Blue=missing the first or next book to read the series
1. Crooked by Laura and tom McNealthe
2. Lost in translation by Nicole Mones
3. On the street where you live by Mary Higgins Clark
4. Bury me deep by Megan abbot
5. Mistress of the art of death by ariana franklin
6. The fountainhead by ayn rand
7. I know why the caged bird sings by Maya angelou
8. A separate peace by john Knowles
9. Ramona by Helen hunt Jackson
10. great expectations by Charles dickens
11. hard times by Charles dickens
12. mommie dearest by Christina Crawford
13. prince jack frank spierring
14. the vampire lestat by Anne rice
15. leo@fergusrules.com by arne tangerlini
16. Aztec by Gary Jennings
17. Nicholas nickleby by Charles dickens
18. The weirdo by Theodore Taylor
19. One hundred years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
20. The confessions of charlotte Doyle by avi
21. Me talk pretty one day by David Sedaris
22. A passage to India by e.m. foster
23. Lost and found by Carolyn Pankhurst
24. The rose labyrinth by titania hardie
25. Japanese Americans by harry h.l. kitano
26. The unknown warrior by Gerald Seymour
27. Waiting by ha jin
28. This other Eden by Marilyn Harris
29. The good earth by pearl s. buck
30. The Hindi bind club by Monica pradhan
31. Tess of d’urbervilles by Thomas hardy
32. the shack by wm. Paul young
33. beware, princess Elizabeth by Carolyn Meyer
34. samurai by saburo sakai
35. zero Eric van lustbader
36. snow falling on cedars by David guterson
37. rising sun by Michael Crichton
38. the Japanese corpse by janwillem van de wetering
39. an American in japan, 1945-1948
40. everything must go by Elizabeth flock
41. when the elephants dance by Tess uriza holthe
42. the laws of evening by Mary yukari waters
43. Whispers by dean r. koontz
44. the great secret by Ron Hubbard
45. nine days a queen by Ann rinaldi
46. Ivanhoe by sir Walter Scott
47. The portrait of a lady by henry James
48. The count of Monte cristo by adam dumas
49. The Russian concubine by kate Furnivall
50. Neighbors from hell by frank field
51. V by a.c. crispin
52. The king of dragons by carol fenner
53. The secret of nimh by Robert c. O’brien
54. A vegetarian sourcebook by keith akers
55. Dragonwings by laURNCE YEP
56. The catcher in the rye by j.d. salinger
57. The queen of the damned by anne rice
58. Voyager by Diana gabaldon
59. the girl who played with fire by stieg Larsson Dumped
60. academy x by Andrew trees
61. bleak house by Charles dickens
62. the Anastasia syndrome and other stories by mary Higgins clark
63. beloved by toni Morrison
64. Mrs. Frisby and the rats of nimh by Robert c. o’brien
65. The birth of venus by sarah dunant
66. The joy luck club by amy tan
67. The thorn birds by colleen mccullough
68. Moby dick by herman Melville
69. Shadow of the dragon by sherry garland
70. Brave new world by Aldous Huxley
71. The lady Elizabeth by Alison weir
72. The winter queen by ris akunin
73. The sugar queen by sarah Addison allen
74. The rising by temple Mathews
75. The price of greed & malice
76. Laura rider’s masterpiece by jane Hamilton
77. The personal history of Rachel Dupree by ann weisgarber
78. Falling leaves by adeline yen mah
79. The runaway jury by john grisham
80. Bubbles a broad by sara strohmeyer Dumped
81. dragonfly in amber by Diana gabaldon
82. patience, princess Catherine by Carolyn meyer
83. The looking glass war by john le carre
84. Secrets of the Tudor Court: Between Two Queens by Kate Emerson
85. Figures in Silk by Vanora Bennett
86. Silent Ocean Away: Colette’s Dominion by DeVa Gantt
87. A thread of sky by Deanna fei
88. candy by kevin brooks
89. kissed by an angel by Elizaebeth chandler
{Kissed by an angel, the power of love, soulmates}
90. the ladies of grace adieu and other stories by Susanna Clarke
91. the Mercedes coffin by Faye Kellerman
92. scruples by Judith
93. zoya by Danielle steel
94. two to conquer by darion Zimmer Bradley
95. the regatta mystery and other stories by Agatha Christie
96. A certain justice by p.d. James
97. A holiday for murder by Agatha Christie
