Theresa's 75 in 2014

Hey, everyone! I've participated in this challenge off and on for several years now. Last year I sat out, so I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things this year.

I have extremely eclectic tastes in reading, but this list will probably fall pretty heavily on paranormal non-fiction (I'm a paranormal investigator/researcher), West Virginia history (I'm a history buff and historical research manager for my ghost group, lol), and totally FREE acquisitions for the Kindle! I'm hoping to sprinkle a few more classics into the mix this year as well.

Anyway, here's my first read of the new year!

1. Oliver Twist-I kind of feel ashamed to admit that I just turned 31 and never read this classic before, lol. But, better late than never, and I really enjoyed it. This was my third foray into Dickens and I've loved them all. In addition to just being an enjoyable story, reading this also served to fulfill my TIOLI challenge for this month and in some way, I hope it redeems me for some of the complete garbage I ended up reading in 2013.

Welcome! Nice choice to start out the year.

Hi Huntington! I'm wanting to read more Dickens this year as well, your post made me eager!

2. Notorious Nineteen-What can I say? It's the same plot and characters as the previous, but with a different bad guy, lol. Still, this series is my guilty pleasure and as long as they keep cranking them out, I'll probably keep reading.

3. Kids Say the Cutest Things When They're Drunk-This was a quick, somewhat entertaining way to pass some time last night. My power was off for about 12 hours, so I read this on my tablet, lol. It's basically a collection of short essays, musings, and well...I don't know what you'd call the style, actually, lol.

4. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk-I love David Sedaris, but this book missed the mark for me. I didn't hate it, but it definitely wasn't my favorite by him.

5. Sweet Masterpiece-There's a lot of cozy mysteries available for free on Kindle, giving me an opportunity to explore a genre I wouldn't normally pick up. Sweet Masterpiece was interesting...and I enjoyed the paranormal aspect to it since it wasn't TOO overplayed.

6. The Box: Uncanny Stories-This was a collection of Richard Matheson's short stories, some quite thrilling and others a little meh. I actually found this mass market paperback version at Dollar Tree a few months ago, and picked it up because I did enjoy I am Legend. It was a quick read and as an added bonus, it fulfilled a TIOLI challenge!

7. Sweet Valley Confidential-I grew up reading the Sweet Valley Twins series (set in middle school) more than I read the SV High series, but I was still really excited to read about the girls who I almost thought of as my own friends, now that they were all grown up. I was severely disappointed, lol. I'm so disappointed with the plot, the writing style, with everything that I can't even discuss it yet, lol.

8. The Headless Horror: Strange and Ghostly Ohio Tales-This book by my favorite Ohio paranormal researcher/author was packed full of newspaper articles from the 1800s and early 1900s that featured mentions of hauntings, ghosts, ghostly pranks, Fortean phenomena, UFOs and much, much more, lol. It was a little slow going at first, but I really enjoyed it. There were some absolute little gems in there, and some new material for my blog!

Hi, Theresa! That last one sounds interesting. I lived in Ohio for 14 years, and I'd be curious to see if any of the places I know are mentioned!

It was a good one, scaifea! Apparently there are four in that particular series, all featuring collections of newspaper articles.

9. Spirits of Southeast Kentucky--Well, another one without a touchstone, lol. This was a free Kindle download and it was actually very well written and interesting for a free book. Most of the stories came from Hazard, Kentucky and even though I'm not really familiar with that area, the stories were good enough to keep the interest there.

10. Easy Bake Coven--I didn't dislike this book, but I felt like the whole plot was concerned with an event that never really happened like it was supposed to have. And, thanks to a nice little cliffhanger, I'm gonna be forced to go ahead and get the next book in the series, lol.

11. Know the Past, Find the Future: The New York Public Library at 100--Who doesn't appreciate a book about books and libraries? This was an eye-opening read for me, as I wasn't aware at just how diverse the collection of the NYPL really was.

A little late to the party, but I decided that I was going to attempt the American Author's Challenge in addition to as many of the TIOLIs as I could each month! Here's a rough outline so far of which works I hope to tackle using as many works that I already own as possible:

Willa Cather- My Antonia -READ
William Faulkner- A Rose for Emily -READ
Cormac McCarthy-
Toni Morrison-
Eudora Welty-
Kurt Vonnegut- Cat's Cradle
Mark Twain- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Philip Roth-
James Baldwin-
Edith Wharton- The Age of Innocence
John Updike-
Larry Watson-

Okay, so I have some work to do with picking out a few more, lol.

