anethema_device (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} anethema_device) wrote in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} 50bookchallenge,@ 2008-07-11 01:12:00 |
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| Current mood: |  content |
| Entry tags: | chicklit, comedy, crafts, fantasy, kidlit, true crime, young adult |
Loads of Books.
I haven't posted in a while, so I apologise for the quantity of books in this post. Due to the amount that I have read, I cut the list in half, I will be posting the rest of the list in the next couple of days.
Italics is a re-read (counted as half a book because I read them a lot faster than the first time around)
50 Book Challenge List
1. Dark Covenant by Peter Luther (6/5)
2. Strange Screams of Death by Nigel McCrery (2.5/5)
3. Daughters of Bast: The Hidden Land by Sarah Isidore (4/5)
3.5 Vet in Harness by James Herriot (5/5)
4.5 Fingerprints 1 : Gifted Touch by Melinda Metz (4/5)
5.5 Fingerprints 2: Haunted by Melinda Metz (4/5)
6.5 Howl's Moving Castle by Dianne Wynne Jones (4/5)
7.5 The Deptford Mice: The Dark Portal by Robin Jarvis (3/5)
8.5 The Deptford Mice: The Crystal Prison by Robin Jarvis (3/5)
9.5 The Deptford Mice: The Final Reckoning by Robin Jarvis (3/5)
10.5 My Booky Wook by Russell Brand (4/5)
11.5 Fabric of Sin by Phil Rickman (5/5)
12 The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman (4/5)
12.5 The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman (3.5/5)
13.5 Dune by Frank Herbert (6/5)
14.5 The Devil in the Kitchen by Marco Pierre White (5/5)
15.5 The Black Book of Secrets by F E Higgins (5/5)
16.5 Girls by Nic Kelman (1/5)
17.5 Carry on Loving by Norman Giller (4/5)
18 Under the Mish Mash Trees by Dick King Smith (3/5)
19 Baggage by Janet Street Porter (4/5)
20 Dragon Secrets by Christopher Golden & Thomas E Sneigoski (4/5)
21 Ghostfire by Christopher Golden & Thomas E Sneigoski (4/5)
22.IgNobel Prizes 2 by Marc Abrahams
23 Steve and Me by Terri Irwin (5/5)
24.Demon Apocalypse by Darren Shan (5/5)
25. Fingerprints 3: Trust Me by Melinda Metz (4/5)
26 Fingerprints 4: Secrets by Melinda Metz (4/5)
27. The Torment of Others by Val McDermid (5/5)
28.Wurm War by Christopher Golden & Thomas E Sneigoski (4/5)
29. Fingerprints 5: Betrayed by Melinda Metz (4/5)
30. Fingerprints 6: Revelations by Melinda Metz (4/5)
31.The Last Siege by Jonathan Stroud (2.5/5)
32. What a Week to Fall in Love by Rosie Rushton (3/5)
33. What a Week to Make it Big by Rosie Rushton (3/5)
34. What a Week to Break Free by Rosie Rushton (3/5)
35. Skin and Other Stories by Roald Dahl (4.5)
36 Spellbound… Stories chosen by Dianne Wynn Jones
37 Perfume Story of a Murder by Patrick Suskind (5/5)
37.5 Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery (5/5)
38 Anne of Avonlea by L M Montgomery (5/5)
38.5 Anne of The Island by L M Montgomery (5/5)
39 Anne of Windy Willows/Poplars by L M Montgomery (5/5)
39.5 Anne’s House of Dreams by L M Montgomery (5/5)
40 Anne of Ingleside by L M Montgomery (5/5)
40.5 Rainbow Valley by L M Montgomery (5/5)
41 Rilla of Ingleside by L M Montgomery (5/5)
42 No! I don’t want to join a bookclub by Virginia Ironside (4/5)
43 Sexy Shorts for Christmas – various (3/5)
44 Celebrities My Arse! Ricky Tomlinson (4/5)
45 Folklore of Gwent by Alan Roderick (5/5)
46 You Are What You Eat – Michelle’s Diary by Michelle McManus (4/5)
47 Danny Wallace and The Centre of the Universe by Danny Wallace (4/5)
48 Murder by Magic – 20 Tales of the Supernatural by various (5/5)
49 Fight Club by Chuck Palahnuik (4/5)
50 The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (5/5)
51 Crazy Aunt Purl’s Drunk Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair by Laurie Perry (3/5)
52 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne (5/5)
52.5 Watership Down by Richard Adams (5/5)
53.5 The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson (5/5)
54.5 Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer (4/5 recommended purely for the purposes of completing the trilogy, which is no longer a trilogy, there will now be a fourth book)