98. A thin dark line by Tami hoag
99. A gentle feuding by Johanna Lindsey Dumped
100. The alibi by Sandra brown
101. The witching hour by Anne rice
102. Faeries gone wild by anthology:, Lois greiman, Michele hauf, leandra Logan
103. First blood by anthology: Susan sizemore, Erin McCarthy, Chris Marie green, meljean brook
104. Unicorn mountain by Michael bishop
105. The importance of being Ernestine by Dorothy cannel
106. The jasmine trade by Denise Hamilton
107. The red tent by Anita diamant
108. Leotas garden by Francine rivers
109. The triumph of Katie Byrne by Barbara Taylor Bradford
110. Life of pi by yann martel
111. The house of a thousand lanterns by Victoria holt
112. The sad truth about happiness by Anne giardini
113. Murder for Christmas by anthology
114. Abundance by sena jeter naslund
115. All together dead by Charlaine Harris
116. The book thief by Markus zusak
117. Wicked 2: {legacy, spellbound} by Nancy holder, Debbie vigue Dumped
118. Sex, lies, and vampires by Katie Macalister
119. The huntress by Susan Carroll
120. The other side of the mirror by marion Zimmer Bradley
121. Santa baby by Jennifer crusie, Lori foster, Carly Phillips
122. Stray by Rachel Vincent
123. Dead after dark by anthology
124. From dead to worse by charlain Harris
125. Gravesite by charlaine Harris
126. Night sins by Tami hoag
127. Christ the lord out of Egypt by Anne rice
128. Fancy by Norah Hess
129. Mythology by Edith Hamilton
130. Tempted all night by Liz Carlyle
131. Seduce me in shadow by shayla black
132. My wicked vampire by Nina
133. The scarpetta factor by Patricia cornwell
134. Crimson by Jordan summers
135. The immortal hunter by Lindsay sands
136. The house of Caine by ken eulo
137. Magic man by Patricia rice
138. Moonlight cove by sherryl woods
139. Dark nights dark dreams by savannah russe
140. Charmed & dangerous by Candace haven
141. Warriors of camlann by n.m. Browne
142. The real story by Stephen r. Donaldson
143. Voice of the heart by Barbara Taylor Bradford
144. A feast for crows by George r.r. martin
145. Lair of bones by David farland
146. Assassin by Anna Myers
147. The third translation by matt bonddurant
148. Savages by Shirley conran
149. Another thing to fall by Laura Lippmann
150. Paperquake by Kathryn reiss
151. Smack by Melvin burgess
152. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
153. The tribe by bari wood
154. The end of the alphabet by cs Richardson Dumped
155. Circle of magic by tamora pierce
156. Murder in the place of Anubis by Lynda s. Robinson
157. Inkheart by Cornelia funke
158. Missing Abby by lee weatherly
159. Poirot investigates by Agatha Christie
160. Congo by Michael Crichton
161. The alchemist’s cat by robin Jarvis
162. Girl in hyacinth blue by Susan Vreeland
163. Robots and empire by Isaac Asimov
164. Seduced by crimson
165. The Dante club by Mathew pearl
166. Exiles by Melanie rawn
167. A civil contract
168. False colours
169. (lady of quality & charity girl) by georgette heyer
170. The mystery of the blue train
171. Murder after hours by Agatha Christie
172. The last wife of henry VIII by carol Erickson
173. The road by Cormac McCarthy
174. Shades of Simon gray by Joyce McDonald
175. Phoenix rising by pip Ballantine & Tee Morris
176. Foundation and empire by
177. Foundation and earth by Isaac Asimov
178. Dianetics by l. ron Hubbard Dumped
179. Mona Lisa overdrive by William Gibson
180. The star scroll by Melanie rawn
181. Sugarplum dead by Carolyn hart
182. Through wolf’s eyes by Jane lindskold
183. Angry lead skies by glen cook
184. Distant waves by suzzane weyn
185. The time traveler’s wife by Audrey niffenegger
186. The red queen by Margaret drabble
187. High stakes by Erin McCarthy Dumped
188. The vampire Armand by Anne rice
189. The seventh tower by garth nix (the fall, castle, aenir)
190. Dead and gone by charlaine Harris
191. Seducing the succubus by cassie Ryan
192. Desperation by Stephen king
193. May the best man die by Deborah Donnelly
194. The winter oak by James a. hetley
