75 Books...More or Less! discussion

I am very excited to attempt this challenge. Fingers crossed, I am almost finished with my first book of the year.

Good luck!

1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I loved this book. The characters were wonderfully written. Rosie is my hero!

I loved this one too Tiffani, I think the movie is due out soon!

I've seen some of the early pictures from the set and they look very good. I'll have to actually take the book of my TBR and read it before the movie makes it to the theaters. LOL!

If I recall right, it was a fast read!

Unfortunately my TBR is very long and I have a bunch of various group reads mixed in. It becomes a bit complicated to get to what I actually want to read sometimes. :) Oh well, one of my goals this year was to read out of the comfort zone, so hopefully the group reads will help that.

I know just what you mean Christy. Sometimes I have to let a group read go because of this.

2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I didn't like this book. The language was beautiful, but the characters were awful. I disliked everyone in the book. It was just depressing.

3. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

This is the first book of hers I have read. It was wonderful. I was surprised at the depth of the storyline and the controversial topics that she discussed. It was definitely not what I expected.

4. Everything She Thought She Wanted by Elizabeth Buchan

Not much to say about this one neither liked nor disliked it. I don't feel like there was a resolution to the story; it just ended.

5. The Awakening and The Struggle by L.J. Smith

6. The Fury and Dark Reunion by L.J. Smith

I did not like any of the main characters in this series (except maybe Meredith). I enjoyed the basic story, but the writing was a bit weak. I like the TV series a lot better.

7. Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

I love her books. This one was a little heavier than the others, but it was still enjoyable. I like that her characters always seem so real.

Tiffani wrote: "1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I loved this book. The characters were wonderfully written. Rosie is my hero!"

Ohhh, I have just finished this one and I loved it :)

Tiffani wrote: "2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I didn't like this book. The language was beautiful, but the characters were awful. I disliked everyone in the book. It was just depressing. ..."

I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt that way about the book. When I read it, I tried really hard to like it (it's one of the "Great American Novels" after all), but I just couldn't.

The Great Gasby is not for everyone :) I happen to love it, however I know many people who did not like it at all.

8. The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt
I really enjoyed this book. Its a historical fiction about the life of Nikola Tesla. He was an amazing man and reading this book makes me want to learn more. The writing is very beautiful as well, she has a great style. It was a little slow to get into but definitely worth it in the end. I am still a little confused about some parts. This story jumps around so it is a bit of a challenge to keep up. I may have to read it again in the future.

9. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
I know this is a kid's book, but I still liked it. I saw the movie, thought it was cute, so I decided to check out the book. It's a very fast read, and I'm kinda hooked. I have always found the myths about the Greek gods interesting, and these books just put a modern spin it. I think that's pretty cool.

Tiffani wrote: "9. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
I know this is a kid's book, but I still liked it. ..."

I really liked this whole series, they were a lot of fun. I haven't read 'The Lost Hero' yet, but it's on my TBR pile :)

Stacie wrote: "Tiffani wrote: "9. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
I know this is a kid's book, but I still liked it. ..."

I really liked this whole series, they were a lot of fun. I haven't read 'The Lost H..."

I've loved this series so far as well. I haven't had the time to finish, but hopefully I'll be able to fish the last two out of the TBR pile soon!

10. White Fang by Jack London
I hadn't read this book since elementary school. I want to reread a lot of the books I had to read in school, I think I will be able to get a little more meaning from them (reading for pleasure instead of being forced to read it). I really liked the book. I was not a huge fan of the writing style, but the content was excellent.

11. The Royal Treatment by Mary Janice Davidson

12. The Royal Pain by Mary Janice Davidson

13. The Royal Mess by Mary Janice Davidson

I loved these books. They were super cute. They are set in a world where Alaska is a country ruled by a quirky royal family (think of black sheep to the Windsors). The dialog is hilarious.

14. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
I am really liking this series. Slowly but surely making my way through them.

15. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
I loved this book! It is told from a dog's (who thinks he should be a man) perspective. There are some excellent quotes. The part about the possessed zebra was hilarious. Very touching.

16. Nightfall by L.J. Smith
Continuing the Vampire Diaries series. I still like the show better, but I feel like this story was better developed than the previous ones.

Tiffani wrote: "I want to reread a lot of the books I had to read in school, I think I will be able to get a little more ..."

I'm planning on doing this as well. The only one I've gotten to so far is The Great Gatsby (and I guess you could say Of Mice and Men, though I actually never read in that school, but it seemed like everyone else I know did).

