Ivy's 75 Book Challenge for 2009

January

Salvation In Death J. D. Robb
The Last of the Sky Pirates Paul Stewart
The Ghost and Mrs. McClure Alice Kimberly
Blood Brothers Nora Roberts
The Hollow Nora Roberts
The Pagan Stone Nora Roberts
Eyes of Prey John Sandford
A Cedar Cove Christmas Debbie Macomber
The Quilter's Kitchen Jennifer Chiaverini
The Ratastrophe Catastrophe David Lee Stone
Lost Souls Michael Collins
Time Flies Bill Cosby
The Lost City of Faar D. J. MacHale
The Merchant of Death D. J. MacHale
Inkheart Cornelia Funke
Purple Cane Road James Lee Burke
The Bone Vault Linda Fairstein

February

Silent Prey John Sandford
Abby Cooper; Psychic Eye Victoria Laruie
The 6th Target James Patterson
Winter Prey John Sandford
311 Pelican Court Debbie Macomber
Witches' Bane Susan Albert Wittig
A Charmed Death Madelyn Alt
Blindsighted Karin Slaughter
Body Trace H. D. Dublin
Fat Free and Fatal G. A. McKevett
The Tales of Beedle the Bard J. K. Rowling
Snow White, Blood Red Ellen Datlow
The Body in the Attic Katherine Hall Page
The Body in the Belfry Katherine Hall Page

March

Kisscut Karin Slaughter
A Faint Cold Fear Karin Slaughter
Seeing Redd Frank Beddor
Martinis & Mayhem Jessica Fletcher
Dreams are Forever William Hayes
Promises in Death J. D. Robb
The Amazing Dr. Darwin Charles Sheffield
The Ghost and the Dead Deb Alice Kimberly
The Witness Sandra Brown
The New Year's Quilt Jennifer Chiaverini

April

Freeglader Paul Stewart
The Maze of Bones Rick Riordan
Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu Devin Grayson Flint Dille
Burn Marks Sara Paraetsky
The Crafty Teddy John J. Lamb
Dead Aim Iris Johansen
Two To The Fifth Piers Anthony
Till The Butchers Cut Him Down Marcia Muller
The Camel Club David Baldacci

May

The Camel Club David Baldacci
twilight Stephenie Meyer
Night Prey John Sandford
Twenty Wishes Debbie Macomber
Alice's Tulips Sandra Dallas
April Fool Dead Carolyn Hart
Deadly Night Heather Graham Book 1 of the Flynn Brothers Trilogy
Deadly Harvest Heather Graham Book 2 of the Flynn Brother Trilogy
Deadly Gift Heather Graham Book 2 of the Flynn Brother Trilogy

June
The 8th Confession James Patterson Women's Murder Club book
The Remains of the Dead Wendy Roberts
The Death and Life of Superman Roger Stern
Scarpetta Patricia Cornwell
A Killer Collection J. B. Stanley
Mind Prey John Sandford
Gone Forever Diane Fanning
Sudden Prey John Sandford
Secret Prey John Sandford
Annuna J. C. De La Torre
Sweet Revenge Diane Mott Davidson
Illegal Paul Levine
Defending Angels Mary Stanton

July

Certain Prey John Sandford
Blue Smoke and Murder Elizabeth Lowell
The Alchemyst Michael Scott
Easy Prey John Sandford
The Ghost and the Dead Man's Library
Alice Kimberly
Evermore Alyson Noel
Chosen Prey John Sandford
Dying to Call You Elaine Viets
Armed and Glamorous Ellen Byerrum
Angel's Advocate Mary Stanton
Jump Cut Max Allan Collins

August

You Bet Your Life Christine T. Jorgensen
A Killer Stitch Maggie Sefton
Mortal Prey John Sandford
The Reformed Vampire Support Group Catherine Jinks
Exposed Alex Kava
Naked Prey John Sandford
Hidden Prey John Sandford
The Clockwork Teddy John Lamb

Welcome to the group! Looks like you have made a very good start to your reading year.

Welcome! Nice list!

I don't go anywhere without a book and with dial up for an internet connection I read while waiting for a site to load..get alot of books read that way. Alot of times when there is nothing on the TV at night I will go in another room and just read which is quite often since there is a lot of reruns or just nothing at all on that interests me.

A Slaughter fan! I enjoy her writing.

A friend recomended her books and I took the plunge. I am currently reading A Faint Cold Fear and am really liking it. I am finding that I like this type of book...don't know why I never tried them before but now that I have am really glad I did.

I've always enjoyed (for want of a better word) true crime, forensics, disturbed people, etc. A little scare for my very average life!

