LadyViolet - 50 Book Challenge 2009

I thought i would actually try and keep track of the books i read this year so I reckoned that joining the 50 books challenge would be a good idea since i can never remember what i've read from one week to the next (mainly because i read far too much).

I'm counting the books I've read from the 14th March 2009 and since i've already read 4 or so books from this date i shall start making my list :D
BTW- I'm British so the dates shall be written (day/month/year) just to be confusing :P

March
1. Untamed : A house of Night novel by P.C. & Kristin Cast (14/3/09)
2. The Memory keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards (16/3/09 AM)
3. Evermore, Alyson Noel (16/3/09 PM)
4. P.S. I Loathe You by Lisi Harrison (17/3/09)
5. It Girl #7: Infamous by Cecily von Ziegesar (18/3/09 AM)
6. Trust me, I'm a Junior Doctor by Max Pemberton (18/3/09 PM)
7. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (19/3/09 AM)
8. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan (19/3/09 PM)
9. Before I die by Jenny Downham (20/3/09)
10. A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb (22/3/09)
11. Memoirs of a teenage amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin (23/3/09 AM)
12. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead (25/3/09 AM)
13. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (29/3/09)
14. Lord of Misrule by Rachel Caine (31/3/09 AM)

April
15. Sucks to be me by Kimberly Pauley (2/4/09 AM)
16. Frostbite by Richelle Mead (2/4/09 PM)
17. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead (3/4/09 AM)
18. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (6/4/09 AM)
19. Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz (6/4/09 AM)
20. Hunted: House of Night by P.C & Kristin Cast (8/4/09 AM)
21. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (9/4/09 AM)
22. Nightworld vol. 3 by L.J Smith (10/4/09 AM)
23. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder (11/4/09)
24. Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder (12/4/09)
25. Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder (13/4/09)
26. Graceling by Kristin Cashore (16/4/09 AM)
27. The Pact by Jodi Piccoult (19/4/09)
28. Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce (22/4/09 AM)
29. Terrier by Tamora Pierce (22/4/09 PM)
30. First Test by Tamora Pierce (23/4/09)
31. Page by Tamora Pierce (24/4/09)
32. Squire by Tamora Pierce (25/4/09)
33. Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce (27/4/09 AM)
34. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (27/4/09 PM)
35. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (29/4/09 AM)

May
36. Priestess of the White by Trudi Canavan (5/5/09)
37. Parasite Positive by Scott Westerfeld (9/5/09)
38. Sabriel by Garth Nix (11/5/09 AM)
39. Envy by Anna Godbersen (12/5/09)
40. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld (15/5/09)
41. Last of the Wilds by Trudi Canavan (19/5/09)
42. Pride & Prejudice & Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith (20/5/09 AM)
43. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennet (20/5/09 PM)
44. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (26/5/09 AM)
45. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (27/5/09 PM)
46. The Voice of the Gods by Trudi Canavan (28/5/09 AM)
47. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (29/5/09 PM)
48. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey (31/5/09 AM)
49. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (31/5/09 PM)

June
50. The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks (1/6/09 AM)
51. Pagan's Crusade by Catherine Jinks (1/6/09 PM)
52. At First Sight by Nicolas Sparks (2/6/09)
53. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr (3/6/09)
54. Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers (5/6/09)
55. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (12/6/09 AM)
56. The Girls by Lori Lansens (13/6/09 AM)
57. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (14/6/09 PM)
58. The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan (16/6/09 PM)
59. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen (19/6/09)
60. The Magician's Apprentice by Trudi Canavan (23/6/09 AM)
61. Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty (24/6/09 AM)
62. Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty (24/6/09 AM)
63. The Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale (25/6/09 AM)
64. Evernight by Claudia Gray (28/6/09 PM)
65. The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen (29/6/09 AM)

July
66. Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata (1/7/09 PM)
67. The Scandal of the Season by Sophie Gee (2/7/09 AM)
68. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (3/7/09 AM)
69. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (6/7/09)
70. Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (10/7/09 AM)
71. Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (10/7/09 PM)
72. Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (12/7/09 AM)
73. Fantastic Beasts & Where to find them by Newt Scamander (12/7/09 PM)
74. Quidditch through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp (12/7/09 PM)
75. Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (13/7/09 AM)
76. Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (14/7/09 AM)
77. Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (16/7/09 AM)
78. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (16/7/09 AM)
79. Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling (16/7/09 AM)
80. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (20/7/09)
81. Generation Dead by Daniel Waters (23/7/09 AM)
82. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (24/7/09 AM)
83. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale (26/7/09 AM)
84. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier (27/7/09 AM)
85. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (27/7/09 AM)
86. River Secrets by Shannon Hale (28/7/09)
87. Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder (30/7/09 PM)

August
88. Stargazer by Claudia Gray (2/8/09 AM)
89. Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr (4/8/09 PM)
90. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (5/8/09 AM)
91. The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons (11/8/09 PM)
92. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen (16/8/09 PM)
93. Airhead by Meg Cabot (18/8/09 AM)
94. Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway (19/8/09 AM)
95. Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris (20/8/09 AM)
96. That Summer by Sarah Dessen (21/8/09)
97. Someone Like you by Sarah Dessen (24/8/09 AM)
98. Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters (25/8/09 AM)
99. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead (27/8/09 PM)
100. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris (29/8/09 AM)
101. Last Chance by Sarah Dessen (31/8/09 AM)

September
102. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (3/9/09 PM)
103. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (4/9/09 AM)
104. Tatiana and Alexander by Paullina Simons (6/9/09 AM)
105. Wake by Lisa McMann (6/9/09 PM)
106. Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine (7/9/09 AM)
107. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris (8/9/09 AM)
108. Prom Nights from Hell by Meg Cabot (10/9/09 AM)
109. Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty (11/9/09 AM)
110. Fade by Lisa McMann (11/9/09 PM)
111. Specials by Scott Westerfeld (13/9/09 PM)
112. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (15/9/09 PM)
113. The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby (21/9/09 AM)
114. The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (22/9/09 AM)
115. Blue Moon by Alyson Noel (24/9/09 PM)

October
116. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (4/10/09 PM)
117. The Princess Bride by William Goldman (5/10/09 PM)
118. Pagan in Exile by Catherine Jinks (9/10/09 AM)
119. Dark Visions by L.J. Smith (11/10/09 AM)
120. The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong (13/10/09 PM)
121. Fire by Kristin Cashore (14/10/09 AM)
122. The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer (16/10/09 AM)
123. The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong (17/10/09 AM)
124. Shiver by Maggie Steifvater (21/10/09 AM)
125. Sunshine by Robin McKinley (23/10/09 AM)
126. The Wind Singer by William Nicholson (25/10/09 AM)
127. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (25/10/09 PM)
128. The Vampire Diaries Vol.1 by L.J. Smith (27/10/09 AM)
129. The Wild Hunt by Elizabeth Chadwick (29/10/09 AM)
130. Dewey: The Small-town Library Cat who touched the world by Vicki Myron (30/10/09 AM)
131. The Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink (31/10/09 AM)
132. The Ivy Chronicles by Karen Quinn (31/10/09 PM)

November
133. Tempted by P.C. & Kristin Cast (1/11/09 AM)
134. The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa (1/11/09 AM)
135. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks (2/11/09 AM)
136. Wildthorn by Jane Eagland (4/11/09 AM)
137. Ring for Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (5/11/09 AM)
138. The Girl who played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (7/11/09 AM)
139. Stray by Rachel Vincent (9/11/09 AM)
140. My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent (12/11/09 PM)
141. Montmorency and the Assassins by Eleanor Updale (19/11/09 AM)
142. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris (22/11/09 AM)
143. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink (22/11/09 PM)
144. I capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (25/11/09 AM)
145. Splendor by Anna Godbersen (27/11/09 AM)
146. A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly (28/11/09 AM)

December
147. The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds (3/12/09 AM)
148. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (5/12/09 AM)
149. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (12/12/09 AM)
150. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (15/12/09 AM)
151. The Professor by Charlotte Bronte (16/12/09 PM)
152. The Diary of a Young girl by Anne Frank (20/12/09 PM)
153. My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson (21/12/09 AM)
154. The Montmartre Investigation by Claude Izner (24/12/09 AM)
155. The Road goes ever on and on by Brian Sibley (26/12/09 PM)
156. Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys by Kate Brian (26/12/09 PM)
157. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (28/12/09 AM)
158. A Bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks (29/12/09 PM)
159. Sea Glass by Maria V. Snyder (31/12/09 AM)
160. Rogue by Rachel Vincent (31/12/09 PM)

My thoughts on the above books shall follow in time along with the new books I read. If anyone has any recommendations for me please tell let me know! On with the Challenge!!!

ETA: i got sick of the blasted touchstones being temperamental everytime i edited this post so i took them out :D

Good luck LadyViolet and you are off to a good start. I had never kept track of what I read either until I joined the challenge this year. It's a lot of fun and you learn a lot about yourself (at least I have) and you get to meet some very interesting folks.
So happy reading, enjoy yourself and I look forward to reading your thoughts and comments on your reads.
N/B

Thanks for the welcome nannybebette i always have fun reading so sharing my thoughts on books will be an interesting experience :D

Well last night after i posted i decided to be really naughty and forego any more attempts to do french homework and get through another of my TBR books which would be easy to get out of the way.
5. It Girl #7: Infamous by Cecily von Ziegesar.

I like the It girl and Gossip Girl books because they are great for quick girly reads when i don't want to concentrate too hard on what i'm reading. They are deliciously enticing like good gossip should be and even though it's not the best writing in the world, I still want to read the next book.

Right I think it would be a good idea for me to list some of the books i hope to read this year (or re-read as the case may be) that way i can perhaps keep myself from going off on and having a crazy book splurge before i get a chance to clear my TBR backlog (some of which will never be cleared cos i don't want to read them Sophie's Choice may have to go...)

To-Read Hopefuls
1. Dissolution by C.J. Sansom
2. Dark Fire by C.J. Sansom (and the other 2 books depending on my reviews of the first two in the Shardlake series)
3. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
4. Sepulchre by Kate Mosse
5. Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
6. The Rose Labyrinth by Titania Hardie
7. An Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice
8. The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
9. Frostbite by Richelle Mead
10. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
11. Lord of Misrule by Rachel Caine
12. Complete Works of Jane Austen by Jane Austen (well duh)
13. Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds
14. Fascination by Stephenie Meyer (french translation of Twilight)

That should be enough to last me a few months :D

Lots of good books to choose from! Good luck with your reading challenge!
--BJ

I borrowed my latest read off a good friend
6. Trust Me, I'm a Junior Doctor by Max Pemberton

The real-life story of a man trying to make it through his first year as a Junior Doctor in a British Hospital. Max's account is hilarious in places and makes you think in others. A fantastic book I am happy to give it 5 stars :D

Currently reading: Dissolution it may take me a while to get through this if i have to juggle school-work (or in my case drop it on the floor figuratively speaking) it's possible i will get side-tracked by other books. But i shall try my damnedest to finish it this week.

Book addiction is running on overtime at the moment and after reading threads on here which mentioned a particularly awesome book, i just *had* to have a SR (spontaneous re-read).

7. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This book is just amazing - i never want to put it down and i will die if i don't get Catching Fire when it comes out. Katniss may be slightly irritating at times when she doesn't believe that Peeta's feelings for her are genuine but she is still a wonderful character to read about. I'm rooting for Katniss & Peeta rather than Katniss & Gale in the potential (and rather likely) love-triangle that may occur in Catching Fire.
Theories anyone??

I'm hoping to get Dissolution finished soon but who knows what whim i shall get next and whether that leads me to read something completely different. But I. WILL. FINISH. IT gosh darn it!!

After raiding my local library yesterday i got 4 books that i intend to read for my challenge.
- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithian
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- Before I die by Jenny Downham
-Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (at the behest of my boyfriend)

I have already read one of these so i'm up to 8 on my reading challenge
8. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn

I picked this book because i had seen adverts for the movie and it had been mentioned in forums i frequent, so i wanted to read the book before i would perhaps watch the film.
I really liked this book - Nick and Norah are two strangers in a club in Manhattan on a Saturday night. A chance encounter with Nick's Ex leads him to ask Norah to be his girlfriend for the next 5 minutes. The night continues with lots of music, mixed messages, and several packets of stale oreos, eventually resulting in a rather satisfying ending.
It's a witty and highly entertaining book - although if you don't like books with lots of swearing it may not be for you. I counted 24 uses of the f-word in about 15 lines although that was the extreme end of things.
Nick & Norah are two wonderfully intense characters with flaws which make them react badly at times to the night's events, but also with traits that make them so likeable you can forgive their idiocies with their respective Exes. I really enjoyed reading this book and i would recommend it to others quite highly.

*pops head in* Hi Rach! good luck with your challenge! Even though by the way you've been going lately it looks like you dont need it! Ahh I dont think this thread is good for your addiction Rach now you have even more reason to read because you *must* read 50 books! tut tut the excuses us addicts come up with! ;)

Dang you saw through my cunning plan!! :P
Yes we addicts are notorious for finding any excuse to read books... *shakes head despairingly* ah well nowt i can do about that

Got another book read yesterday but this is the only chance i've had today to get on a computer and log it on my thread.

9. Before I die by Jenny Downham
This was quite a heart-wrenching story in places and i was close to tears at the end but it didn't really blow me away. Aspects of Tessa's character were sometimes annoying and i thought that Zoey was pretty insensitive at times.
Overall i didn't like this book as much as i thought i would but i did still like it.

Up next either Jane Eyre or Crime and Punishment - i need to read them first since they will be due back at the library in 2 weeks or so.

I had a slight moment of weakness and bought two new books today- and was even weaker when i ignored my homework to read one of them. But i can't regret it since it was an unbelievably amazing book.

10. A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb

It was the most hauntingly beautiful book i've read in a long time and so brilliantly written I am finding it hard to find fault with it.
Helen is dead and has been for 130 years - she follows her beloved Mr Brown around everyday unable to interact with anyone until one day she gets the strange feeling that someone can see her.
The story is so intriguing you can't help but keep reading- you are pulled through a whirlwind of emotions right up until the most wonderfully satisfying ending you could ever hope for. For a first novel this knocks the socks off many of the books i've read so i take my hat off to Laura Whitcomb for creating such sublime piece of work. Utterly perfect.

OMG that sounds awesome!!! *gets crazed urge to read it* Random but is your copy another awesomly floppy american cover again Rach? Because I ordered mine of amazon and its just like untamed...

Yea it was fairly floppy Jess lol.

Well i was my usual stupid self last night and i picked up my other new book and... read the whole thing in 3 hours.

11. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin

This was a really good book to read- the plot was interesting, the writing flowed well and the characters were actually quite complex. Naomi hit her head after falling down some stairs and forgot the last 4 years of her life - now she has to go back to school where doesn't remember many people and can't remember her lessons. She's forgotten her boyfriend and her best friend Will. She has to fight to remember who she is and it causes quite a few upsets.
It's strangely ironic that i picked this book up at the same time as i did A certain Slant of Light because they both have a main character called William Blake. In MoaTA William blake Landsman is Naomi's best friend and in ACSoL Billy (William) Blake is the boy whose body James occupies.
Another similarity is that there is a love interest in both called James - how odd and spooky
Well aside from that i liked this book rather a lot and i would definately recommend it.

Maybe now i can get onto reading my library books.

Lol I love those floppy books!!!

Oooh that sounds good too! Tis weird that you picked up two books at the same time with characters who have exactly the same name though!

It's took me a couple of days to get another book read since i started reading Jane Eyre on monday night and because of how long it is i can't read it all in one sitting.
So to get another of my TBR pile out the way i grabbed Vampire Academy last night and read the whole thing :D

12. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

I really liked this book- Rose is a fiesty and independant narrator. Even though she does get angry quite a lot she still cares a lot about her friend Lissa and her sense of duty towards her is very endearing.
It was a pretty fast-paced book and the mythology about the vampires was very interesting. I was most definately surprised by the twist near the ending- i never saw it coming and was very glad because of it (nothing better than being tricked by a book).
I am very eager to read the next in this series and if i don't see some more Rose/Dimitri development i shall be quite unhappy :P

Currently reading: Jane Eyre im still going with this - to my surprise i am rather enjoying it so far and i am happy to continue reading it.

