bohemiangirl reads 75 good books in 2014

How in the hell do I always post my first few messages in the wrong damn group?! I do it every year! Grrrr! And it's in a different group each year!

1. The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud - a whiny woman upset at being in her 40s and not having a life has an unnatural fixation on an Indian family. Meh.

2. The Utopia Experiment by Kyle Mills - A scientist who is sick of selfish and unethical people ruling the world one-ups Google Glass and makes a smarter smart phone that you control with your mind and can see without wearing glasses. You have to read the book to find out what else it does. The book was only so-so. If you want the spoiler, send me a message. (Quickly, I don't expect to remember this book at the end of the year.)

3. Never Go Back by Lee Child - Not the best Jack Reacher noevel. He wins every fight. He's cocky. He gets the girl. He moves on. I can't remember what the crime was. I like it better when Reacher isn't perfect and when he's not so righteous.

4. 12th of Never by James Patterson - Not really into these "churn 'em out" novels by Patterson, and it seems like the Women's Murder Club has turned into that kind of series. It's been a while since I read a WMC book, and this was the only thing available to download from the library that wasn't a romance novel. Disappointment. It was slightly better than The Utopia Experiment.

A week after giving birth, the detective in the group is back on the job solving two major homicides even though her infant is deathly ill. The star prosecutor is about to slam dunk o a slimy defense lawyer who never loses and he trips her up by asking her start witness about her finances. Don't star prosectors investigate their star witnesses? The Chief Medical Examiner is relieved of duty when a body and the night guard go missing. What happened to the stereotypical heavyset, loud-mouthed black woman? Now she's a miserable, quietly fuming, impotent watcher in her own department. And the reporter? Fighting with her boyfriend and crying when they break up.

How many times does the bad guy get to chump the police and drag a detective from her dying newborn because they think, "This time he'll really tell us where the bodies are"? What happened to the strong women who worked together to solve a case? Maybe they've been hanigng around with Kay Scarpetta. How many of you knew the 12th of Never was a song?

5. Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison - comments

Don't have a laptop, yet, but loving my wireless keyboard to use with my tablet! Woo hoo! I can write reveiws again! :)

Richard, had to bring your quote to the new thread that's in the right place. Couldn't leave it in limbo. I love Neil Gaiman!

I love that quote! I can't figure out how you manage to start a thread in the wrong group every year either. Next year I'll just post a link to the group page and have done with it.

*smooch*

#9 Thank you, sweetie! You would think I was tech challenged, but I'm not. I guess I'm so excited to get started that I just random post and don't see it until a week or so into the year. Ha ha! Is there a way to delete old threads?

Nope. Once made, they live forever, sorta like vampires. They go dormant after, I think, 90 days of no new activity.

:{ So there's a record of my stupidity from every year? Darn.

At least I figured it out on my own this year. Last year, some other group had to tell me I was in the wrong place. Embarrassing!

*there there, pat pat* It's amazing what one can live down. And I should know.

Welcome back, Sacil!

Welcome back! I swapped out the previous thread for this one in the Threadbook, so you should be all sorted out now.

>8 bohemiangirl35:: Oh, I love it! And, of course, I love Neil, too. Sigh.

Hey, Darryl!
Thanx, Jim.
When I read Neil's quotes, I sigh, too, Amber. :)

6. Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani - This one is a little outside of my usual reading. Had wanted to read a novel by this author, so I grabbed this on a whim. Kind of a coming-of-age story for an early thirties woman who is the only unattached person in her large Italian American family. As the responsible, single female in this generation of my family, some of the attitudes and scenes in this book hit close to home.



7. Unseen by Karin Slaughter - comments

8. World War Z - comments



9. The Dog Stars - comments

10. Save Me - It was the only thing available to download that night. Bleh.



11. Twelve Tribes of Hattie - comments

12. Rise of the Roboshoes - comments



12. Ocean at the End of the Lane - comments

I can't wait to get round to The Ocean and the End of the Lane - it sounds just wonderful (aka: just another day in Gaimanland).

