Willow316's 2009 50 Book Challange

1. Perish Twice by Robert B. Parker.
2. The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly. I continue on my search for epic romances.

3. Shrink Rap by Robert B. Parker.

A Sunny Randall book, like Perish Twice.

I could be done with the 50 book challange in two months if I only read his books. They are fun, quick little reads that somehow I always enjoy.

4. Melancholy Baby by Robert B. Parker.
Sunny Randall. I have now read all the books currently out in this series.

5. The Godwulf Manuscript by Robert B. Parker.

Now that I've read all the Randall books, I've decided to start at the beginning and read all the Spenser Books.

I had not heard of Robert Parker, but the books look good. :)
--BJ

They are fun. That's what I like about them. Plus, I'm currently living in Boston, and I've been here long enough that I recognize some of the places that he's talking about, which is always kinda cool.

6. God Save the Child by Robert Parker.

These are more like your traditional Noir. What got me into his books are the later ones, that are mostly dialogue, which I really liked. That was Cold Service, and it was all Spenser and Hawk.

7. Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker.

8. War Letters by Andrew Carroll.

9. The Judas Goat by Robert Parker.

I noticed in your first post you said you were searching for an epic romance... I have you tried Outlander by Diana Gabaldon yet? It isn't usually shelved with romance and is considered historical fiction but it's the first in a series with a major focus on the relationship between the hero and heroine. It is my absolute favourite book ever and I highly recommend it if you are looking for an epic romance :)

Danielle

I have read Outlander , and I'm waiting with bated breath for the next instalment to come out. One of my favorites in the series is Voyager, makes me cry every time. Are you a fan of Gone With the Wind?

10. Looking for Rachel Wallace by Robert B. Parker.

These are beginning to feel more like the later books that are quick little fun reads and are the reason I really enjoy his books.

Willow316 - I loved Gone with the Wind. I actually liked the movie just as much as the book. Another really good epic romance is Heart of the West by Penelope Williamson if you can find it. It's out of print but well worth the search.

I will definatly look for it. If you enjoy the hunt, look for Angelique by Sergeanne Golon. For lack of a better explanation, it's the Gone With the Wind for France. She's my other favorite heroine. There's a whole series, and the last 3 or 4 were not translated into english. Epic of all Epics.

11. Early Autumn by Robert B. Parker.

12. A Savage Place by Robert B. Parker.

13. Ceremony by Robert B. Parker

Quite the Parker/Spenser Jag. There are two more I want to read in the next few days, and then it's time to get away from them for a while. Back to The Great Shark Hunt of which I only have a little more then 100 pages left.

14. The Widening Gyre by Robert B. Parker.

15. Valediction by Robert B. Parker.

What types of epic romances do you like? I might be able to recommend a few.

Favorites include: Outlander, Gone With the Wind, Angelique to name three off the top of my head. How about you? What kind do you like?

16. A Catskill Eagle By Robert B. Parker

17. The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales From a Strange Time, Gonzo Papers Vol. 1 by Hunter S. Thompson.

Totally fascinating to read. The man was absolutely bat-shit crazy, and yet he had a lot of very good, insightful things to say about the times he was writing about. Isn't there a quote or at least commonly accepted belief that it is the insane who see what others cant, and are thus listened to?

It was also interesting to read his take on Nixon and Watergate and Vietnam and all that. Made me think how history repeats itself and wonder what Thompson would have said about Bush Jr. and Iraq.

I do, however, have to admit that I have had my fill of him, I don't know that I will read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but I don't know that I'd rule it out entirely. As I said, this has been a fascinating read.

Hunter S. Thompson is a bit crazy. Okay, a lot. I just watched the documentary Gonzo. It was a pretty neat look into his life and his writing. I'm going to put The Great Shark Hunt in my TBR pile; your review intrigues me! Or maybe it's Thompson's craziness... either way!

I hope that you enjoy it. I will admit that I took a little bit of a break in the middle, but I still really liked it.

18. Taming a Sea Horse by Robert B. Parker.

I think I'm going to take a bit of a break for a while.

19. Playmates by Robert B. Parker.

That was a quick break! I feel like I have not finished a book in an eternity! I guess I better get back to reading. Have a great weekend!
--BJ

Yeah...well, I changed my mind. God knows why. I guess it's balancing out Robinson Crusoe on the one hand, and Bleak House on the other. lol.

