40 Books for 2012: Roundup

#12: Finding Magic by Stacia Kane

#13: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

#14: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

#15: Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie

#16: Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

#17: Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris

#18: The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

#19: Tempest’s Fury by Nicole Peeler

#20: When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle

#21: Ashes by Ilsa Bick

#22: Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty

#23: Chasing Magic by Stacia Kane

#24: Shadows by Ilsa Bick

#25: My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher

#26: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

#27: New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb

So... yet again, I did not meet my goal. And um, I may have also stopped blogging my reads mid-year. Oops. So maybe, new goal for 2013? Stop re-reading old books, so I can try more new books? Sounds like a plan.

December Reads: 50 Books for 2011

37 books. Sadly, I did not reach my goal of 50 new books for 2011. It’s very likely that I did read 50 books last year, just due to the fact that I’m a re-reading nerd. There are a handful of books that I read over again every single year (the entire Twilight saga – to my utter shame, the first few books of the In Death series, Jennifer Crusie’s Bet Me and Jude Deveraux’s Sweet Liar – just to name a few). But the idea of this type of goal is to get me out of that rut and trying new books, authors, and genres. So now I’m thinking of a more conservative goal for 2012. What do we think of 40 new books this year?

2011 Round-up:

#35: Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen – Formerly chubby Colie spends the Summer with her eccentric aunt, working at a diner and making friends with a couple of older girls, and a quirky artist named Norman. This is my second Sarah Dessen novel. And while I don’t completely adore the heroines in either story, I like where the stories go, and I do love the secondary characters. This book made me want to spend the Summer at the beach (reading Sarah Dessen books) in an assortment of flashy sunglasses.

#36: Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 11) by Charlaine Harris – Sookie Stackhouse’s workplace gets bombed and she gets sucked into yet another supernatural political intrigue, and it’s pretty much just another day at the office. I still love Sookie. But I think this series should have ended about three books ago, so now everything is just dragging. And I really hate how much Eric has changed as a character. It doesn’t seem realistic. And yes, I’m talking about a thousand year old vampire and realism.

#37: The Ruby in the Smoke: A Sally Lockhart Mystery by Philip Pullman – I keep going back and forth on whether I liked this book. I said 'no' when my book club met to discuss it. The Victorian London and opium dens setting is fascinating and moody. The mystery-solving in that era reminded me heavily of my beloved Francesca Cahill mysteries. And I liked the secondary characters, and the family of misfits that they build together. But I never really liked Sally. I liked her unconventional business skills, and her curiosity. But otherwise, she fell somewhat flat for me. [book club selection]

100 Books for 2010... the first 6 months

I've been really into the Anita Blake series so far this year. However, I'm now on book 10 and it's growing increasingly intense: "porny-er" (as my friend Heather calls it) and also just really disturbing with its villains and crimes. But the reason I continue to stick with the series is that I really just love Anita. She's tiny and tough, and she worries a lot about whether she's becoming a sociopath because she kills so easily. But really, she nearly always kills to protect herself, and more frequently to protect others. She's always defending those that are weaker than she is, and hardly ever with her limited powers. She's much more likely to defend with her huge arsenal of weapons that she's adept at wielding. And I'm okay with that.

#1 - Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 1) by Laurell K. Hamilton
#2 - The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 2) by Laurell K. Hamilton
#3 - Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 3) by Laurell K. Hamilton
#4 - The Lunatic Cafe (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 4) by Laurell K. Hamilton
#5 - Bloody Bones (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 5) by Laurell K. Hamilton
#6 - The Killing Dance (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 6) by Laurell K. Hamilton
#7 - Burnt Offerings (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 7) by Laurell K. Hamilton
#8 - Blue Moon (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 8) by Laurell K. Hamilton
#9 - Obsidian Butterfly (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 9) by Laurell K. Hamilton
#10 - Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 10) by Charlaine Harris
#11 - Going in Circles by Pamela Ribon

This list does not include the number of books I've re-read (including the entire Twilight series- it's a sickness I tell you!) which I do over and over again, every year.

Maybe I should be shooting for 50 books in a year?

100 Books for 2009... or not quite

Okay, here's the part where I stop pretending that I'm ever going to finish summarizing the books I read in 2009. So the final additions are:

#60 - Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts (straight modern romance)
#61 - The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (sad and disturbing)
#62 - Rainwater by Sandra Brown (lovely and unexpected departure from Sandra Brown's usual romantic suspense and scary ass killers)
#63 - Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris (final satisfying end to the Harper Connelly series)
#64 - My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands by Chelsea Handler (silly and entertaining)

Book #57: A Touch of Dead

Charlaine Harris' A Touch of Dead is a collection of all of her Sookie Stackhouse novellas. They have all previously appeared in other compilation collections featuring various authors.

I had previously read two of the five short stories in A Touch of Dead. Harris writes these to fit in between books in the Sookie series. So unless you've read the entire series already, the circumstances in the stories might not make as much sense.

These were mostly light entertaining fluff. There's not a whole lot of details in this collection that you couldn't live without, though they do help provide a little backstory. Like I always wondered when reading the series, when had Sookie met Claude the fairy, or found out Hadley was dead, or gave her grandfather a tie for Christmas? Now I know!

