Virginiahomeschooler's Doctor Who Challenge (pt. 2)

This month's color is orange. While it might seem fairly limiting, there are a surprising number of options. First there are books whose cover is largely orange. Some options include:



I think you'll find that Penguin offers loads of possibilities. Just a few of those:



If you want to venture away from the cover of the color, there are title options.



One of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, the Women’s Prize for Fiction was known as the Orange Prize for Fiction between 1996 and 2012 and the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction between 2014 and 2017 – celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing from throughout the world. You can find a list of finalists and winners here.

So, check your shelves, and let us know what you plan to read for October. For Me, I'm hoping to get to Carrot Cake Murder.

1. Peter Capaldi (a book having to do with the number 12 - 12th in a series, 12 in the title, 12 year old main character, etc.)
1. Twelve Sharp - Janet Evanovich finished 01/25/14
2. Size 12 Is Not Fat - Meg Cabot finished 02/12/14
3. 12th of Never - James Patterson finished 03/17/14
4. 1222 - Anne Holt finished 04/11/14
5. Last Breath - Rachel Caine finished 05/06/14 (published in 2012)
6. The ABC Murders - Agatha Christie finished 05/11/14 (12th in the series)
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TBR
Withering Heights (book 12 in the series)
Black Dawn (book 12 in the series)
Twelfth Night
12 Years a Slave

2. K-9 (books about animals or with animals in the title or on the cover)
1. The Viper's Nest - Peter Lerangis finished 01/24/14
2. Dragon Rider - Cornelia Funke finished 02/13/14
3. Going Bovine - Libba Bray finished 02/14/14
4. Grace Interrupted - Julie Hyzy finished 02/19/14
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TBR
Dog on It
Foul Play
The Hunt Ball
Nearlyweds
Raised by Wolves
Saving Sailor (nook)
The New Yorkers
The Case of the Left-Handed Lady

3. Allons-y (set in France)
1. Hotel Pastis - Peter Mayle finished 01/29/14
2. Labyrinth - Kate Mosse finished 03/16/14
3. Daring Chloe - Laura Jensen Walker finished 03/31/14
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TBR
Murder in the Marais
The French Gardener
Sarah's Key
The Club Dumas
Becoming Marie Antoinette

4. It's Bigger on the Inside (fat books - minimum 550 pages)
1. World Without End - Ken Follett finished 01/23/14 (1,106 pages)
2. A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness finished 02/10/14 (585 pages) (AlphaCat H February read)
3. The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan finished 02/27/14 (553 pages)
4. Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin
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TBR
1Q84
American Gods
Lord of Chaos
Dragonfly in Amber
Son of Neptune (nook)
Mark of Athena
House of Hades

5. Fish Fingers and Custard (books in which foods, or food related things, are mentioned in the title or are on the cover)
1. Home of the Braised - Julie Hyzy finished 01/08/14 (GeoCat January read)
2. Eggs in Purgatory - Laura Childs finished 01/14/14
3. Behind the Scenes at Downton Abbey - Emma Rowley finished 01/29/14
4. Visions of Sugar Plums - Janet Evanovich finished 02/10
5. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley finished 03/04/14 (RandomCat and MysteryCat March read)
6. Hell Hath No Curry - Tamar Myers finished 03/24/14
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TBR
Sushi for Beginners
Latte Lessons
The California Roll
The Cookbook Collector
White Christmas Pie
Bliss
Wicked Appetite
Tea House on Mulberry Street

6. Rory the Roman (love stories or books set in Italy)
1. Love Finds You in North Pole Alaska - Loree Lough finished 01/31/14
2. Every Day in Tuscany - Frances Mayes finished 03/11/14
3. Crossed - Ally Condie finished 03/23/14
4. The Elite - Kiera Cass finished 04/03/14
5. LOVE Selected Poems - e.e. cummings finished 04/24/14
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TBR
Reached
Glassblower of Murano
City of Masks
Elite
Bitter Sweets
True Darcy Spirit
Love Finds You Under the Mistletoe

7. Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, TARDIS (books with the tenth doctor)
1. The Shining Darkness - Mark Michalowski finished 01/12/14
2. Snowglobe 7 - Mike Tucker finished 01/24/14
3. The Nightmare of Black Island - Mike Tucker finished 02/10/14
4. Sting of the Zygons - Stephen Cole finished 03/19/14
5. The Forgotten - Tony Lee finished 03/19/14
6. Martha in the Mirror finished 05/16/14
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TBR
The Pirate Loop
The Story of Martha
Doctor Who Fugitive
Doctor Who Tesseract
Doctor Who Final Sacrifice

8. River Song (books with a strong female as the lead character)
1. The Search for WondLa - Tony DiTerlizzi finished 01/11/14 (RandomCat and AlphaCat 'D' January read)
2. The 8th Confession - James Patterson finished 01/26/14
3. The 9th Judgment - James Patterson finished 01/30/14
4. Girl Genius: Omnibus Volume 1 - Phil Foglio finished 02/12/14
5. 10th Anniversary - James Patterson finished 02/22/14
6. 11th Hour - James Patterson finished 03/07/14
7. Bite Club - Rachel Caine finished 04/06/14
8. The Chase - Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg finished 06/16/14
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The Princess Academy
Girls in Pants
The Reluctant Widow
Allegiant (nook)
Subterranean
Princess in the Spotlight
Importance of Being Ernestine

9. Spoilers (read the book before (or after) seeing the movie)
1. The Lincoln Lawyer - Michael Connelly finished 12/24/13
2. Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien finished 01/05/14
3. Silver Linings Playbook - Matthew Quick finished 01/30/14
4. World War Z - Max Brooks finished 02/18/14
5. Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy finished 04/08/14
6. Game of Thrones Vol. 3 - George R.R. Martin finished 04/19/14
7. Starter for Ten - David Nicholls finished 04/22/14
8. Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky finished 04/23/14
9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling finished 06/05/14
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TBR
The Book Thief
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
The Jane Austen Book Club
Dear John (nook)
Eat, Pray, Love
The Book Thief
Rising Sun

10. Exterminate (books in which a murder takes place)
1. In the Bleak Midwinter - Julia Spencer-Fleming finished 01/01/14
2. The Case of the Missing Servant - Tarquin Hall finished 01/06/14 (MysteryCat and AlphaCat 'V' January read)
3. Her Royal Spyness - Rhys Bowen finished 01/10/14
4. Mr. Monk Gets on Board - Hy Condrad finished 02/18/14
5. SHERLOCK Study in Pink - Jay finished 02/19/14
6. Death on the Nile - Agatha Christie finished 02/24/14 (GeoCat February read)
7. Unnatural Exposure - Patricia Cornwell finished 05/15/14
8. Blood Quantum - Jeff Mariotte finished 06/04/14
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TBR
Blood Dreams
Death Comes to Pemberley
A Death in Vienna
Murder on Monday

11. Lots of Planets Have a North (general science fiction)
1. The King's Dragon - Una McCormack finished 12/30/13
2. Shards of Honor - Lois McMaster Bujold finished 01/17/14
3. The Glamour Chase - Gary Russell finished 02/04/14
4. To Terra - Keiko Takemiya finished 02/06/14
5. Torchwood: The House That Jack Built - Guy Adams finished 03/16/14
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TBR
Revelation Space

12. Are You My Mummy (mummies, vampires, zombies, and assorted fantasy whatnots)
1. Fool moon - Jim Butcher finished 01/15
2. The Color of Magic - Terry Pratchett finished 02/06/14
3. Retribution Falls - Chris Wooding finished 02/12/14
4. A Game of Thrones Graphic Novel: Vol. 1 - George R. R. Martin finished 02/21/14
5. A Game of Thrones Graphic Novel: Vol. 2 - George R. R. Martin finished 02/21/14
6. Midnight Riot - Ben Aaronovitch finished 03/01/14
7. Phoenix Girls - Brian Knight finished 03/17/14
8. Ghost Town - Rachel Caine finished 03/28/14
9. Insatiable - Meg Cabot finished 05/07/14
10. Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris finished 05/31/14
11. Dead as a Doornail - Charlaine Harris finished 06/10/14
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TBR
Tempted
Shiver (nook)
Vampire Diaries (nook)
Awakened

