Holdmeback's 2009 Books

Hi all, I'm Andrea and I'm new here. Very excited to find a site with so many book reviews within easy reach! I've never tried to count the books I read, so this should be interesting!

I read too much I sometimes think, and often read to the detriment of other things going on in my life, but truly once you are hooked on books, it's a lifelong addiction, costing money and time, but bringing about so many secret, thrilling adventures that are hard to share with non-readers.

I often wonder why everyone I meet does not get the same thrill from cracking open a new book. :) Boy the wonders they will miss!

#1The Friday Night Knitting Club, by Kate Jacobs ***stars
#2Cruel Intent: A Novel of Suspense, by J.A. Vance ** stars
#3The First Patient by Michael Palmer, ** stars
#4Blasphemy, by Douglas Preston ** stars
#5Kill Chain, by Meg Gardiner ***stars
#6The Death Dealer, Heather Graham **1/2stars
#7Towelhead, Alicia Erian **stars
#8The Hour I First Believed, Wally Lamb ****stars
#9Killer Heat, Linda Fairstein **1/2 stars
#10Lady Killer, Lisa Scottoline **1/2 stars
#11Strangers in the Land of Egypt, Stephen March *****stars
#12Into the Fire, by Suzanne Brockman ***stars
#13Deadly Gift, by Heather Graham **stars
#14Summer Time, by Liz Rigbey ****stars
#15Evil Without a Face, by Jordan Dane **1/2 stars
#16Ghost Recon, by David Michaels ***stars
#17Change of Heart, by Jodi Picoult **stars
#18American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfield **stars
#19All Through the Night, by Davis Bunn ***stars
#20The Sum of Our Days, by Isabel Allende ***stars
#21How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff **stars
#22Kira-Kira, by Cynthia Kadohata ***stars
#23World War Z by Max Brooks ****stars
#24Mercy Street, by Mariah Stewart ***1/2stars
#25I Am the Messengerby Markus Zusak

Hi Andrea

Looking forward to seeing what books you are reading this year. I also read quite a bit of popular fiction, so it will be interesting to see if we have anything in common.

> "I read too much I sometimes think, and often read to the detriment of other things going on in my life"

I can sooo relate! My goal this year is to read fewer than last year! I did have the idea I'd fill up that time with productive stuff around the house (craft projects, ironing...), but so far I'm just reading threads! LOL

You can never read too much.

Welcome! Looking forward to following your reading thread.

Hello, Andrea!

Be warned: we're a bunch of enablers here. Hanging out in this group (and on this entire site, actually) isn't going to help lessen that reading addiction. :)

alynnk, that is what I was afraid of, lol. And from what I spend on my books, my addiction isnt that much cheaper than the more destructive kind!

arubabw, I pretty much agree, it's just the non-readers in my life who might refute that!

sjmccreay, I will try and find your thread and see what I've read of your list :) Shoot I just passed on about 10 books to my aunt, so guess I'll start from now...

suslyn, I do the same thing!! me: "ok i'm going to not read for two days and see what I can get done." then instead of doing chores, I fill the time up by doing things like coming to the LT 75 book forum, lol

Welcome to the group, Andrea!

Andrea, I cordially invite you to check out BookMooch -- it's how quite a few of us get our 'fix' in a less-expensive fashion. Plus, there's the added bonus of getting *good* mail.

The website is here, and the LT group is here.

#8 that is so WRONG to send an addict to that website!! lol, k, so I'm off to search my house for any books not lent out to my aunt to read.............

Book#1, the friday night knitting club by Kate Jacobs.

A novel about a heartbreak, single motherhood, and how our lives can connect in ways we only imagined if we were to just let it happen. A good read if slightly unbelievable as far as plot a few times, and sometimes I found it hard to like the main character, while the supporting characters had a little more shine and depth IMO. Fairly light reading....

