Ann’s Comments (group member since Dec 20, 2013)

Ann’s comments from the CPL's Book a Week Challenge group.

Favorite: that's a hard one, but the top 5 are- Silent on the Moor by Deanna Raybourn, Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal, 7th Grave & No Body by Darynda Jones, The Lavendar Garden by Lucinda Riley, and Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson.

Least Favorite: 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Easiest to Read: Any of the Women's Murder Club by James Patterson

Hardest to Read: 12 years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Most likely to read again: most of them
Will definitely recommend to friends- Maggie Hope Series, the Lady Julia Grey Series, The lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley, The Gaslight Mysteries by Victoria Thompson...

A book you couldn't finish- The Shining by Stephen King

A new series you discovered- Maggie Hope Series by Susan Elia MacNeal and the Lady Julia Grey Series by Deanna Raybourn

My goal for the year was 150 books. I'm currently at 191, and expect to reach 200 by the end of the year. Next year my goal is going to be 100 books, and I hope to stick to that goal. I've done a lot of reading this year, and very little writing. So that is my goal for the new year. I'm not setting a word goal, but I would like to finish one book, and finish editing another. I also would like to read more nonfiction next year, I found some really interesting ones while weeding the NF at the library.
I finished Nora Roberts Cousin O'Dwyer trilogy, and enjoyed it (set in County Mayo, Ireland- where my family comes from), I'm listening to James Patterson's 12th of Never, and read A Christmas Hope by Anne Perry (I was going to say I've enjoyed all of her Christmas books, but actually I enjoy both her Monk and her Pitt series).

Okay, Here is my wish list, off the top of my head.
1) Harry Potter (I want the paperback set with the picture of Hogwarts across the covers.

2) Lord of the Rings (I've read mine to death)

3) Quiet (it's on my to be read list)

4) Mastering the Art of French Cooking (just because)

5)The Game of Thrones Set (On my to read list)

6) Obsession in Death (comes out 2/10/15)

7) Beowulf

Thanks, I'll give them a try.

I finished listening to New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb, and need to find a new audio to listen to (not up for Christmas carols 24/7 quite yet). I just finished Broken Open by Lauren Dane. I also bought the new one by Sylvia Day, and am going to BN to get the new one by Laurell K. Hamilton. In the meanwhile, I brought Dark Witch by Nora Roberts to read during lunch. Any suggestions for audio books?

I found a few books that came up with Thanksgiving as a subject:
Strangers at the Feast by Jennifer Vanderbes,
Thanksgiving by Janet Evanovich,
The Ghost at the table by Suzanne Berne,
A Catered Thanksgiving by Isis Crawford,
Holiday Hideout (an anthology),
Want Not by Jonathan Miles,
Undead & Unfinished by MaryJanice Davidson,
A Fatal Feast by Donald Bain

Tamar Myers, in her Magdelena Yoder series, includes recipes, which sounded really good (I can't remember if I tried any of hers- I have made Amish Tomato Soup, which was good).

The two books that came to mind first were The Prince of Tides and Beach Music both by Pat Conroy. Amazing books, set in part in South Carolina, and food plays a big part in both books. Food has played such a role in his works that Pat Conroy has even written a cookbook.

I am currently reading Raging Heat, the latest Castle book (one of the books that Castle, the character in the tv show, would have written with Beckett as his muse), and listening to From New York to Dallas on my daily commute.
The books I would recommend to the group are by new to me authors: An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson, The Lavendar Garden by Lucinda Riley, and A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee. I actually went out and bought the second book in the Upson series (haven't started it yet).

I've got a list I can send you for your display, also if you search using "translated" as a key word the list you get is pretty good. I've got The Count of Monte Cristo on my Nook and am slowly working my way through it. The book for this month's book club is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I haven't finished The Shining yet, not sure if I will. And I started listening to New York to Dallas on audio.

I'm reading The Shining by Stephen King, and it's starting to get scary. I'm also reading Lunatic Café by Laurell K. Hamilton, and The Drop 10 Diet by Lucy Danziger. I'm still listening to The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, I've got 2 discs left after this one and then I'm going to listen to From New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb.

This month's book club book is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.
A couple of the books that I've read that were originally published in another language were The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo and Smila's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg.

So far the longest book for me to read was actually Origin in Death, because I was listening to it in my car on my commute (which isn't very long). Now I'm listening to The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (still). Both books were worth the effort to listen to it. There is so much more in the book that wasn't mentioned in the movie of The Da Vinci Code. I think I'll actually read The Lost Symbol when I'm done with this audio.

I finished Deliverance, read Closer to Home by Mercedes Lackey (first book in a new trilogy in the Valdemar series), the rest of the books I read were new to me authors: A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee, The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley, and An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson (good series featuring Josephine Tey as the main character).

I love the idea of Harry Potter from Snape's point of view. I think reading Sherlock Holmes from his own point of view might be interesting, Watson can be a bit much at times.

This week I'm rereading the Boonsboro Inn trilogy by Nora Roberts. Not sure what I'm going to read next. Deliverance by C.J. Redwine is out and I might read that.

I'm not terribly fond of horror, but this month's book club book is The Shining by Stephen King, so I will be reading that.
I love mysteries: any kind, any period. The series that I'm currently working my way through are Rhys Bowen's Molly Murphy, Arthur Conan Doyle's Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes, JD Robb's In Death series, Dan Brown's Langdon series (listening to the book makes me think either I didn't actually read the book, or I didn't pay attention), and Charles Todd's Inspector Rutledge series. After that I'm thinking of Anne Perry's Monk and Pitt series and maybe Steve Berry or Greg Iles.
November is right around the corner, so I probably won't get much reading done then. :)

So far this week, I've read The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle and The Next Always and The Last Boyfriend, both by Nora Roberts. I'm also listening to The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Not sure what to read next, but several of my auto-read authors have books coming out, and I'm still working on a couple of different mystery series.
With these last 3 books, I've reached 151 books, so I've met my goal for the year. Not sure how much reading I'll get done the rest of the year, though. I've got things I want to get done, and hopefully will be able to.

Currently, I am reading a book called The Captain's Daugher by Leah Fleming, about two women from very different social sphere's who meet and become close friends after surviving the sinking of the Titanic.
I am also listening to Origin in Death by J.D. Robb, which is one of the better mysteries in an awesome series. Not sure what to read next, so we'll see. Maybe another Charles Todd, or the newest Rhys Bowen.

I haven't started my science fiction choice (I'm still on a mystery kick), but I like pretty much any kind of science fiction, as long as the story is good. I've read Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series, Isaac Asimov's Foundation books (as well as Nemesis), Alas Babylon, and many a Star Trek book. On my to be read mountain are Kim Stanley Robinson and more Lois McMaster Bujold. This month's book for book club is Fahrenheit 451, so I'll be rereading that as well.