195. The blooding by Patricia Windsor
196. Highland spirits by Amanda Scott
197. The snow queen by Joan d. vinge
198. Saint camber by Katherine Kurtz
199. The book of skaithckett by Leigh bracket
{The ginger star, the hound of skaith, the reavers of skaith}
200. Devious by Lisa Jackson
201. Lord of dance by Andrew m. Greeley
202. The moon flower by Phyllis a. Whitney
203. The hunt
204. The amulet
205. The dream by zoe Daniels
206. Allies of the night by Darren shan
207. Fire within by Chris d’ lacey
208. The quest for saint camber by Katherine Kurtz
209. The inside mind of Gideon rayburn by Sarah miller
210. The Bronte Sisters
{Charlotte: Villette, the Professor; Anne: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall}
211. Sins of the Flesh by caridad Pinero
212. Tigana by guy gavriel Kay
213. The dragon token by Melanie rawn
214. The mirror of her dreams by Stephen r. Donaldson
215. The hunch back of Notre dame by victor Hugo
216. Lord of rage by Jill Monroe
217. World without end by ken follet
218. Good omens by Neil gaiman and terry prachett
219. The good fairies of new York by martin Millar
220. The Parsifal mosaic by Robert Ludlum
221. The oath by frank peretti
222. The monk downstairs by Tim farrington
223. Eli by bill Myers
224. Wild by Lori foster
225. A forest lord by Michael Williams
226. Lion boy by zizou corder
227. Girl, interrupted by Susanna kaysen
228. Curse of the wolf girl by martin Millar
229. QB VII by Leon Uris
230. Darkest longings by Susan Lewis
231. Impulse by Barbara Harrison
232. The warrior by kinley Macgregor
233. The house of lost souls by F.G. Cottam
234. The kissing gate by Pamela Haines
235. The chronicles of amber volume 1 by roger zelazny
{Nine princes in amber, the guns of Avalon}
236. The fire within by Ann coombs
237. The priest of blood by Douglas clegg
238. A good woman by Danielle steel
239. War of the oaks by Emma bull
240. The scroll of seduction by gioconda belli
241. Graveminder by Mellissa marr
242. A spell for chameleon by piers Anthony
243. Candles burning by Tabitha king and Michael McDowell
244. The last Templar by Raymond khoury
245. Ghost hunter by Jayne castle
246. The path between the seas by David McCullough
247. Possession by Jennifer armintrout
248. All souls’ night by Jennifer armintrout
249. A break with charity by an rinaldi
250. Jackdaws by ken Follett
251. Prior bad acts by Tami hoag
252. The quincunx by Charles pallister
253. Trinity by Leon Uris
254. Alyson Whitestarr by isobelle carmody
255. Conan the raider by Leonard carpenter
256. The world of tiers volume 1 by Philip Jose farmer
{The maker of universes, the gates of creation}
257. The summer queen by Joan d. vinge
258. Bloodline by Kate cary
259. Orphans of the sky by Robert a. Heinlein
260. Indigara by tanith lee
261. The Canterbury tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
262. The complete adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan doyle
263. Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Crossi
264. Girl with the dragon tattoo by stieg Larsson Dumped
265. The twentieth wife by indu sundaresan
266. The robot novels by Isaac Asimov
{the caves of steel, the naked sun}
267. Secrets of the grave by Tami hoag
268. A cast-off coven by Juliet Blackwell
269. Now to face to face by karleen koen
270. The trouble with magic by Madelyn alt
271. The green hills of earth by Robert a. Heinlein
272. Until you by Judith mcnaught
273. The promise by chaim potok
274. Schrodinger’s cat by Robert Shea and robot Anton Wilson
{the universe next door, the trick top hat, the homing pigeons}
275. The illuminatus by Robert Shea and robet Anton Wilson
{ the eye in the pyramid, the golden apple, leviathan}
276. deadly little lies by Laurie faria stolarz
277. wicked{resurrection} by Nancy holder & Debbie viguie Dumped
278. ironside by holly black
279. the parliament of blood by Justin Richards
280. the seven dials mystery by Agatha Christie
281. the fiery cross by Diana gabaldon
282. misfortune by Wesley stace
283. heresy by s.j. parris