13. Torchwood (spinoffs and sequels)
1. Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants - Lee Goldberg finished 01/09
2. Ten Big Ones - Janet Evanovich finished 01/13
3. Eleven on Top - Janet Evanovich finished 01/19
4. Lean Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich finished 02/05/14 (MysteryCat February read)
5. The Emperor's Code - Gordan Korman finished 02/26/14
6. Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich finished 03/05/14
7. 39 Clues: Storm Warning - Linda Sue Park finished 03/07/14
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TBR
Finger Lickin' Fifteen
Sizzling Sixteen
Mr. Monk Helps Himself
Homeland
Genius Wars

14. Donna Noble Has Left the Library (library books)
1. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline finished 02/02 (AlphaCat R February read)
2. Peak - Roland Smith finished 02/17/14
3. The Returned - Jason Mott finished 02/21/14
4. Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore - Robin Sloan finished 03/13/14
5. Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer finished 04/10/14
6. Ashfall - Mike Mullin finished 04/15/14
7. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman finished 05/01/14
8. Steelheart - Brandon Sanderson
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CAT Progress

January
Geography - Home of the Braised (U.S.)
Random - The Search for WondLa (Journey)
Mystery - The Case of the Missing Servant (Detective)
Alpha 1 - The Case of the Missing Servant (V)
Alpha 2 - The Search for WondLa (D)
Gastro - Eggs in Purgatory (Any Food)

February
Geography - Death on the Nile (Egypt)
Random - Dragon Rider (Kid Lit)
Mystery - Lean Mean Thirteen (Series)
Alpha 1 - Ready Player One (R)
Alpha 2 - A Discovery of Witches (H)
Gastro - Visions of Sugar Plums (Candy)

March
Geography - 39 Clues: Storm Warning (Caribbean)
Random - Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Birds)
Mystery - Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (YA or Kid Mystery)
Alpha 1 - 39 Clues: Storm Warning (L)
Alpha 2 - Midnight Riot (M)
Gastro - Hell Hath No Curry (Ethnic, Irish, Green Beer)

April
Geography - The Hunt for Red October (Eastern Europe)
Random - LOVE Selected Poetry by e.e. cummings (Poetry)
Mystery - 1222 (Nordic)
Alpha 1 - Insatiable (I)
Alpha 2 - The Perks of Being a Wallflower (P)
**Gastro - (Seafood or Juice)

May
**Geography - (South Asia / India)
**Random - (Mothers)
Mystery - The ABC Murders (Classic or Golden Age)
Alpha 1 - Unnatural Exposure (E)
Alpha 2 - Unnatural Exposure (U)
**Gastro - (Dairy or Coffee)

June
**Geography - (Islands and Bodies of Water)
**Random - (Rose)
Mystery - Blood Quantum (Police Procedural)
**Alpha 1 - (A)
Alpha 2 - Blood Quantum (Q)
**Gastro - (Meat or Red Wine)

July
**Geography - (Polar Regions)
**Random - (Books about Books)
**Mystery - (Noir and Hard-Boiled)
**Alpha 1 - (C)
**Alpha 2 - (W)
**Gastro - (Fruits or Tea)

February Recap
Peter Capaldi: 1
K-9: 3
Allons-y: 0
It's Bigger on the Inside: 2
Fish Fingers and Custard: 1
Rory the Roman: 0
Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, TARDIS: 1
River Song: 2
Spoilers: 1
Exterminate: 3
Lots of Planets Have a North: 2
Are You My Mummy: 4
Torchwood: 2
Donna Noble Has Left the Library: 3

Total Number of Books Read in February: 25
Total Number of Books Read This Year: 50
Total Number of Pages Read in February: 8,290
Total Number of Pages Read This Year: 16,381

Best Book: The Glamour Chase
Honorable Mention: A Game of Thrones Graphic Novel: Vol. 2
Worst Book: A Discovery of Witches
Dishonorable Mention: Mr. Monk Gets on Board

Cat Challenges:
Geography - Death on the Nile (Egypt)
Random - Dragon Rider (Kid Lit)
Mystery - Lean Mean Thirteen (Series)
Alpha 1 - Ready Player One (R)
Alpha 2 - A Discovery of Witches (H)
Gastro - Visions of Sugar Plums (Candy)

Happy new thread!!!

Happy new thread! Awww, I love the photo for your CATS section :)

You're making real headway. Allons-y!

Congrats on the new thread and the progress you are making with your challenge!

Thanks, guys!

Category: Are You My Mummy
Title: Midnight Riot (aka Rivers of London) ★★★★
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Number of Pages: 298
Total Number of Pages Read: 16,679
Total Number of Books Read: 51



The cover of my edition describes this novel as "what would happen if Harry Potter grew up and joined the Fuzz." I'm not sure I entirely agree with that, but it's close. Peter Grant is a very likable character who sort of stumbles into his job after he meets a ghostly witness to a brutal murder. The story is part fantasy part CSI and quite a lot of fun. It reminded me somewhat of the television show Life on Mars (the British one). I would have liked to see a little more character development, though maybe that will come with the later novels in the series, but all in all it was a good fun read.

Side note about this book: I had been reading about Rivers of London on several people's threads and decided to track it down, and it proved pretty difficult. When I searched that at my library, all they had was Moon Over Soho, which is book 2. Why do they do that by the way?? A series with four books released and they have book TWO?? Anyway, I went to my local Barnes and Noble - because y'all have put this book into my head and now I just have to read it thank you very much. But they don't have it either. They have, surprise surprise, Moon Over Soho and book three, Whispers Underground and another book that I've not heard of Midnight Riot. It took me far to long to realize that Midnight Riot is in fact Rivers of London. Apparently, if you buy the book in England you get Rivers but in America it's Riots. And why do they do that?? Maybe they think that we Americans will be put off by a book that sounds like it should be in the travel section of the shop? Maybe because we're so violent and will be more likely to want to read about riots? Who knows. All I know is I spent a good 20 minutes looking for the book that was in my hand the whole time, and only by luck did I not take said book up to the shop girl and ask her if they had the book that was in my hand...

Currently Reading: Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - Alan Bradley

I'm very glad you managed to find Rivers of London, despite the goofy title change. It's such a fun series.

22> Glad you found it and enjoyed it. I'm reading the fourth book now - Broken Homes. It's pretty funny.

Category: Fish Fingers and Custard
Title: Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie ★★★★½
Author: Alan Bradley
Number of Pages: 416
Total Number of Pages Read: 17,095
Total Number of Books Read: 52



What a great book. A solid mystery, wonderfully quaint setting, and completely brilliant little heroine. I adored Flavia. She's so clever and endearing. Definitely will be reading more Flavia de Luce books.

Currently Reading: Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich

I love Flavia! You have lots more good reading ahead of you.

Yay, another Flavia convert!

I have Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie borrowed on my Kindle. That's no guarantee that I'll read it this month, but you're inspiring me.

I'm glad you've joined the Flavia fan club. The latest story was the best, IMO.

Flavia is such a delight. Glad to see she has charmed another reader!

Category: Torchwood
Title: Fearless Fourteen ★★★★
Author: Janet Evanovich
Number of Pages: 310
Total Number of Pages Read: 17,405
Total Number of Books Read: 53



The fourteenth book in the series finds Stephanie saddled with the teenage son of her latest FTA. I definitely liked this one more than some of the more recent ones. More funny stuff, and Mooner made an appearance, which is always a hoot. Also, there wasn't as much Ranger / Joe 'oh my who should I choose' stuff as there usually is, so that was refreshing. Good, fun escape from my everyday life.

