Taking a hiatus....might be for good!

Lately I've been writing down what I read on paper for book blogging entry at a later date. It seems that later date has turned into over a month. Right now I'm not feeling this, I have a lot on my plate and I'm slightly discouraged because I seemed to have lost the paper that I've written down my latest completed books on. I think I'm going to keep track of my books on good reads if anyone who reads this blog wants to friend me there and I might write some reviews for the site. If I feel like continuing this blog sometime in the future I'll use good reads to fill in where I left off. For now and possibly for good I'm on hiatus with this challenge and blog.

Book 362 Revenge Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

638 books to go!

The sequel to Weisberger's The Devil Wears Prada. Ten years after leaving Runway, Emily and Andy have become best friends despite the fact that Andy left the job at Runway on sour terms. They have launched a successful magazine together, The Plunge a high end bridal magazine. Soon Miranda is back in their lives even though Andy thought she would never have to deal with her again. Definitely a nice sequel, I felt that in the end Miranda did get revenge against Emily and Andy but it still worked out okay for both of them.

Book 361 Dark Tide by Andrew Gross

639 books to go!

Detective Ty Hauck makes his debut in the start of the Ty Hauck Mysteries/Novels. Karen Friedman's husband dies in a bombing at Grand Central Station. The same day a young man is killed in a hit and run accident. Hauck realizes these two seemingly random deaths are actually connected. Together Ty and Karen uncover the mystery and facts that connect the two deaths.

Book 360 Mistress by James Patterson

 

640 books to go!

Every time I read another James Patterson I start to regret my life just a little. No more James Patterson novels after this one, especially when he plasters his author photo on the cover of the book. Anyway if you're curious to read this newest P.O.S. it's a mystery involving the death of Diana Hotchkiss. Ben Casper, a reporter who thought he loved Diana begins fishing into her death. In the process he's terrorized by various organizations. Lots of crazy action that could happen in real life but most likely not over and over again to the same person. 

 

Book 359 Psycho U.S.A by Harold Schechter

 

641 books to go!

An anthology of famous American killers that haven't really been remembered for their grisly crimes. 

Book 358 So Close to You by Rachel Carter

 

642 books to go!

Lydia, the main character in this story, has a grandfather obsessed with the Montauk Project and Camp Hero. One day Lydia accidentally travels back in time while searching the remnants of Camp Hero with her grandfather. Lydia is convinced she can help save her family while she travels back in time but her decisions and actions  may have a life altering impact for her family. 

Book 357 Fables Fairest Vol. 1 Wide Awake by Bill Willingham

643 books to go!

A young thief happens along two sleeping princesses side by side. He kisses them both and an adventure begins once they both wake up. An excellent start to a new fables spin off.

Book 356 Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

644 books to go!

It's rumored that there's money hidden on Morelli's property. One of Stephanie's skips has gone missing. Stephanie is also working for Ranger to protect a pop singer from her crazy but harmless stalker. These are part of the many amusing things happening in Fearless Fourteen! I'm trying to read 15-19 before #20 comes out in November.

Book 355 A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava

645 books to go!

The debut novel in the Magie O'Dell series by Alex Kava. Maggie comes to small town Platte City, Nebraska to investigate the murders of young boys. The murders have been shaking up the community. I didn't dig the ending but it does allow room for the series to continue, I'm not sure if the murderer is going to be Maggie's nemesis throughout the whole book series or if he will appear again in a later book.

Book 354 The Two Mrs. Grenvilles by Dominick Dunne

646 books to go!

A fictionalized account about the questionable death of a society man in the 1950s. The story details how he met his wife, their marriage and whether or not she meant to kill him or if it was an accident. Based on a true story that took place on Long Island's North Shore.

Book 353 Untraceable by Laura Griffin

 

647 books to go!

Alex becomes wrapped up in a romance and a mystery when one of her clients Melanie disappears. She works with Nate, a police officer to help solve Melanie's disappearance. Soon Alex and Nate are falling for each other and the mystery of where Melanie went is even deeper than they thought.

Book 352 Sunny Sweet is so not sorry by Jennifer Ann Mann

648 books to go!