284. before I go to sleep by s.j. Watson
285. the lake by banana yoshimoto
286. dead reckoning by charlaine Harris
287. the book of lies by brad Meltzer
288. a breath of snow and ashes by Diana gabaldon
289. a game of thrones by
290. a clash of kings by George r.r. Martin
291. the fallen blade by jon Courtney grimwood
292. shadowland by peter straub
293. the stand by Stephen king
294. the Lincoln lawyer by Michael Connelly
295. servant of the bones by anne rice
296. the regulars by Richard bachman
297. the girl who loved tom Gordon by Stephen king
298. too rich for a bride by mona hodgson
299. anna Byzantium by tracy barrett
300. the thirteenth tale by diane setterfield
301. {east of eden , the wayward bus} by John Steinbeck
302. Palace circle by Rebecca dean
303. King Arthur and his knights by henry frith
304. Alls fair in love and war by Alicia fields
305. Comanche moon by larry mccurtyr
306. Sacajeawea by ann lee waldo
307. Legends II by anthology
308. Murder on the orient press by Agatha Christie
309. Soulmate by rosamond smith
310. The diamond age by neal Stephenson
311. Song of the sparrow by lisa ann sandell
312. Kill the messenger by tami hoag
313. The day of the locus by nathaneal west
314. The lies that bind by kate Carlisle
315. A day no pigs would die by Robert newton peck
316. Martin chuzzlewit by Charles dickens
317. Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress by dai sijie
318. The serpent in the garden by janet Gleeson
319. Emma brown by clare boylan
320. The Victoria vanishes by Christopher fowler
321. On agate hill by lee smith
322. Tuck by Stephen lawhead
323. the kommandant’s girl by pan jenoff
324. the masque of the black tulip by lauren willig
325. unholy awakening by Michael gregorgio
326. Oscar wilde and a game called murder by gyles brandreth
327. The observations by jane harris
328. The last nightingale by Anthony flacco
329. A foreign affair by caro peacock
330. The bishop must die by Michael jecks
331. The virgin of small plains by nancy pickard
332. The secret history of the pink carnation by lauren willig
333. The dark water by david pirie
334. A beautiful blue death by chalres finch
335. The deception of the emerald ring by lauren willig
336. An instance of the finder post by iain pears
337. The greatest knight by Elizabeth chadwick
338. False inspector dew by peter lovesey
339. Mr. parker pyne, detective bny Agatha Christie
340. A scandalous countess by jo Beverly
341. The girl who kicked the hornet’s nest by stieg Larsson Dumped
342. The sultan’s wife by jane Johnson
343. The secret of the old clock by Carolyn keene
344. A Connecticut yankee in king arthur’s court by mark twaine
345. The shoemakers wife by Adriana trigiani
346. The skull of truth by bruce coville
347. The emperor’s pearl by Robert van gulk
348. The scarlet thread by Francine rivers
349. Whiteout by ken follett
350. Dragon’s pawn by carol l. dennis
351.The Tower Treasure by franklin w. Dixon
352. The salt road by jane johnson
353. Buffalo girls by larry mcmurty
354. Aladdin and other Arabian Nights
355. Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin
356. With No One as Witness by Elizabeth George
357. PompeII by Robert Harris
358. Sword of Darkness by
359. Knight of Darkness by Kinley Macgregor
360. This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers Dumped
361. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson Dumped
362. The Physick book of deliverance by katherine howe
363. No Safety in numbers by Dayna Lorentz
364. Roots by Alex Haley
365. Warlock by Wilbur Smith
366.The Trouble With Brides {The Bride Most Begrudingy,Courting Trouble,Deep In The Heart of Trouble}
367. The Difference Engine by William Gibson,Bruce Sterling
368. The Silver Wolf by Alice Borchardt
369. Empress by Shan Sa
370. Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles by Margaret George
371. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Month: January 2013
Bookish Week 1/20-26
Main Read
- Roots- most likely will finish next week.
