I am another one who found the thread late last year. I estimate that I read around 120 books in 2011 so am aiming for around that number this year too.
1: Clouded Vision - Linwood Barclay
2: The Redeemer - Jo Nesbo
3: Trick Of The Dark - Val McDermid
4: The Retribution - Val McDermid
5: Headhunters - Jo Nesbo
6: The Monster In The Box - Ruth Rendell
7: Found Wanting - Robert Goddard
5. Silent Scream - Lynda La Plante 4/5 - Excellent book, which I read just before (but not knowing about) the TV version being shown on ITV. I really enjoyed the book which is the fifth Anna Travis book and I would say one of the best. As always with Lynda's books though it could have been shorter.
6. Can't Anyone Help Me? - Jackie Holmes with Toni Maguire 5/5 - A difficult read about a girl (Jackie) who was abused and sold to paedophiles by her uncle and then becoming a prostitute living on the streets addicted to drugs. This was a book which again could have done with less pages but one that I would recommend.
7. I Heart New York - Lindsey Kelk 5/5 - Fantastic book. I read it in 24 hours because I couldn't put it down. Also it's a series of books so I can't wait to start I Heart Hollywood once I've finished the books I'm currently reading.
8. Secret Seven Win Through - Enid Blyton 4/5
9. I Heart Hollywood - Lindsey Kelk 4/5 - After reading IHNY I couldn't wait to read the second book in the series, and even though I gave it four stars I was a bit disappointed. Angela (the main character) hates LA for most of the book rather than 'heart' it, and she is even more selfish and self centred than in New York. However I liked her towards the end, enough to want to read the next books in the series.
10. Mummy From Hell - Kenneth Doyle and Patrick Doyle 5/5 - As with all books like this, I find it hard to 'review' them or say much about them other than if you've read these sort of books before then you'll pretty much know what to expect. The parents in this book shocked me so much, parts of it were just so bad you couldn't actually imagine another human being (never mind family) doing it to somebody.
11. Mummy, Make It Stop - Louise Fox 5/5 - Same as above, hard to 'review' but not much different than other books like this. Parts of it were absolutely unbelievable, for example being abused by her stepfather, then the neighbour that moves over the road and then nearly getting raped by the landlord of the local pub. All while she's still a child.
12. Guinness World Records 2012 4/5 - Not cover to cover but 85/90% of it. Read most of every GWR since 1999 when I got my first book.
18) The White Woman on the Green Bicycle - Monique Roffey
Very good novel that has been hiding on my Kindle for about a year. All about a European couple living in Trinidad from the 1950s on. Well written - worth a read
1 - Elisabeth Sladen: the Autobiography by Elisabeth Sladen
2 - Now you see her by James Patterson
3 - Private by James Patterson
4 - Private London by James Patterson
5 - Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - JK Rowling
6 - Harry potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling 7 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling
Enjoying re-reading the Harry Potter books, been awhile since I've read them.
2. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen – a monster of a book which I found very engaging for the first 100 pages and then a bit hit and miss from then on. I think the point of it was to give a slice of life in late 20th/early 21st century America, looking at a seemingly ‘normal’ nuclear family and how what you see is never what you get. If this is what it is intended to be, the story is really secondary to it, which is just as well as it loses its way and is rather convoluted. I enjoyed it on one level but I’m equally very glad to have finished it as it’s taken ages! (Read between 3rd-21st January)
25. Live And Let Die - Ian Fleming 6/10
Penguin Books, 280 pages
Originally published in 1954, the second book in the James Bond series… a book title made famous by a Connery film adaption… A quite dark book, with Mr Big, a Black master criminal, bullion smuggler who uses voodoo to keep control of his numerous minions. Moving from Harlem, St Petersburg (USA), and finishing off in Fleming's favourite haunt.. the West Indies and Jamaica in particular, of course.
26. Zero Hour - Dan Jurgens, Mark Waid, Chris Priest, Louise Simonson etc. 5/10
D C Comics, 1195 pages
Zero Hour tells the story of an attempt or remake the entire multiverse by first destroying it; sees the end of some major heroes and groups and the first appearance of Parallax. Great DC event, in my opinion, the concept of absolute power corrupting a superhero!
27. Avengers Academy 2010 - 2011 - Christos N Gage, Fred Van Lente etc. 6/10
Marvel Entertainment Group, 716 pages
Avengers Academy #1-20, Special, Ant Man & Wasp #1-3 and Taskmaster. A surprisingly high quality series with some of the best interpretations of young heroes ever; superb Quicksilver and Tigra characterisations; as well as Van Lente's superb Taskmaster limited series. From the ashes of Osborn's Initiative, Hank Pym sets up and runs an academy for young meta-humans in training.
