The Book Challenge discussion

I've just joined, so I'll be adding the books I've already read sometime today. :) So far it's going really good this year!

01. The Mist by Stephen King // 230 pages.

The storm rolled across Long Lake in Maine with a fury, leaving David Drayton and his family with fallen trees, downed power lines, and no electricity. At his wife's request, David heads to the local supermarket to stock up on supplies, taking his young son and neighbor along for the ride. But the strange white mist that lingered on the lake has followed them to town, stranding them all in the store. Because something in the fog is taking people--and you can hear their screams...

02. A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter // 499 pages.

Sara Linton, medical examiner in the small town of Heartsdale, is called out to an apparent suicide on the local college campus. The mutilated body provides little in the way of clues - and the college authorities are keen to avoid a scandal - but for Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, things don't add up. Two more suspicious suicides follow, and a young woman is brutally attacked. For Sara, the violence strikes far too close to home. And as Jeffrey pursues the sadistic killer, he discovers that ex-police detective Lena Adams, now a security guard on campus, may be in possession of crucial information. But, bruised and angered by her expulsion from the force, Lena seems to be barely capable of protecting herself, let alone saving the next victim...

03. Because I'm Worth It by Cecily von Ziegesar // 239 pages.

Blair and Serena have managed to repair their fractured friendship and are now leading a peer group at their high school. During a peer group session Jenny confesses that she's considering breast reduction surgery to decrease the size of her double D's. Blair makes the mistake of admitting she's considering breast augmentation surgery, a story which hits the school rumor mill as soon as the meeting concludes. Serena is head over heels in love with Blair's stepbrother, Aaron, and announcing it to the whole world. Blair is quite annoyed with Serena's happiness since she still isn't over her relationship with Nate. Dan and Vanessa finally make love. Minutes later Vanessa discovers that she has gotten into NYU, which makes Dan feels insecure about his own college applications. Blair makes a drastic hair decision and cuts her hair into a pixie do in order to resemble her idol Audrey Hepburn. When Blair finds out that Aaron got early acceptance to Harvard, she goes into total bitch mode. Blair is desperate to get into Yale and a bit steamed that she has to wait until April to find out her fate. Nate heads into a downward spiral of drinking and drugging. While shopping Serena is discovered as a model and asked to be in a fashion show in Bryant Park. When Blair arrives at her Yale interview she is instantly smitten with older man Owen Wells, who may just determine whether or not she's going to Yale.

04. Be Cool by Elmore Leonard // 292 pages.

Mobster turned Hollywood producer Chili Palmer has got another idea for a movie. This time he's checking out L.A.'s other big business, the music industry: a world full of wannabe stars, run by crooks and hustlers - it's got plenty of potential. Chili's found his characters, trouble is, now he needs the plot. In an industry where every two-bit punk will do anything to be a big shot the story should take care of itself - with a little help from Chili, that is.

05. The Book With No Name by Anonymous // 383 pages.

Detective Miles Jensen is called to the lawless town of Santa Mondega to investigate a spate of murders. This would all be quite ordinary in those rough streets, except that Jensen is the Chief Detective of Supernatural Investigations. The breakneck plot centres around a mysterious blue stone - 'The Eye of the Moon' - and the men (and women) who all want to get their hands on it: a mass murderer with a drink problem, a hit man who thinks he's Elvis, and a pair of monks among them. Add in the local crime baron, an amnesiac woman who's just emerged from a five-year coma, a gypsy fortune teller and a hapless hotel porter, and the plot thickens fast. Most importantly, how do all these people come to be linked to the strange book with no name? This is the anonymous, ancient book that no one seems to have survived reading. "The Book With No Name" is a fast-paced, cinematic page-turner shot through with black humour, which will hold you rapt from its intriguing opening to the dramatic climax. There's only one way to find out what happens when you read the book with no name...A book with no name - by an anonymous author. Everyone who has ever read it has been murdered. What can this mean?