Book Continued/Putting on my Que
- A Game of Thrones
- Canterbury Tales
- Anna Karenina
Right now I’m not into reading these books.
Updating the Que
I was going to start a new book but was not feeling that. So I just picked up one of my books that I started but did not finish. I will only read a little bit, a chapter or so. The goal is to update myself on the books that have been on my started but not finished list for a couple of months (even years).
- The Trouble with Brides {Courting Trouble}-has gotten better but the romance is still ehh level.
- The Ruins of Ambrai- a lot of info dump that I kind of understand.
- Pope Joan-Yes! the interesting Joan is back.
At least the numbered ones do {Suck}
I was watching a video talking about book challenges. I have mentioned it a couple of times (probably to the point that you are maybe annoyed with it by now) but I did the 100 book challenge last year. I did not mention that I did it two years before that. So coming off of doing those book challenges my feelings are fresh.
I have a love/hate relationship with book challenges.
Why I hate number challenges
- Defeats the purpose of reading. (Most readers read because they like reading. But putting a number goal makes your reading about how many books you can read in a year. Not about how many books did you enjoy in a year.)
- Pressure (It puts pressure on people to finish books every week. If you do not read a book every week you will find yourself behind.)
- Forces you to read short books. (depending on how fast you read it is going to take you a long time to read a long book. Some long books may take a month or two. When you set yourself up for a challenge it makes you not pick up long books because you are trying to hurry up and finish books.)
- Everything else takes a backseat (I have other hobbies. But doing the numbered challenge made me feel guilty for doing those hobbies.)
- I have to make the difference. ( Last year I set my goal on 1 on goodreads. If I set it on one it will not force me to do the 100 book challenge,right? So I reached somewhere in 70 at some point in the year. I couldn’t just be at 70 and not go to a hundred. I can not be so close to a hundred and not go there. That is why I cannot see how many books I finish in a year until the end.)
- I can’t be tough on books. ( I as a read am tough on books. I dnf books a lot. When I have a week to finish one or two books and I have spent two days reading a book. Then I realize I do not like it, it is hard to just drop it. It forces me to continue books I do not like or think is decent/okayish. )
- Not consuming the story. ( Reading books faster is all good until you realize you do not know what happened in the book. I cannot tell you how many books I listened to on audiobook that I did not fully absorb. Les Mis for example I read probably 200 pages and that took me months. At first I was reading and listening to it. Then I decided to rush, only half listening to it on audiobook. It is funny that I don’t know what happened after those 200 pages. What I know is from sparknotes.)
- Cutting Corners (Since I have to cover the distance, I face many problems. When I am at 70 and it is november. I started to read short stories, children books, and graphic novels. These were not really the problem and were all pretty enjoyable actually. When it becomes a problem is when you become okay with not fully knowing what happened or caring. You just want to finish a book.)
- Need to read faster. ( I saw this woman who can read 400 books in a year. I will admit I was jealous for a while. Then I thought about I can read 400 books in a year. I calculated it and everything. But why would I need to do that. To say I read x amount books in a year. To finish all the books I own and then what. You are reading on someone elses speed not yours.)
- Fear that if I do not finish x amount of books in a month something is wrong. (What bothers me is that this fear has been put into me by this challenge. I did not use to have this fear. I used to just read.)
Book challenges work depend on what type of person you are. I am the type of person who plans a lot. I like setting goals to complete them for the most part. I am the type of person who completes assignments ahead of time in school. In other words I can push myself. I do not need a number challenge to make me read. Read for enjoyment. If you read 300 books or 12 books in a year read for enjoyment. When you are at the point that you do not enjoy the challenge let it go.
