Announcements

Why my reading is so sucky lately …..

Tara

Okay, I thought I would post on here to show everyone why my reading sucks right now! I read 3 books in the month of March. OUCH! My goal of 100 books in 2009 is starting to become an impossibility. I don’t even want to admit to how many books I’ve really read in 2009 (it’s under 20). However, I have good reasons.

  1. I bought a house in December. We worked all January getting it fixed up.
  2. February I spent most of the month finishing up on getting the house move-in ready and actually moved on February 20th.
  3. Work was crazy busy in March (which is unusual for us in March, we usually don’t pick up until May – I work at a concrete company).
  4. However the biggest reason for only reading 3 books in March ………

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He’s a Westie. His name is Buster. He’s a sweetie – but he’s taking up all our patience, lol! But we love him all the same. Once we get through the potty training issues he’s going to be a great dog. I take him to work with me everyday, he loves it. On the days that I have to work at the other office (Mondays & Fridays) my mom dog sits for me. So there’s the reason why I’ve been MIA on my blog, why I’ve not been reading a whole lot – but he’s my pride and joy 🙂

B, Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2009

The Broken Parachute Man by Robert B. Bolin

Tara

The Broken Parachute Man
by Robert B. Bolin

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 292
Rating: 4/5
Read: April 3-10, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge
Yearly Count: 18

First Line: I’ve always wanted to be what I am not.

Pharmaceutical companye executive Clyde Young boards an airplane to go to a meeting. The flight should have been routine. It ended up being anything but routine. His plane has been hijacked by terrorists. And what’s worse is that Clyde is thrown from the plane with a barely operable parachute because he wouldn’t listen to the terrorists. Surviving the wilderness that he is stuck in when he finally gets back to civilization no one seems to believe his story. People assume that he was one of the terrorists. On the run to Las Vegas he is on the hunt for who really was behind the hijacking and why it seems that he was targeted. He lives on the street and the only people that will believe his story are a sociopath, a prostitute, an alcoholic doctor, and a pickpocket. But these four people travel with him in order to fight for him. As Clyde continues to investigate what was really going on he realizes that the pharmaceutical company that he worked for is doing unimaginable things that are endangering the lives of numerous innocent people. So Clyde must act quickly to get to the bottom of things and stop what is really going on before someone stops him first.

As a general rule, medical-ish books are not my cup of tea. However, I liked this one. This is definitely a book that I would recommend to others to give it a try. I would like to thank Elizabeth McCurry with Phenix & Phenix Publicists as well as Mr. Bolin for allowing me to receive a copy of this book for review.

Book Review, Fiction, Read in 2009, S

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

Tara

The Reader
by Bernhard Schlink

Copyright: 1995
Pages: 215
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: April 1-5, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge
Yearly Count: 17

First Line: When I was fifteen, I got hepatitis.

Michael Berg was 15 years old when he became ill on his way home from school one day. A woman takes care of him. After he recovers somewhat, he goes back to her house with flowers in order to thank her for her help. And he keeps going back. Hanna is the first woman who has caught his interest. She’s also quite older than him. She’s msyterious and avoids many questions that Michael has for her. The affair goes on until one day Hanna disappears. Michael is distraught and confused but life eventually goes on. However, years later as a law student observing a trial in Germany, Michael is shocked to see Hanna at the defendant’s table. Confused to see her and unable to comprehend the crimes that she is accused of committing, Michael becomes obsessed with trying to figure out why Hanna would admit to such crimes …. until he finally realizes that she’s actually trying to hide something  by admitting guilt.

I haven’t seen the movie. But the previews really had me interested. Unfortunately the book didn’t do much for me. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what I had in mind. However, I am kind of curious to see the movie in order to see what all the to-do was really about.

AUTHOR, Book Review, F, Fiction, Read in 2009

Heartstopper by Joy Fielding

Tara

Heartstopper
by Joy Fielding

Copyright: 2007
Pages: 565
Rating: 4/5
Read: March 15-22, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; RYOB 2009; Celebrate the Author Challenge 2009
Yearly Count: 16

First Line: The girl is waking up.

Most people would argue that the most dangerous predators in Torrance, Florida, are the alligators. However, that was before a serial killer appeared to have arrived in town. No one really noticed when a runaway teenage girl disappeared; however when the pretty and popular Liana Martin is found murdered, the town goes into a panic. As the Sheriff, John Weber, digs into the cases he does not like what secrets he is finding out about his little town.

This is the first book by Joy Fielding that I have read, and trust me, this will not be the only book I ever read!! I really enjoyed this one a lot!! And believe me, when you get to the end you will be pleasantly surprised by who the bad guy is in this book!! I really can’t say enough good things about this book – give it a try if you haven’t already!!  🙂

AUTHOR, Book Review, Fiction, P, Read in 2009, SERIES, Women's Murder Club

The 6th Target by James Patterson

Tara

The 6th Target
by James Patterson

Copyright: 2007
Pages: 386
Rating: 4/5
Read: March 6-15, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; RYOB 2009
Yearly Count: 15

First Line: A killer in waiting, Fred Brinkley slumps in the blue-upholstered banquette on the top deck of the ferry.

