Lisa's Dozen Plus One 12-12 Challenge Part 2

Welcome to my second thread!

CATEGORIES

1) Happy Birthday COMPLETE (12/12)
2)1001 List (11/12)
3) Food for Thought (12/12)COMPLETE
4) Hot Off the Press (12/12)COMPLETE
5) Next in the Series (12/12) COMPLETE
6) From my Nook (12/12)COMPLETE
7) Off My Shelf (12/12)COMPLETE
8) Award Winners (12/12) COMPLETE
9) In Short COMPLETE ( 12/12)
10) Chills and Thrills (12/12)COMPLETE
11) It's New To Me (12/12)COMPLETE
12) At the Movies COMPLETE (12/12
13) Overflow COMPLETE (12/12)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

August -Carolyn Hart Murder Walks The Plank August 2 ***1/2
September- Agatha Christie Murder at the Vicarage September 26 ****
October-Anne Tyler Searching for Caleb October 12 ***1/2
NovemberKarin Fossum The Water's Edge November 5
December-Rex Stout

1001 List

Rabbit Run September 23 ****
The Shining October 8 *****
American Rust Nov 23
Moll Flanders
Their Eyes Were Watching God Nov 5
The Hound of the Baskervilles October 29
Villette

Food for Thought

CATEGORY COMPLETE

Drop Dead Chocolate July 18 ***1/2

Hot Off The Press
CATEGORY COMPLETE

And When She Was Good September 1 ****
Kill You Twice August 15 ****
Broken Harbor September 21 ***1/2

From My Nook
CATEGORY COMPLETE
The Winter of our Discontent October 15 ****
The Warmth of Other Suns July 26 ****1/2

Off My Shelf
CATEGORY COMPLETE

Out on The Cutting Edge July 14 ****
The Mephisto Club**** August

In Short

Birdman August 1st ****
The Lottery and Other Stories October 2 ****
Ruth Rendell Collected Stories 2
The Best American Mystery Stories 2003
1222 Nov 3
Caught Nov 9

Chills and Thrills
CATEGORY COMPLETE

You are Next July 28 ****
Echo Park August 5 ****

It's New To Me
CATEGORY COMPLETE

Knots and Crosses July 22 ****
The Killings at Badger's Drift July 27
****
The Gingerbread House August
SleepyHead September 6

At The Movies
CATEGORY COMPLETE

Bastard Out of Carolina
While I Was Gone August 17 ***1/2
Wiseguy August 26 ****
Whistle Stop November 17 ****
Revolutionary Road September 27 ****
The Lodger October 24 ****
The Family Corleone Nov 18th ****

Overflow Bonus Reads

The Drop August 11 ****
The Redeemer August 25 ****
St Zita's Society September 1 ***1/2
The Dogs of Riga September 13

NW October 7 ***
Live by Night October 24
Shell Game

New thread! Nice!

All shiny and new! Let me know when you start Vengeance.

A big YAHOO for thread number two!

Thanks everyone for visiting the new thread! I got way too excited about the continuation feature. It's the small things in life I guess.

Hi Lisa, just checking into your new thread.

Stopping by to check out the new thread and wave Hi!

Hi! Just stopping by the new thread, Lisa.

I'm a bit behind with posting, and I think I will work backwards because it's easier for me.

100 Knots and Crosses
This was my first Inspector Rebus, which I enjoyed very much. I'm very intrigued with this character and want to read more in the future. Edinburgh is being terrorized by the murders of young girls who seemingly have no connection to each other.

Rebus can't seem to figure out why the killer is in communication with him, taunting him by sending notes and knots. This book was not so much mystery as it was a character study. I found the ending to be just ever so slightly anti-climatic.

99Vengeance: A Novel - This book is the 5th in the Quirke series. Coroner/sleuth Quirke becomes involved in the apparent suicide of business tycoon, Victor Delahaye, when his sometime sidekick, Inspector Hackett hopes to use Quirke's perceived dealings with the upper crust of Dublin society in order to solve the case.

What no one can seem to figure out is whey Victor would bring his business partner Jack Clancy's son Davy with his to witness the act. When a second death occurrs, it's obvious that there are secrets and scandals that have to do with not only the Delahaye family, but the Clancy family as well.

As usual, the atmosphere in this book draws you in, along with the wonderful plot development and characterization. Even after it became obvious what was goint to take place at the end, I still enjoyed getting there.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Quirke does next, and also what happens with his relationship with his daughter Phoebe.

