Challenge: 50 Books discussion

1. Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman. Only 1 Kellerman / Delaware novel left for the time being, guess I'll read that next. Fell only 4 books short of 50 for 2012 - won't let that happen again this year!

2. Victims by Jonathan Kellerman. Finally finished the Alex Delaware series (although a new one comes out next month). Onward for 2013.

3. Winter of the World by Ken Follett. This took me forever to get through, but I really enjoyed it. The 4th Follett "epic" I've read (Pillars of the Earth... World Without End... Fall of Giants) and I've loved them all. Can't wait for the 3rd book in this current trilogy to get here.

4. Merry Christmas, Alex Cross by James Patterson. Always a sucker for the Cross books. They seem to get a little shorter each time, but I can't wait to read the next one.

5. Cell by Stephen King. I've had this sitting around here forever and finally read it. Hadn't read a King book in a while. Super creepy!

6. NYPD Red by James Patterson. Pretty good..

7. The Black Box by Michael Connelly. Love the Harry Bosch series! Living in So Cal they are especially cool. Connelly is great.

8. Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire by Chalmers Johnson. Interesting stuff.

9. Privileged Information by Stephen White. Just when I finished the Alex Delaware series by Kellerman I stumble onto this one. Enjoyed it. Already picked up the next few in the series.

10. Private Practices by Stephen White. I like White's work so far. Seem to be quite a few similarities between this series and the Alex Delaware series...

11. Higher Authority by Stephen White. Hooked on these now. This one was totally different - different points of view, mainly focused on a different character, etc., but I liked it the best of the 3 so far.

12. Harm's Way by Stephen White. Going to get through a couple more of these White novels and then get into a few other things on my list for a while.

13. Remote Control by Stephen White.

14. Guilt by Jonathan Kellerman. Pretty good Delaware story. Not the best one, but enjoyable.

15. Alex Cross, Run by James Patterson. Loved this one - Patterson books are always page turners.

16. Critical Conditions by Stephen White. This one was pretty creepy. Enjoyed it. Didn't see some of the "twists" coming.

17. The Bounty Hunters by Elmore Leonard. one of his oldest novels, and a good one. Starting an "Elmore Leonard" project.

18. The Law at Randado by Elmore Leonard. I love these old Elmore Leonard novels!

19. Escape from Five Shadows by Elmore Leonard. Trying to read all of Leonard's novels in order. There are a ton.

20. Last Stand at Saber River by Elmore Leonard. Another Leonard western off the list. My bookcase is full of his stuff (and a bunch of others) that I need to get rid of so I can get back to e-books!

21. Hombre by Elmore Leonard. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much but still an entertaining read.

22. The Big Bounce by Elmore Leonard. Another Elmore book off the list. This one wasn't my favorite but had some funny moments. Always fun reads (so far).

You are doing good so far! I just heard of Elmore Leonard. I didn't know he wrote the books to the TV series Justified. Is this another series by him? I did see that he had written a TON of books. How do you like them overall?

The stories are all over the map but they are good. He also wrote the books that turned into the movies "Get Shorty" and "Be Cool" (John Travolta), "Out of Sight" (George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez I think?), and lots more. A friend of mine was trying to read them all and he gave me a box full of the books a couple months ago so I decided to read them. They are fun - there are still lots more. He's been publishing novels since the 1950's!

Wow. I knew about Be Cook and that was it! Wow since the 1950s, I better get on them! thanks

23. The Moonshine War by Elmore Leonard. Love this one! Starting to see the beginnings of the "Justified" type story with this story. Really enjoyed it.

24. Valdez Is Coming by Elmore Leonard. I love this book! Apparently I am a bigger fan of the westerns than I thought. Maybe my favorite Elmore Leonard so far.

25. Forty Lashes Less One by Elmore Leonard. Another one that I loved. The old westerns are killing me. I have read what seems like a ton of Elmore Leonard this year already and I am not even close to half way finished with his stuff.

26. Mr Majestyk by Elmore Leonard.

27. 52 Pick Up by Elmore Leonard.

28. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Been meaning to read this book forever and just now got to it. Don't know how I made it through school without ever reading it. Really powerful book.

29. Swag by Elmore Leonard. Read this one today. One of Elmore's light/page turning novels that kind of breeze right through. Enjoyed it as usual. On to the next one.

30. Man vs. the Welfare State by Henry Hazlitt. Been reading this one a little bit at a time or a few weeks. A good read. I don't agree with everything Hazlitt says, but he definitely hits a lot of important points. Amazing how the issues have changed, but really stayed the same, over the 4 decades since he wrote the book.

31. Unknown Man #89 by Elmore Leonard. Love Elmore! Good thing he has written so many books, not even close to halfway done with his list yet.

32. The Hunted by Elmore Leonard. Maybe my favorite Elmore Leonard work so far. Different type of setting (in Israel), characters, etc. Really liked this one.

33. The Switch by Elmore Leonard. A little different. This one was pretty funny, I got a lot of laughs out of the dumb criminals in this story.

34. Gunsights by Elmore Leonard. Another great Western by Elmore.

35. Revan by Drew Karpyshyn. Always been a Star Wars fan and recently thought to try some of the books. Enjoyed this one - picked up a few more to try.

36. City Primeval by Elmore Leonard. Ready to take a little "Elmore break" but had to get this one out of the way. Pretty cool story.

37. Lost Tribe of the Sith: The Collected Stories by John Jackson Miller. Enjoyed this collection of stories. Only about a million Star Wars books to go.

38. Deceived by Paul S. Kemp. Another Star Wars 'Old Republic' story that I really enjoyed.

39. The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron. Been working through this "weekly course" book for the last 12 weeks and finally finished it. Really enjoyed and benefited from it. Great book.

40. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I have been meaning to read this book forever and finally did. Love it. Might have to re-read it once more before I watch the movie. Gatsby is fascinating.

41. Red Harvest by Joe Schreiber.

This was a book that I really wanted to enjoy, but didn't work out so well. Sort of "Star Wars" meets "Night of the Living Dead" or something like that. I'm determined to read through all the Star Wars books at some point so I made it through, but definitely my least favorite read so far this year.

42. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. Unbelievably great book. Best I have read this year and one of the best stories I have ever read. Heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.

43. Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams. Another Star Wars novel, and I enjoyed this one much more than the last. Interesting plot with "artificial intelligence" theme...

44. Beloved by Toni Morrison. Another excellent, excellent book. An all time great. Wonderfully written. Tragic story.

45. Annihilation by Drew Karpyshyn. Pretty good Star Wars novel. Some are better than others, I liked it much better than Red Harvest, not as well as Fatal Alliance.

46. The Kill Room by Jeffery Deaver. Love the Lincoln Rhyme novels! This was another good one. I've enjoyed all of Deaver's work, but the Rhyme novels more than the rest. I read a lot of detective/crime series, and this one always has a few different twists and turns due to the condition of the main character. Really recommend them.

47. Knight Errant by John Jackson Miller. Another Star Wars novel, eh. It was decent. I'm finding these are about 50/50 so far on stories I really enjoy vs. some that are tough to get through.

48. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez. Had a tough time getting through this one but ended up enjoying it. Interesting, and different than my usual reads... not my favorite "classic" but a good one.