I'm going to start this off by just making a list since I'm new. It's a short list so far, but my year started off really slow. :)

1) Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
2) Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
3) The Sandman Vol. 1 Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
4) The Sandman Vol. 2 The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman
5) Brida by Paulo Coelho
6) The Third Angel A Novel by Alice Hoffman
7) No One You Know by Michelle Richmond
8) Preacher Vol. 1 Gone To Texas by Garth Ennis
9) The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
10) Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
11) Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
12) The Sandman Vol. 3 Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
13) The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop
14) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
15) Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli
16) The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman
17) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
18) Beast by Donna Jo Napoli
19) Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease by Sharon Moalem
20) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger*
21) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams*
22) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
23) Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
24) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
25) The Giver by Lois Lowry


* indicates a reread

Yay, great list!

What did you think of Garden Spells? I look at it every time I go to the bookshop.

If you like the magical realism elements found with authors like Alice Hoffman and Gabriel Garcia Márquez, you might like Garden Spells. It was a lot less melancholy than the novels I usually read, and the character transitions were awkward, but I could still enjoy it. It was an easy, "feel-good" read and I read the whole thing in one sitting.

Oh, Jacqueline... Just read your "Hi Everyone" post wondering if this would place would be a good fit for you. Just from the top two on your list, I know you will fit in just fine ;)

Hi Jacqueline! :-) Welcome to Cyber! My reading this year has been pretty slow, too.

So what did you think of Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult? I have that but haven't read it yet.

Ahenry wrote: "Oh, Jacqueline... Just read your "Hi Everyone" post wondering if this would place would be a good fit for you. Just from the top two on your list, I know you will fit in just fine ;)"

Good to hear! :D

Lady Jayne wrote: "So what did you think of Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult? I have that but haven't read it yet."

Have you read her work before? Picoult always has the ability to really punch me in the stomach with her brilliant way of asking the tough, philisophical questions in life and answering them in a really evocative way. She touches a lot on religion and its places in the modern world in Change of Heart.

Also, I find her perspective transitions a little jarring, but her characters are always so detailed, its like they're real people. :)

All in all, I really liked it.

I read a lot of Jodi Picoult and I really liked Change of Heart - it was probably one of my favorites.

I just finished Handle with Care yesterday and I am still digesting it. Has anyone read it yet? I am used to her plot twist endings but for some reason I didn't like the ending of this one.

I haven't read her new one yet but I plan to.

Thanks Jacqueline and Melis on the info on Change of Heart. I have read most of Jodi Piccoult's books.

You are right though, Jacqueline, about Piccoult's books packing a punch and really making you think about tough philosophical life questions. I haven't read her books in a while, but I remember going through a stage where I read quite a few in a row, and then needed to read something light because it was just too much on my emotions and mind.

I have actually been avoiding reading Change of Heart for personal reasons. I read the first few pages and was already bawling. Maybe soon I'll be brave enough to read it. :-)

Jayne, don't worry about being brave - you actually must be since you went on a whole Picoult stage. I couldn't imagine reading several of her books in a row without a crippling emotional overload. ;)

I hope you get a chance to read Change of Heart in time.

13) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Yay, one Book of the Month down. (Which I will hereafter refer to "BotM" :D) Talking about emotion overloads? This book was an amazing one. I'm crazy about the unique, prosy narrative Zusak used.

On to the next one... when I'm not distracted by trying to catch up in watching Supernatural. I can't believe how awesome this show is.

Thanks, Jacqueliene. Yeah, too much Piccoult can be "crippling emotion overload". She is so amazing at that.

I LOVE Supernatural. It is one of my fave shows. Episode 18, with the parody of the "Supernatural series" was HI-LA-RIOUS!! "Gospel of Winchester"? "Sam is looking all brooding and pensive". LOL Great stuff! I've been hooked on this show since the first episode with the Lady in White. That is still one of the scariest episodes, for me. :-)

Jacqueline wrote: "Which I will hereafter refer to "BotM""

Awesome. I do believe I will have to call it that too! Will you be joining us in the gutter? We play there quite often. ^o^

I second the BoTM!

Me ten thousand!

I'm starting a trend! Sweet.


I'm four episodes from the latest, Miss Jayne. Almost caught up. But that one sounds hilarious! I can't wait to see Sam's faces. XD

Bottoms up on the BotM, Jacqueline! :-) I like it. Now when my hubby asks me what I'm reading, I can say, "I'm reading my BotM". LOL!

Oh, you have some really good episodes to look forward to with Supernatural. That episode 18 is one of my fave eps now.

14) Spinners by Donna Jo Napoli


Fun, quick read for anyone who likes fairytale retellings like me. :) I gave it four stars instead of three just because I've never seen a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin before and this one was creative.

Jayne, I just finished catching up with Supernatural. Let me just say, the last two episodes were awesome! I laughed so much. XD

15) The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman


I'm a HUGE fan of Alice Hoffman. :D

I was listening to this book off and on since December. Occasionally my eyesight gets really bad and I can't read things off a page and have to listen to books instead.

Maybe it was because I was listening to them and they were written in second person, but a lot of the prosy sections on love and family really resonated with me.

16) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson



The second April BotM down. :)

I'm lucky I had it on my eReader because I heard it was a gigantic book, difficult to curl up with.

This book was intelligent and vivid. It also gave me bizarre dreams. I won't go into much because I already did on the group thread and in my own review, but I did like the novel. I hope more people enjoy it and are interested in reading the next one.

18) Beast by Donna Jo Napoli



I also just realized that I forgot to add Brida when I originally made this list, a novel I read during my dreary long flight to Buenos Aires in February. It's so hard for me to sleep on planes that I read it in one go and easily overlooked it while listing my 2009 books. It was a great book though. ;)

19) Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease by Sharon Moalem


This was an entertaining read if you're into evolutionary and molecular biology. It had a funny narrative and posed questions in a clever and crazy way that made me want to keep reading.

20) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger


I'm going to cry every time I read this book. This novel is definitely on my top 10. Maybe even my top 5.

Is this your first time Jacqueline? It's one of my favorites ever too. Can't wait for the movie, although I can't really imagine how successful the transition from book to film will be.

No, it's my second. :)

Books are always different, sometimes dramatically, through rereads because I already know what's happening. It was so much more melancholy this time and made me appreciate the happier moments more. Plus I knew so much more about molecular biology when I read it the this time that I was considering aspects about CDO that the author wouldn't have had available when she wrote it, and that was fun.

The Time Travelers Wife is in my top five, too!! When my TBR is shorter I need to read it again!!

Sometimes I ignore my TBR list in favor of a familiar book-friend. :)

So I've been really busy lately and haven't been updating my list, but I have five more books to add.

21) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
22) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
23) Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
24) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

I haven't had a lot of GoodReads time, but I graduated and commencement was yesterday! I keep looking at my degree to make sure it's real. :D

25) The Giver by Lois Lowry

This is our first BotM I just tackled. I've never read it before, which surprised my youngest brother, who is very familiar with Lowry's work because he had to read it in middle school. After my first Lowry book, I think Lois Lowry is like the George Orwell for YA. (Not that young adults shouldn't read Orwell, because they probably should.)

Congratulations on your degree, Jacqueline! We should have a little cyber party for you in the chat room, lol. :)

Jacqueline wrote: "I haven't had a lot of GoodReads time, but I graduated and commencement was yesterday! I keep looking at my degree to make sure it's real. :D"

Congrats!! That's totally awesome!