I am more lenient on myself with challenges that are not about the number I read. I actually see them as goals and it is okay if I do not complete them.
Why I like other challenges
- Variety ( it forces me to read different type of books that are usually out of my scope.)
- Helps me pick books ( I have serious book choosing problems. It will take me days to pick one book to read.)
Book Goals/Challenges I aspire to do
- Out of the Default or the Diversity is Key Challenge ( Characters who have disabilities, different ethnicities, and etc.)
- And Then There Were None (Read half the books I own this year. All these challenges are in conjunction to help me finish this goal)
- Random Reads
- Book to …
- Filling the royal tree ( reading all the books that I have that royalty in them.)
- Read More mystery
- Read more adult fantasy
- Don’t Forget What You Like !! (read books from authors I liked in the past)
- Multicultural Challenge ( read books set outside of America)
- Random Challenges ( a list of random reading challenges I made up)
- America State by State ( books set in America going by states)
- A-Z
- I love girls in dresses
Book Haul 1/24/13 Weirdness
I am kind of proud of myself for getting only one book. I am excited to get this book but not that super excited. The psychology that made me not get books this far is making me feel guilty for getting a book in the first place. I have to keep up this psychology to make me not go crazy and buy a bunch of books. However, have to shut it down because not buying books for an entire year seems unrealistic for me.
Anna Karenina
This is the cover for my book. Yes, I finally bought the physical copy. I feel that for some reason I betrayed my eReader by buying the physical copy.
Random: How to get spoiled for a book. Step 1 look up Anna Karenina in google to see how many chapters the novel has. Step 2 on a totally different day, look up a character chart for the novel. I cannot win with this book. A good issue that I might talk about one day is spoilers in classic books. Basically how easy it is to get spoiled and just the top in general.
My rule is to get rid of one book for every book I buy. On to the great challenge of finding a book to get rid of to make space for Anna Karenina.
Settings I would like to see more of
Top Ten Tuesday
- Historical Korea (please let a gisaeng have a major role)
- Modern times Asia in general
- Historical Africa
- Ship
- Outside of America
- Gods come down and fight (like god of war)
- Foreign fantasy worlds based off of foreign myth and lore
- Alternate realities
- Island (deserted or not)
- Underworld
So many settings I want but only ten spots.
Week of 1/13-19
I would categorize my reading for this year so far as starting a bunch of long books.
Bookish Fever
I have caught Game of Thrones fever from HBO reshowing the first and second season. I checked the first book out from the library last year and never finished it. It is one of those books that you need to take your time with.So I broke down and just bought the box set. I am reading the first book for the first time hopefully, all the way through.
- It is amazing to see the story from a perspective of knowing what happens from way in the future that is book three.
- Little golden moments that are not in the show or I missed them
(Minor Rant on Spoilers: So I am reading someones posts on tor.com about the book. The person posting it is reading the book for the first time she asked people to not spoil the story for her. Some people are spoiling the story which is annoying to me even though I read the third book and saw the first and second season. I thought I was immune then someone spoiled something for me. It just makes me so mad. Is it that hard not to spoil something seriously? It is simple anything beyond book 1 is a spoiler. This character developed into… or your right in your predictions for.. is a spoiler. General tip from a Game of Thrones fan to someone coming into the series do not under any circumstances read comments about this series. Spoilers are sneaky and will get you when you least expect it. )
Books Started/Continued
For those books that I read only a little bit of this week. I’m trying to find an audiobook to listen to while doing chores.
- Martin Chuzzlewits– Started it a while back to read classic book that I own instead of reading Anna Karenina. Decided to read it some more this week for the same reason. To make a long story short I came to same conclusion as last time just read Anna Karenina
- Anna Karenina – still cool.
- Count of Monte Cristo- okay so far. I think I need to read it in addition to listening to it. My eReader is acting like I stole the e-book that is free on the public domain. So hopefully I can stop it from doing that. Then read it.
- Roots-still reading it. still awesome. Just behind on my reading plan because of The Thorn Birds. I decided to create a new one to put me back on track.
