73. Love & Rockets v11 Ofelia - Gilbert Hernandez 9/10
Fantagraphics, 245 pages <Graphic Novel> Ofelia is looking to write a book about Luba. There's flirting everywhere. There's Fortunato. And there's more with our friends of Palomar all now settled in the States. More great reading and art!
74. New Stories volume one - Los Bros. Hernandez (Gilbert, Jaime and Mario) 7/10
Fantagraphics, 101 pages <Graphic Novel> More Los Bros work, with Jaime's superhero Penny Century universe and some magical real shorts by Gilbert and Mario.
75. New Stories volume two - Los Bros. Hernandez (Gilbert, Jaime and Mario) 6/10
Fantagraphics, 99 pages <Graphic Novel> More superhero mash-up from Jaime, and Gilbert lays down his epic 'Hypnotwist', wich to be honest, with its lack of words, I found thought provoking… and unclear narrative. Introducing 'Killer', a sad girl?
76. New Stories volume three - Los Bros. Hernandez (Gilbert & Jaime) n 9/10
Fantagraphics, 100 pages <Graphic Novel> Wow wow wow, Jaime's give us more Maggie backstory and the first two parts of 'The Love Bunglers'. 'Beto give us more of Luba's people too, including a young lady nicknamed 'Killer' Great stuff… yet again.
77. New Stories volume four - Los Bros. Hernandez (Gilbert & Jaime) 9/10
Fantagraphics, 101 pages <Graphic Novel> Featuring the final three parts of Jaime's 'The Love Bunglers' the on and off relationship of Maggie and Ray, some more amazing Maggie backstory and 'Beto's King Vampire. Surely on of the greatest ongoing series ever written?
78. New Stories volume five - Los Bros. Hernandez (Gilbert & Jaime) 8/10
Fantagraphics, 101 pages <Graphic Novel> Half the book is taken up the best story 'Proof That The Devil Loves You', see 'Beto take killer and Pipo back to Palomar which is as weird (magical real?) as ever. As well as other Palomar shorts by 'Beto, Jaime focuses on Vivian and her sister Tonta.

79. The Troublemakers - Gilbert Hernandez 8/10
Fantagraphics, 120 pages <Graphic Novel> One-off Graphic Novel, with a 'Love & Rockets book' sub title. Story of a group of four grifters, who don't really know who to trust. Some great magical realist, and magic touches!

80. Firestarter - Stephen King 9/10
Warner Books (Little Brown), 510 pages
<Horror> Heartbreaking story of a family decimated, chased and persecuted… because they have 'powers'. Great characters such as Cap, Rainbird, the Manders and The Shop. Classic King

81. The Ice Twins - S.K. Tremayne 7/10
Harper (HarperCollins), 375 pages <Suspense> Bestselling debut novel with the terrifying premise of a family recovering from the premature death of a twin... when the surviving twin months later claims to be the one presumed dead!

82. Sputnik Sweetheart - Haruki Murakami - TEN/TEN
Vintage (Random House), 229 pages <Magic Realism> My third, and even more enlightened reading of this poetic masterpiece about a loneliness ,self-identity and relationships, I think?
83. After Dark - Haruki Murakami 8/10
Vintage (Random House), 201 pages <Magic Realism> After Dark, a few isolated lives cross each other in this superb short almost novella. More poetry in writing by Murakami!

84. Birdland (Love & Rockets) - Gilbert Hernandez 6/10
Eros (Fantagraphics) , 106 pages <Graphic Novel> Gilbert takes Luba's sisters to the adult imprint of Fantagraphics, so as well as his trademark magical realism, we also get graphic sex!

85. Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix - J.K. Rowling 8/10
Bloomsbury, 766 pages <Fantasy> The one with Umbridge, a missing Dumbledore, OWLs, giants, lots of Death Eaters and more.