As of this blog writing this book hasn't been published yet, although it will be published on October 1, 2013. I actually read an advanced reader's copy (one of many I got from book expo). Sunny is Masha's younger sister. The book follows an unusual day in the life of Sunny and Masha, starting when Masha wakes up with flowers glued to her hair.

Book 351 Long Island Oddities by John & Laura Leita

649 books to go!

After Shawn mentioned camp hero in Montauk I found a few books with little blurbs about it including this one. The couple who co-authored this book cover just about every oddity on Long Island imaginable from some of Long Island's crazy sites, to hauntings, to various legends. These co-authors were reputable and the writing was decent unlike the paranormal adventurers who were crazy kooks that made no sense at all when they wrote their book. This is the recommended book for mostly all crazy things related to Long Island!

Book 350 The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

650 books to go!

Told in first person point of view this is the story of Andrea Sachs, a college graduate desperate to write for the New Yorker. Somehow she bungles her way through an interview landing a job as a junior editorial assistant to Miranda Priestly, editor of Runway Magazine. Soon Andrea is practically Miranda's slave, sacrificing much of her life to be at Miranda's beck and call. The story is based highly on personal values, how far will one person go to land their dream job? How far will someone go for comped designer duds? What do you sacrifice just to get somewhere faster and is it worth it? Also anyone reading it will realize their boss is probably a saint compared to the fictional Miranda Priestly. Overall the book was enjoyable and I'm awaiting the newly written sequel as soon as it's my turn to read a copy from the library.

Book 349 Angel of Music: Tales from The Phantom of the Opera by Carrie Hernandez

651 books to go!

You are now being redirected to my phantom of the opera blog to read the review about this phantom of the opera book!

Book 348 Rest in Pieces by Bess Lovejoy

654 books to go!

At first glance this book seems to be on the creepy side but if you take the time to read it, it turns out to be a fascinating well read easy read. Each famous person's corpse gets about two or three pages of trivia to it detailing some of the person's life as well as what happened to their body after they died. I loved reading every minute of it and I annoyed Shawn with various pieces of trivia about dead celebrity bodies that I found to be interesting. I gave it to my mother-in-law and she loved it too! What I could have done without reading was the appendix at the end in which the author describes in full detail what happens to a corpse that's embalmed or cremated. Still worth the read an excellent piece of mildly creepy non fiction.

Book 347 New York Ghost Towns by Susan Hutchison Tassin

655 books to go!

Susan Tassin provides a well written tour of abandoned towns located in NY state. She writes up a history for each town, how the town appears today and directions on how to locate each town. A worthwhile read that will provide inspiration to travel

Book 346 Werewolves of the Heartland by Bill Willingham

656 books to go!

Bigby finds himself prisoner of a Werewolf community founded by a fellow soldier he worked with during WWII.

Book 345 The face of deception by Iris Johansen

657 books to go!

This novel is the first in the Eve Duncan series. Eve Duncan becomes a workaholic after the murder of her daughter Bonnie. Eve is made an offer she can't refuse by a well known rich man John Logan. Eve accepts his offer only to become tangled in a deadly web of conspiracy.

Book 344 Songs of the humpback whale by Jodi Picoult

658 books to go!

Told out of sequence and from the point of view of different characters in the story, which is Picoult's typical style, this book charts the cross country journey of Jane and Rebecca, as well as Jane's husband Oliver who tracks his family across the country in attempt to get his wife and daughter back.

By the book's end many hearts were broken and I was a sad sad reader. It's definitely a story that will grab you and is worth reading if you can deal with broken hearts.

Book 343 Spooky Creepy Long Island by Scott Lefebvre

659 books to go!

I was hesitant to pick this book up after reading a similar book from these publishers that was just awful. This book was decent though. It's a nice little simple book providing a brief adequate background of haunted spots on Long Island. This book was definitely more concise than the incoherent nonsense I read by the paranormal adventurers. Bravo Mr. Lefebvre!

Book 342 Logan's run by William F. Nolan

660 books to go!

In a world where the answer to population control is to kill anyone over 21, there's a battle between runners and Sand men. Sand men kill anyone over 21 trying to run and continue to live life. Logan becomes a running sand man when he's on last day, he meets Jessica and the pair run in search of sanctuary.

Book 341 Perfectly Matched by Heather Webber

661 books to go!