28. X-Men: Schism - Jason Aaron & Paul Jenkins 7/10
Marvel Entertainment Group, 225 pages
29. Thunderbolts 2010 - 2011 - Jeff Parker 6/10
Marvel Entertainment Group, 668 pages
Thunderbolts #134-164. Covers the teams final Dark Reign incarnation in Siege through to its Raft prision identity with the addition of the likes of Gunna, Juggernaut, Satana, Boomerang etc.
30. Parallax Saga - Geoff Johns, Ron Marz, Gerrard Jones 6/10
D C Comics, 391 pages
Chronicles the fall and then return of Hal Jones, the Green Lantern, seeing DC take the innovative risk of turning an a-list hero into a baddie!
31. Quintessential Tarantino - Edwin Payne 8/10
Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd, 263 pages
A very readable and insightful book, giving in an depth analysis of the final productions of True Romance, Natural Born Killers, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, From Dusk 'Til Dawn, Jackie Brown, Four Rooms and the ER and CSI episodes directed by Tarantino. Payne reveals many of the nuances and intended outcomes of the artistry of Tarantino's body of work and is balanced enough to also quote the bad as well as good reviews. This book really puts Tarantino's work under the microscope, and in my opinion shows one it is so notable.
32. Sail - James Patterson and Howard Roughan 5/10
Arrow Books (Random House), 457 pages
Another thriller from the Patterson / Roughan combination… a very rich woman goes on a sailing holiday with her dysfunctional children and her first, now dead, husband's brother… only to find the journey unlike anything they expected, as it appears someone could, might be trying to kill them. A dastardly bad guy and a pretty gripping story kept me glued to this one. Typical Patterson page-turning fodder.
33. Equations Of Life - Simon Morden 4/10
Orbit Books, 346 pages
Tells the story of a Russian immigrant, Samuil Petrovitch, in a dytsopian speculative future World, living in the London Metrozone, several years after a nuclear event. Then add Russian gangsters and the Yakuza, a high kicking sword waving gun-toting nun, Madeline, and Samuil's dark past and you have quite an interesting tale, that encourages me to go and read the next two stories in the trilogy.
And the list continues
12. The Death of Promises - David Dalglish
13. The Shadow of Grace- David Dalglish
14. A silver of Redemption - David Dalglish
Which is the end of the Half Orc Series and on to the Third which is the Paladin series
15. Night of Wolves - David Dalglish
16. Clash of Faith - David Dalglish
17. The Old Ways - David Dalglish
18. Black Moon - CL Bevill
19. Amber Moon- CL Bevill
20. SIlver Moon - CL Bevill
The last 3 are Short stories on the Kindle
Just away to find something else to read next
Bit of a slow start this year.
1. Dead Simple - Peter James
2. Dear Air 2000 - Trevor Ravenscroft
3. Spring Creek Romance - Leanne Crabtree
4. At war with the Hamptons- amy Cross
5. Locked in- Kerry Wilkinson
6. Simon's Cat - Simon Tofield
7. The Calling- Alison Bruce
8. Whitethorn Woods - Maeve Binchy
9. Royally Yours - Jude Ryan
10. Salem 1692 - Bruce Watson
3. Where she went by Gayle Foreman – a much easier read than my previous choice. It’s the sequel to ‘If I Stay’ which I thoroughly enjoyed last year. This is written from a different character’s POV and I didn’t think it was as good (a bit clichéd in its presentation of becoming a famous rock-star at a young age and it didn’t really address his obvious undiagnosed depression) but I still enjoyed it. Plus it was a quick read! (Read between 21st-22nd January)
Read this a few years back and didn't get it at all. I think the names really confused me at the time (didn't realise surname came first). By the time I'd finished it yesterday, it was one of the very very few books that has made me cry
(Of course, it might not have helped that I'd just watched the final ep of Sherlock )
Yet another fantasy about children and magic and saving the world, very good but not quite up there with the Belgariad or Across the Nightingale Floor (my books 10-13)
The problem with books that I have downloaded ages ago on the Kindle is that I have forgotten what they are about. This one was complete rubbish, yet The White Woman on the Green Bicycle - Monique Roffey which I read a few days ago was a very pleasant surprise
I found the ending to that quite confusing.
Yes, indeed. On reflection, revising my score to 2.5, as I'm still not sure who did what, although the writing is pretty good.
6. The Angel's Game, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. A bit too long, but enjoyed this. 3/5
7. Brazzaville Beach, by William Boyd. Not hugely interested in chimpanzees, but excellent writing 3/5
8. Goodbye to Berlin, by Christopher Isherwood. Perfectly captures the mood of Berlin just before the second world war. 4/5
4. Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum #15) by Janet Evanovich - It's been a while since I've read this series so I fell behind, but I loved this one. The love triangle is a bit tiresome now, and I found it hard to believe that Ranger would need Stephanie to investigate his case for him, but the mystery was more solid than in some of the previous books.
