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♦SS Archives♦ > R3: SS Midnight Serial Killers (12)

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Ghost in the Stacks It's been a slow reading week for me so far...
Work has been super busy, and when I get home and actually want to relax and read, my husband wants to watch Breaking Bad.


message 202: by ♦Ashley♦ (new)

♦Ashley♦ (ascherger12gmailcom) | 272 comments I'm here!! I thought it was quiet too, but since this is my first team I wasn't sure if this is how it was supposed to be lol!!


message 203: by Ghost in the Stacks (last edited Sep 24, 2014 10:24AM) (new)

Ghost in the Stacks The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
Completed 9/24
3 stars

This one was really hard to rate...I loved,loved, loved the beginning, but I did not like the end. The story of two young people who happen to meet in Italy, and meet again in America. Enza wants to be with Cherio, but Cherio...want to play the field.
After going to war Cherio realises that Enza really is the girl for him. He steal her away from another man, and they marry..
Now here is where it fell apart....everything is perfect, they have a son, and he is perfect, they buy the perfect house, have the perfect relationship. She gets jealous of other women because she wants another child...but everything is perfect...
This really bugged me...The 1930's were not that PERFECT.
Then Cherio gets diagnosed cancer, he goes back to Italy to see hi mother and brother, then passes away.
Bit then everything is perfect again. The son is super smart, gets a scholarship, goes to a good school, and gets married to one of Enzas friends daughter...perfect...the end...


message 204: by Catherine (new)

Catherine | 880 comments I'm almost finished with my book :)


message 205: by Catherine (new)

Catherine | 880 comments finished! :)

Unmasking Juliet by Teri Wilson ..Teri Wilson

Rate: 5 stars

Review: well this is a new telling of Romeo and Juliet ;) I love how the story is immersed in a family feud over chocolate! I mean...I love chocolate! who would want to fight about that. well...apparently the feud started 2 generations back....but Juliet and Leonardo become inexplicably entwined with one another..trying to stay apart becomes an ordeal that intensifies the chocolate "war". I certainly didn't want the story to end..but I am liked the ending very much....this story had me run the gamut of emotions....from near tears to laughter.


message 206: by ♦Ashley♦ (new)

♦Ashley♦ (ascherger12gmailcom) | 272 comments Finished.
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #2) by Rick Riordan
♥♥♥
Review: I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first, but it was still ok. The Sea of Monsters is the sequel to The Lightning Thief. Percy returns to camp Half-Blood after having nightmares about his best friend Grover, only to see it's being attacked by Monsters. The Thalia tree is poisoned and has let it's defences down. Which persuades Percy and his friends to go on another adventure to try and save the tree. I found this one harder to get into, but I've heard that the series gets better as you go on.


message 207: by Nicole (new)

Nicole Field (nicolefield) | 245 comments Ha, I've been quiet because i'm busy at work. Getting the reading done though. Just about to put up this week's review!


message 208: by Nicole (new)

Nicole Field (nicolefield) | 245 comments Argh, I completely get distracted by dinner. Okay, here is my review for this week written up:

3 Stars.
I have to say, I was more underwhelmed by this book than I was by its predecessor. And that surprised me, seeing as how the main character of this book was such a great character in the last one.

So what went wrong? Well, for starters, there were more characters in this one / other plots that just weren't explored. In book one of this series, there was a full sense of every character in the band that makes up Stage Dive (perhaps aside from Ben, though he was mentioned). There was a clear image of the various stage managers and other managers, heads of security and the like. I had time to come to very much like a lot of them, particularly Sam.

Sam did appear in this book. Once, I think, he was mentioned. He didn't have any personality. Same went for the lawyer who stood as such an antagonist in the first one. On its own, this wouldn't have been a big problem. There wasn't such a call for security and lawyers as there was before. This is a different story, with different plots playing out.

