I didn't have a target, but so far this year I have read...
1) Karin Slaughter - Blindsighted
2) Karin Slaughter - Kisscut
3) Karin Slaughter - A Faint Cold Fear
4) Karin Slaughter - Indelible
5) Karin Slaughter - Faithless
6) Karin Slaughter - Triptych
7) Karin Slaughter - Skin Privilege
8) Karin Slaughter - Fractured
9) Karin Slaughter - Genesis
10) Karin Slaughter - Broken
11) Karin Slaughter - Fallen
12) Karin Slaughter - Criminal
13) Karin Slaughter - Unseen
14) Richard Montanari - The Rosary Girls
15) Richard Montanari - The Skin Gods
16) Richard Montanari - Broken Angels
17) Richard Montanari - Play Dead
18) Richard Montanari - The Echo Man
19) Richard Montanari - The Killing Room
20) Richard Montanari - The Stolen Ones
21) Dave Cullen - Columbine
22) Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol
23) Dan Brown - Inferno
To add:
24) M. J. Arlidge - Eeny Meeny
25) M. J. Arlidge - Pop Goes The Weasel
26) James Patterson & Marshall Karp - NYPD Red
<snip> 264. The Method - Juli Zeh 7/10
Vintage Books (Random House), 250 pages
<Speculative Fiction>
A speculative near future utopia where the state controls and commands all for the good of all, supposedly fairly and without violence… this is the story of how this state and it's state apparatus handled dissent… will it learn from history? Can it maintain integrity? This book originally written in German is very interesting and also disturbing.
265. Uncanny X-Force volume two - Sam Humpries, Adrian Alphona, Ron Garney etc. 5/10
364 pages <Graphic Novel> Uncanny X-Force volume two #1-17. Easily the better series with Storm, Boom Boom, Psylocke, Puck and Spiral(!)… as well as
Revenants, Bishop(!), Cassandra Nova (!!!), Stryfe (!)
Good read! 266. X-Men Legacy 2014 - Simon Spurrier, Tan Eng Huat, Khoi Pham etc. 5/10
154 pages <Graphic Novel> X-Men Legacy (volume two) #19-24, #300. Spurrier concludes his almost revolutionary re-imagination of Davil 'Legion' Haller with Haller finally facing the destiny predicted by Blindfold with a truly surprising ending. Marvel Entertainment Group
267. Infinity - Jonathan Hickman, Lenil Francis Yu, Frank Tieri, Matt Lindt etc. 6/10
942 pages <Graphic Novel> Infinity #1-6; Infinity Heist #1-4, Infinity The Hunt #1-4, plus Avengers Assemble, Captain Marvel, Fearless Defenders, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up, Thunderbolts and Nova. As cosmos spanning space operas go, this one is quite captivating and a good read. 268. Captain Marvel volume seven - Kelly Sue Deconnick, Filipe Andrade, Emma Rios, Dexter Soy etc. 6/10
371 pages <Graphic Novel> Captain Marvel V7 #1-17 and Avengers: The Enemy Within. Beautifully drawn and exquisitely written, Carol Danvers has never looked and read better! 269. Avengers Assemble - Kelly Sue DeConnick, Brian Michael Bendis, Matteo Buffagni, Mark Bagley, Warren Ellis etc. 7/10
567 pages <Graphic Novel> Avengers Assemble #1-25… starts with a bang with Bendis… and continues with DeConnick, who actually improves on it with her superb dialogue and also amazing interpretation of Spider-Girl in the final 'Inhumanity' themed arc. DeConnick's skill seems to not only be able to capture the nuances of mainstream males such as Cap, Logan and Iron Man... but also to truly put forth believable, yet multi facetted and complex female characterisations! Well done... a new era in Marvel? 270. Inhumanity - Matt Fraction, Mark Waid, Matt Dindt etc. 5/10
274 pages <Graphic Novel> Inhumanity specials, Indestructible Hulk #16-20, Avengers AI #7 and Iron Man #20. The fall out from 'Infinity' sees Inhuman cocoons turning up all over the World, as some people evolve… meanwhile Medusa and the other Inhumans try to cope with a fallen kingdom and lost King! Marvel Entertainment Group
271. Superior Spider Man Team-Up - Chris Yost, Christos Gage, Marco Checchetto, Kevin Shinick etc. 5/10
