Better luck this year - LisaLynne's 2011 Challenge

Okay, last year was a bust (damn job - always interfering with my reading!), but this year, I promise to do better.

1. I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman

Typical Lippman, but a good read. A woman was kidnapped by a serial killer as a teenager and always wondered why she was the only victim he didn't kill. When he seeks her out as his execution date approaches, she might get an answer.

Welcome back, Lisa!

Welcome back!

Welcome back.

I read I'd Know You Anywhere and really enjoyed it.

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I'm compiling a list of birthdays of our group members. If you haven't done so already, would you mind stopping by this thread and posting yours.

Thanks.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105833

2. The Sentry by Robert Crais

Joe Pike! I love my detectives and I love their sidekicks. A great addition to the series.

3. The Mistress of Abha by William Newton

A bit dense with more detail than plot, but an interesting story about a young man searching for his father in Arabia.

4. Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctrow

Fascinating and heartbreaking story about the Collyer brothers, one of the first documented cases of hoarding.

5. Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost

Good follow-up to Homer and Langley, and it tells the story of the Collyer Brothers in a bit more detail. Really fascinating insights into what causes people to hoard, how it starts, what makes it so difficult to treat.

I am a real packrat myself, so it's interesting to me. I can see myself in some of their issues. I'm not saving toe nail clippings or anything, but I get wanting to hang on to magazines and craft supplies and tools and stuff.

6. Dark Prince by Christine Feehan

Cheesy vampire porn. This book is literary junk food - no nutritional value, but very tasty all the same.

7. Dead Head by Rosemary Harris

A cute cozy mystery with some really fun main characters. Makes me want to go back and read the earlier books.

Oh, that sounds like an interesting read.

8. The Sweet Relief of Missing Children by Sarah Braunstein

This is not for those who like a straightforward plot. This loops in and around itself, over a couple of generations of sad, desperate people.

9. Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell

This was really fabulous. It reminded me a bit of The Road - hauntingly beautiful writing for a stark, unhappy story.

10. Corrag by Susan Fletcher

An excellent bit of historical fiction, about an English witch who witnessed a massacre of Scottish clansmen.

#15: I have heard good things about that one. I am glad to see you enjoyed it, Lisa.

11. Last Snow by Eric Van Lustbader

I enjoy the mystery/thriller angle, but some of the more supernatural stuff doesn't work as well for me. And with the big twist ending, I have to wonder what he'll be doing next.

12. A Tiger in the Kitchen by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

Interesting memoir about a girl from Singapore who finally decided to go back to Singapore and learn her mother's recipes.

13. The Civilized World by Susi Wyss

An interesting, complicated story about the ways that lives weave together. It's set in Africa and focused on the lives of several women whose stories all touch on one another's.

14. More Boy than Girl by Tony Lindsay

Interesting first-person account of life as a gang-banger and pimp, told by a "stud broad" - a butch lesbian who dresses and behaves as a man. Told strictly in street language, it would get old very quickly, but the book is relative short.

15. Graveminder by Melissa Marr

This story kept me turning pages half the night. really enjoyed it.

16. When the Thrill is Gone by Walter Mosley

Another great Leonid MacGill mystery. I really really enjoy this series.

I didn't realize how few major characters of color there are in most detective fiction until I started reading this. Most of them are bad guys or sidekicks in other novels.

17. Rainfall and Bullets by Herbert J. Cooke, Jr.

Meh. An okay thriller about a Honduran crime family.

#21: This story kept me turning pages half the night. really enjoyed it.

I both love and dread books like that!

18. Rubber Balls and Liquor by Gilbert Gottfried

If you like Gilbert Gottfried, you'll like the book. about what you'd expect - a lot of dick jokes, Jewish jokes, oddball celebrity encounters.

19. Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward

Very funny! Lisa and David are ex-lovers, writing a mystery together chapter by chapter.

#26: I have seen good reviews of that one. I am glad to see that you enjoyed it, Lisa.

20. Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich

Excellent story - a woman in an abusive relationship finds out her husband is reading her diary, so she begins using it to manipulate him.

#28: An Erdrich book I have not read yet! Must get to it soon.

21. Blood Trust by Eric van Lustbader

Excellent political thriller and good addition to the Jack McClure series.

22. White Sleeper by David R. Fett

Wretched. Never managed to create any sense of suspense or any uncertainty about the outcome.

23. A Lonely Death by Charles Todd

Excellent mystery - makes me want to round up the rest of the series.

24. Dominance by William Lavender

This is really terrific - a surprising, suspenseful mystery.

25. Keeping the Feast by Paula Butturini

Excellent story about a couple's struggle with depression, about the power of a place to give us comfort and peace, and the power of food - the restorative power of food and cooking and shared meals.

26. Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg

Good mystery, set in Sweden. Interesting characters, lots of twists/

27. The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking

What I learned: I am not as smart as I thought. Also, driving through Chicago traffic is the wrong place to try and learn about quantum physics.

28. The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing and Bench-Clearing Brawls by Jason Turbow

This made me laugh and it made me angry. A fastball at someone's head is not a joke.

#36: Love your comment about that one, Lisa!

#37: I will have to look for that one. I am a huge baseball fan. You are right - a fastball at someone's head is not a joke.