However, as I said early, there were too many plots playing out. We had the unrequited interest between Anne and her boss, Reece. For a lot of the story, I wasn't sure if he was meant to be creeper or kinda misguided nice guy. I wanted to be surer; I wanted the story to focus on him long enough that I felt like his stake in the story was really valid. The plot between Anne, her mother and younger sister Lizzy was touched on. Here, I also wanted to know more about Lizzy and to see Anne interact with her sister without Mal being there, without the rest of the band being there. Especially considering I have a strong suspicion that we are about to see Lizzy again in the last book in this series, Deep. I liked Lauren and what little we saw of Nate from the last book. It was a good tie in but, again, was sadly not enough.

And, unfortunately as much as I liked him, Mal and his companion Anne Rollins just didn't carry it on their own. *sigh* I felt that their romance was meant to carry the whole of the story, while the rest of the stuff was ornamental, but there just wasn't enough there between them for me to... care? I will say, at least, that Mal's voice was for the most part consistent with his featuring in the previous novel, which is sometimes difficult with such a character taking the main stage.


Ghost in the Stacks Nicole, can you please add the book you read to your post. Thanks!


message 210: by ♦Ashley♦ (new)

♦Ashley♦ (ascherger12gmailcom) | 272 comments

Almost Friday:)


Ghost in the Stacks Love it Ashley!


message 212: by Ghost in the Stacks (last edited Sep 26, 2014 03:49AM) (new)

Ghost in the Stacks Rolled a 5 & 5!!!
For a 10
Whoo-Hoo!


message 213: by Ghost in the Stacks (last edited Oct 03, 2014 10:15AM) (new)

Ghost in the Stacks Midnight Serial Killers
Roll Five: 10
Spot:38
Requirements:Read a Number 3, read a number 8, a number 38, or 2014.

Books & Reviews:

Catherine:The Twelfth Night Murder(2014 & #3 in Restoration Murder)
-https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Abbie: The One(2014 & #3 in The Selection)
-https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Sheila: The Long Way Home(2014)
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Ashley:The Book of Life(2014 & #3 in All Souls Trilogy)
-https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Nichole:The Rapunzel Dilemma(2014)
-https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #10) by Louise Penny The One (The Selection, #3) by Kiera Cass The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3) by Deborah Harkness The Rapunzel Dilemma by Jennifer Kloester The Twelfth Night Murder by Anne Rutherford


message 214: by Catherine (new)

Catherine | 880 comments I have a couple number 3 in series :) and I have lots of pubished in 2014 :)


message 215: by Sheila (new)

Sheila (sheilaj) OK, I'll be back with my decision. Way too many choices this week.


message 216: by Catherine (last edited Sep 27, 2014 02:40PM) (new)

Catherine | 880 comments ok...found a perfect one! The Twelfth Night Murder by Anne Rutherford ..Anne Rutherford...fits book 3 in series, and published 2 Sept 2014 :)


message 217: by Ghost in the Stacks (last edited Sep 26, 2014 03:33PM) (new)

Ghost in the Stacks Mine Will meet two as well, a 2014 & a #3.
The One (The Selection, #3) by Kiera Cass


message 218: by Sheila (last edited Sep 26, 2014 03:51PM) (new)

Sheila (sheilaj) I'll be reading a 2014 book.

◆ Week 5: ◆ The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #10) by Louise Penny The Long Way Home by Louise Penny


message 219: by ♦Ashley♦ (new)

♦Ashley♦ (ascherger12gmailcom) | 272 comments I'm doing a reread. Mine will fit both categories.
The Book of Life The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3) by Deborah Harkness


Ghost in the Stacks Ashley, I just picked that one up too, but it sill be awhile before I will be able to read it. Let me know what you think!


message 221: by Nicole (new)

Nicole Field (nicolefield) | 245 comments Sorry Abbie, I definitely will in future! Most of my posts are thru the phone app :) My book for this week will be The Rapunzel Dilemma, 2014. Will link when I'm on my computer.


message 222: by ♦Ashley♦ (new)

♦Ashley♦ (ascherger12gmailcom) | 272 comments I already read it but am re reading. I really liked this trilogy and am sad it's over.