Finished This Week
The Thorn Birds – The beginning half was amazing. The latter half was unbearable and made the entire book feel like a waste.
Group Reads – 1
January
I found a post I was supposed to post earlier. These are my goodreads group reads for January.
- Food/Drink related theme (probably will read Wintergirls ) did not like this book and dropped it.
- Anna Karenina ( Don’t own but got it on my ereader because of reading a little in the store. It is awesome) I’m not feeling it right now. Listening to it on audiobook now.
- East of Eden (is huge, my edition is a bind up including Wayward Bus. The bind up is five or six hundred pages. East of Eden takes up four or five hundred pages) Not going to probably read it until I finish either A Game of Thrones or Roots. Unless my mood says otherwise.
- Count of Monte Cristo (mine is abrighed so need to read on my ereader.) I probably will not get to it because I’m read Roots which is a big book. I started Count of Monte Cristo with Les Miserables last year. It was good as far as I read.
- ( I probably will go read backlog of books in my group especially on months that I do not own or want to read the books.)
342: The Thorn Birds
I had to put A Game of Thrones and Roots to the side to finish this book. Was it worth it?
wish my copy looked like this. I have the dull movie cover. Then again this cover would have been a total waste of makeup.
Synopsis
“Powered by the dreams and struggles of three generations, THE THORN BIRDS is the epic saga of a family rooted in the Australian sheep country. At the story’s heart is the love of Meggie Cleary, who can never possess the man she desperately adores, and Ralph de Bricassart, who rises from parish priest to the inner circles of the Vatican…but whose passion for Meggie will follow him all the days of his life.”
Review
The Good
At the beginning the story was incredible. The Thorn Birds had the beautiful setting of Australia. A setting that I have not come across in my reading before. In the beginning the story was about the Cleary family, their struggles. Their struggles as a family and dealing with the setting of Australia which is not kind. It was also about a cast of characters who were not apart of the family but felt like they were. The good may seem short and vague. Honestly, it is hard to remember the good times and points because all of it went down bad.
The Bad
The beginning of the end of my enjoyment of this book came in the story reaching its latter half and focusing exclusively on Meggie. If Meggie was a better more interesting less irritating character it would have been okay. Most of my issues with Meggies character is spoilers. Just know that everything that became of her was a waste. The only facet to Meggie’s life and character is her love with Ralph, seriously. Honestly, the love story was not a problem at first. Actually it was pretty enjoyable at first. Then the romance continued and not in a way that was satisfactory. So much going around in circles to reach no end. Where is the awesome family at the beginning of the story? Where is the interesting setting of Australia? All of the good parts of the story took a backseat to the star-crossed love of Meggie and Ralph. Oh, wait taking a backseat means that they actually mention them. Some characters just disappeared to never be seen again. It seems like the author forgot that she built this ENTIRE family. To give them the off-hand treatment is a disservice to every thing developed in the earlier half of the book. It feels like the first half of the book was a complete waste. If you are not going to do anything else with them but vaguely mention them in the latter half of the book why make the reader invest so much in those characters in the first place? Anyway moving on to my next problem. The religious aspect in this book was poorly done. It tried to make a certain character the ultimate saintly god loving person. I did not feel it, and it made me think of Les Miserables and Pillars of The Earth who handled it better. The descriptions of anything became unbearably boring. Years went by in a sentence. People died in anticlimactic deaths. Not people we have known for five pages but characters who have been in the story since the very beginning. Are we really going to give this person a death like this? In a sentence really. Ask me how they died? I have no earthly idea. I actually had to take a double take to realize that character actually even died. I wanted to slap and shake so many of the characters in the latter half. The latter half was just a complete and awful waste of time to sum it all up. Makes me question the whole purpose of this story.
The Meh
The Ending. I read the end of the story and have no feeling towards it. The new characters and their relationship with anybody could careless. A moment came when I thought that it was all over my enjoyment was not there, then the author threw me a gift(at least it seemed like a gift at the time). I thought she knows that these characters are annoying and I want to give them a slap shake. But at last it did not go anywhere or change anything so it is meh to the tenth degree.
