Mariec's High Octane Alphabet Challenge

[Marie Claude]

Ok, I'm pretty sure I won't get through even one alphabet, but I will try... But since I come that late in the challenge, I will use books I have already read this year, but use them according to the rules.

So here is what I have read so far:
A: Andrews, Donna - Some Like It Hawk (read 31 Jan 2013)
B: Bradley, Alan - Speaking from Among the Bones (read 1 Mar 2013)
C: Copperman, E.J. - Chance of a Ghost (read 9 Mar 2013)
D: Dicker, Joël - La Vérité sur l'Affaire Harry Quebert (read 20 Mar 2013)
E: Evans, Stephanie Jay - Faithful Unto Death (read 11 Apr 2013)
F: French, Tana - In the Woods
G: Greenwood, Kerry - Flying Too High
H: Harris, Charlene - Dead Ever After
I: Indriðason, Arnaldur - Jar City
J: James, Miranda - File M for Murder
K: Kinsella, Sophie - Wedding Night
L: Lutz, Lisa - Curse of the Spellmans
M: Matheson, Richard - Somewhere In Time
N: Nafisi, Azar - Reading Lolita in Tehran
O: Orgain, Diana - Bundle of Trouble
P: Pavone, Chris - The Expats
Q: Quirk, Matthew - The 500
R: Ryan, Hank Phillippi - The Other Woman
S: Shrier, Howard - Miss Montreal
T:Tate, Valerie - Catnip

What I may read for the other letters:


U:
V: Viets, Elaine
W:
X:
Y:
Z:

[Esther]

Hey... We read the same D book. Surprise, surprise.. :)
Welcome MarieC. You will fit right in.

[jaxnsmom]

Mariecg (is it Marie?), great to see you jumping right into the deep end! When you get a chance, could you add links for the book and author so it will be easier for the rest of us to check out what you're reading? (and steal some for ourselves)

By the way, I love the John Ceepak series! Somehow I missed Fun House: A John Ceepak Mystery, I'll have to look for it.

[Janice, Moderator]

Welcome Mariecg! I'm glad to have you join our group and jump right in to the challenge!

You are perfectly welcome to include books you have read since the beginning of the challenge, according to the rules (read in order).

[Marie Claude]

jaxnsmom, My full first name is Marie Claude but on the net I always go by Mariec :o)

I love the John Ceepak also and have met Chris Grabenstain at Malice Domestic a few years ago. He is really nice and funny :) I have just finished Fun House. Can't wait for Free Fall :)

[Marie Claude]

Esther, in fact it was lucky I was reading the Copperman book when a friend lent me the Dicker...

[Marie Claude]

Just finished In the Woods a few minutes ago. I will add her second book in my TBR for sure :) Loved the book, but it left me in a sad mood...

[Marie Claude]

G Is done and once again I did not read the books I was thinking... I read Flying Too High and gave it 2 stars. At least, it was a book in my TBR... and I'm happy I got that one out of the way. the least I could say is that it left me wanting more substance and a little less "girl who can do anything, seduce anybody, and solve any mystery". I like my heroines heroic but a little more realistic!

[Marie Claude]

Being at home sick may have some advantages... I just finished Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris. Even though this one is not the best in the series (far from it), it was an easy read for my coughy and sleepy self. Being the last in the series, Harris wanted to tie some loose ends and in a way, put Sookie in a safer more comfortable place. A lot of people disagreed with her choices, but I understand them; there could not be any future for her relationship with Eric, since he would never had accepted to see her age and would have turned her someday. But I thought the resolution was weak and a little too "out of nowhere" for my taste. I gave it 3*

[Sarah]

Glad you enjoyed Dead Ever After. I just finished reading it too. I hadn't realised that it was going to be the last one. I agree with you about her and Eric's relationship not going anywhere and can see why she finished it the way she did. I will miss my yearly instalment of Sookie and her shenanigans!

[Marie Claude]

Just finished Jar City and that was a hard one to finish. After a really slow beginning, it seemed to take me ages to reach the middle. After that, that was not too bad. I still don't know if I will reading other books from this author, we'll see.

Because it took momentum in the second half, I gave it 3*

[Sarah]

I read Jar city a few months back and I too thought it was quite slow starting, picking up more later in the book. I've put the second book on my TBR but like you, I'm not sure whether I will actually continue with the series or not.

[Marie Claude]

Did you decide to put it there so you get a I author like I did? ;) The second book will probably be my I book next year if I need to...

[jaxnsmom]

I hope you answer when the Spellmans come calling :)

[Sarah]

Marie Claude wrote: "Did you decide to put it there so you get a I author like I did? ;) The second book will probably be my I book next year if I need to..."

Actually I'm doing my alphabet by the title of the book and not the author. I bought Jar City quite soon after I read the Stieg Larsson books as I was enjoying the Scandinavian author and setting of the books. I looked around for what other authors were doing a similar thing and Arnaldur Indriðason and Jo Nesbo came up.