Book#2, Cruel Intent by J.A. Jance

A continuing character, Ali Reynolds continues to find herself immersed in homicidal situations and unsure of how she got there. For me, this series with her character is not so much about the mysteries she helps solve or people she rescues, but about how she deals with her ever-changing life circumstances. It's about her relationships with those around her; really I almost wish this author would just leave out the murders and stick with what she does best......describing how Ali rolls with life and how that changes her, and sometimes those around her.

I like Jance a lot. Hmmm wonder if I have one of those here... I know I have some in storage in France.

ETA: Nope. Just checked ... bummer for now, but another thing to look forward to when we move back home :)

>10 lppn38:

I've heard there's a sequel to The Friday Night Knitting Club, and was thinking about picking it up just to find out what happens to the rest of the club. Because I'm with you, the main character just wasn't my favorite person in the story.

#10 & 13: The sequel is called Knit Two. It just came out in late November 2008.

#14 thank you, adding it to my list

The First Patient by Michael Palmer, while there were PARTS of this book I enjoyed, the overall work was disappointing.
I gave it a two star rating, I think if the author had developed the nanotechnology plot line in a less "dry and bookish" way and more as it could relate to everyday people, the story might have flowed better. I've read some medical thrillers with nanotechnology plotlines that were much more interesting than this one, so it can be done.
One thing I enjoyed was the relationship between the "head honcho" and his friend; it's rare we think of how the President of the United States conducts himself with his friends ;)

I am now reading Blasphemy by Douglas Preston, and I am enthralled with it so far..........

#16 The biggest complaint I had about The First Patient was the author's tendency to repeat and emphasize the "subtle" clues that were sprinkled through-out. It was an insult to my intelligence. Overall, I liked the story, but I thought it read like a debut novel (which it wasn't), and could have benefitted from some more thorough editing and revising.

#18 i like how you put it; yes, I've read the author before and remembered his books being fairly good reads, so it surprised me a little about this book, but couldn't quite put my finger on what was "off".

Last december I felt like everyone I met was reading The Friday Night Knitting Club. I hear they are planning to make a movie out of it with Julia Roberts in the lead role.

#20 yes I remember that also, lol, as you can see I tend to read on my own timeline. Usually I read these type of book reviews in magazines and file it away in my head if it was good, then later when I come across them, I'll read them, which is what happened with this one.

hey, it's nice to meet another female who's a fan of The Lord of the Rings series! There aren't too many books I read more than once, but this series is one of them.

Is there a shortage of female Tolkein fans? I'm one and have been a re-reader since my early teens.

I've never noticed a shortage of female Tolkien fans... I'm one and I have at least 10 other friends who love his writings at least as much, if not more, than I do...! Heck, I had Eowyn's white dress as my wedding gown... :)

Count me in amongst the female Tolkein fans. I have one of the hardback boxed sets and count it among my dearest possessions.

>23 dk_phoenix: You did?! I wanna see it! Where are the pics?

well, hello fellow female Tolkien fans,

I've never met another female who is a fan. really. But then, I"m finding that there are fewer and fewer adult book readers out there. Sad, but I think, true.

Blasphemy by Douglas Preston. This book was very interesting for me until the reveal of Isabella the machine. I did enjoy the book up until that point, but found the whole idea unbelievable and hard to follow (that was put forth by the machine).

And as some critics of the book have said, I found it did smack of anti-Christianity. Mr. Preston's response to this in the back of his book is to say that the scientists in the book are also negatively betrayed.
He says that Chrisianity is a "faith of certitude and intolerance" (pg 524), then goes on with "the universe revealed by science is a vastly more beautiful and interesting place than anything Christianity ever envisioned". Seems to me his bias is revealed and that, for me anyway, it did shine thru this book.
He has a right to his opinions and to write a book about whatsoever he chooses, and I'm not wanting to get into a theological debate, but JMO, it felt like propaganda writing to me towards the end of the book, and a slur to any Christian who believes his/her faith with "certitude".

#27: I must admit that Preston's views are disturbing for me to hear. I just finished his book Relic last week and enjoyed it quite a bit. I am wondering now if I should bother continuing the series. Hmmm.

