Pick-a-Shelf discussion

for my insane craziness

Roll Tracker

Roll 1 - 5, 3 = 8 - P: Black Beauty (Book Request)
Roll 2 - 1, 1 = 2 - Explore your Mind / Watch TV
Roll 3 - 3, 2 = 5 - G: Literature
Roll 4 - 6, 2 = 8 - P: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Book Request)
Roll 5 - 3, 3 = 6 - P: To Kill A Mockingbird (book request)
Roll 6 - 2, 6 = 8 - E: Knowledge/Explore (second dice roll - 6, 1 = 7)
Roll 7 - 4, 6 = 10 - E: Knowledge/Explore (second dice roll - 2, 3 = 5)
Roll 8 - 5, 2 = 7 - P: Frankenstein -(book request from Dom)
Roll 9 - 2, 5 = 7 - P: Native Son - (book request from Dom)
Roll 10 - 6, 2 = 8 - P: To Kill a Mockingbird - (owned by me!)
Roll 11 - 3, 2 = 5 - P: Don Quixote - (book request from Bea)
Roll 12 - 3, 3 = 6 - GO READ! - 2nd dice roll - 4, 2 = 6 - P: Charlotte's Web - (book request from Lyn)
Roll 13 - 2, 4 = 6 - U: Big Brain -Ask a Librarian
Roll 14 - 6, 5 = 11 - P: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (book request from Kim)
Roll 15 - 5, 2 = 7 - GO WATCH TV
Roll 16 - 3, 1 = 4 - Frankenstein (Dom)
Roll 17 - 6, 4 = 10 - P: The Old Man and the Sea (book request)
Roll 18 - 4, 2 = 6 - GO WATCH TV
Roll 19 - 4, 3 = 7 - KNOWLEDGE Task - 2nd dice roll - 3, 3, = 6
Roll 20 - 1, 4 = 5 - EXPLORE Task - 2nd dice roll - 1, 6 = 7
Roll 21 - 5, 1 = 6 - U: Imagination -Ask a Librarian
Roll 22 - 2, 3 = 5 - KNOWLEDGE Task - 2nd dice roll - 4, 4 = 8
Roll 23 - 6, 1 = 7 - GO READ! - - 2nd dice roll - 1,1 = 2; KNOWLEDGE TASK - 3rd dice roll - 6, 2 = 8
Roll 24 - 5, 3 = 8 - Explore your Mind / Watch TV
Roll 25 - 2, 5 = 7 - KNOWLEDGE Task - 2nd dice roll - 6, 1 = 7
Roll 26 - 3, 5 = 8 - GENRE - Sci-fi-fantasy
Roll 27 - 4, 6 = 10 - G: Romance
Roll 28 - 6, 4 = 10 - G: Mystery
Roll 29 - 5, 5 = 10 - G: Literature
Roll 30 - 1, 2 = 3 - P: Lord of the Flies (Bea)
Roll 31 - 5, 5 = 10 - U: Imagination -Ask a Librarian
Roll 32 - 6, 1 = 7 - G: Romance
Roll 33 - 2, 4 = 6 - P: Goodnight Moon
Roll 34 - 1, 3 = 4 - G: Mystery
Roll 35 - 5, 5 = 10 - G: Literature
Roll 36 - 5, 2 = 7 - EXPLORE TASKS - roll - 2, 6 = 8
Roll 37 - 2,1 = 3 - G: Sci-Fi-Fantasy
Roll 38 - 5, 4 = 9 - P: Don Quixote -Lusie's
Roll 39 - 4, 3 = 7 - P: Goodnight Moon -Book Request
Roll 40 - 3, 4 = 7 - P: Black Beauty -Marina's
Roll 41 - 1, 6 = 7 - G: Literature

Roll 1 - rolled 28nov; 8pm

P: Black Beauty (Book Request) - picked by Kaitlin

Stolen Years: Stories of the Wrongfully Imprisoned

i received this book as an ARC through Edelweiss - there was something about the description of it that caught my attention - and the stories within were gut-wrenching. The book itself is fairly simplistic - it focuses on the stories of 10 different people - from different states, different walks of life; some parents, some not; some young and some old; male and female - all of whom were found guilty (by either a judge or jury) and spent time in prison for crimes they didn't commit. The shortest sentence mentioned in the book was 10 years, but many were significantly longer. I def. started to tear up in a few places. I think the story that to me was the worst was the one for the guy who served 10 years in prison for raping his daughter, only to have her recant - her reasoning - she was angry that he wasn't spending enough time with her and her sister...and she continuing to threaten him after his release whenever she got mad at him...