Eeek! I cant wait to finish vampire academy! Oh oh and Rach its another floppy book! *grins like loon*

*thunderbolt of realisation* oh yea!!! so it is *also grins like loon* i was actually telling my sister about how she shouldn't crack the spine of my copy of the Hunger Games when i lend it to her like she did to my Twilight books, and i mentioned how awesome the binding on Untamed and Evermore was !! lol we are utter lunatics where are those men in the white coats???

Lol we so are! But the binding is soooo awesome it leaves them looking brand new when you finish reading them. I love floppy books! There perfect for us addicts who like to keep our books in good condition!

FINALLY!!! I have finished Jane Eyre at last!! It has taken me a disproportionate amount of time to read than i would have expected but i can say with satisfaction that i have read it and thoroughly enjoyed doing so.

13. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

This book was a marvel to read, I loved the writing style - the language so lyrical and flowing made it incredibly easy to get entranced and the reluctance to put it down was very strong around the half-way point. Jane is a fascinating character she is so determined and wise beyond her years. I found her a very endearing woman and empathised with her frequently. Her love for Edward Rochester was very touching and i was just as saddened by her departure from Thornfield as she was. Her sacrifice for what she believed was morally right earnt my respect although i did desperately hope that she would get what she wanted most and I was fully satisfied when she did.
Brilliant classic novel - i will soon be buying this for my own. Chalk me up for the team who loves Jane Eyre :D

I may read something different tomorrow as a quick relief from the concentration required for books like Jane Eyre before continuing with my last library book Crime and Punishment. Hopefully i will get it finished before i need to return it.

Well since i couldn't quite bring myself to read Crime and Punishment last night i decided to have myself a vamp fix and read the latest Morganville vampires book.

14. Lord of Misrule by Rachel Caine.

Even though i'm fully aware that this isn't the best vampire series in the world and the cliffhangers at the end of EVERY BOOK make me want to sling the book at a wall when i get to that last page... i can't help but love them. I just *have* to find out what happens next or should i say - what happens to Shane next since most misfortunes seem to be directed at him, little trouble magnet that he is.
Lord of Misrule is the book when all hell is starting to bust out in Morganville, Bishop and Amelie are gathering their allies to them and preparing to fight. The humans are also arming up to fight back against the vamps in the hope they can destroy them and take their town back.
And who the heck knows what Myrnin's doing cos that guy makes no sense at the best of times.
All in all i really liked it- i know it's fluff and vamp fluff at that. But i like that kinda stuff ok? Now i get to wait until June to find out what's going on with Claire and Bishop... great i loove to wait >:

Right rather early this morning i got another book finished. It was a re-read but i just fancied it.

15. Sucks to be me by Kimberly Pauley

This is one of the few stand-alone vampire novels i own - nearly all of my vamp books seem to be series which makes for expensive reading in the long-run.
Mina Hamilton is pretty much a regular teenager... except for the fact that her parents are vampires. One day they tell her that she has to choose whether she wants to become a vampire as well... but the catch is she has to decide in 4 weeks. To help her decide she has to go to special vampire classes to learn all there is to know about what she may become. Throw into the mix three rather good-looking guys, her best friend and a vair embarassing vampire uncle and you get Sucks to be me. I really liked this book - Mina is a snarky and funny character and has quite a bit of depth to her. George is brilliant (i'm slightly prejudiced to like him cos i have a thing for the name George) he's sweet, funny and not a complete buffle-brain - unlike Aubrey who besides have a wierd name and gorgeously good looks hasn't really got that much going for him. I would recommend this to anyone who wanted a fun, quick vampire read without having to read 5 or 6 other books. Although i would be very happy if a sequel was written cos i would love to read more about Mina.

Currently reading Frostbite and considering *how much* i want to read this i will probably be writing about it here either later tonight or first thing tomorrow. :D

Ok last night i had a *serious* breakdown in restraint and got TWO books read last night. They were total addict reads and now i am going to go stir crazy having to wait until August for the next in the series.

16. Frostbite by Richelle Mead.
The second in the Vampire Academy series. I am appallingly bad at writing coherent reviews of books without giving away most of the plotline so this is going to be brief. The Moroi are being targeted by the evil Strigoi and there's a lot of pressure on the guardians to keep all the students of St. Vladimir's safe during the christmas break. So everyone goes to a private Moroi ski resort for the vacation where they can be safe. Rose is still trying to train to be a Guardian and fighting her feelings for Dimitri- now she also has the attention of two other guys one of which she just can't seem to see as something more than a friend. If that wasn't difficult enough to deal with - Rose's mostly absent and very famous Guardian Mother has come to the Academy for a while.
I did read this very fast so i may not have taken in all that i should have - i may re-read these closer to August when Blood Promise comes out. I am really liking this series though, possibly more than the House of Night series. Rose is a very fiesty and interesting character and behaves in a slightly more mature fashion than Zoey does in HoN which makes her more likeable. I would recommend this book quite highly to anyone who likes vampire books like the House of Night, Blue Bloods etc.

And for the second book of the night...
17. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead

This is third book in the vampire academy series and potentially the one i was dreading. I had read posts somewhere which had spoilers about this book (now wishing i hadn't cos my brain can't erase things like that) After the saddening ending of Frostbite i was quite worried for what this book would do to Rose (and my nerves) but i couldn't help myself in devouring the entire thing in 2 hours, which was no mean feat considering its a 400+ pg book. Its several weeks after the events of Frostbite and things have returned to some semblance of normality. Except that Rose is seeing ghost-like aparitions and she has been assigned to someone other than Lissa for her 6 weeks of guardian field training. Elsewhere in the Moroi world debtaes are raging whether the Moroi should learn to fight alongside their Guardians to defend themselves against the increasing Strigoi threat.
The ending to this was even more heatbreaking than i thought it would be although i still do have some hope for what might happen in Blood Promise and i'm praying that Richelle Mead will take some pity on poor Rose and spare her more anguish. wonderful book otherwise. :D

Easter hols are almost upon me so i may get either loads read, loads more bought or nothing done at all cos i'll have been locked in the dining room for the entire thing trying to get revision for impending exams done . I'm hoping for a good mix of everything :P

*edit* Im such a goof i numbered these both as 16!! i just went barmy trying to work out how my top post counted 19 and i only had 18!! :S

Even though I'm really supposed to be getting severe amounts of work done at this moment I thought i'd better log the two books i've finished today (already? i here you say- nay one i finished in the wee hours after midnight so it still counts as today and the other was only short)

18. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I think many people will know what this book is about so I shan't bother with a synopsis - I probably wouldn't be able to manage it anyway even if i tried because this book is just so unbelievably amazing that I wouldn't know how to describe it. This was a re-read but i was still bowled over about how much it affects me emotionally. I found myself sobbing at the end- exactly as I did the first time i read it. Henry is just a fascinating character and his relationship with Clare across the years is so heart-warming that you almost can't help riding along with them on their emotional roller-coaster to the bitter end.
I will no doubt read this again in the future, it was my favourite book of 2008 and its probably now my favourite general fiction book out of all i've read.
I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to read a truly beautiful love story that really does transcend time.

And now to follow that load of pretentious piffle a bucket-full of vampire fluff :D
19. Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz

I bought this a month or so ago because i was in a book-buying frenzy and I was determined to read every vampire series i could get my mitts on. I only bought the first in the Blue Bloods series in case i didn't like it once i read it. However I'm pleased (and also dismayed) to say that i really liked Blue Bloods and now i'll need to buy the next two books in the series and then await the forth book out later this year (hence my dismay). Schuyler van Alen is an atypical outcast at the prestigious Duchesne academy in Manhattan - she is not popular but when a classmate is killed in very strange circumstances she finds herself suddenly in the spotlight and one of the Elite Blue Bloods. The Blue Bloods are vampires which live in cycles of birth, life and death - their blood is preserved from one cycle to the next so they retain their memories from every lifetime. Nothing can kill the blue bloods - or so they think...
THis was a really good read- a very interesting and different mythology than other vampire books I've read and the characters all seemed to have that air of mystery about them as though you only know half of their story. Schuyler is a genuinely down-to-earth character and is nowhere near as angtsy as some other heroines in vampire stories - there's not a massive chunk of the book solely dedicated to fawning over guys, its more about the mythology and history of the Blue bloods and I liked that.
Revelations and Masquerade will soon be added to my To-buy list and I look forward to reading them.

Have you read Jonathan Nasaw's World on Blood? It's not part of a series as far as I know, but another really interesting take on vampires. I also have a soft spot for L. J. Smith's Vampire Diaries series, but they're young adult (and read as such), so might not be as much your cup of tea. I'll have to look up Melissa de La Cruz though--The Time Traveler's Wife is already at the top of my tbr pile for once the semester gets through :) Good reading!

Blimey i just nearly fell off my chair when i saw that someone other than me had posted on this thread - i felt like i was talking to myself for ages.
I have not read World on Blood but i shall certainly try and and find it to take a gander at it. Ah well since I am sort of a young adult/adult and since i've also read nearly all of L.J Smith's Nightworld books the Vampire Diaries are probably exactly my cup of tea :)
Ooh do read The Time Traveler's wife tis a wonderful book!
And thank you very muchly for taking the time to look at my thread :D

lol; I'm always surprised too--I always lurk as my daily form of procrastination, but don't chime in very often. I'd just about forgotten about the Nightworld series--I may have to revisit those at some point :)

The Time Traveler's Wife is one of my all time favorite reads. As one reads it, one has so much hope in one's heart to see bliss and happiness in this old world and then around the corner----, and then it comes back again. I also wept when I finished this one. And went right back to the beginning and did it again. At the time I originally read it, it was being panned (I know, I know, don't ask me -- maybe at the time it was written no one wanted a love story) pretty strongly and seems to be much more acceptable now. It is a beautifully drawn book. I loved it and always know where it is on my shelf.

NB I know exactly what you mean I think The Time Traveler's Wife is going to be one of my all-time favourites as well. I just think it would be near impossible to tire of reading such a beautiful book.

And once again I follow a wonderful book like ^^ with a book many would consider to be absolute dreck . Sorry but i can't help my guilty addiction to teen vampire series .

20. Hunted: House of Night by P.C & Kristin Cast

This is the fifth and newest book in the House of Night - i do like this series but i keep finding bits and bobs which niggle and irritate me. Like the multitude of product placements scattered throughout the books - teens may mention brand names every so often in conversation but i doubt we mention them as often as they are mentioned in the books.
Another thing that irritates is Zoey's inability to keep her guys straight - i mean seriously i need two hands to count the number of guys she has either kissed or done something more with. Ok scratch that maybe just the one hand but still it's *not* normal to be juggling that many guys at the one time. Someone is gonna get hurt sooner or later.
The other thing which irked me the most in Hunted was the speech of two characters: Darius and a new girl called Kramisha. Darius being a stern and serious uber bodyguard seems to *have* to talk like some archaic elf-lord and Kramisha being black seems to *have* to talk like a archetypal gangsta-esque person. Both are quite difficult to read as dialogue and Kramisha's speech is possibly a bit stereotyping towards black people which is consequently quite rude IMO but what other people make of it I don't know .
Now after all that ranting I shall say that I did like this book and I'm interested to see where the plot goes in the next book although I am rather hoping that Zoey manages to sort out her guy problem because it's getting a tad old.

Anyhow, I've started a new book which i bought today called Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin i may finish this in the early hours of the morning which is when i seem to do all my reading (which results in me looking and feeling rather undead in the morning). Night people!

Exactly like I said- i finished Elsewhere at about quarter past 1 this morning and now I need to write about it here.

21. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

This book is about Liz, a girl who is killed in a hit-and-run accident at only 15. She wakes up and finds herself on a ship which is taking her to Elsewhere - the place everyone goes when they die. It's a place where people grow younger each year until they're sent back to earth as new babies. Liz meets her Grandma Betty who died before she was born and makes new friends including a former rockstar, former fireman and a dog called Sadie.
I quite liked this book - it's an interesting idea about what happens on "the other side" and enjoyable to read. Although i do prefer Zevin's other book Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac to this.

I've got another book on deck at the mo which i may finish tonight (or tomorrow morning :P) i won't try and force the touchstone to work cos it never does for this: Nightworld no. 3 by L.J. Smith

I am pretty true to my word - finished the 3rd Nightworld omnibus before 1am today although i've put off posting about it til now. here we go then.

22. Nightworld no. 3: Huntress, Black Dawn, Witchlight by L.J. Smith

This is the third compendium of Smith's Nightworld novels with books 7-9. I really like the ideas in these books, especially that of the soulmate principle, that there is that *one* special person for everyone just waiting for you. Each story in the Nightworld books focuses on a different character and their individual experiences with the Nightworld, in these later books the bigger overall story arc becomes clearer and links together previous characters from the earlier books. I can't really give a brief description of these books since i would have to explain the preceding 6 books which would take rather a long time. There's one more book after this called Strange Fate which unfortunately for me is not being re-published (with the funky new covers) until April 2010(!!) so i have got a loong wait for the ultimate climax of this really quite interesting series. In the meantime i may have to seek out Smith's other series- the Vampire Diaries...

Currently reading: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder i probably won't get this finished tonight but definately tomorrow night before i go away on holiday.

Oooh Rach quick question im mighty confussed about all of this with the nightworld books I keep hearing about this last story but is it just one short story being published on its own or another book with a set of storys in? Is that going to be the last one? :S I'm very confussled!

Hmm well my impression is that since it's gonna be a hardcover book i would reckon that it may be a longer book than the individual Nightworld stories cos it has to wrap up 9 books worth of hints alluding to the overall plot and its gonna have some major action considering the things mentioned in this third volume of the books so to sum up:
Last book, only one story, potentially longer than previous nightworld books (individually not the compendiums) and the conclusion to the whole series :D
Hope that clears things up for you Jess.

I finished Poison Study rather early this morning *cough2amcough* and right now i'm too tired to write up about it so it will be done at some point tomorrow.

I'm glad that I am not the only one who finishes books up at 2am! Must have been a good one. Have a great day!
--BJ

Ahh thanks Rach shame its not out for another year yet though! I think I may start nightworld soon I really like the look of the vampire diaries as well so if I enjoy the nightworld books then I may have to get them after!

>BJ - i do far too much reading at stupid hours but it is usually because i can't bear to put my book down so i fair indicator of my opinion of a book is how late i will stay up to read it :P

Jess - i am tempted to get hold of the Vampire Diaries books although there looks to be a fair few of them so perhaps not in the near future lol.

Anyways since i've finished two books in the last 24 hours I need to get them up on here before i finish my third later tonight (it is actually guaranteed to happen)

23. Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

I was extremely happy i bought this series after reading the first book in this brilliant fantasy series. It's the story of Yelena a woman who is soon to be executed for murder. She hasn't been falsely accused but the reasons why she killed a man aren't revealed until later in the book. She is given a choice and an opportunity for a second chance. Either take a job as the Commander's food taster, who could be poisoned at any time or the quick death of execution. She chooses the new life and begins her training in the detection of poisons with Ixia's Chief assassin Valek. He poisons Yelena during their first meeting with Butterfly Dust - a deadly poison which kills in a horrible fashion within a day unless the victim takes a daily antidote and Valek is the only person who knows the antidote. Yelena is now unable to escape from this hellish life and has several other problems to deal with ...
I really, really enjoyed this book and I'm devouring the third book already and I'll be rather disappointed to get to the end of the series. It's a wonderfully complex story with brilliantly vivid characters and some rather dangerous chocolate to boot :P
I recommend it rather highly to anyone who likes fantasy books with a dash of magic and mystery, a good dollop of action and one kick-ass heroine who will do what she bloody well wants to do !