I like forensics, etc, too cal. I got hooked with a bunch of books by Colin Wilson.

I never read him. What do you recommend?

Probably the most all-encompassing would be Clues: A History of Forensic Detection, originally published in the UK as Written in Blood: A History of Forensic Detection.

That sounds very interesting.

*off to the wishlist I go*

Finished A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter Was a very good book...I am really enjoying this series.

Also finished reading Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor This is book 2 of the Looking Glass Wars series. This book is written for the Young Adult age group but I like it even if I am technically not a YA by a long shot.

#12: I brought home The Looking Glass Wars from the library last night, although in audio form. It is the only one of the series my local library has at this point.

I am not a YA by a long shot either, but I try to be young at heart and that's half the battle, isn't it?

We gave up television back in 2003 for about 3 1/2 years. It was shortly after that I remembered how much I enjoyed reading. It's amazing how much of a time suck television can be.

We hooked it back up again (briefly) a year ago, but after a couple months I again pulled the cord. We're better off without it and now my 7yr old is turning into a reader like me. He absolutely devours books -- it's great to see.

You've got a great start on your list!

Hi lovebug11, you've been reading some real nail-biters!
My husband is a real Sandford fan, I lean a little more towards Marjorie Allingham and Ngaio Marsh. How graphic are the J.D. Robbs?

I won't call J. D. Robb books graphic at all. Very well written and a page turner for sure. I am currently reading Promises In Death and had trouble putting it down last night to get some sleep.

Other books I have read recently are Martinis & Mayhem by Jessica Fletcher this is a Murder, She Wrote series book. Also, Dreams are Forever by William Hayes, it was an okay book but not one of my favorites by a long shot. Just not my type of book I guess.

Thanks for the info luvbug11. My mom just read Brandy & Bullets, another Murder She Wrote novel, and liked it, so I threw it on my TBR stack. I'm just finishing The Skull Mantra, which I am enjoying. I picked it up because of drneutron's excellent review.

How did you like the Sign of Seven Trilogy by Nora Roberts? I own it, but I've never read anything by her.

I really liked the Sign of Seven Trilogy. It is very well written as are most books I have read by Nora Roberts. I think that you will like them. She also writes a series of mystery books under the name J. D. Robb

I finished reading Promises in Death this morning and really liked it. Eve has really grown in the course of these books and has become more compasionate and caring. At the same time she is still the same Eve who will not give an inch when it comes to going after the bad guy with a vengance.

#20: One of the reasons I like the In Death series so much is because the characters are allowed to grow and relationships are allowed to mature. The way the characters act is written naturally and not forced. This one of the few series that I buy as soon as the books are published.

I own the first three books but I've just never gotten around to reading them (I have so many unread books that I just get distracted). I'll have to bump them up on my TBR list...

I liked the sign of the seven trilogy but I didn't think it was her best.
I like the In Death series but, dumb me, started it out of order. GGGRRRR Now I'm having trouble finding some of the early books.

#23: Cal, they have started reissuing the earlier books in hardcover, so you may be able to find them in that format rather than the original paperbacks.

Good to know! Thanks.

I am currently reading The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan. This is book one of The 39 Clues series he has written for YA. I bought it for my grandson but he is not interested in it so I am reading it instead. He is not a big reader so I thought that maybe he might like this one but he says no. Guess I will just have to keep on trying.

I started a new book yesterday. Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu Devin Grayson and Flint Dille This book is based on a Play Station 2 game. My grandson got the game from a friend and in the special features there was a blurb about the book...I went looking for the book and was able to find it at Paperbackswap.com. Was really surprised to find it since it is almost impossible to find.

#27 Is it a paperback or a graphic novel?

This is a paperback...It turned out to be an okay book.

Started reading The Crafty Teddy John J. Lamb yesterday. I am already over half way through it and really liking it. This is a really good series and this addition has not disappointed so far.

I picked up Dating Dead Men by Harley Jane Kozak but was not able to really get into the story so did not finish it...I am not going to add it to my list of books that I have read this year. Don't know if it was the author's style of writing or what but I just could not get into the story.

I am now reading Dead Aim by Iris Johansen Hopefully this one will be better then the last one...time will tell.

#31: I really like Johansen's books, so I hope Dead Aim works better for you than your last read!

I did like Dead Aim. It was better then the last book I had read. Since then I have read Two To The Fifth by Piers Anthony. This is one of his Xanth series books. It is really very good...full of puns and fantasy creatures. I like reading his books after reading several mysteries...mostly to have a lighter read. And they help with my mood after reading to many hard core mysteries one right after the other.