12. My Antonia-What a beautiful book for my American Authors Challenge. I probably wouldn't have picked this one up on my own, so I'm glad for the little nudge.

13. Mysteries and Miracles of Colorado: Guide Book to the Genuinely Bizarre--Too bad this one doesn't have a touchstone, because its actually quite good! Unsolved murders, buried treasure, ghosts, UFOs and much more make up the 14 chapters of this really fascinating book. Photos, illustrations and the narrative style make it an easy read.

14. Broadmoor Revealed--I downloaded this free ebook awhile back and forgot to read it, lol. But, I'm glad I finally got around to it. It's a somewhat short history of Broadmoor itself, some of the Victorian theories/practices concerning mental health, and a look at some of the Broadmoor patients.

15. What I'd Say to the Martians--I have discovered that I'm not a huge fan of Jack Handey, lol. This collection of writings just seemed so...redundant. A couple were hilarious, a few were chuckle-worthy, and the rest...just sorta boring.

Boy, you're really on a roll! Your #11 sounds great - I've added it to my wishlist!

16. The Sign of Four--I've never read a Sherlock Holmes book before and wow, was I really depriving myself, lol. Luckily, I've got plenty more of his adventures already on my Kindle.

17. The Year of the Hangman--I couldn't sleep so I finished up this young adult alternate history novel about what might have happened had the American Revolution not turned out the same way. I really, really liked this one and couldn't put it down. But...I felt a little let down at the end; it just didn't seem complete.

18. Alfred Hitchcock's Anti-Social Register--This was my TIOLI challenge pick for Ugliest Cover. Filled with deliciously malicious tales of murder and deceit, this was a great read for being stuck inside of the house due to weather.

19. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children--I've wanted this book for a long time, but couldn't justify paying full price for it, so when I finally found it at an affordable sum, I snatched it up, lol. I wanted my own copy because I wanted to have a record of the photographs in it...at least one has already been tried to be passed off in the paranormal community as being a real ghost photo.

Anyway, I stayed up late last night and awoke early this morning to finish it, and I'm glad I did, but I feel somewhat cheated. This had the potential to be a REALLY awesome book. Unfortunately the idea that made it so awesome was also its downfall...after awhile the marriage between the photos and the plot just fell apart and seemed reaching and contrived. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it enough to want to read the second in the series....and apparently there's a third coming out as well!

20. This Baffling World No. 2--I crashed last night at about 7pm, so of course I woke up by midnight and couldn't go back to sleep. Since I was up, I decided that there was no better time than then to finish up this book that I started right after Christmas, and abandoned with two chapters left.

Ugh. I WANTED to love this book and its not like I hated it. It's actually an excellent little reference book filled with photos and copies of original writings/sources. But...I was already so familiar with most of the material and it was so dated that I just lost interest. But, its read and its red, fulfilling one of this month's TIOLI challenges!

21. Real Wolfmen: True Encounters in Modern America--this was an interesting collection of allegedly true sightings of various types of man-wolf thingamajigs....not necessarily werewolves, but many bipedal werewolf-like creatures. There was also plenty of fascinating folklore and history sprinkled in as a way to try to explain, at least culturally if not scientifically, some of these sightings.

The terrible weather has done wonders for my reading this winter, even though I went through a slight slump last week and only finished one book. But, starting off strong this week with:

22. A Corpse in a Teacup--my edition was the free Kindle version that came out, so there were a lot of editing errors that made this not very appealing. But, its a spin-off from another series that seems well-liked by many. I just...couldn't get into it. It wasn't a bad story and the characters were interesting, but I have absolutely no idea what happened, lol. The ending seemed to contradict these little side blurbs sprinkled throughout and even though some of them could be ambiguous, most were fairly direct, leaving me scratching my head as to who the real killer was and what the heck is wrong with me for not being able to understand it. I have no idea if I missed something, misunderstood something, or if this was a ploy to get you to read the next in the series and all the reviews I've seen don't mention that little issue, so maybe its all in my head? I dunno, but its not a feeling I look for in my cozy mysteries.

One of my reading goals this year is to clear off some of the many, many free Kindle books I've downloaded. I have a problem---there are so many interesting sounding free books on so many topics...and its like I have a free pass to go on a shopping spree without spending a dime. Some of these titles are excellent, and on par with a print book. Others are useless, self-published, drivel, lol. And, many are not really that long....usually more of a how-to booklet or extended essay. So, I don't feel right with adding them onto the normal list, but feel that I deserve to count them for SOMETHING! So, I'm gonna start recording my "shorties," the free ebooks that take less than an hour to finish.