20. Pastime by Robert B. Parker.

I guess I'm in this "might as well read them all" frame of mind.

21. Promises in Death by J.D. Robb.

22. Paper Doll by Robert B. Parker.

23. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

I finally have officially read it, having listened to it as a book on tape when I was much younger. Didn't like it as much as I thought I would, not entirely sure why. For some reason the White European superiority expressed in the book bothered me, and usually I am able to accept that kind of thing as a product of the time and enjoy the story anyway. For example, I loved Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King, and I enjoyed Huck Finn. Maybe it's because Twain's seemed to be more of a commentary and Kipling seemed to appreciate the Indian culture while in Crusoe there was neither of that. Also, it seemed on some level to be a morality tale. Appreciate what you've got, or rather what God's given you, because someday it could be all taken away.

24. Thin Air by Robert B. Parker

Hi Willow316, Love that you're reading parker's Spencer books. I've read all but the last two, I think. I have to admit that I think Parker finally grew a bit tired and it's starting to show. I'll read the others eventually, I'm sure. My favorite was Early Autumn, if I remember correctly. I've yet to try the Sunny Randall books, though I hear they are good.

I think I'm getting a bit tired of Spenser as well. Of course I think that happens on any binge. Lol. But I've just finished:

25. Chance by Robert B. Parker

And I think I'm done for a while. Of course I did say that as well last month. I don't know which one is my favorite, I think maybe Cold Service which I read last year, because it is all about Hawk and Spenser. I also liked some of the Angsty ones, when things were rocky between Spenser and Susan, but I can't remember exactly which ones those were.

26. Bleak House by Charles Dickens.

This did not feel as much like a satire as I am used to with Dickens, but he retained the descriptiveness, and nothing was extraneous. I particularly liked his discription of London's Fog, and of Jarndyce & Jarndyce. I liked the irony of how the suit was resolved.

"I also liked some of the Angsty ones, when things were rocky between Spenser and Susan, but I can't remember exactly which ones those were."

FYI, I read somewhere that those books were written when he and his wife, Joan were separated. Susan is modeled after Joan.

You know....I may have heard a whisper of that somewhere. There's something about the rocky romance story that ends well that I enjoy.

27. The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall.

Recommended to me by a friend, and the bastard is always right. Definitely one of the top books of the year....of course it's only April. I think the others on this list are The Great Shark Hunt and War Letters. It's a bit of a mind fuck, and I think you have to be able to bend your mind a bit in the right way to like it. Fortunately, I can do that.

28. Still Life by A.S. Byatt

Finally finished it. Finally.

You are really zooming along in your book count. :) So what did you think of Byatt? I am interested in the book Possession by Byatt and am not familiar with the author.
Have a great day!
--BJ

I LOVED Possession. Couldn't put it down, so I highly recommend it. The same could not be said of the two others I read by her, Still Life and The Virgin in the Garden.

Possession was a book that my girls pointed out to me as a book to read. I don't think that they have read it yet either, but they had heard of it. I am glad that it is a good one. :)
--BJ

29. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.

I picked this book up because of the title. Because the first page said it was uncalled for, and because there were instructions on the use and enjoyment of the book. I didn't know what it was about until I started on the preface, I had broken one of my own rules about reading books with no summery on the back, just compliments. I don't know that I would have read it if I had known what it was about, as it's not usually the type of thing I enjoy. But I do know that I kept picking it up in bookstores until I found it at a sale kinda cheap and thought, why not. And I'm glad that I did. I think my favorite aspect of it was how he talked about his brother Tophe.

I've had that one sitting on my shelf for some time; I enjoyed his What is the What, so I really do need to put it forward on the tbr. I had the same rule about not picking up books that only had compliments on the back, until I discovered Kazuo Ishiguro; the synopses are always relevant, but they always make the books seem so boring when they aren't! I've come across a few other writers like this since. Having discovered that, now I often just look to see where the compliments are coming from before putting off the book.

I guess it depends on what is said in the review. I tend to not trust reviewers in general, simply because it's so subjective. I'll ignore the rule if the book keeps catching my eye. I haven't read What is What but I liked How We Are Hungry, which I really enjoyed, which is also why I ignored that rule. Who else did you like?

quite a few books of poetry (A. Van Jordan is now one of my favorites, though originally I ignored him because all I saw were compliments), and then more recently Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, which I liked enough to go out and buy more of his books this past Saturday. I think most of the others where I've ignored non-blurbs were nonfiction, memoirs and such.