5. One for the Money (Stephanie Plum #1 - re-read) by Janet Evanovich, read by C.J. Critt - I listened to an audiobook version of this one and really enjoyed it. The reader does a great job adjusting her voice for the different characters or for a character with a busted lip. I loved this book as much as the first time I read it, and I wish Evanovich would concentrate solely on the Stephanie Plum books and put as much detail and care into them as she did the early ones in the series.
6. Catching Fire (Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins - Katniss and Peeta are about to embark on their Victory Tour. Their lives have changed, and they try to use their new wealth to help the people of District 12, but they find that they are inspirations for a rebellion in the various districts, and their families and friends are at risk from the Capitol because of their unintended rebel symbolic status. So good! I have to begin the third book immediately.
1. The Outcast - Sadie Jones
2. Glue - Irvine Welsh
3. Midnight Girls - Lulu Taylor
This bonkbuster was completely unrealistic, a little bit too long and had so many rauchy parts. Having said that, I loved getting lost in it and it was great for some pure escapism from cold, dark, January nights and dreary commutes to work.
1 - Elisabeth Sladen: the Autobiography by Elisabeth Sladen
2 - Now you see her by James Patterson
3 - Private by James Patterson
4 - Private London by James Patterson
5 - Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - JK Rowling
6 - Harry potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling
7 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling 8 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling
1) Murder On The Orient Express - Agatha Christie (7/10)
2) The Mysterious Affair At Styles - Agatha Christie (7/10)
3) Lunatics - Dave Barry & Alan Zweibel (5/10) 4) Little Star - John Ajvide Linqvist (8/10)
Comments
6: The Monster In The Box - Ruth Rendell
7: Found Wanting - Robert Goddard
8. Secret Seven Win Through - Enid Blyton 4/5
9. I Heart Hollywood - Lindsey Kelk 4/5 - After reading IHNY I couldn't wait to read the second book in the series, and even though I gave it four stars I was a bit disappointed. Angela (the main character) hates LA for most of the book rather than 'heart' it, and she is even more selfish and self centred than in New York. However I liked her towards the end, enough to want to read the next books in the series.
10. Mummy From Hell - Kenneth Doyle and Patrick Doyle 5/5 - As with all books like this, I find it hard to 'review' them or say much about them other than if you've read these sort of books before then you'll pretty much know what to expect. The parents in this book shocked me so much, parts of it were just so bad you couldn't actually imagine another human being (never mind family) doing it to somebody.
11. Mummy, Make It Stop - Louise Fox 5/5 - Same as above, hard to 'review' but not much different than other books like this. Parts of it were absolutely unbelievable, for example being abused by her stepfather, then the neighbour that moves over the road and then nearly getting raped by the landlord of the local pub. All while she's still a child.
12. Guinness World Records 2012 4/5 - Not cover to cover but 85/90% of it. Read most of every GWR since 1999 when I got my first book.
16) Breakfast at the Hotel Deja Vu - Paul Torday
17) Spying in High Heels - Gemma Halliday
Very good novel that has been hiding on my Kindle for about a year. All about a European couple living in Trinidad from the 1950s on. Well written - worth a read
2 - Now you see her by James Patterson
3 - Private by James Patterson
4 - Private London by James Patterson
5 - Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - JK Rowling
6 - Harry potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling
7 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling
Enjoying re-reading the Harry Potter books, been awhile since I've read them.
11. Amara - Richard Laymon
26. Zero Hour - Dan Jurgens, Mark Waid, Chris Priest, Louise Simonson etc. 5/10
D C Comics, 1195 pages
Zero Hour tells the story of an attempt or remake the entire multiverse by first destroying it; sees the end of some major heroes and groups and the first appearance of Parallax. Great DC event, in my opinion, the concept of absolute power corrupting a superhero!
27. Avengers Academy 2010 - 2011 - Christos N Gage, Fred Van Lente etc. 6/10
Marvel Entertainment Group, 716 pages
Avengers Academy #1-20, Special, Ant Man & Wasp #1-3 and Taskmaster. A surprisingly high quality series with some of the best interpretations of young heroes ever; superb Quicksilver and Tigra characterisations; as well as Van Lente's superb Taskmaster limited series. From the ashes of Osborn's Initiative, Hank Pym sets up and runs an academy for young meta-humans in training.
28. X-Men: Schism - Jason Aaron & Paul Jenkins 7/10
Marvel Entertainment Group, 225 pages
29. Thunderbolts 2010 - 2011 - Jeff Parker 6/10
Marvel Entertainment Group, 668 pages
Thunderbolts #134-164. Covers the teams final Dark Reign incarnation in Siege through to its Raft prision identity with the addition of the likes of Gunna, Juggernaut, Satana, Boomerang etc.