I don't have time right now to right up my review of Magic Study but i will possibly get it done later tonight. :D

''I recommend it rather highly to anyone who likes fantasy books with a dash of magic and mystery, a good dollop of action and one kick-ass heroine who will do what she bloody well wants to do !'' Oooh thats me thats me! I'll *have* to get it now! Ahh I really want it! *knaws on hand*

Yeah I've noticed that there are quite a few books 6 I think with two more on the way. America have these funky covers though and you get two of the storys in one so there are 3 books out atm I think but dont quote me on that! next time I order off amazon.com I might have to get them if I like nightworld hopefully I wont be making any orders from amazon.com for a while though!

Well since i didn't get round to writing up my review of Magic study the other day and i've also finished Fire Study in the time between then i've now got two reviews to write up.

24. Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

This is the second book in the Study series so I'm not really able to say much about the plot without giving away events which are rather vital to the first book and i don't want to spoil it for people (that means you Jess ;) ).
This series just keeps getting better and better - the characters evolve throughout the story and the plot twists still surprise me and the action is ratcheting up for one heck of a finale.

25. Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

The last book in they Study trilogy and what a great book to end an already brilliant series but darn it i wish there's going to be more books about Yelena because i really didn't want this book to end. The plot continues to throw up trouble and obstacles for Yelena and her friends and the tension is building between Ixia and Sitia until something has to give. I was really happy with how the book ended but now i want to re-read the whole series again .

Well i'm now at the half-way point in my challenge and i'm close to finishing another book later either tonight or tomorrow called graceling by Krisitn Cashore its pretty good so far and i'm looking forward to finding out the ending.

I'm getting ever so slightly lazy with writing my "reviews" (if you can really call them reviews - more like random statements ) and since my last post i've read two new books and re-read one already mentioned in this challenge so it doesn't count towards my total.

26. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

I saw this book mentioned someplace on LT and after looking it up on amazon was rather intrigued by it so obviously my book addiction kicked in and I bought it. It's about a young woman named Katsa who has the Grace of Killing in a world where most Gracelings are shunned in society and regarded with fear. But being the niece of a king she is used as a weapon to punish those whom the king thinks deserve it. Katsa is becoming sick of her uncle's tasks and takes it upon herself to carry out missions which actually benefit others. At the start of the book Katsa is on a mission to rescue an elderly Leinid prince who was kidnapped for unknown reasons - the events following the rescue throws Katsa's world into turmoil when she defies her uncle in order to find out who kidnapped the Prince and also tries take control of her own life and live with her deadly Grace.
I really liked this book - it's of a similar thread to the Study books which i read right before reading this so i had a good Fantasy fix over the Easter weekend. I have a sneaking suspicion there may be a sequel in the future because it did give a feeling at the end that there was more in the world to explore. I would rather like to read more about Katsa and Po (daft name but still a pretty cool guy) hopefully Kristin Cashore will get another book written in the near future.

I'll write up my review of The Pact tomorrow night because i need to get to sleep at a semi-reasonable hour tonight since its back-to-school hell tomorrow *eep!* my mental state will probably deteriorate rapidly over the next few weeks from the stress.

*twitch* Graceling sounds awesome too *sneakily adds to wish list*

Yes, I believe Graceling is supposed to be the first of a trilogy. A series of some sort, at any rate. I thought it was a fantastic book too.

>41 bluesalamanders: yea i found Kristin's blog site yesterday and she's got another book coming out in October called Fire which is a sort-of prequel to Graceling and she's currently writing a sequel called Bitterblue but don't know when that's coming out. dang i probably didn't need another series to latch onto *sighs*

Jess - lol why am i not surprised?? :P

Oh drat not another series! Hehe its all your fault Rach you shouldnt read so many awesome books! :P ahh we really are such a terrible two sum

*giggles* terribly sorry Jess m'dear unfortunately it just so happens that i tend to be drawn to series because i can't bear to read only one book about a certain set of characters - hence my Tamora Pierce fixation lol

Ah yes we are the terrible Twins of Book Addiction :P

Anywho since i'm here i should probably write up my review of The pact.

27. The Pact by Jodi Piccoult

This is the second Piccoult book i've read and i did quite like it. It is a quite a sad story due to the nature of the relationship which is literally blown apart on the first page. Chris and Emily have been together their whole lives - their parents expected them to get married when they were older yet one day, a phone call comes saying that their children have been injured and are in hospital. This however is quite an understatement as Emily has been shot in the head and was pronounced dead on arrival - Chris was found holding Emily when the Police arrived with a gun next to them. It was said to be a failed suicide pact whereby Chris fainted before he could shoot himself after Emily died.
The aftermath of Emily's death is tainted by the accusation that Chris murdered his girlfriend and long-time best friend - he's arrested on suspicion of this crime and locked up pending trial. Two families are torn apart by the event - friendships shattered, marriages strained and nobody comes out of it all the same as before. The Pact is a heart-rending story about love, loss and the desperation a parent must feel when they realise they don't really know their child after all. I would recommend the Pact to other people and I wouldn't mind reading some more of Jodi Piccoult's books in the future.

Thanks be to Jess for recommending it to me in the first place :D

Next book to be read may be Terrier as a whirl-wind re-read before my newest amazon purchase arrives tomorrow which is it's sequel Bloodhound (Beka Cooper)

Ahh yes my relationship with series' are bitter sweet I love getting really involved with a group of characters but there not good for my TBR pile or my bank balance!

Yeah I love me some Picoult now and again! I find them too emotional to read one after the other I need a break! But this woman has some seriously good ideas and I like to pick one up every now and again in-between my fantasy stuff for something different!

*wonders in* No review for bloodhound yet? Alrighty *wonders back out*

Ah yes i know- i will get it up here soon-ish along with the review for Terrier which will be quite ironic since i'll be reviewing the second in the series first lol.
All in good time...

Since i've been a tad naughty and neglected to put up my reviews of the books i've read over the last week i shall do it now. Although I have got 4 books to review so here we go.

28. Bloodhound (Beka Cooper) by Tamora Pierce

This is the second book in the Beka Cooper trilogy and it's been a long time coming since its release date got pushed back considerably because Tammy was in a car accident at the end of 2007 i think it was, but thankfully she's ok now.
Beka is now a Dog but hasn't got a partner since her third one quit on her. So for the meantime she's back working with her old training partners Goodwin and Tunstall. It's the beginning of a difficult time in Corus since lots of counterfeit coins keep appearing in the city and prices get pushed up until one day a serious riot breaks out in the Lower City and Tunstall gets both his legs broken when he's trampled by the mob. Beka is assigned as Goodwins partner until Tunstall recovers but when she's injured by some vengeful thugs the Lord Provost decides to send her and Goodwin to Port Cayn to investigate where all the counterfeit coins are coming from... along with the scent hound Achoo, Beka must sniff out those who are trying to ruin Tortall in a city that's near rotten through.
Bloodhound is one of Tammy's best and it was definately worth me staying up til 3 in the morning :P hopefully i won't have to wait too long for the last book in this series *crosses fingers* I must say that i'm hoping for Beka finally getting together with Rosto who is not in most of Bloodhound, but Tammy may choose not to give Beka that kind of ending like with Kel at the end of Lady Knight .

29. Terrier by Tamora Pierce

This is the first book in the Beka cooper series . I started to re-read this *before* my copy of Bloodhound arrived and i put it to the side while i read my new book and picked it up again the next day so that's why i've reviewed the second book before the first.
Beka is a Puppy in the Provost's Guard who police the streets of Corus trying to keep its residents safe from the Rats who are determined to breach the peace. It's a dangerous job but someone has to do it but Beka has some extra skills to help her catch criminals - the ability to hear the restless dead whose spirits are carried by the pigeons of the city, and the ability to glean whispers from the dust spinners on the streets. When she hears rumours of a child killer prowling the Lower City Beka decides she must protect those she considers *her* responsibility with any means possible.
This is different style of book compared to Tammy's earlier books since it uses a first person journal-style viewpoint which could be difficult to deal with but she's managed it brilliantly. For someone who hasn't read her books before Terrier can be read without needing to have read the other Tortall quartets since it's set 200 years before the events in the Song of the Lioness quartet although there are some references at the start to characters in the other books. I thoroughly enjoyed Terrier and loved the whole concept of the Provost's guard. Beka is a fascinating character and its wonderful seeing the supernatural cat Pounce again (TP die-hards will recognise him as Faithful from the Alanna books). The slang used in this book so amusing i find myself wanting to call people cracknobbed loobies all the time :P
Tammy's books just keep on getting better and I look forward immensely to her future books over the next few years *fates be willing there's no set-backs*

I'm going to do a double post and write up the next two books separately so this message isn't ten miles long lol

Right these are the two books i've read in the past 24 hours.

30. First Test by Tamora Pierce
I'm on a TP fest at the moment and I felt inclined to re-read my favourite Tortall quartet the Protecter of the Small quartet. These books focus on Keladry of Mindelan the first known female page in a century. Unlike Alanna the Lioness, Kel doesn't have to hide her sex but prejudices and resentments make life difficult for her and she must complete a probationary year and be judged fit to continue her page training by the training master Lord Wyldon who didn't want to allow a girl to train in the first place.
Kel works extremely hard to keep up with the other boy pages and to prove her worthiness to Lord Wyldon whilst also battling with her fear of heights.
I really like Kel- she's one of the best characters in the Tortall books. Kind, honest, funny, patient and calm but with fierce determination to do right by others. She treats everyone she meets equally whether they be noble, common, bird or beast, and does not tolerate bullies of any kind. She's the type of person I would love to be (except i'm never going to be *that* tall :P)
My only qualm with the PotS books is that they are rather short (but i know that wasn't TP's choice - her publishers restricted the no. of pages to 200 or so. This was back when huge tomes like the harry potter books were just simply not done)

31. Page by Tamora Pierce

This is the second book in the PotS quartet and shows Kel continuing her page training as she works to become a Squire. Although Lord Wyldon allowed her to stay it doesn't mean he'll start being nice to her so Kel keeps working at the challenges put before her to show the training master that he didn't make a mistake in letting the Girl return. With her friends Kel improves her tilting and sword skills and with her new maid Lalasa she discovers some things she wishes she didn't have to go through (female stuff :P)
As Kel grows up it's clear that she will never give up if she wants to achieve something and I admire that greatly :D Some days i soo wish that knights were still needed like they were in the 13th & 14th centuries because it would be amazing to be able to learn all that stuff - even though it would be damn hard work and there's always the potential to get seriously injured and unfortunately in real-life we don't have the healing magic there is in Tortall :(

I'm going to start reading the third book in this series Squire which as is evident by its name is about Kel's years as a Squire - it's possibly my fav in the Quartet but i'll have to make up mind when i read the forth :D

My daughter loves Tamora Pierce books and I am pretty sure that she has the Protector of the Small Quartet, but I wonder if she knows about those dog books. I think that she would really love those as well. I will be sure to ask her. :) Have a great day!
--BJ

Well i've now finished the last two books in the Protector of the Small quartet so I think i need to read something completely different for my next book - i'm thinking either my library book Wuthering Heights or my new purchase The Thirteenth Tale. Anyways on with the reviews!

32. Squire by Tamora Pierce

3rd book in the PotS quartet and possibly my favourite. Kel is now a Squire and hoping to be chosen to serve a knight who actually serves in the combat areas - but she's plagued by worries that no one will want to take on the Girl. Her fears are soon dispelled when she's chosen by one of the greatest knights in Tortall - Lord Raoul of Goldenlake, Knight commander of the King's Own. She guaranteed to see plenty of fighting during her squire years and with the whole Court going on a Grand Progress she'll travel to all corners of the kingdom. Tensions start to run high as the months slip away and the Knight's Ordeal gets closer and closer- all Kel has to do is survive it and she will become the kingdom's second Lady Knight.
I absolutely adore Kel and it's great watching her grow throughout the books. In Squire there's a lot more of everything really- action, humour and more romance too with Kel getting in touch with her feminine side. I do laugh loads reading Squire because any scene with Raoul or the King's Own in is bound to highly amusing and whenever Neal is around there's always a slew of ironic sarcasm and mild idiocy.
I am very grateful that the last two books of this quartet are longer because there's simply too much brilliance to stuff into 200 pages .

I'll do the review for Lady Knight later - i'm feeling a tad lazy at the moment.

*reads through TP reviews* Drat I want them even more now! *twitch*

Lol sorry jess - i've still gotta put up the review for Lady Knight and The Thirteenth Tale but it'll have to wait until my history's done *eep!*

Right while I'm pottering about on here i may as well get up-to-date on my reviews :D

33. Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce

4th book in PotS quartet and my second favourite i think. Kel is now a Knight like she always dreamed of being , but what's surprising and confusing is the task set for her by the Chamber of Ordeal. How is she supposed to kill the man who's using the spirits of children to fuel monstrous metal creatures which can kill faster than people can run away, if she doesn't know where he is? Not to mention the fact that it would be treason for her to go off into Scanra on her own once she has been given her orders to help in the war. Her commander in the north is her old training master Lord Wyldon of Cavall - although she gets on with him now she's still worried that he'll give her scut work that keeps her away from the main fighting. But she's shocked to find out she's been put in command of a refugee camp as a first-year knight with two of her year-mates Neal and Merric to help her. Can she keep her people safe when trouble comes knocking? Will she ever find find the Nothing Man who creates the killing devices?
Ah tis such a shame to come to the end of this quartet because i could just follow Kel's life until she reaches the Peaceful Realms. I found a fanfic which carried on from the end of Lady Knight and made reference to events that are mentioned in the Trickster books (albeit briefly since most of the story is set in the copper isles- Kel is seen in kind of "magic mirror" dream) it was pretty good really and a really nice plot idea. Dang i wish TP would write more about Kel... I just had a thought since she's got a rough idea what she'll be writing after she's finished the Beka Cooper series at some point she'll be writing a book about the coming-of-age of Maura of Dunlath (she's in the book Wolf Speaker which is in the quartet before PotS) i reckon that might take place after Trickster's Queen chronologically so its possible Kel will make an appearance then..
Wow what a waffle *that* was lol. anyways that's my TP reviews done for the now :D until i feel like having a re-read of something else by her...

few I dont have to read about the greatness of the TP books for a while! *addiction calms down*

hehehe *evil gleam in eye* hmm maybe after i've read Wuthering Heights i'll re-read the Immortals quartet?? :P
Nah i'm joking - i've got a random urge (that has just occured to me) to read this fantasy trilogy by Trudi Canavan that i bought last year and its been sat in my cupboard for ages asking to be read. But i'm gonna perhaps try and spread my reading out by only doing a couple of chapters each night rather than huge chunks which take time away from my sleep and studies or i'm gonna be having a huge stress in a few weeks when my revision is nearly non-existent *gulps*

Last night i read Pretties but since i still haven't put up my review for Thirteenth Tale it may have to go up tomorrow. Huh... i've had an idea - i wrote a proper LT review for it so i may just put a link in for it (if i can make it work)

34. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Here's the link for my LT review because i'm not inclined to write another one.

http://www.librarything.com/work/1014691/reviews/44575044

I sincerely hope it works *crosses fingers* YES!!! AWESOME!!

Ah thank god my need to read a TP book was getting out of control with all these awesome reviews!

Oooh good thinking with the thirteenth tale review. I await your review of Pretties I still want to buy and read the first uglies book *sighs*

Dear me i am neglecting my thread, I *still* haven't put my review for Pretties so since i'm obviously not being productive with my school work i'll do it now to alleviate my guilt of letting the cobwebs gather here.

35. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

This is the second book in the Uglies series. I did like this book but i didn't enjoy it as much as other dystopian type books that i've read such as the Hunger Games which was phenomenal. This was just a bit too - meh- for me to really like. Tally has now been made a Pretty but has forgotten much of her time with the Smokies and so is absorbed with her new shallow lifestyle. When someone of her past finds her she begins to realise that being a Pretty isn't all it's cracked up to be and with her new friend/boyfriend Zane she tries to break free of the mental blocks put in by the doctors who make people Pretty, to keep them docile and unquestioning of those who control them.
I find Tally to be more annoying in this book than in Uglies, for the obvious fact that's she now a Pretty and she's conditioned to find "uglies" absolutely hideous even if they have only minor flaws in their appearance, so her reaction when she sees people she met in Smoke is pretty telling of her shallowness as she finds a few spots completely revolting to look at.
Despite this i will probably read Specials and maybe Extras eventually just so i can find out what happens in the end but it's not going to be a book i re-read loads.

