Something Old, Something New discussion

I finally managed to finish which was utterley disappointing for a Koontz book. I usually love his books so am annoyed that I didn't find this one very good at all.

I used to read Koontz religiously in my 20's and early 30's and loved him. Haven't read any of his books for such a long time. It's a shame you didn't enjoy it, Michelle. I just finished The Tenderness of Wolves which I really did enjoy.

Lauren, I certainly find Dean Koontz hit or miss sometimes. Some of his books, I absolutely adore, some of them, I just don't like. But I keep reading him (and will probably continue doing so as long as he keeps writing books). Have you read any of his Odd series?

Elaine, I am glad to hear you liked Tenderness of Wolves, I have just added it to my TBR list. :)

I have recently finished several books, but two I enjoyed were The Bean Trees and A Summons to Memphis.

Kate S wrote: "Lauren, I certainly find Dean Koontz hit or miss sometimes. Some of his books, I absolutely adore, some of them, I just don't like. But I keep reading him (and will probably continue doing so as ..."

Kate, I own all of the Odd books but haven't had the chance to read them yet. I'll get to them one day.....

I really enjoyed the first three in that series. The fourth one annoyed me because the Odd books were supposed to be a trilogy and the fourth one was released instead of the third book in his Frankenstein trilogy (which I was not so patiently awaiting) and since then have felt they are a little contrived, but I will still read them when they show up at bookstores. I have not read any of the interludes and have no real interest in doing so. I still really like Odd as a character.

Hi, thanks for inviting me to the group. I finished reading 2 of 3 Lauren Oliver books and now I'm starting LA Candy by Lauren Conrad. I also enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy and 2 of Veronica Roth's books. I'm a big fan of the Twilight Saga as well.

Kate S wrote: "I really enjoyed the first three in that series. The fourth one annoyed me because the Odd books were supposed to be a trilogy and the fourth one was released instead of the third book in his Fran..."

I've heard so many people say they like Odd as a character so I can't wait until I do get the chance to read these. I'm going to try really hard to get to the first book next month if I can.

Karen wrote: "Hi, thanks for inviting me to the group. I finished reading 2 of 3 Lauren Oliver books and now I'm starting LA Candy by Lauren Conrad. I also enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy and 2 of Veronica Roth..."

I'm interested to see what you think of the Lauren Conrad book Karen. I'd love to know if she is actually any good as a writer or whether it's just her fame that makes her books sell.

Just finished reading The Secret Star by K.C. Finn! Gave it 4 out of 5 stars! A Book Blitz is about to start to promote The Secret Star! There is also a Giveaway for an eBook of The Secret Star and a $10 Giftcard! I'll be posting a link to the giveaway when it goes live on 8/27 :) Hope my fellow Goodreads Making Connections friends will check it out!

I managed to finish last night and I think I'll try to sneak in over the next couple of days as another group I'm a member of are currently reading this and it's bringing back some great memories of when I first started the Dark Tower series.
It might be dangerous though because if I start them again I might not be able to stop!

Michelle wrote: "Kate S wrote: "I really enjoyed the first three in that series. The fourth one annoyed me because the Odd books were supposed to be a trilogy and the fourth one was released instead of the third b..."

Odd Thomas is Dean Koontz' best work, IMO - I don't like a lot of his stuff, but I love the Odd series.

Just finished The Emblazoned Red by Dawn McCullough White for an upcoming Blog Tour! Gave it a 4 our of 5 stars! I can't believe how much I enjoyed this book! I'll be posting my review and a link for a Giveaway on 9/7. Hope ya'll stop by and enter for your chance to win!
http://maechs.wordpress.com

Shannon wrote: "Just finished reading The Secret Star by K.C. Finn! Gave it 4 out of 5 stars! A Book Blitz is about to start to promote The Secret Star! There is also a Giveaway for an eBook of The Secret Star ..."

Here's the link to the Giveaway! Only 2 more days to enter to win $10 giftcard or eBook copy of The Secret Star!
http://maechs.wordpress.com/2013/08/2...

Jason wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Kate S wrote: "I really enjoyed the first three in that series. The fourth one annoyed me because the Odd books were supposed to be a trilogy and the fourth one was released inste..."

That's it. I'm determined to fit Odd Thomas in during October. I've been putting it off for way too long!

So I finally managed to finish today and I'm totally exhausted.
I feel as if I was part of the massive journey along with the characters and it's worn me out.
I did enjoy it though and will be reading the second one whenever I get the chance.
Now to try and tackle , the other epic book I'm determined to get through in the next month if it kills me!

Michelle wrote: "So I finally managed to finish today and I'm totally exhausted.
I feel as if I was part of the massive journey along with the characters and it's worn me out.
I did..."

I love finishing a big book! But it is a little strange to then try to rejoin the 'real world'. :)

Good luck with Under the Dome.

I finished late last night (or was it just really early this morning?). I liked the writing and the characterizations, but I felt like the author forgot the point somewhere in the middle and let the story and the tightly knit story line fall apart a little bit. The scenes of Ursula during the War (WWII) were fascinating to me and I could feel the strain of the various raids and the emergency of each situation. I did not need the end of this story to be tied up in a nice neat package, but I did hope for a stronger ending than what I was given.

Kate S wrote: "I finished late last night (or was it just really early this morning?). I liked the writing and the characterizations, but I felt like the author forgot the po..."

I'm thinking of adding this one to my TBR because I've been seeing it everywhere and I'm really intrigued about it now. I think the peer pressure has finally gotten to me :-)

I managed to also finish yesterday. I absolutely loved revisiting the Dark Tower characters and landscape and can't wait to try and fit in the rest of the series somewhere again.
I think this is definitely going down as my favourite series of all time.