423 pages <Graphic Novel> Superior Spider Man team-up #1-12, Arms of Octopus mini-series and Annuals #1-2. Superior's Team Up magazine, which concludes with look back into a covert Osborn-Octavius team-up. Good read. 272. Superior Spider Man 2013 - Dan Slott, Humberto Ramos, Ryan Stegman, Giusseppe Camuncoli etc 8/10
463 pages <Graphic Novel> Superior Spider Man #1-20. ..so good I had to read these issues again!!! 273. Superior Spider Man 2014 - Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Humberto Ramos, Giusseppe Camuncoli etc 8/10
270 pages <Graphic Novel> Superior Spider Man #21-31 …
where the ascension of Norman Osborn pushes Superior to the brink
..great stuff, a fitting climax to one of the most daring and innovative Spider-Man books ever. Marvel Entertainment Group
274. Kick-Ass three - Mark Millar & John Romita Jnr 7/10
Icon (Marvel Entertainment), 217 pages <Graphic Novel> Kick Ass volume three #1-8, could be subtitled 'the baddies strike back'… and they do big-time decimating the friends, family and lives of Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl! Is this the end of their war? Read it and see… a typical blood ridden and blackly comic ending to this well hyped and profitable creator owned super-project!
275. The Wreck Of The Zanzibar - Michael Morpurgo 6/10
Egmont UK Ltd, 100 pages
<Children's Fiction>
A poignant, but also slightly underwhelming tale of how a remote group of islanders were saved by the wreck of the Zanzibar… as recounted after the funeral of an island family's matriarch.
276. Back To Blood - Tom Wolfe 7/10
Back Bay Books (Little Brown), 706 pages
<Literary>
A big commercial failure in the book market… but a good read. A look at the 90s in Miami from mainly the view point of first and second generation Cuban migrants, as well s some Russian, Haitian and French descendants.. Superbly written, funny and witty at times.. the main story crime-related arc pales when compared to the characterisations of some of the key players. Good read.
41. Stolen Legacy - George GM James
42. Great Journeys: Travel the World's Most Spectacular Routes - Andrew Bain
43. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling
44. The Passage - Justin Cronin
45. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
46. City of Darkness - Kim Wright
47. Around the World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne
48. The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict - Martin Bunton
49. It's Not a Holiday - Andy N. Robinson
50. Kiss Heaven Goodbye - Tasmina Perry
51. Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor
52. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - JK Rowling
53. The Hunt for Atlantis - Andy McDermott
54. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - JK Rowling
55. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - Karen Joy Fowler
56. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
57. J - Howard Jacobson
58. The Fellowship of the Ring - JRR Tolkien
59. Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
60. The Runaway Jury - John Grisham
245) Deep Sea and Foreign Going - Rose George
246) Remember This - Shae Buggs
247) Precious and the Mystery of the Missing Lion - Alexander McCall Smith
248) Elephant Moon - John Sweeney
249) Hidden - Catherine McKenzie
56. Entry Island by Peter May. Audiobook read by Peter Forbes.
This book contains two stories, one from the present day and one set in the mid 19th century.
The modern day story is an investigation into a murder on a remote island in French Canada and is told from the point of view of Sime Mackenzie, an English speaking police investigator of Scottish descent. He bears more than a passing resemblance to the Fin Macleod from the author's Lewis trilogy.
The second story is set on the Isle of Lewis at the time of the Highland clearances and is told through the diaries of Sime's ancestor, another Sime.
I quite enjoyed the murder investigation part of the book but found the historical story and its links to the present day story to be somewhat contrived.
An ok listen but not as good as the Lewis trilogy in my opinion.