Currently Reading: Labyrinth - Kate Mosse

>22 virginiahomeschooler: Glad that you liked it too, it was a fun read. The cover of my english version is a completely different one, more artsy. This one would have made me think that it's a comic-theme book ?

I hear you for the title :(

Worse thing in french, they even change the last name of characters for some books. For Harry Potter, for instance, Snape was Rogue, Longbottom was Long-du-Bas, Hogwarts was Poudlard and so on ... I had a hard time to follow a discussion with my family and friends, not knowing what and whom they were talking about :)

>32 electrice: You know, this group has really inspired me to try to read in another language. I took two years of French in high school and did really well and knew quite a lot, but so much of it has slipped away. I could probably get to a library and buy a ticket at the train station, but that's about it. But I think I am going to make that a goal because I am so impressed by all of you who can read (and write so well) in multiple languages. And the idea of reading Harry Potter in French! Well, that's just more inspiration for me. Even if they do change the names.

>32 electrice: I find that they do this only in children's books because they assume (probably rightly) that some of the intended puns and pokes would be incomprehensible, because the children do not speak the original language. Or could not pronounce the names (this happened to me with books translated from English, before I actually learned English at school).

>33 virginiahomeschooler: Reading in a foreign language can be tough going at first, but I have found that with so many other things practice is all you need, and then it is quite rewarding.

While I enjoy Flavia, I wouldn't completely call myself as much of a fan as others of the series. It's a series I'll continue to read, but I have to be in the right mood to read the installments. I haven't felt the need for a dose of Flavia quite yet so I haven't tackled the latest, but I'll eventually get around to it.

>33 virginiahomeschooler: Yeah, I could say the same for German, I'm hoping to start to re-learn German next year ... To think that I learned it for seven years in school then never used it again, it's a shame. I couldn't, right now, even buy a ticket so you're doing better than me :)

>34 MissWatson: Sure, that makes sense :)

>34 MissWatson: I tried out my son's Rosetta Stone over the weekend. I know that being able to read in French probably isn't going to be useful in any way other than just knowing that I can, but I still am determined to do it.

>35 thornton37814: I can understand that. It does seem to be one that I'd need to be in a mood for. At the moment I've got so much I want to read that book two isn't in my near future, but I do think I'll pick it up at some point.

>36 electrice: I sometimes feel like education is wasted on the young. I know if I were to go back to college now that I'd be far more interested in making sure things 'stick' in my mind for longer than it took to pass an exam. At the time that I took French, and then later Spanish in college, I wasn't really concerned about learning another language as much as getting a good grade.

Category: Torchwood
Title: 39 Clues: Storm Warning ★★★
Author: Linda Sue Park
Number of Pages: 190
Total Number of Pages Read: 17,595
Total Number of Books Read: 54



Following a clue about Anne Bonny, the kids journey to the Caribbean to track down the next clue. This was an entertaining installment that was a bit darker than most of the other books in the series. I listened to the first half of the book on audio but found the reader's voice to be rather annoying, so I ended up reading the remainder myself. I probably would've rated it higher if I'd read the entire thing or if the reader had been better.

Currently Reading: Labyrinth - Kate Mosse and Every Day in Tuscany - Frances Mayes

Category: River Song
Title: 11th Hour ★★★★
Author: James Patterson
Number of Pages: 416
Total Number of Pages Read: 18,011
Total Number of Books Read: 55



Lindsay is dealing with a lot in this installment. Personal issues cause her to question her marriage, and she's simultaneously handling two difficult cases - one involving severed heads and the other a possible rogue cop vigilante. I actually thought this was one of the better books of the series. The cases were different enough to keep me reading way into the night. I would like to see more interaction among the women, though. It seemed like what was a big selling point for the series initially has kind of been set aside. I particularly would like to have more page-time invested with Lindsay and Claire.

Currently Reading: Labyrinth - Kate Mosse and Every Day in Tuscany - Frances Mayes

Woo - another Flavia fan! So glad you enjoyed Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.
I have got to get to those Ben Aaoronovitch books sometime soon. I feel like everyone - except me- is reading them.

Violet, I'm one of the holdouts as well. I keep looking for them in book sales and used book stores and not finding them. I may have to break down and buy them for my Kindle. Summers coming. Hmmmm!

Category: Rory the Roman
Title: Every Day in Tuscany ★★
Author: Frances Mayes
Number of Pages: 301
Total Number of Pages Read: 18,312
Total Number of Books Read: 56



I'm not quite sure how to describe this book. While Under the Tuscan Sun had a more cohesive feel, dealing with her emotions of moving and renovating the home, EDiT decidedly did not. It was a rambling, all over the place jumble. There was far too much discussion of an artist she adores and all of his works. Well, ok, we get it. You love this guy, but when there isn't one picture of any of these pieces she's describing in detail, it leaves the reader feeling anything but enamored. She goes from discussing the food, to the town, to the artist, to all the violent crimes she's ever been involved in all over the world and some that weren't really about her at all (really?!?), back to the artist, more about food, her thoughts on death (again, really?!?), more food, more art... It's just a meandering mess that was so boring I had to force myself to finish it. And I admit I skimmed a bit towards the end.

Mayes has her moments. She's obviously a talented writer and often her prose evokes lovely images (why she gets 2 stars). But she seems far too indulgent in this one, and at times I just wanted to slap her. I'm not proud of this, but it's true nonetheless. If you enjoy travel memoirs, I'd definitely skip this one.

Currently Reading: Labyrinth - Kate Mosse

Category: Donna Noble Has Left the Library
Title: Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore ★★★★
Author: Robin Sloan
Number of Pages: 288
Total Number of Pages Read: 18,600
Total Number of Books Read: 57



Whenever I walked the streets of San Francisco, I'd watch for HELP WANTED signs in windows - which is not something you really do, right? I should probably be more suspicious of those. Legitimate employers use Craigslist.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a unique story set amidst a peculiar little bookshop run by an even more peculiar old man. Clay Jannon sort of stumbles into a job as clerk for the shop after a recession ends his job as a graphic designer for a bagel company. I adored Clay's perspective on things:

The Gourmet Grotto is its food court, probably the best in all the world: all locally grown spinach salads and pork belly tacos and sushi sans mercury. Also, it's below-ground and connects directly to the train station, so you never have to walk outside. Whenever I come here, I pretend I'm living in the future and the atmosphere is irradiated and wild bands of biodiesel bikers rule the dusty surface.

It was great fun from start to finish, and I'd definitely read more from Mr. Sloan.

Category: Lots of Planets Have a North
Title: The House That Jack Built ★★★★½
Author: Guy Adams
Number of Pages: 238
Total Number of Pages Read: 18,838
Total Number of Books Read: 58



I've seen all the episodes of the Torchwood television series (at least all the ones available on Netflix in the U.S.), but I'd never read one of the novels. This was actually the 12th book in the series, but I figured it'd be ok to read them out of order, and I think it was. This particular installment involved Jack, Ianto, and Gwen and a house that seems to inspire its residents to do rather horrid things. It was just the right mix of wit and creep. The voices of the Torchwood team members were quite well done, and the plot was entertaining enough that I really struggled to put it down at 3 a.m. If this one is any sort of indication of how good the others in the series are, I've got a lot of great reading ahead of me.

Still Reading: Labyrinth by Kate Mosse I am not sure why this one is taking so long. It's not bad, but I find that I have to take it in little doses and read something else in between. I've been reading it for 9 days now, and I'm still less than halfway done. Ugh.

Nice to see another Penumbra fan - such a fun book!

>45 LittleTaiko: It really was lots of fun. I'd love to see more from him.

Category: Allons-y
Title: Labyrinth ★★★½
Author: Kate Mosse
Number of Pages: 508
Total Number of Pages Read: 19,356
Total Number of Books Read: 59



In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig, stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth. Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade that will rip apart southern France, a young woman named Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. Now, as crusading armies gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take a tremendous sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe.

