karenmarie's 75 book challenge for 2010 - thread III

Karenmarie’s third 75 book challenge thread

Thanks to all who stop by to visit.

First 75 challenge thread: karenmarie's 75 book challenge

Books Off the Shelf Challenge thread: karenmarie's BOTS challenge

Second 75 challenge thread: karenmarie’s second 75 book challenge

Picking up in November…



87. 170983::From Doon with Death by Ruth Rendell 10/31/10 11/1/10 ***

88. 658954::Who Guards a Prince by Reginald Hill 11/1/10 11/07/10 **** An excellent and intelligent "mystery" with lots of twists and turns. Interesting characters who I cared about.

89. 6006690::Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Todd 11/08/10 11/14/10 ****

90. 124676::Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt 11/14/10 11/19/20 ***1/2

91. The Awdrey-Gore Legacy by Edward Gorey 11/21/10 11/21/10 ****

92. 9255789::The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers by Thomas Mullen 11/21/10 11/26/10 ****

93. 156809::The Delicate Storm by Giles Blunt 11/26/10 11/28/10 ***1/2

94. 438331::The Devil's Hearth by Phillip DePoy 11/28/10 11/29/10 ****

95. 5734::Death's Door by Meryl Sawyer 11/30/10 12/02/10 * blech. trash. what a waste of effort.

96. The Witch's Grave::Phillip DePoy by Phillip DePoy 12/03/10 12/05/10 ***

97. The Strange Case of Hellish Nell by Nina Shandler. 12/12/10 12/19/10 ** This could have been such a good book! Disjointed, lurid, blantantly biased to the detriment of the story. Very disappointing.

98. A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton 12/20/10 12/25/10 ***1/2 The first of the Kinsey Millhone detective series. A re-read.

99. B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton 12/26/10

97. 2783563::The Swarm by Frank Schatzing 12/05/10

How about that! I'm the first to post on your new thread. Hello and good wishes to you!

Thanks, Whisper1, for both the hello and good wishes.

Karen

Is Who Guards A Prince a book in a series? If so, does this book stand alone? If so, I'm adding it to the tbr list.

Hi Karen- Congrats on the New Thread! I read Forty Words for Sorrow and enjoyed it but have not yet continued the series.

Found you again, Karen!

#4 Whisper1 - it appears to be a standalone. (at least, so far!)

#5 Mark - thanks. And I'm really enjoying this book!

#6 Stasia - Hi! Yes, I can run but I can't hide. :)

Found you and starred you!

Hi BookAngel_a.

I can't believe it's just one week before Thanksgiving. I'm going to have to start ramping up for Holiday Season. My husband bought 100 Christmas stamps the other day - now I just have to buy Christmas cards to use them with!

I've got you starred, too!

Hi tymfos!

Ah, just finished Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt. I really liked this book and plan on reading more in the series. Here's my review: Forty Words

#11: I need to get back to that series! Thanks for the reminder, Karen.

Oh good grief.....another series to put on my list. This is a new one for me, but it sounds like something I'd really enjoy. Thanks (I think) for the hint.

It's all good, alcottacre and tututhefirst.

I've got so many books on my tbr and actually on my shelves that I'm almost too overwhelmed to pick one. But I did find one today that is great so far (20 pages in):

The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers by Thomas Mullen.

We had to break down today and buy a new dishwasher. We moved into this house (that we had built) 12 years ago and the microwave is on the fritz (you have to nuke things at 80% power or it blows the breaker) and the dishwasher has started leaking. Husband has tried 2 different things to fix the dishwasher but I'm afraid they didn't solve the problem and we don't want to spend $300 to get it fixed when we can spend (and did spend) $539 for a new one installed. The new one was originaly $598 but we got it on sale.... so although we really don't have the money what is, is. Actually, it's now our family Christmas present. Sigh.

Ooh that's on my list, I'll checking back to see how you like it. congrats on the dishwasher I hate buying un-fun things.

Karen- Firefly Brothers has been on the List, since it came out! It sounds so good! I even have Mullen's first book sitting on the shelf too!

#11 Oh, my, another series . . . sounds good . . .

Hi beeg! Yes, it is an unfun thing. Although I must admit that looking at the dishwashers at Lowes yesterday gave me the chance to pick out one I really thought had good features - big upper rack without that plastic tube sticking up, big silverware container with removable individual silverware piece slots (I really hate those!), and wine glass stem holder inserts on the upper rack. Silly features aside, the real benefit, of course, will be not having to put towels on the floor when washing dishes.

