Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Haha, it is morning here, Barb.(Sydney, Australia)

That's true, Lisa LOL My son and his wife are in Okinawa, so it's morning for them too :) That's been *really hard to get used to!

Teresa, you're amazing! Love your work ;)

I finished Ever After by Kim Harrison..07.03.2013 4*s...loved the book....

Go Sallie go!

I finished a book the 1st. of July when I was travelling from Greenland to Denmark but haven't read much since.

Instead I have bought a car, rented a flat to move into in August and looked at a property we might buy so I have been extremely busy :-)

Hopefully it will soon be time to relax and get some reading done.

So where are you living in the meantime? I hope everything that you still have to do goes well, Jane!

Thank you Barb. Just now it looks like everything is just falling into place, I hope it will continue.

I am lucky that we can spend time both at my mum's place and my twin-sister's. Also the 14th of July we are going on a holiday for a fortnight so everything just fits.

That works out well, then :) Isn't it great when that happens?

Hope everyone had a good 4th of July and a good weekend. Don't for get to keep reading.

Hubby and daughter have gone down to Gettysburg today for the last day of this year's re-enactment and anniversary memorial activities, so I have the day to myself! Other than doing laundry and catching up on a few other odds and ends, I plan to read all afternoon, until they come home this evening :)

Do my laundry, too, Barb. Please?

LOL Bring it over, LK, I'll add it to the pile :)

Gettysburg has the best gingerbread in the world :X I forget what the place is that sells it, but I literally have dreams about how good it is!

If you can ever figure out the store that sells it, Ashley, let me know, please? We live less than an hour away, so we go there frequently :)

End Time: Universal Countdown - Showing Your Time Zone. Friday, July 19th, 12 Noon, N.Y. U.S.A.

If you have NOT finished, it is time to start organizing your books and thinking about your categories to submit.

If you are going for those five extra cupcakes, you may post them in 7% Solution Finished Category Posting thread tomorrow.

How's the reading coming, everyone? I'm almost done with Light of the Moon and part of the way through the sequel to The Passage, called The Twelve. After I finish LotM today, I'm going to work on one of the others for my list for the July Just for Fun Mango Tango Challenge... hopefully by putting a HUGE dent in The Twelve! :)

I'm reading as much as I can! I *have to, I've got a LOT of books I 'need' to read in July to complete my challenges that end this month LOL

I'm reading Never Kissed Goodnight on my Kindle, Tilt-a-Whirl on my Nook, and A Royal Pain in print (I guess they're *all "print" books, aren't they? LOL) And I'm almost done listening to The 19th Wife.

I've read a couple of books that are too short to count for this challenge: Eat St.: Recipes from the Tastiest, Messiest, and Most Irresistible Food Trucks, Creative Lettering: Techniques & Tips from Top Artists and Lessons from the Mouse: A Guide for Applying Disney World's Secrets of Success to Your Own Organization, Your Career, and Your Life.

I just discovered that to finish this just for fun challenge with the books I've planned, I'll have to read 170 pages or so a day. That doesn't bode well, considering I read in spurts and have days where I don't read and days where I don't read very much! X)

I go in spurts too, usually with more time to read over the weekend and early in the week. The days later in the week are the days I work longer hours.

I am currently reading Middlesex. Hopefully take a big chunk out of that today. Islay which is just taking forever. I can't get into it.

I will also be starting The Night Circus and The Immortal Rules this week.

Just checking in. I've been so busy with my classes that i haven't read since i finished that one book . Hopefully, i can take a break and read some more.

I finished last week and have virtually eaten my way through the first half of while waiting for The Night Circus Buddy read to begin!

Oh Steven, have you seen/heard about this? Found it on Steve Berry's FB just now:

For many years my fans and Jim Rollins' fans have asked us to team Cotton Malone with Gray Pierce or Painter Crowe. Maybe even an appearance from Cassiopeia and Seichan. Now that wish will come true. In June 2014 FaceOff will be published. The idea of the short stories are to pit iconic characters either for, or against, one another. Jim and I will be writing one of the 11 stories to appear in the book. You'll be hearing more about this in the months ahead. David Baldacci is the named editor, but I'll be working with David as his managing editor. All of the proceeds from the book will go to International Thriller Writers, an organization to which we all belong. It's going to be pretty cool.