98Fear The Worst- I've been reading quite a bit of Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay. Both authors write very good edge of your seat type thrillers with their own unique styles.

Fear the Worst didn't "wow" me as much as No Time for Goodbye and Too Close to Home. In Fear The Worst, Tim Blake, a car salesman is not having the best of luck. His wife has moved in with someone else, he's lost his business, then his daughter Sydney, vanishes into thin air. At a certain point, the plot line became pretty obvious, which kind of underwhelmed me.

97Drop Dead Chocolate- Seventh in the Doughnut Shop Series. Suzanne and her friends try to solve the murder of the town mayor, who was killed shortly after Suzanne's mother got so mad about his business dealings, she put her name on the ballot as a candidate to replace him. Grace has a new love interest, which leaves her less time to spend with her friend Suzanne, and her mother's relationship with the police chief seems to be progressing. There's one big change to the story which should be interesting.

96Out on the Cutting Edge This book is the 7th in the Matthew Scudder series. Matt thinks he's wasting his time looking for a naive young girl who wanted to be an actress. He scours Hell's Kitchen looking for clues so that he can give the girl's father closure but falls into trouble himself when he gets hooked up with a killer, all while trying to stay sober.

101 The Warmth of Other Suns- I was so moved reading this book, I didn't want it to end. It's the story of the Great Migration; the movement of Southern blacks to northern and eastern cities seeking a better life at various points in time. They left their homes and families, oppressed, seeking opportunities beyond the traditional sharecropping and to escape the ever present Jim Crow laws.

This book is simply amazing. I was caught up in the three protagonist's stories: Ida Mae, who left Mississippi for Chicago in the 1930's, George Starling, a fruitpicker who left Florida for Harlem in the 1940's, and Robert Pershing Foster, a trained doctor, who left Louisiana in the 1950's, hoping to practice and actually obtain medical privileges in California.

The author did a tremendous job with the historical aspects; you can tell how well researched the information is. I would have preferred the historical factual information in the latter part of the book, instead of it appearing at various points throughout the book.

102 The Killings at Badger's Drift This was my first time reading this series, and I enjoyed it tremendously. It's the typical English village, with a spinster (why do I still use that word?) who is a witness to something unspeakable and is promptly killed for it. On the back of the book the author is compared to Agatha Christie. I think she's just a tad bit edgier than Ms. Christie, in my opinion.

103 You Are Next This was a pretty decent thriller. I think I acquired it because it was available for a low price on my Nook, and a co-worker recommended it as well.

Karin Schaeffer, former police officer, is devastated after the serial killer Martin Price, destroys her family. Known as the Domino Killer, he leaves clues to his next victim with the numbers on the dominoes. I don't want to give away to much, but this was an interesting read, right up to the end.

104 Life Sentences This was a so-so read from Laura Lippman.

Cassandra Fallows thinks she has found the story of her life for her next book when she sees a news report about Calliope Jenkins, newly released from prison ( on a contempt charge) for the death of her infant son.

The child's body was never found, and Calliope's refusal to talk resulted in her being found guilty of contempt and sentenced to seven years.

Casssandra thinks that because she went to school with Donna, Tisha, and Fatima, her friends from middle school, that they will help her with getting to the truth about Calliope's story.

I just didn't think that this was Ms. Lippman's best effort. Cassandra was not a likeable character, and it was hard keeping my interest in the other characters as well.

I am looking forward to her new release next month, And When She Was Good though!

105 Birdman This was a pretty gruesome read, even for me. You definitely have to have a strong stomach for this one. It's the first in a series featuring DI Jack Caffery.

Jack has a lot going on: he wants to break up with his girlfriend but can't seem to do it, he's haunted by his brother's death and the realization that his next door neighbor may have had something to do with it, and it taunting him with it.

If that isn't enough, his parents have kind of written him off out of their lives because they blame him for his brother's death. Jack tries to solve the murders of five exotic dancers, who have fallen victim to a very sick and twisted killer.

I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I won't say just how peverted the killer is, or how "Birdman" figures into the plot.

At any rate, I was hooked from beginning to end and of course I will read more in the series at some point.

106The Mephisto Club Sixth in the Rizzoli and Isles series. Jane investigates a cult of scholarly people who believe in Satan, while Maura finds herself captivated by Father Daniel.

107 Murder Walks the Plank Even though sometimes I feel like the adventures of Annie and Max are the same story recycled with different characters, I still find them to be light enjoyable reads. As a mystery lover, I never fail to discover an author that I didn't know about after reading these books.

