75 Books...More or Less! discussion

1. Cukiernia Pod Amorem. Cieślakowie by Małgorzata Gutowska-Adamczyk - well, I read most in December, but still ;) A great continuation of the first book. How much I like this kind of family stories, sagas! Colorful, with charm, where you're getting hungry while reading amazing descriptions of meals, when you see so lovely manors and life in them that you want to be a noble! Now I wonder how the third book will be.

Yea! Aga is "in" for the challenge again. You always read such interesting things.

Kay - thanks, I'm happy you like my threads :) I'm also happy to be here with you again!

2. W północ się odzieję by Terry Pratchett - one of the best books of this author which I've read. Great translation, cool Wee Free Men, a lot of good humor + quite bit of absurd, good entertainment.

Aga, I'm dying to know what your goal is for this year :)

That's a good question - I don't know the answer yet. I plan to move and change job, so rather my reading goal will be not so high as the one last year.

3. Córka dymu i kości by Laini Taylor - what I really liked here was Prague, Seraphs, Chimeras and their worlds, amazing job! What I liked less was too sweet love affair part, but in general this book is really winning with most of the "paranormal romances" which I've read, because of the ideas, writing and general charm, I read it with great pleasure and I can't wait the next book.

4. Historie Miłosne by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt - set of shorter and longer stories, all about love, different faces of it. As usual by this author - charming, poetic, but also sometimes hard and full of hate.

5. Kwestia równowagi by Zoe Fishman - nice chick-lit about the strength of friendship, yoga and being ready to take risks and changing life. A bit too sweet, a bit unreal, but still - nice, good for brightening the mood.

Aga, I'm in the same boat! Between my new job and planning a wedding my reading time is much less than ever before. I will be happy if I get to the 75 this year :)

6. Nie samym chlebem by Sarah-Kate Lynch - next very nice book of this author. Well, this one seemed a bit more bitter and tougher for me. And next wonderful descriptions - this time baking bread!

Andrea - :) Oh, yes! New job and wedding can be an adventure! I've got a new job just on Friday (well, now just for the trial period, but I hope it'll work out), so now I'm looking for a flat (or at least room) in the capitl, need to move until 1.02!

7. Pałac kobiet by Pearl S. Buck - I like her books, there is some kind of softness and strength in them which I like. Maybe also because of the fact that she is telling a story of women, their life, role in the society etc. And this book is a next enchanting story about the woman and her family.

8. Przełamać noc by Murray Liz - I don't give a mark to the book, I just give a sign of appreciation for how this girl managed her life. From where she came and to where she is going. For the way how she survived the terrible situation working very hard, got a great education and destroyed the wall. Respect!

9. Las Zębów i Rąk by Carrie Ryan - the author created an interesting world, I need to admit that. Second big plus - this book is really addictive! I was just turning pages like crazy, just to see what will happen next. Minus? The plot is very simple - danger - fight - escape - danger - fight - escape and a bit of emotions to make it more diverse.

10. Shit! Rok w brukowcu by Joanna Żebrowska - veeery light chick-lit, perfect for travelling. Nice, funny, still showing the secrets of the work in tabloids, good read).
11. Cukiernia pod Amorem. Hryciowie by Małgorzata Gutowska-Adamczyk - and that's the end... I liked Gina and Adam very much, but also Celina impressed me. But I had an impression that the last part of this book was written in a hurry or a bit forced, I missed a real good ending.

12. Mój przyjaciel Kaligula by Jacek Piekara - "My friend Caligula" - as usual with short stories: not equal :p A few interesting stories, few average in which in addition there is too much of personal opinions of the author (especially related with politics). I don't know from where I've got it, but I don't like these moments when I feel that through the character the author himself is trying to show me what he is thinking, especially when I feel it, it's not well given. But I need to admit - he has an interesting imagination.

13. Strażniczka królestw by Adam Węsek - "Guardian of Kingdoms" - I appreciate mostly the imagination of the author, it's really rich. This books is targeted mainly to kids, for me it was ok, but it did not captivate me. It also has some logical mistakes, a bit crude style, a bit small defects in the world of this story. But probably kids will love it.

14. Dziewczynka w zielonym sweterku by Krystyna Chiger - the book itself is not important, but the story about people ready for everything, these memories from canals are worth knowing! Testimony of how strong can be the will for living and how much you can sacrifice to survive and to help someone else. Worth reading!