Hi Mark! I'm a tad further along and it's still holding my interest nicely.

Hi tymfos! Yes, another series. I love new series. The only problem is my instant gratification gene is in direct conflict with our financial situation so I have to rely on Bookmooch and the second hand book stores.

We're going out to breakfast with some becoming-friends this morning and are going to try to see Harry Potter this afternoon.....

(I think this is probably the first time I've ever accidentally double posted.)

Let us know how you like the new HP, please!

Well, today's been busy. I made biscuits this morning for daughter, did 4 loads of laundry, made chex mix, went to see Harry Potter, and read my ER book.

HP was extremely satisfying for a serious Potter fan, as I am. Husband was less enthused and asked lots of questions after we got out. He's seen and loved all the movies but never read the books, but found this movie disjointed and confusing.

As it should be if you're not a serious fan.

I loved it. As always many things let left out, but I didn't find too many things interpreted differently from the book in order to facilitate the movie. Harry, Hermoine's, and Ron's relationship is put to the test, the movie is dark,and bleak, with bits of humor and lightness but few and far between.

I want to see it again soon. Perhaps I can persuade daughter to go see it - she wanted to stay home and veg today.

Just now I read my ER book, The Awdrey-Gore Legacy by Edward Gorey. I love Edward Gorey and have ever since my first year of college 'way back in 1971.

This book is highly amusing because it's dedicated to Agatha Christie and goes from there. Here's my review: The Awdrey-Gore Legacy

Fun day.

Sounds like it was a fun day all around! Nice review of the Gorey book. I will have to find a copy of that one. Glad to hear about the new HP film too.

#18 I love new series. The only problem is my instant gratification gene is in direct conflict with our financial situation . . .

The story of my life!

I finished The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers this morning. It's 4 stars in my book. Here's my review: Firefly Brothers

Now it's off to start The Delicate Storm by Giles Blunt, the second book in his Cardinal and Delorme series.

I broke down and bought it for $.06 plus $3.99 shipping last week. Sigh.

Nice review of Firefly Brothers, Karen. I hope my local library gets a copy of it soon.

Great review! I've had the Firefly Brothers on my WL, since it came out. Funny, I just ordered a used copy a couple days ago. Yah!
Hope you had a nice holiday!

Good morning, Stasia and Mark!

I hope you get a copy soon, Stasia, and Mark - great minds, eh? We seem to think about the same books at the same time.

I'm glad you both liked my review.

I had a great time yesterday - cooked a 20 pound turkey, turned 9 pounds of potatoes into mashed potatoes, made gravy and a pumpkin pie, and had a total of 10 for dinner (family members brought other dishes).

For once I felt totally in control, on top of things, and everything went smoothly. Oh, yes, we had fun too!

Hope you both had a nice holiday too.

Onward to Christmas! The countdown begins.

Sounds like you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Karen! Food and family - what more can anyone ask for?

"For once I felt totally in control, on top of things, and everything went smoothly. Oh, yes, we had fun too!" Amen sister!

Hi alcottacre and beeg! I'm finally over the Thanksgiving day stupor and full of energy for a new day.

Daughter is glad that her high school football team lost - most of the band kids are - because they have to be at home games and the next one would be a home game too. We lost to the team we beat for the conference championship and they were relentless.

I'm glad to have my Friday nights back, too, to tell the truth.

Today will be sending out a college application for daughter and helping her get her mentor letter sent to her mentor for her skanky, stupid, Senior Project. Our state has not made them mandatory, but what does our county do? Continue to make them mandatory. A bunch of crap in my opinion. Sigh.

I'm continuing to read The Delicate Storm by Giles Blunt and am really enjoying it.

Tonight will be turkey pot pie with left over Thanksgiving turkey.

We had turkey soup with our leftover turkey yesterday, Karen. I know how it goes :)

Hi alcottacre: I had a turkey sandwich for breakfast and it was goooooood. Tonight will probably be left over turkey pot pie too. Gobble, gobble.

I finished The Delicate Storm. It was very well done.

I picked up The Devil's Hearth by Phillip DePoy and devoured it in two days - and loved it. Here's my review: The Devil's Hearth

It's unfortunate that I read such a stunner after such a very good book - Delicate Storm has suffered in comparison - but both have been great reads and I will continue with both series.