A madman opens fire on a ferry as the boat is coming into the dock. Several people are dead, and one member of the Women’s Murder Club was injured. While Lindsay is hunting down the truth behind the ferry massacre, she is also having to deal with children of wealthy families being abducted. But the kidnappers are not contacting the families for ransom. Lindsay must deal with all of this and her personal life in order to figure everything out and bring peace back to San Francisco.

Now don’t get me wrong. I really enjoy a good James Patterson book. However, his books are quite formulaic after a while. If you want a quick and easy read – this is it. However, there’s no “meat” to his stories. When I first started reading the Women’s Murder Club books I couldn’t get through them fast enough, but for some reason I’m hitting a slump with them. I mean it took me a week to read this book, I can usually knock out a Patterson is 2 days tops. I might have to give them a break for a while before picking up another one.

AUTHOR, Book Review, D, Fiction, Read in 2009

The Secret Between Us by Barbara Delinksy

Tara

The Secret Between Us
by Barbara Delinksy

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 343
Rating: 5/5
Read: March 1-6, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; RYOB 2009
Yearly Count: 14

First Line: They were arguing in the seconds before impact.

Deborah Monroe and her daughter. Grace are driving home one rainy night when they hit a man running in the dark. Grace was driving but Deborah sends her home before the police arrive in order to take the blame for the accident. However what seemed like such an obvious and easy decision on Deborah’s part takes on a life of its own and threatens to shatter the mother-daughter relationship between the two.

When I first heard about this book I knew I had to read it. I put it on my PBS wishlist, after waiting for what seemed like forever I finally got a copy!!! When it came in the mail I could hardly wait to start it. And let me tell you, I loved this book! You really saw the interaction between mother and daughter. Barbara Delinksy really was able to show me, the reader, how one little innocent omission of truth can really affect everyone involved. Deborah’s decision to take on the blame for the accident was something that most mothers wouldn’t even think twice about doing, but Grace’s reaction to the untruth was really amazing. Delinksy created a very strong teenage character in Grace. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story.

Uncategorized

February 2009 Wrap-Up

Tara
February 2009 Wrap-Up

Here’s my end of the month wrap-up:

  1. James Patterson, Jack & Jill
  2. Harlan Coben, Deal Breaker
  3. Sue Grafton, C is for Corpse
  4. Janet Evanovich, Three to Get Deadly
  5. Laura Lippman, To the Power of Three
  6. Patricia Cornwell, Postmortem

Here are some statistics in regards to my reading:

  • Books read: 6
  • Pages read: 2,082
  • New Authors: 0
  • Fiction: 6
  • Nonfiction: 0
  • Read for Challenges: 6
Announcements

A Quick Post…

Tara

…. to let everyone know that I’ve recently moved and am having trouble getting my internet turned on at my new house. I have received three different stories from AT&T in regards to why my internet has yet to be turned on. (1) they lost my original work order (2) their computer system messed up and (3) because of the storm in Kentucky I’m pretty much at the bottom of the list. So I don’t know when I’ll be up and running correctly again. I am SUPPOSED to be turned on on March 3rd (more than a week after I was originally supposed to be turned on). We’ll see. If I’m not up and running by then for whatever reason AT&T is losing my business. So that’s why I’ve been pretty quiet on here, I’ve gotten a couple more books read that I need to post a review on here about but right now I’m “borrowing” internet wirelessly from my new neighbors (welcome to the neighborhood, right, lol!) just long enough to check my e-mail daily. So that’s where I’m at right now and why I’m MIA. I’ll post more when I’m up and running on my own internet.

AUTHOR, Book Review, C, Fiction, Kay Scarpetta, Read in 2009, SERIES

Postmortem by Patricia Cornwell

Tara

Postmortem
by Patricia Cornwell

Copyright: 1990
Pages: 327
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Feb. 18-26, 2009
Challenge:  2009 100+ Reading Challenge; 2009 1st in a Series Challenge; RYOB 2009; Suspense & Thriller Challenge – Forensic mystery subcategory
Yearly Count: 13

First Line: It was raining in Richmond on Friday, June 6.

Someone is killing women in Richmond. Someone who is going completely undetected. A “Mr. Nobody” if you will. Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta is determined to get to the bottom of these cases and find out who is behind these brutal killings. Even when it becomes apparent that someone is trying to sabotage Kay’s investigation from inside her own office she will not back down … even if someone might even want her dead …

I finally got around to reading the first in this series. I’ve only read a few of these books here and there, but this one is not as good as some of the later ones that I’ve read of this series. However I am glad that I finally read the first book and can start to understand more things about this series as I continue on with it in order now.