30. Parallax Saga - Geoff Johns, Ron Marz, Gerrard Jones 6/10
D C Comics, 391 pages
Chronicles the fall and then return of Hal Jones, the Green Lantern, seeing DC take the innovative risk of turning an a-list hero into a baddie!
31. Quintessential Tarantino - Edwin Payne 8/10
Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd, 263 pages
A very readable and insightful book, giving in an depth analysis of the final productions of True Romance, Natural Born Killers, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, From Dusk 'Til Dawn, Jackie Brown, Four Rooms and the ER and CSI episodes directed by Tarantino. Payne reveals many of the nuances and intended outcomes of the artistry of Tarantino's body of work and is balanced enough to also quote the bad as well as good reviews. This book really puts Tarantino's work under the microscope, and in my opinion shows one it is so notable.
32. Sail - James Patterson and Howard Roughan 5/10
Arrow Books (Random House), 457 pages
Another thriller from the Patterson / Roughan combination… a very rich woman goes on a sailing holiday with her dysfunctional children and her first, now dead, husband's brother… only to find the journey unlike anything they expected, as it appears someone could, might be trying to kill them. A dastardly bad guy and a pretty gripping story kept me glued to this one. Typical Patterson page-turning fodder.
33. Equations Of Life - Simon Morden 4/10
Orbit Books, 346 pages
Tells the story of a Russian immigrant, Samuil Petrovitch, in a dytsopian speculative future World, living in the London Metrozone, several years after a nuclear event. Then add Russian gangsters and the Yakuza, a high kicking sword waving gun-toting nun, Madeline, and Samuil's dark past and you have quite an interesting tale, that encourages me to go and read the next two stories in the trilogy.
12. The Death of Promises - David Dalglish
13. The Shadow of Grace- David Dalglish
14. A silver of Redemption - David Dalglish
Which is the end of the Half Orc Series and on to the Third which is the Paladin series
15. Night of Wolves - David Dalglish
16. Clash of Faith - David Dalglish
17. The Old Ways - David Dalglish
18. Black Moon - CL Bevill
19. Amber Moon- CL Bevill
20. SIlver Moon - CL Bevill
The last 3 are Short stories on the Kindle
Just away to find something else to read next
1. Dead Simple - Peter James
2. Dear Air 2000 - Trevor Ravenscroft
3. Spring Creek Romance - Leanne Crabtree
4. At war with the Hamptons- amy Cross
5. Locked in- Kerry Wilkinson
6. Simon's Cat - Simon Tofield
7. The Calling- Alison Bruce
8. Whitethorn Woods - Maeve Binchy
9. Royally Yours - Jude Ryan
10. Salem 1692 - Bruce Watson
Read this a few years back and didn't get it at all. I think the names really confused me at the time (didn't realise surname came first). By the time I'd finished it yesterday, it was one of the very very few books that has made me cry
(Of course, it might not have helped that I'd just watched the final ep of Sherlock
5. Cuckoo ~ Julia Crouch ~ 7/10
6. Restoring Grace ~ Katie Fforde ~ 7/10
Yet another fantasy about children and magic and saving the world, very good but not quite up there with the Belgariad or Across the Nightingale Floor (my books 10-13)
The problem with books that I have downloaded ages ago on the Kindle is that I have forgotten what they are about. This one was complete rubbish, yet The White Woman on the Green Bicycle - Monique Roffey which I read a few days ago was a very pleasant surprise
5. One for the Money (Stephanie Plum #1 - re-read) by Janet Evanovich, read by C.J. Critt - I listened to an audiobook version of this one and really enjoyed it. The reader does a great job adjusting her voice for the different characters or for a character with a busted lip. I loved this book as much as the first time I read it, and I wish Evanovich would concentrate solely on the Stephanie Plum books and put as much detail and care into them as she did the early ones in the series.
6. Catching Fire (Hunger Games #2) by Suzanne Collins - Katniss and Peeta are about to embark on their Victory Tour. Their lives have changed, and they try to use their new wealth to help the people of District 12, but they find that they are inspirations for a rebellion in the various districts, and their families and friends are at risk from the Capitol because of their unintended rebel symbolic status. So good! I have to begin the third book immediately.
3. Midnight Girls - Lulu Taylor
This bonkbuster was completely unrealistic, a little bit too long and had so many rauchy parts. Having said that, I loved getting lost in it and it was great for some pure escapism from cold, dark, January nights and dreary commutes to work.
2 - Now you see her by James Patterson
3 - Private by James Patterson
4 - Private London by James Patterson
5 - Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - JK Rowling
6 - Harry potter and the Chamber of Secrets - JK Rowling
7 - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - JK Rowling
8 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling
2) The Mysterious Affair At Styles - Agatha Christie (7/10)
3) Lunatics - Dave Barry & Alan Zweibel (5/10)
4) Little Star - John Ajvide Linqvist (8/10)