Next... Hmmm. I think a mystery given to me by my neighbor - she drops bags of books off at my house occasionally. They're mine to keep or give away, so I've got piles of them stacked up in my home office waiting to be put onto BookMooch when I need points. I grabbed two that sounded good and put them in the car, knowing I'd finish The Devil's Hearth at lunch (well, a long lunch!) but won't have any more time today to read.

Back to work. :(

Hi, Karen! Glad you enjoyed The Devil's Hearth. I loved it! Great review! Also glad to hear that you have the other 4 in the Fever Devilin series on your shelf. It just gets better and better . . . :) He's the only author I can think of that I read one, and jumped up and bought the other 4 in the series right away and read them almost immediately . . . I bought all the books in his other series, too. (Enjoyed the first, though not as much as the Fever Devilin series; shall get to the rest soon.)

Hi tymfos!

I've bookmooched them all, which make me proud. I only got Devil's Hearth last week from bookmooch and so was able to start the series.

I'm really glad to hear that the whole series is good.

And I'm glad you liked my review.

Sometimes I simply must read trashy romance/thrillers, and that's what I'm doing right now: Death's Door by Meryl Sawyer. It's one of the ones from the bag my neighbor gave me. Sigh.

I need more breadcrumbs. Following y'all chitterychatters around is hard on an old anchorite hermit like myself.

I heard that guffaw, Karen.

Pretty good from New York to Pittsboro NC, Richard! It was pretty loud, actually, and even eclipsed the noisy thunderstorm raging around us right now.

Insomnia is also raging right now. I woke up an hour ago and have started a load of laundry and played around here on LT... time to quit for a while and actually go read, even if it is my trashy novel. Which is gloriously trashy, by the way. Poor writing, over-the-top stupid plot, silly heroine, rugged hero falling in love against his own wishes, cute dog, nefarious bad guys.

>36 karenmarie: OMG! That's the dog's breakfast of a book all right. Wish I had insomnia instead of a nutty aunt. Mahler's 5th symphony ain't doin' much to cheer me up, I must say. It's pretty dire.

35 Mahler's Fifth, Richard dear? Not exactly a little light music!

34 Karen, I actually got at the DePoy series backward. Our library got the fifth book only (though I've since remedied that) and a patron recommended it to me after reading it. I started it, not noticing af first that it was part of a series, and got hooked. It is the most unusual of the lot. It is best to read them in order as you are, though, because there is a great deal of character development, IMO.

One of the books (I forget which) had a major element that I found somwhat implausible, but the writing and was so great, I could "suspend disbelief" and go with the story.

#37 Richarddear - Mahler? I think of Mahler as pretty dismal in general although I haven't listened to his works forever.

Put on The Moldau with its swells of sound, or Petrousha with its whimsy, or, my favorite in times of stress, The Third Brandenburg Concerto by JS. Loud, loud, loud.

Or you could go crazy and listen to PDQ Bach - perhaps Iphigenia in Brooklyn or The Seasonings (S. 1/2 tsp)?

Or a different crazy and listen to Michael Jackson's Thriller (I used to blast to that while working out on the exercise bike).

#38 tymfos - I rarely am able to be organized enough to read a series in order - in fact, this is perhaps only the 4th or 5th one EVER. I'm going to finish up the trashy book today and start the 2nd Fever Devilin.

Today is Finance's month end at work, which takes up my entire life today and tomorrow.... so off to Journal Entry land for me!

I laughed when I saw your post about your daughter wanting the HS football team to lose. Our football team made it to the first round of finals (a home game) and even the band parents were happy when they lost.

I think the college application process is god's way of making it a little easier to kick them out of the nest...

Your mention of month end makes me very glad that I escaped from accounting!

Hi coppers! I'm glad to have my Fridays back.

Daughter's stepping up in responsibility with the college thing. It's nice to see. The thing that scares the crap out of me is the FAFSA. Our taxes are ...complicated at best and appalling a worst. We're going to have to file a woefully inadequate return but with our best information, then amend it as we go along just so we don't get left out of the booty.

Daughter's also changing her mindset to include music as a major - she had an audition at Pfeiffer recently and got a letter back two days later saying she'd been accepted into the School of Music with scholarships (undefined at this time) as long as she gets accepted into the school.

She'd prefer to go to Meredith College in Raleigh - a very good school, women only, which appeals to her. She's starting the music application process now for that. She'd like to double major in music and history or geology.

It certainly wasn't this complicated when I applied to college in 1971.....

