Challenge: 50 Books discussion

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Finish Line 2012! > Alex must read 50 books in 2012!

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message 1: by Alex (last edited Jan 09, 2012 03:35PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 1) Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris Squirrel seeks chipmunk. I really enjoyed this book. I'm going to give it 4 stars. I really enjoyed the satire and the writing style. Total page length: 159 pages

I'm also reading "War and Peace" but I suspect that will take me until December since I'm only reading a chapter a day. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy


message 2: by Alex (last edited Jan 09, 2012 03:36PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 2) My second book of the year is Columbine by Dave Cullen Columbine by Dave Cullen.

Rating: 5 stars
Total pages to date: 517


message 3: by Alex (last edited Jan 11, 2012 04:57PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 3) The Summer Diaries Summer and the City (The Carrie Diaries #2) by Candace Bushnell

Rating: 4 stars
Total pages to date: 928 pges.


message 4: by Alex (last edited Apr 01, 2012 05:21AM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 4) Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison
Finished!
Rating: 1 star.
Avoid this book at all costs. Piper is such a spoiled woman and has absolutely no idea what life is like outside of her very sheltered middle class white life.
Total pages to date: 1,226


message 5: by Alex (last edited Feb 04, 2012 10:17AM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 5) Bossy Pants Bossypants by Tina Fey
Finished!
Rating: 4.5 stars. Such a funny read.
Total pages to date: 1503


message 6: by Alex (last edited Feb 04, 2012 10:18AM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 6) Buddha in the Attic
FinishedThe Buddha in the Attic
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Total pages: 1632


message 7: by Alex (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 7) Unbroken: A World War II Story Of Survival, Resilience, And Redemption
Finished February 17/2012
Rating: 5 stars. This is such an amazing story. I really can't recommend this book enough. It starts off a bit slow, but my 15% of the way through, I literally couldn't put it down.
Total pages to date: 2105


message 8: by Alex (last edited Feb 26, 2012 05:46AM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 8) Nineteen Minutes
Finished on February 25th.
Rating between 2.5 and 3 stars. I didn't seem to like ANY of the characters. I found them all quite whiney and blissfully unaware of major problems.
Total pages to date: 2559


message 9: by Alex (last edited Mar 04, 2012 04:09PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 9) Atonement
This book was chosen for me through the Bookworm Bitches book group. They have a monthly challenge where you're paired up with a fellow member and they go through your booklist and pick a book on your "TBR" list which they've also read and enjoyed. This book has been on my list for a while and I look forward to reading it.

** Just finished. Finished on March 4, 2012. Rating 4 stars.
Total pages to date: 2,943


message 10: by Alex (last edited Apr 01, 2012 05:16AM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 10) Divergent.
Rating: 4 stars.
It was a really interesting read, but it had a pretty stupid ending. EDIT: The ending wasn't really stupid. I was just really disappointed. The ending was really rushed and it ended way too conveniently for my tastes. I would have given it 5 stars but for the ending.

Total pages read to date: 3,430 pages


message 11: by Alex (last edited Mar 17, 2012 07:58AM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 11) The Bird House
Rating: 3.5 stars
Finsihed on March 17, 2012

Total pages read to date: 3,718.


message 12: by Alex (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments It appears that I'm right on track to finish 50 books by the end of 2012. yay!


message 13: by Alex (last edited Apr 01, 2012 05:19AM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 12) Water for Elephants
Rating: 3 stars
Finished on March 31, 2012

Total pages to date: 4,141

I didn't like this book as much as I had hoped. I found the story a bit dull at times and I didn't expect so much animal cruelty. Either way, Rosie was the best part of the book. I loved that elephant.
I'm still trying to digest the ending - was it realistic? I'm still not sure...


message 14: by Alex (last edited Apr 04, 2012 06:09PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 13) The Art of Racing in the Rain
Finished April 4, 2012
Rating: 5 stars

Total pages to date: 4,462 pages

I love dogs. I loved how much personality Enzo had. A must read for dog lovers!


message 15: by Catherine (new)

Catherine | 24 comments Alexia wrote: "2) My second book of the year is Columbine by Dave Cullen Columbine by Dave Cullen.

Rating: 5 stars
Total pages to date: 517"


I have had this book on my TBR list forever! We seem to have similar reading tastes, so I'm more excited to read it now. How did you find it?


message 16: by Alex (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments Catherine wrote: "Alexia wrote: "2) My second book of the year is Columbine by Dave Cullen Columbine by Dave Cullen.

Rating: 5 stars
Total pages to date: 517"

I have had this book on my TBR list forever..."


It was a great book! I'd imagine that it would be very difficult to tell the story, but the author did an amazing job. He was very unbiased and didn't attempt to vilify Dylan and Eric any further. He also cleared up a lot of misconceptions about that day and looked beyond the gossip and media hype. I also thought the author did amazing job describing the victims and telling about their losses too. Overall, this book covered every single base and allowed the reader to form their own opinion on the matter. Superb!


message 17: by Alex (last edited Apr 15, 2012 01:18PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 14) One Day
Rating: 5 stars
Date finished: April 14, 2012

Total pages to date: 4,899.

This book was fantastic. I adored the writing - it was really smart and witty.


message 18: by Alex (last edited Apr 25, 2012 11:03AM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 15) Saving CeeCee Honeycutt: A Novel Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
Rating: between 3 and 3.5 stars
Date finished: April 17, 2012

Total pages to date: 5,219


message 19: by Alex (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 16) Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain Unbearable Lightness A Story of Loss and Gain by Portia de Rossi

Rating: 5 stars
Date finished: April 24, 2012

I adored this book. It was fantastic, dark, sombre and really honest.