The idea of this book was pretty brilliant. And Kate Mosse is obviously a bright woman with tons of knowledge about things I know nothing about. And after finishing this book (that really isn't that long in the grand scheme of things), I can look back and say that it was a very nice, at times beautiful story. Honestly, the last 200 pages were probably 4 1/2 star worthy. However, the first 300 were so incredibly slow and often confusing, that I almost gave up a few times along the way. I'm glad I didn't because, like I said, it turned out to be a pretty good book after all. Apparently there was a two part movie (starring John Hurt and Tom Felton!), but it's not available in the U.S. Bummer.

Category: Peter Capaldi
Title: 12th of Never ★★★½
Author: James Patterson
Number of Pages: 436
Total Number of Pages Read: 19,792
Total Number of Books Read: 60



The 12th book in the Women's Murder Club series is just more of the same. Starting with what I think was supposed to be the dramatic birth of Lindsay and Joe's baby, it transitions right into a few (about 2 too many) cases that the women have to deal with. I like these books for a nice brainless fluff read in between heavier stuff, but that's gotten to be about all they're good for lately. I really don't like the direction Patterson (or the person who is currently writing the book that has Patterson's name on it) is taking the characters. They all seemed to go totally against character in this book. I really don't like that the only time it feels like any sort of 'club' is when they are having a drink in a bar. They aren't working together. At all. I had several issues with this book - not the least of which was a completely unnecessary character from book 11 popping her head up in book 12 for a microsecond to serve no purpose whatsoever. It felt sloppy. Still, I'm sure I'll pick up book 13 at some point after it comes out. When I need some mindless entertainment.

Category: Are You My Mummy
Title: Phoenix Girls ★★½
Author: Brian Knight
Number of Pages: 202
Total Number of Pages Read: 19,994
Total Number of Books Read: 61



This was a rather mediocre juvenile fantasy book. It's billed as YA, but I can't imagine anyone over 12 wanting to read it.

Positives: It was a very fast-paced story, and the two main protagonists were pretty likable. The story showed promise, and I think it could turn into a pretty decent children's series. I don't think it's ever going to be anything earth-shatteringly fabulous, but it has potential.

Negatives: This may be a picky thing on my part, but I thought the way the images were imbedded in the pages was really poorly done. You'd have a few lines of text, then a drawing in the center of the page, but next to the drawing a smooshed few sentences, rather than just opting to have text above and below the picture. It was very jarring to read. Another thing that bothered me about this book was the incessant bullying. I don't like the way that Knight answered the bullies in the book by making everyone mean to each other. One kid is calling another names, so let's turn around and call him names and make him cry. Yay! No, how about we don't teach our children that this is the way we handle every problem? It was very petty and juvenile, and the biggest reason I felt teens would think this book was rather lame. Kids might like it, but I'd like to think even kids would think this wasn't the way you want your 'heroines' to behave.

Final Assessment: I am obviously not the target audience for this book. However, I did give it to my 11 year old daughter (I think she is exactly the target for this sort of book), and she didn't get past page 12 before telling me to put it in the library donation box. It wasn't poorly written, and it does have potential, but as it is I wouldn't recommend it to anyone over 12, and even then it'd be toward the bottom of a long list of better selections.

Currently Reading: The Sting of the Zygons and The Paris Vendetta

Ooh, Sting of the Zygons is on my read-eventually list. Also, that's a shame that the movie of The Labyrinth isn't available stateside. I'd see John Hurt in pretty much anything.

>50 rabbitprincess: Me too! I adore him. It also has Tony Curran, who played Vincent Van Gogh in Vincent and the Doctor. I'm hoping it'll find it's way to the U.S. soon.

Category: Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, TARDIS
Title: Sting of the Zygons ★★★½
Author: Stephen Cole
Number of Pages: 248
Total Number of Pages Read: 20,242
Total Number of Books Read: 62



Sting of the Zygons finds the Doctor and Martha Jones in the early 20th century facing the Zygons, suckery beasts that can shapeshift into the forms of other beings. This was one of the more average Doctor Who tie-ins that I've read. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either. I think for the most part Cole gets the voices of the Doctor (as played by Tennant) and Martha pretty well. The story started out pretty well, but it sort of fell off a bit toward the end. Still a nice way to spend the afternoon...with my favorite Doctor.

Category: Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, TARDIS
Title: The Forgotten ★★★½
Author: Tony Lee
Number of Pages: 160
Total Number of Pages Read: 20,402
Total Number of Books Read: 63



The Forgotten is a Doctor Who graphic novel featuring the tenth Doctor but with stories from one through nine. It sort of reminded me of one of those television episodes they always have when a show's been on a while that takes snippets of previous episodes and throws them together in sort of flashbacks with a bit of new stuff stuck in so it's not a complete re-run. It starts with the Doctor and Martha finding themselves in a museum of sorts, only it's a museum of all things Doctor related, including costumes from Doctors past. When the Doctor loses his memory, Martha uses props from past costumes to remind him who he was. Each prop (One's cane, Two's recorder, Four's Jelly Babies, etc.) sparks a story from his past. It was a neat little peak into the past incarnations - as far as I could tell none of the mini stories actually took place in the show. The artwork was pretty good, though not fantastic. It's well worth the quick read if you enjoy Doctor Who.

Currently Reading: The Paris Vendetta and Hell Hath No Curry

Category: Fish Fingers and Custard
Title: Hell Hath No Curry ★★
Author: Tamar Myers
Number of Pages: 272
Total Number of Pages Read: 20,674
Total Number of Books Read: 64



Three days before he's due to tie the knot with Priscilla Livengood, eligible bachelor Cornelious Weaver suffers a massive heart attack-in another woman's bed. The scandal is about as good as television for the insular citizens of Hernia, Pennsylvania, and it gets even spicier when the coroner's report reveals possible foul play: Cornelious's curry was spiked with a stimulant. As the mystery heats up, Magdalena discovers that the old adage about women scorned may be truer than she thought.

This is the 15th book in the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series and the first one I've read. Honestly, I found myself shocked that this series has reached 15 books. The main character, Magdalena Yoder, is so annoyingly self-righteous and hateful, I had a hard time finishing the book. I'm really not sure what the author's intent is with the character. I'm certain she's meant to be funny and sarcastic, but she comes off rude and so above it all that it's not endearing but grating. The mystery was just ok. The setting had definite promise. But the characters are so reprehensible that a perfect plot and setting couldn't have made up for them. I'll definitely be skipping this series in the future.

Category: Rory the Roman
Title: Crossed ★★★
Author: Ally Condie
Number of Pages: 400
Total Number of Pages Read: 21,074
Total Number of Books Read: 65



In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

This is the second book in the Matched series. While I enjoyed Matched quite a lot, I found Crossed not nearly as good. It had been a while since I'd read Matched, and I'd forgotten most of the story. I was hoping that there'd be a good recap in the beginning to catch me up, but there really wasn't. But, that was my issue, and not really a problem with the book itself. Also, I listened to this on audio and found the voices to be a bit irritating, especially the female who was very whiny. Based on that, I'd give the audiobook just 2 1/2 stars.

As for the story, it just went nowhere. There was so much introspection and flowery poetry (I'm not a fan of poetry in general, so perhaps that was a bias on my part) and so very little action. Condie's prose is lovely, but when nothing is happening to move the plot along. all the pretty words in the world don't matter. I'll finish the series because I own the third book, but I'm not excited about it. It's a shame, too, because the series started strong. Hopefully, she'll find her story and finish strong as well.

Currently Reading: I gave up on The Paris Vendetta and I'm now reading Ghost Town by Rachel Caine

I never really cared for the Magdalena Yoder series, but my Mom really loved it. I purchased them mainly for her. I read several of them too, but I never really liked the series that much. I found parts of some of the installments humorous. That was about it.