I thought it was an interesting study in how a society organizes itself. Turbow's point that peer policing of unwritten rules keeps this from getting even worse was well taken.

dr neutron, I agree. There were lots of interesting things about the book and a lot that I really enjoyed. I just had a really hard time with the idea that it was okay to injure someone because you thought he showed you up. Crazy!

29. Map of Time by Felix J. Palma

Amazing. Best read of the year. It starts with a murder and an attempted suicide, then there's Jack the Ripper, time travel, romance, Dracula and a million other amazing details. Loved it.

30. Roastbeef's Promise by David Jerome

Not great. Every encounter in every state is over the top and there is damn little of the sort of introspection that someone who is carrying around the father's ashes ought to have.

31, Forgetting English by Midge Raymond

Lovely, haunting stories, but the book is very short and the stories are too similar.

32. Love at Absolute Zero by Christopher Meeks

Fun, silly love story about a scientist trying to use the tools of his trade to find true love.

33. Zombies: A Field Guide to the Undead by Ross Payton

Written as though zombies are real and everybody knows it. Info on the 20 major zombie species, research into zombie animation, the social history of zombies and a guide to surviving a zombie attack.

#41: I just borrowed that book from my daughter. I am glad to see that you enjoyed it so much!

34. Murder on the Down Low by Pamela Samuels Young

Not bad. Characters do some growing and it points up a lot of issues, particularly about black men and the stigma of being gay in the black community.

#47: I have not read anything by Young. I will have to give that one a go. Thanks for the recommendation, Lisa.

35. zero history by William Gibson

Fabulous, as is most Gibson. Seriously underground fashion and crazy technology, sort of The Devil Wears Prada meets John Dies @ the End.

>41 LisaLynne:: Ooh, good to hear! I have Map of Time waiting in one of my TBR piles. :D

36. L.A. Mental my Neil McMahon

What if Scientology was real? What if all that crazy alien bullshit meant its followers could mess up your loved ones? Is it a cult or a scam or something else?

37. Partitions by Amit Majmudar

Beautifully written about a very sad period in Indian history.

38. The Midnight Palace by Carols Ruiz Zafon

Sort of the Calcutta version of "It" - kids in danger in an underground lair, fighting a fierce and terrible supernatural foe. But good reading.

39. Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson

About the making of "Breakfast at Tiffany's" - made me want to go rent the movie.

40. Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy edited by Ellen Datlow

Bought it for the Jim Butcher story but loved several of the others.

Wow, do I need to get caught up! Real life has been kicking my butt lately.

41. The Night Eternal by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Terrific end to the series. Really original vampires and canon, no sparkles, and a fascinating twist on Biblical mythology.

42. Original Sin by Beth McMullen

Perfect airplane reading. Lucy is a suburban mom who used to be legendary spy Sally Sin. Now, a piece of her past has come back to haunt her. Can she save the world and still not miss a playdate?

43. Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M. by Sam Wasson

This was fascinating - I never would have attributed so much to a little movie! and how did I miss that Truman Capote wrote the book? The story of getting this movie made -- finding the right actress, getting the story past the studio censors -- is a great peek at how movies were made in the 50's.

44. Every Step You Take by Jock Soto

The story is so unique that it makes up for the clumsy writing. Jock was a half Navajo-half Puerto Rican 14 year old, studying at the American Ballet School in New York, when his parents decided they hated the city and wanted to move back to the reservation. They left him on his own and the rest is dance history.

45. Pitch Dark by Steven Sidor

Very creepy thriller about a strange cult leader, his fascination with an ancient relic and the pissed-off girlfriend who stole it.

46. The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill

Excellent thriller - a bit too long, but some very interesting angles.

47. Getting Off by Lawrence Block

Female serial killer -- you don't get a lot of those -- and kind of raunchy. A win-win, in my book.

48. Fabulous Finds: How Expert Appraiser Lee Drexler Sold Wall Street’s Charging Bull by Lee Drexler

Nice little book, but not much meat.

Nice set of books lately!

Thanks, Dr. Neutron!. I have definitely had some good reading.

49. The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose

Interesting thriller about art and reincarnation. Lots of twists and turns.

50. the Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle Williams

Terrific little mystery novel. I will definitely be following this series. Keye Street is a very funny new detective!

51. Jokers Club by Gregory Bastianelli

Just goes to show you that not everything you get from Early Reviewer's is worth reading.

52. Blood and Other Cravings edited by Ellen Datlow

Good collection of stories -- not about vampires, but about things that drain your money, your energy, your will to live. And your blood, of course.

53. Sixkill by Robert B. Parker

The last book Parker completed I love the Spenser novels so much, and this one was pretty clearly introducing a new character, and a pretty interesting one.

54. A Bitter Truth by Charles Todd

Terrific Bess Crawford mystery about a series of murders and an illegitimate child.

55. The Informationist by Taylor Stevens

Excellent espionage-type thriller with a really interesting female protagonist.

Yeah, I thought that one was pretty good! Have you heard any news of sequels?

No, I haven't, but I got the book from the publisher, so I'm going to try and find out.

Sadly, I didn't make my goal, but that's okay. I generally hover around 55-60 books and I think that's a good total, considering how busy the rest of my life is. It's good to have something to shoot for, after all.

And now, off to my 2012 thread!