Roll 2 - Jail - rolled 28nov; 8pm

b. JUST VISITING (Explore your mind): Read a book with word in title that is, at least, 3 syllables long. Please choose your book from your Bookopoly Shelf if you can. If not, then from your general tbr.

The Kidnapped Christmas Bride

kidnapped - has 3 syllables

Short and sweet second chance romance - after being released from jail, Trey just wants to spend christmas with his son and he isn't above stopping a wedding to accomplish that - solid romance but very undertoned on the smexy-ness - 3 stars

Roll 3 - rolled 28nov; 8pm

G: Literature

Brave New World - 1200+ ppl have shelved as literature

Review
There are some books that IMHO everyone should read, Brave New World is one of them - although I'll admit that I'm just reading it for the first time as an adult. I don't know if I agree with the Brave descriptor...scary maybe...some interesting commentary on the role of religion and science and can they coexist with each other; or can you be a scientist and still believe in God. the idea of mass breeding children was different; and the undertone of racism, with the better breeders being minorities was different

Roll 4 - rolled 6 dec, 7pm

P: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (book request)

Call of the Highland Moon - picked by Kaitlin

mini-review
very underwhelmed by this paranormal romance; i guess that is why it had been stuck on my Mt TBR for a while - but glad to get it off...honestly, I think it had potential, but the writing was too meandering and prosely, if it had been tighter it might have been better

Roll 5 - rolled 7 dec, 9:45pm

P: To Kill A Mockingbird (book request) - property purchase

Inside the O'Briens

Review
Like her previous book Still Alice, Lisa Genova takes us once again into a family devestated by a medical diagnosis. Joe O'Brien, a Boston cop, married and father of 4, is diagnosed with the incurable Huntington's disease. To add to the devestation, each of his 4 kids (all in the 200;s and 30's) have a 50% chance of developing it later in life. emotional is one way to describe how i felt reading. It also made me ask myself - what would i do - have the genetic test and know for sure or not and try to live like thrre isn't a cloud of doom maybe hanging over my head...even now i don't know. 4 stars for Inside the O'Briens

Roll 6 - rolled 11 dec; 8:30pm

E: Knowledge/Explore (second dice roll - 6, 1 = 7)

7. Sort your shelf by date added and read a book most recently added (you may choose out of your latest 5)

Rises The Night - added Oct 29

so i was an idiot and picked a book that was 2 in a series, so before i could read this one, i had to go back and read bk 1 since they are sequential and i wouldn't have understood this story if i had read it first. that being said, I like where the author is going and that its not everything tied up with a pretty bow at the end of the book...

Roll 7 - rolled 16 dec; 8pm

E: Knowledge/Explore (second dice roll - 2, 3 = 5)

5. Read a book you've added to your tbr in an odd year

Playing Dirty - added 2013

Review
cute romance, but the dumb hick country star trope just irked me - especially when it was a group of them...i know we are in a society where scandalous is better than smarts, but just ugh...still gave it 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4

Roll 8 - rolled 27 Dec; 9am

P: Frankenstein

Before I Go

This book was much more emotional than i expected it to be - maybe because she isn't much younger than I am (29 and i'm in my early 30's) - but seeing what she is going through, not only with a terminal diagnosis, but trying to make sure her husband is going to be ok after she is gone. I can't say it ended with how i thought it was going to, but still a 4 star read

Roll 9 - rolled January 4, 12:15pm

P: Native Son - (book request from Dom)

Mean Streak

its been a while since i've read a good romance suspense (probably more heavily on the suspense) and mean streak hit my happy buttons. I didn't figure out the reveal until it was revealed, mostly because I had discounted the person; the pace and timing was good and flowed well

Roll 10 - rolled January 10, 3:31

P: To Kill a Mockingbird - (owned by me!)