>53 thornton37814: Lori, there were a couple of moments that I thought were mildly amusing, but then there were others where it seemed she was trying to be funny and it just wasn't. Mostly I felt like the author's attitude towards religion seemed condescending. Maybe I'm wrong and she was trying to make Magdalena likable, but it didn't feel that way. I'm not particularly religious myself, but I still don't think it's ok to bash on what other people believe, and it just felt like that was what the author was doing.

I forgot this in my review, but I also didn't like how the main character referred to her foster daughter as her 'pseudo step daughter' whenever she mentioned her. And the daughter called her mom. I don't know, I just felt like she could maybe say that at the beginning of the book so you'd know the back story without banging on about it making it feel like she wasn't nearly as invested in the relationship as the kid was. Granted, this is supposed to be a cozy and a humorous one at that, but it just reinforced my dislike for Magdalena.

52> Too funny. I listened to Matched on audiobook and couldn't stand the whiny little girl voice either. It's like she had no emotion - just whine. I couldn't see what all the fuss was about, but I decided to give the next book a chance by reading it, and I liked Crossed SO much better! I think the narrator probably made it feel slower than it really is. It takes longer to say a word out loud than it does to just read it to yourself, and she was SO slow. When you read, you kind of skim over the words you already know, if you know what I mean.

>55 BookLizard: I think that's probably what happened for me. In general, I do prefer to just read myself unless the audio is exceptional. I can only think of a few audiobooks that have really impressed me, like Peter Pan and The Golden Compass (and the other books in the His Dark Materials series). With Crossed occasionally I would find myself zoning out and realize that I'd missed a few minutes worth of the story and try to decide if it was worth it to go back or just plod ahead. Usually I just kept going and figured I hadn't missed enough to worry over. Of course, I sometimes do that with reading myself, but not nearly as often.

I have a book (These Broken Stars) on hold with Overdrive that I thought was an eBook, and looking at my place in the queue tonight I realized that it was audio. Now I'm not sure if I want to listen to it or if I should just check out the physical book from the library. I'd been looking forward to it, and now I'm afraid I'll not care as much for it unless the reader is just fantastic, you know?

56> I know what you mean. You could always listen to the first chapter then ditch it if you don't like the narrator.

>57 BookLizard: That's true, I should probably do that. It'd be much better than wasting all that time being annoyed by a narrator and letting it cloud my opinion of what might be a very good book.

Category: Are You My Mummy
Title: Ghost Town ★★★★
Author: Rachel Caine
Number of Pages: 368
Total Number of Pages Read: 21,442
Total Number of Books Read: 66



This was the ninth book in the Morganville Vampire series, and I think it may just be my favorite of all of them. I really loved the plot for this one - Claire and Myrnin work to fix the machine that keeps the borders of Morganville safe...by erasing the recent memories of anyone who attempts to leave. But soon Claire notices that things in the town are not right. Residents of the town, humans and vampires alike, are all starting to slowly forget the past few years, and it makes an already dangerous place to live that much harder to survive.

Generally, when a series gets to about book 5 or 6, I start to lose interest. It seems all too often that about that time, the authors just seem to have nothing more to write yet they keep on pushing out more and more - I assume because of the money. I know with Morganville, I took a break for a bit around about book 6 or 7 because I was seeing it going that way, but the last couple have redeemed them for me, and I'm really looking forward to book 10.

Category: Allons-y
Title: Daring Chloe ★★★
Author: Laura Jensen Walker
Number of Pages: 267
Total Number of Pages Read: 21,709
Total Number of Books Read: 67



My nook has tons of books on it. Many I don't recall at all, and this was one of them. Anyway, I was browsing my selections and saw the Eiffel Tower on the cover and thought it would fit my 'set in France' category nicely. I had no clue what it was about or that it was Christian Fiction. To be honest, I'd probably not have started it had I known that. It's not that I dislike Christian books, but sometimes they can be overly preachy, so I tend to avoid them. Anyway, with that in mind, here are my thoughts.

The book is about Chloe, a near 30 year old woman who is dumped the night before her wedding...via text. She does a bit of soul searching over the course of the next year with the help of her reading club friends. They decide to challenge themselves by doing something adventurous related to each of their book club selections, culminating in a trip to Paris at the end of the year. By the middle of the book, I was so glad that I'd not known the genre because I was really enjoying the book selections and all their adventures. It was quite a cute little book. Then they went to Paris. And there was just so. much. description. Not the good kind like you think of with great writers. I love being immersed in a story's location, but this wasn't it. It was like reading a Fodor's guide to Paris. At one point it even reminded me of those Magic Tree House books my kids loved where you'd read the story, but Mary Pope Osborne is sneaking in a history lesson along with the adventure. I have no problem with those books - I think they are great for that sort of thing, and I'm glad my children enjoyed reading them because they learned a lot. But if I want to learn about the history of a certain work of art or monument or whatever, I'm not going to go looking in chick lit inspirational fiction. It just didn't work for me. That said, the first half was good enough that the last bits didn't totally ruin it for me, but I won't be looking for the second book in the series.

Currently Reading: The Elite by Kiera Cass

March got away from me. I feel like I read less than I had wanted to, though I did finish 17 books. Most of them were fairly unsatisfying, though. At least it felt that way looking back on the month. I don't know, I just felt sort of blah about March. Maybe it's because it's still so freaking cold!! And I've been awful about keeping up with posting and reading through what everyone else was reading. I'm hoping that I'll be better able to focus on what I want to during April. At any rate, this is what I finished last month.

March Recap
Peter Capaldi: 1 (3/14)
K-9: 0 (4/14)
Allons-y: 2 (3/14)
It's Bigger on the Inside: 0 (3/14)
Fish Fingers and Custard: 2 (6/14)
Rory the Roman: 2 (3/14)
Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, TARDIS: 2 (5/14)
River Song: 1 (6/14)
Spoilers: 0 (4/14)
Exterminate: 0 (6/14)
Lots of Planets Have a North: 1 (5/8)
Are You My Mummy: 3 (8/14)
Torchwood: 2 (7/14)
Donna Noble Has Left the Library: 1 (4/14)

Total Number of Books Read in March: 17
Total Number of Books Read This Year: 67
Total Number of Pages Read in March: 5328
Total Number of Pages Read This Year: 16,381

Best Book: The House That Jack Built
Honorable Mention: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Worst Book: Hell Hath No Curry
Dishonorable Mention: Every Day in Tuscany

Cat Challenges:
Geography - 39 Clues: Storm Warning (Caribbean)
Random - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Birds)
Mystery - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (YA or Kid Mystery)
Alpha 1 - 39 Clues: Storm Warning (L)
Alpha 2 - Midnight Riot (M)
Gastro - Hell Hath No Curry (Ethnic Foods)

Plans for April which will undoubtably change throughout the month

The Elite
The Hunt for Red October
1Q84
1222
Child 44
Sushi for Beginners
These Broken Stars
Insatiable
Perks of Being a Wallflower
American Gods

I love The Hunt for Red October! Will you be reading it for the first time or will it be a re-read? I also liked Child 44 a lot.

>60 virginiahomeschooler: 17 books is nothing to be ashamed of! But I hope you are more inspired by your April reads.

I haven't even read 17 books so far this year.... 17 books read in March sounds like fantastic reading to me!

Looks like a good plan! Hope you like The Hunt for Red October.

>61 cbl_tn: and >64 rabbitprincess:, this will be my first time reading it. I did read Patriot Games and one other (but I can't remember which) Jack Ryan, but it's been nearly 20 years (I hate how old saying that makes me feel) ago. I started it last night, and I'm really loving it. I love the movie and have seen it dozens of times, so I figured I'd love the book too.

>62 christina_reads: and >63 lkernagh:, it's not so much the number of books that's bothering me - I'm very pleased with how much I've accomplished this year. More it's the quality or at least the general feeling of not loving what I've been reading that has got me a bit bummed. I'm determined that April will be more about quality and less about quantity. If I can read only 3 books but they're all fabulous - or at least enjoyable, I'll consider that a win.