86. The Tommyknockers - Stephen King 8/10
New English Library (H & S), 683 pages <Horror> A science fiction novel really hiding a good piece of horror. Something's happening in New Haven, Maine, something strange and unsettling and only one man can save the day, bit he's a drunk, suicidal and once shot his ex wife in the face! Still a good read, despite being written when King was himself struggling with addiction.
87. Full Dark, No Stars - Stephen King 8/10
Hodder Books (H & S), 453 pages <Horror> Four dark novellas, with Big Driver probably the best and darkest. Also contains, Fair Extension, A Good Marriage and 1922, as well as the short Under the Weather. Retribution, revenge, and never really knowing someone are the main themes,

88. Private Sydney - James Patterson & Kathryn Fox 5/10
Arrow Books (Penguin Random House), 453 pages <Thriller> James 'The Pages Turn Themselves' Patterson turns out a rather tension-less second Private Down Under book, with the team looking for a missing social enterprise entrepreneur and in another case searching for a surrogate mother fraudster.

89. The Ocean At The End Of The Lane - Neil Gaiman 5/10
Headline (Hachette UK), 255 pages <Fantasy> Dark modern fable-like fantasy crossed with a exploration of childhood from the master Gaiman. When an olden monster becomes your nanny, where can you get help?

90. Sense Of An Elephant - Marco Missiroli 7/10
Piacador (Pan MacMillan), 242 pages <Literary> Winner of 2012 Campiello Prize. An exquisite, and quirky little book essentially about fathers and sons, but also about a doctor with a strange job, his family, an ageing lonely gay man, a man-child and his mother, a condominium, a priest and a witch… and the loving of elephants and dolphins! Some great prose is used to capture the tone and style of this story. Translated from Italian.

91. The Girl On The Train - Paula Hawkins 7/10
Black Swann (Penguin Random House), 408 pages <Thriller> Mega best selling book by Zimbabwean Paul Hawkins. Can you believe the hype. Whether you think it's grand or not, once you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down!

30) The Sunshine and Biscotti Club by Jenny Oliver

155) The Butterfly Summer - Harriet Evans
156) Life After You - Lucie Brownlee
157) The Swimming Pool - Louise Candlish

94/ A Restless Evil by Ann Granger

A Mitchell & Markby mystery.

One of the better books from this series. They are a tad "Midsomer Murders" in style but the characters are reasonably well defined and the central mystery is intriguing.
There are a few too many coincidences for my liking but it kept me engrossed throughout.

95/ The Case Against Satan by Ray Russell

Basically The Exorcist but written and published 10 years before The Exorcist.

Not especially horrifying but a compact and well-written story of possession and exorcism.

96/ The Medusa Effect by Justin Richards

More Bernice Summerfield adventures.
I enjoyed this a lot more than the previous entry in this series. The plot isn't trying to be anything other than a straightforward sci-fi mystery and works so much better because of this.

116) The Bone Labryinth by James Rollins
117) Every Three Hours by Chris Mooney
118) Guilt by Association by Marcia Clarke
119) Hounded by Kevin Hearne
120) Harley Quinn Power Outage
121) Deadpool Dracula's Gauntlet

158) Red Clover - Florence Osmund

92. Locke & Key volumes 1 & 2 Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez etc. 8/10
IDW publishing, 323 pages <Graphic Novel> Welcome to Lovecraft & Head Games shockingly more brilliant second time round! The family tragedy ties to the Locke family's past and the Keyhouse where they retreat to, only to have danger follow them. Superb work by Joe Hill and great art by Gabriel Rodriguez.
93. Locke & Key volumes 3 & 4 - Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez etc. 9/10
IDW publishing, 288 pages <Graphic Novel> Crown of Shadows & Keys to the Kingdom, in which learn much more about the Keys as Zack inserts himself into the Locke's lives, whilst each weekend, looking to kill them, to find the Omega Key. More astounding storytelling from Hill and Rodriquez
94. Locke & Key specials - Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez etc. 8/10
IDW publishing, 105 pages <Graphic Novel> Collecting the IDW 10th Anniversary special, the Guide to the Keys and Grindhouse. Also includes IDW 10th anniversary interviews with Joe Hill and Gabe Rodriguez
95. Locke & Key volumes 5 to 7 - Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez etc. 9/10
IDW publishing, 358 pages <Graphic Novel> Locke & Key Clockworks, Omega & Alpha. Dodge finally gets the Omega Key and the world will be the same. Outstanding series comes to an unforeseen and captivating conclusion.