Harvest at Mustang Ridge

Harvest at mustang ridge is Krista's romance (she owns the dude ranch) - it was a second chance/reunion romance - unfortunately, not my favorite in the series - felt like it dragged in a few places and a bit slow moving, but a solid ending - 3.5 stars

Roll 11 - 17Jan - 7:45am

P: Don Quixote - (book request from Bea)

The Life Intended

Wasn't sure what to expect when I picked A Life Intended but since the description included a reference to the movie Sliding Doors, I was intrigued. It was an easy read (writing style wise), that hit on some difficult topics - grief, foster system. Can see myself checking out other books by this author in the future

Roll 12 - 18Jan - 5:15pm

GO READ!

P: Charlotte's Web - (book request from Lyn)

Angels Burning

Exceeded my one month reading timeline due to being in a reading funk. Notified the mods (IAW rule 4.D). Honestly was disappointed with this overall - the "mystery" kind of took a backseat to all Dove's personal issues - can't say i was a fan

Roll 13 - 25Jan - 3:20pm

U: Big Brain -Ask a Librarian (picked by Tien)

The Second Deadly Sin

I really need to read previous books in this series - the mystery was intetested and I liked the flow between past and present; the no real chapters aside from the days the case covered was weird but didn't hurt too much on the flow

Roll 14 - 10 Feb - 11:40pm

P: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (book request from Kim)

picked by Tien (due to no response from owner)

Love by Design

I was disappointed in this one because I thought that the story had potential, but unfortunately the hero was a territorical douchebag (who makes your gf of only a couple of months chose between you and her business partner); Mandy was an OMG I can't get a cupcake because I might get fat kind of character (the irony since Tristian owns a cupcake store)....just ugh! 2 stars

Roll 15 - 20 Feb - 4:45

JAIL (Watching TV): Read the Biggest Thickest Meanest book on your Bookopoly Shelf at time of being sent to jail

Empire of Shadows

I really liked the first book in this series when I read it, but it took me a while to figure out Empire of shadows fit into the world - I only recognized one of the characters (Esmer, the sune-cat). But all was revealed in the end - will be intrigued to see if she writes another book in the series

Roll 16 - 26 Feb - 1:15pm

Frankenstein (picked by Dom)

The Hopeful

DNF at like 36% - not what i expected - much more psychological/mental illness/injury recovery than a story about being "the hopeful"

The Fire Sermon - alternate choice

my second choice at a book for this option was much better than the first - i wasn't sure going in, because I've been burnt out on dysoptia books recently, but this was one intriguing. the idea that all people in the world had an indentical twin that was the weaker of the two, but that their lives were so joined, that if one died, so did the other. only a smidgen of romance within, but i'm definately intrigued to see what happens in book 2 if i can get it

Roll 17 - 06 Mar - 5am

P: The Old Man and the Sea (book request)

Neurotica (picked by Marina); stated intent to buy on 6 Mar - 0830

I love finding fresh voices in romance because so many authors tend to have a cookie cutter approach, Eliza Gordan is one of those authors. I really enjoyed the previous book I read by her (Must Love Otters) and in Neurotica, she brought her witty writing again. Neurotica features Jayne, a obituary writer who struggles with intimacy issues, who at the urging of her therapist writes an erotic romance that becomes a bestseller. I loved her character development of Jayne, along with her love interest Luke (of the Piewalker food truck) and his sister, Leia (yeah, I kid you not). The geek-level was high in this one but really cute. 4 stars

Roll 18 - March 8

GO WATCH TV - longest book on Bookopoly shelf

Front Lines

I liked Front Lines moer than I thought I would - the basic premise, in the lead-up to WW2, a male sued the government about selective service saying it was prejudicial to men and that women should have to sign-up as well. I thought Michael Grant did a good job of capturing the thoughts and feelings of women being enlisted -both from the women themselves, the men serving with them, family, trainers etc. Very similar to many of the comments I am currently seeing as I listen to discussions about the same topic. The book is divided into 2 sections, training and then war - for me the training part seemed to be more developed as a story, the war part lesser so, since it relied on real battles in Europe (specifically the Battle of Kaisser Pass)