60> I've been reading American Gods for weeks now. Maybe I'll finish it this month. I'm more than 1/2 way through and everyone says the ending is the best part, so we'll see. Maybe you can inspire me to finish.

I'm on the waitlist for The Selection by Kiera Cass. If you're reading the second, then I guess you liked the first? I thought I had read a lot of the Morganville Vampires, but I really only read the first 2 books. Might have to start the series all over again.

>66 BookLizard: I had started American Gods a few months ago and gave up after about 30 pages, but a friend of mine said I just didn't get into it enough and that I'd love it if I read it, so I'm going to give it another go. I hope we both find it worth it. :)

I read The Selection about a year ago, and I don't remember too much about it. I know I did like it even though I have no interest in shows like The Bachelor. I don't think it's fabulous writing, and I think there are few, if any, strong female characters, but it was a nice fluff read. I know when I read it I liked it enough to want to continue the series. I'm not enjoying The Elite nearly as much. It seems like she's just dragging out the series with filler to make more money - I really hate that - but I'm hoping it's going to get better. Morganville is another of those series that i like to read in between longer or more difficult books. They're not great literature, but they are a lot of fun.

>65 virginiahomeschooler: - Nice to know I'm not the only one who feels dissatisfied with her reading this year. I've read some decent books but nothing new that I've loved. I have high hopes for April. Hopefully you find some quality books too.

>68 LittleTaiko: So far April has been better. I started off with one that wasn't fabulous (The Elite) but have since read two that I really enjoyed, so it's looking up. I hope you've found some good reading this month, too.

Category: Rory the Roman
Title: The Elite ★★½
Author: Kiera Cass
Number of Pages: 323
Total Number of Pages Read: 22,032
Total Number of Books Read: 68



This is the second book in The Selection series by Kiera Cass. To be fair, I read the first book last May, and while I remember enjoying it enough to add this one to my wishlist, I don't really recall much about the story. So, going into this one, all I had to go on was that it was a sort of dystopia meets the Bachelor YA about a young girl from a lower caste (she was caste 5 of 8, 8 being the lowest) who gets selected to compete to be wife of the prince. I am not a huge fan of reality television, and The Bachelor and others like them rank up at the top of things I would least want to watch. I can't imagine meeting a mate that way, watching while they 'date' other women and hoping they choose me. Ugh, it's just nauseating to me (I know other people like these sorts of things, and if you do, please don't think I'd judge you for that - it's just really not my thing).

Ok, so why would I think I'd like these books? Well, like I said, the first one I quite enjoyed. It was dystopian, which I like, but also sort of soft in a weird way. And the covers...I know the whole don't judge a book by it's cover thing is the rule, but they're just so pretty. Unlike what I remember of the first book, this one had little in the way of storyline. It continued where the first left off but there was so much more scenes of nothing. Lots of talking and thinking and wishy washy emotional heaving "oh, who should I choose, the prince or the guy from back home?" (neither of which seemed like people I'd want to spend too much time with). And that's the other thing. The characters, the ones I assume we are meant to be rooting for and swooning over, were either flat and boring or, in the case of the two lovers she's supposed to be torn over, degrading and insulting. I get wanting to make your characters flawed so they appear to have more dimension, but the boys in this book were flawed to the point of who would want either of them? I went through moments thinking the story wasn't too bad and wanting to see how it turned out to mostly feeling hugely let down by this book that felt largely like filler between book one and book three. I hate to read books one and two of a series and not see it through to the end, but at this point, I'm not sure I'm willing to waste my time just to find out what happens because I don't really care any more.

Category: River Song
Title: Bite Club ★★★★
Author: Rachel Caine
Number of Pages: 368
Total Number of Pages Read: 22,400
Total Number of Books Read: 69



After discovering that vampires populate her town, college student Claire Danvers knows that the undead just want to live their lives. But someone else wants them to get ready to rumble.
There's a new extreme sport getting picked up on the Internet: bare- knuckle fights pitting captured vampires against each other-or humans. Tracking the remote signal leads Claire- accompanied by her friends and frenemies-to discover that what started as an online brawl will soon threaten everyone in Morganville...

Book ten in the Morganville Vampire series was another great installment in a good solid series. I think it's amazing that after ten books in the same town with the same people fighting essentially the same battles, there are still more tales to tell. I think Ghost Town might have been a smidge better, but this one was right up there with the best of the series.

Category: Spoilers
Title: The Hunt for Red October ★★★★½
Author: Tom Clancy
Number of Pages: 412
Total Number of Pages Read: 22,812
Total Number of Books Read: 70



Somewhere under the Atlantic, a Soviet sub commander has just made a fateful decision: the Red October is heading west. The Americans want her. The Russians want her back. And the most incredible chase in history is on....

This is one of my favorite Saturday afternoon movies. I think if I'd not seen the movie, the book might have been a bit harder to follow because there's just so much going on, and it jumps from location to location without much pause. Clancy obviously knew his stuff. The book is filled to the brim with all sorts of military knowledge. At times I got a little bogged down in all the technical stuff, but the last third of the book was so fast paced and exciting it made up for any slow spots in the middle. Even though it was a bit dated (I read some of the dialogue about computers to my kids who thought it was hilarious), it was still definitely worth the read.

Currently Reading: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Watching Eight Below today with my kids, and Willie (the furry one) really got into the movie.

.

Great shot of the fur kid! I haven't been able to get Adrian interested in TV. I guess he gets enough of it while I'm at work. (i leave the TV on for him.)

Category: Donna Noble Has Left the Library
Title: Annihilation ★★★
Author: Jeff VanderMeer
Number of Pages: 195
Total Number of Pages Read: 23,007
Total Number of Books Read: 71



Area X has claimed the lives of members of eleven expeditions. The twelfth expedition consisting of four women hopes to map the terrain and collect specimens; to record all their observations, scientific and otherwise, of their surroundings and of one another; and, above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

This book was weird. The further I get away from it, the weirder it seems. The premise sounded right up my alley, but the reality of it missed the mark a bit. I will say that the writing was quite good. VanderMeer really knows how to turn a phrase. And the idea of the story was unique. I think my problem with it is that I'm not a fan of horror stories, and this one seemed to venture into that genre a bit too much for my tastes. I didn't find any of the characters likable. I could probably get past that if the story had been enjoyable, but it was almost painful at times. Like I said, it was unique, and I think he's a good writer, and I think that people who go for this sort of thing will love it. It just wasn't for me.

Category: Peter Capaldi
Title: 1222 ★★★★
Author: Anne Holt
Number of Pages: 279
Total Number of Pages Read: 23,286
Total Number of Books Read: 72



A train on its way to the northern reaches of Norway derails during a massive blizzard, 1,222 meters above sea level. The passengers abandon the train for a nearby hotel, centuries-old and practically empty, except for the staff. With plenty of food and shelter from the storm, the passengers think they are safe, until one of them is found dead the next morning.
With no sign of rescue, and the storm continuing to rage, retired police inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen is asked to investigate. Paralysed by a bullet lodged in her spine, Hanne has no desire to get involved. But she is slowly coaxed back into her old habits as her curiosity and natural talent for observation force her to take an interest in the passengers and their secrets. When another body turns up, Hanne realizes that time is running out, and she must act fast before panic takes over. Complicating things is the presence of a mysterious guest, who had traveled in a private rail car at the end of the train and was evacuated first to the top floor of the hotel. No one knows who the guest is, or why armed guards are needed, but it is making everyone uneasy. Hanne has her suspicions, but she keeps them to herself.
Trapped in her wheelchair, trapped by the storm, and now trapped with a killer, Hanne must fit the pieces of the puzzle together before the killer strikes again.

