75 Books...More or Less! discussion

Alecia -- I haven't read that book yet. The only other book by Lionel Shriver that I've read is The Post-Birthday World. I'll add We Need to Talk About Kevin to my TBR list - thanks for the suggestion!

30. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. Finished 5/11. 2 stars.

Some parts of this book were good, and I liked the concept of writing about what Jesus might have done during the period of his life that isn't covered in the Bible, but overall this didn't hit the right note for me and wasn't as funny as I was expecting it to be.

31. Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi. Finished 5/18. 3 stars.

I enjoyed this book overall but I had an unsatisfying feeling when I finished that Andre did not adequately address his negative feelings towards tennis while continuing to play as long as he did. Still an interesting insight into tennis behind the scenes.

32. A Winning Attitude by Rosie Hamilton-McGinty. Finished 5/18. 1 star.

Disappointing...basically a collection of platitudes with no meat.

33. The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham. Finished 5/28. 2 stars.

I had high hopes for this book given the author. It didn't take long to see Grisham's bias in his writing about the true events that this book was based on. Because of his view regarding the men accused on the crime covered in this book, he presented facts as though they were irrefutable by anyone with common sense, even though they were facts from people that had been shown to lie before (including during their involvement with the investigation of the crime). But Grisham somehow expects that the reader can know when these individuals are telling the truth and know when to discount their lies.

Beyond the bias, the story is just not well told. It may have been an unfair comparison, but as I read this I contrasted it with In Cold Blood which is by far a much superior true crime story in my opinion.

34. Horns by Joe Hill. Finished 6/1. 5 stars.

What a terrific book! The story of a man's descent into his own hell and what precipitated it was masterfully told. After reading just a few chapters I found it difficult to put this book down. Joe Hill was able to tell this story without the flabbiness that sometimes hurts his father's books. I look forward to reading his other books to see if this style is present.

35. Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern. Finished 6/1. 4 stars.

Laugh out loud funny - this was one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. As I read many of the stories of how the author's father said unintentionally funny things, it reminded me of my mother. I'll be reading this again when I need a good laugh.

36. The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead. Finished 6/2. 2 stars.

Each chapter in this book focused on a different aspect of New York. The writing is poetic prose, and although I am not a fan of poetry I have seen this style done well. This book didn't pull it off - it was too disjointed although there were a few sections that were done well. I like this author but this book was just ok in my view.

37. Columbine by Dave Cullen. Finished 6/12. 4 stars.

Very good book. Although I heard much of the Columbine story first-hand since I was living in Colorado at the time it happened, this book provided a lot of additional information on both the events and the background prior to the tragedy. It is unfortunate to see some of the actions taken before the tragedy and after that reduced the ability to either prevent or learn from what happened.

Pauline, if you are interested in Columbine you may also like Wally Lamb's book The Hour I First Believed. It has some Columbine history in it that gave me a different perspective on what I had learned at the time. I guess I was younger when this happened too and that may account for my change in perception of the events and the people surrounding them.

Andrea -- thanks for the recommendation; I'll take a look.

38. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake. Finished 6/22. 4 stars.

Even though this book was about war and the hardships that come as a result, it really conveyed how daily reality and the mundane continue. The story had two arcs - one in a small town in America and another in London. The timing was before the US entered WWII but the global events that led to our involvement were in motion.

39. Betrayal in Death by J.D. Robb. Finished 6/29. 4 stars.

Another great book in the In Death series. The author continues to write satisfying light reads.

40. Interlude in Death by J.D. Robb. Finished 7/2. 3 stars.

Short novella in the In Death series. Not great but it does move the series along.

41. The Hostage by W.E.B. Griffin. Finished 7/16. 3 stars.

Second book in the series. Not as good as the first, primarily because it doesn't feel likely that the same kinds of convenient developments would occur, and it is more difficult to buy in to the plot developments this time around. I'm not sure if I will continue with this series.

42. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Finished 7/24. 3 stars.

This was an okay read -- the amount of hype surrounding it kept me reading since it started out very slow and although it was okay I would have easily been tempted to put this book down and move to something else more engaging. The last quarter/third of the book was much more interesting as the mystery unfolded, but overall I did not find this to be as compelling as the reviews indicated. However, I plan to read the next book, so I guess it was engaging enough to pass that bar!