No, but I am EXCITED NOW!!!! OMG! YAY

I hope they'll be working together and not against each other!

LOL If they're working against each other, how will you decide which one to cheer for? :D

I'll root for them both!

At least then you'll be sure that your guy wins ROFL

haha yes!!!!

That sounds really cool, Barb. I was curious so I went to Steve Berry's FB and found a link to the International Thriller Writers' FB page and this is what I found:

"Just announced: FACE-OFF, the next ITW anthology coming in 2014, will feature 23 of the world’s bestselling and critically acclaimed thriller writers, pairing their series characters in 11 stories. The amazing line-up of authors: Linwood Barclay, Steve Berry, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Jeffery Deaver, Linda Fairstein, Joseph Finder, Lisa Gardner, Heather Graham, Peter James, Raymond Khoury, Dennis Lehane, John Lescroart, Steve Martini, T. Jefferson Parker, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, Ian Rankin, James Rollins, M.J. Rose, John Sandford, R.L. Stine, and F. Paul Wilson. Read more about it here: Thriller Writers There is an announcement on the main page, just scroll down a little.

This part made me squeal because these are a couple of my favorite authors and characters, especially the Connelly/Lehane ones! O M G, Dennis Lehane is one of my favorites!! Palpitations! "The stories in Face Off will feature such pairings as Michael Connelly’s Hieronymous “Harry” Bosch joining forces with Dennis Lehane’s Patrick Kenzie in the story Red Eye and John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport teaming up with Jeffery Deaver’s Lincoln Rhyme in Rhymes with Prey." Whoa! I cannot WAIT!

DOUGLAS PRESTON AND LINCOLN CHILD TOO? Does that mean PENDERGAST will be joining the frey?!?!?

I don't know! But, reading about that has made me want to return all of my current check-outs and stock up on some thrillers by authors I've either just discovered or intend to read!!

I've read (off that list) Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child, Steve Berry, Raymond Khoury, James Rollins...

My to-read includes Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Jeffery Deaver, Heather Graham, Dennis Lehane, John Lescroart, John Sandford, MJ Rose, and RL Stine.

I'll have to look into the others.

Time Lord Steven wrote: "I've read (off that list) Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child, Steve Berry, Raymond Khoury, James Rollins...

My to-read includes Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Jeffery Deaver, Heather Graham, Dennis Leha..."

John Sandford is good. I love his Prey series and I used to read RL Stine when i was young. Haven't read his new books yet so I can't compare them to the Fear Street books.

I have heard lots of good things about Sandford. I just don't know how I'll ever knock out all the stuff on my to-read list! X)

Oh, yes. I read Sandford's Prey series and listened to several on audio. I forgot where I left off. I must go back and check them out.

Dennis Lehane is a wonderful writer! I love his gift with prose. I'm trying to decide which of those new-to-me authors to add to my library hold first. I need to find out who has a series and if my library carries it at all, let alone from book 1, vs which authors have stand-alones so I can read in any order. I want something fast and easy to get into, not anything too wordy (Steve Berry's CM is out of the question until later, closer to September. I found his book a little too hard to get into because it was small print, seemed pretty detailed and informational and that's not what I want right now). I want fast, easy, summer breezy reads!

I know he's only editing the anthology, but I have recently read two David Baldacci books that I enjoyed so I am looking for something similar to him, or to Michael Connelly or Dennis Lehane, or to Karin Slaughter (she's not on the list but I find her books fast reading) or Tess Gerritsen (see: Karin Slaughter). Any suggestions, Steven or Barb? I know you guys both enjoy similar books as myself in that vein.

In the meantime, I'll go to Literature Map to see what my authors bring up from the Intl Thriller Writers list!

I like the Sandford books, too. I'm actually going to re-read a few of his so I can remind myself of what has happened, then I'm going to continue the series from where I left off a few years ago.

Any of the ones I've listed as read you should read!

James Rollins, Steve Berry, Preston/Child!!!

I read the first Karin Slaughter book about the killer who stabs women in the stomach a few years ago. I need to reread that and then read more.

