Read 100+ Books in 2015 discussion

I cannot believe summer is almost over. I'm still behind on my reading goals but finding lots to read. My mom's moving so I have to clean my house to get some of her furniture and I'm discovering books I have had for years. Now I'm reading them. So on to September's themes.

1. Read a book whose author's last name starts with G.
2. Read a book about art.
3. Read a book set in autumn.
4. Football's starting so read a book about football.
5. With the new TV season starting this month, read a book about a subject you know nothing about.
6. Read a children's classic.
7. Read a book that you have had on your bookshelves a long, long time.
8. With the growing season coming to an end, read a book with a fruit or vegetable in the title.
9. Your choice.

My list for September.

5/9, 20 books

1. Read a book whose author's last name starts with G.
2. Read a book about art.
3. Read a book set in autumn.
4. Football's starting so read a book about football.
5. With the new TV season starting this month, read a book about a subject you know nothing about--Americanah by Chimamnda Ngozi Adichie--finished 9/22/15.
6. Read a children's classic--The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin--finished 9/29/15.
7. Read a book that you have had on your bookshelves a long, long time--Marry Me Not by Lass Small (28 years)--finished 9/1/15.
8. With the growing season coming to an end, read a book with a fruit or vegetable in the title--A Peach of a Pair by Kim Boykin--finished 9/6/15.
9. Your choice--Death Fricassee by Tawdra Kandle--finished 9/6/15.

Bonus:
Ding Dong! Is She Dead? by Alathia Paris Morgan--finished 9/9/15
A Jade's Trick by Lilly Black--finished 9/13/15
Lass for the Vikings by Circe Ridley--finished 9/14/15
Cappuccinos, Cupcakes, and A Corpse by Harper Lin--finished 9/19/15
Fresh by Alyse Zaftig--finished 9/19/15
Tea, Tiramasu, and a Tough Guy by Harper Lin--finished 9/20/15
Bear Marked by Eve Hunter--finished 9/24/15
Little Owl's Night by Dirya Srinivasan--finished 9/26/15
Max the Brave by Ed Vere--finished 9/26/15
Thunder and Roses by Mary Jo Putney--finished 9/26/15
One Moonlit Night by Gaelen Foley--finished 9/26/15
True Blue: Tainted Love--finished 9/26/15
Death by Poison by Alathia Paris Morgan--finished 9/27/15
Tall, Hard, and Trouble by Cerise DeLand--finished 9/29/15
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton--finished 9/30/15

Yep, summer vacation is over now and back our local high school working part-time. As Sheila says, "So on to September's themes."

1. Read a book whose author's last name starts with G.
2. Read a book about art.
3. Read a book set in autumn.
4. Football's starting so read a book about football.
5. With the new TV season starting this month, read a book about a subject you know nothing about.
6. Read a children's classic.
7. Read a book that you have had on your bookshelves a long, long time.
"The Wild Shore," Book 1 of the "Three California" trilogies by Kim Stanley Robinson
8. With the growing season coming to an end, read a book with a fruit or vegetable in the title.
9. Your choice.

-Betty Hechtman 9-4-15
I honestly had no idea this book was part of a series until I started reading it, but other than a few clues that the characters, especially the protagonist, had been involved in other mysteries, I felt that the novel worked well as a stand-alone. I thought the writing style was great, and I loved the characters. I look forward to trying to track down other novels in the series now.

Rachel wrote: "-Betty Hechtman 9-4-15
I honestly had no idea this book was part of a series until I started reading it, but other than a few clues that the chara..."

I have read some of hers. I like them.

More of September's themes . . .

1. Read a book whose author's last name starts with G.
2. Read a book about art.
3. Read a book set in autumn.
4. Football's starting so read a book about football.
5. With the new TV season starting this month, read a book about a subject you know nothing about.
6. Read a children's classic.
7. Read a book that you have had on your bookshelves a long, long time.
"The Wild Shore," Book 1 of the "Three California" trilogies by Kim Stanley Robinson
8. With the growing season coming to an end, read a book with a fruit or vegetable in the title.
9. Your choice.
"29" by Mary Sojourner

Finished reading "The Wild Shore" by Kim Stanley Robinson, Book 1 of the "Three Californias" trilogy.