#28, the book had some interesting characters, however even leaving off the religious aspect, I still didn't follow his reasoning/alternate theory the machine put forth, ha, maybe that is just my small, non-scientific brain though.
And then it's like the whole ending of the book was to another story almost; just felt like the action scenes in the end did not fit the first portion of the story at all to me.

I think I"ve read Relic.....

no dont think I have read Relic, but I'd have to read the first few pages to be sure, lol. Looking at the books, titles or authors isn't enough for me to remember whether I've read it or not.

alcottacre, the characters in Relic are NOT the ones in Blasphemy, and from the reviews, it looks like that series does not have the sci-fi elements that Blasphemy does.

Thanks for the additional info!

re: female Tolkein fans -- my mom's the one who got me hooked on his work at an early age, and both of my younger sisters, too. I just purchased a lovely hardbound set that I plan on passing down to my daughters, when I have them. :)

>23 dk_phoenix:
I'm with suslyn! Do you have pictures?!

As for Douglas Preston, blech. I have a scientific background and it just irks me to no end when people start getting nasty in the science v. faith debate. Based on those comments of his that you quoted, I think I'd have a hard time getting past my irritation to enjoy any of his work.

>32 ladydzura: yes she does and posted them on her flickr account for all to see :) Really stunning stuff.

>33 suslyn: the link to flickr on her profile does not work, the link at suslyns page, the comment of dk_phoenix, does work. Beautiful weddingdress!!!

And I am a female Tolkien fan too!

I had a dogeared set of Lord of the Ring which I finally got rid of recently. Maybe it's time to hunt down a nice set to have at the house and keep, time to re-read it!

Currently reading, Kill Chain and lovin' every minute of it!! Going to finish it off now! :)

>32 ladydzura: and anyone else who is interested: Yes, as Susan mentioned, they're on my flickr account which you can link to from the comments in her profile... thanks for mentioning the broken profile link Anita! I'll try to figure out how to fix it, but I might just make it worse by accident, lol.

>33 suslyn:/34: Thanks for the compliments on the dress and photos! I'd honestly never believed I would get married (it wasn't "in my plans") so when I unexpectedly fell in love and headed down the wedding road, I decided to buck tradition and just do something that fully reflected *me* (er... and the groom, of course, hahaha). It turned out so much better than I ever expected. We even had a gourmet pizza buffet for the reception, because as I always say, "wedding food often disappoints because it'll turn out to be something only half the guests enjoy... but everyone likes pizza, right?" Anyway, I could talk all day about the crazy things we implemented because it was so much fun, but this is a thread about Andrea's BOOKS, so I don't want to yammer on too much! Lol. Thanks for being a good sport Andrea! :)

Late to the party... but please count me into female Tolkien fans. My copy is a single-vol anniversary ed (can't now remember which anniversary but I bought it with my school-prize book vouchers :) so it must be at an absolute minimum 15 years old), although the first copy I read was a 70s US edition belonging to my parents that had collapsed through overreading and was kept in a plastic bag and read in pieces.

I don't - like my husband - think he is the greatest-ever-writer-of-fiction-in-English - but I loved the books and have re-read on many occasions.

Have to go check out those wedding pics now.....

#37 hey no problem, discuss what you like here :) I've been MIA a bit, ha keeping up with my fav threads here at 75 is hard work, lol, and I haven't even explored the rest of the groups/site yet really!

BTW, your wedding dress is/was beautiful! LOVE the flowing arms and the photo of the back of the dress as you walked down the aisle was stunning!

Kill Chain, by Meg Gardiner was a really good read, kept my interest the whole time and I even kept getting off the computer to read it, lol. I wish I'd discovered the EVan series earlier. Has anyone read the previous Evan books by this author? I have this thing though about going back and reading previous books in a series once I know what is happening in the characters' lives right now.
This book was a action packed one right up to the very end, so if you aren't able to suspend believeability a bit, you might not like it. I would definitely recommend it to action/suspense lovers out there though.