I finished reading Twilight on saturday. Didn't really care for the book all that much. I read it because I wanted to know what all the hype about the book was about. Don't know why it is so interesting to so many people...I found it to be very boring and slow for most of the book. I doubt very much that I will be reading the rest of the series.

I am now reading Night Prey by John Sandford So far it is a good read and am having trouble putting it down.
This whole series has been very good so far. Looking forward to reading all of them.

I have nenver read Sandford. What book starts that series that includes Night Prey?

The first book in the series is Rules of Prey. I haven't read them either (I'm currently working through Patricia Cornwell's books, but I've heard they're really good.

Night Prey is book 6 in the series and so far they have all been really good.

I have also read most of the Patricia Cronwell books. I have Scarpetta on my pile to read soon. Don't know if I will like it or not though since the one before it wasn't all that good in my opinion.

I finished Deadly Night over the weekend and am now reading the next book in the trilogy, Deadly Harvest. Deadly Night was a very good book...there is always something happening...kept me turning the pages.

>37 luvbug11:, It seems to be the common consensus that Book of the Dead is a bit of a doozy. Haven't read it and honestly, not really looking forward to it (though I will read it to see for myself!).

Finished reading:
Deadly Harvest and Deadly Gift both by Heather Graham Both were good books...kept the action coming...good way to keep me reading a book that is for sure.

I also finished The 8th Confession by James Patterson This is one of the Women's Murder Club books. It was a little confusing at the begining but finally came together about half way through the book. As per all of Pattersons books lately this one went fast...read it in two days.

Have Read several books in the last few weeks.

The Remains of the Dead Wendy Roberts
The Death and Life of Superman Roger Stern
Scarpetta Patricia Cornwell
A Killer Collection J. B. Stanley

I finished Mind Prey by John Sandford and really enjoyed it. This whole series is really good so far. I think I like this one the best though. Anyone concidering reading this series should read them in order though in order to get a feel for Lucas Davenport and the way he solved the crimes. And of course his love life and how it affects the way he does things.

I am now reading Gone Forever by Diane Fanning. It is a true crime book. So far I am liking it.

I've been thinking of starting Sandford's books lately. It's nice to hear good things about them beforehand!

You have to like reading about serial killers as most of the books I have read so far have had multiple killings in them and the killer is really a psycho of one kind or another...they are very well written though and I can usually read one in a couple of days since I have trouble putting them down once I start them.

I've read several books since I was here back in June. Added them to my list at the top. I am now working on another YA book, The Alchemyst by Michael Scott. It is about Nicholas Flamel from the Harry Potter books. So far it is very interesting...has kept me reading as fast as I can turn the pages.

Easy Prey John Sandford Prey Series Book 11

It's been awhile since I was here last. My grandson has a birthday coming and I have been busy getting everything together for that. Have been able to read a few books since I was here last though.

Dying to Call You Elaine Viets
Armed and Glamorous Ellen Byerrum This is book 6 of the Crime of Fasion series.
Angel's Advocate Mary Stanton This is book 2 of Beaufort & Company series.
Jump Cut Max Allan Collins Criminal Minds series.
You Bet Your Life Christine T. Jorgensen Stella the Stargazer Series.
A Killer Stitch Maggie Sefton A Knitting Mystery, Book 4
Mortal Prey John Sandford Book 13 of the Prey Series.

If I have counted right I believe that makes 87 books so far this year. I have more then met my challenge for this year...now to see how many more I can read before the end of the year.

Congratulations on 87 books! Good going - you should make 100 easily.

Thanks...I am hoping for at least 100 books but didn't get near that many read last year so I figured I would try for 75 at the very least.

I picked up a couple of books this week that I just could not seem to get interested in and did not finish...will try again later to read them again.

Burning Angel James Lee Burke
Pointing From The Grave Samantha Weinberg

September

A Necesary Evil Alex Kava
The Gutbucket Piers Anthony
The Fairy Godmother Mercedes Lackey
To The Last Breath Carlton Stowers
Confess, Fletch Gregory McDonald
Death of a Muskateer Sarah D'Almeida
The Midnight Club James Patterson
Adams v. Texas Randall Adams
Poisoned Tart G. A. McKevitt
The Pearl Harbor Murders Max Allan Collins
Indelible Karin Slaughter
Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas James Patterson
L. A. Secret Police Mike R. Rothmiller

If I am counting right that makes 105 books so far this year....guess I will have to set my goal higher next year.

Congratulations on hitting 105!! That is tremendous - and still plenty of time for more reading left in the year.