Challenge: 50 Books discussion
Finish Line 2016
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Sheila G.'s 2016 Challenge
#2 Goodbye Mr.Chips (finished 1/9). A delightful classic about a professor in a prep school in England inthe early 20th century. Timeless.
#3 Takedown Twenty (finished 1/14) Another hilarious but also scary caper for the inept but lucky Stephanie Plum.
#4 The Murder Room (finished 1/20) A very well researched book about a group of highly talented forensic specialists that formed Vidocq Society solved very complex cold cases. A real page turner.
#5 Top Secret Twenty-One (finished 1/27) Evanovich's are an oddity in that the heroine can have you shaking in your boots and chuckling at the same time.
#6 And the Violins Stopped Playing (finished 1/30) The memoir of a gypsy survivor of the Holocaust. The first part is of the struggles for surviving the harsh winter when they were trying to flee Poland and the second part as the author was witness to the horrors of human medical experimentation as he translated to survive. The suffering that the gypsies endured should not be forgotten.
#7 100 Things You're Not Supposed to Know:Secrets,Conspiracies, Cover-ups, and Absurdities (finished 2/4) Very eclectic collection of stories negating falsehoods that we Have been told in politics, history, and medicine.
#8 The Emancipation of Robert Sandler ( finished 2/11) The true story of a man who was sold into slavery by his own father in the early 20th century. The man endured horrific abuse but eventually found freedom only to face the suffering of discrimination. In his later years he triumphed by serving as a minister and sharing his faith in God with others.
#9 Jane Austen in Boca (finished 2/16 ) If you take the plot of Pride and Prejudice and place it in a Jewish retirement community in Boca Raton and have an ambitious daughter-in-law doing the matchmaking you have this humorous novel. Very entertaining.
#10 Mrs .Dalloway (finished 2/23) A beautiful contemplative classic of the inner and outer dialogue of the title character in a day as she prepares for and has a party. Beautiful writing.
#11 IBM and the Holocaust ( finished 2/25) It was an excellent well researched book that took me a year and half to read because of the heaviness in my heart. IBM the premium producer of cutting edge business technology knowingly profited from their punch card technology when it was used to identify and catalog the brutally tortured and murdered victims of the Nazi regime. As painful as this was I must highly recommend this book.
#12 Singing Songs (finished 2/28) Even though the topic of this novel is child abuse and suffering of a dysfunctional family by being the perspective of an innocent child the playfulness is both humorous and chilling.. The author is the multitalented actress turned writer Meg Tilly.
#13 Valley of the Dolls ( finished 3/10)
#14 The Piano Teacher ( finished 3/17) An intriguing novel set in WWII and immediate post war Hong Kong)
#15 The Ghost Map : The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World (finished 3/22) This non-fiction study and analysis of the cholera epidemic in 1854 London was very informative. The application of this study as it applied to present day epidemiological problems very fascinating.
#16 Red Gold ( finished 3/30 ) An intriguing mystery set in France during World War II.
#17 The History of the World in 6 Glasses (finished 4/9) This book explains how 6 beverages (beer,wine, spirits, coffee, tea, CocaCola) effected the progress of man and influenced trade, commerce and society.
#19 The Pilot's Wife (finished 4/30) This was reflective and exciting read. Interesting ending.
#21 Pet Noir: Shocking true crime stories that shook the nation and rocked the world (finished 5/9) An anthology of true crime stories written and drawn by very diverse authors and artists. Very entertaining.
#23 Elder Law Estate Planning( finished 5/27)
#25 Saint Frances ( finished 6/26) An informative biography of the patron saint of animals who is also the patron saint of ecology.
Congratulations! on reaching the halfway point.
#26 The Last Jew ( finished 7/6) An intriguing story of survival during the Spanish Inquisition.
#27 Lingo, Lingo, Lingo, Lingo, Lingo ( finished 7/10) An overviw of European linguistics, Informative and concise.
#28 Dry ( finished 7/13) Augusten Burrough's poignant memoir of his stint in alcohol rehab. In spite of the gravity of the situation with the death of a close friend and recollections of his abusive child there is also humor in his dead on sarcastic, honest descriptions.
#29 Wishful Drinking ( finished 7/14 ) Carrie Fisher's seriocomic autobiographical work of her struggles with alcohol, drugs, Hollywood, and bi-polar illness.