Currently reading Wuthering Heights and Priestess of the White - not sure which i'm going to finish first because WH is proving difficult to get into and PotW is pretty lengthy and requires a bit of concentration to follow, but i'm determined to get one read soonish.

Right it's been a week since i posted on here which is really bad of me because i've read three books and not been bothered to write the reviews so i'll rectify that today methinks.

36. Priestess of the White by Trudi Canavan

This is the first in the Age of Five trilogy (yea that confused me as well - thought there were more than three books but there wasn't :S)
At first I felt a bit befuddled by the number of different POVs and how it switched between them without much notification because some characters were the POV for one section then never seen again and others weren't obviously connected to the main story thread until half-way through the book where several threads came together. But after a while you get used to the format and can motor through the book fairly well.
I did really quite like this book and i'm looking forward to reading the second and third book. I became attached to several characters although strangely not so much to the main character Auraya who is the first POV character we see and follow throughout the book. I like the fantasy world this is set in as it has a slightly greek myth quality to it with a group of Gods who have their chosen servants on Earth. There are also mentions of other Gods who are thought to be dead and there are hints of some Great war amongst the gods a couple of centuries ago and I wonder if that's something that's going to be explored further in the triology.
Overall i found this a very enjoyable book to read and I would recommend to anyone who's read any of Trudi's books or if you want an epic-style fantasy with Gods and magic of both good and evil varieties.

37. Parasite Positive by Scott Westerfeld

This is the first book in another series by Scott Westerfeld and I have to say that I liked this book much more than his Uglies books. Maybe it's because he's better at writing from a male POV or that the whole "vampirism as a disease" concept is better written than the dystopian "everyone gets to look as pretty as everyone else". Either way I'm going to find the other two books in this series and read them because I really want to know what happens.
Cal is a 19yr old guy from Texas, going to college in New York but all is not as it seems. After getting blindingly drunk and hooking up with a mysterious girl called Morgan, Cal has been infected with a parasite that manifests symptoms that look a lot like vampirism. But Cal is fortunate because he is only a carrier but unfortunately after being infected he unknowingly passed the parasite on to the girls he was with afterwards. So in the year since he became Parasite Positive he's worked with the Night Watch to hunt down his old girlfriends and protect others from catching the parasite.
Once he's found the last of his girlfriends he now has to try to search for the one who infected him in the first place - Morgan. In the search to track her down Cal meets Lace a wannabe-journalist who wants to know the truth about the wierd goings-on in her appartment block which are directly linked to Morgan. But things get really complicated when Cal finds out that the Night Watch is not what it seems and that an old evil is rising and he need to help to fight it when the chaos breaks out...
This was a really good book, fast-paced, witty and a really interesting concept. I'm hoping the other books are even better as I don't want to be disappointed with this series like i was in a way with the Uglies series.

Will write up last review in a bit I need some caffeine :P

That's fascinating, I have never seen Peeps called that before.

I agree, although I like the Uglies series, I do think Peeps is better. There is a sequel of sorts, The Last Days, which is also pretty good (though I like Peeps better than that too) and another unrelated book called So Yesterday which I absolutely love. He's got a new book coming out soon that I am really looking forward to.

Yea that's the name it's published under in England.
I do want to read the sequel because it irks me if i abandon a series even if I don't really like it because I like to know what happens in the end.
Hmm i may have to investigate that So yesterday book ... drat like i *need* more books on the TBR pile.

If it helps, So Yesterday is fairly short :D

Tis both helpful and extremely unhelpful in that it now gives me incentive to find it and read using the excuse that "it's short so it'll only distract me for a little while!" :P

I'm glad I brought PP over uglies now ahh again another book I need to read soon!

You have such a good list going! I'm enjoying reading your reviews!

As for Peeps, I think I like Parasite Positive as a better title. It's far more creepier

egad! *blushes* i personally do not think my reviews are all that good so i get all shy if someone says they like them. However i'm not ungrateful for the praise - thank you very muchly :D
I agree Parasite Positive does sound creepier than Peeps and considering the content of the book creepy is definately the right angle to go for.

Right I know i'm a bit behind on my reviews since I didn't get round to adding Sabriel the other day and I've read another book today (well i *think* i started it yesterday but majority of reading was done this afternoon) which i need to add. Plus i've now started reading Last of the Wilds which i'm looking forward to and should probably have finished before friday if i keep up my usual routine of reading til 2am cos-it's-too-darn-engrossing-to-put-down!
So tomorrow methinks i will get up-to-date on reviews :D

When my daughter bought Peeps the other day, I asked her if it was about brightly colored sugary Easter candy in the shape of chicks and bunnies. Luckily, she tolerates my jokes. And she shares her peeps with me. :) She loved that book. Have a great day!
--BJ

Ack! I've now got three reviews to do before i think about getting another book finished.

38. Sabriel by Garth Nix
This is the first the Old Kingdom trilogy and a pretty good book to read. I was intrigued by the concept of magic used and thought it made for quite an original story bearing in mind I haven't read that many fantasy books with necromancy as a magical gift (not that Sabriel's magic is necromancy in the usual sense of the word).
I found Sabriel a very interesting character and I liked how her relationship with Touchstone (boy did his name irritate me!) developed through the book in a gradual way rather than : first sight - oo wow he's gorgeous and then three chapters later - omg he's the One please don't ever leave me! I found their arguments amusing and the snippy way Sabriel told him to stop called her ma'am (or something along those lines) was something i would have done myself . The cat/Free magic beastie that was Mogget was a highly bewildering character but still funny in the way he seemed to be sarcastic and act all-knowing quite often. He reminded me a lot of Faithful/Pounce in Tamora Pierce's Tortall books - maybe it's a prerequisite for talking magical cats to be pithy, vaguely obnoxious know-it-alls.
Although i did think the ending was perhaps a tad abrupt overall i really liked Sabriel and I will be trying to hunt up a copy of Lirael and Abhorsen to find out what happens afterwards, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the second book is set a number of years later after the end of Sabriel and focuses more on her daughter but i will have to double check that.

39. Envy: a Luxe Novel by Anna Godbersen
This is the third book in the Luxe series and I'm happy to say that this series is getting better as it progresses and I'm *very* impatient for Splendor to come out in October.
I can't say a whole lot about the plot without ruining the events in the two previous books so I will simply say that this is my favourite so far in the series. My heart goes out to Diana and Elizabeth as they both deal with their respective heartaches - Diana i especially adore. She's so much more vibrant than the other characters and always the most interesting to read about. Penelope is still a complete and utter (enter appropriate derogatory term here) and I loathed the way she manipulated Henry throughout the book but I will be so glad to see how she copes in the next book considering the ending of Envy. Lina is also still an unlikeable social climber who needs knocking down a few pegs or seven and i seriously hope she realises soon how pathetic she really is because the way she treats Elizabeth makes me want to slap her silly.
This series is absolutely wonderful - it's got all the scathing social maneuvering of the Gossip Girl books but with a whole load of sumptuous romanticism thrown in and none of the fluff.

Will have to do the review for my most recent read a bit later, right now i'm starving and i'll start chewing a book if i don't eat something soon :P

Oh no go and eat girl we dont want you hurting a book *shudders* both books sound really good *twitch* I really must start the luxe when I get back off holiday!

hell behind *again* on reviews >:(
I've three to do methinks so i'll get the first one out of the way now.

40. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

Hmm... this book was rather "blah" overall. Although the observations made about life at a prestigious boarding school by a middle-class outcast on a scholarship were interesting to read about, there was basically no point to the book since nothing really exciting ever happened and at the end you wondered "why the heck did I just read that?"
It wasn't written badly and I didn't get a violent urge to fling the book into a fiery pit of hell (which i couldn't do anyway cos it was a library book :P) but it didn't instill a feeling of "wow what a poignant and inciteful book about the perceptions of boarding school kids all being rich and snobby - I *must* read it again!"
So basically it's a tolerable enough book to read if forced but i wouldn't recommend it to read of your own volition, there's plenty of more engaging books out there so don't waste your time reading this and then wondering why you did.

Will get reviews of Last of the Wilds and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies done this afternoon hopefully. Only 10 books to go!! I will carry on counting after i reach 50 though - i can probably reach 100 this year :D

You can def reach 100 rach! I wonder what our totals will be by the end of this year? hmm...

hmm well if you consider how many new books are coming out over the course of this year *as well as* all our TBR and TBRe-Read books then i think we'll have a pretty hefty total by the end of the year lol.

I finished another book a short time ago but since i've got to do two other reviews still it may have to wait for a few days. Plus i'm also reading the original P&P at the moment so i may end with *four* reviews to do before long. *sigh* so many books so little time to fit them into

My how neglectful i am of this thread!! it's been 5 days and i still haven't written the three reviews i have waiting nor have i finished P&P - as much I'm enjoying the book it is taking an inordinate amount of time to read, a normal 200-something page book would have been done in less than three hours and this has taken me nearly a week to still be 100 pages from the end! gah!

Ok since i've now got something like five reviews to do I can't quite be bothered to do proper ones so i'll just list what i've read and and one-line though about it to save myself some time.

41. Last of the Wilds by Trudi Canavan
I'm liking this trilogy more and more, can't wait to read the third book!

42. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith
Highly amusing re-invention of the romantic classic but this time with ZOMBIES!!

43. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennet
Interesting and funny book about what might happen if the Queen was addicted to reading.

44. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The original romantic classic, for a good reason too. Wonderful - how my bf can have the audacity to call Austen "boring" is beyond me!

45. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
Simply beautiful romantic novel. Short but completely engrossing if it makes me cry then it *has* to be brilliant!!

Currently reading Voice of the Gods and awaiting arrival of three new books *does new book dance* :D

Good Grief! it's been only 4 days since i've been here and i think i've read 4 more books!! the big 50 will soon be reached!! possibly either later today or rather early tomorrow ;)

Well since i don't have the time today to do proper reviews again i shall briefly list my recent read; and acquisitions.
I expected three books to arrive but in the end managed to have four - a mysterious BookMooch arrived on Thursday which i'm pretty sure is *not* from the person i requested it from so i'm terribly bemused. I managed to smuggle in my amazon order without my parents knowing so everything is quite marvelous at the moment (except for my current mental state which is rather troubled)

46. The voice of the Gods by Trudi Canavan
I did really enjoy this series and hope that Trudi may do more with this universe in the future as the ending felt a tad ambiguous as though something else could happen.

47. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
My Mystery Mooch. Quite an interesting book to read which i sneakily munched through on Friday! (i couldn't remember when i'd finished it but i do now :P). However i didn't think it was worth all the hype i heard about it, yes it was quite compelling and I did want to finish it but I was left feeling kind of *meh* about it since the ending seemed to say "there. you've seen what happened. everyone moved on now so should you" There's not much closure to the story (or so i thought) since her body is never found and although her murderer does get what was coming to him, that vindication is never felt by her family so what was the point?? Gah so much for brief. To sum up - i did enjoy reading it but felt a bit cheated by the ending, not my favourite read ever.

48. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey
I really quite liked this book, it's a slightly different take on the now prolific vampire romance novel. With actual Romanian vampires and royal bloodlines (i did do a double take when i saw the name Dragomir but i reckon thats the result of research into actual history of Romania not the product of pilfering from the Vampire Academy novels).
Jessica just wants to have a normal senior year but when Lucius Vladescu (emphasis on the middle syllable please) arrives claiming to be her Vampire Prince Fiance she can't help but feel a bit angry towards this rather frustrating guy. I found Lucius quite annoying at times and thought him a pillock for some of the things he did although he was quite sweet at times. I didn't like the concept that women couldn't be vampires until a man bit them (why can't we sprout fangs by ourselves??) but maybe thats just my modern, independant females tendencies taking offence at a ritual which was probably started in a time when women *were* though inferior to men. Thank god it's the 21st century! All in all a rather satisfying book... i wonder if there'll be a sequel..

49. Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
I bought this to make up my amazon order to £15 so i could get the free postage and because i wanted to read it and i'm glad i did. This was my first read of a Fey book and i'm rather intrigued by these creatures, wonderful but terrifying at the same time. Aislinn is a great heroine and I'm so glad she has the confidence to speak her mind to Keenan and not act like one of those irritating Summer Girls. I loved Seth (for all i wouldn't probably like a guy with as many piercings as him) he was so sweet and gentlemanly towards Ash and so accepting of what was happening to her. I am planning on getting the other books although i may wait to get Fragile Eternity in paperback so they all match *ocd twitch* Wickedly magical read very happy with it.

Well I've just got ONE book to go before i've reached my target and if I can do it before the halfway point of the year (yes i know that's tomorrow) I shall be rather happy. Hopefully i'll be able to double that total before the end of the year.. who knows i only started *this* in March... perhaps triple...

Oooh Rach nearly on 50! You've done a LOT of reading lately im mega excited to read WL and JGTDOTDS (wow even typing thats long!) I agree with what you said about lovely bones its good but like before I die I didnt get what all the hype was about.

I know!! although i probably shouldn't have been doing as much reading as i have done over the past week since i do have my first 3 exams on thursday *ARGH* so i'm gonna have to seriously pull my socks up these next few days.
Hehe lol just call it Jessica's Guide and have done with it :P
Yea it was pretty interesting to read but not astoundingly brilliant like some of the reviews made out.

Well! I've done it!! I have read 50 books since the 14th March 2009 (actually i've read more than that but i did re-read a few books already reviewed here so its silly to count them twice)
I finished my 50th book at about 3am today (boy am i tired now) I couldn't help myself and picked up The Lucky One at 11ish and read the whole thing in one go. And i'm not sorry at all :D

50. The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
This is only my second Sparks novel but i do believe that i'm beginning to adore this man because reading The Notebook and this have been truly wonderful and just today I borrowed another book of his from the library which I think i will enjoy very much.
About the book: Logan Thibault has walked from Colorado to Hampton, N/S Carolina (my memory has gone for the time being) he's trying to find the woman in a photograph that he's had for five years. A photograph that has kept him safe in three tours in Iraq as a Marine. He has no idea what he's going to do once he finds her- if he ever does- but what happens when he gets to Hampton changes not only his life but the life of the woman in the picture.
My Thoughts: Oh my word! I loved every minute i spent reading this book, the plot kept me riveted to the last word and the characters seemed to leap off the page until I was so caught up with them that i started crying near the end. On that note i shall say this: Nicholas Sparks you are an evil bastard who takes vicious glee in messing with romantic females' heartstrings! When you pulled that stunt on the THIRD TO LAST page i could have hunted you down and shook you silly for putting me through that- I went from afeared to despair to utter joy in about the space of a chapter! Argh you wonderful man you! No doubt you'll put me through the emotional mangle *again* when i read First Sight sometime this week or next but I won't care since it's Romantic Fiction at it's most gorgeous. *sighs like the gooey romantic I am*

Even though I've now reached my target there's no need to be stopping counting my books so there will be more reviews and general ramblings from me - the ever-loopy LadyV - in the very near future so stick around! :D

*happy dances for Rach finishing her 50 book challenge!*
Wow The Lucky One sounds really good I do love some Nicholas Sparks so so romantic! A walk to remember is another amazing wonderful book of his I recommend it highly :)

I actually looked at that while i was in smiths earlier and it does look really good- it'll have to join the others on my to-be-bought list. After i can perhaps track down the movie of it as well....

Oh yeah the movie is pretty good too although I prefer the book to a walk to remember you should def read it!

Right i'll remember that :D

I have kind of got two more books read already *sheepish grin* and i probably won't get time to review them properly until the weekend due to the impending THREE exams on thursday *dies* so bear with me til then. I've read Pagan's Crusade and At First Sight Mr Sparks did it again and had me crying all over the bloody book - he's got some freaky mystical power that makes me cry at the end of his books. Bloody brilliant book though.

Hehe yeah he has that effect on me too. I'm going to have to read some more of his books ive only read the notebook and a walk to remember. Oooh and good luck with the exams thursday! I hope your getting lots of revision done, but from the way your getting through books I take it that your not! :P

well two of my exams tomorrow are General studies which are a waste of time for the uni i want to go cos Warwick doesn't give a damn about GS grades. The other one is my last french exam and i think i'll be ok with that. It's the two history exams on monday that i'll be bricking myself over friday, saturday and sunday.
*blushes* i do get SOME revision done just not as much as i'd like- i'm perhaps too reliant on my innate skill to fluke my way through exams.