20. The Giver (The Giver Quartet #1) by Lois Lowry – Jonas lives in what seems to be a perfect world, where every stage of life is carefully planned out. In his twelfth year he will receive his career assignment, and it turns out to be an unusual career, which will lead him to discover truths about the world that he could never before have imagined. I enjoyed this book. There were a lot of questions that remain unanswered, and I hope they will be tackled in the rest of the series.
57. Six Degrees of Assassination. An Audible Drama written by M J Arlidge.
A large cast of well-known tv actors, sound effects and a frenetic pace make this production stand apart from normal audiobooks.
The British Prime Minister has been shot and fatally wounded, it's down to MI5 to track down the killer and prevent any further attacks. There are plenty of twists, turns and red herrings along the way before the culprit is eventually unmasked. An enjoyable listen that moves along at a fast pace and is reminiscent of a 5 hour episode of the tv programme Spooks. The performances from the various cast members were very good. Too much gratuitous use of the f word spoilt the performance for me slightly, it was unnecessary, repetitive and jarring.
21. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate – At the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, a lonely silverback gorilla named Ivan is the main attraction, but the mall hasn’t been doing well for some time. He has his friends, elderly elephant Stella and stray dog Bob, and Ivan enjoys doing art with the paper and drawing tools passed to him by a little girl named Julia. To boost the mall’s profile, the owner brings in a baby elephant named Ruby, and the adult animals are awakened from their malaise by seeing her sadness and answering her million questions. This is an extremely sad book, but it’s very well-written and it is generally uplifting (if you make it through the sadness).
Comments
Updated my list.
265. Uncanny X-Force volume two - Sam Humpries, Adrian Alphona, Ron Garney etc. 5/10
364 pages <Graphic Novel> Uncanny X-Force volume two #1-17. Easily the better series with Storm, Boom Boom, Psylocke, Puck and Spiral(!)… as well as
266. X-Men Legacy 2014 - Simon Spurrier, Tan Eng Huat, Khoi Pham etc. 5/10
154 pages <Graphic Novel> X-Men Legacy (volume two) #19-24, #300. Spurrier concludes his almost revolutionary re-imagination of Davil 'Legion' Haller with Haller finally facing the destiny predicted by Blindfold with a truly surprising ending.
Marvel Entertainment Group
267. Infinity - Jonathan Hickman, Lenil Francis Yu, Frank Tieri, Matt Lindt etc. 6/10
942 pages <Graphic Novel> Infinity #1-6; Infinity Heist #1-4, Infinity The Hunt #1-4, plus Avengers Assemble, Captain Marvel, Fearless Defenders, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up, Thunderbolts and Nova. As cosmos spanning space operas go, this one is quite captivating and a good read.
268. Captain Marvel volume seven - Kelly Sue Deconnick, Filipe Andrade, Emma Rios, Dexter Soy etc. 6/10
371 pages <Graphic Novel> Captain Marvel V7 #1-17 and Avengers: The Enemy Within. Beautifully drawn and exquisitely written, Carol Danvers has never looked and read better!
269. Avengers Assemble - Kelly Sue DeConnick, Brian Michael Bendis, Matteo Buffagni, Mark Bagley, Warren Ellis etc. 7/10
567 pages <Graphic Novel> Avengers Assemble #1-25… starts with a bang with Bendis… and continues with DeConnick, who actually improves on it with her superb dialogue and also amazing interpretation of Spider-Girl in the final 'Inhumanity' themed arc. DeConnick's skill seems to not only be able to capture the nuances of mainstream males such as Cap, Logan and Iron Man... but also to truly put forth believable, yet multi facetted and complex female characterisations! Well done... a new era in Marvel?
270. Inhumanity - Matt Fraction, Mark Waid, Matt Dindt etc. 5/10
274 pages <Graphic Novel> Inhumanity specials, Indestructible Hulk #16-20, Avengers AI #7 and Iron Man #20. The fall out from 'Infinity' sees Inhuman cocoons turning up all over the World, as some people evolve… meanwhile Medusa and the other Inhumans try to cope with a fallen kingdom and lost King!