Solid 4 stars, intrigued to see where the series goes

Roll 19 - Mar 12 - 11:30am

KNOWLEDGE Task - 2nd dice roll - 3, 3, = 6

6. Read a book where author's name (first OR last) ends with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U)

When the Moon is Low - Nadia Hashimi (first and last names end with vowel)

If you want to read a book about the refugee experience - this is one for you - follows the travels of a woman escaping Afghanistan after her husband is murdered by the Taliban. Told in alternating POV (her and her 15yo son). 4 stars

Roll 20 - 13 March 9:40am

EXPLORE Task - 2nd dice roll - 1, 6 = 7

7. Sort your shelf by date added and read a book most recently added (you may choose out of your latest 5)

Poker Face: The Rise and Rise of Lady Gaga - added March 5 - DNF - 3/15/16

Yeah, I tried in vain hope i could deal with it as a challenge book in another group and yeah, so not happening!

Alternate
Mr. Smith Goes to Prison: What My Year Behind Bars Taught Me About America's Prison Crisis- added March 5

I was surprised how much I actually enjoyed this book - i was totally expecting something more in lines with Orange is the New Black, with more humor; but this was more staid, focusing on what needs to be done for prison reform - which is soemthing that Jeff Smith campaigned for prior to going to prison. He is lucky compared to many of the men he served with because he has that established social support system that many of them lack; he himself admitted to losing contact with his prison "friends" after about a year because his life had changed so much. would be intrigued to see a where are they now for all the guys he mentioned. 4 stars.

Roll 21 - 19 March; 11am

U: Imagination -Ask a Librarian

Dangerous Flirt

huge fan of Avery Flynn, and yet i'd never read her books that she released early in her career - even before i discovered her, if i'd found these, i probably would have been hooked. Well written, nice level of sexual tension between the hero and heroine; the mystery was well-developed (definately not who I was thinking of). Solid 3.5 stars

Roll 22 - 20 March - 8:45am

KNOWLEDGE Task

8. Sort your shelf by average ratings and read a book with highest avg rating (you may choose out of your top 5).

The Wrath and the Dawn

I was kind of disappointed in this - it was slow going at the beginning and while got better, I just didn't really care

Roll 23 - 20March, 8:45

2nd dice roll - 1,1 = 2

KNOWLEDGE TASK

8. Sort your shelf by average ratings and read a book with highest avg rating (you may choose out of your top 5).

Enraptured - solid series continuation - i like that she has brought in other elements from greek mythology (Sirens, the fates) to help move the story along - can't remember why now that i had stopped reading it - but def. want to finish up the series in the near future

Roll 24 - 22march; 6:45am

Explore your mind - word with 3 or more syllable's

The Paper Magician (magician has 3 syllables)

The Paper Magician started interesting - people with magical talents who manipulate different materials - but it got weird about halfway through when Ceony had to rescue Mg Thane - i didn't understand completely Lila and the heart thing...

Roll 25 - 28 March 6:46am

Roll 1 - 2, 5 = 7

Knowledge task
Roll 2 - 6, 1

7. Sort your shelf by date added and read a book most recently added (you may choose out of your latest 5)

Zorba the Greek - added Mar 20 - DNF - just couldn't get into it - tried for over a week and only like 20pages in

2nd attempt
It's In His Touch - added Mar 28- cute-ish contemporary romance; a few things made me struggle (why this awesome criminal attorney was sent to do a hostile business take-over) and while i understood her dislike of the pink breast cancer ribbons (as she was a survivor), it also irked me

Roll 26 - 29 March, 6:30am

Roll - 3,5 = 8

Genre - sci-fi-fantasy

Oryx and Crake - perfect timing since i just reserved this at the library last night for my new office audiobook listen ;)

ugh, had to put the CD aside because it was so scratched, it was unlistenable :(

Second try
Grave Peril - found on pg3

finally finished Grave Peril - i kind of felt like i was missing something between the previous book and this one, but that could be because its been like over a year since i listened to the last book...