06. Just After Sunset by Stephen King // 398 pages.

Stephen King delivers an astonishing collection of short stories, his first since Everything's Eventual six years ago. As guest editor of the bestselling Best American Short Stories 2007, King spent over a year reading hundreds of stories. His renewed passion for the form is evident on every page of Just After Sunset. The stories in this collection have appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, Esquire and other publications.

Who but Stephen King would turn a Port-a-San into a slimy birth canal, or a roadside honky-tonk into a place for endless love? A book salesman with a grievance might pick up a mute hitchhiker, not knowing the silent man in the passenger seat listens altogether too well. Or an exercise routine on a stationary bicycle, begun to reduce bad cholesterol, might take its rider on a captivating-and then terrifying-journey. Set on a remote key in Florida, "The Gingerbread Girl" is a riveting tale featuring a young woman as vulnerable-and resourceful-as Audrey Hepburn's character in Wait Until Dark. In "Ayana," a blind girl works a miracle with a kiss and the touch of her hand. For King, the line between the living and the dead is often blurry, and the seams that hold our reality intact might tear apart at any moment. In one of the longer stories here, "N.," which recently broke new ground when it was adapted as a graphic digital entertainment, a psychiatric patient's irrational thinking might create an apocalyptic threat in the Maine countryside . . . or keep the world from falling victim to it.

R Kranenborg

07. Satanism by R. Kranenborg // 139 pages.

In this book Dr. Kranenborg writes about the origin of Satanism, what this religion exactly represents, what kind of Satanic groups there are and how their believes can be different from one another. This book gives a great deal of information and shows that Satanism isn't about child sacrifices or anything like that.

08. The Caller by Alex Barclay // 424 pages.

NYPD Detective Joe Lucchesi is on the trail of a killer locked into a dark fantasy world that has come crashing into reality with devastating result …and a rising body count. People are being murdered in their own apartments, their faces savagely beaten, their bodies discarded in their hallway for a loved one to find.
Back on the job after a year out and a terrifying ordeal at the hands of a psychopath, Joe finds himself the reluctant lead in another high-profile investigation. And his problems don't end there, battling with physical pain and overwhelmed by friction in the task force and at home, Joe throws himself into his work. But just when he feels close to making a breakthrough, the investigation is rocked by tragedy and another victim's life is hanging in the balance.

09. The Vampyre by John William Polidori // 63 pages.

The story has its genesis in the summer of 1816, the Year Without a Summer, when Europe and parts of North America underwent a severe climate abnormality. Lord Byron and his young physician John Polidori were staying at the Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva and were visited by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and Claire Clairmont. Kept indoors by the "incessant rain" of that "wet, ungenial summer," over three days in June the five turned to telling fantastical stories, and then writing their own. Fueled by ghost stories such as the Fantasmagoriana, William Beckford's Vathek and quantities of laudanum, Mary Shelley produced what would become Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. Polidori was inspired by a fragmentary story of Byron's and in "two or three idle mornings" produced "The Vampyre".

10. Chickenfeed by Minette Walters // 122 pages.

A body is found in a chicken run ...Based on the true story of the 'chicken farm murder' which took place in Blackness, Crowborough, East Sussex in December, 1924. Norman Thorne was found guilty of the murder of Elsie Cameron, but even at the time of his execution there were doubts about his guilt. Still swearing his innocence, Norman Thorne was hanged on 22 April 1925. Bestselling author Minette Walters brings a thrilling story to life in this gripping new novel.

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11. From Dead To Worse by Charlaine Harris // 359 pages.

After the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the manmade explosion at the vampire summit, everyone human and otherwise is stressed, including Louisiana cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who is trying to cope with the fact that her boyfriend Quinn has gone missing.

It's clear that things are changing whether the weres and vamps of her corner of Louisiana like it or not. And Sookie's Friend to the Pack and blood-bonded to Eric Northman, leader of the local vampire community is caught up in the changes.

In the ensuing battles, Sookie faces danger, death, and once more, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood finished flowing, her world will be forever altered.