Ghost in the Stacks Ashley, I loved the first book...but the second,not so much. In fact I bought the second as soon as it came out because I couldn't wait to see what finally happened...and then felt let down. I want to read the third, but it is not so high a priority now because of that last one.


message 224: by ♦Ashley♦ (new)

♦Ashley♦ (ascherger12gmailcom) | 272 comments I felt the same about the 2nd book, but it picks up a bit in the third. I didn't want it to end but it gave me closure. I would recommend reading the third book.


message 225: by Sheila (new)

Sheila (sheilaj) Week 5 - alternate 2014

The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #10) by Louise Penny The Long Way Home by Louise Penny

Finished 9/29 Rating ★★★★

This is the newest in the fantastic Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery series set in Three Pines Canada. The inspector has been to the quaint and isolated village many times with his homicide team to solve mysterious happenings and has grown to love both the town and the somewhat odd collection of villagers.

Now Inspector Gamache and his wife have retired to Three Pines to enjoy the quiet life in this beautiful setting. Unfortunately the quiet doesn't last long when one of the villagers goes missing Inspector Gamache is once again called upon to solve the mystery.
★★★★



Ghost in the Stacks Sheila, the reading machine!


message 227: by Sheila (new)

Sheila (sheilaj) Retirement is great.


Ghost in the Stacks Sheila wrote: "Retirement is great."

..sadley....I have a ways to go


Ghost in the Stacks Week 5
#3 & 2014
The One
The One (The Selection, #3) by Kiera Cass
Completed 9/30
2.75 stars.

Such a let down...I really enjoyed the first book, the second was just...Okay, this one...omg...why did I waste my time...why? Cause I had to see what happened...but not worth it
The girls ate down to four, and they use to hate each other, sabotage each other, and this book...they all become friends...serious? After all that, now let's hold hands and wish each other luck....
Of course he picked her, but I really thought she was going back to the last guy. We find out the Prince loves to take photographs, the king dies, and they get married...


message 230: by Catherine (last edited Sep 30, 2014 08:09PM) (new)

Catherine | 880 comments should be done tomorrow...been really worn out and exhausted this week :(


message 231: by Nicole (new)

Nicole Field (nicolefield) | 245 comments Sorry I've been quiet too. Last three days off work due to sickness and headaches >.<


message 232: by Sheila (new)

Sheila (sheilaj) It's certainly that time of year to get sick.


message 233: by ♦Ashley♦ (new)

♦Ashley♦ (ascherger12gmailcom) | 272 comments Finished The Book of Life16054217] by Deborah Harkness
The Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy, #3) by Deborah Harkness ♥♥♥♥

I loved the first book, Discovery of Witches. The Second book, Shadow of Night, was my least favorite of the three. It just sorta dragged on and on for me. When the third book, The Book of Life, came out I wasn't really super excited about it, but a lot of my RL friends and goodreads friends were so I picked this up as soon as it came out to read along with everyone else.

In this final conclusion of All Souls trilogy, Diana and Matthew return to the present time after living in the past during Shadow of Night. In Sept-Tours they reunite with their family and together they’ll face the threat of danger and search for the missing last pages of Ashmole 782. As I said before, I wasn't excited for this book initially, but as I started reading I fell in love with the third book and became sad when I approached the end because I knew this was it. I became very attached to the characters, and I was hoping it was a lie and that Harkness would release a statement saying "Just kidding, I'm starting the fourth book". If you are questioning weather to read the final book, I would recommend forgetting about the second book and read on.


message 234: by Catherine (new)

Catherine | 880 comments will be done this evening :) couple chapters to go..


message 235: by Nicole (new)

Nicole Field (nicolefield) | 245 comments Ack, I wrote the review for this this morning, but forgot to copy it here:

I read this because the title indicated it would be a fairy tale retelling: The Rapunzel Dilemma. Seemed a fairly safe assumption. This was also written by an author I had never heard of before but, after a small amount of digging, I found she was also an academic and Australian. So I thought, what's the worst that could happen?

Turns out, not much, unless you were expecting a fairy tale retelling from this straight romance. Apart from early allusions to the long hair of the heroine, there's not that much to speak of the titled fairy tale until about 100 pages in when we see a forbidden Tower in the campus of the drama school that is our setting. Before that, I thought that the literary author might be trying for a metaphor between the alienation of the princess in the Tower of the fairy tale, versus the alienation of this heroine in her new school. Which would have been interesting, if seen to a conclusion. But no.