This book fit the bill for a day at jury duty just fine. Two women are both found dead within hours of each other in what appears to be an accidental death in both cases.

Annie doesn't think so, and the police try to discourage her, but when another body is found shot to death, she becomes ever more determine to prove that the deaths are all connected in some way.

108 Echo Park Harry attempts to solve the unsolved case of Marie Gesto, who went missing 13 years ago and was never found. Now that he is working in the Open Unsolved Unit, he is able to shed new light on the case, but is floored when he believes that he and his partner, Jerry Edgar may have missed an important clue all those years ago which allowed the killer to prey on more victims.

Harry's current partner Kiz, and his on and off again girlfriend Rachel, both reach turning points in their lives.

Jury Duty. I hope it wasn't too painful. I never got to read when I went, every time I brought out the book someone would strike up a convo.

Hi Lisa, I remember when I read Birdman a number of years ago how shocked I was at the explict violence. I think it was one of first books I read that laid it out so graphically. Of course, that didn't prevent me from continuing on with the series!

#28 Hi Victoria! Nope jury duty wasn't too bad, I actually got lucky because I think that there were quite a few last minute settling of cases. Nobody talked to me:)

#29 Hi Judy! Yes Birdman is definitely meant for one with a strong stomach. I'm going to track down the rest of the series also.

I'm glad you liked Vengeance, too. I think it was his strongest installment to date.

#109 I've been gobbling up Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch books like they were candy!

I've not been disappointed with any of the books in this series and the 17th; The Drop was no exception. I particularly enjoyed this one because it pits Harry against his longtime nemesis Irvin Irving.

Harry and Irving constantly butted heads when Irving was Harry's commander earlier in the series. No longer a member of the force, Irving is now a city councilman who makes it his business to make life difficult for the LAPD.

When Irving's son is found dead from either a push or jump from a hotel window, no one is more surprised than Harry when Irving demands that Bosch lead the investigation of his son's case.

Lots of bureaucratic puppetmastery, a possible new relationship for Harry and a rift in his friendship with his former partner Kiz Rider.

I don't think that there won't be too many books left in this series; Harry is 56 ish, and faces mandatory retirement in four to five years. There's always hope that his daughter Maddie will join the force and he'll be around to advise her.

110 Kill You Twice

You would think that five book into this series, the sick twisted relationship between Archie and Gretchen would become tiresome. It's not!

Archie seems to be moving on with his life, recovering from his physical and emotional torture at the hands of his favorite serial killer Gretchen Lowell.

Little does he know that his latest case, that of a man gagged and skinned ala Gretchen's style is connected to her past. When Gretchen contacts Archie and claims to have knowledge about the killer, Archie goes to see her in order to help his case.

The plot was well developed as we are given a little more background about Gretchen's early life, and Susan, bless her heart, is as entertaining as usual. Susan does something interesting towards the end, which I should have seen coming, but it surprised me just the same.

I found this book to be a good installment in the series, although there are some details that I won't reveal here, that just didn't ring true. I suppose part of it was setting the platform for book #6, which of course I can't wait to read.

I'm eager to read Kill You Twice. I do love Susan.

#34 Hi Kay: I hope you get to read it soon!

111 The Gingerbread House the touchstone for this book brings up the Swedish translation of this book.

This was a pretty decent thriller about a serial killer systematically killing various 44 year olds who seemingly have nothing in common.

Eventually the police figure out that all of the victims attended the same elementary school and played some part in bullying of other children, either as an active participant or just sitting by doing nothing. Even the teacher did nothing to try to stop the torment.

I found this book to be a very thought invoking read. We hear so much about bullying these days, it makes me wonder how what used to be good natured childhood fun emerged into abuse. This book reminded me how childhood emotional scars never quite heal for some, which is why one will have real empathy for the killer.

Oh, I don't think childhood ever was purely good natured. It seems like some bullying starts innocently because some kids have no impulse control and start grabbing things they want from other kids, without thinking about it. & then the in group / out group stuff etc. I'm not saying we're all lord of the flies, but I am saying a lot of kids need to learn how to let each other be. Sad. Sounds like a good book though, and makes me glad that I was never much of a bully. I shouldn't be too high on anyone's hit list. ;)

112 While I Was Gone Jo Becker narrates her life in the present and 40 years ago, when after running away from her first husband, she embarks on a housing sharing commune type lifestyle in the 1970's.

When she encounters one of her male housemates many years later, she becomes obsessed with her former life, and almost throws caution to the wind due to her restlessness.