15. Kiki van Beethoven by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt - well, in average it's a good book. The first part I loved a lot, it's really cool story! But the second part - thoughts of the author related with music and especially Beethoven - it was pretty much boring. Too much philosophic, too long, it could fit into 10 pages, you could easily cut dozens.

16. Zemsta jest kobietą by Antology - very unequal miscellany. From great stories to very average, but for these few strong, creative stories it is worth reading.

17. The White Pearl by Kate Furnivall - an interesting plot, full of action, unusual place, but an irritating characters, unreliable happenings, a way too long.

18. Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton - kind of crime-of manners chick-lit if I can create such a combination ;) It's ok, an interesting read, but nothing extraordinary. A big plus for the pages before the final ending - for the ending of the crime part, I liked it.

19. Kwiaty na poddaszu by V.C. Andrews - it was re-read and I still find it in a similar way. Ok, I was less shocked and touched, but still very much addicted. And now I wonder about the rest of this story, I will read it soon.

20. Miłość na gruzach Kosowa by Izabela Chojnacka - Love on the debris of Kosovo - it is a tragedy - both: content wise and quality wise! Language mistakes, content mistakes and the ridiculous story of a woman who fall in love so easily that she is ready to go with to Kosovo just like that, without thinking and the rest is just a follow up of this stupidity ;)

21. Tam gdzie ty by Jodi Picoult - second the best - after Bez mojej zgody - book of this author. It's dealing with a really controversial topic in a great way, giving the voice to each character. Very good book, with one minus - too sweet - but very charming - ending.

22. 220 linii by Małgorzata Gutowska-Adamczyk - a great young adults story! Convincing characters, well composed plot, a lot of emotions, positive examples and - what is very important - characters which I would like as a teenager. I actually still like them ;)

23. The Death of a Beekeeper by Lars Gustafsson - very touching, sometimes even "freezing" description of the slow death because of the cancer like it would never happen. Walking the dog, meeting kids, visits of the family and in the background burning pain and fighting with himself and inevitable death.

24. Nieśmiertelność zabije nas wszystkich by Drew Magary - przeczytałam większości w lutym, ale trudno ;) - I just need to tell that: total surprise, what an unique book! What a vision of the future, what ideas, what a world! This book just kept me addicted, terrible, but fascinating world. I'm writing just after finishing it, full of emotions after reading, incredible book!

25. Ja jestem Halderd by Elżbieta Cherezińska - what a great trilogy it seems to be after reading 2nd book of it! Just one thing which could be developed - the language is sometimes too modern and colloquial, besides this - a great one! Colorful, haematic, full of traditions, believes, descriptions of their life and that's all from the point of few not a Viking, but a wife and mother of Vikings.

26. Pocałunek nocy by Sherrilyn Kenyon - this series is a wonderful entertainment, it's a great read, addictive, with an interesting world and a lot of connections with mythology and believes, cool read.

27. Niebo pod Berlinem by Jaroslav Rudis - a strange book, I was all the time wondering what it's reminding to me and just at the end I've got it: the movie called "Kontroll", very similar atmosphere. This book is a bit crazy, a bit symbolic, full of Berlin. And actually the venue was for me the biggest plus, because I love Berlin and I also like its' transportation ;)

28. Zła krew by Arne Dahl - a great idea for the plot, really cool, but the implementation was annoying. Trying to be funny, cheap philosophy, chaos. I'm not sure if I'll try other books by him, I'll see, right now I need a long break.

29. Pasja według Einara by Elżbieta Cherezińska - how different Einar is in this book, than in the previous 2 books! Basically different person. So, the author managed again show the same person differently in different books. Very good book, even if it's focused on a man, not women. Now, I can't wait to get the forth book published!

30. Wergeld królów by Jarosław Błotny - "Wergild of kings" - hm... I really don't know why this book was written. War, marching of Roman legions, fights, a bit of visions, a bit of reflecting, Romans having inventions like gunpowder, telescope, balloons, vaccines etc. A lot of names, people, descriptions of moving around, but for what this all? I don't know...

31. Burn for Burn by Jenny Han - an easy youth fiction (with a slight sign of paranormal) read. Very addictive, quite interesting, I've read it with pleasure. For the internal review of one publishing house.

32. Utalentowana by Nikita Lalwani - story of loneliness, being unable to communicate, blockade of emotions, collapsing of the family. A lot of matters is in this book, so many that sometimes it was a bit tiring.