I decided to put A Game of Thrones and Roots two books that I enjoy down. I could not put this book down, I had a feeling that it would not be picked back up. So I pushed myself to finish this book in two days. My eye has hurts and I probably will not be able to read for the rest of this week for this. Well, I get to continue my tradition of my first book of the year being eh.
Books that in my opinion did it better
On the religious aspect~ Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Not abandoning the setting, characters, my interest~ Lonesome Dove by Larry Mcmurty
I know I keep mentioning these books but they are good books. Also they are the only big books that I have read.
My Reading Week 1/6/13-1/12/13
I am currently reading Roots by Alex Haley and The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough. Prepare yourself there will a ton of gushing about Roots. No spoilers.
Roots
I just like it so much. I believe it is the main reason why I have not finished any other book yet this year. I kept picking up books but could not continue them. I felt like Roots was on this level higher than any other book I was reading. I would finish a chapter and just be so happy in a good way. It dawned on me that last year the first book I read was The Hobbit, it was okay. The first book I read in 2011 was Meri something, it was forgettable as you can see. Roots is such a good book to start for this year and my challenge to read books with diversity.
Roots=historical fiction+ Africa +America+ Interesting characters=awesomeness
The Thorn Birds
At the beginning of the week I was so into this book. Then somethings happened that pushed my interest out of the story. It just feels like people are going around in circles. I do not know if it is because of Roots but it is eh right now. It is pretty sad because I have been reading this for months and liked it. I was going to just put this book down and just read Roots by itself. Then I found out the mini series is on demand and comes off of demand in February. I have to finish it in January. I actually do not have that much left 200 something pages and 6 chapters left. Hopefully, next week I will finish it. School starts the next week so we’ll see what happens.
Closing Remarks
I still had some residual feelings from last year about young adult literature and romance. I think that I need to stop trying to read these genres because they make me mad. I am not satisfied with them 100% of the time now. So I will not be buying anymore books in this genre. It is easier and less stressful to let go of these genres than to continue them. All I do is get mad at them. Then rant about them. It is a waste of my time. I will not get rid of the ya or romance books I have but will stop buying them. Maybe one of those books will change my mind. In better news I went to the thrift store. You are probably wondering then where is your bookhaul then? I did not get any books from the resale shop. Mind you it was a different one than the usual one I go to. But they had books that I wanted. I just said no to buying more books.
Wintergirls 19%
I reached 19% of a book! I thought this is an achievement at first. I kept picking up books this week and dropping them. This whole process started because I need a book to read for when Roots gets depressing. Reading Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson is not the best choice for this since it is about eating disorders. I picked it mainly for a goodreads group I’m a part of that is doing food related books for a theme this month.
Wintergirls Impressions/Feelings So Far
- It honestly right now seems like it will be a two or three star book
- It has a certain writing style that could be called lyrical but is confusing to me most of the time
- It has moments that I feel for the character
Verdict: Drop. At first I thought it was okay to continue this book even though my feelings at 19% was mostly negative. I wrote most of this yesterday and was going to post it today. I woke up and had an aversion to picking this book back up to read. It had the potential to be something awesome. One of the main problems is the promotion the book uses, it is a contest between girls to see who can be the skinniest. The problem is that made me expect a group of girls battling to be skinniest and showing their struggle with anorexia. Even if the story did not have a group of girls it barely had my sympathy for its one main character. It just needed to stop trying to be lyrical, and just have the reader emotionally invested instead.
Parting comments
When deciding to drop this book I realized something. I’m reading like it is 2012.
2012 Reading symptoms
- Continuing a book even if I know it is going to be to me a 2 or 3 star, an okay book
- Feeling like I have to finish a book in a week
- Feeling like dumping a book for being okay is mean and not giving the book a chance
Dear self, it is 2013 not 2012. These short okay books are not going to cut it. You know that you can do better. You are doing better reading Roots which you like. So it is not a reading slump. Okay is not good enough this year, do not settle for it.
sincerely yourself
p.s. do not go overboard with starting books
themollyweather 