43. The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker. Finished 7/31. 2 stars.

An o.k. thriller with too many unbelievable developments to make this a higher rated book for me. It was nice, however, to see a book set in Colorado since I was familiar with many of the places/locations referenced.

I totally agree about Picoult's books being like soap operas at times. I read Nineteen Minutes last year, and it was over the top.

44. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Finished 8/4. 5 stars.

This was a terrific read. Not for the faint of heart (there is a ton of gore) but I am quickly becoming a big fan of Joe Hill. This is the second book of his that I have read and both are high on my list of favorites.

45. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Finished 8/7. 4 stars.

Good book - started off a little slower than seemed necessary (and I like early builds in novels) but once it got going it was engrossing. It seemed to capture the south and made its points on issues without hitting the reader over the head - race, class, intelligence, sex.

46. Midnight in Death by J.D. Robb. Finished 8/8. 3 stars.

A novella in the In Death series - obviously not as well fleshed out but reinforces points already made in full books in the series. I didn't see any "new" information introduced to the series.

47. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Finished 8/10. 4 stars.

I'm not entirely sure why this book grabbed me but it did from the start. Much of the "point" of the story was told through the reader understanding what the main character did not - a nice technique. Although the story seemed focused on the mundane day-to-day experience of the main character, it told a story far broader in scope without banging you over the head with it.

48. The Gunslinger The Dark Tower I by Stephen King. Finished 8/14. 4 stars.

This was surprisingly good. I decided to give this series a chance since I have read so much of Stephen King but had never ventured here. I could definitely see the influences of The Lord of the Rings, which inspired King to write this series. I look forward to reading the rest of the books.

49. Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut. Finished 8/16. 3 stars.

I haven't read a lot of dystopian fiction, in fact this is only the second in recent history but it seems to be an interesting genre. What I liked about this book was that it took the idea of over-automation and played out what could happen (of course recognizing that this book was written before computers so some of the "technology" isn't that advanced) but a lot of the cultural issues rang very true. Some parts of the storyline were very cardboard but overall this was enjoyable.

50. Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard. Finished 8/21. 1 star.

What a disappointment. I'm not sure why this book is on the 1001 books to read before you die list; I could easily have skipped this one and been fine. The movie was great - I don't know what happened with the book.

51. The Breakthrough by Gwen Ifill. Finished 8/21. 3 stars.

Quick read with some interesting insights into how Obama's election impacted politics.

52. The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore. Finished 8/28. 3 stars.

This was an interesting story, and even though it was a quick read, there was enough here to make the point the author intended about how fate, family, luck play into the opportunities that an individual then has to take advantage of (or not) and the ramifications of those decisions.

53. Churchill by Paul Johnson. Finished 9/2. 2 stars.

This was a short biography of Winston Churchill that in my view was too biased, in that many times the author portrayed Churchill as perfect which detracted from the book's effectiveness. However, it did give a good overview of the man, although I will need to read other books to get a more balanced view of his contribution to history.

54. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. Finished 9/4. 3 stars.

This was my second Kurt Vonnegut read; I liked this better than Player Piano. Lots of funny bits although I often felt that he was trying to make a broader point and I just didn't get it. Oh well, maybe I'll get all of the inside jokes the next time I read this!

55. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. Finished 9/9. 5 stars.

What a fantastic book! I didn't expect to like this so much, since I was not as impressed with the first book in the series but this was a terrific thriller that was exciting from beginning to end. I hope the third book is as good.

Pauline wrote: "55. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. Finished 9/9. 5 stars.

What a fantastic book! I didn't expect t..."

Good to hear. I plan to read the entire trilogy soon (just haven't gotten to it yet) and have heard that the first book is sort of slow but they get better.

56. Between a Heart and a Rock Place by Pat Benatar. Finished 9/11. 3 stars.

Interesting book about a singer I admired and enjoyed during her heyday. Since it was an autobiography, it may have been skewed by her view, but it was more enjoyable to hear directly from her on what her experiences were.

