Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic 50 Book Challenge 2012/What I've Read in 2012

#24 Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh

Rather than some cataclysmic event, this book deals with the gradual decline of our civilization. It starts with a band of college grads who can't find jobs and live in tents and follows them over several years. It got a bit depressing. What was interesting was that it showed how the main character tried adapting to his circumstances but couldn't completely become someone else. He tried to steal for food and ran into terrible consequences. The ending was surprisingly touching.

Joan

Mistress of Rome - Kate Quinn

Not the best historical novel I've read, but not the worst either. The author had a habit of dropping in modern terms - like one character describing another as "a bitch on wheels". That did tend to jar me out of the story at times. I enjoyed it, for what it was, but I'm not tempted to buy books 2 and 3.

LabRat

#25 Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

Joan

What To Do When Someone Dies - Nicci French

I'd read one book by this author previously - a thriller - and it was on the basis of enjoying that that I picked up this one. And in many ways it was a thriller - when Ellie's husband is killed in a car crash with a mysterious woman beside him, the assumption of everyone around her is that he must have been having an affair. Ellie's need to prove them wrong and to know that her trust in her husband hadn't been betrayed becomes a dangerous obsession.

But, really, it wasn't about that at all. It was about a woman dealing with her grief and that emotional depth lifted it beyond the standard thriller. The final few pages in particular left me with a lump in my throat and even wiping away a tear or two, full of empathy for Ellie and her journey. Skillfully done.

The Safe House - Nicci French

I enjoyed this one, too, although I found the ending a little unsatisfactory. In fact I didn't realise at first it was the ending as my Kindle edition ran on into the first few chapters of another book and I ran with it, going, "Huh? What? Who is Jake?" before I realised I was now reading an entirely different book! Then I went back and read the ending again and it did work - but I didn't like the fact that the bad guy got away. Still, even though some of the plot details were ludicrous, I liked this one.


LabRat

#26 Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand

Not as light as I was expecting but engrossing story. I have a few nitpicks as to how realistically the characters behaved but it was entertaining.

#27 Defending Jacob by William Landay

This one got me thinking and it surprised me too.

Joan

#28 The Darkest Night by Ron Franscell

Generally I like true crime novels that help us solve the mystery of who dun it and why. This book focused more on the lives impacted by the crime.

Joan

Odd Thomas
Forever Odd
Brother Odd
The Darkest Evening Of The Year
Phantoms


As Deanna Dwyer (written in the ‘70’s)

The Dark of Summer
Demon Child


A mixed bag from Dean Koontz and sadly not many of them left me with the feeling of a book well read. Ironically, the one I really enjoyed most was Darkest Evening of the Year, which has been pretty much panned by fans and critics alike. Yes, it was annoyingly maudlin and corny in its lengthy passages on the delights of Golden Retrievers and their owners (although I understand this was written shortly after Koontz lost his beloved Golden and was written in part as a tribute to her. A bit self-indulgent maybe, but perhaps understandable.). And the ending was rushed and ridiculous – which seems to be an increasing hallmark of his more recent works. But I liked it all the same.

I also somewhat enjoyed the Dwyer novels, which were very much in the realm of Victoria Holt gothic mysteries. But not to the extent that I’d consider any of them keepers. Still, they passed a few hours well and were a quick, easy read.

LabRat

I've enjoyed some of Dean Koontz's works too but they tend to vary broadly in quality. I really enjoyed Odd Thomas , he was a great character. (Trying not to spoil things here...) The events of the first books which changed him so drastically made it hard for me to enjoy the other books. Was this an issue for you?

Joan

I enjoyed the first one very much - to my surprise, I was even taken in by the twists. I enjoyed the other two as well, but was a little disappointed with some of the plot. I found the inclusion of famous ghosts a little boring, for example, especially as they don't seem to add anything to the plot. In book two - also trying not to include spoilers <g> - the famous ghost with the salt shakers? When salt shakers were mentioned later, I thought - aha! And if that had connected that would have been really cool. Instead, the solution was much more mundane and unconvincing, I thought.

But these were really minor quibbles. I thought they were atmospheric and OT was a good character - although he did remind me a lot at times of the Snow character from some of Koontz's other books, with a similar voice.

I wasn't too affected by the events of the first book, no.

So I couldn't say that they are favourites and I'm on the cusp of reading the others in the series - if they come across my path I would read and probably enjoy them, but I have no urge to hunt them down - but they were still enjoyable.

LabRat

#29 Sand Castles by Antoinette Stockenberg

A family wins the lottery and their lives change.

Joan

My e-reader crashed about 3 weeks ago. I'm so frustrated that I won't be able to finish the books I was reading. At least I still have a library card, but I'm not sure I'll make the 50 book mark this year. But then again, it's not about the quantity but the quality.

#5 - Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston

Boring, boring, boring read. The quotes from critics on the cover are misleading. Calling it "like Jurassic Park" made me think I was jumping into a world with living, breathing dinos. Instead, we get a lukewarm plot about people going after an important T-Rex skeleton.


#6 - Hercules: The Legendary Journeys: The First Casualty by David L. Seidman

I don't know what it is about these novel writers. But we fanfiction writers do a much better job. Hardly any of the characters sounded like themselves, especially Hercules. And I'm normally a fan of having Salemoneus show up, but he just didn't make sense/add anything here. I couldn't figure out why he was traveling with Herc and not Iolaus. More of a chore to read this one than anything else.

The Voice In The Night
The Good Guy
The Husband
In The Corner Of His Eye

Another batch from Dean Koontz and I have to say this was more like it. I enjoyed all of these; I didn't check publication dates, but they were certainly more in tune with Koontz's heyday than the books I've read recently. This is how it's done.

LabRat

# 7 - The Book of Atrus (Myst, Book 1) by Rand Miller

Surprisingly good. I never have too much hope for stuff like this, but the story drew me in. Actually, it made me want to go back and revisit the games. It's not particularly well written, from a literary standpoint. But I enjoyed every moment and am thinking about looking for the other two in the series.

#30 Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon

Another interesting postapocolyptic story.
(Thanks for the rec!)


Joan

#30 - The Coma - Alex Garland

Very enjoyable. I loved the way the main character made connections through the different scenarios that he was presented with. Somehow reminded me of the tv series Ashes to Ashes.

#31 - A Christmas Visitor - Anne Perry

Easy to read crime story. Especially liked the fact that the "team" had two women who actually contributed to unveil the mystery.

And by the way, on my previous post I meant Life on Mars, not Ashes to Ashes.

#31 We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver

I knew this was going to be disturbing,since Kevin killed several kids at a high school. Told from the POV of the mother, it took some very different twists than I expected.

Joan

#32 - Metropole - Ferenc Karinthy

I kept waiting for the main character to wake up and realise all had been a dream.