I could see the Poetry. How was Brideshead? I saw the movie, it was very pretty. Haven't decided whether or not I'll read the book.

Truthfully, it didn't make me want to see the movie--I had a hard time imagining the movie would be very interesting. The book was wonderful though! Lots of quick, witty dialogue, wonderful characters, and gorgeous description. Not much happened, I suppose, but the development of the characters was so unique and interesting, combined with gorgeous writing, that I LOVED the book.

30.Vision in White, Nora Roberts.

A Break from the literature I've been reading lately.

31. King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard.

32. The Little Drummer Girl, John Le Carre.

How was that?

It was good. I did have some mixed feelings about it, but I have a hard time articulating them. It was a thriller, a spy novel and it lived up to what a Le Carre novel should be.

33. The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies.

Now this book I loved. It's definitely going on my list of top 2009 reads. I have no idea how to describe it, the best way thing to do is that it addresses the question "Who killed Boy Staunton" and in doing so it captures time, place and characters. I feel like there was a lot of depth to it, and the kind of thing that posed a lot of questions, but then maybe that was the point. It would make an interesting book for a discussion group.

34. Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen.

35. Dear Me by Peter Ustinov.

36. The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King

How was that? It's on my bookmooch wishlist.

I like the Holmes/Russell books, and this one was entertaining.

37. Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. I forgot how much I enjoy Noir.

38. Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich.

Perfect summer reading. Better then 14, once again I giggled my way through it.

39. Refiner's Fire: The Life and Adventures of Marshall Pearl, a Foundling by Mark Helprin.

What did you think of the Helprin one?

I liked it. It had his usual aspects of fantasy. Partway through I went online to his website, and I think that this one is at least partially autobiographical. Which added a whole other dimension. There were also elements that reminded me of the other books I've read by him.

40. Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey

41. Europe Central by William T. Vollman.

This book has a lot going on with it, but I feel like I didn't catch it all. It is a series of short stories set in the USSR and Germany from 1914 through 1967. The anchor of the book is a love triangle (or some other multi-sided shape) mostly between Elena Kosta..... and the composer Shostakovich and directer Roman Karmen. There are comparisons between the Hitler and Stalin regimes, discussion of freedom of expression under both, what our personal responsibility is in the face of evidence of human atrocity, and the Wagner's Ring Cycle. I think if I where familiar with the latter, I'd have seen even more going on.

An interesting book all in all, and one worth discussion. Not a light read, but I'm glad that I did.

42. Touchstone by Laurie R. King

43. Small Vices by Robert B. Parker

44. The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy.

45. The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens.

46. Sudden Mischief by Robert B. Parker.

47. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron.

48. The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

So effortlessly written. And grey. Very grey. Post-apocalyptical and about surviving, and having something to live for in a world were eveything is dead and covered with ashes.

49. The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling.

50. Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey.

51. Freddy and Fredericka by Mark Helprin.

I love this author. The book made me think of the Monomyth. I guess that's what it's called. Also, although it is a fictional royal couple, it is also a bit of a love story for the United States, shows both the bad but mostly the good I think. And of course it's fictional, but I think it still reflects some of those things. Winter's Tale is still my favorite.

52. Black Hills by Nora Roberts.
53. Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie.

54. An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon.
55. Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts.

56. Hush Money by Robert Parker.

57. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel.

A fun read. Taken by itself, the story of what happens to a group incapable of change. Also a good prequel, now I'm read Valley of the Horses.

58. The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers

A fantasy for book lovers. Fun read.

Sounds like it would be perfect when I'm craving something a little different from the usual fare. Onto the TBR it goes :)

I was very glad that I read it. And I kept finding all these great little passages that appealed to the book lover in me.

59. Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb.

Her latest. I always find them enjoyable. Besides, I'm a sucker for series.

60. City of Light by Lauren Belfer

61. Orlando by Virginia Woolf.

Well written I have to say. But I have to admit I didn't really get it at first. After a lot of thought on the matter, I have decided that it's an interesting novel about the creative process.

Are you going to start a new list/thread come Friday?

Well, now that I've finished my first book of the year, I'll be starting a new thread.

Can you post a link to your new thread here?

Here is the link to 2010's book list.

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=81598