In this latest novel from the Lucy Valentine series, Lucy is on the hunt for the beantown burner. While she's looking for him she also has to deal with a new group of psychics she's joined, and she also has to figure out why her newfound friend and brother's girlfriend Preston Bailey is so ill. 

Book 340 The dollhouse murders by Betty Ren Wright

662 books to go!

I read this book when I was a kid, I had some nostalgia so I had to re read it . Amy finds herself at her grand parent's old house to visit her Aunt Clare after an argument with her family over the care of her mentally handicapped sister LouAnn. Aunt Clare suggests that Amy stay with her for a few weeks, after discovering a dollhouse in the attic that's a replica of her grand parent's house Amy begs her parents to stay with Aunt Clare. Soon Amy discovers that the dolls inside the house are moving and she has a mystery to solve.

Book 339 Final Appeal by Lisa Scottoline

663 books to go!

Grace Rossi is shocked about the murder of her former boss chief judge Armen Gregorian. Grace doesn't believe he committed suicide and suspects he's been murdered. Soon she begins to investigate his death to find out the truth behind it. As with all Scottoline novels you'll be turning the page wondering who did the deed and at the very end you'll be shocked because it will be the person you least suspect. 

Book 338 The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls

664 books to go!

This is Jeanette Walls' first fiction work. Her non fiction works are The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses. Jean (nicknamed Bean) and Liz take off to find their uncle after their mom disappears for awhile and they find police outside their home in L.A. The two sisters adapt to small town life with their uncle but not without their fair share of bumps in the road.

Book 337 The Wishbones by Tom Perrotta

337 books to go!

I'm sad because this is the last piece of work by Tom Perrotta that I've plowed through, now I have to wait for another novel if he's got one in the works. He's a genius that writes a new novel once every few years instead of once every few months, making him a quality writer. This novel tells the story of Dave and Julie. They've been dating on and off for fifteen years. Dave is sort of living his dream of music as a career by playing in a wedding band. Dave spontaneously proposes to Julie and this novel follows the story of their wedding plans, along with a pre-wedding infidelity committed by Dave. Perrotta is obsessed with affairs.

Book 336 Inferno by Dan Brown

664 books to go!

I thought Dan Brown lost his touch when he wrote the Lost Symbol but he certainly found it again when he wrote Inferno. I was impressed with Langdon's adventures in this novel with his co-character Sierra Brooks. From the beginning to the end I was kept in suspense as Langdon interpreted art and poetry in order to uncover the location of a potentially deadly virus.

Book 335 Long Island's most haunted by Joseph Flammer and Diane Hill

665 books to go!

I picked up this book out of curiosity when I picked up a bunch of other Long Island travel guides. It turned out to be an utter piece of s*it! The co-authors are known for their title of the paranormal adventurers and I think both of authors are full of crap, and not just any crap, seriously retarded crap. This book details four locations, three of them being cemeteries. The text and writing jump all over the place from half ass accounts of legends given by the authors to supposed personal accounts of spirits that the authors dealt with. The authors also plug their website in every other sentence of the book.  A terrible book, do not read.

Book 334 Under the Tuscan Sun by Francis Mayes

666 books to go!

This book tells the story of Francis and her husband Ed's adventure as they restore an Italian house that they purchase. Her story makes me want to visit Italy and eat all the wonderful food they have causing me to balloon up to 200 pounds.

Book 333 Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich

667 books to go!

Stephanie is being stalked by a woman claiming to be Ranger's wife. When Carmen (the stalker) turns up dead and Ranger's daughter goes missing, Stephanie theorizes that's there is a dangerous Ranger clone on the loose and she's his next target!

Book 332 The time keeper by Mitch Albom

668 books to go!

This was one cracked out book by Mitch Albom, but than again maybe all of his books are cracked out. In this short novel with the main idea of teaching the reader to cherish their time, father time is released on earth and must save two people a business man on the brink of death and a young teenager who's ready to commit suicide. The story has a happy ending but is pretty damn cracked out.

Book 331 Sutton by J.R. Moehringer

669 books to go!

This book is told in the fictional, biographical style through the eyes of Willie Sutton, a recently released famous bank robber. It's up to the reader to decide which is fact and which is fiction from the way Sutton tells the story. A good book with a confusing ending IMO. This is also the Long Island Reads pick for 2013.

