters were much more interesting, the conflict grander and more engrossing, and the steampunk world beautifully rendered.
#120 - Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan
I'm on a roll with the ebooks I've borrowed from the library lately. This one is a fictionalized telling of actual events, inspired by the friendship-turned-romance between author Joy Davidson and C.S. Lewis, and had a timeless way of addressing the struggles of being a woman with both a passion for her career and a family to care for while simultaneously bringing familiar literary figures to life on the page and delving into the Christian theology that was so central to Lewis's life and work. It was a really ambitious and well-researched story that made me want to pick up some of the books the author cited as invaluable to her research for the novel.
#121 - Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson
I think it was a recommendation from this thread that prompted me to pick this one up from the library. It was a really challenging read, morally and ethically, but very powerful and surprisingly readable/accessible. Dyson does a beautiful job of capturing the state of race relations from the perspective and experiences of a black man as well as calling upon a long tradition of grounding the battle for racial justice in Christian theology and moral appeal.
#122 - The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah M. Eden
Another excellent ebook pick, this one is a romantic mystery set in Victorian London and centering on two very different writers in the literary genre dubbed the "penny dreadfuls". The romance and action are interspersed with chapters from the works they are each in the midst of as the story unfolds, connecting the modern "fluff" of light fiction to its historical equivalent in the era in which the story is set, which made for a fun story-within-a-story and a break from the intensity of the main plotline.
#123 - The Watchmaker's Daughter by C.J. Archer
#124 - The Mapmaker's Apprentice
#125 - The Apothecary's Poison
And the hot streak comes to an end. This series started out so strong... intriguing characters and engrossing mystery, perfectly set in a mostly realistic Victorian London where magic is a secret the city's skilled trades guilds are desperate to keep under wraps, with just enough romance to add another dimension to the story. The first two books were really good, but by the third, the conflict keeping the hero and heroine apart started to become absurd and ridiculous. I absolutely hate when authors create strong characters and then have them act in entirely inconsistent ways in order to support a storyline that just doesn't fit, and that's where this one was headed by book three. I'm not nearly invested enough in the characters to keep reading through the EIGHT more titles in the series.
#126 - Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
A detailed look at the data bias created and reinforced by a world view that casts men as the default, this takes on everything from medical trials to automotive crash tests to the design of cell phones and public transportation systems to illustrate how a historical and ongoing lack of attention to collecting gender-specific information impacts the way women exist in the world. This was a surprisingly readable book for dealing with such a statistic-heavy social analysis, and pointed out a number of potential areas of action that could produce better outcomes.
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Disney_Alli
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2010
61/50 - The Captains: Brotherhood of War Book 2 - W.E.B. Griffin
Book 2 in his series might be my favorite until towards the end.
Book 2 in his series might be my favorite until towards the end.
bobbiwoz
I'm happy to dance with you!
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2003
82/75. I enjoyed it as well!
willowsnn3
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2009
#66 Alone (Girl In The Box #1) by Robert J. Crane
Sienna Nealon was a 17 year-old girl who had been held prisoner in her own house by her mother for twelve years. Then one day her mother vanished, and Sienna woke up to find two strange men in her home. On the run, unsure of who to turn to and discovering she possesses mysterious powers, Sienna finds herself pursued by a shadowy agency known as the Directorate and hunted by a vicious, bloodthirsty psychopath named Wolfe, each of which is determined to capture her for their own purposes...
YA book. Plot sounded good, but didn't live up to my expectations. First in a series, I will not be reading any of the others.
Sienna Nealon was a 17 year-old girl who had been held prisoner in her own house by her mother for twelve years. Then one day her mother vanished, and Sienna woke up to find two strange men in her home. On the run, unsure of who to turn to and discovering she possesses mysterious powers, Sienna finds herself pursued by a shadowy agency known as the Directorate and hunted by a vicious, bloodthirsty psychopath named Wolfe, each of which is determined to capture her for their own purposes...
YA book. Plot sounded good, but didn't live up to my expectations. First in a series, I will not be reading any of the others.
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