12. Nobels Testament by Liza Marklund // 445 pages.

Reporter Annika Bengtzon is covering the glamorous Nobel Prize Dinner, traditionally held in Stockholm’s City Hall, for the first time. The world’s notabilities are enjoying themselves on the dance floor when suddenly gunshots break through the music. Annika is pushed down on the floor by someone escaping the scene. Soon she is caught in the middle of an intricate drama with links to Alfred Nobel, not just as a reporter but also as a key witness.

13. Een Dag Van Schaamte by Bob Mendes // 316 pages.

About terrorists who are planning a big attack during the final between Liverpool and Juventus on May 29 1985 in Brussels. Terrorists from different countries work together on this but when one of them decides to help APESA (security services) it all starts to go wrong.

There isn't much written about all the people who died that day when the wall collapsed. This is only mentioned in the last few pages.

14. Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker // 252 pages.

You hold in your hands not a book at all, but a terrifying embodiment of purest evil. Can you feel the electric tingle in your fingers as you are absorbed by the demon Jakabok's tale of his unintentional ascent from the depths of the Inferno? Do you sense the cold dread worming its way into your bloodstream, your sinews, the marrow of your bones as you read more deeply into his earthly education and unspeakable acts? The filth you now grasp has been waiting patiently for you for nearly six hundred years. And now, before you are completely in its thrall, you would do well to follow the foul creature's admonition and destroy this abomination of ink and paper before you turn a single leaf and are lost forever.

15. Zwarte Magie: Door Demonen Bezeten by Roué Hupsel // 301 pages.

In order to escape his poor life, a lonely man in the first part of the book Black magic (possessed by demons), makes a pact, one with dark forces. When years later finds out that he must sacrifice his firstborn as payment for services rendered, it is too late. Paying this price pushes him to the limits of insanity, but there is no turning back ... In the second part of the book Circle of Evil (The book Zhann), she follows its path through the wild mysterious rainforest to undo the curse on her family alone. A terrible battle with demonic forces brings her to a spot in a gray past. Her ultimate battle for good over evil seems to end with her dying ... but she gets help from those who deliberately let her reincarnate at this time.

16: De Mooiste Van Shakespeare by William Shakespeare // 215 pages.

Compilation of some of Shakespeare's best sonnets. First time I ever read something like this but I must say I was quite surprised by how much I actually liked it. Luckily they have some more Shakespeare books at my library.

17. Sign Of The Cross by Chris Kuzneski // 414 pages.

The first vicim is abducted in Italy when crucified over a thousand miles away. The next day, the sme crime repeated - this time in Asia and Africa. Three different continents but one brutal pattern: someone is reenacting the execution of Christ.

While visiting Spain, Jonathan Payne and David Jones are arrested for crimes they commited during their military carreers. Fortunately, the CIA brokers a deal on their behalf.: all charges will be dropped if they help catch Dr. Charley Boyd, a master thief who has stolen some of the finest treasures in Europe.

With little choice, the duo begins their pursuit, only to realize that Boyd is more than a criminal. He is one of the world's top experts on Ancient Rome and is close to making a discovery that threatens to rewrite the basis foundations of Christianity.

18. Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes // 300 pages.

They're ravenous. They're ruthless. They live in a strictly hierarchical, alpha-dog, eat-or-be-eaten world. No, it's not a rerun of Wild America; it's the world of dressed-to-the-nines Park Avenue heiresses, aka Bergdorf Blondes, botoxed to within an inch of their barely-into-the-third-decade lives. Our unnamed London-born heroine is New York's favorite "champagne-bubble-about-town" and just as effervescent and exhilarating as a fine bottle of Dom Perignon. Blissfully self-interested and flush with the cheeriness that comes from being, well, flush, Miss Disposable Income 2004 sashays her way through New York society in search of the perfect P.H. (Potential Husband)-"Have you any idea how awesome your skin looks if you are engaged?"-and the perfect butt-shaping pair of Chloe jeans. Despair occasionally strikes when her latest prince turns into yet another toad, but it's nothing an invitation to an uber-exclusive Hermes sale and a gallon or so of Bellinis can't fix. She's got the crème de la crème along with her for the ride, including her best friend, the fabulously wealthy heiress Julie Bergdorf, who is tres supportive of her nervous breakdown=You'll be able to dine out on how crazy you went in Paris for months-and a posse of chattering, Harry Winston-bedecked clones with whom to limo around New York. Tacky? Absolutely. But it's impossible not to be massively entertained by a woman who refers euphemistically to oral sex as "going to Rio" in memory of the first man who suggested she get a Brazilian bikini wax, considers vodka a food group and who holds up glamour as the first of the commandments.