96. The Invisible Lesbian -Oceanerosemarie, Sandrine Revel etc. 6/10
Delcourt Writers, 111 pages <Graphic Novel> Oceanerosemarie's tale mostly looks at the highs and lows of being a lesbian in France with some wry humour. Unfortunately, it is Sandrine Revel's art that is the best thing about this book, and it's worth reading just to look at it!

97. The Story Of My Teeth - Valeria Luiselli 7/10
Granta Publications, 188 pages
<Literary>
Well written, and clever novel centered around the life of Mexican auctioneer and his teeth! Original written in Spanish. A brilliant piece of collaboration with real input from Mexican factory workers' reading club, and the translator!

98. The Dying Hours [Tom Thorne 11] - Mark Billingham 7/10
Sphere (Hachette UK), 498 pages
<Detective>
Tom Thorne book 11: Fatter, balder, more isolated, and back in uniform! Can life get any worse for Tom Thorne, how about a string of suicides that nobody believes are murders, bar Tom! Tom Thorne out of the loop, and a bit loopy! Good read.

99. How To Be Both - Ali Smith 3/10
Penguin Books, 371 pages <Literary> Smith's critically acclaimed highly innovative book made up of two stories about love and injustice hundreds of years apart but linked! To be honest, I didn't really 'get it'. I'll need to reread.

100. The Shining - Stephen King 6/10
New English Library (H & S), 416 pages
<Horror>
King purists will hate me(?), but my least favourite of King's early work, a perception that is probably influenced by the far better and classic Kubrick/Nicholson movie!
101. Different Seasons - Stephen King 91/0
New English Library (H & S). 560 pages
<Novella collection>
Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (filmed as The Shawshank Redemption) - 8/10 Apt Pupil - 9/10 The Body (filmed as Stand By Me) - 9/10 The Breathing Method 8/10. The Body and Apt Pupil are works of near genius.

97/ O is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton

I love the character of Kinsey. Which is why even a weaker entry in the series is worth at least a look.
Unfortunately this is one of those weaker ones. The plot is a bit padded out and a tad repetitive in places.
Luckily Kinsey is still a well defined and written character which kept me going.

14) Fever of The Bone by Val McDermid

31. The Black Echo - Michael Connolly
9/10 - book 1 in the Harry Bosch series - this involves the murder of a man who Harry knew as a tunnel rat in Vietnam. A great start to the series.

32. The Black Ice - Michael Connolly
8/10 - book 2 in the Harry Bosch series and Harry is investigating a series of deaths linked to Mexico. I only marked it down as I got confused with the amount of Mexican names of the detectives and the towns close to the border.

33. The Version of Us - Laura Barnett
8/10 - Eva and Jim meet as students and the book follows their lives in three different ways depending on the outcome of their first meeting and it alternated between versions 1 - 3. A few reviews on Amazon have said that it was confusing but I didn't think it was (and I'm easily confused, see previous review!

34. Into the Blue - Robert Goddard
10/10 - a re-read of one of my favourite books. Harry is a loser in life and after failed businesses and relationships is caretaking his friend's villa in Rhodes when a fellow guest disappears. Harry finds some photographs and uses them to follow the trail as to where Heather has been prior to her disappearance. The book has one of the best twists in the tail of any book I have ever read. Although I remembered the twist, it was still a good read.

35. Never Alone - Elizabeth Haynes
6/10 - widow Sarah lives in an isolated cottage when her old boyfriend Aiden gets in touch and moves into the adjoining cottage. It's sold as a psychological thriller but it didn't really grip me.