It was mindlessly simple when I applied too. I sent in my application with my SATs (400 math, 788 English) and my class ranking (345th of 708, I **hated** school {probably still would, bureaucrats bring out my inner juvenile delinquent}) and the state school I applied to said okay, send the check. I sent it, and Bob was your uncle.

It's amazing what things we tie brain cells up with, isn't it? My SATs were 680 English and 690 Math and my class ranking was 7 out of 341. My GPA was 3.71.

I was offered a National Merit Scholarship, half tuition, which I took. Next year I started working full time for the School of Business & Management so got half tuition off for being a full time employee for the next three years. I'm rather proud of the fact that I graduated without owing anybody a dime. I can't really say that I was a juvenile delinquent - I was co-dependent and am still co-dependent and ACA with all the crap that goes along with that - but I sure did party hearty while graduating magna cum laude.

News Flash!*************************
Daughter got a call tonight, which she wasn't able to take since she was off marching in a local Christmas parade. Her dad spoke with the admissions counselor at Pfeiffer University.

She was accepted at Pfeiffer and offered $10,000/year academic scholarship. This does not count a music scholarship, which we know she's been awarded. We just don't know the amount. And, she'll also get $1000/year just for going to Scholarship Day and interviewing. You should have seen her face when we told her the news. The only other time I've ever seen her this happy is when she was told, at the age of 3, that she could keep the two kitties we were letting her play with.

We don't know if this is where she'll end up, but at a minimum she will be at a school she said she could be happy at in a music program that she's excited about. I'm so happy for her and proud of her.

Gads, it's way past my bedtime but I'm still wired. Daughter's rec room is over my home office, and I heard her up there doing jumping jacks a bit ago...she's still wired too. Her ego took such a beating last year that it's nice to see her confidence come back.

YAAAAAAY
w00t
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!

Excellent news!

#43: Congratulations to your daughter, Karen! Wow!

Thanks guys!

Good news, bad news, a full bladder, a kitty making noise - it doesn't take much anymore to trigger insomnia. So I ended up with 4 hours of sleep, and I'm a person who needs 7 at a minimum or I ache all day.

This is the best way to be an insomniac - good news.

Congrats to your daughter!

Oh, that's delightful news about your daughter. Best of luck to her!

Thanks jmaloney17 and tymfos. She's still very excited and there's so much less pressure now, on all of us!

*plaintive whinge* Is it still month-end? Is that why you ain't say nothin'? Or do I smell bad? What?

Richard darling. No, it's not month end and I don't think you smell bad (being that NY is not close to NC) but .... but.... but.... well hell. No excuses.

I'm reading The Swarm by Frank Schatzing. Slow reading because I've been busy at lunch and busy in the evenings. But it's good so far. I may not make 100 books this year unless I slide in a few light-weight reads. Decisions, decisions. Read the way I was planning on trying to read or change my habits to make an arbitrary goal?

I'm starting to get excited about Christmas. We're going to decorate our tree this Saturday. I'm going to do some baking this weekend. Daughter, whose hair is down to her shoulders, with no bangs, is going to get it cut short, style to be determined. As I've always said, as long as she doesn't get a mohawk, it's okay with me. :) Her dad would like her to keep her hair longer, but it ain't his decision.

I hope things are going okay for you right now with Auntie.....

Hugs and smooches your way.

XO Horrible

Oh good! You're still alive! Now I can kill you for worrying me.

I *was* a dad, after all.

I say stick with the lightweight stuff. It's the hols, no sense making things even an iota more sticky than is urgently necessary.

Auntie = hell the past few days. Doc's got some sleep aids for her at last. I might survive, if they work.

I just read your newest thread and posted a few smooches and hugs. If you manage to get away with only another thread or two before the end of the year you'll be lucky!

Poor you.

Poor Auntie.

My dad always said Ye gods and tiny fishes. Good phrase either way.

And, finally, yes, Dad, I'll keep you informed so I don't worry you to death along with all your other worries.

More XOs

*hrmph*

All right, then.

*smooch*

I'm going back to work tomorrow to rest! Weekend was laundry, haircuts for daughter and me, picking up Band Booster Fundraise fruit (37 boxes @ 20 pounds each), baking, cooking, grilling, decorating, volunteering, Boostering, movie-ing, and reading. Stasia - we'll be taking the oranges over to the food pantry (CORA) in the next day or so - again, thank you SO MUCH!) It helps CORA, daughter, and Band Booster.

Husband, daughter, and I have a date to watch Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the cartoon version) in 7 minutes. We watch them every year.