55.5 I Did A Bad Thing by Linda Green (4/5)
56.5 The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle by Catherine Webb. (4/5)
57.5 Hero’s Guide to Deadly Dragons by Cressida Cowell (4/5)
58.5 Damaged: The Heartbreaking True Story of a Forgotten Child by Cathy Glass (5/5)
59.5 Murder, Myth and Make-Believe (True Crime Library) by Andrew Moss (3/5)
60.5 Secret Diary of a Deranged Housewife by Niamh Greene (4/5)
61.5 Daddy’s Little Girl by Julia Latchem-Smith (3.5/5)
62.5 Young Wive’s Tales: For Better For Worse by Adele Parks (4/5)
63.5 Making Money by Terry Pratchett (5/5)
64.5 Kill Grandma for Me by Jim DeFelice (2.5/5)
65.5 Moving on by Kevin Lewis (5/5)
66.5 Growing Pains by Billie Piper (4/5)
67.5 The Joy of Murder by Joy Swift (4/5)
68.5 The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood (4/5)
69.5 DarkIsle by D A Nelson (3.5/5)
70 The Chaos Code by Justin Richards (3.5/5)
70.5 Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne (5/5)
71.5 Memory in Death by Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb (3.5/5)
72.5 Wild Irish Women by Marian Broderick (3.5/5)
73.5 The Magic in the Weaving by Tamora Pierce (4/5)
74.5 The Power in the Storm by Tamora Pierce (3.5/5)
75.5 Strangers in Death by Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb (4/5)
76.5 Vengeance in Death by Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb (4/5)
77.5 Visions in Death by Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb (4/5)
78 Scarlett: The Sequel to Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With The Wind by Alexandra Ripley (2/5)
79 The Secret Country by Jane Johnson (4/5)
80 The Shadow World by Jane Johnson (4/5)
81 Dragon’s Fire by Jane Johnson (4/5)
82 Trainers V. Tiaras (Diary of a Chav) by Grace Dent (2.5/5)
83 The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar: And Six More by Roald Dahl (5/5)
84 Reader I Married Him by Michele Roberts (2/5)
85 Dark Angel by Meredith Ann Pierce (4/5)
86 A Gathering of Gargoyles by Meredith Ann Pierce (5/5)
87 The Pearl of the Soul of the World by Meredith Ann Pierce (3/5)
88 Irish Girls are Back in Town by various (4/5)
89 The Serial Killers: A Study in the Psychology of Violence by Colin Wilson and Donald Seaman (5/5)
90 Bitten and Smitten by Michelle Rowen (4/5)
91 Fanged and Fabulous by Michelle Rowen (4/5)
92 Girl on the Platform by Josephine Cox (3.5/5)
93 Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot (4/5)
94 The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer by Philip Carlo (5/5)
95 Valiant by Holly Black (4.5/5)
96 How to Kill Your Husband (and other handy household hints) by Kathy Lette (5/5)
97 The Chimera’s Curse by Julia Golding (4/5)
98 Jinx by Meg Cabot (4/5)
99 Hunting Season by Dean Vincent Carter (3/5)
100 The Fire in the Forging by Tamora Pierce (4/5)
101 The Healing in the Vine by Tamora Pierce (4/5)
102 Angel with Attitude by Michelle Rowen (4.5/5)
103 It's Not Rocket Science and Other Irritating Modern Cliches by Clive Whichelow and Hugh Murray (5/5)
104 Death's Shadow by Darren Shan (5/5)
105 The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella (4/5)
106 Queste by Angie Sage (3/5)
107 The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor (5/5)
108 Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor (5/5)
109 Once Upon a Time in The North by Philip Pullman (4/5)
110 Mirror Dreams by Catherine Webb (4/5)
111 Mirror Wakes by Catherine Webb (4/5)
113 Tithe by Holly Black (5/5)
114 Ironside by Holly Black (5/5)
115 Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block (3/5)
116 Witch Baby by Francesca Lia Block (3/5)
117 Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys by Francesca Lia Block (3/5)
118 Missing Angel Juan by Francesca Lia Block (3/5)
119 The Knitter's Bible: The Complete Handbook for Creative Knitters by Claire Crompton (5/5)
120 Talking to Strangers by Anne Cassidy (3/5)
112 Wasting Police Time: The Crazy World of the War on Crime by David Copperfield (4/5)The Undomestic Goddess
Sophie Kinsella