Oooh how did your exams go hun? I feel for you with your history exam I found my GCSE one a killer! Saying that as much as I love history im hopeless with dates and things!

oh the GS and French went fine! i've now gotta revise like a demon for monday! My GCSE history exam was actually really good - the first paper was exactly the questions my teacher had "guessed" it was going to be *wink wink nudge nudge* (he's on the exam board for that syllabus)
But my A2 exams are sooo much harder cos there's way more stuff to remember and to get everything written in the time is going to be really hard.

Relating to my book Challenge:
I've read another book or two since i last posted and i've already got two reviews to do which may have to wait some more while i get exams out the way. sorry!

I'm glad there all going well so far :)

Ahh its ok Rach go concentrate on your exams! Plenty of time to write reviews when there all done.

well the exams *were* going well until today :( history was a complete debacle and i am praying like hell that i won't totally fail them both. I'll have to work uber hard for my last history exam on thursday and try and get my chemistry good enough so i still stand a chance of getting into uni

*hugs* I hope everythings ok hun, hopefully your managing to sail through exams luck will come up trumps in your history exams!

Argh such thread neglect!! I have now totted up that I have FIVE reviews outstanding and by next Friday (FIRST DAY OF FREEDOM!!!) i will have done them all and those for any other books i finish in the meantime - I've got one book on the go at the moment which i will try to finish next plus several other library books and two new buys to get through.

Currently Reading: The Girls by Lori Lansens

Haha you have really neglected your challenge but that’s understandable with your exams and all *shrugs* Oh I have the girls floating around in my room somewhere I brought it in a stones 3 for 2 ages ago and haven’t yet read it its been sitting there for like half a year maybe longer lol…

Gah i haven't posted since friday!! heck dang and blast!
Well since then i've finally finished The Girls which took me bloody long enough, and i've also read two other books City of Bones and The Demon's Lexicon so now i have 8 reviews outstanding plus i need to read a book that i got asked to read and review over in the "Go review that book!" group. Argh i will have to spend the first few days of freedom catching up on reviews and having my spending spree *manic giggle*

On a random note: i have a small problem with my book journal, due to the large number of authors in my library whose surnames begin with a "C" i have actually ran out of space to put them in the correct section. I'm at a loss as to what i should do next time i read a book with a "C" author - do i put them at the end of the more obscure letters' sections, note them in the notes section at the back of the book, or write the review on a piece of paper and stuff it in the corresponding section?? gah such difficulties!

Oh yes ive had a nosey on that go review that book, sounds most intriguing.

Ah Rach now that is a dilemma! I had the same problem with my book journal you only get two pages to write down your favourite book quotes and ive got loads so I had to take over another section of the journal. But now there not in the right place! *ocd twitch* but if I write them on paper then I might lose them and over time my book journal will get all chunky with the bits! Ahh I feel your pain Rach I feel your pain!

ah yes well the space given for each book in my journal is pathetically small i can barely write a four line synopsis and v.brief thoughts about it. But i counted earlier that i do have space for 98 more books so i probably will have more than enough for the rest of this year but i may have to write some in the wrong place when space runs out.

Ah I know mines the same I have to write really small :( When my space runs out and everythings all over the place I think im going to have a really bad OCD fit!

Right it's been ages since i did a proper post to this thread and I've read 12 books since my last review so it's about bloody time i got them done. They'll have to be shortish because I've a lot to get through so maybe just one-liner's.

51. Pagan's Crusade by Catherine Jinks
Very amusing and witty historical fiction set in the time of the Crusades, I *need* the next book!

52. At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks
Not quite as enjoyable as Sparks' other books (of those i've read) but still made me cry at the end therefore tis still pretty good. Or maybe i'm just a crybaby.

53. Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
2nd book in this enticing series, focuses on Ash's friend Leslie who gets mixed up in the dangerous world of the Dark Faerie Court. Looking forward to the next book.

54. Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers
Unconventional format, being a book made up of notes left on the fridge by a mother and daughter who are rarely in the room together long enough to talk about important issues that affect both their lives. Meh read it in under a half hour and although the ending *did* twang my heartstrings a bit I didn't really see the point of the book as a whole. dang verbosity ruining my one-liners!

55. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Fairytale-esque fantasy, I can see myself becoming a big fan of Shannon Hale- her stories are exactly what my gooey, romantic, inner girlie girl loves and leaves a happy feeling when the slightly surprising ending comes around.

56. The Girls by Lori Lansens
I'm sorry but I didn't find this as moving or heart-wrenching as the reviews I've read said I would. I did cry one occasion but the end just felt "meh" to me as it seems to just drop off. An interesting read but i'm glad i didn't buy the book myself.

57. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Although I know full well that this series is *not* going to be amazingly well written and that some of the plot ideas may have been re-jigged straight from Clare's HP fanfics, I don't care so much cos this series can be my post-twilight urban fantasy/romance guilty pleasure without all that sparkly vampire BS.

58. The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan
Finally!! I am soo happy to have found a highly readable and amusing YA fantasy book that is *not* set in America!! For a first novel it is really rather good (I've even told Sarah myself which I never thought I'd be able to say about a book) and I'm really looking forward to the second book coming out next year.

59. Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
This is possibly the 2nd Dessen book i've read and although I do really like her style of writing I think I prefer Just Listen to this one. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it cos I did but I think I felt like it could have done with a smidgeon more romance and I didn't wholly empathise with Ruby because of her slightly odd moments. But still I would recommend it and I'll probably read it again in the future.

60. The Magician's Apprentice by Trudi Canavan
It's been a while since I read the Magician's Guild/Black Magician trilogy (not quite sure of the name so i put both my guesses) so it was good to read this Prequel and find out what caused the Magician's Guild to be like it was when Sonea discovered her powers. Tessia is a great heroine with a strength and personality i admire quite a bit and I'd be very happy to discover if there was going to be a sequel to the prequel because the ending left room for more questions to be answered. Now I want to re-read the original trilogy to see if the prequel has answered all the mysteries about the Guild.

61. Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty
Never I have been so willing to forego an entire night of sleep just to read a book (or two) but my word it was so worth it! Jessica Darling is my new fav heroine and had me cracking up until nearly 6am this morning. Her wit and scathing observations about her so-called friends are hilarious and just seeing her trying to deal with her chronic insomnia and propensity to over-think things waaay too much makes me wish she was my friend. Add into that mix the intriguingly mysterious Marcus and BAM! Wow-factor overload! I am officially a believer in JD-ism and I so badly want to get hold of the other 3 books that i'm willing to wreck my no-books amnesty in a heartbeat! *le sigh*

62. Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty
If it was even possible to top Sloppy Firsts, this second installment to the Jessica Darling series does it in style. I now *adore* this girl and I'm infinitely grateful to the peeps of YAR (and Jess) for putting me onto these books. Gosh darn it I've never been so happy to be exhausted!! Bring on the next book!!!

Wow finally got that lot out the way (so much for the one-liners though). Hopefully I will do better at keeping up-to-date with my reviews now that i have more time on my hands. oo now i'm really hungry and need to go eat something - this post has taken me over an hour to write although i was interrupted a few times lol.

*shocked face* Rach! Are you feeling quite well? You've actually edited your book challenge! lols! I think we need to call the builders in to put up a Jessica and Marcus statue in BAA! and cardboard cut outs of the clueless two (not Bridget shes actually alright) to throw tomatoes at *runs off to discuss plans with Bill*

har har hardi-har Jess :P

Well I've been slacking again and letting myself get 5 books behind so it's bulk review time.

63. The Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
This is my second Shannon Hale book and I was very happy with it. It's based on a little known Grimm's fairytale called Maid Maleen. Dashti is the lady's maid of Lady Saren who is to be locked in a tower for 7 years for refusing to marry the man her father chose for her. During their confinement many things change in the outside world so that when they are free of the tower they hardly recognise where they are anymore.
Hale is excellent at portraying a rich and detailed world in a small number of worlds and you really feel for her characters who seem so real and believable. I highly recommend this book and I can't wait to read The Goose Girl.

64. Evernight by Claudia Gray
For a little while near the start of this book i had horrible imaginings that this book might turn out badly. Seeing the description of Lucas as "Bronze-haired and brooding" (i sort of improv'd the brooding bit) sparked a fear that it would turn into a slightly rejigged version of Twilight. But thank god for the twist that turned everything around for the better - Bianca is a rather interesting if somewhat niave character at the beginning but does improve throughout the book. Odd as it may be I actually preferred Balthazar to Lucas since he was a genuinely nice guy who would have been good with Bianca. You just don't know enough about Lucas to really like him as the romantic interest.
I did rather like this and I'm looking forward to reading Stargazer.

65. The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen
I adore Sarah Dessen's writing, she cannot be beaten in the YA, coming-of-age genre and I will *have* to acquire all of her books in due course.
I really liked this story and loved the characters (except Bethany, Amanda and Jason of course). I empathised with Macy battling her feelings of insecurity and inferiority in the shadow of her "perfect" boyfriend who saw her as too much of a distraction to his goals to continue going out with her. I also empathised with her catch-all response to the question "are you alright?" - I'm fine, I'm fine. I probably say that many times when i'm not really fine just to keep people from questioning me further.
I loved how the book ended as I'm a sucker for happily-ever-afters so i think this is in contention for my first or second fav Dessen book.

66. Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
I saw this book mentioned on a challenge thread and so when i spotted it in the library i picked it up. It took me all month to get around to reading it but in the end it wasn't a complete waste of time. It was a sweet book but sometimes the general childlike perspective of the narrator grated on me a bit. The story was interesting and sad at the end but it's not going to be a book i will bother to re-read. But i don't regret reading it.

67. The Scandal of the Season by Sophie Gee
This was picked up from the library on a whim and also sat around for a month waiting to be read. When i finally got around to it last night i have to say I quite enjoyed it. It was an interesting Historical fiction book set just outside a period I am rather familiar with from my History a-level course. Although i am thoroughly sick to the back teeth of the Jacobites i found the intrigue in this book was not too tiresome. There was also a dash of bodice-ripper action on occasion which gave the story a little saucy aspect and made it less dreary than it could have been. The characters were interesting and i always find the eloquent yet scathing remarks used often in the 18th century rather fascinating- tis a shame that modern language has lost some of that subtle elegance and has been replaced with forthright coarseness. On whole a rather pleasing read and it did not make me regret staying up til 3am to finish it.

Next on deck will be my Go Review that Book! read Claudia: daughter of Rome

Oh dear I have been dreadfully neglectful of my thread and now I'm ten or so books behind on reviews. It'll have to be bulk one-line reviews again. darn.

68. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
While i know full well that this isn't a very well-written series (Clare uses more similes per sentence than I'll use in an entire day), it still is rather addictive and I did enjoy reading this second installment and will have to get hold of the third even though i now can't get the matching covers *grr dang british publishers*.

69. Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
I cannot possibly say how much I loved this book, Hale is simply a genius in these type of fairytales and I now desperately want to get the next two books in the Bayern Series. Isi is a fabulous heroine and thoroughly believable as a character and I can't wait to read more about Enna, her close friend, in the second book. Just plain wonderful story-telling.

70. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
The original and the best although now I'm older I do wish the earlier books were longer. Still a very enjoyable read even after all these years.

71. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Not quite sure where this one falls in my ranking of favourites within the series, probably close to the bottom although i don't dislike any of the books as they're all brilliant.

72. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
This was my favourite until the forth book came out, Sirius and Lupin were some of my most loved characters and it was great to see Harry finally find some "relatives" if you like after so long on his own. I found it hilarious how narked Snape was at the end when Sirius disappeared - poor bloke.

73. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them by J.K. Rowling
I find the two school books released for Comic Relief really interesting and often wish Rowling had done a proper spellbook like the Standard Book of Spells from one of the years, to give a list of all the different spells used throughout the series and their uses. But that is perhaps just me being *incredibly* nerdy and still clinging onto that dream from when I was ten that it was all real and I was going to receive my letter that summer *sigh* such dreams die so hard.

74. Quidditch Through the Ages by J.K. Rowling
This history of the origins of quidditch and other broom-related games is very interesting and again provokes wishes that magic truly exists so that people can enjoy a game that sounds a darn sight more interesting than football will ever be. Tis such a shame really.

75. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
It's a toss-up between this book and Half-Blood prince for my favourite spot, I loved all the Quidditch and Twiwizard Tournament stuff in the 4th book and was suitably spooked to hell by the Return of Lord Voldemort. But the fact that the film was appallingly bad kind of spoiled it a bit for me - I don't care how awesome David Tennant is, Barty Crouch Jr. is supposed to have BLOND hair and the whole creepy tongue thing was just plain ODD. Perhaps the only good thing about it was Ralph Fiennes who is simply *is* Lord Voldemort - that man personifies terrifyingly creepy on all levels *shudders*.

76. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
I do really like this book but the events at the end prevent it from being my overall favourite (why sirius? it's just not bloody fair!) I love all the of the DA scenes and Fred & George's triumphant departure from Hogwarts is damn brilliant and I was wishing desperately throughout for Umbridge to get what was coming to her. I half exhausted myself reading this book in my mad rush to re-read the first 6 before the film came out but frankly i didn't really mind even though the end of this book does make me cry rather a lot (but crying at books is a good sign with me- it means they are suitably awesome enough to reduce me to tears).

77. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
For all this book is fraught with the horrible incidents caused by Voldy I think this is one of my favourites, it's hilariously funny at times and that sort of prevents it from being all doom-and-gloom the whole way through. The film was surprisingly good compared to the 4th and 5th films which were bloody awful - it was pretty faithful to the book although I do wish they hadn't stuck that scene with Bellatrix coming to the Burrow in cos it's wildly inaccurate and may rather stuff up things that are going to happen in film 7. Also the lack of Bill and Fleur is a tad irksome cos they are also important characters in the next book. But the most galling of all is the lack of DOBBY AND KREACHER!! argh silly filmmakers they *have* to be in the last film so not having them in the last 3 films is gonna make it exceedingly difficult to get the last film(s) right. /end rant. Sorry I'm a notorious book purist when it comes to the HP books.

78. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Despite the fact that I love the way the plotlines are all resolved and the fact that there are some fantastically funny scenes in this book - it has to be one of my least favourites because of the way Rowling just storms about with a bloody death-stick and kills off characters almost willy-nilly at the end. I was basically sobbing for the last 100 pages and was furious at Rowling for killing some of my favourite characters from the whole series- Fred for god's sake! how could she?!? Lupin and Tonks just broke my heart and you never know how they died, it just *happens* while we're not there. However i do find the epilogue tremendously sweet and heart-wrenching (although Ron and Harry need lessons in how to name their kids - Hugo and Albus?? ;P) but it would be great if Rowling wrote a book about the events straight after the battle at Hogwarts and how everything slowly got back to normal and how they ended up at the Epilogue- i know it may not have all the adventure and drama as the original series but for the fans it would be very interesting to know about. Just my two cents.

79. Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
I read this a little while ago purely so I'll have read the whole set of Harry Potter books. Although it's interesting to read, it is very short and therefore very quickly finished and then there's nothing left to read about Harry. What am I to do now?? :S

Ahh finally up to date on reviews although the fact that my computer is determined to restart itself means it's taken me a while to write this but hopefully it won't die before i post it *knocks on wood*
Going to start the first part of Pillars of the Earth for the group read later this evening, I will be a bit more leisurely about this book as trying to read it in one night may actually kill me :P

Right once again I've managed to go 10 days since i posted a new review on here and I've racked up 4 new books read so I will have to do them in bulk.

80. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
This dystopic novel left me somewhat bemused as to what religious sect was actually being depicted as the one who set up the Republic of Gilead - if it *was* the religious group which did it otherwise I'm still terribly confused :S Anyway i found it to be a fairly interesting read and was rather disturbed that a woman's role in society could shift to such an extreme and that the generation of women who had known freedom were brainwashed to an extent that they accepted their new lot in life. Offred was an intriguing character with an admirable strength for one in her position and I would like to know what happened to her as the narrative cuts off once the black van appears. At times i found the writing a little jarring as some of it seemed to be written in the present tense which i wasn't used to but I got past that. Overall quite a satisfying read but i think re-reads will help me understand bits that confused me the first time.