I really need to read some James Patterson too X)

LOL, Steven! I kind of figured you'd say that. I was going to start with Lee Child's Jack Reacher series but book 1 is already checked out, of course, grr! The Cotton Malone and Sigma Force books both sound really good but they also both sound a little too detailed for what I need *right now*. I don't want to read anything that details a lot about mythological things or history or artifacts or science-y stuff, or whatever and that's what it sounds like those do. Of course, I haven't tried a Rollins but just reading the descriptions and reviews is giving me pause, not to mention they don't even have book 1 of Sigma Force at the library. Do you recommend reading Sigma Force in order or does it not matter?

I think I'll just work my way through my Sandford collection, the Slaughter series and some Baldacci (Maybe the Camel Club, since my library actually has book 1 of that and it's at MY branch, not the one across town where I have to wait half a day or longer for my holds to show up). Everything else I tried to find from authors listed on the Face Off thing is either checked out already or they all start at book 2 or 3 of a series or they just don't have the ones I was interested in right now! Sheesh, darn library needs to cooperate with me.

I don't care for Patterson. I've read 2 and I solved them both the minute the killer was introduced. I was disappointed! I didn't find his writing compelling enough to keep reading them. (They were from the Alex Cross series).

Yeah, Patterson's is not my cuppa tea, either, Theresa. I know he is very, very popular!

I would definitely read Sigma Force in order, but you can also read some of his standalones first to see if you like him :)

Amazonia, Subterranean, Excavation, Deep Fathom, Ice Hunt, Altar of Eden... all good books.

ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) wrote: " I need to find out who has a series and if my library carries it at all, let alone from book 1, vs which authors have stand-alones so I can read in any order ... Any suggestions, Steven or Barb? I know you guys both enjoy similar books as myself in that vein. "

Yes! Joseph Finder :) He has several stand alones, but my favorite Finder book so far is Vanished. It's the first of (I believer) a trilogy, but I haven't yet read the other two books.

If you haven't yet read Lee Child, I'd also put him high up on the list. The Killing Floor is the first in the Jack Reacher series (I tried to post the link to the book title, but GR is being weird again with popular book links *sigh*)

Time Lord Steven wrote: "I really need to read some James Patterson too X)"

I haven't much card for the Patterson books I've read, but I've not yet tried his Women's Murder Club (?) series, and a lot of readers say that's their favorite, so I'm not writing him off completely ... yet!

I think my biggest issue with Patterson is that he doesn't actually write the books himself anymore. How can he when he publishes 3-4 new books every year?? I read somewhere -- something that got passed around the library staff, I think? -- the he writes the outlines of the books, then passes them off to whoever is co-writing with him, who fleshes out the story. Then Patterson reads and edits it before submitting it for publication. The books carry both writers' names, of course, but Patterson gets the most attention by far!

Somehow, to me, that seems like cheating! Schools would have a conniption if parents did this with their kids' term papers, etc. (Do they even call them "term papers" anymore? LOL)

ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) wrote: "some Baldacci (Maybe the Camel Club, since my library actually has book 1 of that and it's at MY branch, not the one across town where I have to wait half a day or longer for my holds to show up)."

Other than Baldacci's series featuring John Puller (the first one is Zero Day), his Camel Club series is my favorite :)

ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) wrote: "Just announced: FACE-OFF, the next ITW anthology coming in 2014, will feature 23 of the world’s bestselling and critically acclaimed thriller writers"

This seems to be a new 'fad' in books lately -- having a lot of authors collaborate on one book/story. If you want to read something really fun, try No Rest for the Dead. It's one story, from start to finish, but every chapter is written by a different thriller/mystery author. I really liked it, and it gave me a chance to "sample" a lot of authors I'd heard of but had never read before.

There's also Mystery Writers of America Presents Vengeance and Mystery Writers of America Presents The Mystery Box. I haven't read either of them yet, but they're both high up on my list :)

And as an aside, a fun Christmas-time book in this same style is Christmas at The Mysterious Bookshop.

ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) wrote: "I don't care for Patterson. I've read 2 and I solved them both the minute the killer was introduced. I was disappointed! I didn't find his writing compelling enough to keep reading them. (They were from the Alex Cross series)."

I didn't care for those either, Teresa, but several of my co-workers have suggested I try the Women's Murder Club series instead, so I'll give it a shot. The first book is 1st to Die, if that helps :)

*whew* I think I'm caught up now :) Lesson learned: Don't post something like this *just before leaving for work LOL

Hmmm, that book sounds like something I read a while back, done by the Detection Club that Agatha Christie was a part of:

The Floating Admiral