"2047: For the small Pacific Coast community of San Onofre, life in the aftermath of a devastating nuclear attack is a matter of survival, a day-to-day struggle to stay alive. But young Hank Fletcher dreams of the world that might have been, and might yet be--and dreams of playing a crucial role in America's rebirth."

Just started "29" by Mary Sojourner.

"Nell Walker and Monkey Burnett have nothing in common—except an impossible longing for each other, their huge and volatile minds, and a bone-deep love for a tiny hardscrabble desert town.

When corporate greed and shortsightedness threaten the fragile Mojave Desert around their homes in Twentynine Palms, California, with devastatingly huge solar and wind power farms, Nell and Monkey join forces with their Chemehuevi and Anglo neighbors to protect an ancient sacred trail and the birds and wildlife that live along it. Through love and work, Nell finds her own near-hidden trail, a pathway that carries her towards a reunion with the mother she tried to forget."

More of September's themes . . .

1. Read a book whose author's last name starts with G.
2. Read a book about art.
3. Read a book set in autumn.
4. Football's starting so read a book about football.
5. With the new TV season starting this month, read a book about a subject you know nothing about.
6. Read a children's classic.
7. Read a book that you have had on your bookshelves a long, long time.
"The Wild Shore," Book 1 of the "Three California" trilogies by Kim Stanley Robinson
"Tishomingo Blues" by Elmore Leonard
8. With the growing season coming to an end, read a book with a fruit or vegetable in the title.
9. Your choice.
"29" by Mary Sojourner

Now reading "Tishomingo Blues" by Elmore Leonard.

"Dennis Lenahan the high diver would tell people that if you put a fifty-cent piece on the floor and looked down at it, that's what the tank looked like from the top of that eighty-foot steel ladder.

Dennis is a daredevil and the girls love him. Things are going along okay with his gig at the Tishomingo Lodge & Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, "the Casino Capital of the South," until the day he looks down from the high-dive platform and witnesses a mob hit -- Dixie style. The killer looks up and says, "Let's see you dive." Suddenly, being a daredevil has lost its kick.

Turns out there was a second witness, Robert Taylor from Detroit, who carries a picture of his great-granddaddy's lynching along with a gun in a briefcase and listens to Marvin Pontiac while cruising the back roads of Mississippi in his black Jaguar. Robert works for a man from up north who has come to play General Grant in a Civil War battle reenactment, but like Dennis, Robert has a death-defying act of his own: he's sleeping with his boss's wife."

More of September's themes . . .

1. Read a book whose author's last name starts with G.
2. Read a book about art.
3. Read a book set in autumn.
4. Football's starting so read a book about football.
5. With the new TV season starting this month, read a book about a subject you know nothing about.
6. Read a children's classic.
7. Read a book that you have had on your bookshelves a long, long time.
"The Wild Shore," Book 1 of the "Three California" trilogies by Kim Stanley Robinson
"Tishomingo Blues" by Elmore Leonard
8. With the growing season coming to an end, read a book with a fruit or vegetable in the title.
9. Your choice.
"29" by Mary Sojourner
"The Gravedigger's Daughter" by Joyce Carol Oates

For book club "The Gravedigger's Daughter" by Joyce Carol Oates is this month's selection.

"In 1936 the Schwarts, an immigrant family desperate to escape Nazi Germany, settle in a small town in upstate New York, where the father, a former high school teacher, is demeaned by the only job he can get: gravedigger and cemetery caretaker. After local prejudice and the family's own emotional frailty result in unspeakable tragedy, the gravedigger's daughter, Rebecca, begins her astonishing pilgrimage into America, an odyssey of erotic risk and imaginative daring, ingenious self-invention, and, in the end, a bittersweet - but very "American" - triumph. "You are born here, they will not hurt you" - so the gravedigger has predicted for his daughter, which will turn out to be true."