81. Generation Dead by Daniel Waters
I really liked this urban fantasy novel- the idea of not-quite undead teens interacting with the normal population and being subjected to some hateful prejudices is refreshingly different to most of the teen fantasy books i've read. The characters seemed surprisingly realistic to me and I liked Adam the most. I found Pete to be a highly disturbed individual who was definitely a few nuts short of a coconut shy - but it was somewhat understandable that he was driven slightly mad by the grief that the girl he loved and lost didn't come back like so many other teens who died before their time. The theme that prejudice destroys communities was very well portrayed and I thought Phoebe was much more likeable for her willingness to look past the hate and take an interest in the "living impaired" kids. I am looking forward to reading its sequel - Kiss of Life, a very enjoyable read.

82. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
The last book in the Mortal Instruments trilogy. Despite the fact that I know this series is not very well written and probably has plot holes that i decided to ignore I can't help but love this book. The chemistry between Jace and Clare has almost reached a fever-pitch to match the tension caused the impending war with the devious Valentine. Although certain plot-twists had been spoiled for me (I knew by instinct that it was going to happen anyway) i still enjoyed how the plotlines wrapped up and how there was a good dollop of happy endings all around. The humour still had me giggling into the night and there were some pretty sweet moments that made me "aww". A great light, fun fantasy story so long as it isn't ruined by the blight of rabid fangirls a la Twilight.

83. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
Another Hale great. The second book in the Bayern series and although i didn't enjoy it as much as the Goose Girl it was still a very good book. Enna is a likeable character although some of the things she does with her new power do disturb me a little and how she doesn't seem to be registering what she is actually doing until later on. Finn is such a sweet guy and I think Enna is little harsh to him early on in the story but thankfully redeems herself by the end. Sileph is another power-hungry antagonist with the ability to people-speak and i was rather amused when he got his comeuppance.
I am looking forward to the next book in this series and I think i can work out which language will be the focus of River Secrets although I can't guess which character will be the main one.

Phew caught up again, at least until i finish my current book Jamaica Inn I can see myself finishing this tonight as I am really enjoying reading it.

LadyViolet, The Handmaid's Tale doesn't actually end when Offred is taken by the black van. Did you read the "Historical Notes" (or something like that) after that last chapter? They are actually part of the novel, they are not extra notes. If you missed them, definitely go back and have a look. They'll give you a bit more perspective on Gilead and some clues about what happened to Offred.

*wonders into thread* Blimey I havent posted here for ages! So I just thought I'd stop by to see how your getting on. 83 huh? I reckon you'll def read 150 by the end of the year :P Did you finish the way of shadows in the end? I'm reading the summoning right now and its bloody good so far!

Spacepotatoes : I do know about the historical notes at the end and I did read them but what i meant was that Offred's narrative ended at the point where the black van appears not the story as a whole. I confuse myself with my words more often than not.

Technically Jess I'm now on 85 cos I read two books since i posted here *cough* yesterday. I'll put them up soon enough. I still haven't finished Way of the shadows actually it's sat on my drawers in the pile waiting patiently, I've got a couple of library books I want to get through first before i go back to it. Dang i need to get the Summoning and the Awakening *twitch*

Blimey girl your just one human reading machine! So I finished reading the summoning last night and Rach two words- READ IT!
I LOVED it its definitely up there with vampire academy, the study series and other well loved books, seriously its really good. gah here I go again not helping your bank balance :P

>103 RLMCartwright: Ah, ok, sorry about that! I remember using SparkNotes while I was reading Handmaid's Tale and if I understood it correctly, I think it was supposed to be the evangelicals that eventually created Gilead but I could be wrong about that, I read it last summer.

In any case, you've got an impressive list here for one year! Happy reading :)

Cripes I am *such* a neglectful thread-owner!! Two thirds of August has already gone and i still haven't updated this thing! And now with 10+ reviews to do it's bulk one-liners time again. I'm doing 3 posts with 4, 4, and 3 reviews in depending on how much i write.

84. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
I found this gothic book to be very enjoyable and I'm definitely glad i picked it up from the library. I will have to buy a copy at some point- Recommended.

85. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Another enjoyable yet emotional book, it was nice to have a guy's POV for the first time in a while.

86. River Secrets by Shannon Hale
Third book in the Bayern series this time with Isi's other friend, Razo. Liked it more than Enna Burning as Razo is very sweet and funny and the book overall wasn't as sinister as Enna's. Hoping for more in this series.

87. Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder
Anything written by Maria is near-guaranteed to be good and although the first book in the Opal Cowan trilogy wasn't as mindblowing as poison Study was, it certainly is still worth a read. Opal is a likeable heroine despite her strange propensity for getting captured 4 or 5 times during the story. I would have *loved* an appearance from Valek but alas i know i shall have to wait until the 3rd book for that *sigh*. Bring on Sea Glass :)

88. Stargazer by Claudia Gray
I think i liked this better than Evernight although it's not my favourite vampire series. Lucas is not the best romantic interest in my eyes, I think Balthazar would be better for Bianca but what can you do? If this is a trilogy (which i think it is) then good as I reckon my interest wouldn't hold out for many more books so i am intrigued to know what happens next in the last book.

And again with more bulk reviews!

89. Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr
I am liking this faery series more and more as the books progress and this one definitely left me hankering for the next one, which unfortunately won't be out for a while *grr*

90. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
I was very pleased when i finished this rather hefty historical fiction- Sue & Maud are very likeable characters when you get to know their respective sides of the story and the plot twists jumped out and took me by surprise a couple of times. Excellent and highly recommended.

91. The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons
READ IT!!!! For god's Sake READ IT!!! This book is so extraordinarily brilliant that you will be clamouring to read it at any spare moment just to find out what is happening with Tatiana & Alexander. So much emotion is packed into this book that the speed of some events will leave you reeling . When you finish it, the terrible feeling that if you don't read the next two books as fast as is humanly possible then you might actually die will haunt you until you do so.

92. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
This is possibly one of my favourite Dessen books after Just Listen. Remy and Dexter are very loveable characters and also are great to read about. Looking forward to reading more by Sarah Dessen in the very near future (meaning tonight :P)

93. Airhead by Meg Cabot
Surprisingly enjoyable read, despite it being a very quick read I am intrigued by the story and wouldn't mind reading the sequel although i'm not sure whether i'll buy it or not.

94. Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway
Another awesomely funny read along similar lines to the Jessica Darling series. Although the plot is wonderfully original the whip-quick snarky humour of Audrey is much akin to JD and that makes it near impossible to read without shaking yourself to pieces from suppressed laughter. James is an adorable guy and soo sweet when he's flustered. Very highly recommended would be very happy to see more from Robin Benway.

AT LAST!! All caught up for now ;)
gonna start That Summer by Sarah Dessen now and get to sleep early as it's D-Day tomorrow folks (anyone in Britain who did their A-Levels in June will know what I mean)

Aw hell I am sooo bad at this. This is why I will *never* be good at writing a blog cos I get side-tracked so easily that even if i start with the best intentions within a week i will have completely forgotten about writing daily and will only remember 6 months down the line. *sigh*

I do not have the energy or inclination to write proper reviews (i am caffeine-deprived as well as sleep-deprived) so here we go with the one liners.

95. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Awesome new (to me) vampire series with the potential to top all the others i've read.

96. That Summer by Sarah Dessen
Short and sweet although not my fav Dessen book

97. Someone Like you by Sarah Dessen
Another very enjoyable book by the master

98. Kiss of Life by Daniel Waters
Interesting sequel to zombie book Generation Dead, happy to read another one by him.

99. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead
Long anticipated and heart-wrenching. Darn you Mead hurry it up - I can't wait til next MAY for Spirit Bound!!!

100. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
Considering the difficulty I had getting hold of this book it is rather karmic that it should become my 100th (unique) book of my recorded year (I've read a fair few more than 100 so far this year with the pre-March books *and* re-reads since i started the challenge) But I digress - really getting into the Sookie Stackhouse books although the way that the characters in the TV series call her "sucky" rather than "sookie" irritates slightly but that isn't a major thing. Can't wait to read Club Dead.
*does 100th Book Dance*

101. Last Chance by Sarah Dessen
Adoring Dessen's books this is another corker and up there with the favs. I think i only have two more books of hers to read...

102. Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Very enjoyable book, wouldn't mind reading more Sherlock Holmes books seeing how the film is coming out later this year.

103. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
OH MY GAWD!!! Can you spell cliffhanger or what?? cripes i hope the third book doesn't take too long cos i don't know how long i can wait for it!!

104. Tatiana and Alexander by Paullina Simons
WOW... i am officially in love with Alexander and could not put this book down for all the money in the world. Just as compelling as the epic Bronze Horseman and no less heart-wrenching. Bring on the Summer Garden!!

Currently Reading : Wake and will be finished shortly.

This is why I'm not reading Catching Fire until the third book comes out. Everyone is saying that and I just don't want to deal with cliffhanger agony.

As much as I gripe about cliffhangers I still don't seem to be able to avoid reading those books because it'll only drive me mental not knowing what happened and I am terribly impatient sometimes.

Argh I'm soo bloody awful at updating this thread!! 9 reviews I'm behind by! Better do them one-liners or near enough to it :P

105. Wake by Lisa McMann
Interesting concept although the writing style seemed a tad odd but I rather liked it overall.

106. Carpe Corpus by Rachel Caine
The 6th Morganville vampire book which i had to wait for in agony since January (her cliffhangers were bloody murderous) Really good to find out the resolution to the main story arc after all this time. Will be interested to read Fade Out when it's released later this year.

107. Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
3rd Sookie Stackhouse book - I do quite like these books and what I like about Sookie is that she's not completely dependent on Bill, the nice big and strong vampire, she's quite capable of taking care of herself when he buggers off to drool over another vampire (oopsy slight spoiler there) Either way quite happy to continue reading the series.

108. Prom Nights from Hell by Meg Cabot and Others
While this collection of short stories was relatively interesting I have to say that I only really liked Meg Cabot's story at the start - the rest were generally "meh".

109. Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty
Oh i do adore Jessica Darling! Her scathing wit and internal monologues do tickle me something rotten :) Although the lack of Marcus Flutie in parts of this book was slightly disappointing (a trivial and petty disappointment though) on the whole it was excellent. I quite fancy a re-read of the first two books although chances are that it won't be possible until the christmas hols due to impending departure for Uni.

110. Fade by Lisa McMann
Sequel to Wake and I think I liked it better as you get to learn more about her power and the effect it'll have on her life. Plus i do quite like Cabe even though his name's a little odd and I don't really find his relationship with Janie all too believable. I am interested to read the third book though to find out how it all ends.

111. Specials by Scott Westerfeld
Since reading Uglies I've liked this series less and less mainly because I can't stand Tally anymore. For the majority of Pretties and at least half of this book she's shallow, self-obsessed and very petty and just looks at others like they're all beneath her. I don't care what machinery is controlling her stupid little head I still don't like her. I felt bad about what happened to Zane since that was all Tally's fault and felt grim satisfaction when Dr Cable got her just desserts as she was a real cow and needed knocking down numerous pegs. Overall I didn't throw the book anywhere but I won't be buying my own copy any time soon.

112. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The First Sherlock Holmes novella. I can see myself really enjoying all of these books even if Holmes is a pompous know-it-all. Having Dr Watson as the narrator is much better because we know only as much as he does so it's more of a surprise when Holmes does his "I'll you all exactly how I worked it out" speech and then we'll all go "Oh my you're right!" and inflate Holmes' ego even more :P

113. The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
A very interesting and enjoyable non-fiction book which is the collected columns from Hornby's time writing for the Believer magazine. Basically he talks about the books he's bought and read each month and gives his opinions in a generally witty and amusing way. He also is continually making fun of the Polysyllabic Spree who run the magazine who enforced upon him certain rules like not being allowed to give negative views about a book or author in his column. Although he portrayed the Spree as a white-robed posse of evangelical-esque dictators I'm pretty sure they weren't all that bad or at least I hope they weren't :S

At last ! I'm finally up-to-date on my reviews although I haven't really read much in a few days so before I leave I'll have to cram in some serious book-time to try and get some of the shorter girlier reads out of the way.

If you're not totally sick of Uglies, you might be interested in Mind-Rain: Your Favorite Authors on Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Series (that was the only way I could get a touchstone, heh). It is a collection of essays by various other YA authors on what they thought about the Uglies series, including things like arguing that Shay was the real hero of the series and laying out a comparison between David and Zane to decide who was the better man (and boyfriend).

Oh dear again it takes me well over a week to update this thread - well to be fair I have had to move into my university residence and get my internet set up and with all the stuff I've had to do related to my course I haven't had all that much time to read for a while.
But hopefully now that Fresher's week is over I can get a routine set up to fit in some non-academic reading time around all my uni work.

Anyways back to the two reviews I owe.

114. The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
I am strangely fascinated by the Sherlock Holmes books and the general whodunnit mystery and I really enjoyed this novella. It's also interesting to see the developments in Holmes' and Watson's characters and try to understand why Holmes does all the cocaine and morphine although the very simple reason is that he does it when he's bored. I will need to pick up the next book from home when i visit next week otherwise i'll be having a long sejourn from the world of Holmes but since i've probably got a lot of other things to do instead maybe it's a good thing.

115. Blue Moon by Alyson Noel
I read this mainly because it was one of the books I chose for my ABC challenge and because I needed to knock another book off my growing TBR pile. It was alright I'll admit but the way that another Immortal just appears from the ether and tries desperately to down-right destroy either Ever or Damen is going to get old if Noel does it again in the last book. It seems so absolute the way the bad guy is portrayed to be inherently evil and has no wish to go easy on who they want to annihilate. Surely even people who've been alive for 600 hundred are capable of *some* human emotions still.
I got a little confused by what happened at the end with all the Blue Moon, time-travel shiz- seemed a tad wooly to me and didn't seem to actually achieve anything either. Bah well overall interesting enough for me to finish but not a stellar book although i may still get the third book so long as it's a paperback cos i don't want to spend the extra money on something I'm not going to love.

Currently reading The Picture of Dorian Gray which is bloody excellent so far.

Crivens! I am gonna update now while i can so i won't be worrying about it later. Only 5 reviews backed up which isn't too bad for me.

116. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
What a lush book! (I'm not welsh but felt the urge to use the word :P) Such gorgeous writing and a deliciously sinister plot. Dorian Gray is a very intriguing character and it's interesting to watch him in the early chapters go from naive young man to jaded and corrupted. The whole premise of his wishing for his portrait to grow old instead of him and then the damage he does to his soul with his wicked ways is just inherently creepy.
Despite the fact that i know that Dorian Gray has blond hair, when i was reading the book i kept seeing Ben Barnes just cos he's in the new film that's out (i need to see that still).
A most excellent read, very glad i did.

117. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
This was another cracking read. So funny and witty yet rather confusing at some times as you can never really know when Goldman is being serious or yanking your chain with the innumerable references to Morgenstern and everything else about the country being real. I think my copy has material that wasn't in the original because i've confused people by asking about the baby (What baby? i hear you cry) I would like to get hold of an earlier edition to mine and see how the original version ends to compare the differences.
I also would very much like to see the film as if it's this hilarious as a book then i reckon i'll be bent double from laughter seeing it visually- although I can't quite get my head around Mandy Patinkin being Inez cos although I think he's awesome in Criminal Minds the idea of him being someone that daft is a tad mind-boggling.
To sum up: Bloody brilliant book and shall definitely be re-read in the future.

