Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

I'm confused with the points on the spreadsheet for Save Christmas. The total number only says 100 but the individual totals add up to more than that. Am I missing something.

We are credited with the points for our individual efforts. The Team is credited with the points for completing each quest. So it adds up to more than our individual efforts, as team work should!

I've heard of the Montalbano series, but I haven't read any of the books. I may try some out at a later date. Always in search of a new series!

Finished by Graeme Simsion 12 Dec ★★★ 327 pages
- It was okay, I enjoyed it enough, I liked Don and Rosie but was less invested in a particular subplot. Glad I tried it. Not planning to read the sequel in the near future.
- BR: Yes - here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Time to dig some longer shelved books for the mini-challenge.

Deception by Jonathan Kellerman 338 pages 12/12 ★★★

Alex and Milo take on acadamia and the entitled kids that go to an exclusive boarding school.

480 pp, ★★★★, Buddy Read
I've had this book a long time, but I can't say it's been on my TBR list forever. It's one of those books that you set aside to read later and later never comes around. It was good though. I think I enjoyed it more because I've never seen the movie and wasn't trying to compare and contrast the two.

352 pp, ★★★, Buddy Read
Not as good a read as the first 2 books. I'm still interested enough in the Ruth/Nelson relationship to continue with the series, however. I know there are peaks and valleys in series.

458 pp, ★★★★
I felt like a teenager again, reading a Lestat novel. I didn't realize until I got to the end of the book, where all of the vampire chronicles are listed, that I stopped reading after the first 5. I guess they weren't on my radar. This one was good but not great, and I think Rice was attempting some kind of metaphorical spiritual blah blah blah that I just wasn't feeling. I just wanted a vampire story.

I read the large print version, which has 800 pages, but I listed the regular hardcover. I don't know how anyone over the age of 30 could read a book compressed from 800 to 480 pages, but anything is possible!

Spreadsheet updated to here (post #215). I think I got all the BOMs and BRs. Let me know if I missed anything.

We now have 8570 points!

Go team, GO!

became a BR about a month after I read it. I did participate in the discussion.

The Winter People Buddy Read Thread

I'm still waiting for the Pretty Little Liars Buddy Read to start. I didn't care for the book, which makes me want the points even more....HA! to you, book!

1092 pp, ★★★★, Long time TBR (actually a DNF from last year)
I signed up for a BR of the next book mainly to force me to finish this one. I was less than enthused, but it did pick up at the end.

432 pp, ★★★★, Buddy Read
2nd book of a trilogy.

And now I only have one book on my Currently Reading shelf! I'll struggle to finish that one tonight.

Spreadsheet updated to here (post #219).

Finished by Elizabeth Heynes, 598 pages , 12/14/14, 3 stars

Psychological thriller by British author. Good story but could have been much more intense and much shorter.

◆ Laced by Carol Higgins Clark 12/14 ★★★ 357 pages

Regan and Jack don't quite get the honeymoon of their dreams


◆ The Railway Detective by Edward Marston 12/14 ★★★★ 324 pages



REally good historical fiction set in 1850's London, this is the first in a series following an inspector investigating a train robbery.

295 pp, ★★★★★, Buddy Read
I loved it!

234 pp, ★★★★★, Buddy Read
Very emotional book. So much is said in so few pages. Not for everyone. I won't recommend it to my mother, probably ever. She believes Granny was happily unaware up to the very end, and I'll let her keep that.

The Messenger by Daniel Silva 12/15 ★★★ 322 pages

When a college professor is killed in London and it is discovered that he is really an Al Quieda recruiter Gabriel is asked to investigate. On the man's laptop is discovered a plot to kill the Pope and Gabriel becomes part of the Pope's protection detail. Fast paced and scary.

On tbr list since May 26, 2011




Errors and Omissions by Paul Goldstein 12/15 ★★★ 364 pages

First in the Michael Seeley attorney series. As an intellectual property attorney he gets involved in the case of who really owns the rights to a movie franchise ala James Bond. The case goes back to the Nazi era and the Hollywood blacklist days.

On tbr since Jul 05, 2012

Finished by Ilona Andrews 401 pages and also a BR - Thread Here

484 pp, ★★★
This is the 12th Pendergast novel, and a re-read. I couldn't remember everything that happened. I originally rated this book ★★★★, but down-rated this time. Too much of the Corrie and Constance stories detracted from the main plot.

335 pp, ★★★★, Buddy Read
This is another book that started out as 'Hey, I think I can fit in another BR' and turned out to be a good book.
There are some complex issues presented, and I like the dystopia built.