4/5
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Black Swan; New Ed edition (2 Jan 2006)
Language English
I picked this up while at miss_pink_22’s house on Saturday morning and finished it while on the train back to mine. It was light, fluffy reading just right for when you have a hangover. The story centres around Samantha Sweeting, a high flying lawyer in the ‘City’ who when she discovers she has made a mistake has a mental breakdown and just gets on a train, she ends up in a country village working as a housekeeper (she can’t even boil an egg). She learns to cook and how to relax and finds love. Then inevitably you have the spanner in the works, she finds out that she was framed, and gets her job back before discovering that this isn’t what she wants and she returns to her new life and love and inevitably they live happily ever after.
The book lost a point for its very predictable ending, but other than that I enjoyed it and I will be reading more by this author.
The Looking Glass Wars and Seeing Redd
Frank Beddor
5/5
TLGW Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Egmont Books Ltd (2 Sep 2004) Language English | SR Paperback: 384 pages Publisher: Egmont Books Ltd (3 Sep 2007) Language English |
I had been seeing reviews of these novels on various sites for quite a while and they sounded interesting, so I thought I would give them a go. After confusing the new librarian at the local library, who felt I needed to be told that they were junior books. I just laughed and said I know, I just want to read them. Can anyone tell me why, because I am 30 I shouldn't read kids books? They are still interesting and enjoyable. Anyway, enough of the rant. How did I feel about these books. I loved them, I loved the characterisation, the way adult themes were dealt with in a way that children could understand, the idea that imagination can achieve anything and obvioulsy, after all it is a children's book, that good will defeat evil. Although it must be said that in Seeing Redd Beddor does address the idea that good does not always win without some self sacrifice. I am hoping he writes more in this vien and certainly look forward to reading them. I want to know how Wonderland copes with a lack of imagination and what Redd plans next. It is market as a trilogy, so hopefully that should not be long.
Once Upon a Time in The North
Philip Pullman
4/5
Hardcover: 112 pages
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (22 April 2008)
Language English
For those of you that are familiar with Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials", you would already know the characters of Lee Scoresby, the aeronaut, and the Armoured Bear, Iorek Brynison. You would also already know that they had already met when they appear in Northern Lights. This short novella tells the story of that meeting. It was interesting, and also added something to the Dark Materials universe. There isn't really that much to say about it, but if you like Philip Pullman I would definately recommend it.
Mirror Dreams and Mirror Wakes
Catherine Webb
4/5
MD
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: ATOM (4 Jul 2002)
Language English
MW
Paperback: 314 pages
Publisher: ATOM (2 Jan 2003)
Language English
I picked these up after reading the first Horatio Lyle book, which I must say I enjoyed, hence why I am reading more by this author. These are the stories of Laenan Kate, a Wizard and Keykeeper in his universe. The universe he lives in is the universe of dreamers. There are many temporary visits in their world, they are the dreamers of this world. In this series, Laenan Kite is the greatest wizard that every lived, a legend in his own lifetime, and he becomes embroiled in a plot to overthrow the original regime of the country and he has to fight to save the Status Quo. The books are both along these lines and they were well written and enjoyable if a little predictable. It was an interesting concept on how dreamers can change the world, and the effects that these dreamers have on the world that they create.