33. Podwójna cisza by Mari Jungstedt - veryyyyyy long intro, actually first 1/3 of the book is a long intro for nothing. After that - ok, but without emotions. And like always with this series: very bad translation.

34. Słodkie pieczone kasztany by Aleksandra Seghi - nice read for the travelling back home by train. Quite a lot interesting facts, nice photos, receipts, but I've missed a main thought behind this book. Well, it suppose to be Tuscany, but I've missed a logic order in this book, we're jumping from one topic to another.

35. Meksykański romans by Luiza Kochańska - since some time I did not read such a stupid, unreal and badly written book! I was just reading it in the train and that's why I read it whole, in other case, I would just throw it away.

36. Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink - I liked it. Very good read for a trip - addictive, nail biter, interesting story with a mystery. And it doesn't even matter that I've guessed the mysteries quite fast, I still like it.

37. W twoich rękach. Dziennik matki by Glenys Carl - what a strength, determination, persistence and love! Since a long time I did not read book, which is giving so much motivation for action and fight! And of course a few times I was crying, but it was inevitable ;)

38. Wyspa dla dwojga by Mariusz Zielke - collection of 4 short stories about love, but how differently shown that usually! For sure it's a creative author, who also knows how to write, so I've read it with pleasure. zbiór 4 opowiadań o miłości, ale jakże inaczej ukazywanej, niż zazwyczaj! Autor zdecydowanie jest osobą kreaytwną, która również nieźle pisze, więc czytałam te utwory z przyjemnością)

39. Recovering Charles by Jason F. Wright - a moving story of a man looking for his father who was in New Orleans while the terrible hurricane and flood. Touching descriptions of destroyed city, aggrieved people, looking for missing, finding dead etc. And at the end - surprise...

Agnieszka T. wrote: "39. Recovering Charles by Jason F. Wright - a moving story of a man looking for his father who was in New Orleans while the terrible hurricane and flood."

Aga, thank you so much for not ruining the surprise! This one sounds quite interesting and I think I will read it.

40. Żagle nad pustynią. Z wiatrem przez Gobi by Anna Grebieniow - very interesting story about crossing the Gobi Desert on landyachts. A lot of determination, motivation for following the adventures, nice descriptions, cool photos. Summing up: interesting book about the travel via Mongolia.

41. Ashes to Dust by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir - an interesting concept, both with volcano and the whole plot, pretty good implementation, but this book made me tired. But I assume it's because of little time for reading it, so it took maaaany days.

Kay - then have a good read! I will be interesting to hear how do you find it, as it'll be rather with different perception for a person from Poland and person from the USA!

42. Stulatek, który wyskoczył przez okno i zniknął by Jonas Jonasson - a really cool book, which got a really good lector, together - a great combination! I had a lot of fun, was enjoying the adventures of the group of characters, they had a lot of them and all crazy ;) I wonder if I would like this book so much if I would read a paper copy, not listen to the audio version.

43. Księga kłamców by Mariusz Zielke - gosh, what a crazy book! Since a long time I did not read such a crazy plot in such a crazy implementation. I need to think about it first before I'll have a final opinion. If you like to test new ideas and you're open for a quite new play with characters, plot etc., then it's for you.

44. Między nami nowojorczykami by Cathleen Schine - a nice read, especially nice after reading a few though books in a raw. And it has lovely dogs as important characters and also Jaime, I liked this crazy owner of a restaurant :)

45. Płatki na wietrze by V.C. Andrews - I have strongly mixed feelings towards this book. Part of it is really written in a clumsy and unreliable way. But the ending is still very strong and - after all - moving. But I don't really know what the author prepared for the readers in next books...

46. Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey - it's been a slice of good fiction. Emergent, showing mercilessly everything what is bed in people, but also what is good as well, confronting childlike vision of the world with a cruelty around us. Very good book.

47. Strażniczka bramy by Michelle Zink - a nice continuation, addictive, sensibly and agile developing the story, giving a bit of zest and nail-biter ending. Now I just need to read third book :)

48. Rozłam by David Gaider - this book had a bad luck - the first books I read to long time ago + this one I read while being extremely busy and in a reading crisis. What doesn't change the fact it's too long and unequal. But - if you consider the fact it's made out of computer game - it's still not bad ;)