, 330 pages, finished 12/16/14, ★★★

Three holiday novellas, two of them by my favorite romance authors Robyn Carr and Sherryl Woods. Cute holiday reading.

*TBR since May 2013

Finished by Diana Wynne Jones 16 Dec 2014 ★★★★ 298 pages
- Great sequel to Howl's Moving Castle. This is a wonderful series. I enjoyed it so much. Both the books and the animated movie are unique, and can be enjoyed separately. This book has characters from the first book plus additional new characters. Looking forward to the last installment.

Spreadsheet updated to here (post 229). We have 9300 points! We should hit the 10,000 mark by Sunday :0)

Finished up 2 more. I feel bad that I haven't made a lot of progress with my BRs this week. I picked the worst week to get sick.

368 pp, ★★★, and I've had this book on my TBR since it was released.

I hated this book, but it wouldn't be fair to give it 1 star because I find Corrie Swensen intolerable and her character implausible. I jinxed myself, zooming through Two Graves and hating every moment her character appeared. I think she's on every d*mn page of this book.

I've been on the waiting list for Blue Labyrinth since it came out. If she's the
MC in this one, then I am DONE with this series.

512 pp, ★★★★

I picked this up after reading Feed for a BR. I liked Grant's writing style and was interested to see what she could do with characters I didn't hate.

The next book in the Parasitology series is Symbiont, and I will be reading it if it's at the library.

, 463 pp, ★★★★, Buddy Read

The 2nd book in the Dark Tower series, and a re-read. It was so long ago that I read these books (my children weren't born yet when I read this one). It's familiar in style, but the details were lost long ago. I'm enjoying reading the series again, in another stage of life.

,324 pages, finished 12/18/14, ★★

Finished by Lyndsay Faye 18 Dec 2014 ★★ 1/2
- 400 pages
- I wasn't a fan of the writing style, it was too wordy & and overly descriptive. Plus the mystery was underwhelming. It's ok but I don't plan to read the sequel.

|| ★★★★★ || Buddy Read || 295 pages

|| ★★★★ || 305 pages || I'll claim BR points when someone pops in and discuss :)

I'd like to claim BR points for :) I read the book early weeks of TT3 and popped into the discussions earlier this week.

Audrey Jane wrote: "Finished by Lyndsay Faye 18 Dec 2014 ★★ 1/2
- 400 pages
- I wasn't a fan of the writing style, it was too wordy & and overly descriptive. Plus the mystery w..."

I DNFed that one after two chapters. The writing style really turned me off.

◆ Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger 12/18 ★★★★ 432 pages

On TBR since Aug 17, 2013

◆ The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey 12/19 ★★★ 320 pages

On TBR since Apr 04, 2010

324 pp, ★★
Started reading this back in Oct for the mystery sub-genre challenge, and I almost gave up several times. It's not my kind of book, and I feel bad giving it 2 stars. I don't usually read books that I know ahead of time I won't enjoy.

319 pp, ★★★
Reading for another challenge. This was interesting, but I was familiar with most of the cases due to watching entirely too many forensic history tv programs.

720 pp, ★★★, Buddy Read
On my TBR for ages and ages.

2nd book in the Codex Alera series. Not quite as good as the first one, but a good read still.

I've updated up to here #239

Don't forget to let me know if the books you are reading have been hanging around on your TBR from before 2014.

◆ Widow's Tears by Susan Wittig Albert 12/19 ★★★ 364 pages

This was a different style book in this cozy mystery series. It centered around the 1900 Galveston Hurricane that killed up to 8,000 people. Interesting historical fiction entwined in the current haunted bed and breakfast in Galveston.

Added to my TBR on Nov 07, 2013

No points credited for Chicago Way on the spreadsheet.

Sheila wrote: "No points credited for Chicago Way on the spreadsheet."

Sorry, I had done the override but not remade the sheets. It should be OK now...

|| ★ || 244 pages

◆ Apart at the Seams by Marie Bostwick 352 pages 12/20 ★★★

on tbr since Dec 18, 2013

Pegasus: A Novel by Danielle Steel

This book starts out in the mid to late 1930's in Germany where adult friends Alex and Nicholas lead the aristocratic life on beautiful horse farming estates. Alex breeds and trains the famous Lipizzaner Stallions for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Their lives are about to change in ways they can't imagine as Hitler comes to power.

Nicholas gets a total shock when his father informs him that not only did Nicholas' mother NOT die in childbirth when he was born, but that she was also 1/2 Jewish which means that Nicholas and his sons also have Jewish blood in them and will soon be arrested and sent to a camp for undesirables. In order for Nicholas to immigrate to another country with his sons before this happens he needs to have someone on the other end sponsor him.