Shorties:

a. Learn How Numbers Can Change Your Life: A Introduction to the World of Numerology---This wasn't terrible. It was a very basic primer on the history of numerology and the most simplest of formulas for finding your important numbers. Neat little reference to play around with, even though the personality descriptors for each number could easily match up with just about anyone.

b. How to Read a Book Better and Faster: A Quick Start Guide to Instantly Improve Your Reading Skills, Comprehension, and Reading Speed---I wasn't super impressed with this book, but it did give a few little hints and exercises to help increase your speed while reading.

c. Healing Crystals- A Guide to Working with Citrine---I actually enjoyed this one. It was one of the more well-written shorties I've read recently and since I've always had a closet passion for geology, it was fun to look at some of the more paranormal associations with this gem. Basically, this is good for healing, attracting money, and producing lucid dreams, lol.

d. False Prophets and the Antichrist---Well, lol. The author used examples from the Bible to point out that a false prophet will end up being the antichrist of end times and how you can spot this person. Not much depth here, though.

e. The Gemini Proposal: An Imminent Global Unifying Event---I don't think I was high enough to understand this one. Apparently there is an astrological event coming up that came around at the same time as September 11th, and another tragedy that took place on a similar date. There was something linking same sex marriage in the news with the rise of the New World Order, lol. The author assumes the reader already has a firm grasp on Thelemetic principles and the work of Aleister Crowley.

f. The Energy Vampires Survival Kit: How to Build Vitality and Protect Yourself from Energy Vampires---The message here? Stay away from bullies, whiners and generally annoying folks because they're actually energy vampires.

23. Ghost a la Mode---another cozy mystery with a paranormal twist. A soon-to-be-divorced middle aged woman discovers one day that she can hear and see ghosts, and is enlisted by the spirit of a long-dead family member to help solve a mystery. If it had been left at that, it would have been an awesome book. But...it didn't, so it wasn't, lol. I still liked it, but I didn't LOVE it.

Shorties:
g. Psychics Decoded: Discovering & Enhancing Your Psychic Abilities

h. 100 Wiccan and Pagan Writing Promps and Inspirations: Ideas for Blogs, Articles and Books---I write a paranormal/hauntings blog and I thought there might be some ideas I could use. I saved 3-4, but that's about it.

i. The Simpsons Trivia Quiz Book---I've been a fan of the Simpsons since day one.

24. Paranormality--A skeptical look at different types of paranormal phenomena. This is a must-read for anyone involved with paranormal investigation or who is otherwise interested in the paranormal.

25. How to Fight Presidents--I received this through Goodreads' First Reads and Oh.My.Goodness. This is hilarious! If you like Cracked.com, you'll love this book. However, if you don't appreciate the humor and the language associated with that site, then as interesting as this book is, you probably won't care for it all that much, lol. But, it IS interesting and the illustrations are great. I'll be reviewing it fully a little later on.

Shorties:
j. Ann Frank-Biography for Kids--this was actually pretty interesting. Like most people, I read the diary in school, but this was a condensed, yet fairly thorough look at her life beyond what we see in the diary.

k. Observing the Subconscious by Justin 'Or. This was the worst book I've ever read. It made absolutely no sense, but apparently the theme is that the subconscious is actually God. I think.

26. City of Falling Angels--I can't say why I liked this book so much, but I did. I really loved Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, so maybe I was a little biased going in....

27. Echoes of Valor--this was a strange collection of Civil War related ghost stories and past life experiences. Awesome read for a book I just happened across at Goodwill.

28. Present at a Hanging and Other Ghost Stories--I've recently become really fascinated with Ambrose Bierce and this classic collection was a great introduction.

Shorties:

l. A Rose For Emily--I wanted to participate in the American Authors Challenge, but a short story was all I could muster for Faulkner right now, lol.

m. How to Find Bigfoot Vol. 1--If you can overcome the author's unwillingness to believe anything other than the existence of Bigfoot, there is actually some really good information on the physical appearances of these creatures. If the following volumes ever come up for free, I'll definitely check them out.

n. The Vampire of Sacramento: The Life and Killings of the Infamous and Gruesome Richard Chase. --This was one messed up guy and the book was an editor's nightmare, but there was definitely some interesting information in there.

o. 50 Things to Know about Selling Stuff Online

p. Hoarding --short little primer about hoarding and how to deal with it. I love the hoarding shows, so I thought I'd be interested in this.

q. Ghost of America's Past--another editing nightmare, but had a few stories that I had never heard of before.

r. Ten Interesting Things About Human Behavior

Hi, I just happened by your thread for the first time. I read Oliver Twist a couple of weeks ago for the first time, and I'm about 10 years older than you, so you're right - better late than never. :) Your #13 also sounds like something I wish I'd known about when I was living in Denver; I love those kinds of weird histories.

