ONE HUNDRED BOOKS

Next five...

11. BASILISK by N.M. Browne (YA)
12. MIKE LEIGH ON MIKE LEIGH edited by Amy Raphael (non-fiction)
13. SHADOW WEB by N.M. Browne (YA)
14. SEA ROSE RED by Catherine L. Hellisen (YA, beta)
15. BLACK RABBIT SUMMER by Kevin Brooks (YA)

40+5=45

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - Meh. Compelling concept: freedom vs. beauty, but execution was too slow-paced.

Haunted by Meg Cabot - Name-dropping kills me and I dont' love her style, but it was a fun read with a cute love interest.

Candyfreak by Steve Almond: Hilarious non-fiction about one man's search for great candy bars and, by extension, his lost youth.

The Fruit Hunters by Adam Gollner: Non-fiction that read like fantastic prose. Loved this look into the obsession with rare, delicious fruits.

Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan: Beautiful writing. Just enough creepy to be interesting, the kind of heroine I like to root for.

Ok, I know we're meant to reach five, but I figure this needs a bump so that we don't lose it, so I'm posting my two =]

8. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (I think I can't find it now, lol.) WOW. Seriously, read this book! It was amazing and cured my writer's block. Although a little disappointed with the ended.

9. Twilight - Stephanie Meyer (reread). Ok, I know, but I was ill all right?! The only problem is that I criticise it more and more in my head each time, even though I want to just get into the story; my head won't shut up!

Recently finished seven more books...

31. DELICIOUS by Sherry Thomas [adult]

32. KUSHIEL'S AVATAR by Jacqueline Carey [adult fantasy]: I loved this and thought it was a fitting ending to Phedre's trilogy. Can't wait to start KUSHIEL'S SCION.

33. WHAT I SAW AND HOW I LIED by Judy Blundell: I enjoyed this one and loved the noir-like atmosphere. The ending made me brood a bit.

34. MARKED (House of Night 1)

35. EVERY SUMMER by Claire Hennessy

36. DEVILISH by Maureen Johnson: I <3 everything she writes.

37. GOSSIP GIRL (Gossip Girl 1)

45+5=50 Half-way there!

Handcuffs by Bethany Griffin: Oh, I just love dry humor. And crazy families and hot guys.
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer: This voice was so, so good.
Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger: Bleh. What was I thinking?
Feed by M.T. Anderson: Thought-provoking and sad - but have I ever hated an MC more?
Twilight: The Sixth Book in the Mediator Series by Meg Cabot: No, not THAT Twilight. Rather disapponting conclusion.

The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides--Haunting voice, saw the movie before, but the book was good, too. Tragic.

Tomato Girl, Jayne Pupek (a re-read): Quiet sadness, anger, confusion. You really get into the story (Btw, beautifully written) and start feeling angry on behalf of the MC, who's sweet and shy and vulnerable.

Madame Bovary: Really descriptive, but Emma Bovary really annoyed me.

No One Belongs Here More Than You, Miranda July: Is actually a short-story collection. Eerie voice (mature subj. matter), loved it. About a series of seemingly mundane moments that changes the narrators' outlooks, circumstances, etc. on life.

Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt: Honestly, this book irked me. The Irish slang was horrible. The timeline was not logically structured. The details were great, but that made up only a little bit for the whole book, which was a slog-through (and I finished it only because it was assigned).

36+5=41

9 more!

I just barely joined these boards, but have been doing a read 100 books this year challenge on my blog! I have about 50 right now, so I will definitely post here in the future!

The next five...

16. NICK & NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan (YA)
17. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MIKE LEIGH by Michael Coveney (non-fiction)
18. AIRMAN by Eoin Colfer (MG)
19. CREATURE OF THE NIGHT by Kate Thompson (YA)
20. OSTRICH BOYS by Keith Gray (YA)

I'm still behind if I'm going to do fifty books this year, but I'm gradually catching up after the slow start at the beginning of the year.

NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST: Oh. My. God. <3 This was the best, somewhat-lighthearted-but-still-not book I've read in a long time. The funny voice/major cussing reminded me of THE DISREPUTABLE HISTORY, and LOOKING FOR ALASKA. I'm re-reading it again.

SLOANE SISTERS: I hated it, mainly because it sounded very much like my trunk novel, and I couldn't even enjoy the shallow-ness of the characters/plot, that's how much I was comparing the two.

MEAGAN MEADE'S GUIDE TO THE MCGOWAN BOYS: The love triangle reminded me of my current WIP, and it was a great read. Didn't elaborate too much on subplots, etc. (was too brief with them), but that was forgivable.

GOLDEN GIRL: I got this only because it was set in the Penn. Main Line, where my own WIP is set. I didn't notice, though, when I got it, that it was all written in blog format. And alternating viewpoints. Brand-obsessed, name-droppy characters, and it was told, let me restate this, in BLOGGING, ALTERNATING VIEWPOINTS.

I was thoroughly confused throughout.


41+4=45.

5 more!

Night World Book 1 (forgotten the author, got it from the library)
Morganville vampires book 5 - Rachel Caine
Hunted - PC Cast
Checkmate - Malorie Blackman
Family Portrait - Becky! Fellow twiftie!
Current reads: The Host - S Meyer
Double Cross - Malorie Blackman
27!

Riiiiiise, thread! Riiiise from the dead and be useful . . .


50+6=56 Dangit. Don't like not being in a multiple of five.