#40: It sounds like a series I would really enjoy. Thanks for the mention!

hope you like it alcottacre! :)

The Death Dealer, by Heather Graham reads like a traditional murder mystery but with the added twist of psychic abilities for some of the characters. I found it to be mostly predictable and it read a bit slow, so therefore the **1/2 stars.

Now reading Towelhead by Alicia Erian and let's just say it's not exactly what I expected the book to be about.....

#40 I have read all of the Evan Delaney books (there are four before Kill Chain). They were all good.

good to know #44, I'm still deciding if I want to go back and read the previous books in the series or not.

#7Towelhead by Alicia Erian. I have a hard time describing this book, because it SO was not what I thought it was about, lol. It reads a lot to me like a YA book; I find it a little too graphic for me. This book to me would have been better without all the detailed sex scenes and the character constantly running into the same type of man, which I find a little unbelievable. One aspect of the book I did enjoy, was the complicated relationship between her and her parents. As a child of divorced parents myself, it was interesting. Overall I gave it **stars, but not sure I would recommend it to anyone though

Starting The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb

The Hour I First Believed is really good.....ok, back to my book, it's a bit daunting at 700+pages, but so far easily read.............................................

I tkae it The Hour I First Believed is not the 700+ daunting book?

lol, yes, it is daunting but just because with a 4 and a 2yo I rarely have the time or patience these days for a 700+page book.

I'm at page 243, and it's the kind of book you cant wait to see where the author is headed, but also the kind where you know you will be disappointed to see the book end

Books I'll be sad to see end are the best :), except, of course... when they do! ;->

exactly!! lol

how are you liking The Hour I First Believed so far? I'm in the middle of Lamb's I Know This Much Is True and, just like you, I think I'll hate so see it end! (Even though it's almost 900 pages. It's such a page-turner, you become absolutely involved with the characters from the very beginning)

#52, ooohhhh I'm so excited that Lamb has another book I'll probably love; I'll have to add the one you mentioned.

yes I still am enthralled with The Hour I First Believed, I'm on page 383 now, and the thought that comes to my mind is how well Lamb captures the "messiness" of our lives, we and our families dont always fit into this neat little box;

"the thought that comes to my mind is how well Lamb captures the "messiness" of our lives, we and our families dont always fit into this neat little box"

This is absolutely true in I Know This Much Is True as well - there are no "evil" and "good" characters, we're all a little of everything. It's all very messy, you have trouble identifying the "villain", who's responsible, who's to blame, who did the best they could etc. It's very realistic.

#8 The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb, An excellent read, truly gripping thru the first half to three quarters, gets bogged down a bit with the historical letters though.
A true taste of how everyday people have messy lives and how thin the line between good and bad can be. I was most fascinated with the wife's character, how life really changed who she was at times (or wanted to be), and who she wound up being by the end of the book.
****Stars, I would recommend this book, and I look forward to reading another of this author's.

I have not read any of Wally Lamb's books and it is clear with Eliza's ravings about I Know this Much is True and your appreciation of The Hour I First Believed that I am going to have to squeeze some of his books into my reading soon!

#56 I also want to add I Know This Much is True based on #54s recommendations and after reading my first Wally Lamb book, but at 700+ pages it might be a while before that gets on my list.

Lately my life is just crazy with little time for reading as usual, which is why I'm only on book #9, lol.

Hopefully things will settle down soon and I can get back in my reading groove! :) And continue to add to my TBR pile, lol

That's it. I guess I'm going to have to give Wally Lamb another shot. Like I mentioned to girlunderglass, I really disliked She's Come Undone, but with both of you raving about his other work? Guess I'm going to stop at the library on my way home from work tonight... :)

#9 Killer Heat by Linda Fairstein, a good solid read for it's genre, bestselling suspense. The main characters are continuing from previous books, but it will not affect your reading of this one however. As a matter of fact I found less personal relationship plot lines in this book than I remember from her preious Alexandra Cooper books I have read.
Prosecuter Alex Cooper and fellow law enforcers Mike and Mercer have a string of murders to solve in New York. This was solid suspense writing, but pretty predictable overall, except the culprit comes from left field a bit, lol. **1/2 Stars, recommended if you like the genre.