While Jo was not a likeable character for me, the story was an interesting one, and if there's a moral to be had, it may be that sometimes it best to leave the past in the past.

113 Final Jeopardy This is the first in the series os the Alexandra Cooper series; a sex crimes prosecutor.

In this installment, Alex is shocked to find a headline announcing her murder. The victim is actually a friend of hers, Isabella Lascar, who was staying at Alex's Martha's Vineyard house. The question becomes was the killer really after Isabella, or is Alex really in danger? The book dragged a bit toward the end. I will continue with the series, but I won't rush into it :)

114 The War Against Miss Winter I loved this first in the four part series featuring the comedic, wisecracking Rosie Winter. Rosie, hoping to make it big on stage, is working temporarily at McCain and Son, a detective agency, to pay her bills. When Rosie finds Jim hanging in the closet, she decides to investigate, believing that what appeared to be suicide was really murder.

115 The Redeemer- Inspector Harry Hole returns in this fourth translated, sixth in the series (I think). The Redeemer begins with a flashback of a 14 year old girl who is assaulted during a Salvation Army training camp stint. Flash forward to a Salvation Army soldier being killed in a crowd of people during the Christmas holiday season, seemingly for no reason.

Harry who temporarily has his drinking under control,
tracks down a Croatian refugee (the hit man who killed the soldier), but then the hit man realizes he has killed the wrong man, and things get out of control from there. To complicate matter for his Harry even more, his boss retires and his new boss likes to "follow the rules" a little too much for Harry's liking.

I love this series, but Nesbo has killed off another promising character that I liked, I have to trust that he knows what he's doing . The book was paced very well, and there were good surprises at the end.

116 Wiseguy This true story is based on the life of Henry Hill, portrayed by Ray Liotta in the movie Goodfellas. Henry started his life of crime when he was a child and grew to know all the key players in the mob, but would never be a "made" man due to his part Irish roots.

Henry lives the live he craves full of money and power, until everyone gets a little too greedy in 1980, when his associates pull off a multi million dollar robbery that goes wrong. Henry realizes that he has the choice of cooperating with the FBI or getting "whacked" by his one-time friends.

He chooses the FBI, testifies against his friends, and enters witness protection, where in his words he becomes :"an everyday shnook."

117 The St Zita Society I can't pass up an opportunity to read a Ruth Rendell book even with the author's ethnic stereotypes which are not overwhelming, but still present.

St Zita is the patron saint of domestic servants who gave away her food and clothes to the poor. The St Zita's Society is a type of "upstairs downstairs" look at the residents of Hexam Place.

Some of the characters include: Henry -the valet, who is sleeping with Lord Studley's wife and daughter,
Montserrat- the lazy au pair, who keeps her employer Mrs. Still's affair with an actor a secret, for a price of course.

June- the housekeeper to an alleged princess, who creats the society for employees to address concerns about their employers.

Lastly, we have Dex, a very disturbed gardener who hears voices on his cell phone that tell him to do disturbing things.

Overall, this book was a pretty good read, slightly comedic, but also suspenseful as you know that something is going to happen, you just don't know what.

118 And When She Was Good

Laura Lippman's newest standalone tells the story of Heloise aka Helen Lewis, who fled the physical and mental abuse of her father when she was a teenager and found herself many years later, a madam, leading a double life, fearful that she will be exposed to her son and also that they will both be killed.

Helen's story is told in flashback, how she got away from her first boyfriend a drug addict, only to be saved by a pimp. When she found herself pregnant she knew she had to save her child and sent her pimp boyfriend to jail for murder. She takes over his business because that's all she knows, and raises her son while continuing to visit his father in prison twice a month.

Helen continues to live a suburban soccer mom lifestyle with her son, careful not to get to close to anyone in case they start asking too many questions about . Then life throws Helen a curve when two girls from her former life turn up dead and she wonders if she's next.

I thought that this book was well written, and I found myself feeling sorry for the character, although she is not the least bit likeable.

I've checked The St Zita Society out of the library. Yeah, I've been noticing in Rendell's last few books that she's exhibiting Cranky Old Person syndrome, with all the it-was-better-before and stereotyping that entails. I try to read her like I'd read something written fifty years ago, but it does diminish my enjoyment.

@ 40 -- So glad you liked The War Against Miss Winter! I am looking forward to continuing with the series soon, but so far I've only read the first book.

@46 Hi Christina: I love Rosie, she's smart, sassy and funny! I'm going to read The Winter of Her Discontent shortly. I have the other two in the series lined up also, I found them at a reduced price a few weeks ago.