118. Pagan In Exile by Catherine Jinks
I'm on a run of really good books it seems. The second book in the Pagan Chronicles is almost as hilarious as the first. Pagan and his Lord Roland are off back to France to try and persuade Roland's father and brothers to come and fight in the the Crusade to take back the Holy Land. But when they get back to Roland's homeland they find that matters there are much more diverting than the war in the east.
I really love the character of Pagan, his scathing wit cracks me up and the fact that's he's a whole lot smarter than everyone he meets is quite amusing.
I'm a little reluctant to start the 3rd book Pagan's Vows as I haven't got the 4th book yet and it'll be very difficult to get it over here without resorting to shipping it over from the US. But i will eventually, in the meantime i still have nearly 80 books which need reading :P

119. Dark Visions by L.J. Smith
To me L.J. Smith is a marvel, she writes wonderful stories that are highly readable and all of the ones i've read so far have been very nicely bound up in chunky omnibuses. It saves spending loads of money on separate books and you don't have to wait to get hold of the next story to read it (cripes did that actually make sense?)
Dark Visions is a trilogy of stories focusing on Kaitlyn Fairchild and a group of psychics who are all asked to join the Zetes institute which studies psychic phenomena. While everything seems kosher at the beginning, things become suspicious and the kids team up to fight against those who'd do them harm. I really enjoyed the stories and found Kaitlyn to be a very likeable heroine and i think it's a shame that there's no more written for this world (yet anyway :P)

120. The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
I really enjoyed this and reckon it's cracking start to a promising paranormal series (gah alliteration!) Chloe is a brilliantly funny heroine and although i can't figure out who it'll be yet I reckon either Simon or Derek is going to star as the romantic interest. I'm definitely looking forward to reading The Awakening which i thankfully have close at hand should a mad urge to read strike me one evening soon. My only problem will be if that one ends with a cliffie as well cos then i'll be dying until i get the third book.

It's so mental to think i've 120 books since March (mind you that's not counting re-reads of books already mentioned here cos i have done a few of those) considering how i only originally planned on making it to 50 i've surpassed that total by nearly triple.
I do reckon I'll make it to 150 by the end of the year although I think i'm going to run out of space in my book journal before that time - i'm resorting to putting many books in the wrong section alphabetically because i've already filled their proper sections earlier in the year. Thankfully for next year i have a plain notebook where i'm going to chart things chronologically rather than alphabetically cos that'll make my life soo much easier hehe.
Anyhow i've been rambling here for far too long and i'm neglecting my work away with me!

Ah hello again thread tis really just you and me eh?
Got three reviews for you this time and I do reckon it's been a good week for reading.

121. Fire by Kristin Cashore
I loved Graceling when I read it and I've been anxiously waiting for this prequel/companion book. And I'm very glad to announce that I wasn't disappointed in the least. Kristin has created another fantastic world in the Dells which is on the other side of some very large mountains to the extreme east of the world seen in Graceling. Fire is the dangerously beautiful half-human/half-monster protagonist. In this world there are many creatures considered "monsters" because they are beautiful yet deadly and have the power to control and change people's minds. Fire being half-human is prone to attacks from these creatures and constantly has to cover her flame-red hair and be on her guard at all times.
I found all the characters in this story to be very interesting even the boy who you meet in the prologue who's eerily familiar if you've read Graceling. There are some odd political relationships going on but if you keep your concentration you can follow what's going on. One thing i noticed which seemed to amuse me was how Fire seems to spend the majority of the book injured for one reason or another, poor thing. But overall the book was fantastic and I can't wait for Kristin to finish the third book in this world which is focusing on Bitterblue and her ruling of Monsea. Maybe in time she'll revisit Fire's world although since this story took place a long while before Graceling perhaps she's considerably older or even dead by the time Katsa's story takes place.

122. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
After I realised I'd been writing the title wrong (I kept missing out the Pie ) I started to read this the other day and my how glad I am that i picked it up!
A beautifully moving epistolary novel (thank god i know what epistolary means or i'd be a terribly pretentious plagiarist of other people's reviews) made me want to grab my writing pad and send someone a letter. I find it so much more fun to write and send letters than emails and think it a terrible shame that people don't send letters very much these days.
I loved many of the characters in this book, especially Juliet, Kit and Dawsey. I found Adelaide and Mark Reynolds to be amusingly pompous and snobbish and was very glad when they got what they deserved. The character of Elizabeth was ever-present in people's hearts even though she was physically absent for the entirety of the novel - her pivotal role in the lives of so many of the characters makes the revelation about her whereabouts all the more emotionally affecting.
The backdrop of post-occupation Guernsey was highly interesting and was something I hadn't ever previously known about. The suffering of the inhabitants of the island and all the slave workers transported there was quite shocking to hear about and I should think that i may do some research into the events which passed there to better inform myself about that period.
This book is quite possibly one of the best I've read so far this year and may still be one of the best by the end of the year. It'll remain a favorite for a while methinks and I'll be extremely happy to re-read this in the near future. Thanks are due to ElliePotten and several others who recommended this wonderful book in their respective threads :)

123. The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
I am quite aware that after such a delicious book as the GL&PPPS (i had to abbreviate it or it'd take me forever to type out) that this YA paranormal fantasy book is a rather large step down in literary merits but since I enjoy this type of book quite a lot I feel that I shouldn't feel guilty about my book choices in the slightest.
This was an enjoyable continuance to the Darkest Powers trilogy which i started in my last post with The Summoning so I won't make too many comments on the plot so I don't spoil events from the first book (although since it's only me and the dustballs here i could spoiler stuff all i fancied). Chloe is getting to grips with her power or at least trying to as they get stronger. Her relationships with Simon and Derek are still bewildering me and I hope that it gets resolved in the third and I think final book, The Reckoning.
This is a rather good paranormal read which is quick, fun and pretty witty to boot so I do recommend it to others who like this genre.

Next up.... erm well that's a good question cos i don't really know I have a book which i would rather like to finish before i grow old but considering the length of time since i read any of it I may have to re-start it from the beginning.

After staying up until 2 last night reading my next book which i'm about to review and subsequently getting up late and being 15 mins late to class I'm now tired as hell and may slump into incoherency quite soon.

124. Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Oh wow... for all this is a story about werewolves it has some of the most beautiful writing i've seen in a YA book in a while. The characters all feel incredibly real even Isabel the snotty rich girl turns out to have some likeable qualities. The relationship between Sam and Grace seemed so natural for all its strangeness and I loved the pair of them within a chapter or two. Maggie's switching between the POV's of Grace and Sam was excellent as both of them were fascinating narrators and it's always great to get right inside their heads.
The story was paced wonderfully, although i did read it quickly everything didn't flash by so fast that i wouldn't remember anything once i'd finished.
I will admit that I did cry at the end for reasons i can't divulge or I'll ruin the story for anyone who hasn't read this lovely book yet. But tears with me make the book extra brilliant and I'll be re-reading this before long :)

I have had a run of pretty excellent books methinks, thanks to various recommendations gleaned from the threads here on LT. I'm still reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which is proving to be very enjoyable so far and I think I may get it finished in a day or two (depending on how late i'm willing to stay up at night for it) I'm on page 165 of 528 so if I read for an hour tonight I can try to get to page 300.

Oops i just left this message unfinished for about an hour lol Posting NOW!

#116 - I'm so glad that you liked Shiver, I loved it, the best I've read this year and I will admit that I to cried at the end, but honestly how could you not....lol!

>117 Kat32: Yea it's impossible *not* to love this book I think and I'm rather narked i've got to wait until next year to get the next one :(

#118 - your not kidding! I don't know how i'm going to stand it!

Right it's update time!!! I'm 7 reviews behind and I want it *sorted!* I'm in a really can-do mood today and I'm determined to get loads done (i've already hoovered the hall, kitchen, my bedroom and done the washing up and i've only been awake an hour)
I'll put 3 reviews in this post and the other 4 in the next post to save having one huuuge post.

125. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
I borrowed this from the library and i'm now considering getting my own copy. It was a very interesting and enjoyable vampire story and I liked it immensely. I was really intrigued by the relationship between Constantine and Rae (or Sunshine as she's known) and was always wondering what was going to happen between them. I found the ending somewhat meh because although the main plot line was resolved it just ended a tad oddly for my taste. The Mythology of the vampires and the magic users was rather interesting and quite well-thought out. Overall it was a very well written and less insipid a vampire book as has become the norm in recent years and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes that paranormal genre.

126. The Wind Singer by William Nicholson
This was a book I mooched after thinking it looked interesting when i saw it mentioned on someone's thread her on LT.
It was a fun book and quite fast-paced and reminded me a little of The Princess Bride in the sense that there was always something new appearing to block the progress of the main characters on their adventure. I liked the character of Kestral and found her relationship with her brother quite endearing. I found Mumpo a tad irritating I'm afraid as his innocent stupidity just made it hard for me to like him although I know he was quite helpful at times. Overall an enjoyable book although I'm not sure if I'll be reading the other two books just yet although it would be interesting to find out more about the origins of the city and the constant testing of it's occupants.

127. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
This was another cracker of a book, it was very well written and expertly plotted so that i never saw the twist at the end coming until just before Mikael and Lisbeth realised it. I think the characters are wonderful and Lisbeth is a kick-ass heroine who doesn't give a damn what people think of her and Mikael is also rather endearing in his own way. I can't wait to read the Girl who played with Fire as it's sure to be just as brilliant . *This* is how thriller crime novels should be written. Highly recommended

Next 4 books coming shortly...

Gah I'm getting behind again !! It's my own fault for reading 3 books on Halloween and for not catching up on all my reviews when I did the others on Saturday afternoon.

128. The Vampire Diaries Vol.1 by L.J. Smith
I read this pretty speedily one night the week before last when my parents and sister came to visit since my sister had just finished with it and I'd already read the books I had with me.
I've seen people say that the Vampire Diaries are very similar to Twilight but I honestly can't see it as Elena is nowhere near as irritating as Bella and Stefan is not quite the tortured soul that Edward is (nor is he as prudish :P). L.J. Smith is a better writer than Meyer by a million miles and I did enjoy the first two vampire diaries books a fair bit although the mean little cliffhangers at the end of the books annoy me as I can't read the second omnibus until I go home again later this month. A quick, fun read for if you're in a vampy mood :)

129. The Wild Hunt by Elizabeth Chadwick
I found this at a cheap bookstore along with two other books I really wanted which was a pretty spiffy bargain and it was a cracking book to boot.
Medieval Historical Romance novel set on the borderlands between England and Wales telling the story of Guyon de Miles and the young girl Judith whom was practically given to him as his wife. The two main characters I liked almost from the beginning - Guy with his charming sense of humour and Judith with her down-right pig-headedness. The writing was excellent and the story overall was very enjoyable and I'd be very happy to read more of Chadwick's books in the future. In fact I mean to build up a collection of as many of her books as i can find as medieval history is a period which interests me very much.

130. Dewey by Vicki Myron
Oh my this was such a wonderful book! The delightful account of the little kitten who got put inside the book drop box of the library in Spencer, Iowa on the coldest night of the year and was adopted by the library. Dewey Readmore Books became one of the most famous and beloved library cats in the world with people from coming as far as Japan to see him. His story and that of Vicki Myron who found him is a very moving one as they share 16 happy years together before the terrible day in 2005 when an elderly and terminally ill Dewey had to be put to sleep. I actually cried my eyes out when i reached the end as the effect that this one amazing cat had on the town of Spencer is so remarkable that you can't help but be completely moved by it. I recommend this to anyone who loves cats and even to those who don't and I defy you to try and *not* feel something as I believe it's impossible.

I will continue with more reviews soon (hopefully)

Another batch of reviews coming up!!

131. The Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink
I read a review of this on another 50 book challenge thread a while back and when i spotted it in my public library I thought "why not?" - it also served the dual purpose of fulfilling my "Z" author requirement for my ABC challenge.
It was a rather interesting and creepy book which fitted in well with how close to Halloween it was when i read it. After the death of their father, twin sisters suddenly become each other's enemy as they seek to fulfill their parts in the Prophecy which has affected their maternal line for generations.
I thought the "bad" twin Alice was horrifyingly cold and twisted and I couldn't believe how her sister (I've momentarily forgotten her name) could tolerate having such a sibling and let her get away with the things she does. That being said Alice is the one who knows how to use her powers tis just a pity that she's got the wrong job in the prophecy.
The book ended on rather a mean cliffhanger and the next book is not due out for several months I think, but I was not so enamoured with it that I'd be desperate to read it ASAP so it's fine :)

132. The Ivy Chronicles by Karen Quinn
This book was rather fluffy and chosen entirely because of the author's surname - I was having difficulty with the more obscure letters in my ABC challenge so I just picked out interesting looking books with the letters i wanted from the library.
Ivy Ames gets fired from her top-notch job and then her life unravels from thereon in - she has to sell her flat to the conniving bastard who fired her and she leaves her husband when she catches him in the bath with the aforementioned bastard's wife. Stuck for a job she sets up a business where she consults with families who're trying to get their young children into the most elite schools in Manhattan- it's a cutthroat world in kindergarten admissions and some parents will do *anything* to get their precious little babies into the top-flight schools...
This was a pretty funny book with all the mayhem that Ivy faces during her time as an admissions advisor although some parts did make me cringe a little (spray-painting a child to look african-american... eesh). It was good fun fluff which served a purpose- not spectacular and not likely to be re-read (it was a library book anyway) but still enjoyable to read.

133. Tempted by P.C & Kristin Cast
Right I've read all of the House of Night books now and I'm sorry to say that while i do enjoy the vampire aspect I've gotten increasingly annoyed with Zoey in each successive book as she continues to lose the bloody plot with regard to her harem of boyfriends. Now she's got Erik as the moody Ex, Heath as the soul-mate/snack box and Stark as the Bonded Warrior- I'm swaying towards Stark these days as he's no where near as possessive as Erik and not quite as daft as Heath and any guy with those archery skills would be good in my book.
Another issue I have is with the rather stupid use of non-vulgar language sometimes which sounds so horrible i basically shouted at the book "just call him an ass and have done with! none of this inane 'he's such a butt' BS cos you sound like an idiot!!!"
Oh and as much as I love Jack and Damien, having Jack go off on a press junket for Twitter in the middle of things is terribly irritating and jolts you out of the story something rotten.
I do like this series and I like some (not all) of the characters but the bits which annoy me stop me from being totally blown away by these books - but I will buy the next one Burned as there's no way i'm going to be happy until I find out what happens next after *that* cliffhanger. >:(

So agree with your tempted review and youve made me want to read Dewey now! I'm going to have a hunt for that in the library me thinks!

Gah still haven't done about 5 reviews! Gonna quickly update with 3 and then go eat cos i'm starving!!

134. The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa
This tiny book of three novellas was picked for my ABC challenge and I sped through it on Halloween. The three different stories were beautifully written but rather eerie and creepy in their tone. It left me feeling quite disturbed really as I puzzled over their meanings.
I've just realised that I've done these reviews in the wrong order as I finished this book before Tempted and read that one after feeling weirded out by it. Silly me.
Anyways it was a very lyrical book with pretty dark undertones but enjoyable nevertheless.

135. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Oh what a wonderful man Mr Sparks is! I can't write enough happy reviews of his marvelous books- always beautifully romantic and in this case also terribly tragic. About a young and unlikely couple who are doomed to only spend a short while together as the girl is very ill and hasn't got long to live. As I always do with Sparks' books I was sobbing by the end but unlike his other books this had no happy ending and that made it all the more tragic. Another stunner and I'm now desperate to get hold of any and every Sparks book just for the fun of crying my eyes out.

136. Wildthorn by Jane Eagland
Bought to fill a gap in my ABC challenge and because it looked interesting on it's own I was rather pleased with this read. To me it felt like a teen version of Fingersmith as it had similar themes with the Mental Asylums and the different sexualities. Louisa has been sent away from home to work for a family her brother knows, or so she thinks. But when she arrives at Wildthorn she is called by a different name and no one will tell her why she's been brought to an institute for unbalanced women. It didn't as large a range of intrigue and betrayal as Fingersmith did but it was perfectly acceptable for it's size and I enjoyed it very much - the character of Louisa was easy to like and I admired her for her tomboyish ways and aspirations to become a doctor even though it went against the grain for the stuffy victorian time she lived in. I would have no qualms with re-reading this book :)

That's enough for now as i'm getting really rather hungry now and I want to get all tucked up in bed at a decent time so I can read for a little while (not the ridiculous 6am bedtime I had this morning ugh)

Have you read Message in a Bottle, by Nicholas Sparks? I'm not a huge fan of his other books but this one I just LOVE. And it makes me cry like a baby at the end every time!

