Lioba's 50 books in 2009 *only made 40*

[Lioba]

1. Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafón
2. A Gracious Plenty - Sheri Reynolds

I finished the Zafón book last week, after having started it in the old year and taking a break while I was in Italy over New Year's (too fat to bring along). The first 400 pages were a straight 5 stars - but sadly, the last 150 pages didn't live up to the rest. Too much mystery had built up and was released in not enough pages. Still 4 stars though, a really fascinating book!

'Gracious Plenty' was a quick read, though deep and sad at times. I'll definitely read more by that author.

Edit: Since it was really at least 4 and a half, I did change that into 5 stars for 'Shadow of the Wind' in the end! ;-)

[Lioba]

3. Stardust - Neil Gaiman

I finished this yesterday. I liked it but was a bit disappointed at how little the characters were developped and how little the whole story was worked out. Nice idea and plot - but I would have liked to get to know the protagonists better and the story could have used more details. I'm wanting to give the book 4 stars but compared to other books I gave 4 stars to, it's not quite making it. It wasn't really grabbing me emotionally.
I'm still interested to see the movie though.

Edit: The movie did turn out to be better than the book.

[erin buchanan]

The movie is better than the book (sorry Neil). It ends the way I thought the book was going to end. That was his first "full adult novel" and it's my least favorite of them. I mean it's still a good story, but I didn't like it for the same reasons you didn't. Plus the movie has the wonderful claire danes as the star :)!

[May]

I haven't read the book, but I did see the movie. I think books that seem a little emotionally-underdeveloped end up being better movies, because the camera gets all close up so the actors can add a little bit to it. The movie, I thought, was actually terrific. Robert DeNiro was hilarious!

[Lioba]

4. Silk - Alessandro Baricco
5. Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbitt
6. Die Flügel meines Vaters - Milena Agus (couldn't find the English title; it means "My father's wings")
7. Tirra Lirra by the River - Jessica Anderson
8. Leise rieselt der Schnee - Gisa Klönne (ed.)

'Silk' was a lovely story - yet not as great as I expected when people recommended it. I really liked the movie for its quiet beauty as well.

I fell in love with 'Tuck Everlasting'!! Of course I hoped the ending would be different, yet I'm glad it wasn't. Although it's a kids' book, it has some deep wisdom in it. I'm really curious to see the movie now!!

'Die Flügel meines Vaters' was supposed to be a quiet read - and it was. But not as beautiful as I expected. Not bad but somewhat boring.

Now the February reads:

'Tirra Lirra by the River' was disappointing too. The story itself was actually quite interesting but the way it was narrated didn't appeal to me much.

'Leise rieselt der Schnee' was an "advent calendar" with 24 murder stories, one for each day up until xmas Eve. I kinda lost track in the middle of December and just finished it. Some of the stories were good, some ok.

[Lioba]

9. The Speed of the Dark - Alex Shearer

I just finished this yesterday and really liked it. It's really a teen book I guess. I read it because I loved his 'The Stolen' that I read last year. This one got a bit lengthy for a while towards the end but it was still fascinating. It left me wondering - and with a strange feeling of déjà vu...

[Lioba]

2 more reads in the past week and a half. I'd say a good 3 stars, close to 4 each:

10. Bad to the Bone. A Casey Jones Mystery - Katy Munger
11. Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? - Lorrie Moore

[Lioba]

12. The City of Ember - Jeanne DuPrau
13. The People of Sparks (2nd Book of Ember) - Jeanne DuPrau

I finished 'The City of Ember' on the weekend and it was so very good that I read the whole sequel yesterday and already started the prequel (book 3)!!

It's science fiction really but it doesn't feel like it. I'm not a science fiction fan at all but I love these books. It says it's "science fiction for people who don't like science fiction" and that's absolutely true! Book 1 starts when a 12-year-old girl, Lina, and a boy of the same age, Doon, graduate from school and get their first jobs. You learn that they live in a city called Ember where the sky is always black. Electric lights go on in Ember at a certain time in the morning when they have to get ready for work and lights go out at 9 pm. People are anxious because small power failures keep occuring and there's a shortage of many other things as well. A solution needs to be found and Lina and Doon want to be the ones who find it. I'm not gonna say more, as that'd contain spoilers. Read it!

[Lioba]

14. The Prophet of Yonwood (3rd Book of Ember) - Jeanne DuPrau

I just finished this today. It was good but it seems that with each sequel (or prequel, in this case) the books get a little bit worse. Which doesn't make this a bad book at all because the first volume was so amazing! In this book we get to know about the situation that, eventually, led to the existence of the city of Ember. It's an interesting story but it feels too detached from the first two books.
I hope volume 4 is going to get better again but I don't have it yet so I'll read something else first.

[Lioba]

15. South of the Border, West of the Sun - Haruki Murakami

Finished this yesterday. Left me wondering what really happened. Really good book, my first one by him but surely not my last one.

[Lioba]

16. Am Hang - Markus Werner

[Lioba]

17. The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafón
18. Fairy Realm #1: The Charm Bracelet - Emily Rodda

[Lioba]

19. Buntschatten und Fledermäuse - Axel Brauns
20. Tins - Alex Shearer
21. Veronica Decides to Die - Paulo Coelho

[Lioba]

22. The Adventures of the Three Colors - Annette Tison
23. I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
24. Adieu, Herr Muffin - Ulf Nilsson

[Lioba]

25. Locked Inside - Nancy Werlin
26. Als die Steine noch Vögel waren - Marjaleena Lembcke

[Aprile]

1/2 way!!! Good job!

[Lioba]

Thank you, Aprile :))

[Mary Todd]

Excellent ticker, too! Great job!

[Lioba]

Thank you, Mary Todd! :)

[Lioba]

27. 31 Dream Street - Lisa Jewell

[Lioba]

28. The Raging Quiet - Sherryl Jordan
29. Witch Child - Celia Rees
30. Foe - J.M. Coetzee
31. Ich gebe nicht auf - Dietmar Zöller
32. Ich, Svennie Glückspilz - Dagmar Hollenstein

[Lioba]

I haven't been reading much since late June as I got a kitty-cat that keeps me really busy ;-). Still, 3 more:

33. The Year without Michael - Susan Beth Pfeffer
34. Visions of Hanna - Rascha Peper
35. Das Mädchen aus dem Bambuswald - Hanns Maria Lux

[Lioba]

36. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

[Lioba]

37. The Center of Everything - Laura Moriarty
38. Astrid and Veronika - Linda Olsson

... and I'm sending greetings from Porto/Portugal where I'm on holiday! I have a book on me to read too. :-)

[Lioba]

39. Ich sah in den Spiegel und erkannte mich nicht - Angelika Walk

Hm, I'm afraid I won't make 50 this year... :-(

[Lioba]

40. Nur noch einmal - Ulla Fröhling

[Sydney]

I won't make it to 50 this year! But I gave it a good shot, considering I was pregnant most of the year and just had a baby on Dec. 11th! I might make it to 40! I got farther than last year, though! Guess we'll have to try again in 2010! Have a great New Year's!

[Lioba]

Sydney wrote: "I won't make it to 50 this year! But I gave it a good shot, considering I was pregnant most of the year and just had a baby on Dec. 11th! I might make it to 40! I got farther than last year, though..."

Wow, Sydney! Congratulations!! :-)
In 2008 I read 57, but that was including some manga books too.
I'm at number 2 for 2010. :-)