Roll 27 -G: Romance - rolled 17 April; 4:50pm

picked book on May 29 @ 9:20pm

Lick

wow, why did I wait so long to read/listen to this! well developed/executed storyline - i love a las vegas drunken wedding storyline...will def. be continuing the series

Roll 28 - G: Mystery - rolled 17 April; 4:55pm

picked book on May 29 @ 9:22

I Hunt Killers

yet another book that has been sitting on Mt TBR for a long time that I now regret leaving so long. This was something freshing in the YA realm - not only from a male POV, but where while he was a hero, he was struggling with his dark side and the question of nature vs. nurture - are you born a serial killer? or can you be made one? Jazz doesn't want to be either - but he has that pedigree...already glad i have the second book to read so i can continue the story.

Roll 29 - 5, 5 = 10 - G: Literature

Fahrenheit 451

this was my second attempt at listening to this, the first time, i had to put aside because it was narrated by the author and was HORRIBLE! thankfully this narrator was much better and sucked me into the story of Montag - i think this is a book that seems very appropriate in this day and age with how the media plays such an integral role in our lives, although we don't specifically have the TV's in our wall like they do, it seems like it sometimes...

Roll 30 - P: Lord of the Flies (Bea) - rolled 3 Jun, 8:45

Protecting His Own

I'll admit that i'm normally not a fan of books where we are revisiting couples from previous books, but its Cherise Sinclair and I knew if anyone could pull it off, she could. I had so much love for Nolan and Beth when they got their book and Protecting his Own was so gut-wrenching - there were def. some teary parts - 4 stars

Roll 31 - U: Imagination -Ask a Librarian - rolled 9 Jun, 3:30pm

Storm Glass

a tad disappointed...i thought the story was good, but it felt like in the middle it just meandered too much...wasn't tightly written...but was intrigued enough by the story to maybe check out more in the future by her

Roll 32 - G: Romance - rolled 14 Jun, 8:15pm

Heron's Cove

I always want to like Carla Neggers books (especially here romance suspense type ones) and yet when I read them, I am inveriably let down...they start of strong and just fizzle out...i've read 2 in this series now and probably won't continue (although it looks like the series may have stalled as well)

Roll 33 - P: Goodnight Moon - book request - rolled 25 Jun, 9am

Winter - picked by Marina

dear sweet holy jesus i thought i was never going to finish...winter was 800pgs and while it was fairly tight writing at times, it was just like omg...

Roll 34 - G: Mystery - rolled 3 July 7am

Dead Certainty: A Contemporary Horse Racing Mystery

kind of underwhelmed about this - while it was touted as a horse racing mystery that really wasn't the main mystery, so I kind of felt a bit mislead and i figured out the who done it fairly early on - 2 stars

Roll 35 - G: Literature - rolled 4 July 8:30 pm

Around the World in Eighty Days

kind of underwhelmed about this - might have been the narrator (frederick davidson) but just ehhh overall - 2 stars

Roll 36 - Explore Task - rolled 4 August 7:25am

EXPLORE TASKS - 8. Sort your shelf by average ratings and read a book with highest avg rating (you may choose out of your top 5).

Unraveled - 4th highest with 4.19avg (2 of higher rated were already in progress when rolled)

Got to say enjoying this series more than i expected - the 3rd entry was about a different couple to the previous 2.5 (which was about the main couple - ronin and amery) - in this one, its ronin's sister, Shiori and his dojo GM, Knox - (view spoiler)[I mean, c'mon, baby shox as a nickname (hide spoiler)]

Roll 37 - G: Sci-Fi-Fantasy - rolled 4 August 7:30am

Fate? My overdrive download of Oryx and Crake showed up other day...so let's try again

I'll admit that I was skeptical at first, because the first 30 or so pages there is a lot going on and you don't really understand the context - but when the narrative gets going and it bounces between present day (Snowman) and past (Jimmy) you start seeing how all the pieces are weaved together. already have the second book picked for me as a bookopoly pick and looking forward to seeing where the trilogy goes.

Roll 38 - 5, 4 = 9 - P: Don Quixote - August 22, 5:20am

The Snow Child

when you read (or listen) to a book that is hugely raved about and it just feels ehhh to you - that's how The Snow Child made me feel - the story was cute (don't get me wrong) - but could have been shorter - i felt a lot of it wasn't that significant the story and was more filler

Roll 39 - P: Goodnight Moon - 24August 8:50pm

The Year of the Flood

Roll 40 - P: Black Beauty -Marina's

Peyton Place

Roll 41 - G: Literature