75 Books...More or Less! discussion

Well, I finished 81 books last year and hopefully I can make it that far again this year. I am behind last year's pace but right now I am reading The Count of Monte Cristo...things should pick up when I am finished with that!

Amber, I'm already behind too...lol There is pleanty of time to catch up though, no worries :)

Andrea wrote: "Amber, I'm already behind too...lol There is pleanty of time to catch up though, no worries :)"
That's what I figure! I started out ahead last year...just changing it up some!

Amber, I am reading The Count of Monte Cristo, too. I'm about 80% of the way through it. It is quite an interesting ride.

What translation are you reading? (I'm reading the one by Robin Buss). Or are you like an acquaintance of mine fortunate enough to be reading it in the original French?

I am reading the same translation but I am only about 33% through. I love it so far! It would take me years if I read it in French!

My first book of the year is finally finished!

1. Earth (The Book): A Visitor's Guide to the Human Race

Very good for what it is-a sarcastic, irony filled look at life on and the history of our humble planet. It's purpose was to make me laugh...and it did.

Yay, Amber! Only 74 to go...lol

Lol...I am way behind my usual pace. The fact that I like Monte Cristo makes up for the fact that it is so long!

Amber wrote: "Lol...I am way behind my usual pace. The fact that I like Monte Cristo makes up for the fact that it is so long!"

As long as you are enjoying it, that's the important thing!

2. The Count of Monte Cristo I loved this book. I have no idea why I waited so long to read it. I always hear it described as a story of ultimate revenge...but it is so much more! It is definitely worth the time it takes to tackle its 1200 or 1300 pages. I have no reservations in awarding this one 5 stars.

3.Bumped Eh. I was looking for something less meaty after reading The Count...and this was definitely less...less everything. I have read quite a few young adult-screwed up futuristic-type novels. This one doesn't stack up to most. I gave it two stars.

Amber wrote: "2. The Count of Monte Cristo I loved this book. I have no idea why I waited so long to read it. I always hear it described as a story of ultimate revenge...but it is so much more! It i..."

I agree with you on all counts! Congrats on finishing this giant tome.

4. Entwined I was extremely surprised by how wonderful this book was. I was expecting an interesting spin on a classic fairy tale but ended up reading an excellent YA fantasy novel based on a classic fairy tale instead...there is a difference. The author built upon The Twelve Dancing Princesses story...but her story was delightfully original and creative. Her writing was beautiful, evoking the full spectrum of emotions throughout the book. The main characters were surprisingly well-developed, each having distinct personalities of their own. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys the YA Fantasy genre. 5 stars.

5. The Iron King I am on a bit of a YA fantasy kick after reading the cumbersome The Count of Monte Cristo. This was an easy read with nothing incredibly spectacular about the writing style...but the story was entertaining.

6. Winter's Passage A shorter story that fits in between The Iron King and the second book in it's series.

7. The Iron Daughter

8. The Iron Queen
9. Summer's Crossing

Decent 3rd book of the Iron Fey series and a short story that connects the 3rd and 4th book. The book was good...it entertained. I do feel myself losing interest in the series a little...I am not sure why. The characers have definitely grown along the way. I still like them. There have been twists...some a little predictable, perhaps. I like the books...I just don't love them, I guess.

10. The Iron Knight Pretty good. I was starting to get inexplicably tired of this story before I started the last installment. I actually think that this one kind of restored my interest in the story. Maybe the other three just bacame a little stale. I think it really helped that this took the focus completely away from the main character, Meghan, and put it on Ash and the troubles he had to deal with to keeep his promises to Meghan. It was an interesting change to make when the first three books were from a totally different point of view.

Amber, looks like you are catching right up!

I know! I feel a lot better now! These books were pretty quick reads...about 350-390 pages each(except the two bridge stories.) But, my goodness, that was what I needed after The Count of Monte Cristo!

11. Ashes, Ashes I actually really liked this book. It was not anything spectacular but it was well-written.

12. Chosen Sigh....long sigh. I don't really know where to start here. I'll start with the good. The plot here really was original. Because of that, I really wanted to like this story more than I actually did. It was not as predictable as I expected it to be. The main character seemed a little erratic in her moods...which I actually liked. I feel like it made her more realistic. However, as original as the story line was, the writing was not. At times, it was almost dripping with cliches. Honestly, there was one line that almost word for word was ripped from a very famous book/movie. This, combined with the fact that the book is in desperate need of a good editor, became a huge distraction while reading the book. There were also characters and situations throughout the book that got a lot of build-up at times and then disappeared...nothing else was ever said about them. I am assuming that these things will come back up in future books but it still left me a little empty at the end of the book. Despite the disappointing aspects of the book, I am probably still going to keep an eye out for the next installment...the originality makes me want to find out more about the story and the characters.

13.Eternal Eden Pretty good book. It wasn't your every day YA paranormal romance...it was pretty original for the most part. A few aspects were VERY reminiscent of Twilight...but not so much so that I didn't want to keep reading. There were a few vexing situations...situations that made the story a little less believable...and the author did lay it on pretty thick. However, I have to say that the characters in this book really were great. The two main characters, the two we might compare to Twilight's Edward and Bella, were like the better versions of those two. What really stood out to me were the supporting characters. Paul and Patrick were great. John, the antagonist, made my skin crawl. Character development was probably what I liked best.

14.Fallen Eden

15. United Eden
16. The Hunger Games

17. Graceling This book was excellent. Very original. I loved the characters.

18.The Hunger Games Tribute GuideThis a companion book that goes along with the Hunger Games movie. It includes a lot of pictures from the film. Nothing special...it is what it is. And what it is is something to hold fans over until the movie is released.

