North Liberty Readers discussion

12+2 Challenge 2014


1. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell September
2. The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón January
3. The Beggar King by Oliver Pötzsch December
4. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini November
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald June
6. The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian February
7. Night of Many Dreams by Gail Tsukiyama February
8. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson April
9. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline March
10. Bellman & Black: A Ghost Story by Diane Setterfield April
11. The Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent January
12. The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller December


+1. Lie Down With Lions by Ken Follett February
+2. My Mother's Secret: A Novel Based on a True Holocaust Story by J.L. Witterick February

Books read in 2014 and page counts.


January
1. Conqueror 441
2. The Wolves of Andover 320*
3. The Prisoner of Heaven 279
4. Speaking from Among the Bones 297
5. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches 300
February
6. My Mother's Secret: A Novel Based on a True Holocaust Story 208
7. Night of Many Dreams 275
8. The Sandcastle Girls 299*
9. Lie Down With Lions 374
March
10. Child 44 279
11. The Fairest of Them All 213
12. Orphan Train 288
13. Rainbow's End: A Memoir of Childhood, War and an African Farm 269*
14. The Blood of Gods 381
April
15. A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea 432
16. The Orphan Master's Son 456
17. Bellman & Black: A Ghost Story 342
18. Divergent 325
19. The Kane Chronicles 985
May
20. Insurgent 345
21. Cathedral of the Sea 640*
22. The Book Thief 552*
23. Allegiant 342
24. The Bells 374*
June
25. A Breath of Snow and Ashes 1428
26. The Secret Speech 384
27. The Great Gatsby 140
28. Code Name Verity 350*
July
29. The Other Story 320*
30. Agent 6 481
August
31. An Echo in the Bone 1194
32. A Dangerous Fortune 576*
33. Plain Truth 405
34. Four: A Divergent Story Collection 208
35. The Baker's Daughter 304*
September
36. Cloud Atlas 464
37. A Triple Knot 460
38. The Daughters of Mars 528*
39. Night Road 385*
40. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls 275*
41. Rose Under Fire 368*
October
November
42. The Winter Sea 527*
43. Edge of Eternity 1015
44. And the Mountains Echoed 292
45. Honolulu 383
46. Gregor the Overlander Box Set 1010
47. The Pearl that Broke Its Shell 427
48. The Witness 534*
December
49. Magyk 564
50. The Beggar King 512
51. The Bridges of Madison County 171
52. Lolita 320*
53. The High Divide 352
54-56. Rough Riders #5-7 926

* = audiobook
Total Pages: 23,845
Average Pages: 426

Currently Reading:
Audiobook:

I'm pretty sure this is my list! I've finished 11 this year (and am still trying to finish the last one, but I'm not sure I'll make it...), and hope to actually finish the challenge in 2014!!!

Nice list! I will be reading several of the ones you are. I just need to get my list posted!

I like!

LOVE LOVE LOVE your list. I've read many of those and you'll LOVE The Orphan Train as that was one I super enjoyed in December. I just finished Sandcastle Girls and will be reading The Light in the Ruins this year. LOVE Bohjalian....I added a Follett to mine as well...can't wait to get started!

I finished my first one! I feel like I cheated a little bit since I started listening to The Wolves of Andover in December, but I listened to most of it this year. I think it would have been a better book to read rather than listen to. I felt a little bit lost in a few places and if I'd been reading, I think it would have been solved quickly by going back 1 or 2 pages. It was a hard book to listen to without giving it my full attention which is difficult sometimes.

6 done!!! I think maybe I can read a few other things before going back to the list. I don't think I've ever been this far ahead. Maybe this will be the year I finish!!!

nice! I've almost finished two books on my list! :)

I can start The Fairest of Them All whenever you're ready!

I could start probably tomorrow? I'm *this* close to being done with Mistborn: The Final Empire, which I'm reading with my friend from Colorado. :) Oh, it's good! The first 1/3 of the book is pretty slow because there's a bunch that has to be built up and explained, and the last 1/3 is just flying by! I have about 100 pages left... if I skip the ICE meeting tonight, I could probably finish that.

Hmm, if I can't skip the meeting tonight, then I'll finish Mistborn by tomorrow. Sooo maybe we should say Wednesday?

Works for me!

I read about half of the first page of Fairest of Them All last night before I fell asleep... I don't think it's going to be a boring book, I just couldn't keep my eyes open!

I'm only about 10 pages in, and quite a few of those pages didn't have story on them. :) It seems like it will be a good book, but I was fighting a migraine after the chiro appt yesterday.... didn't want to push it.

Hopefully I'll be able to catch up with you tonight!

Sonja, you're going to fly past me!

I'm so tired lately that I'm not sure about that! We'll see...

I finished it last night. It was good, but I'm not sure it was my favorite re-imagining of a fairy tale. It was an interesting perspective though...

YEah, totally not my favorite. Gregory Maguire does a much better job. It's a cute story, but it left a lot do be desired.

I agree that Gregory Maguire does a MUCH better job!!! At least this one wasn't long and painfully slow. It was a cute quick read.

Yep, cute and quick. Not bad at all for $1.99, but nothing epic or that I'll run around telling people that they MUST read. :)

Just pre-ordered Edge of Eternity!!! I can't wait!

OMG I need to! I just can't figure out if I'll read it or listen to it. I loved the narrator for the second book. Too. Many. Decisions.

So far, I haven't listened to any of his. I've only read them, but it looks (on Amazon anyway), like the audiobook isn't much more than the hard cover version...

Almost done with #11! I think I might make it this year! I pulled 4 books out of my bookshelf last week as my next books to read, but I got my shipping confirmation from Amazon today that Edge of Eternity is on it's way. What to do!?!?!?!? Too many books that I want to read, and soooo not enough time!

Three words: Edge. of. Eternity.

That's what I'm thinking! I have to read that one first!

I'm undecided... I want to listen to the audio book because I love the narrator, but reading the book will be faster... What to do!!

I pre-ordered the hard copy from Amazon and the Nook book as well... I haven't listened to any of these, but reading them has been fun!

John Lee is an AWESOME narrator. It also makes the book last longer. But the suspense might just kill me.

Finally finished #11 Cloud Atlas!!! It's amazing how little reading I can accomplish when I don't really enjoy what I'm reading... I really was an OK book. I just had a hard time following the time jumps and the dialects that he threw in for certain time periods. I wanted to like it! But this is definitely one that's going to the library!

Nice!

I'm determined to read Cloud Atlas....I hope I like it....I LOVE the concept....and I've heard so much about it....we'll see. Sammi and I are already working on next year's list. Geeks that we are...LOL!!! Have you seen the movie Sonja? The movie was a bit....perplexing...and left me WANTING to read the book....I need to read the book....

I kept wondering if this was a book that would be easier to follow if I'd seen the movie... I'll probably try to watch it at some point.

So maybe the movie first is the way to go if I decide to tackle it?

I don't know... I wondered if having an idea of the story line would have helped with the abrupt transitions. I really have no idea since I haven't seen it.

I liked the movie....the concept is....bizarre....but I really need to read the book to get the full effect....I think...

I didn't finish a single book in October... That's sad! Hopefully I'll make up for it in Novmeber! Only one more for my challenge!

Finished And the Mountains Echoed today! I think that's 12!!! The first time I've finished before the end of the year!

YAY!!!!! I'm on 11 now!

I finished all 14! I didn't know if I could do it, but I made it!!!

Nice!

Yay!!! It does feel good!