Book 330 The Sun also rises by Ernest Hemingway

670 books to go!

After oogling over Hemingway's house during a recent trip to Key West I'm on a mission to read all of his works. This novel follows the story of Lady Brett Ashley and Jack Barnes in Paris after World War I. Brett and Jack travel from Paris to Spain with a group of friends. I feel like Brett and Jack are in love with each other even though they never get together but that's just my interpretation.

Book 329 Shadows still remain by Peter de Jonge

671 books to go!

A woman detective investigates the death of a seemingly innocent NYU student. What she finds out as she completes the investigation is shocking and extremely disturbing.

Book 328 Lemony Snicket's a series of unfortunate events: The bad beginning

672 books to go!

I read this a long time ago, and re read it again on my android tablet. I'm hoping to eventually get through the series. In this first book of the series the Baudelaire children find themselves orphaned. They are sent to live with Count Olaf who's only goal is not to care for the children but to inherit their fortune. Although this book is dark it's still a good read, the Baudelaire's are charming and fascinating my favorite is Sunny but maybe that's just because I love babies.

Book 327 Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

673 books to go!

Stephanie's ex husband goes missing after Stephanie bugs his office for Ranger. Soon Stephanie's life is in danger again and at the same time she's being accused of being a possible suspect in Dickie's disappearance. 

Book 326 Joe College by Tom Perrotta

674 books to go!

Danny is a junior at Yale, on scholarship, who works his father's lunch truck the roach coach over spring break. Danny's friends and family back home end up intermingling with his college life in a surprising way. Memorable characters include Cindy, Matt and Max. The most memorable event is an ongoing lunch truck battle with an Italian mafia family that try to get their hands in the lunch truck business. Definitely a great work by Perrotta.

Book 325 Jack of Fables the great escape

675 books to go!

This is the debut of a new fabletown series spin off with Jack Horner as the star! Jack is thrown out of Hollywood and taken prisoner on a farm where his story is threatened to be erased. Can he manage an escape with other fables taken hostage on this farm?

Book 324 Election by Tom Perrotta

676 books to go!

Infidelity, a high school election, affairs with students, shocking actions all happening inside of a seemingly sleepy suburban town. This is definitely one of your classic Tom Perrotta novels this man's work is genius and as the case with every single one of his novels I just kept flipping the pages until I was finished with this fine piece of work. 

Book 323 Easy by Tammara Webber

677 books to go!

This book tells the budding romance of college students Jacqueline & Lucas. I absolutely loved it, it was as addicting as twilight and fifty shades as far as romance goes. Twilight & fifty shades could be considered creepy love stories, Easy could too, but what can I say? I'm a sucker for those in the shadows almost stalkerish male characters I think it's hot because it has slight phantom undertones. 

Book 322 Everywhere that Mary Went by Lisa Scottoline

678 books to go!

The debut novel in the Rosato and Associates novel features lawyer Mary DiNunzio. Mary is convinced she's being followed and she's not sure by who. Accidents have happened to people near and dear to Mary. The ending will shock you because the person following Mary is the person you'd least expect.

Book 321 Don't go by Lisa Scottoline

679 books to go!

While serving as a doctor in Afghanistan, Mike Scanlon learns about the death of his wife. Mike is convinced her death wasn't due to a drunk accident despite the evidence that points to it. Leaving his baby daughter in the care of his wife's sister, and traveling back and forth from the U.S. to Afghanistan Mike tries to uncover the mystery of his wife's death while at the same time trying to become involved in his baby daughter's life.

Book 320 The color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

680 books to go!

Since getting my hands on Maskerade, which is loosely based on Phantom of the Opera, when I was in middle school I've wanted to familiarize myself with the whole discworld series by Pratchett. With my trusty librarian tools I found out the order of the series so I started with the first one color of magic.

In the first of this series Twoflower a tourist meets up with a Wizard Ricewind. The pair end up on a few bizarre adventures while touring.

Book 319 Cat's letters to Santa

681 books to go!

Read this book sometime in May or June, YES! I know it would have been better suited to read in December. In this amusing children's read various cat's write letters to Santa Claus about what they'd like for Christmas.

Book 317 Bad haircut by Tom Perotta

683 books to go!