19. The Declaration
20.The Resistance
In a world where science has made living forever possible, there is no room for the creation of new life. Any children born to those who signed the Declaration are illegal. They are considered an abomination...a drain on the limited resources of the "rightful" citizens who take Longevity drugs and are almost all over 100 years old. Anna and Peter are Surpluses, illegal children who are treated as slaves to do the undesirable housework of the legal citizens. They are treated miserably. A few twists in the first book and they both become legal. In the second book they live as legals but work for the Underground, a group of people who believe that Longevity is wrong and that new life is natural.
I really liked the idea of these books more than I liked the actual books. It was an interesting story but it still left me wanting more out of it... mostly more from the characters. The thing is...I know I should care about these characters. I feel their plight, I really do...but they are just so flat that couldn't connect. They feel wrong. They are 15 years old...they feel like they are playing house. There were a lot of instances when the actions of the characters were a little disturbing. It was pretty off-putting at first...but then I considered what things would be like if this kind of world really existed and it eased that grody feeling I had a bit.

21.Open Minds I really liked this book. It was a pretty unique idea and I liked the characters. I can't wait until the next one comes out.

22. Untraceable Oh, this book was so good! I really wasn't expecting much out of it because it was a cheap kindle buy that I hadn't heard of before. I am SO glad I got it! I loved the characters. I loved their interaction with the forest. I loved the mystery. As a person who reads quite a bit, most twists don't surprise me...but this story actually managed to keep me guessing right up to the last paragraph. At one point I thought I had it all figured out...I was wrong. And I like that. I was so frustrated when I found out that I have to wait til this summer to read the second book....grrr...

23. Night Marchers I liked this story a lot more than I liked the book. Needs a good editing.

24. Jenny Pox Wow! I had very few expectations for this book. I downloaded it for free quite a while back and just kept finding other things to read. I read a great review the other day and decided to go ahead and read it. I am so glad I did. It was great. The author is an amazing storyteller and has a real knack for voice. The characters, flaws and powers alike, are incredibly believable. I don't know that I'd go for young adult...there were a few themes that I would definitely watch out for if a young teen picked this up...drug use and a lot of sexuality...but it all worked for the story. I was really pleasantly surprised with this book. I am already moving on the next installment.

25. Tommy Nightmare
26. Alexander Death I seriously can't say enough how pleasantly surprised I was with this whole series. It was a fantastic and original story. The writing was impressive. The author created characters who, though they were paranormal, were incredibly realistic. Both "good" and "bad" characters had flaws as well as redeeming qualities...well, with the exception of one character who was pretty much just all evil.

27.Survival
28. Resurrection

29. Frost This book was SOOOOOO good! I only wish it was longer. I loved the characters and the writing was fantastic. I didn't feel like I was reading a book...I felt like I was living a story.

Amber wrote: "I didn't feel like I was reading a book...I felt like I was living a story."

I love when books make me feel that way!

Charleen wrote: "Amber wrote: "I didn't feel like I was reading a book...I felt like I was living a story."

I love when books make me feel that way!"

I know! I seriously had a moment where I realized I had lost track of time and had no idea what was going on around me when I was reading this...hours had passed and I had no idea.

30. The Curse Girl An orinal twist to the classi tale of Beauty and the Beast. I have become a huge fan of Kate Avery Ellison over the last two days!

31. The Binding

32. Mundahlia I liked the story but, good God, somebody find this book and editor. I swear if I read the phrase "I/he/she/it lied on the bed" one more time I may throw something.

33. Coexist
34. Conflicted
35. Consumed

The series was okay, overall.

36. Veiled Eyes I was surprised how good this was...I love getting free Kindle books when they turn out way better than I expected. Pretty original little story.

37. Insurgent I waited SO long for this book and it definitely did not disappoint. It was very realistic...realistic relationship problems, realistic reactions to traumatic events, and realistic characters all the way. The cliffhanger nailed me. I can't believe I have to wait to read the next one.

38. Clockwork Prince
39.Under the Never Sky
40.The Selection
41. Break Away Interesting story...too bad the writing wasn't so great. It needed an editor but the style was also very messy. There were a lot of holes.

42.The Body Finder
43.Desires of the Dead
44.The Last Echo
This series is SO good. It is original and intriguing. There is a good romantic story going on but it doesn't overpower the story line that has to do with Violet's "gift." Violet is a great character and you really get a good feel of her through the writing.

45. The Mind Readers
46. The Mind Thieves
47. Destined
48. Arena One
49. Forbidden

50. The Girl in the Clockwork Collar Damn! I love this series!

51.Cryptid
52. Eve Very good book but the end was abrupt.
53. The Way Life Was Forever Turned out to be just a short story. Decent writing but in serious need of some more original names. The fact that almost all of the characters had peculiar names that appeared in other very popular books (Regulus, Sirius, Percy, Quil, Lyra...) was actually pretty distracting.

54. Slumber I really loved this book. It was (very loosely) based on the idea of Sleeping Beauty. The plot was simple...but it worked fore this story. The simple plot allowed the complicated feelings of the characters to take center-stage. I love when free Kindle downloads surprise me. Sadly, the second book is not out yet(I don't think there is a release date set). I liked it enough that I immediately downloaded another book by Samantha Young and started it right away.

55. Smokeless Fire

Amber, so glad you have found some good series to read. I have to say I love when you read something only to find out there is more to come. I hate saying goodbyt to the chracters once I get to like them.

I definitely like a good series. I just get too attached to the characters to let go after one book! I have been really impressed with some of the series I have started lately after getting the first book free on my kindle. I never have super high expectations from those but I have gotten several really good ones lately.

I agree, I lot of the free Nook books I have gotten really stink, but now and then you find a gem!