19. Charley's Web by Joy Fielding // 405 pages.

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Joy Fielding tells the story of an ambitious journalist whose foray into the mind of a killer puts her own family in jeopardy.

Charley Webb is a beautiful single mother who writes a successful and controversial column for the Palm Beach Post. She's spent years building an emotional wall against scathing critics, snooty neighbors, and her disapproving family. But when she receives a letter from Jill Rohmer, a young woman serving time on death row for the murders of three small children, her boundaries slowly begin to fade. Jill wants Charley to write her biography so that she can share the many hidden truths about the case that failed to surface during her trial. Seeing this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Charley begins her jour-ney into the mind of this deeply troubled woman.

Her path takes a twisted turn, however, when the anonymous letters she's recently received from an angry reader evolve into threats, targeting her son and daughter. As Charley races against time to save her family, she begins to understand the value of her seemingly intru-sive neighbors, friends, and relatives. As she discovers, this network of flawed but loving people might just be her only hope of getting out alive.

20. De Zoon Van Dik Trom by C.J. Kieviet // 132 pages. Ebook.

The books of Dik Trom used to be very famous here in The Netherlands. This is the time I read one and I must say it was quite funny! :)

21. Meesterwerken Van Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn by G. Kielder // 82 pages. Ebook.

I decided to read something very different from my usual thriller and horror books and stumbled across this ebook yesterday. There's a little bit about Rembandt his life in there, but mostly there are explanations about his most popular works.
At first I was quite excited to read this, but in the end it nearly made me fall asleep. If there would've been more pages I don't think I'd have bothered to finish it.

22. Shadow Of The Wolf by Andrew Matthews // 170 pages.

At first Danni doesn't think anything of it. After all, people get wrong numbers all the time...

But as the mysterious phone calls continue, she starts to get the feeling she's being watched.

When her old school friend, Leah, turns up out of the blue, Danni is glad of the distraction. But Leah's strange behaviour starts to drag up disturbing memories that Danni has long hidden from herself.

She is haunted by the half-remembered... until finally she is forced to confront the nightmare.

23. The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald // 31 pages. Ebook.

The curious tale of a man who begins his life as an apparent septuagenarian and grows younger every year - much to the bewilderment and consternation of he and his family.

24. I, Robot (part of Overlocked: Stories Of The Future Present) by Cory Doctorow // 47 pages. Ebook.

I, Robot is a science-fiction short story by Cory Doctorow published in 2005.
The story is set in the type of police state needed to ensure that only one company is allowed to make robots, and only one type of robot is allowed.
The story follows single Father detective Arturo Icaza de Arana-Goldberg while he tries to track down his missing teenage daughter. The detective is a bit of an outcast because his wife defected to Eurasia, a rival Superpower.

I just had a look at the list of 501 Must Read Books. There are quite a few books on there that I think would be great to read, so I've looked up the first 50 on the library page. Ofcourse they haven't got them all, but enough to make a good start. :)

The 1001 Books To Read Before You Die list is also somewhere on my computer, but I'll just see if they have any on that last sometime later this year.

Am still reading Dear Cain, but I've got a nasty headache that stops me from reading any further atm. Quite annoying.

25. Dear Cain by Ignacio García-Valiño // 351 pages.

Thriller Debut of the Spanish psychologist about a very young psychopath. Carlos and Carol have two children, Diana and the 12-year-old Nico. An intelligent boy, but he seems to have no feelings, not even for his family and he has a cruel mind. One day Nico's parents found their dog bled to dead on their bed.

Still reading Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko. Had to study quite a lot these last few days, but I only have one test left. So now I can finally read again. :) Will probably finish this one tomorrow and start in the second book of the series.

26. Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko // 363 pages.

Set in modern day Moscow, Night Watch is a world as elaborate and imaginative as Tolkien or the best Asimov. Living among us are the "Others," an ancient race of humans with supernatural powers who swear allegiance to either the Dark or the Light. A thousand-year treaty has maintained the balance of power, and the two sides coexist in an uneasy truce. But an ancient prophecy decrees that one supreme "Other" will rise up and tip the balance, plunging the world into a catastrophic war between the Dark and the Light. When a young boy with extraordinary powers emerges, fulfilling the first half of the prophecy, will the forces of the Light be able to keep the Dark from corrupting the boy and destroying the world?

27. Follow Me! by Mark Tinney // 34 pages. Ebook.

Mark Tinney explores the impressions of his first season as a tour manager in 1976, in an industry where surprise, excitement and challenge are constant companions. If you are thinking about a career as a tour manager or just interested in life “on the road” in the tourist world, then this book is for you.

--

I'm currently studying tourism and reading this once again showed me why. Unfortunately I can never work as a tour guide, even though that was the reason I chose this study. Still a fun book to read, too bad it was so short.

Just read Follow Me! by Mark Tinney, a short ebook. :)

Right now I'm on page 52/351 of Day Watch. Still loving the series.

The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving // 29 pages. Ebook.

The chief part of the stories, however, turned upon the favorite specter of Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horseman, who had been heard several times of late, patrolling the country; and, it was said, tethered his horse nightly among the graves in the churchyard. The story was immediately matched by a thrice marvelous adventure of Brom Bones, who made light of the Galloping Hessian as an arrant jockey. He affirmed that on returning one night from the neighboring village of Sing Sing, he had been overtaken by this midnight trooper; that he had offered to race with him for a bowl of punch, and should have won it too, for Daredevil beat the goblin horse all hollow, but just as they came to the church bridge, the Hessian bolted, and vanished in a flash of fire. All these tales, told in that drowsy undertone with which men talk in the dark, the countenances of the listeners only now and then receiving a casual gleam from the glare of a pipe, sank deep in the mind of Ichabod.

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29. 2BR02B by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. // 12 pages. Ebook.

2BR02B is a science fiction short story by Kurt Vonnegut, originally published in the pulp digest magazine Worlds of If Science Fiction, 1/1962. The title is pronounced "2 B R naught 2 B", referencing the famous phrase "to be, or not to be" from Wm Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. In this story, the title refers to the telephone number one dials to schedule an assisted suicide with the Federal Bureau of Termination.

2114840 Read 112 pages in Day Watch today. Now at 237/351, so I'll probably finish it sometime this week. Going to start in third book of the series after this one, the fourth book isn't available in the library yet though, unfortunately.

30. Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko // 351 pages.

The second book in the internationally bestselling fantasy series, The Day Watch begins where The Night Watch left off, set in a modern-day Moscow where the 1,000-year-old treaty between Light and Dark maintains its uneasy balance through careful vigilance from the Others. The forces of darkness keep an eye during the day, the Day Watch, while the agents of Light monitor the nighttime. Very senior Others called the Inquisitors are the impartial judges insisting on the essential compact. When a very potent artifact is stolen from them, the consequences are dire and drastic for all sides. The Day Watch introduces the perspective of the Dark Ones, told in part by a young witch who bolsters her evil power by leeching fear from children’s nightmares as a counselor at a girls’ summer camp. When she falls in love with a handsome young Light One, the balance is threatened and a death must be avenged.

Currently reading Oesters Of Merguez by Omar B. Just a short book, after this I'm going to start in Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko.