The next available night is Wednesday. We might watch the Grinch movie with Jim Carey or The Santa Claus then. We watched the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol last night on Blue Ray and it was stunning! It's by far our favorite Christmas Carol and the new Blue Ray version is wonderful.

I have finished A Lonely Death by Charles Todd and it was a ***1/2 book. It takes place in 1920 and although it's a little bit cookie-cutter, Ian's and Hamish's characters are developing and the mystery it well done. I will write a review because it's my ER book - possibly tomorrow or the next day.

I dithered around with a couple of books before finally settling on The Strange Case of Hellish Nell by Nina Shandler about a British psychic during WWII who was tried under The Witchcraft Act of 1735. So far so good.

#55: I am glad I could do my small part, Karen.

Ooh The Strange case of Hellish Nell has my attention

Hi beeg!

The story's fascinating, but the writing a bit tough to swallow - a bit over-wrought every once in a while and it moves back and forth and across time and place a bit too much for my taste.

But I'm persevering.

Three days is long enough to be silent. And don't forget it's time to start your 2011 thread over in the new 75er forum! Go on! Get!

Aack! Sorry. Been busy with thrift store workgroup supervision, baking for snackie day at work, dinner with friends, shopping, distributing 37 20-pound boxes of fundraising citrus fruit, Band boosters invoicing, working (blech), and Christmas letter writing so that I can start the 95 or so cards I send out each year. Running a tad late. But I did mail the box to California with presents for mother, sister/husband, niece/wife (a good story there), and nephew.

Still slogging through Hellish Nell, which describes the book itself...hellish. The thing is, I'm interested in the outcome regardless of the turgid, disconnected and biased prose. My reward tonight is to get into my jammies and read for a while - possibly talk husband into re-watching the series Firefly. Daughter just left for work - she's a hostess at a nice restaurant - and she also works tomorrow night, so there's time to get some good watching in.

Richarddear - I found a hardcover copy of Matterhorn and remember seeing it in your thread - I'm not sure I'm going to actually read it, but for $1.25 I couldn't resist.

And finally, daughter's about 95% sure she's going to accept Pfeiffer University's offer - Meredith College is pissing her off by not being as responsive as Pfeiffer and the more she thinks about it the more she loves the Band Director she auditioned with at Pfeiffer. I think I'm going to be a Pfeiffer parent. So nice to have the decision/problem resolved so early in her senior year!!!!!

Well, it's off to the 2011 75 book thread then off to read.

I am happy for both you and your daughter in getting her college decision made! Congrats, Karen.

Too bad about Hellish Nell. It sounds like it was an interesting premise, just poorly executed.

Ditto both of Stasia's comments above!

OOO goody good! You've got Matterhorn! It's really, really worth the effort, Horrible. Persevere!

xo

Seconding Richard on Matterhorn, Karen!

I finished Hellish Nell and it was hellish. A major disappointment. I'm actually surprised I finished, but I did want to know what happened. Sorry I found out.

Meanwhile, I got and read my ER book A Lonely Death by Charles Todd. Excellent as usual, but a teensy bit cookie-cutter-ish. Not as much development of Hamish and Rutledge's relationship as I could wish for, but definitely development of his relationship with Meredith. The mystery was intriguing, too, but I'm really waiting for Rutledge to get the best of Chief Superintent Bowles (Bowels to his detractors). It hasn't happened yet, but I do believe in justice...

And now my brain is fried and I'm re-reading some of the Kinsey Millhone mysteries by Sue Grafton. Nothing else seems to be of interest right now. Finished A is for Alibi and have started B is for Burglar. What's very interesting about these is that they take place in the mid-1980s and it's such a shock to read something current but without computers, cell phones, and the internet. Very strange.

Sorry to hear that Hellish Nell turned out to be such a disappointment, Karen.

Karen- I hope you had a great Christmas weekend! I have to chime in, as well, on Matterhorn. My favorite book of the year.

Hi Mark:

I'll try to read Matterhorn in January, but I've been very hard to please and have started and stopped several books lately. I don't want to jinx Matterhorn with my attitude right now, so I'm reading light and fun stuff until my serious mindset kicks back in.

My last book of 2010 was a re-read of A Lonely Death by Charles Todd. I read it so quickly that I didn't feel I'd done it justice, so re-read it and finished it up in the wee hours of January 1st.

Here's my review: A Lonely Death ****

I didn't read 100 books this year but had so much going on that I'm surprised I read as many as I did. On to 2011!