I love the idea of this sort of story. Being trapped with a killer, not knowing who you should trust. I know it's not particularly a new concept, but it works for me. This is actually the eighth book in this series, and having read none of the others I was concerned that I would be lost in the general storyline, but I didn't feel like I missed anything. I'd like to have known more of Hanne's backstory, and I think knowing that might have made her a more sympathetic character (or maybe not), but even still I really enjoyed the book. It was a tad bleak, but not nearly as much as other nordic mysteries I've read (like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). I'll be looking for more from Ms. Holt, and I'd definitely recommend it for those who like locked room mysteries.

Category: Donna Noble Has Left the Library
Title: Ashfall ★★★★
Author: Mike Mullin
Number of Pages: 476
Total Number of Pages Read: 23,762
Total Number of Books Read: 73



After the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano destroys his city and its surroundings, fifteen-year-old Alex must journey from Cedar Falls, Iowa, to Illinois to find his parents and sister, trying to survive in a transformed landscape and a new society in which all the old rules of living have vanished.

I'd give this book more stars were it not for the romance mixed in with what was an excellent survival story. It reminded me of those great (and often cheesy) made for tv movies from the eighties that always centered around some sort of natural disaster. The book itself was very hard to put down. Alex went from one scrape to the next. At times it was almost too fast, making it exhausting. But it kept me wanting to see what would happen next. What I didn't care for was the love story. It was absolutely not necessary to the plot and was off-putting. I also felt like VanderMeer could've done with less martial arts heroics. I picture the author as kind of a nerdy guy (nothing wrong with nerdy guys, by the way) who probably took martial arts and has dreams of being a sort of kung fu super hero. The scenes where Alex used his awesome skills to defeat the current bad guy seemed too much like wish fulfillment and did not add anything to the story. That said, the book was good enough to overcome those obstacles, and I ended up really liking it.

One note: I think this book is sometimes too adult for its target audience of 12-18. There are discussions (not too graphic, but still) of cannibalism, rape, prostitution, and other things that I think are too much for younger teens. At one point the main character, when recalling an event that occurred earlier in the book, even says something like he wouldn't want his 14 year old sister to hear this story. I'd have to agree with him about that.

Currently Reading: Starter for Ten

Ashfall has been on my radar for awhile. Maybe I'll get to it this year now that the trilogy is complete.

>75 BookLizard: I hope you like it.

Category: Spoilers
Title: Game of Thrones Graphic Novel Vol. 3 ★★★★★
Author: George R. R. Martin
Number of Pages: 224
Total Number of Pages Read: 23,986
Total Number of Books Read: 74



Another fabulous adaptation from the Song of Ice and Fire series. This one is volume 3 of 4 from the first book of the series, and it's just as well done as the first two. If you're into the series, I think you'll love these graphic novels. My only complaint is the long wait in between volumes (a year +). It doesn't seem like a huge amount of time when compared to the novels, but with 4 volumes per novel (at least for GoT), I fear I'll be a great grandmother before the series is complete. I wonder if they make large print graphic novels...

Category: Spoilers
Title: Starter for Ten ★★★½
Author: David Nicholls
Number of Pages: 352
Total Number of Pages Read: 24,338
Total Number of Books Read: 75



It's 1985 and Brian Jackson has arrived at university with a burning ambition - to make it onto TV's foremost general knowledge quiz. But no sooner has he embarked on 'The Challenge' than he finds himself falling hopelessly in love with his teammate, the beautiful and charismatic would-be actress, Alice Harbinson. When Alice fails to fall for his slightly over-eager charms, Brian comes up with a foolproof plan to capture her heart once and for all. He's going to win the game, at any cost, because - after all - everyone knows that what a woman really wants from a man is a comprehensive grasp of general knowledge.

When I started this book, I thought it might just be the best one I'd read all year. It was funny and smart and just really entertaining. But somewhere along the middle, it started to drag, and I felt like it should've been shortened about 100 pages. I also started liking Brian, the main character, less and less as time went on (and got more and more tired of hearing about his acne problems - yuck!). The ending picked up a bit, but the sluggish middle shifted what could've been a five star read to about 3 1/2. I haven't seen the movie, but I'm thinking that if they cut out some of the unnecessary and more boring bits, it might be better than the book.

Currently Reading: The Perks of Being a Wallflower which is really good so far.

David Nicholls himself adapted the book for the movie screenplay, and overall I think it worked well, in particular the climax (the part where he jumps in way too soon with the answer he peeked at. I actually have to fast-forward through that part because it's so mortifying for the team.). Can't remember what bits the movie cut/streamlined; just going to have to watch the movie again to find out! :)

>78 rabbitprincess: Ugh, that part was particularly embarrassing in the book. I'm not sure I could watch it in the movie either. I've got it on hold at the library, and it should come through soon. I'd been thinking (when I first started the book and was loving the style) that I'd want to also read One Day, but now I'm wondering if I should just watch the film adaptation instead.

Category: Spoilers
Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower ★★★★★
Author: Stephen Chbosky
Number of Pages: 224
Total Number of Pages Read: 24,562
Total Number of Books Read: 76



Told through a series of letters written to an unknown recipient, Perks is the story of Charlie, an extremely smart but shy and naive young man, as he tries to navigate his freshman year of high school. I'm not usually a big fan of 'coming of age' novels, but this one really got to me. The writing, told from Charlie's perspective, was very simplistic but moving. I've found myself feeling unmotivated to read this month, but once I started this one, I couldn't put it down. I'd say it's one of the best books I've read all year. If you've not read it, I'd absolutely recommend it, and I'd also suggest avoiding any reviews prior to reading it. It's definitely one that's better if you know little to nothing about what you're about to read. I haven't seen the movie, but I'd be interested to see how it compares.

Currently Reading:

Category: Rory the Roman
Title: LOVE Selected Poems by e.e. cummings ★★½
Author: e.e. cummings
Number of Pages: 40
Total Number of Pages Read: 24,602
Total Number of Books Read: 77



I really wanted to participate in all the challenges for this year's Random Cat, but when I heard that this month's challenge was poetry, I didn't think I'd complete it. It's not that I dislike all poetry exactly, but it's certainly not something I particularly enjoy. I decided to try it just because I think it's always good to stretch yourself a bit. I thought back to poems I'd liked when I was younger - Shakespeare's sonnets, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, and a few others. But the one that really stuck with me was she being Brand / -new by e.e. cummings. So, I decided to seek him out. I'm sad to say that my local library only had one book of his works, and it was this one which was located in their juvenile section. Of the twenty or so poems in this collection, there was really only one that I thought was very good (may i feel said he). The rest ranged from just ok or 'what did I just read?' The artwork in the book was odd as well. It seemed they took the obvious aspects of each poem and selected a photo to represent that...the poem mentions green, so everything is in green, the one that speaks about 'curving color (say / orange)' shows a girl eating an orange, etc. It was all a bit too weird for me. However, like I mentioned, I enjoyed this one:

may i feel said he
(i'll squeal said she
just once said he)
it's fun said she

(may i touch said he
how much said she
a lot said he)
why not said she

(let's go said he
not too far said she
what's too far said he
where you are said she)

may i stay said he
(which way said she
like this said he
if you kiss said she

may i move said he
is it love said she)
if you're willing said he
(but you're killing said she

but it's life said he
but your wife said she
now said he)
ow said she

(tiptop said he
don't stop said she
oh no said he)
go slow said she

(cccome? said he
ummm said she)
you're divine! said he
(you are Mine said she)

Snicker!

>80 virginiahomeschooler: - Thanks for the reminder that I have yet to read my copy of The Perks of Being a Wallflower! A 5 star read is quite the selling feature to move this one up the TBR pile. ;-)

>81 virginiahomeschooler: - Great poem! I am slowly working my way through my poetry read for the RandomCAT, Blue by George Elliott Clarke and I am struggling a little bit with it.

>83 lkernagh: Hope you like Perks as much as I did.

>80 virginiahomeschooler: & >83 lkernagh: - Like Lori, I have The Perks of Being A Wallflower on my list and your review has giving it quite the nudge upwards.