#23 - I love Neil Gaiman! His ideas and the way he speaks, sigh, I just love the whole idea of him.

13. No Way Back by Andrew Gross - I barely finished this book. Repetitive. Too long. Boring. Avoid it.

14. Cypress House by Michael Koryta - comments



15. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson - comments

I'm glad that you enjoyed Life After Life, Sacil. I forgot to review it, but it was one of my favorite novels of 2013.

>24 bohemiangirl35:: Me, too. Love him.

#27 Thanx Darryl. I was intrigued by the idea. What did you think about her life at the end? I liked her previous lives better. Without the hardships, the family just wasn't as interesting. It made me think that avoiding pain made the family more cautious and mundane. Maybe that was a secondary message - that you have to be brave enough to live life with all the ups and downs.

16. Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith - comments



17. I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive by Steve Earle - comments

>29 bohemiangirl35: Hmm. I'll have to return to the book to remind myself of her last life. I can't seem to find it at home, so I suspect that I lent my copy to someone.

18. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith - a fun fantasy version of historical events



19. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Frye by Rachel Joyce - comments



20. Twittering from the Circus of the Dead by Joe Hill - comments



21. Victims by Jonathan Kellerman - murder mystery. It was okay.

22. The Circle by Dave Eggers - comments

Nice review of The Circle, Sacil; I may read it after all.

Welcome back!!! So good to see your posts.

#34 & 35 Thank you! Glad anyone is actually reading them. I'm lurking on your threads as well. :)

23. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - comments



24. Insurgent by Veronica Roth - not as good as Divergent, but not bad



25. Ripper by Isabel Allende - comments

26. The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly - typical Micky Haller story



27. Allegiant by Veronica Roth - Excellent! as good as book one with a surprise ending!

I'm glad that you enjoyed The Goldfinch, Sacil. Hopefully I'll get to it later this year.

28. Silver Girl by Elin Hiderbrand - comments



29. Little Bee by Chris Cleave - comments

#39 Thank you. The Goldfinch was a good book. I liked that it wasn't all sugar and sweetness. Theo was a real person and made mistakes and did some bad things even when he couldn't explain why. But he wasn't a bad kid. And his friends and benefactors were not all good or all bad, either. They were human. Hope you've been reading some good things lately. I'll pop over to your thread soon.

Nice review of Little Bee. I haven't been all that tempted to read it, but your review makes me want to give it a go.

I haven't had a particularly good reading year so far, as I've been reading far fewer books than usual, and the ones I have read haven't knocked my socks off. Hopefully my upcoming reads will be much better ones.

#42 Thank you! It wasn't what I expected, but I think it was worth the read. I'm sorry you're not having such a good reading year. I'm having trouble finding audio books. I've listened to just about everything I can download on my phone from my local and home libraries. I'm not willing to listen to the thug life and romance novels, but I also don't take the time to sit and read because I'm always doing something else.

I hope you have some better pics soon, and thanx again for reading my reviews and commenting.

Hi. I'm stopping by to see what great books you are reading. I've been in a reading slump for a few months. It hasn't stopped my accumulation though.

30. Sycamore Row by John Grisham - This was a decent novel, but I'm getting tired of his heavy-handedness with the racial overtones.



31. The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly - I read this one years ago, but have recently wanted to reread Harry Bosch and some Mickey Haller.

Idk why my book covers aren't showing. Sorry.

#44 Seems like a few people are in a reading slump. Hope you're doing well otherwise!

32. Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd - comments

34. The Last Original Wife by Dorothea Benton Frank - comments



Why did I think I might like this? Definitely not finishing it.

33. A Time for Patriots by Dale Brown - comments

35. The Highway by CJ Box - comments



36. Killer by Jonathan Kellerman - comments

37. Lost Light by Michael Connelly - I'm rereading Harry Bosch stories and this is one I read back in 2010. The surprise ending on this one got me again. I didn't remember.