Venomous by Christopher Krovatin: Great premise, slow delivery. Strong finish.
The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman: Good - I like the righteous anger.
Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson: Great voice, but not enough story. Like it, though.
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson: A classic.
I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak: I was rather disappointed with this one. Felt like I was reading a story from the point of view of an 80 year old man who spends his days playing ca'ds and smoking ciga's.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare: Wow. Let us count the rip-offs: Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Giles, Harry Potter's bad-guy motivations, etc. Not exactly my fave.

Envy: Boring, and pretty predictable. I think I liked THE LUXE better.
An Abundance of Katherines: So sweet and nerdy, the awkward narrator was the underdog I could help cheering for.
The Great Gatsby: I. Hated. It. Classics be damned, this was not so great in the show-don't-tell, don't-do-infodumps section.
The It Girl: It was surprisingly palatable, actually. Pretty good for a ghostwritten book.

ETA:
Same Difference: Poetic, pretty cute. Liked it, but as wander said below, won't stick in my heart.

Reached my goal of 50 books! I wonder if I should start aiming for 75....

8 more books to add...

Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon - loved it; the descriptions of food made me so hungry!

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld - liked this until the contrasts to the 2000 election and beyond became a bit too stronger for my liking. (adult)

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink

My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr

Shrinking Violet by Danielle Joseph

Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki - really liked this graphic novel. It was easy to relate to Skim as I was also that teenager in regards to the Wicca and trying to find a place to fit in.

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews - fantastic. I loved, loved this, and I can't wait to get my hands on the next two books in this series. (adult)

Julius Winsome by Gerard Donovan - I enjoyed this, though it also creeped me out. It was difficult to reconcile the sympathy I felt for Julius when juxtaposed with his actions. (adult)

This puts me at 45 books. Almost halfway there.

56+4=60 Ahh, that's better

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock: Lol, I loved this one. Such a good voice and cows and football - what's not to love?
Lucky by Rachel Vail: Familiar, not the most likable characters.
Top 8 by Kate Finn: Cute, but I wanted lots more mystery solvin'.
Impulse by Ellen Hopkins: Wow. So intense. Lyrical and lovely.

And the next five:

21. COSMIC by Frank Cottrell Boyce (MG)
22. CATALYST by Laurie Halse Anderson (YA)
23. A STORM OF SWORDS by George R.R. Martin (adult)
24. BROKEN SOUP by Jenny Valentine (YA)
25. THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins (YA)

Halfway to fifty now, but over halfway through the year.

The GRRM I'm counting as one book, although my UK paperback edition is in two volumes.

I've just started Patrick Ness's THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO. Roddy Doyle's OH, PLAY THAT THING (adult novel) has jumped to the top of the to-read pile as he's making a personal appearance in London later in the month which I intend to get to - and it's the only one of his adult novels I haven't yet read.

So five beta reads
+
Jellicoe Road - I could go on and on about the awesomeness

Elsewhere -Sweet, heart-warming, made me smile

Valiant - Loved the way modern day teen issues were pulled into a fairy tale story. Loved that fairy tale didn't equal all princesses and sparkly magic.

Forest of Hands and Teeth - Had me on the edge of my seat. Ending felt lacking to me, but I hear there's a sequel.

Blue Moon - Love Noel's writing style. Hate that a big 'upset' came so close at the end to set up the next in the series.

26!

Ok, I haven't updated in ages!

10.Regeneration - Pat Barker

11. Ny Sister's Keeper - Jodie Picoult

12. The Boleyn Inheritance - Phillipa Gregory

13. The Constant Princess - Philippa Gregory

14. Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella

15. Are these my basoomas I see before me? - Louise Rennison

16. Where Rainbows End - Cecelia Ahearn

17: The Baby Club: Rowan Coleman

18: Harry Potter Should Have Died - Mugglenet

19: Countdown - Beta read for 'Conman'.

20: Tales of Beedle the Bard - JKRowling

60+5=65

Lazy August days means sitting outside with a book while the kids blow bubbles . . .

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: Great writing style, great tale. Wished I knew more about his more interesting characters, such as the sleer.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld: Still not my fave series, but much better than Uglies. I probably won't bother with the last two.

Depletion and Abundance by Sharon Astyk: How to live responsibly, frugally, energy sound. Good, practical ideas.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow: Premise so good, but turned off by tech info dumps and *rolls eyes* MS hating.

Evernight by Claudia Gray: Um, sexy.

51. The Tales of Beedle the Bard: Great stories. The huge font made me wonder if I was reading an MG...

52. Unforgettable: Fun. Frivolous. Forgettable, despite the title (I can't tell you right now what it was about, and I just finished it this morning).

53. Lucky (same series): Ditto.

54. Identical: So messed up. So much more messed up than my WIP. My WIP feels like bublegum YA compared to this. And mine's pretty morbid.

Evernight
Stargazer - Steamy! Love that it's hard to decide what's right or wrong.

Gemma Doyle Trilogy Victorian era with gossiping school girls in petticoats and corsets, mixed with an amazing fantasy tale, all wrapped up in beautiful prose. Loved it. Made me cry.

31!

Poor buried thread. 65+5=70.

Eat my Globe by Simon Majumdar: Fun, sometimes snarky, tale about guy who takes a year to eat all over the world.

Waiting For Normal by Leslie Connor: Better than I thought it would be. Good voice.

The Last Summer (of you and me) by Ann Brashares: For all of you looking for college aged protagonists, here's one. MC is in early twenties. Decent writing.

Break by Hannah Moskowitz: Kid wants to break all his bones. What a dork. (teehee) Great insight.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott: Haunting.