#119 Southern Discomfort I finally ran across the 2nd in the Deborah Knott series, I had been trying to hunt it down for a while.

Deborah has her judicial swearing in ceremony and soon finds herself agreeing to spend her weekends with an all female crew helping to build houses for needy families. When her niece is attacked by the county building inspector is murdered, Deborah and members of her family find themselves under suspicion.

Now I'm all caught up and waiting for the newest book which comes out in November. I am wondering though, if the crossover between Deborah and Sigrid will continue in future books. I'm not sure if I want that to be a continuing thing.

120 More Twisted This is a collection of 16 short stories by Jeffery Deaver, a continuation from Twisted which was just a litttle bit better in my opinion.

All of the stories feature a character who is either a thief, a psychopath, or just unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Some of my favorites were:

Commuter- a man learns his lesson about loud conversations on public transportation

Born Bad-a mother fears the return of her trouble making daughter

Afraid-a woman regrets going away with her relatively new boyfriend

The Voyeur- a lonely man botches a police sting and pays the ultimate price

Nice Place To Visit- victims of a grifting scheme turn the tables on the criminals who took advantage of them.

Those stories sound interesting . . .

I want to get to the Deborah Knott series. I read one from the middle of the series ages ago, and liked it. I want to go back and start at the beginning.

#121 Sleepy Head This was one creepy book which I course, enjoyed throughly.

Alison Willetts is left trapped in her own body by a serial killer who knew exactly how to manipulate pressure points on her head and neck to cause her to have a stroke. She's aware of everything going on around her, but can't move or communicate.

DI Tom Thorne tries to figure out why the killers three previous victims were killed and Alison was left alive. Was it a mistake or a deliberate act? I enjoyed the nice twist at the end.

Oh dear, another one TBR. Maybe in the 2013 challenge!

The Mark Billingham series is addictive. Must read one soon...

I've been enjoying the Tom Thorne series as well, unfortunately with so many series on the go my rotation is extremely slow, I think it's definitely time for my next one.

Oooooo Sleepy Head sounds super creepy - thriller & horror

122 Jar City This was an excellent Icelandic thriller, it was so good, I downloaded the next two in the series.

Police inspector Erlendur Sveinsson tries to solve the murder of a 70 year old man who allegedly raped and killed several women many years ago. To add to his stress he's also dealing with his drug addicted daughter and his guilt over leaving his family many years ago.

I liked Jar City too, Lisa. I really want to continue that series.

123 Dare Me I have to say this was not my favorite book of Megan Abbott's.

Nothing will compare to Queenpin for me. That's not to say that I'm stuck on her writing noir, I loved The End of Everything. Dare Me was a good, not great read for me.

Dare Me focuses on the relationship between best friends Addy and Beth, who have known each other seeminlgy forever.

The story takes place with Addy and Beth in their senior year of high school and on the cheerleading squad, with Beth in the role of captain and Addy as lieutenant. The term mean girls isn't enough to describe the relationships between Beth and the rest of the team. Not only are Beth and Addy revered, they are feared as well.

One day, the squad , particularly Beth, meets their match in Colette French, their new coach. Addy becomes obsessed with impressing her new coach and Beth feels her control over Addy slipping away bit by bit.

When a tragic event takes place, Addy and Beth are at odds, Beth taunting Addy and Addy finally standing up to Beth. The ending did surprise me just a bit.

Megan Abbott is an exceptional writer, and I think she captured the teenage point of view perfectly. While reading this book, I actually thought I was in the mind of a 17 year old girl.

My main problem with this book was the inappropiate relationship between the coach and the squad. I just couldn't seem to get past it, it was way too familiar. That, and the implied nonsupervision of basically all of the girls on the squad's parents.

Well, I'm still eager to read it. Queenpin was an exceptional book, though.

# 59 Hi Kay! Yes absolutely, I think you will enjoy Dare Me. I will be interested to see what you think of it.

124 The Dogs of Riga This is the second in the Kurt Wallander series. When two murdered bodies show up on the coast of Sweden, it is soon discovered that they are Latvian criminals. The Swedish police would like nothing better than to hand off the case to the Latvian police department.

During the course of the investigation, Wallander, begins a dangerous solo effort that pits him against a corrupt police department and government officials.

I enjoyed this book a little better than Faceless Killers, it was just the right combination of mystery, police procedural, and political thriller.

125 Find Me This is the 9th in the Kathy Mallory series.

Let me just say that I thought it was amazing! I am leery sometimes about reading books out of order, but in this case, I think it worked out ok for me.

Find Me is an intricately woven story from start to finish, and had to be truly savored so that I wouldn't miss any of the details. More bits and pieces of Mallory's past are revealed as she traces the path that her father took on Route 66 many years ago. which is detailed in letters that he wrote.

At the same time, Mallory is also tracking a serial killer who buries his victims along the same highway. Charles and Riker are on her trail, Riker because he is worried about her and because there's a dead woman's body in her apartment, and Charles because he's in love with her and wants to help.

The ending reads like the series finale, but Chalk Girl was released earlier this year.

I thought Find Me was absolutely marvelous -- probably my favorite of the Mallory series.

The Dogs of Riga is on my radar to try to read soon. (The library has it.) Glad to see you enjoyed it.

I enjoyed Find Me as well, but my favorite remains Stone Angel. I'm interested to see what you think of Chalk Girl.

Thanks for your review of Dare Me. I think I will skip that one.

I snared a copy of Chalk Girl from the LT ER program. Based on the uncorrected proofs, I gave it four-and-a-half stars. It was rather grisly, but I liked it. I'm not good at linking to specific reviews/posts, but my review on the book's main page was posted 11/29/2011.

#64 Hi Victoria: I loved Stone Angel too! I look forward to getting all caught up with Mallory in the near future. I don't remember did you read The End of Everything?

#64 Hi Terri: It's a little premature for me to say, but I think when I finally finish the Mallory series either Stone Angel or Find Me will wind up being my favorite. We'll see.

126 Broken Harbor It took me a long time to finish this book. I don't remember Tana French's other books being so lenghty! I think it's absolutely genius the way she introduces a character and then that character becomes a protagonist in the next book.

I didn't love Broken Harbor for some reason. I think because I felt as though I was spending too much time in the head of Mick Kennedy, the main character, who was introduced in Faithful Place.

Mick Kennedy is an ace homicide detective who finds himself paired with a rookie, transferred from the Motor Vehicle Division. They are assigned to the case of a triple homicide, a father, and two young children. The wife and mother remains in the hospital, not expected to make it. The murder victims were found at a creepy housing development, which is known as Broken Harbor.

At one time this housing development was supposed to be the place to be be for upwardly mobile, successful families looking for a good investment and a place to raise their families. As has been the case recently in many areas, the houses in the development were never finished, and the owners who remain find that they are stuck in houses with shoddy work and no way to recoup their losses.

Mick has his own bad memories of Broken Harbor which he tries to fight while working on the case. As if that wasn't bad enough, he also has an emotionally unstable sister to deal with.

All in all, Broken Harbor was a satisfying read, but parts of it were very slow for me.

127 Rabbit Run Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, former high school basketball star, finds himself in his mid 20's married with a young son, his wife pregnant, and through most of the book he "runs" from various situations and the responsibilities in his life.

Harry was not a likeable character, but Updike's writing was so spectacular I want to take the rest of Harry's journey with him.

128 Murder at the Vicarage This is the first Miss Marple mystery, which I enjoyed immensely. Colonel Protheroe is found dead in the vicar's stuy after the vicar has been conveniently called away to visit a sick parishioner. In addition to the clever mystery, I also enjoyed the characters and depictions of village life.

129 Revolutionary Road

I've never read any Updike - what do you think of his books?

# 69 Hi Laura: I enjoyed Rabbit Run, it was my first Updike. I very much want to read the rest of the Rabbit series. It takes a great author to make a reader care what happens to a despicable character like Rabbit.

# 130 The Lottery and Other Stories

I loved this collection of abruptly ending short stories. I think The Lotteryhas to be one of the best "terrifying" stories that I've ever read.

There were 24 other stories in this collection, most of them having to do with what motivates people to act the way they do.

I also enjoyed: The Intoxicated, Charles, Elizabeth, and Of Course.

Ooooo The Lottery is creepy and it's just the time of year for that.

Sorry for the lateness.... Yes, The End of Everything was okay, but I didn't love it.

131 NW I liked the premise of this story, but I couldn't get past the writing style enough to truly enjoy it.

It's the story of four Londoners : Leah, married to a West African who doesn't want children while he does.

Natalie, who changed her name from Keisha, and became a successful lawyer and wife to a wealhty man.

Felix, a one time drug addict is hoping to turn his life around now that he's found the right woman.

Nathan , a criminal who deals drugs and panhandles, as they try to make new lives for themselves away from the council estate where they all grew up.