38. The Narrows by Michael Connelly



39. The Overlook by Michael Connelly



40. The Closers by Michael Connelly

41. Resistant by Michael Palmer - comments



42. The Hidden Child by Camilla Lackberg - comments

43. 9 Dragons by Michael Connelly - another Harry Bosch re-read. Had forgotten parts, and I loved it again.



44. Loss of Innocence by Richard North Patterson - comments

45. The Passage by Justin Cronin - interesting vampire story, weak in spots, but I'll check out the second one.



46. Deadline by Sandra Brown - okay, not my thing

47. Second Son by Lee Child - comments



48. High Heat by Leed Child - So-so, not believable that Reacher is only 16 in this novella. He acts more like 21. That kind of messed up the whole story for me.

49. My Daylight Monsters by Sarah Dalton

50. High Heat by Lee Child



51. Second Son by Lee Child - comments



52. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill - comments



53. The Skin Collector by Jeffery Deaver - comments



54. Cop Town by Karin Slaughter - comments

55. The Twelve by Justin Cronin - Part 2 of >The Passage trilogy. I'll read the last one when it comes out, but I hope an editor makes him get to the point sooner.



56. The Moonlit Mind by Dean Koontz - Excellent novella!



57. 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz - comments



58. The Stand by Stephen King - the new edition, including a lot of what was cut from the original release. Still love it!



59. The Heist by Daniel Silva - I love Gabriel Allon, and I can't wait to see what happens when he become Director of The Office.

I saw Lincoln and Child had a new book out and I snatched it up! Little did I know it was a Gideon Crew novel and NOT a Pendergast installment. YUCK! Not finishing it.

60. The Innocent Sleep by Karen Perry - 4 stars (I originally gave it 3.5, but I'm upping it because the story stuck with me.)



61. Lost Voices by Sarah Porter - 2.5 stars - teen girls become whiny evil mermaids



62. Cut and Thrust by Stuart Woods - 3 stars

63. Matched by Ally Condie - 3.5 stars - okay, it's been done better.



64. Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore by Walter Mosley - 4 stars



65. Mind of Winter by Laura Kasischke - 3.5 stars - guessed the ending. a little weird.

66. The Neighbor by Dean Koontz - 3.5 stars



67. Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman - 3 stars

68. ALS: A Story of Brotherly Love by Karen Jackson - comments - 4.5 stars!

69. The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian - 2 stars eh!



70. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith - 4.5 stars!



71. Where Monsters Dwell by Jorgen Brekke - 3 stars, so-so



72. Pros and Cons by Janet Evanovich - My first Evanovich story...pretty good

73. The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta - 4 stars. Better than the Left Behind Series. The ending was a little disappointing.



74. Personal by Lee Child - 3.5 stars. Not a favorite Jack Reacher novel. No kick=ass tension in this one. Liked the ending, though.



75. Deadline by John Sanford - 4.5 stars - Love me some Virgil fucking Flowers!

Woo hoo! Made my 75 for the year before Thanksgiving! Haven't been online a lot for months now. Hope everyone is well. Hope you all have a happy and safe holiday! Will be lurking in the coming weeks, looking for good reads. Take care!

Congrats!

Congratulations!

Congratulations on making it to 75! :) Such popular titles, too. I love it!

Congrats on 75!!

Thank you everybody!



76. John Dies at the End by David Wong - This book is way crazy! It took me a minute to get into it, and then I just decided to roll with it and it was pretty good.

>72 bohemiangirl35: I've been wanting to read that book and see the movie for the longest time. I'm glad it's not a waste of time! :)

77. The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro - The book is better than the few episodes I watched of the TV show. I plan to read the second one.



78. Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs - My first Kathy Reichs novel. I liked her and plan to go back to the beginning of the series.

79. The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler



80. The Giver by Lois Lowry



81. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry



82. Messenger by Lois Lowry



83. Son by Lois Lowry

Merry Christmas, Sacil!

Happy Holidays!!

#76 and 77 - Thank you both! Darryl, I love the designs in the card! Merry belated Christmas everybody! I hope you all have a prosperous, healthy, amazing and happy 2015!

84. V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton



85. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny



86. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick