Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic 50 Book Challenge 2018/What I've Read in 2018

Guess I'll start the ball rolling:

#1 What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler


#2 A Beautiful Terrible Thing: A Memoir of Marriage and Betrayal by Jen Waite

A woman learns that her husband isn't who she thought he was.

It's a sad story but...in the telling it comes off weak. She suspects her husband is having an affair. Instead of doing some research, she immediately loses it and and screams at him. Yeah, he was a jerk. But her behavior came off as immature too. From reading the internet, she decides he was a sociopath. And her therapist agrees with this diagnosis, never having met the man?

1. Native Tongue, by Carl Hiaasen

When the precious blue-tongued mango voles at the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills on North Key Largo are stolen by heartless, ruthless thugs, Joe Winder wants to uncover why, and find the voles. Joe is lately a PR man for the Amazing Kingdom theme park, but now that the voles are gone, Winder is dragged along in their wake through a series of weird and lethal events that begin with the sleazy real-estate agent/villain Francis X. Kingsbury and can end only one way.

This book was full of Hiaasen's signature humor and bizarre, only-in-Florida characters. An entertaining read.

2. Love Lessons at Midnight, by Shirl Henke

No one knows the true identity of the mysterious madam who runs London's most notorious brothel, The House of Dreams. This is the place where a man's wildest dreams can come true, but even in his most secret fantasies, Robert St. John has not imagined the pleasure he will find or the danger he will court while seducing its mistress.

This was the last novel Henke wrote before her publisher stopped publishing paperbacks and she and her husband started co-writing romance novels for the e-book market. Like most of her novels, it's very well-researched, but at times it shows a lack of a good editor (obvious typos). I needed to look up some of the Regency slang, but on the whole this was a good book.

3. Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need, by Dave Barry

Complete with maps, histories, quaint local facts (France's National Underwear Changing Day is March 12), song lyrics, helpful hints on how to get through Customs (all insects must be spayed), and tidbits from Dave Barry's own fond vacation nightmares, DAVE BARRY'S ONLY TRAVEL GUIDE YOU'LL EVER NEED is just that.

This satirical travel book makes fun of travel guides and the way they describe everything as dynamic. The "facts" aren't facts, although the description of traveling with children is on the nose: "Are we there yet?" "He's looking out my window!" "This is boring." "You suck!"

#3 After You by Joyo Moyes

Sequel to Me Before You.


I found this sequel disappointing. Obviously it dealt with different issues than the first book. But I thought we saw Lou blossom as a person there - learning that she could be more. While the events of the first book would impact her, this new book starting a year and half later has her with even less than she was before! Even at the end of the book, she seems to have no clue what she really wants.

Joan

#4 With Love from the Inside by Angela Pisel


Interesting idea but it came off flat. The 'last minute' evidence seemed a bit too contrived.

Joan

4. The Female of the Species, by Mindy McGinnis

Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it. Three years ago, when her older sister, Anna, was murdered and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of violence. While her own crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people. Not with Jack, the star athlete who wants to really know her but still feels guilty over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered. And not with Peekay, the preacher’s kid with a defiant streak who befriends Alex while they volunteer at an animal shelter. Not anyone. As their senior year unfolds, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting these three teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.

This is an excellent book. The three main characters are well-developed and believable, as is a secondary character who has an important role in the story. The consequences of taking the law into one's own hands are explored in a thought-provoking manner, as are the stereotypes concerning both boys and girls.

5. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, by Michael Wolff

The first nine months of Donald Trump's term were stormy, outrageous—and absolutely mesmerizing. Now, thanks to his deep access to the West Wing, bestselling author Michael Wolff tells the riveting story of how Trump launched a tenure as volatile and fiery as the man himself.

A riveting story this was not. It read like a gossip magazine (which I tend to find approximately as interesting as watching paint dry). After all the fuss (which was why I bought this book in the first place), the book commits the cardinal sin of being boring. Bleh.

#5 The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham


The reviews on this book compare it to "Gone Girl" and "The Girl on the Train". While it was an entertaining read, it is not the same caliber as those books.

#6 Fatal by John Lescroart


An engaging read. I figured out 'who dun it' before the end of the book.

#7 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher


My daughter and I watched the NetFlix version so I thought I'd read the book. While there are some differences, the main plot was the same. Both were engaging. I liked the idea that even little acts can make a difference.

6. Wayne of Gotham, by Tracy Hickman

When the Batman begins to investigate the events surrounding his parents' murder, he will also uncover the darkest secrets of his family's past.

This novel goes back and forth between the present and the 1950's, when Thomas Wayne took part in an ill-fated experiment to cure people of criminal tendencies. Overall, the book is a good read, although I found some of the prolonged descriptions of cars tiresome.