#10 Lady Killer by Lisa Scottoline reads like a comedy a bit of the time, although it is a murder plot line. The two didnt mesh well in this book IMO.

Mary DiNunzio (continuing Scottoline character) finds herself with a client who used to torment her in high school. This client has a mob boyfriend who is abusing her. Both of them later go missing and Mary feels compelled to search for them even though the client and her friends were the "Mean Girls" in high school and the mob boyfriend was Mary's old HS crush.

What DID work for me in this book is the way Mary's history with the mob boyfriend was slowly revealed and Mary's growing attachment to Anthony. Not sure if I would recommend this one or not....probably not.

#11 Strangers in the Land of Egypt by Stephen March is easily the best book I've read so far this year and maybe for a long time.

This is a story about a teenage boy, Jesse, who finds himself arrested and forced to do community service with an elderly man at a nursing home. Jeses strives to stay out of trouble, but finds it harder to do than to say. His community service time spent with Mr. Ebban grounds Jesse and will eventually save him.
It's a story of love, faith, and coming of age that will leave you wanting more long after you've read the last word wriiten.
I was sad to have to let go of Jesse, GT, Mr. Ebban, and well most everyone in this wonderfully written book.
*****stars and highly recommended
Thank you Alynnk!

>61 lppn38: sounds good!

>61 lppn38: So glad you liked it!

#12, Into the Fire by Suzanne Brockmann.

A good read if you like your romance mixed with some military action, which I do! :) I thought it was a well written book with an interesting storyline; I spent most of the book trying to figure out who was going to wind up with who, lol.
***stars

#14, Summer Time, by Liz Rigbey.

This book was given to me a while back and had been sitting on my bookshelf. It's a 2003, and now I'm looking forward to trying more works by this author.

After three years of self-imposed isolation in NY, Lucy Schaffer heads home to California upon learning of the sudden death of her father. This book has it all...family intrigue and secrets, a possible murder, and tragedy. For a change, I really enjoyed trying to figure out what happened to her father. Did he commit suicide? Did he have someone help him commit suicide? Was he murdered? Finally towards the end of the book, I began to suspect the truth, but still the ending was exciting.
I gave this one ****stars, mostly just for the uniqueness of the story and subplots.

#16 Change of Heart, by Jodi Picoult.

I'm a big fan of Jodi Picoult's books and I really enjoy the fact that she writes about ethical conflicts in the world we live in today. This book however has to be my least favorite of hers. The whole time I was reading it, my mind kept leaping to the movie "The Green Mile" and the similarities between the her book and the movie.

A man is convicted of a double murder and sentenced to death. Years later, a family member of the victims' needs a heart transplant and the death row inmate wants to give his. His spiritual advisor at the jail is one of the peopel on the jury who convicted hime years earlier.

There are many religious undertones and theories put forth and discussed in the book, which I will not go into. I found them distracting from what could have been an excellent story of redemption and truth. I believe the author meant this book to deal with the questioning of today's established religions, but it fell flat for me.

I gave it **stars, and dont think I would recommend it at all. There are many others of this author however that I would recommend!

I ususally like Jodi Picoult, but she occasionally writes a dud. I think I will pass on this one.

#18 All Through the Night by Davis Bunn ***stars

A warrior with a past who is no longer sure what he believes in meets a wise and special eldery lady at a retirement community who leads him back to faith...in God, in life, in people, and in love. This book has a little about God, a little action, a little romance, and a little mystery.......all wrapped up in one. I enjoyed it and recommend it and I intend to read some others by this author.

#19 is All Through the Nightby Davis Bunn, not sure why I it wont let me edit it right now

#20The Sum of Our Days by Isabel Allende ***stars

I have not read her previous book about her daughter, Paula and this is the first book I've read by this author. She has a very conversational tone to her writing which I enjoyed. I'd like to try something else by her.