The only story that really didn't work for me was 'Dracula Night'. The whole situation just seemed too far out of character for Eric. Don't re-write my Eric, Charlaine.

Book #50: Poppy Done to Death

Poppy Done to Death is the eighth book in Charlaine Harris' Aurora Teagarden Mysteries. This series is okay, though I still don't enjoy it quite as much as Harris' supernatural Sookie series.

Per usual, quiet librarian widow Aurora Teagarden, has bodies practically dropping at her feet with alarming regularity. How she hasn't been considered a murder suspect yet is simply amazing. This time around, it's her philandering sister-in-law Poppy. Roe and Poppy weren't especially close, but she feels obligated to find out who killed Poppy, while also protecting Poppy's privacy at the same time.

In the midst of all that, she's still navigating her love affair with famous writer Robin Crusoe, an unexpected visit from her teenage brother, and another unexpected surprise.

Not sure if this is officially the last Aurora book, but it had a definite air of finality about it.

Book #34: Dead and Gone

Dead and Gone is the ninth Southern Vampire Mysteries/Sookie Stackhouse book. And you would not believe how freakin' excited I was for this book to come out.

Sookie Stackhouse, small town Louisiana barmaid and unwilling telepath, leads a pretty exciting life. The vampires have been out in the open for a while, and the other supernaturals (werewolves, shape-shifters, fairies etc) she's known about for some time are making their presence known to the rest of the world. Plus she has two super hot vampires vying for her affections.

As far as this series goes, this volume seemed pretty epic. The pace was breakneck (which is saying a lot for a Southern author) and I could barely stand to put it down to go to work and to sleep. To avoid spoilers, I won't even get into her love life, but... Yum.

There are no more Sookie Stackhouse books being published this year, and I'm struggling to deal with that. However, HBO's "True Blood" (based on the series) comes back for a second season on June 14!

Book #32: A Secret Rage

A Secret Rage by Charlaine Harris is one of her few stand-alone novels. (The new Sookie Stackhouse book comes out May 5!) I find myself having a harder time connecting with her characters that are not in a series.

Nickie Callahan is a former model who’s returning to her Southern roots, and leaving New York City to move in with her best friend to go back to college in Tennessee. A lot of this book is about what it’s like to come back to the South after having been away for a long time. Part of you loves to be home, to see the familiar plants and trees growing, hear the familiar accents, but part of you is appalled at how much it hasn’t changed, and how small minded the rural South can be.

Upon moving back to Tennessee, Nickie hears about the recent rape that occurred on the college campus that she’ll be attending. Before she knows it, there are more and more victims, herself included. But Nickie decides that she doesn’t just feel victimized, and scared, she also feels enraged. She joins up with one of the other victims and they start making lists of all of the men they both know (both of them convinced the attacker knew them) and they begin investigating on their own.

Nickie slowly begins to get her life back, and embarks on a new romance, but she knows she’ll never be the same person she was. The ending was realistic, but somewhat unsatisfying. I guess I don’t like too much reality intruding in my stories.

Book #28: Sweet and Deadly

Sweet and Deadly is the first book I've read by Charlaine Harris that wasn't part of a series. And now I understand why she seems to prefer to write serials. This novel seemed spare and lacking in character development compared to her usual stories.

Catherine Linton is the social reporter in her tiny Mississippi town. Since she moved home after her parents' tragic accidental (or homicidal) deaths, she's gotten a reputation for being an eccentric loner. That reputation is not helped by her finding a dead body on her property.

Catherine uncovers many secrets in her small town, while trying to solve the murder. But I never felt like we really got to know or understand her as a person.

I really can't wait until the new Sookie Stackhouse book comes out in May.

Book #25: Last Scene Alive

Last Scene Alive is the seventh book in Charlaine Harris' Aurora Teagarden Mysteries.

Widow Aurora Teagarden is the only one in her tiny Georgia town that's not excited about the movie production coming to film. But that's probably since the movie is based on a bestselling book- about the serial killer that she was nearly a victim of. However, Aurora is glad to see former flame, Robin Crusoe, author of the bestselling novel.

Aurora makes some big decisions in this novel, while of course, stumbling upon bodies and helping to solve a murder. But overall it's a much more light-hearted story than the last couple of volumes in the series.

Book #22: A Fool and His Honey

The sixth book in the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, A Fool and His Honey continues on in a progressively depressing series. I've continued with all of the Charlaine Harris novels simply because I've loved the Southern Vampire Mysteries so much. But the other series aren't striking the same chord in me.

Part time librarian, and unintentional mystery solver, Aurora "Roe", and her wealthy older husband Martin receive quite a surprise when his newly married niece shows up on their doorstep with a baby, but without her husband in tow. And within a few hours, the niece promptly disappears as well, leaving her baby behind. Roe has always been a bit sad about her inability to conceive but with a baby foisted suddenly on her inexperienced self, she's not exactly thrilled.