As I stated above, the story was interesting, the writing style was just too odd or quirky for me.

Hi, Lisa, I'm just catching up with you. Lots and lots of good books and reviews! I really must try the donut shop and cupcake shop books -- and the Iceland mysteries, too. And catch up on Chelsea Cain. I started reading them because they're set in Portland, but got caught up in that strange relationship of Archie and Gretchen -- glad to know you enjoyed the most recent one!

Re Deborah & Sigrid. I've read (or been told) that she sets each of her books in the present day, even though only a couple of months may have passed in the characters' lives. It plays havoc with a timeline -- I tried to make one of Deborah and her brothers after I'd read the first few books, and then realized that it's impossible. I decided to read all the Sigrid books before reading Three-Day Town. I have only one left to read, just about perfect timing, since I think Three-Day Town will be released in paperback at the end of the month. I'm assuming that Sigrid will be approximately the same age as she is in the last Sigrid book, even though it was written in the 1990s, and I'm really wondering how that will work out; part of Sigrid's attraction is that she is a woman in a traditionally male profession in the 1980s.

132 The Shining This was a perfect read for the month of October. Jack Torrance has taken a new job at the Overlook Hotel as the off season caretaker. Jack plans to work on his writing and spend more time with his family. As the snow falls, the hotel seems more remote, more evil and quite frankly little five year old Danny Torrance scared me. Good stuff!

133Searching for Caleb Anne Tyler is a an excellent writer, and I enjoyed this heartbreaking yet also funny story of Justine Peck and her grandfather Daniel's efforts to find his brother Caleb who he last saw in 1912, 60 years ago.

134 The Winter of our Discontent This last of Steinbeck's works, offers a great lesson in morality. Ethan Hawley works as a grocery clerk in a store that his family once owned.

His wife and children crave status and material items that he can't provide for them. One day an opportunity presents itself and Ethan suffers a moral crisis when he takes advantage of a friend to solve his financial problems.

The ending came out of nowhere!

Hi Ivy: Thank you! I see that I am woefully behind in updating my reads on this thread, I'll have to remedy that soon.

I need to get to the Sigrid books soon, as I have a feeling that this crossover theme will continue. I think some of the older Sigrid books are being re-released, so I do plan to catch up.

I'm current with Deborah, and looking forward to the newest release in November, I'm first in the library queue for it. I'm such a library catalog stalker!

I need to be a better library catalog stalker. I am behind times on new releases.

I need to be a better library catalog stalker. I am behind times on new releases.

LOL!..... and sadly, I can relate to that statement.

I have worked in libraries these last 14 years and I still can't 'browse' online catalogs. When I read about a new release here or on publisher's sites, then I can go and place a hold on it.

I was happy to find many of the new releases for late 2012 and early 2012 were listed in the library catalog. That hasn't happened in a while, I grew impatient, and spent way too much $ on e-books. I'm trying to teach myself some self control and wait. It's hard though!

135 I loved, loved The Cold Dish! I was drifting in and out one day parked on the couch having a pity party about my summer cold and started watching the Longmire series on television. I then made a note to start reading the books. I never actually finished watching the series, but it looked like it was pretty good.

Walt Longmire is sheriff of Wyoming's Absaroka County, thinking about his retirement, when a young boy is found murdered near a Cheyenne reservation. The boy was one of four who raped and tortured a young Cheyenne girl, with all four boys receiving suspended sentences.

Now two years later, it appears that someone is out to avenge the past wrong. Walt, along with his friend Henry, his deputy Victoria and others, try to stop the plan of revenge from being carried out.

I loved the story, setting, and the characters and can't wait to read more of the series. The only thing I didn't care for is the foul mouthed Deputy Victoria, I kind of winced a little bit when she had to speak.

For those familar with the Dexter series, her language is similar to that of Dexter's sister Deborah. Just f f f every sentence. Not necessary all the time in my opinion, but that's the only thing I didn't like about the book.

I completely agree with you regarding Vic, Lisa. I have Longmire #3 listed for my 2013 challenge. Think you can catch up and we can read it together?

# 83 Hi Victoria, sounds like a plan, I'll put Longmire #3 on my list for next year!

Yay!

And it's going to fit into my challenge perfectly it's set in Philadelphia!

136 Live By Night

Reserved for:

137 The Lodger
138 The Hound of the Baskervilles
139 The White Lioness

140 Gone Til November

I started and finished this book in just over one day. I was so thrilled about getting power restored, I couldn't stop reading and go to bed!