#21How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff **stars

This was a hard book for me to decide whether I liked it or not. I just did not enjoy the way the author withheld what I consider to be key elements to the story. Maybe that was her point, but it didn't work for me....all along as I'm reading I just kept asking all these questions in my head. It was very distracting to me. Not sure if I'd recommend this one.

#22 Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata ***stars

This was a quick delightful read, and would definitely recommend it.

#23World War Z by Max Brooks ****stars

Thanks to my fellow LTers for this recommendation; I thoroughly enjoyed it! It took me a bit to get accustomed to the first person narration of the story from "survivors", but that actually made a zombie war believable for me especially when compared to all the zombie movies out there, lol. It was still plenty scary and gory though!

This was a easily read book up until it gets bogged down towards the end when the military types are describing war techniques in great detail, a little too detailed for my tastes.

Highly recommended especially if you like sci-fi.

#24 Mercy Street by Mariah Stewart ***1/2 stars.

The characters were so interesting to me in this book! An ex-cop turned PI collaborates with the cop taking her place on the force to track down to missing teenagers. The teenagers turn up missing after their two friends wind up shot dead at the park.

I'm looking forward to reading the next chapter in this story line. The PI winds up hired by this gabillionaire to head up a charity missing person foundation to track down missing persons that the police have given up on.

#72: I loved World War Z when I read it last year (a very big surprise to me!). Glad to see you enjoyed it, too.

#25 The Hero's Walk, by Anita Rau Badami ****stars

This was a LT recommendation and it was a treasure and a very lovely story with interesting characters. Highly recommended.

#26 I am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak ****stars

Again an LT recommendation. I liked that the writing was a different sort of style, although the ending was a little vague for me. Overall, excellent story and characters. Highly recommended also.

I attempted another LT recommendation, Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids, by Kenzaburo Oe. I did not get far into as it just would not hold my attention. It could have been the mood I've been in, so I may try this one again down the road.

#27 Yesterday's Embers by Deborah Raney *** stars.
A solid read if you like Christian romance.

#28 For All Their Lives by Fern Michaels *** stars

This was an enjoyable and interesting romantic story with a twist at the end. A rich unhappy man decides to buck his father and enlist in the army and go to Vietnam. The story centers around the characters while in Vietnam and after they return home.

#29 Long Lost by Harlan Coben ***stars

While not as riveting as his previous books I've read, it still kept my attention. Recommended.

#30 Look Again by Lisa Scottoline ****stars

This was a good suspense book with romance thrown in for our pleasure ;). Ellen, a reporter, realizes the child on a "Lost" flyer greatly resembles the little boy she had adopted. The story is about her quest for the truth and it's consequences. To me the ending was a reach as far as believability, but I would still recommend.

Lots of good reading lately!

#82 Thank you! I've had more time, but some of the romance is lighter reading (to me) so I read those a bit faster.

I wanted to continue writing reviews, but my life has been crazy lately and I'm doing good to just keep posting them and rating them, lol.

#31 Montana Creeds: Dylan by Linda Lael Miller

Romance read, *** stars

wish I'd read the first one in the series first, but I can catch the 3rd one at least!

#32 Executive Privilege by Phillip Margolin, suspense, ****stars

I love most of his books that I have read. This one follows an attorney and a PI as they each unravel pieces of the different murders tied to the same person.....the President of the United States. My only issue with the book is that I was fascinated with the PI, Dana, and wish the author had told more of her background from her perspective. Maybe he will continue the character in his next book?

#33 Just Breathe by Susan Wiggs, romance, ***stars

After supporting her husband through cancer and his treatments, then going through months of fertility treatments and IVF, Sarah finds her husband with another woman. This sets her on a journey of self-discovery and takes her back to her home town. Of course she never counted on her last IVF procedure working!!

#34 The Choice by Nicholas Sparks, romance

currently reading..........

I am starting a new thread with my profile name this time "lppn38" to make things easier to track.....