Marvel Entertainment Group
271. Superior Spider Man Team-Up - Chris Yost, Christos Gage, Marco Checchetto, Kevin Shinick etc. 5/10
423 pages <Graphic Novel> Superior Spider Man team-up #1-12, Arms of Octopus mini-series and Annuals #1-2. Superior's Team Up magazine, which concludes with look back into a covert Osborn-Octavius team-up. Good read.
272. Superior Spider Man 2013 - Dan Slott, Humberto Ramos, Ryan Stegman, Giusseppe Camuncoli etc 8/10
463 pages <Graphic Novel> Superior Spider Man #1-20. ..so good I had to read these issues again!!!
273. Superior Spider Man 2014 - Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Humberto Ramos, Giusseppe Camuncoli etc 8/10
270 pages <Graphic Novel> Superior Spider Man #21-31 …
Marvel Entertainment Group
274. Kick-Ass three - Mark Millar & John Romita Jnr 7/10
Icon (Marvel Entertainment), 217 pages <Graphic Novel> Kick Ass volume three #1-8, could be subtitled 'the baddies strike back'… and they do big-time decimating the friends, family and lives of Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl! Is this the end of their war? Read it and see… a typical blood ridden and blackly comic ending to this well hyped and profitable creator owned super-project!
275. The Wreck Of The Zanzibar - Michael Morpurgo 6/10
Egmont UK Ltd, 100 pages
<Children's Fiction>
A poignant, but also slightly underwhelming tale of how a remote group of islanders were saved by the wreck of the Zanzibar… as recounted after the funeral of an island family's matriarch.
276. Back To Blood - Tom Wolfe 7/10
Back Bay Books (Little Brown), 706 pages
<Literary>
A big commercial failure in the book market… but a good read. A look at the 90s in Miami from mainly the view point of first and second generation Cuban migrants, as well s some Russian, Haitian and French descendants.. Superbly written, funny and witty at times.. the main story crime-related arc pales when compared to the characterisations of some of the key players. Good read.
235) An Order of Coffee and Tears - Brian Spangler
236) Finding You - Giselle Green
238) The Last letter - Kathleen Shoop
37. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
8/10 - it took me to about 60% to really get into this book but I ended up enjoying it, although I probably won't read any more books by this author.
56. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
57. J - Howard Jacobson
58. The Fellowship of the Ring - JRR Tolkien
59. Shantaram - Gregory David Roberts
60. The Runaway Jury - John Grisham
really awful ending
240) Never Go Back - Lee Child
244) The Accident - C L Taylor
246) Remember This - Shae Buggs
247) Precious and the Mystery of the Missing Lion - Alexander McCall Smith
248) Elephant Moon - John Sweeney
249) Hidden - Catherine McKenzie
251) Charles Cumming - A Spy By Nature
This book contains two stories, one from the present day and one set in the mid 19th century.
The modern day story is an investigation into a murder on a remote island in French Canada and is told from the point of view of Sime Mackenzie, an English speaking police investigator of Scottish descent. He bears more than a passing resemblance to the Fin Macleod from the author's Lewis trilogy.
The second story is set on the Isle of Lewis at the time of the Highland clearances and is told through the diaries of Sime's ancestor, another Sime.
I quite enjoyed the murder investigation part of the book but found the historical story and its links to the present day story to be somewhat contrived.
An ok listen but not as good as the Lewis trilogy in my opinion.
10/10 - loved this from the first page, very engaging characters and I definitely want to read more by this author.
A large cast of well-known tv actors, sound effects and a frenetic pace make this production stand apart from normal audiobooks.
The British Prime Minister has been shot and fatally wounded, it's down to MI5 to track down the killer and prevent any further attacks. There are plenty of twists, turns and red herrings along the way before the culprit is eventually unmasked. An enjoyable listen that moves along at a fast pace and is reminiscent of a 5 hour episode of the tv programme Spooks. The performances from the various cast members were very good. Too much gratuitous use of the f word spoilt the performance for me slightly, it was unnecessary, repetitive and jarring.