So the order of this blog is slightly messed up since I seemed to skip over book 317 and went right to 318. This work by one of my favorite authors is about Buddy, a high school student in the 1970s. Told through short stories the reader is able to follow Buddy's childhood and teenage years.

Book 318 Carrie by Stephen King

682 books to go!

Tackled another Stephen King. Mostly everyone knows the horror story of Carrie if they've seen the 1970s movie with Sissy Spacek or a remake production. Carrie is a social outcast in High School with telekinetic powers. Things turn deadly for Carrie, her fellow students and the town she lives in after Carrie becomes a victim of a nasty prank during a spring dance. This is the third novel I've read of King's where a whole town pretty much becomes decimated by some force. I just find it fascinating that this a recurring theme in the novels I've picked so far to read. 

Book 316 Anne Perry and the murder of the century by Peter Graham

684 books to go!

Anne Perry, a New York Time's best selling author was actually involved in Matricide when she was a teenager. Her name was Juliet Hulme and she was involved with a girl from her school named Pauline Parker. They became lovers and went bat s*it insane. When Pauline wasn't allowed to leave the country with Juliet they decided to murder Pauline's mother. This lovely work of true crime details the girl's friendship, the murder, and what happened to the girl's afterward.

I'm a big true crime buff and this book was bizarre but very well written. If you like Ann Rule's work but she's not churning out stuff fast enough for you definitely pick this read up!

Book 315 And the mountains echoed by Khaled Hosseini

685 books to go!

In Khaled Hosseini's latest novel about Afghanistan a few lives become intertwined from childhood to old age. The main story is centered around the separation of a brother and sister devoted to each other Abdullah and Pari. The novel tells their story and the story of the lives around them from childhood to old age.

Worth a read, Hosseini is an author I definitely like because he doesn't turn out novels every few months just to make a buck. He's one of those authors I admire that take their time to weave a good yarn!

Book 314 The abstinence Teacher by Tom Perotta

686 books to go! 

I've been plowing through Tom Perotta's work, just one more novel to go before I'll be done with everything and waiting to read a new one if he writes something else. So far I've loved all of his novels I get so wrapped up in his stories and can't stop myself from turning the pages. His suttle action stories of surburbia amaze me. 

Set in Stonewood heights this novel creates an epic battle between evangelists and liberals. The main characters are Ruth Ramsay, the liberal sex ed teacher who's suddenly forced to teach a new curriculum promoting abstinence to her students and Tim, an ex druggie now soccer coach and musician at a new church called the tabernacle. The battle begins when Tim attempts to lead his soccer team in prayer after a victory, the problem is Ruth's daughter is on the team and Ruth feels the students shouldn't be forced into prayer. 

I love Tom Perotta and this was definitely a work worth reading. 

Book 313 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

687 books to go!

It's been a long time since I've written a post although I have been reading! I've got a lot of catching up to do! I'm no longer using Amazon associates to show images of the books I've read. I don't feel like anyone clicks on the links I provide to purchase the book anyway and I also don't want to push my blog readers into buying a book in fact I'd urge my blog readers to use the local library to read any book I've posted about if they're interested in reading it. 

So since the new movie came out I decided to pick up this classic and read it before viewing the 2013 film. I really didn't like this story and I don't understand why it's such a promoted piece of classical literature. The writing is great and I do appreciate it I just really detest the story. I hate Daisy Buchanan, I think she's a coward who just expects her money to clean up the messes she makes. I also dislike her husband Tom Buchanan. They were a wealthy bored couple that cheated on each other and caused a great big mess at least that's my opinion and I have nothing but distaste for them. 

I'd pick a different classic first over this one if I was going to be in the mood to read a classic, maybe something by Hemingway, I kind of adore that man! 

Book 312 The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

The Storyteller

688 books to go!

In Picoult's latest work so far, Sage Singer, a tragically scarred atheist Jew meets Josef Weber and forms a special friendship with him. Soon she learns a startling secret about Josef which sets in motion a series of events. Sage also learns about an intertwined and sad past between Josef and her grandmother.

Sage's grandmother is a holocaust survivor and during parts of the novel you learn of her rough time in the concentration camps. Reading about the holocaust saddens me, so if you can't take the descriptive sorrows that this read might bring I'd advise not to read it.