[Marie Claude]

jaxnsmom wrote: "I hope you answer when the Spellmans come calling :)"

I loved the first book in the series and can't believe I still haven't read the second LOL I probably will answer because I try to read books that have been in my TBR for some time, just as Jar City and File M for Murder

[Marie Claude]

Sarah wrote: "I bought Jar City quite soon after I read the Stieg Larsson books"

That's exactly what I did also ;) And then it sat on my shelves for ages...

[Marie Claude]

This morning, I opened my eyes, took my book and finished it LOL I haven't done that for a really long time... and missed it a lot ;)

So, I have finished File M for Murder the third book in the Cat in the Stacks series. In this chapter of the Harris family's story, murder strikes a little too close to home, since the victim is the ex-fiance of the hero's daughter Laura. When Laura herself becomes the target of the murderer's attacks, there's no way Charlie and Diesel will stay on the sidelines...

I was really happy to meet again with these characters again since I particularly like the relationship the humans have with Diesel, a really "talkative" cat... in fact he reminds me of my first cat. He would take care of me and make sure to comfort me when I was sad.

[Cherie]

I hope you are feeling better now. :D

[Marie Claude]

Ok, not bad, I am already at K :)

Sophie Kinsella. What can I say? I've enjoyed her books for a long time. They are funny, entertaining and great when you just want to relax and stop thinking... And this one was like the others...

I gave it 3*

[Marie Claude]

Lisa Lutz has done it again... The second book in her Spellman series made me smile, laugh, cringe, and feel sometimes a little exasperated at the Spellman family's antics! The third should find its way in my TBR in the next few months... :)

[Marie Claude]

Somewhere In Time... I have seen the movie with Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour years ago and thought it was a really romantic story. And the books is as romantic as the movie :)

[Marie Claude]

Reading Lolita in Tehran was a strange read for me... long and hard to read but at the same time full of emotions and great moments. I decided to go with my heart instead of my head and rated the book on the emotions and not the time it took me to read it...

I gave it 4*

[Marie Claude]

Finding a "O" book was not easy for me but since I am trying to go through the books nominated for an Anthony awards since I am going to Bouchercon this year (registered and all :), I had absolutly to be able to get to "P" ASAP... Some of the books I still have to read will take care of the P, Q, R and S ;o)

So, I read Bundle of Trouble, figuring it would be an easy and fast read. Easy, yes, fast, pretty much, but I'm pretty sure there won't be anything left in a few weeks :) I might read the second just to see if it gets a little deeper... The baby seemed cute though ;o)

[Marie Claude]

I thought the next Louise Penny's book would be out before I get to "P" but I got there sooner than I thought...

In the spirit of Bouchercon 2013 which I will attend in September, I had decided to read the nominees for Anthony awards. The Expats being nominated as best first novel, I figured it would be perfect for the letter "P". Even though I did not have as much time to read as I hoped, I enjoyed the book and gave it 4*.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it Marie Claude. Amanda also just read that book for our challenge in July. You guys may be able to have a chat about it.

[Marie Claude]

I was afraid the "Q" book would be difficult and then the Anthony nominees were named and I discovered there was a book with a "Q" author! That was great, but the title and synopsis of the book did not talk to me that much...

But I was wrong. I ended up really enjoying the book. And it seems I am not the only one since a movie adaptation is due this fall...

So Mike did not have an easy life so far: his father was sent to prison when he was 12, he was arrested and given the choice between army and jail when he was 19 and his mother died of cancer leaving him with a huge debt. So when a teacher, president of the Davies Group offered him a job, it seemed the answer to all his problems.

The story has some similarities with The Firm and The Devil's Advocate, but I cared for Mike and how he would get out of the mess he found himself, and I think that important in that kind of books.

Sadly, I don't have much time to read these days and thus took a little too much time reading it to appreciate it as much as I would have if I had read it in a couple of sittings.

I gave it 4*

[Marie Claude]

My series of read to go through the Anthony nominees continued this week with The Other Woman.

Jane is a journalist who went down to protect her source. She gets a chance of proving herself while following the senate campaign, and is especially interested by the possibility of another woman. Jake is a cop who doesn't want to believe a serial killer is active on his shift. But maybe Jane and Jake are investing the same thing...

Everything was going well and I really enjoyed the book up to a certain point. And then, it was all a little too much for me, too many coincidences...

I gave it 3*

[Marie Claude]

Finished Miss Montreal while at Bouchercon in Albany. Did not like it much :( Enough said about it...

[Marie Claude]

Wow! Got to "T". while on a trip in Toronto with dh I was wondering what would be a good read, and searched my Kindle for books that would feel my mood... Read about half of it during the trip back home in the train, but then "forgot" about it for over a week. Yesterday, I decided it was ridiculous and decided to finish it LOL

Not my favorite read of the fall, but it was ok. I gave it 3 stars, just because... ;o)