His friend Alex writes to John Ringling North and offers to send his prize Lipizzaner Stallions to the circus if Ringling Circus will sponsor his friend Nicholas and let him immigrate to the United States which is what happens.

I loved this story that goes through generations. It has been a long time since I've read a Danielle Steel novel and I had forgotten how immersed I get into these characters lives. 12/20 ★★★★★ 352 pages

Laguna Heat by T. Jefferson Parker 273 pages 12/20 ★★★

On tbr since May 25, 2011

Cynthia wrote: "319 pp, ★★★
Reading for another challenge. This was interesting, but I was familiar with most of the cases due to watching entirely too many forensic history tv programs. "

I read this one a couple of months ago. It was really interesting. I love forensics shows too :0)

I've finished - 4 Stars

Spreadsheet updated to here - we have 9950 points. 50 more and we hit the 10,000 mark!

The Venetian Betrayal by Steve Berry 12/21 ★★★ 578 pages

On tbr since May 04, 2012

304 pp, ★★★★
I've had this book on my TBR for ages, was recommended by a friend at work. Finally got it read, mainly because I needed a memoir for a challenge. Still, it counts!

456 pp, ★★★★★, Buddy Read
I think this may be the best book of the Dublin Murder Squad series I've read. It's been a while since I read the first one, so I can't say for sure. But it was excellent.

432 pp, ★★★★
Saw this book at the library yesterday, and remembered Skandia had just read it. Couldn't remember what she said about it though, so I just took a chance.

I liked it a lot. The format, alternating past and present, worked well for me. I hated to go to sleep with it unfinished, and stayed up entirely too late reading.

All updated to here. Cynthia, I am pleased to hear about Broken Harbour. I am partway through Faithful Place and I am not enjoying it as much as I did the first two. I am glad to hear the fourth one is really good.

Finished by Robin LaFevers 21 Dec ★★ 549 pages
- Nothing groundbreaking on the YA front. If you are expecting kickass nuns/assassins I don't recommend this one. Not bad but extremely dull and not what the cover & blurb promised.

* Mini-challenge: on my shelf since April 2013.

Lauren wrote: "I DNFed that one after two chapters. The writing style really turned me off"

Same here. Also it's written in the first person in that writing style, I thought it was off-putting. Could have been much better.

Audrey Jane, I agree about Grave Mercy. It was nothing like the other books. I didn't hate it, but I was expecting something entirely different. I mostly kept reading it for the points LOL.

448 pp, ★★★
I liked the idea of this book more than the book itself. It was entirely too long. Just a bit of paring down would make it a much better book.

I've had this book ages, It was a free Kindle book and I have no idea how long it's been hanging around waiting for me to read it. Finally getting to it so I can buddy read The Dark Monk.

Undead and Underwater by MaryJanice Davidson 12/21 ★★★ 352 pages

On tbr since Apr 24, 2013




Snagged by Carol Higgins Clark 12/21 ★★★ 227 pages

◆ Chasing The Night by Iris Johansen 12/21 ★★★ 370 pages

On my tbr since Sep 13, 2013

This is a crossover of 2 of Iris Johansen's series. It introduces Catherine Ling as she enlists Eve Duncan's help in finding her son who was kidnapped 9 years earlier.

Forgot to mention that I finished which was added to my TBR in April 2013

by Adriana Trigiani, 304 pages, finished 12/22/14, 3 stars

328 pp, ★★★★★, Buddy Read
I'd give this 6 stars if I could. Brought back a lot of feelings from that age for me, including some unresolved things. Even for those with an idyllic high school experience (do those exist?) this would make an enjoyable read.

400 pp, ★★★★
Final book for my challenge! I chose this one for History because I like the era and I have family in the Oak Ridge area. There was a lot more science in it than I expected, which I liked. I think the science may have been more in-depth than the women's stories, which I had hoped would be more substantial. Still a good read.

by Umberto Eco - 502 pages ★★★★

Buddy Read
This was pretty hard going but still enjoyable. A good story, but it had quite a lot of dense, rather obscure, history which didn't always take the story forward.

And I first bought this book back in about 1996! I can't believe it has taken me this long to get around to it.

Cold Wind by C.J. Box
Finished 12/23 4 stars 496 pages

Once again C.J. Box brings the beauty and the harshness of the Wyoming wide open spaces. Game warden Joe Pickett is on patrol investigating poachers when he comes upon the body of his father in law chained to the blade of a working windmill.

There are disputes over the wind ranch blighting the landscape and there are abundant suspects in the murder with the primary being Joe's mother in law.

Love this series and recommend all of the books in it.

On my TBR since May 04, 2012