Michelle wrote: "I managed to also finish yesterday. I absolutely loved revisiting the Dark Tower characters and landscape and can't wait to try and fit in the rest of the series so..."

Gonna do the Drawing of the Three soon? It's next up for me, after I finish my current read.

Jason wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I managed to also finish yesterday. I absolutely loved revisiting the Dark Tower characters and landscape and can't wait to try and fit in the rest..."

I'd love to but I have a bit of a crisis. I've started listening to on audio which I really want to continue with but I know it's going to take me a year to get through it because it's so long! I'm thinking of listening to the audio version of instead now I've been bitten by the bug again and coming back to the other one later on.

That's okay. I bet you're a faster reader than me and will pass me up as soon as you get to it. :)

Actually, it takes me ages to get through most books. I am a fast reader in general but with having a very active 2 year old as well as working from home I don't get to fit half as much reading time in as I'd like. I mainly only get to read during my boy's sleeps if I've caught up on work or late at night when he goes to bed!
That's why I have an audio book on the go as well as a physical book so that I can listen to it in the car when driving around or while doing housework but they always take ages to get through because the narrators read quite slowly.

I recently finished and overall thought it was a really good read.
I recommend it to anyone after a fast paced mystery with a female lead.

Finished reading The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell and LOVED it.

Here is my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Yesterday I finished reading and it was a definite struggle to get through it. Not my cup of tea at all..... I'm still thinking about how to word my review of it without sounding too critical.
I started reading last night and didn't realise how much of a quick read it will be.
I might also start soon for my real life bookclub read this month.

Just finished a short story called The Yellow Wallpaper.
It absolutely blew me away. Cannot recommend it enough.

Simone wrote: "Just finished a short story called The Yellow Wallpaper.
It absolutely blew me away. Cannot recommend it enough."

Wow! Sounds like one to check out!
How great is it when we read something that makes us feel like that??

I finished reading today and wish I liked it a bit more than I did. It definitely would have been a great read when I was a younger teenager.
I really want to see the movie now to compare.....

I recently finished reading and absolutely loved it.
I haven't been so consumed by a book for a long time. It was fascinating!

I finished reading last night. It was a fun little romance that was what I needed to break up the heavier books I've been reading lately.

I recently finished reading which I actually quite liked even though it was pretty heavily romance based. I found it refreshing to read something so aussie focused for a change.

Finished Tampa by Alissa Nutting WOW!!! But it's not for everyone.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Sharon wrote: "Finished Tampa by Alissa Nutting WOW!!! But it's not for everyone.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Wow, that does sound interesting. I've never heard of that book before.

I finished listening to the audio version of UR today. It was only a very short story but still quite an interesting one none the less.

Finished Last Horse Standing by Mike Keenan I really enjoyed it.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finally finished reading The Good Guy last night and found that I ended up really liking it. It was a really fast paced thriller that I couldn't put down once I hit the last third.

The only book I managed to finish during the whole month of November was Vampires Don't Sparkle! .
I quite liked it as it was written in the way vampire stories used to be written where they are the scary creatures they're supposed to be.

I managed to finish Darkness First: A McCabe and Savage Thriller yesterday and I ended up thoroughly enjoying it!
I give it 5 stars and will hopefully have my review up soon.

Finished reading December's Wish by Karly Lane I enjoyed this one.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I just recently finished reading Organic Beauty with Essential Oil and I really loved it. I've always wanted to try and make my own beauty products at home and most of the recipes in this book are so simple. I know what I'm going to be doing over the Xmas holidays!

I finally managed to finish The Graveyard Book the other day and have to say I was a little bit disapointed. For some reason I was expecting a bit more from the book than I got. Maybe I'm just a bit too old to appreciate a book like this anymore.

I recently finished reading The Carrie Diaries .
It was ok, but I think I would have liked it a lot more if I'd read it 10 years or so ago :-) It was interesting to see the start of where Sex in the City came from even though I was never a huge fan of the show.

A few days ago I finished The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I really enjoyed it and thought it was an incredible read.

Sharon wrote: "A few days ago I finished The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I really enjoyed it and thought it was an incredible read."

I've heard so many good things about this book but still haven't made up my mind as to whether I want to read it or now as it's not something I'd usually read.
Maybe one day I'll check it out.

I hope you enjoy it when you get around to it. It's well worth the read :)

Finished reading Still Alice by Lisa Genova A fantastic read.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I flew throught the last couple hundred pages of I Am Pilgrim yesterday and finally got it finished. Now I am exhausted but don't think I will stop thinking about this book for a long time.

Everyone must read it!! I haven't been so engrossed in a story for a long time.

My review will be up very soon.

(1) “The House On The Cliff” Leslie McFarlane, 1927 (4/5)
(2) “Then Came Two Women” Charlotte Armstrong, 1962 (5/5)
(3) “Witch In The House” Ruth Chew, 1975 (4/5)
(4) “Mystery Of Disaster Island” Ann Rivkin, 1975 (4/5)
(5) “Angel's Verdict” Mary Stanton, 2011 (3/5)
(6) “Vampires Of Ottawa” Eric Wilson, 1984

I recently finished listening to the audiobook of 11/22/63 and can't seem to stop thinking about it.
Wow, what a story! Being Australian I have never really had a huge interest in the whole Kennedy assasination but this book has so many other elements in it that kept me interested the whole way through and the research that would have been done by King to write this book in so much detail is amazing.