Pauline, I really liked her growing up too!

Andrea -- I went back and refreshed my memory on some of the songs that she did and I realized I had forgotten how talented she was -- it was really impressive to see the number of really good songs she had. Definitely not a one hit wonder!

57. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. Finished 9/18. 5 stars.

This is the first book in a series. It's just over 700 pages in hardcover but it didn't feel like that while I was reading it since the story moved along so well. The biggest issue I had with this book was the volume of character names. In many cases these names were not needed for the story (at least not for this first book). The ending was good; it hit a nice balance between wrapping up the developments in this novel while setting the stage for the next book in the series.

I agree Pauline, while they have that 80's vibe I also find that they are timeless to some extent.

58. Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer. Finished 9/26. 4 stars.

Interesting story covering Pat Tillman and a lot of information on the wars (primarily Afghanistan but also touches on Iraq).

59. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Finished 9/28. 5 stars.

Terrific book on how one woman had a huge impact on science. The author did a nice job of intermingling the human side of the story with the scientific aspect.

60. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Finished 10/3. 3 stars.

This book had an interesting concept - spending time thinking about and focusing on what made the author happy. Each chapter was a month in the year that her happiness project was completed. It had some very good points that reinforced what many readers probably already knew but still were meaningful. I particularly liked her section accepting what she liked to do, not trying to do what she felt she "ought" to like to do. She had a great example of accepting that she was happy contemplating being absorbed in a really good book rather than wanting to go out to a chic restaurant. She lives in Manhattan, so I can relate to her in that regard as well.

61. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. Finished 10/9. 5 stars.

Loved this book! I really had a hard time putting it down and even though I couldn't wait to see how it ended, I knew when I got to the end there wouldn't be another book in the series. The story moved along very quickly and the ending was well done.

Pauline, you've read a wide range of books this year!

Andrea -- I agree; I only wish I could have finished more! There are so many books out there that I want to read. I really need to figure out how to read faster!

Me tooo Pauline!!! I'm just a couple of books ahead of you and I was really hoping to hit 100 this year but I think now that we are down to about 75 days I'll have to go with 85 for my goal after I make it to 75....lol

Yeah, 75 will likely be my number this year. I'd like to hit 100 at some point though - maybe next year if I'm lucky [fingers crossed].

Next year I won't be in school so I'll be really surprised if I don't get to 100!

62. The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker. Finished 10/10. 3 stars.

Interesting premise. There was a movie (Hellbound) which was based on this novel; I didn't remember much from the movie but the book seemed to convey the premise pretty effectively. Although this was a horror novel, it conveyed some basic human truths without hitting the reader over the head. One of my October horror reads in recognition of Halloween.

63. Dracula by Bram Stoker. Finished 10/15. 2 stars.

This was on okay read. There were parts that were very engaging, but I think the biggest flaw that I see with this book was the style chosen to tell the story. The book is told through various journal entries and letters, which can work fine for certain material. It doesn't work for instance when the supposed journal entry writer writes a sentence equivalent to "I saw him struck and blood is rushing down his leg. I must go check on him." Really? The writer is going to continue his journal entry while his friend has been hit and is bleeding?

Another irritation was the amount of sexism - I know this tends to come through in classics and I have read many but it was in irritating quantities here - themes like: women don't have brains equivalent to any man, surprise that the woman in the story is able to use logic, and most irritating, the woman in the story had better ideas than the other men on how to resolve the Dracula situation, but after expressing surprise at her idea actually making sense, the men took it over and told her she was too fragile and womanly to be involved in the execution. Argghh!

64. The Shining by Stephen King. Finished 10/17. 5 stars.

This may be my favorite Stephen King novel. I had read this a long time ago but did not remember it being so well done. Really fantastic...and scary! King was able to create a sense of dread that was almost palpable.

65. Salem's Lot by Stephen King. Finished 10/25. 4 stars.

Nice Halloween read - having recently finished Dracula, I can see many instances where King was taking elements from that story for this one (King took Stoker's idea and used it as the basis for this). It was well done and enjoyable.

Pauline, I'm reading my first real King 9the Stand) with another group and I love it!!!