#30 Running with Scissors (finished 7/20) Augusten Burrough's seriocomic memoir of his dysfunctional childhood.
#31 The Christmas Train ( finished 7/25 ) A sweet adventure and romance set on a cross country train.
#32 The Book of Human Insects (finished 7/27) A beautifully illustrated thriller.
#33 One Summer (finished 8/1) A man returns from tours in Iraq only to fall ill with a catastrophic neurological disease. Then even more tragedy strikes when his wife dies in a car accident while getting him medicine. Against all odds he starts to recover and rehabilitates himself so he can care for his children. He struggles with grief and his new responsibilities.Set against the backdrop of the South Carolina shore is it a heart warming summer read.
#34 Big Boned (finished 8/9) A seriocomic chicklit murder mystery. Very entertaining.
#35 The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up (finished 8/15) This self help book on clearing out the excess items in your personal environment seemed extreme at times. However, I found the personification of inanimate objects absurd at times it is about respecting such inanimate items as clothes, jewelry, grooming items as extensions of yourself. The mantra "Does this bring me joy?" helped in making difficult decisions when you need to get rid of things.
#36 A Matter of Class (finished 8/18) This is my first regency romance and I found it to be a light and delightful summer read. I loved the ending but don't want to spoil it.
#37 In Cold Blood (finished 8/23) Truman Capote's brilliant classic of the horrific murder of the Clutter family in rural Kansas, Brilliant.
#38 Hollywood Nocturnes (finished 8/27) A thrilling foray into the dark world of crime in post WWII Hollywood. It is a brutal, violent. scene totally politically incorrect and often repulsive. Veery addictive and thrilling.
#39 When the Emperor was Divine (finished 9/2) The horror of the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II as perceived through the innocent eyes of a child. Coming of age in very challenging times.
#40 A Summer to Remember (finished 9/4) A very hot and steamy romance set in the Regency period. I don't read romances very often but after reading this I understand why romance is such a popular genre. The characters are well developed and the plot more intricate then I anticipated.
#41 Forever Liesel (finished 9/10) Charmian Carr's beautiful memoir of her experience playing Liesl in the Sound of Music. Delightful.
#42 How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog (finished 9/18) I reached my original goal for the year with this book. The theory of relativity is very challenging and mind boggling. Chad Orzel makes the abstract concepts more comprehensible by "teaching" them to his dog. Even though it put me on the verge of a headache at times (joking) I did learn and had a great introduction of this intriguing field of physics.
#43 The Time Travelers Handbook: A Guide to Practical Teleportation and Time Travel (finished 9/23) The aspect I liked about this was the historical newspaper stories. I don't know how "practical" it is but it did have various schematics that explained how one would design these time travel, machines. A difficult read at times and very enjoyable also.
#44 Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat who Touched the World (finished 9/28) The sweet true story of a cat that was adopted by the library staff of the town library and then the citizens of the Spencer, Iowa. A delightful book.
#45 Sexual Lives of the President (finished 10/2) An intriguing novel that alternates the life of a censored artist with poetry about the sex lives of presidents.
#46 Reflections (finished 10/7) A thrilling murder mystery where a woman is brutally murdered and the main suspect her husband is missing, Sadly two young girls are without parents and a man who is their tutor helps the police with the investigation. As the story unfolds their are all kinds of twists and turns.
sharon wrote: "What is the title of this book. It really bothers me when a book sounds good but the title is not given."#47 New York:the Novel (finished 10/10) This was a delightful read and I savored every minute of it. It is a history New York both the city and the state with an emphasis on the city from its early beginnings as a Native American settlement and Dutch settlement through the Revolutionary War, Civil War, various political and financial scandals and culminates with 9/11. It intermingles fictionalized characters with these events making these events more tangible.
What is the title of this book. It really bothers me when a book sounds good but the title is not given.
sharon wrote: "What is the title of this book. It really bothers me when a book sounds good but the title is not given."The title of the book is.....New York: the Novel. It is by Edward Rutherford. On the cover it just says New York.
My first book for the year was a Christmas present from my son. I am an avid fan of Sue Grafton and with great gusto I enjoyed her latest novel "X". Great character development set in 1980's California her sleuth Kinsey Milhonne solves a cold case when she tries to deliver some personal effects to the daughter of a woman who died in the 50's.