Total pages to date: 5,539.


message 20: by Alex (last edited Apr 29, 2012 12:37PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 17) Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks Go Ask Alice

Date finished: April 28, 2012.
Rating: 1 star

While it was a very quick read, I REALLY didn't like this book. Drug addiction and recovery is NOT as simple as the author made it out to be.
This book read like a anti-drug propaganda tool.
BOO!

Total pages to date: 5,753


message 21: by Alex (last edited May 02, 2012 04:33PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 18) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine #1) by Ransom Riggs Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Date finished: May 2, 2012
Rating: 2 stars

Meh - I think this would be a great book for pre-teens or teenagers. I didn't enjoy it but I'm 26 and enjoy a bit more of a serious plot.

Total pages to date: 6,105


message 22: by Alex (last edited May 07, 2012 05:09PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 19) The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

I'm still digesting this book. It was bizarre, but I think I really liked it. I kept on trying to analyze Holden and I also wanted to tell him to shut up X 10203 times.

Rating: I think I'm going to give this book 4 stars.
Date finished: May 7, 2012

Total pages to date: 6,382


message 23: by Alex (last edited Jun 24, 2012 06:09AM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 20) Interview With the Vampire (Vampire Chronicles, #1) by Anne Rice Interview With the Vampire

Date finished: May 30, 2012. This book took me FOREVER to finish. It's really going to affect my reading totals.

Rating: 2 stars. I liked the ending, but the rest of the book was torture. I hated the writing style, the narrative and all the superfluous crap she threw in. She must have been paid by the word.

All in all, I felt like nothing happened in the book. A few big things happened, but I felt like there was no big build up or explanation afterwards.

I was thoroughly disappointed by this book.

Total pages to date: 6724


message 24: by Alex (last edited Jun 24, 2012 06:11AM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 21) Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir

I loved this book so much. It was the funniest book I read all year. I really can't recommend this book enough. Jenny Lawson you are my favorite person on earth.

FIVE stars.
Total pages to date: 7,042
Date finished: June 7, 2012


╟ ♫ Tima ♪ ╣ ♥ (tsunanisaurus) Alexia wrote: "19) The Catcher in the Rye The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

I'm still digesting this book. It was bizarre, but I think I really liked it. I kept on trying to analyze Holden and I also wanted t..."


This is pretty much how I felt about the book when I finished it. I look back on it now though, I know that I really loved it.


message 26: by Alex (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments I know I like/love a book if I think about when I'm not reading it and I continue to think about it after I finished reading it.

I find myself still thinking about Holden and comparing interactions with individuals as "Holden-esque".

I'd definitely recommend it to my future children when they're teenagers.


message 27: by Alex (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 22) The Fault in Our Stars
Rating: 4 stars
Date finished: June 11, 2012
Total pages to date: 7,360

I thought this was a sweet book. I thought the characters were developed and it was interesting to hear about teenagers' struggles with fatal illnesses.


message 28: by Alex (last edited Jun 24, 2012 06:16AM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 23) Left Neglected by Lisa Genova
Rating: 3 stars
Date finished: June 23, 2012
Total pages to date: 7,688

Blah. The book was okay, but far too fluffy. No one resolves serious problems and dilemmas that easy. A serious let down in comparison to Still Alice


message 29: by Alex (last edited Jun 30, 2012 06:03AM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 24) Fifty Shades of Grey.

Rating: 3 stars
Date finished: June 29, 2012
Total pages to date: 8206

This book was good. It wasn't amazing and there was a lot of annoying things about it. With that being said, I'm going to read the other two books.


message 30: by Alex (last edited Sep 03, 2012 06:27PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 25) Lullabies for Little Criminals
Rating: 4 stars

Not too dark, but emotional nonetheless. Great book

Date finished: July 7, 2012
Total pages to date: 8536


message 31: by Alex (last edited Sep 03, 2012 06:27PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 26) Further Under the Duvet
Rating 4 stars

A nice collection of short stories. I definitely prefer her novels to her articles though, A nice, quick read.

Date finished: July 10, 2012
Pages to date: 8930 pages


message 32: by Alex (last edited Sep 03, 2012 06:29PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 27) Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Rating: 3.5 stars

I have no idea if I want to read the rest of this series. I like how the book ended but it dragged on in places.

Date finished: August 1, 2012
Total pages to date: 9344


message 33: by Alex (last edited Sep 03, 2012 06:31PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 28) Before I Go To Sleep
Rating: 5 stars

LOVED THIS BOOK. LOVED THE ENDING. Did not want to put this book down for one second.

Date finished: August 15, 2012
Total pages to date: 9716


message 34: by Alex (last edited Sep 03, 2012 06:33PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments 29) Sushi for Beginners
Rating: 4 stars.

Not my favorite Marian Keyes book, but I adore her writing star. Adored the characters in this book. Two thumbs up!

Date finished - September 2, 2012
Total pages to date: 10,279

YAY - I made it past 10,000 pages!


message 35: by Alex (last edited Sep 03, 2012 06:33PM) (new)

Alex  tizzard  | 50 comments Up next:
30) The Red Tent
31) Gone Girl
32) SmashedThe Red Tent


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