31) The Oyster Catcher by Jo Thomas

41. The Gracekeepers written and read by Kirsty Logan.
A dystopian world mostly covered in water with small areas of land remaining. Callanish lives alone on a tiny island and performs the burial rites for boat dwellers. North ls a circus performer living in one of a flotilla of coracles attached to a circus boat. She shares her coracle with a dancing bear. Both girls have secrets.

An ok read but felt a bit Young Adult to me.

42. Hero by Susan Hill.
A very short story featuring Simon Serailler. We find out what happened to Simon after book 8, The Soul of Discretion, and also hear about an incident from early on in his police career. It looks as though the series has come to an end now, which is a shame.

159) The Broken - Tamar Cohen
160) Try Not To Breathe - Holly Seddon
161) From Here To Anywhere - Jason Smart

162) Amanda Prowse - My Husband's Wife
163) Hiromi Kawakami - Strange Weather in Tokyo
164) Sophie Hannah - A Game For All The Family

I have been reading the Sophie Hannah one on and off for a few weeks. What an ordeal and I feel I should get a medal for getting to the end, what a waste of several hours of my life

122) Girl on the Run by Jane Costello
123) Sunshine over Wildflower Cottage by Milly Johnson
124) The Singles Game by Lauren Weisberger

36. Ask Him Why - Catherine Ryan Hyde
7/10 - I am a fan of this author but I didn't feel it was one of her best. Soldier Joseph arrives home from Iraq having been discharged from the army due to refusing to obey orders, and the book is told from the points of view of his siblings Ruth and Aubrey and how it impacts on their lives. It was very readable but I felt that family friend Hamish's role in the book was a little too convenient and not convincing.

43. The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey.
This was originally published in 1929 and is the first in a series of detective stories featuring Inspector Alan Grant. I'd previously read and enjoyed The Daughter of Time in which Grant investigated the deaths of the Princes in the Tower from his hospital bed.

A man is stabbed in the back while waiting in a queue for theatre seats. He has no identification and nobody seems too have witnessed the murder. Grant is very much a man of his time with horrendously xenophobic views and it took me a while to warm to him. OK but I preferred Daughter of Time.

15) The Retribution by Val McDermid

63) - Love You Dead, by Peter James
64) - Stranger Child, by Rachel Abbott
65) - Death do us Part, by Stephen Dunne
66) - A Climate of Fear, by Fred Vargas
67) - Black Mail, by Bill Daly
68) - Without a Trace, by Liza Marklund
69) - Burial Ground, by John Rickards
70) - Behind Closed Doors, by B A Paris
71) - The Birdwatcher, by William Shaw
72) - Alone in the Dark, by Karen Rose
73) - Shooting Sean, by Colin Bateman
74) - The Lock Artist, by Steve Hamilton
75) - The English Girl, by Daniel Silva

165) Norma Curtis - The last Place you Look
166) John Le Carre - Our Kind of Traitor
167) Ken Follett - Code to Zero

12. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho – A Spanish shepherd named Santiago sets out in search of buried treasure near the Egyptian pyramids. His journey is filled with setbacks and delays, but he discovers that the goal is not just material treasure, but the treasure within oneself and the goal of reaching one's Personal Legend. This book was okay. I know a lot of people love it, but it didn't quite hit the right spot for me.

98/ The Third Man by Peter Mandelson

Fascinating tale of New Labour written by one of the main people involved.

Naturally it focusses mainly on Mandelson's own experiences so some aspects are skipped over as he wasn't involved. That said it is still a deeply interesting tale of the petty clashes that derailed the New Labour project.

99/ New York Air by George Steinmetz

Aerial photographs of New York.

I love this book - so much detail and views that you wouldn't usually see. Small commentaries by each picture highlight different aspects of the city.

32) Vanish by Tess Gerritsen