March so far has turned out to be the month for cozy mysteries, not because I'm overly drawn to them, but because you can pick them up for free on Kindle a lot...and I'm trying to clean up my Kindle, lol. Some were good, some, eh.

29. Foreclosed--Hated this first book in the Mitzy Neuhaus series. Self-righteous and arrogant main character, and awkward dialogue throughout are just SOME of the issues I had with this one.

30. Trouble in Mudbug--This one wasn't so bad. In fact, I rather liked it.

31. Groundbreaking Murder--Last month I read the first book in this one's spin-off series and wasn't impressed. This one was MUCH better, almost like a different person wrote it.

32. Louisiana Longshot--I had no idea when I started this one that it was by the same author as Trouble in Mudbug. Even though it required a certain level of suspension of disbelief, I was surprised at how engaging this book was...I didn't want it to end, and look forward to reading the next few in the series!

33. Uglies This one looked kinda chunky, but it was a quick, easy read that was actually pretty captivating. I was intrigued enough to want to find the rest of the trilogy. I'm not a huge fan of YA, but I got this one at a thrift store for 25 cents and decided to see what the hype was all about.

I needed a giant dose of nostalgia this week, which was provided courtesy of the local Goodwill's book section:

34. Jessi's Baby-Sitter--Wow, Jessi didn't come across in a very positive light in this one Babysitters Club classic, lol.

35. Stacey and the Stolen Hearts--Another Babysitters Club book.

Goodwill is The Best for a little book retail therapy, isn't it? :)

Yes it is! I live in an area where Goodwill books are still really cheap: $1 for hardback, 50 cents for paperback, 25 cents kids. I've found some awesome deals, but they've been few and far between, lol.

36. Good, Clean Murder--a free, cozy mystery for my Kindle. It wasn't bad, but since it was a Christian cozy mystery, all the jargon specific with Bible School and missionary work was a bit over my head...and the mystery wasn't that great, lol. For some reason, I've hit the cozy mystery genre HARD this month. I guess I'm subconsciously spring cleaning the Kindle and I have a lot of them on there that I got free, lol.

On that note, I cleared out some more shorter ebooks/journal articles:

s. Men in Bras, Panties and Dresses: The Secret Truth About Transvestites

t. Pope Francis: Most Loved Pope of All Time?

u. Facebook Fan Page Magic with George Wickens

v. The Red String: A cultural history of a Jewish folk symbol

w. The True Story of the American Flag

37. Travellers' Guide to Hell--hilarious, yet scholarly look at the geography, history, and citizens of Hell.

38. A Study in Scarlet--my second Sherlock for the year!

And...some shorts:

x. Frogs, Zombies, & Talking Bears: 24 Crazy Dreams

y. Zentagle for Beginners

z. The Oaths, Signs, Ceremonies and Objects of the Ku Klux Klan. A full expose by a late member.

aa. The Vampire Handbook

bb. The Best of Si Robertson

cc. Cleaning of Crystals and Gems

dd. Crystal Therapy: The Ultimate Crystal Astrology Guide to Crystal Therapy

ee. The Power of Gem Stones

ff. I Wish I Knew That: U.S. Presidents: Cool Stuff You Need to Know

39. Night Runner YA vampire fiction. It wasn't bad, but it was a complete set-up for the rest of the trilogy. I don't mind cliff-hangers designed to get you to read the next book, but I at least like to feel like the book is complete...this didn't feel that way.

40. The Secret Life of Bees--this actually made me tear up in a few places, lol. I really enjoyed this one.

41. Ghost Lights and Other Encounters with the Unknown--I absolutely loved this book! It was filled with interesting stories from all areas of Fortean research. I've heard of a ton of them before, but there were plenty that I wasn't familiar with, including a rain of worms from right here in my home state, lol.

42. True Ghosts 3--a collection of spooky tales from the vaults of FATE Magazine. I'm a long-term FATE reader, so I always love these collections of reader submissions.