I am way behind on posting! We moved in June and I just haven't gotten settled yet. I hope I can remember all the books I have read since my last posting.... :/

This list is going to be in no specific order...

17. Mad Dash: A Novel by Patricia Gaffney
This book kinda depressed me. I has a happy ending, but overall I was just sad - the ending didn't resolve that feeling very well. It's about a husband and wife of 20 years separating to "find" themselves (well really just the wife leaving). I really felt bad for the husband, Andrew. But I did relate to some of the feelings his wife, Dash, had, so maybe that's why I found it so depressing - too real.

18. Born in FireBorn in Fire by Nora Roberts

19. Born in IceBorn in Ice by Nora Roberts
I really like this series. It is set in Ireland, and each book follows a different sister. The story draws you in. Makes me want to visit Ireland! I am planning on reading the last one in the series soon. I would definitely recommend if you need some lite chic book reading.

20. Bewitching by Jill Barnett
Cute, quirky book about a fun-loving, accident prone witch finding love in a stiff, detached noble man. Fast, easy read. I found the "love" scenes to be a bit corny, but I guess corny is good sometimes.

21. The Hindi-Bindi Club by Monica Pradhan
Good story, a little slow in places, but is was interesting to learn about Indian culture - AND it has recipes, the Chicken Curry was delicious! The story is told from the perspectives of the Mothers and Daughters of 3 immigrant Indian families. Good book to share with your mum.

22. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

23. The Titan's CurseThe Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

24. The Last OlympianThe Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
I loved this series! It was a lot of fun to read.

25. Narcissus in Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton

26. Cerulean Sins by Laurell K. Hamilton
Slowly making my way through this series. I like it, Anita is such a strong lead. And I love vampires. I think the series is getting a little out of hand with the gratuitous sex, but the story line is still holding my interest.

27. GalápagosGalápagos by Kurt Vonnegut
The concept was intriguing, but the story was soooooo slow. I do not like his writing style at all.

28. Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
Again with vampires... love them!

That's all I can come up with right now...I'm sure there is more, just may take a while to recall. Wonder if the library stores my history???

29. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Very good book!

30. The Kite Runner by Khalid Hossieni
This book was so sad and touching. The story draws you in from the very beginning and your heart breaks with the characters'.

31.Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
I liked this book. Classic chic lit! I love when things work out in the end - even tho I do have a bit of a problem with the whole sleeping with a friend's fiance part...

32. Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
I found this book a little hard to wade through. Some parts were good, but it just moved too slow.

33. Wind in the Stone by Andre Norton
I didn't care for this book. The storyline/plot was good - classic good vs evil. But I did not like the language/tone of the book - it was very wordy. I stumbled over that a bit and had to keep re-reading parts to understand. Meh.

Tiffani, I loved The Kite Runner by Khalid Hossieni. It is one of those books that I think you carry in your heart.

34. Marked by P.C. Cast (Reread)
35. Betrayed by P.C. Cast (Reread)
36. Chosen by P.C. Cast (Reread)
37. Untamed by P.C. Cast (Reread)
38. Hunted by P.C. Cast (Reread)
39. Tempted by P.C. Cast (Reread)
40. Burned by P.C. Cast (Reread)

41. Awakened by P.C. Cast
42. Destined by P.C. Cast
I love the House of Night series! I finally got to read the latest 2 books, but I had to reread the previous ones to remember all that was happening. (I am counting the my rereads in my overall count because they are still pages read - I think that still counts!)

I am definitely not going to make the 75 books this year - just too many life changes ( ie moving, starting a new business, taking on the care of a grandparent, bleh.... too much new stuff!) Hopefully, I will do better next year.

Remembered one more....

43. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
I just watched the "Sherlock Holmes 2" movie and discovered the BBC mini-series special "Sherlock" and was intrigued, so I read this first one. I loved it, what a great classic character!

44. Night World, No. 1: Secret Vampire; Daughters of Darkness; Spellbinder by L.J. Smith

45. Night World, No. 2: Dark Angel; The Chosen; Soulmate by L.J. Smith

46. Night World, No. 3: Huntress, Black Dawn, Witchlight by L.J. Smith

Tiffani wrote: "34. Marked by P.C. Cast (Reread)
35. Betrayed by P.C. Cast (Reread)
36. Chosen by P.C. Cast (Reread)
37. Untamed by P.C. Cast (Reread)
38. [..."

I want to read this series so bad! But I have been good and not purchased it yet! I need to get through some books that already on my TBR shelf!

Good job Tiffani! See you in 2012 :)