April turned out to be a pretty dismal failure as far as reading what I had planned. While I'm off track a bit, most of what I read in April was quite enjoyable, so I'm actually ok with it. Still I'm hoping to get more in my groove for May. So far it's going pretty well. Anyway, here's my (late) April roundup.

April Recap
Peter Capaldi: 1 (4/14)
K-9: 0 (4/14)
Allons-y: 0 (3/14)
It's Bigger on the Inside: 0 (3/14)
Fish Fingers and Custard: 0 (6/14)
Rory the Roman: 2 (3/14)
Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, TARDIS: 0 (5/14)
River Song: 1 (6/14)
Spoilers: 4 (8/14)
Exterminate: 0 (6/14)
Lots of Planets Have a North: 0 (5/8)
Are You My Mummy: 0 (8/14)
Torchwood: 0 (7/14)
Donna Noble Has Left the Library: 2 (6/14)

Total Number of Books Read in March: 10
Total Number of Books Read This Year: 77
Total Number of Pages Read in March: 8221
Total Number of Pages Read This Year: 24,602

Best Book: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Honorable Mention: The Hunt for Red October
Worst Book: LOVE Selected Poems by e.e. cummings
Dishonorable Mention: The Elite

Cat Challenges:
Geography - The Hunt for Red October (Eastern Europe)
Random - LOVE Selected Poems by e.e. cummings (Poetry)
Mystery - 1222 (Nordic)
Alpha 1 - Insatiable (I) - Didn't actually finish until May
Alpha 2 - The Perks of Being a Wallflower (9)
Gastro - Did Not Finish (Seafood)

Plans for May

Game of Thrones (re-read)
A Clash of Kings (re-read)
The ABC Murders (for the Mystery challenge)
Martha in the Mirror
Latte Lessons (for the Gastro Challenge)
Bitter Sweets (for the GEO Challenge)
Odd Men Out

Category: Donna Noble Has Left the Library
Title: The Graveyard Book ★★★★
Author: Neil Gaiman
Number of Pages: 336
Total Number of Pages Read: 24,938
Total Number of Books Read: 78



The Graveyard Book is the fantastical tale of Nobody Owens, a sweet boy who was orphaned as a small child when his family is brutally murdered. He is taken in and cared for by inhabitants of the graveyard. I had attempted to read this a few years back, but never got very far into it for some reason. I'm glad I picked it up again, though, because it really was quite good. Gaiman has a storytelling gift, and this book is no exception to that.

Category: Peter Capaldi
Title: Last Breath ★★★★
Author: Rachel Caine
Number of Pages: 368
Total Number of Pages Read: 24,306
Total Number of Books Read: 79



The 11th book in the Morganville Vampire series is just as good or better than the first. It's rare for me to find a series that can sustain the level of enjoyment past book 4 or 5, but this one definitely does. On to book 12...

Category: Are You My Mummy
Title: Insatiable ★★★
Author: Meg Cabot
Number of Pages: 451
Total Number of Pages Read: 24,757
Total Number of Books Read: 80



Meena Harper, forced to write about vampires even though she doesn't believe in them, falls in love with Lucien Antonescu, a modern-day prince with a bit of a dark side. It's a dark side a lot of people, like an ancient society of vampire hunters, would prefer to see him dead for. The problem is: Lucien's already dead! And while Lucien seems like everything Meena has ever dreamed of in a boyfriend, he might turn out to be more like a nightmare.

About halfway through this book I was complaining to my kids about this book, about how Meena (the main character) complained over and over about how much she hates the vampire misogyny that is so rampant in modern day fantasy fiction. And then how this book turned into just that very thing she was complaining so much about. My son suggested that maybe Meg Cabot was going for a spoof of all those crappy vampire books and movies. I hope that was the intent because it would make the book infinitely better. As it was, the last half was better, with more action and a little less swooning, but still it wasn't great. I doubt I'll pick up the second book in the series.

Currently Reading:

The ABC Murders is one of my favorite Poirot mysteries. I hope it works as well for you!

And the TV adaptation of it is very good, too!

Ooh, The ABC Murders is on my list for later this year. I remember thinking it was so clever the first time I read it.

>90 cbl_tn:, >91 rabbitprincess:, and >92 LittleTaiko:

I really did enjoy it. I'd only read one other Poirot book, Death on the Nile, and ABC was better by far, in my opinion.

Category: Peter Capaldi
Title: The ABC Murders ★★★★
Author: Agatha Christie
Number of Pages: 274
Total Number of Pages Read: 25,031
Total Number of Books Read: 81



When Alice Ascher is murdered in Andover, Hercule Poirot is already on to the clues. Alphabetically speaking, it's one down, twenty-five to go.

This was only my second Hercule Poirot book, and my third book by Christie. I definitely preferred it to Death on the Nile. I felt the mystery was much better, and I enjoyed the tone and setting much more. I still think my favorite so far is And Then There Were None, but ABC comes in at a close second.

Category: Exterminate
Title: Unnatural Exposure ★★★
Author: Patricia Cornwell
Number of Pages: 352
Total Number of Pages Read: 25,383
Total Number of Books Read: 82



When the body of an elderly woman is found dismembered in a Virginia landfill, forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta initially believes that the clues mirror that of a serial killer she's encountered before. But upon further investigation she discovers puzzling pox-like eruptions on the woman's body that, perhaps, point in another direction.

After just two weeks away from this book, I'm having a hard time remembering anything about it. It wasn't bad, but it was certainly forgettable. The medical stuff was interesting, and I think I could get into the series well enough, but it didn't leave me feeling like I should seek out the rest of the books. There were several plots going on within the book that left me a bit confused. While the major mystery had a conclusion (I didn't care for the conclusion because I felt like I must've missed something by not reading the previous books - if this was your first reading of this series, I don't think the 'whodunit' part of the story would make sense to you), there were several subplots that had no closure at all. I didn't care for the main characters, or any of the characters really. It moved along at a pretty brisk pace, had it's somewhat exciting moments, and like I said, the medical stuff was neat, but the problems I had with the book kept it from being great.

Category: Rose Tyler...
Title: Martha in the Mirror ★★★½
Author: Justin Richards
Number of Pages: 244
Total Number of Pages Read: 25,627
Total Number of Books Read: 83



Castle Extremis, whoever holds it can control the provinces either side that have been at war for centuries. Now the castle is about to play host to the signing of a peace treaty. But as the Doctor and Martha find out, not everyone wants the war to end.

This is an entertaining Doctor Who tie-in featuring the tenth Doctor and Martha Jones. It's not one of the best I've read, but it was still pretty good. The characterizations are decent, and the plot was interesting enough. Overall, it was a good solid read.

Category: Are You My Mummy
Title: Dead to the World ★★★
Author: Charlaine Harris
Number of Pages: 306
Total Number of Pages Read: 25,933
Total Number of Books Read: 84



Driving home from work, barmaid and telepath Sookie Stackhouse discovers vampire and area sheriff Eric on the side of the road missing his shirt, his shoes and his memories.

I don't generally watch tv, but we recently got cable so my husband could see the hockey playoffs. It came with free HBO, so we started watching Game of Thrones on HBO GO. When we ran out of episodes, we decided to try something else and landed on True Blood. After 3 episodes, I looked at him and asked 'Why are we watching this??' But it's like trying to avert your eyes from a horrific car crash - in which one of the cars is full of vampires... and the other is a clown car. It's ridiculously terrible. That was two weeks ago. We're on season 5...

Anyway, I'd read a few of these books over the years and never really thought much of them, but watching the show made me want to pick them back up again. I read this one, which is the fourth in the series, at the same time we were watching the fourth season. They are similar but different enough to leave me forgetting which parts happened in the show and which in the book. I think this installment is probably similar in quality to the rest of the series. They're fun enough and if you like the whole sexy vampire thing, the series will probably be right up your alley. If you want something literary that will make you think...well, I doubt you'd pick this up anyway.

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