Rach - I am just astounded that you manage to get so much reading done at uni! When I was there I always took loads of books but I ended up mainly reading magazines and 'easy' books - like books of newspaper columns, humour, that kinda stuff. Maybe my boyfriend (of the time)'s large DVD collection and Freeview box had something to do with it... ;-)

P.S. Liked Dewey? Find some Deric Longden books - they're fantastic (and English)! And have you tried the doggy equivalent, Marley and Me?

I took a load of books with me at the start of term and when I finished them I gave them to my parents to take home when they came to visit. I kind of bought *cough*10 new books using birthday gift cards and I've read most of those now. I didn't take a tv so I haven't got that to distract me lol - my main vice besides reading is bloody Farmville I cannot stay off it for anything!!
I shall have to see if I can find myself some of those Longden books they sound very interesting :D

>Spacepotatoes - I haven't read that one yet but it'll be on my to-read list for the future and I'll be on the scout for a cheap copy.

Ah I want to read message in a bottle too and some other Sparks books for that matter seems as I've only read the notebook and a walk to remember. Oh and I loved Marley and Me it made me cry :|

Jess - I've only read those two so far too, and both of them had me crying absolute buckets, I had to take a few minutes to recover at the end of each one!

Rach - you should come look me up on FB, we can be Farmville neighbours! ;-)

Ah I know I adored both of them but my favourite was The notebook, have you seen the film? I was pretty impressed with it, and im normally hard to please when my favourite books are adapted into films. But if you haven’t watched it you really should. The A walk to remember films not half bad either. I really want to read The lucky one, The guardian and Message in a bottle. I'm going to have to have a hunt through some charity shops by me me thinks seems as last time I looked they had quiet a few books by Nicholas Sparks in.

Yes, I've seen both those movies. Talk about weepies... but so romantic and lovely at the same time!

Well dang fiddle it! I'm a terrible thread updater and since I have about 7 reviews to do I'll do my crappy-ass one-liners

137. Ring For Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Brilliantly witty and Emphatically English read

138. The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Excellent sequel to this thriller/crime series I'm now dying to read the last book!

139. Stray by Rachel Vincent
Very interesting start to a different kind of paranormal series than I've read before will continue with it.

140. My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent
Another new series and another intriguing paranormal concept although it's more YA this time.

141. Montmorency and the Assassins by Eleanor Updale
Third book this Victorian spy series. I loved this series when I was a bit younger and frankly I still really like it and I want to read the forth book if i can find it.

142. Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
4th Sookie Stackhouse. Still really liking this series as it fills the fluffy vamp story void left by not having any HoN books to read (although these may be better than HoN).

143. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Read for Uni and sort of for myself. Very interesting and I really liked it will probably be reading it again when I have to do my essay for the module I'm doing.

And FINALLY I'm up to date!!! I may have another book to add here soon as I'm reading one at the moment which is very engrossing and wonderful :D

Yay! Finally an update! I'm intrigued to what The readers about im going to go and have a look see! gah your really making me want to read I capture the castle maybe I'll read that next we shall see!

*makes mental note to ignore own TBR shelves and fish The Reader off little sister's*

Yea I'm supposed to be translating some spanish right now but it's hard so naturally my brain is finding easier things to do and since this thread needs updating here I am!

144. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
This was a bargain buy from the Oxfam bookstore (I nearly had to fight Jess for it :P) and what a wonderful book it was! I loved the diary format and it made me want to grab a nice blank notebook and start to keep a journal again even though I'm rubbish at writing daily. The writing was gorgeous and Cassandra was delightfully amusing in her account of those months when life changed for all the Mortmains. It is definitely one of my favourite books of this year and I'm considering asking for the dvd for christmas as I do rather want to see it.

145. Splendor by Anna Godbersen
This was borrowed from the wonderful Jessica during our all too brief meet-up the other weekend and was read all in one sitting last week. My feelings about this book are rather varied for different reasons- I'm a bit sad that the series is over now as I really have enjoyed reading these books and following the characters. But I am glad that certain characters got the endings they deserved both good and bad. I'm also quite happy that Anna didn't drag out the series longer which she could very easily have done, cos it could have meant that the writing got worse as the plots were stretched thinner and thinner over too many books. I was slightly disappointed at first about Diana's ending as I did sort of want her to be with Henry (sorry for the slight spoiler) but after thinking about it I realised that it made sense for her character to retain her independence no matter how much she loved him. So overall I was very pleased with this book and I'll happily recommend the series to fans of slightly fluffy historical fiction.

146. A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Oddly enough this was bought on the previous meet-up I had with Jess (how ironic this batch of books is) which was a hilarious day. I feel slightly bad that it's taken me this long to read the book but in the end it didn't matter as it was an excellent read. Mattie was a very likeable character and you can't help but feel along with her on the emotional journey she goes through leading up to and during that fateful summer when the body of Grace Jones is found. I really liked how it was based around true events but i liked that it wasn't solely about the murder but that the main story was about Mattie and her struggle to get away from her small country-girl life. A beautifully written story that can appeal to everyone, highly recommended.

Only 4 books until I hit 150! Oooh what book will it be I wonder??

Oh, I'm so glad you got on well with Cassandra, sitting in her kitchen sink dreaming of love...

And bloody hell, how have you managed to reach (almost) 150?! Congratulations, make the big 1-5-0 a goodie! :-)

> Ellie I do tend to neglect important things like sleep, food and work for books which is a terrible habit of mine but I really can't help myself and it does make for a large number of books read over the year ;) I just hope i've got a cracker of a book amongst the 5 or so unread ones that I've got with me.

You see, this is where I go wrong. I read most of the day in the shop if it's not too busy, but I get swept away by LT and by the sheer volume of other books I ALSO want to be reading. Does that make sense?! Then in the evening I have to try to get to bed at a decent time because I'm really bad at getting up in the morning if I don't, PLUS I have been rather distracted over recent evenings by a certain set of Heroes box sets I have acquired! At least I can say that with the combined deliciousness of Isaac, Peter and (yes) Sylar, I go to bed every night with a smile on my face... ;-)

Told you A Gathering light was good! Jennifer Donnelly also has a trilogy out the first book being The Tea Rose they sound really good. I may actually put The Tea Rose on my Christmas top 5 books to you ;)

Getting close to the big 150 now! make it a good un!

I Capture the Castle is one of my favourite books of all time! I am also a big Nicholas Sparks fan, I think I was in floods of tears from page 1 of the Notebook right until the end. I read it in a bookclub as well and we were all sitting around weeping hee hee! 150 books is just incredible, I think I read all the time and I haven't even hit 30 yet! Am a very slow reader though and will definitely take it up a notch for the 50 book challenge next year.

ARGH apologies for lack of posting but since I've got 4 books read since my last review it's not too bad. I have now reached 150!!! books for my recorded year!! *dances* I finished the 150th book around the wee hours of this morning and my clever plan worked so that The Fellowship of the Ring took the title. But I still have to do three other reviews before I get to that so off I go!!

147. The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds
I borrowed this from my Uni library on pure whim and luckily it's by the same author that wrote the book I was originally going to use for my ABC challenge. It's set in the same universe as his Revelation Space novels although this is a prequel of sorts. I really quite enjoyed this book as I managed to keep up with the fairly hard-core science which Reynolds builds his world on (quite a lot of it *is* theoretical but potentially viable in the future I think). At some point I will re-read Reynolds other books as I struggled with them the first time round. Recommended for hard-sf fans.

148. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
It was a terrible idea of mine to start this book quite late at night because as soon as I realised how awesome and addictive it was I couldn't physically put it down until half 3 in the morning!! A thrilling novel set in the darker corners of Barcelona with the mysterious man who's determined to burn all the books of Julian Carax. I love the idea of the cemetery of Lost books and would love to visit if it were real *sigh*. I really want to read The Angel's game although I may wait until later next year as I kinda want the smaller paperback *nerdy twitch* I highly recommend this book although I shall warn you that it's advisable to start it early in the morning and not late at night...

149. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
This was a pretty random "hmm looks interesting" read. I borrowed the book off my boyfriend who bought it for his modern lit reading list and read it fairly quickly. It was interesting although it was one of those books which are more for putting a message across than for purely entertaining the reader. Not that it's a bad thing but it means I don't always find the book as enjoyable as one without a philosophical undertone. Overall I'm rather "meh" about it.

and now.... I'm going to have some dinner so you'll have to wait for the 150th review sorry :P

I want to read The Shadow of the Wind! And congrats on reaching your 150! Even if the review isn’t up yet! :P

Oh, how I adored The Shadow of the Wind. I literally shook for about half of it, it was so exciting and heartbreaking and mysterious and just bloody brilliant - and wasn't that description of the Cemetery of Forgotten books gorgeous? Labyrinths of books and soaring ceilings and bridges and ladders and dust.... mmmmmm. I'm hopefully going to read The Angel's Game over Christmas when it doesn't matter if I'm up all night again (just like Daniel in TSotW, I might add!).

You two are making me so jealous! Ah well least im getting The Shadow of the Wind for christmas :P

Hehe aww well you'll be able to join in the raving after christmas at least :)

At last I shall attempt to catch up on my long-overdue reviews since I'm currently reading my 158th book.

150. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
I did sort of plan to make this my 150th book as it is such a classic fantasy novel (or one third of a classic depending on how you look at it). I had thought that I'd read at least the first two books before but seeing as most of this felt new to me I think I skimmed far too quickly the first time which horrifies me now. I can't believe it took me this long to read the books cos they're brilliant! Once I remember to separate in my mind the book and the film I really get into it and love every minute of reading. Before New year I want to read the Two Towers (perhaps after my current book) and maybe before I go back to Uni in January I can get Return of the King done as well. I can definitely see these books being part of a annual re-read group. Fabulous book recommended to anyone really :)

151. The Professor by Charlotte Bronte
Ellie suggested I read this one as I wanted a shortish "B" read for my ABC challenge and I'd recently bought basically the collected works of all three Bronte sisters so I had plenty of choice. I very much enjoyed reading The Professor and was pleasantly surprised at the male POV that Charlotte wrote from because I wasn't expecting it but it worked very well. And I also enjoyed how there was French used in some places (most of which I understood) so methinks I'll be reading Villette soon since I believe that it's similar in that it's set in Belgium so more french yay! Very enjoyable read.

152. The Diary of a Young girl by Anne Frank
Another great book even though the time it was written in was terribly grim and the ending we know from the start to be an unhappy one. Anne is a wonderfully amusing girl who managed to keep a somewhat happy nature alive during such trying and fearful times. I couldn't help but adore her and feel her anger and upset at the people she lived with - Mrs van Daan and Anne's mother were especially irritating and I really would have liked to shake them at some points for how they treated Anne. I really wish that I'd read this book sooner as it is something that everyone should read at some point in their life just to remember what happened in the Second World War and what those people went through. Highly Recommended.

Right I'm going onto another post now as I don't want this one to get too long.

Second half of review catch-up, here we go!

153. My Best Friend's Girl by Dorothy Koomson
This was one of my tail-end books for the ABC challenge but still a very enjoyable read nonetheless. Yes it was a chick-lit read but we all need a bit of fluff now and then and it was quite moving despite the label I just slapped on it (bad judgemental Rachel). I will admit I did cry at one point but I can't quite remember when that was... anyway a very enjoyable book which I borrowed off my mum. Recommended to people who like their Jodi Picoult and Nicholas Sparks books.

154. The Montmartre Investigation by Claude Izner
Another straggler from the ABC challenge since I finally found an "I" book. Technically this book is the third in a series but it's perfectly readable as a stand-alone. It was interesting and rather enjoyable although I must admit that at some points the translation just felt a tad odd to me and I took a couple of breaks from it over the week I was reading it. I may try at some point to buy it in the native French and see if it reads any better like that.

155. The Road goes ever on and on by Brian Sibley
This little red book is a lovely addition to the plethora of books you can find about Tolkien's universe. It had a beautiful full colour map of Middle Earth and the book itself gave some insight into the creation of this world and the maps of it. Plus it had a list of important places on the map from the Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy. Short but still interesting.

156. Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan boys by Kate Brian
I'm unsure if I read this before I started recording my reading in March but either way it's probably the fourth time I've read it (I read it two times back-to-back when I bought it at Orlando airport one year). It's a very enjoyable YA book that never fails to cheer me up. Megan is an army brat who's finally gotten tired of always moving around and decides to stay with friend's of her father while her parents move to Korea. The McGowans have *seven* sons, five of which are teenagers... what has she let herself in for? This is a fun book about life in a house full of boys with cliquey freeze-outs and childish pranks not to mention a bit of romance blossoming. For some reason I always felt that this book should have had a sequel and it's slightly disappointing that there isn't one (at least not at the moment). Anyway I do recommend this as a girly feel-good read for when you need to chill.

157. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
This is the last book of my ABC challenge and how very moving it was! It was only the third Picoult book that I've read and it's possibly my favourite out of the three although it did make me cry at the end. I found the multiple viewpoints a bit confusing at some points and with the flashbacks I sometimes had to stop and go check the chapter title to remember when I was and who I was with. Overall I really liked the book although some of the characters (Sara and Jesse) did get on my nerves for being rather selfish and annoying at times. I'm sort of glad I didn't go to see the film as I've now realised how the ending was changed and I think that would detract from the emotional impact of the book. Not sure how many other Picoult books I'll read in the future as I really don't want to get to the point when the plots all become rather samey and formulaic as that may ruin my enjoyment of the ones I've already read. This one I'll recommend though.

Wahey I'm finally caught up with reviews!! I'm hoping to hit 160 by the year's end which I think shall be doable since I'm on book 158 now and depending on what I go for next the last two shouldn't take me too long to get through. It's nearly New Year!!! :)

Right this is the last message for this thread since 2009 is now over so I shall be now moving over to my new digs in the 75 book challenge group here

I have managed to hit 160 books for 2009 which I'm rather pleased with and I hope I can get to a similar number this year. Anyways below are the last three reviews for this reading year.

158. A bend in the Road by Nicholas Sparks
This was a recent find in my favourite charity shop and a fairly quick read. Like all of Sparks' books it was beautifully written and the characters were for the most part very easy to like. Although for some reason this book didn't reduce me to tears like all of his other books which I've read so far- i think it was partly because of the narrator who is somewhat unreliable as you know that he's involved in the story but you don't find out who he is until much later in the story. And also because towards the end the main character, Miles becomes rather less likeable (due to understandable causes) but nevertheless the personality change renders the resolution less moving than it could have been. Overall still a very enjoyable book but just not quite as moving as the other Sparks books I've read to date.

159. Sea Glass by Maria V. Snyder
This is the second book in the Opal Cowan trilogy which I got for christmas. Another very enjoyable book from Snyder and although this trilogy doesn't quite match up to the Study trilogy it is still very good. Opal is still learning how to use her strange glass magic and discover who she can trust when many people are vying to control her and her ability to make glass messengers. She is still struggling emotionally over Devlin whose soul still resides within Ulrick's body and over Kade her Stormdancer friend. And of course she is still getting captured left, right and centre ;) I can't decide whether I prefer this book to the first one but either way I can't wait to read the third book, Spy Glass which should be coming out later this year.

160. Rogue by Rachel Vincent
Admittedly this isn't the most prestigious book to end the year on but I really liked it so that's all that really matters. It's the second book in Vincent's Werecat series and I'm definitely enjoying it so far. Three months after the events of the first book dead tomcats start appearing and somehow they are linked to Faythe's human ex-boyfriend. Rogue is a fairly action-packed book considering how much shorter it is than Stray (200 odd pages shorter) and although several loose ends are tied off a much bigger problem emerges for Faythe- she's in big trouble with the Werecat council . I am looking forward to reading the next books in this series and it's fortunate that there's already four books out (fifth one is also out soon) because then I don't have to wait for ages to read the next one.

Well that's your lot for 2009! Anyone who still wants to read my ramblings please follow to the 2010 75 books thread the madness will be continuing there!!
Adios mis amigos!