31. Oesters Of Merguez by Omar B. // 136.

With a father who was sergeant in the Moroccan army Omar has an adventurous, but not an easy childhood. When the person to whom he looks up to disappear from his life, the 19-year-old Omar is in a deep crisis. He emigrates to Belgium to get on with hisd life. Initially everything runs smoothly, but then he starts a secret double life. He must avoid his secret coming out. It would mean an unacceptable outrage in the Moroccan community where he belongs and for his family in his home country.

--

In this book there are some events that contain gay sex and also a little bit of self-injury. Just so you know. ;)

32. No One Writes To The Colonel by Gabriel García Márquez // 79 pages.

The novel, written between 1956-1957 and first published in 1961, is the story of an impoverished, retired colonel, a veteran of the Thousand Days War, who still hopes to receive the pension he was promised some fifteen years earlier. The colonel lives with his asthmatic wife in a small village under martial law. The action opens with the colonel preparing to go to the funeral of a town musician whose death is notable because he was the first to die from natural causes in many years. The novel is set during the years of "La Violencia" in Colombia, when martial law and censorship prevail.

33. Eeuwig Zwijgen by Guy Didelez // 111 pages.

Fifteen year old Jane is in a psychiatric institution, by her own choice. She’s not ready to talk to anyone though.. Nobody knows what's really going on. Janne would prefer to remain silent forever ...

Suddenly there is a boy sitting at my table. And while there are so many other free tables. He looks right at me.. He is not handsome, but he has something. Is it perhaps because of his dark, mysterious eyes?

It immediately clicked between Sam and Jane. Sam’s gentle jokes and small surprises make Janne happy. But it also confused her. Would he be the one person she could talk to?

34. Zoete Wraak by Guy Didelez + Joke de Vloed // 156 pages.

Hester's new at school and looks different, they call her gothic. This is not appreciated by some classmates. If the new trainee seems to like her, one of her classmates wants revenge. Along with two others they decide to kill Hester's only friend.. Hester has also had a tough time trying to process the death of her mother and fears that she will find her father dead. This causes her to react strangely to some things, which doesn't help her at all.

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This was a very well written book for teenagers. It really shows how much harm you can do when you bully others, how much impact it can have on their lives.

35. Twilight Watch/Dusk Watch by Sergei Lukyaneko // 317 pages.

Three years have passed since the events of The Day Watch. His wife and daughter spending the summer on a dacha not far from Moscow where Anton is working when his boss Gesser reveals he has received an anonymous note. An Other has exposed the truth about their kind to a human, and now intends to convert that human into an Other.

The note has been sent to Zebulon and to the Inquisition’s offices in Berne – a place whose address only the highest level of mages and sorcerers know. Now cooperating, the Night Watch and the Day Watch, along with an Investigator from the Inquisition, seek to unmask the culprit. Anton will represent the Night Watch, while the Day Watch is sending High Vampire Kostya Saushkin, once Anton’s teenage neighbour.

Installed in the apartment complex to which the letter writer has been traced, Anton begins to investigate the residents one by one. Reviewing the dossiers of the building’s inhabitants, Anton comes across a familiar – albeit much younger – face. Could Gesser be trying initiate his son as an Other?

- - -

I still remember how hard it was for me to finish the first book in this series. When I was told it would get better I kept reading. Both the second and third book are indeed better in my opinion, even though it took me some time to really get into it both times. I still find the story fun and interesting, but somehow it's just not as good as I expected it to be. If my library ever gets the last book I'll read it, but I won't buy it to find out what happens next.

36. Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison // 285 pages.

Helene Zaharis’s politician husband keeps her on a tight leash and cancels her credit cards as a way of controlling her. Lorna Rafferty is up to her eyeballs in debt and can’t stop her addiction to eBay. Sandra Vanderslice, battling agoraphobia, pays her shoe bills by working as a phone-sex operator. And Jocelyn Bowen is a nanny for the family from hell (who barely knows a sole from a heel but who will do anything to get out of the house.)

On Tuesday nights, these women meet to trade shoes and, in the process, form friendships that will help them each triumph over their problems---from secret pasts to blackmail, bankruptcy, and dating.