Florida sheriff's deputy Sara Cross arrives on scene to find that another deputy, Billy Flynn has killed a twenty two year old man, who may have been unarmed. What looks like a justified act to internal affairs, doesn't quite seem right to Sara, who investigates on her own.

Complicating matters is the fact that Sara and Billy has a previous relationship, which clouds her thinking in what really happened. The other complication is the fifty ish enforcer, Morgan who is on a trail for missing money that leads him right in Billy and Sara's path.

I found this story to be very well plotted and it kept me interested all the way to the end.

I'm glad we agree on this one!

Gone Til November does sound good. Glad things are starting to return to normal!

Glad your power is back on Lisa!

Gone Til November sounds good. I've added it to my list.

141 1222
142 The Water's Edge
143 Caught

#90 Hi Kay! I know that's one of the fun things about LT, is that a group of us can all read the same book and all have different reactions to it! I'm glad that we both agreed on this one also!

# 91- and 93 I think you will enjoy it!

# 92 Thanks Victoria!

Hi everyone!

I just want to let everyone know that I won't be able to visit LT as often as I would like for a little while : I'm learning a new job which is keeping me on my toes to say the least and making my head hurt too!

I'm still reading and I plan to finish my challenge, with 13 books to go. Even though I don't necesarily do full scale reviews, I do plan to fill in my reading with brief summaries at some point.

I hope things will calm down in time for the 2013 Challenge, I already know what book I want to start with!

Good luck with the new job! Hope you like it and your head quits hurting so much. ;)

Good luck with the new job Lisa!

Best of luck, Lisa!

I was in similar circumstances earlier this year - so even though I will miss you, I certainly understand. Good luck!

Good luck with your new job. We'll all be here when you get back!

We'll miss you Lisa, but of course RL comes first. I think I know which book I'm going to choose for my first book of 2013 as well - you know what they say - Why break with tradition!

Best wishes to you with your new job, Lisa!

Hope things are starting to calm down for you Lisa. Have a great Thanksgiving.

Thank you for good wishes everyone. I'm just briefly checking in. I've been reading, and have 4 books left for my challenge.

My job was going ok and becoming a little manageable until I was thrown a curve ball this week by having to clean up someone else's mess. Hence I will be working 6 daysa week up until the holidays. I'm all for being a team player, but this person is a slacker and it's making me grumpy. I know things could always be worse but arggghh!

Hopefully with all the extra time I'm putting in I can take off around the new year and start my 2013 challenge the way it's meant to be, relaxing and looking forward to that first book!

Too bad about cleaning up someone else's mess. That's a bummer. I hope you can take pride in the fact that you are the one chosen to fix it. The slacker will get theirs!

@ 104 -- Boo on that slacker. I hope your holidays are extra relaxing to make up for it!

Cleaning up someone else's mess is never pleasant. I wish you well in the effort, and hope that you'll be rewarded with some time off to start the new year.

144 Their Eyes Were Watching God
145 Bastard Out of Carolina
146 Moll Flanders
147 Whistle Stop
148 The Family Corleone
149 Pumpkin Muffin Murder
150 American Rust
151 The Best American Mystery Stories 2003
152 The Double
153 The Way Some People Live
154 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
155 If Death Ever Slept

Hi everyone:

I am one book away from my goal. If I can finish Persuasion by December 31 then I will be finished. I was hoping to go back and write something about my reads, but it got too out of hand for me to go back now.

I'm enjoying a long weekend away from work and am dying to read all the shiny new books for the 2013 challenge. Well, all of the books aren't new, but the challenge will be!

I hope to be able to post more often and visit everyone's threads, even with all the OT that I will be doing through at least March, possibly April. Hopefully the extra hours will result in compensating days where I can read all day lol!

I hope everyone is having a good holiday season!

One book away - that is awesome! I am here cheering you on to complete Persuasion by December 31st..... you can do it!

Me too! Go, Lisa, GO! Or rather, Read, Lisa, READ!!!! :)

Ever since watching The Lake House, I have been curious about Persuasion. Wishing you a wonderful reading day. Can't wait to hear all about it!

Hi Lori, Laura and Victoria! Thanks for the encouragement, I did indeed finish Persuasion last night. I'm off to *ahem* prioritize my January reads!

Congratulations Lisa!

Congrats on completing your challenge.

Congratulations!

See you next year over on the 2013 Challenge!

Congrats, Lisa! Hope you enjoyed Persuasion despite having to read it in a bit of a rush.

Congratulations, Lisa!