Wasting Police Time: The Crazy World of the War on Crime
David Copperfield
4/5
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Monday Books (9 Oct 2006)
Language English
This book was a collection of blog entries made by a real policeman in Britain, it examines the intricies of day to day police work. It is mostly descriptions of what his work entails, which seems to be neverending paperwork and not a lot of actual policing. This unfortunately does seem to be the way that police work is done in Britain today. However, it was also good for a laugh and kept me chuckling for a while.
Tithe and Ironside
Holly Black
5/5
Tithe
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's; New Ed edition (2 Feb 2004)
Language English
Ironside
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books (7 April 2008)
Language English
I'm getting addicted to the modern day fairy tales of Holly Black, Tithe was a fascinating look at the world of the Faerie, comparing the two courts and the differences and similarities between them. It also looked at the theory of Changlings and how they can affect the world. Ironside continued the story of the two main characters from Tithe and also wrapped up some of the questions I had left over from Valiant. I can't wait for her next one.
Weetzie Bat, Witch Baby, Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys, Missing Angel Juan
Francesca Lia Block
(3/5)
Paperback: 112, 128, 128, 144 pages
Publisher: ATOM
Language English
Paperback: 112, 128, 128, 144 pages
Publisher: ATOM
Language English
I picked these up on a whim as the local library had all of them. They were quick simple reads that kept me going when I had to have a day off due to joint problems. That said, I probably would not read them again, as although they dealt with Young Adult issues and were written for young adults, I found the writing to be disjointed and sometimes immature. I may read something else of hers, but there are better books out there.
The Knitter's Bible: The Complete Handbook for Creative Knitters
Claire Crompton
(5/5)
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: David & Charles PLC (29 Oct 2004)
Language English
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: David & Charles PLC (29 Oct 2004)
Language English
Since my DB asked me to make some jumpers for our nephew I seem to have developed an addiction to the craft again and I am picking these books up frequently. This one comes highly recommended by me. The instructions are clear and the patterns are fantastic.
Talking to Strangers
Anne Cassidy
3/5
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Point (4 Sep 2006)
Language English
I again picked this book up on a whim, and although it was well written I would definately not read it again. It was an interesting I exploration of the mystery of a missing child from the point of view of a teenager, and the suspicions that can grow from the simplest of incidents. However, by a third of the way through I had worked out both the twists, and it became more of a process of reading the book to see whether or not I was right. Once I had discovered that I was right, I found the story quite boring. Therefore, it is only really a 3/5 book.
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Scholastic Point (4 Sep 2006)
Language English
I again picked this book up on a whim, and although it was well written I would definately not read it again. It was an interesting I exploration of the mystery of a missing child from the point of view of a teenager, and the suspicions that can grow from the simplest of incidents. However, by a third of the way through I had worked out both the twists, and it became more of a process of reading the book to see whether or not I was right. Once I had discovered that I was right, I found the story quite boring. Therefore, it is only really a 3/5 book.
31610/45,000 at 15000pages (started 1st January 2008)
101/150 at 100ormorebooks (started 1st January 2008)
120/150 at 50bookchallenge (started on 12th November 2007)
Queste
Angie Sage
3/5
Hardcover: 608 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (5 May 2008)
Language English
I started reading the Septimus Heap series a while ago when they were recommended to me by my local librarian, who is a saint for putting up with me and the number of books I keep ordering. Chris you deserve a medal. Anyway back to the book. This is the fourth in this series, and although enjoyable and interesting I found that it did go on for a bit too long and then as seems to be the case with most series these days, it ended very abruptly. By this I mean that the climax had a very long set up and then the story ended in about 12 pages, bearing in mind that the book itself was over 500 pages long. Other than that I did enjoy it and would read more by this author.