Once a dead body shows up on their property, and with nothing quite adding up, Roe and Martin head back to Martin's hometown in Ohio to see if they can get to the bottom of the missing niece, the abandoned baby, and the dead body.

Danger and suspense follow Roe per usual, but by the end of the book, there's one unexpected tragedy too many. I'm not sure if I feel like continuing on in this series.

Book #7: Shakespeare's Counselor

The fifth novel in Charlaine Harris' Lily Bard Mysteries, Shakespeare's Counselor is also the last in the series. This was a somewhat difficult book to get through. Lily the heroine, joins a rape survivor's group. We've already learned about her attack previously in the series. Learning about the other members of her counseling group is equally hard. And then of course, one of the members of the group is murdered. So Lily and her new husband, private investigator Jack Leeds, are on the case- unofficially.

Lily is also training to be a private investigator. She spends some time undercover at a gym, and staking out a worker's comp claimant. About a third of the way through the story, we realize that Lily is pregnant, but that she doesn't realize it herself. In fact, she doesn't seem to have any clue at all, until she's in the midst of miscarrying. Afterwards, she's understandably weaker and more vulnerable than we've previously seen her.

I don't feel like the series ends on a completely satisfying note, but maybe that's because there's no big flourish. Lily and Jack will just go on living in their small town, private investigating, and apparently stumbling over bodies with disturbing frequency.

Book #6: Shakespeare's Trollop

Shakespeare's Trollop is the fourth book in Charlaine Harris' Lily Bard Mysteries. Her books are always a quick read, sometimes they're even over before I'm ready. Lily Bard survived a gang rape and now lifts weights and takes martial arts three times a week. She has turned herself into one ass-kicking house cleaner in the tiny town of Shakespeare Arkansas. Lily solves mysteries with the sometimes help of her private investigator boyfriend, Jack.

In this case, the murder victim was the Deedra, the local girl who's been around (she being the trollop in question). Being that Deedra was Lily's neighbor, and one of her customers, Lily feels invested in figuring out the killer's identity. She also happened to be the one that stumbled upon the body. That kind of thing seems to happen a lot in mysteries.

As a heroine, Lily is a little hard to embrace. For obvious reasons, she's not comfortable getting close to people, and she's discreet to the point of nearly being mute. However, she's very passionate about self defense, and she's a tidy soul. Okay, that might be an odd thing to care about, but it's actually one of my favorite things about all of Charlaine Harris' heroines. They all like to keep their homes spanking (or in Sookie's case, "spanky") clean. And being someone who also needs to have things in their proper place, I appreciate that aspect of their characters.

Book #3: Dead Over Heels

Just finished the fifth book in the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries series. Dead Over Heels is also the last book in the series available in Kindle edition. (Amazon, get on that, would you?)

The story starts out with a dead man falling from an airplane and landing in heroine (and part time librarian) Aurora's front yard. The fact that the dead man was a cop, and one who was known to be openly hostile to Aurora, compounds the issue. Various odd occurrences throughout the story lead the reader to realize that someone is stalking Aurora and trying to win her affections in a seriously bizarre way. Aurora is a lot slower to come to this conclusion.

Again I find myself irritated by Aurora's relationship with her husband, and how little time they spend together, and how little they communicate. Sookie Stackhouse would never put up with that crap.

Wonder how I'm plowing through these books so fast. They're all around 240-300 pages, and I'm a bit of a speed reader. Also, my kid naps for 2-3 hours a day on the weekends, and is usually in bed by 7:30 at night. Oh, and my husband is pretty understanding about my penchant for burying my head in a story for hours at a time. I'm a lucky girl.

Book #2: The Julius House

Fourth book in Charlaine Harris' Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, The Julius House is fairly engrossing.

Heroine Aurora Teagarden settles into married life with her dashing older husband Martin. As a wedding gift, Martin buys Aurora the Julius House, site of a local family's mysterious disappearance. Aurora is of course unable to leave the mystery unsolved. She also spends some time wondering what secrets in her husband's past necessitate two on-site bodyguards. There's a lesson there kids: don't marry someone you barely know.

I enjoyed trying to unravel the mystery, but also spent a lot of time irritated at Aurora for being so clueless about the man she married.

Book #1: Three Bedrooms, One Corpse

Three Bedrooms, One Corpse is the third book in the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries by Charlaine Harris (known for the Southern Vampire Mysteries, basis for HBO's wickedly entertaining "True Blood", the Harper Connelly Mysteries, and Lily Bard Mysteries) . This is the fourth Charlaine Harris series I've read.

The heroine, Aurora Teagarden is a former librarian, who due to an unexpected inheritance, is now a lady of leisure. Score! Short, nearsighted, and heavily into true crime, she tends to stumble upon a lot of dead bodies. In this third novel, she begins an affair with the mysterious new older man in town, while also trying to figure out who keeps murdering local realtors.

I think this is Charlaine Harris' first mystery series, which would explain why Aurora Teagarden is the least clearly drawn of her heroines. Aside from her bookishness, lack of height, and fascination with murder, she doesn't have quite as much personality as her literary mystery solving sisters.

That aside, the books are entertaining, and I'll be devouring them as fast as my Kindle can download them.