- - -

This was fun to read, but certainly not one of my favorites. What I liked most is how different types of people get together through one thing they all love, which results in new beautiful friendships.

37. The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delaney // 270 pages.

A wonderful and terrifying series by a new writer about a young boy training to be an exorcist. Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son and has been apprenticed to the local Spook. The job is hard, the Spook is distant and many apprentices have failed before Thomas. Somehow Thomas must learn how to exorcise ghosts, contain witches and bind boggarts. But when he is tricked into freeing Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the County, the horror begins..

- - -

When I started in this book yesterday it all seemed a bit familiar. After finishing it today I'm 90% sure I've read it before when I was much younger. Still liked it though. :)
Great to see how the boy tries to make up for his own mistakes instead of asking for help right away.
Delaney's writing style also made me want to keep reading, I'm looking forward to reading more of his works.

Read quite a lot today. :)

- 245 pages in The Spook's Apprentice // 270/270 pages.
- 64 pages in The Stand // 64/520 pages.

Total: 309 pages.

Started in Pig Island by Mo Hayder today.

- 125/352 pages = 36% done.

Read 225 pages today, doing great! :)

38. Pig Island by Mo Hayder // 352 pages.

Journalist Joe Oakes makes a living exposing supernatural hoaxes, but when he visits a secretive religious community on a remote Scottish island, everything he thought he knew is overturned. On the trial of a strange creature caught briefly on film, so deformed it can hardly be human, Oakes crosses a border of electrical fencing, toxin-filled oil drums, and pigs’ skulls to infiltrate the territory of the groups’ isolated founder, Malachi Dove. Their confrontation, and its violent aftermath, is so catastrophic that it forces Oakes to question the nature of evil—and whether he might be responsible for the heinous crime about to unfold.

- - -

4/5 *

This was an amazing book! The story is really interesting and also written very well, exciting until the end. Especially love the characters in this one.

Started in Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King on Tuesday and I've read quite a lot already.

Tuesday: 86 pages - 86/497 pages.
Wednesday: 262 pages - 348/497 pages.

Will probably finish it tomorrow, or rather today cause it's already Thursday now. :)

39. Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King // 497 pages.

"Hearts in Atlantis" comprises of five brilliant, interconnected, sequential narratives, each deeply rooted in the 60s and haunted by the Vietnam War: In "Low Men in Yellow Coats", 11-year-old Bobby discovers that adults are sometimes not rescuers but at the heart of the terror. In the title story, a bunch of college kids get hooked on a card game, discover the possibility of protest and confront their own collective heart of darkness. In "Blind Willie" and "Why We're in Vietnam", two men who grew up with Bobby in suburban Connecticut try to fill the emptiness of the post-Vietnam era. And in "Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling", Bobby returns to his hometown where one final secret, the hope of redemption, and his heart's desire may await him.

- - -

3.5 *

The first part of the book was the most fun to read, at least I think so. I really enjoyed reading about Ted and the low men. The rest was written very well too, but somehow the stories just didn't seem as interesting to me as the first.

Overall I guess I'll give it a 3.5 stars. As I said the writing was good, but apart from the first story I didn't find it exciting.

40. Verschroeide ossobuco by Margherita Pasquini // 193 pages.

Margherita, Mad Margy Coconut, Ulrike de Beauvoir and the priestess of Armageddon as she also wants to be called does not trouble her aversion to the creation of mankind. She does not tend to love people. But of course she still loses herself in some passions. Ultimately, Margy Coconut, the so sympathetic academica cross between a gangstergirl, becomes nothing more than a mass murderess, a cruel woman. She laughs at everything that is sacred and profane.

- - -
2.5/3 *

I quite liked the story, all the chaos. It was a bit hard to read though unfortunately, because of the words she uses. I guess it's just the way she writes. There are quite a few lines in other languages in this book. The English ones I understand, but my German + Italian + French is practically non existent. It's a bit annoying when these lines just randomly pop up on a lot of pages, because most of the time I have absolutely no clue what it means.