Apart from the Tower reference, there was very little from the fairy tale that featured in this "dilemma". The love interest, was interestingly the only son of a biker gang who ended up in prison, but bears no resemblance who is blinded by thorns in his fall from the tower. In fact, the character comes across as incredible agile, as well as artistic. There was a subplot between him and a character, Snake, who we see only once at the beginning that I was interested to hear more from. However, the way the novel wraps up by fast forwarding a couple of months into the future for its happily ever after negates that plot.

The novel in itself wouldn't have been bad except that it was trying to sell on something it was not.

2 stars for The Rapunzel Dilemma


message 236: by Nicole (new)

Nicole Field (nicolefield) | 245 comments Looking forward to this week, i've been disappointed by my choices over the last two weeks.


Ghost in the Stacks We are only missing Catherines post.
I am going to go ahead and roll. If I don't do it know it won't be until 12:00 at my lunch.

So I will roll bow, and hopefully post our progress at my lunch time.


Ghost in the Stacks Rolled a 5 &3=8
Moving to spot 46

On Kindle:https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...


message 239: by Nicole (new)

Nicole Field (nicolefield) | 245 comments So far it's between Gone Girl and Room for me. I've read most of the others!


message 240: by Sheila (new)

Sheila (sheilaj) I hope Catherine posts soon.


Ghost in the Stacks Ingore the last roll...sorry, I was just told we cannotbroll until after catherinebpost her review.

Sorry.


message 242: by Catherine (new)

Catherine | 880 comments sorry guys...I fell asleep :( finished as I said last night...


The Twelfth Night Murder by Anne Rutherford

Rate 5stars

Review: I am really enjoying this series. it brings the time period of Charles II to life...when plays were just beginning to use women as actresses...and also becoming a little more autoimous...(not really)...but you get the feeling that changes are on the way. Suzanne Throckmorton really is an interting character...she made something of herself in her life(in the books)...as a charcter she grows into a rather formidable person...not one to relly trifle with..because she feels she has nothing to lose.


Ghost in the Stacks Rolled 5 & 2 =7
Moving to spot 45, 2012


message 244: by Ghost in the Stacks (last edited Oct 10, 2014 10:16AM) (new)

Ghost in the Stacks Midnight Serial Killers
Roll Six: 7
Spot:45
Requirements:Read a Number 4, read a number 5, a number 45, or 2012.

Books & Reviews:

Abbie:A Good and Useful Hurt (2012)
-https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Sheila:https:Proof Positive(#4 in Amanda Jaffe)
-https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Ashley:Gone Girl(2012)
-https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Catherine:No Job for a Lady(#4 In Nellie Bly)
-https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Nicole:Dark Currents(2012)
-https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Proof Positive (Amanda Jaffe, #4) by Phillip Margolin A Good and Useful Hurt by Aric Davis Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Dark Currents (Agent of Hel, #1) by Jacqueline Carey No Job for a Lady by Carol McCleary


Ghost in the Stacks I am going 2012 with A Good and Useful Hurt
A Good and Useful Hurt by Aric Davis


message 246: by Sheila (new)

Sheila (sheilaj) Great Roll Abbbie.

I'll be reading


Proof Positive (Amanda Jaffe, #4) by Phillip Margolin Proof Positive by Phillip MargolinPhillip Margolin {Amanda Jaffe, #4)

Which will finish a series for me - woohoo!


message 247: by ♦Ashley♦ (new)

♦Ashley♦ (ascherger12gmailcom) | 272 comments I'm going to read Gone Girl Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn published in 2012.


message 248: by Catherine (last edited Oct 03, 2014 07:04PM) (new)

Catherine | 880 comments I'll read either No Job for a Lady by Carol McCleary ..Carol McCleary or Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4) by Dan Brown ..Dan Brown

both are book 4 in series :)


message 249: by Nicole (new)

Nicole Field (nicolefield) | 245 comments Ooh, I was thinking Gone Girl too. So many decisions. There are like four I want to choose from.


message 250: by Catherine (new)

Catherine | 880 comments Gone Girl is really intense! I really enjoyed the suspense :)


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