7. Batman: Nightwalker, by Marie Lu

Before he was Batman, he was Bruce Wayne. A reckless boy willing to break the rules for a girl who may be his worst enemy.

This is the second book in the DC Icons series, each written by a different YA author. This novel shows Bruce Wayne as an 18-year-old, just starting his journey toward the hero he will become. It shows a very high-tech world, one that can be turned against the people who rely upon it. A good read, and one I would recommend.

#8 Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance


Just re-read this book for a book club I'm hosting next week. This book gave great insights regarding the factors impacting this group.

#9 The Hideaway by Lauren K. Denton


Not bad for $1. Typical romance novel.

8. The Hit, by David Baldacci

Will Robie is a master of killing. A highly skilled assassin, Robie is the man the U.S. government calls on to eliminate the worst of the worst-enemies of the state, monsters committed to harming untold numbers of innocent victims. No one else can match Robie's talents as a hitman...no one, except Jessica Reel. A fellow assassin, equally professional and dangerous, Reel is every bit as lethal as Robie. And now, she's gone rogue, turning her gun sights on other members of their agency. To stop one of their own, the government looks again to Will Robie. His mission: bring in Reel, dead or alive. Only a killer can catch another killer, they tell him. But as Robie pursues Reel, he quickly finds that there is more to her betrayal than meets the eye. Her attacks on the agency conceal a larger threat, a threat that could send shockwaves through the U.S. government and around the world.

This is the first book I have read in this series, and now I am going to try to read the others. The story was engaging and kept me reading long after I should have put the book away for the night.

I love reading but I have so little time for it (outside fanfic of course) but I figured I'd give the challenge a whirl this year. I've only got one book down so far, so I'd be happy if I hit 10, let alone 50!

1. Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build your routine, find your focus, and sharpen your creative mind


I actually found this to be a really good read (i.e. listen-- full disclosure this was an audio book, but made for an easy way to kick off the new year). It's kind of an in-between of a self-help book and testimonials. My biggest problem always tends to be finding balance throughout my day/week/month/life and this took several aspects of that and simplified it. Very helpful especially when working in a creative field-- it even helped me focus and follow through on writing some fics.

Not doing a lot of fun reading right now (besides here), so we'll see what I get to read next.

#10 Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly


This historical romance focused on the 'rabbits' - female concentration camp prisoners who were used for horrible experiments. There were points within the book that I would've liked the author to develop more (such as how the Nazis doctor goes from balking at lethal injection to performing such atrocities), but on the whole it was a good book.

#11 Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes


The book brought up some interesting points regarding why they felt they campaign failed.


Joan

9. The Bear in the Attic, by Patrick F. McManus
10. The Good Samaritan Strikes Again, by Patrick F. McManus

These books contain collections of Patrick F. McManus' humor columns from Field & Stream and Outdoor Life. Some of the material is new, but most of it is reprints -- and all of it is funny. I love reading the work of this author.

#12 Supernormal: The untold story of adversity and resilience by Meg Jay

This book discusses how childhood traumas impact people and how some are able to cope and rise above it.

Joan

#13 The Second Sister by Claire Kendal


As a psychological thriller, this one was okay. I didn't care for the main character. The pacing was slow. There were too many deliberate red herrings.

11. Never Sniff a Gift Fish, by Patrick F. McManus

This is a very funny collection of McManus's columns from Field & Stream and Outdoor Life.

12. Micro, by Michael Crichton and Douglas Preston

A group of grad students from Harvard visit a start-up in Hawaii. Meanwhile, someone is willing to kill to protect the start-up's secrets.

This book was entertaining enough, but there was a plot hole big enough to drive a tank through -- everything centers around a machine that can shrink or grow anything, organic or inorganic. The question is, what happens to all the extra mass when something is shrunk (or when something originally small is turned into a large object, where does all the extra mass come from)? Michael Crichton was (mostly) a good writer of science fiction, and Douglas Preston is a good writer of both fiction and nonfiction, but having Preston finish Crichton's novel posthumously was a mistake. Two great writers did not equal a great novel in this case.

#14 The Short and Tragic Life of Rob Peace by Jeff Hobbs

Rob Peace was born in the slums in Newark NJ. But his mother worked hard to put him in private school and he got a scholarship to attend Yale. Despite all this, he still struggled to make a living.

Joan

13. Real Ponies Don't Go Oink!, by Patrick F. McManus

I'm enjoying these collections of outdoor humor by McManus. This book's title comes from a column about his desire for a pony when he was a kid -- and how he got a pig instead.

#15 Home Front by Kristin Hannah


I've read a lot of Kristin Hannah's book. They tend to be lighter, chick-lit so I wasn't sure if she was up to more serious issues. While she had more realism in the plot, other areas were still very chick lit such as the mother glossing over every thing bad and her sudden recovery at the end.

Joan