-Koren Zouilckas 9-7-15
This was one of the craziest books I've ever read filled with the most dysfunctional family I've ever seen in print, which, of course, also made it one of the more interesting books I've read this year. I thought it was written well, and the characters were drawn very well. While I didn't find the end to be a hundred percent satisfactory, I can understand how it remained true to the characters and their development or lack thereof by the novel's end. Despite many cringe worthy elements, I really liked the book and found it highly entertaining. This is definitely a PG-13 novel, however.

-Kelly Irwin 9-9-15
After the roller coaster ride the last novel I read gave me, I greatly appreciated the peacefulness of an Amish novel. This was an interesting novel based primarily on the premise of what it would look like if a community weren't accepting of a new Amish community moving in and what that prejudice would cause in terms of minor persecution along with the inevitable romance being the main plot device. I really enjoyed the characters in this novel some of whom were unusual to an Amish novel, making the novel more unique and interesting. It was a well written novel, and I look forward to reading the rest of this trilogy and possibly the trilogy that prequels it.

-Denise Hildreth Jones 9-13-15
This is the second time I have picked up a book from this author and was expecting a typical, that is, predictable, contemporary Christian novel and been surprised by how the plot focused on truly difficult experiences, so maybe next time I won't be so startled by the depth of plot and the emotional hazards a book by Denise Hildreth Jones presents to readers again. Anyway, this novel was a brilliantly written novel focusing on grief and the eventual surfacing to the other side of the worst of it. Even though I knew someone died in the prologue, when the death and its circumstances were actually revealed after the first several chapters, the person who died wasn't who I had thought it would be, and the shock of it actually brought me to tears, which is something that people who know me well know rarely happens about real-life people, let alone fictitious ones, so let that stand to say that this book is emotionally wrenching is almost an understatement. However, it is definitely one of the best books I've read this year that has earned its place on my favorites list.

-Colleen Coble 9-16-15
This was a well-written Christian suspense novel with a romantic subplot and with interesting and well drawn characters. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot, and while the conclusion did have some of the connections between characters that I'd guessed about, my guesses at the solution weren't at all accurate, but that could just show that I'm still terrible at guessing mysteries. Anyhow, I found the romance between Claire and what's-his-name to be rather incredulous; they became serious too quickly even for a Christian romance novel that are always far from realistic, so four stars rather than five for this one even though I might read more of the series.

September:

1. Read a book whose author's last name starts with G. N/A
2. Read a book about art. N/A
3. Read a book set in autumn. Death Comes to Pemberley-P.D. James 9-21-15
4. Football's starting so read a book about football. N/A
5. With the new TV season starting this month, read a book about a subject you know nothing about. Submerged-Dani Pettrey 9-30-15 (scuba diving and Russian artifacts/history)
6. Read a children's classic. N/A
7. Read a book that you have had on your bookshelves a long, long time. N/A
8. With the growing season coming to an end, read a book with a fruit or vegetable in the title.
9. Your choice. Knot Guilty: A Crochet Mystery-Betty Hechtman 9-4-15, Mother, Mother-Koren Zouilckas 9-7-15, Love Still Stands-Kelly Irvin 9-9-15, The First Gardener-Denise Hildreth Jones 9-13-15, The Inn at Ocean's Edge-Colleen Coble 9-16-15, Love Redeemed-Kelly Irvin 9-23-15, A Plain Love Song-Kelly Irvin 9-24-15

-P.D. James 9-21-15
I always tend to be cautious when attempting to read a "sequel" to a literary classic that I really love because many times they fail so miserably, and, unfortunately, this novel was par for the course. The positives of this novel were the fact that the writing style was similar to that of Jane Austen, which does earn the author props for the research into 19th century English and for her appreciation for Jane Austen, and the interesting look into the legal system of 19th century England. However, her characterization was terrible. Elizabeth was rarely center stage, and her personality was dull and lifeless, nothing like the witty and saucy Elizabeth of Pride and Prejudice. In the same way, Darcy was unrecognizable as well; James' version of Darcy is deeply emotional and has high anxiety issues, which is most unlike the confident and proper Mr. Darcy of Austen's novel. The only original Austen character that James portrays accurately is Wickham, and she also does some interesting characterization with Lydia as having become her mother, a whiny complainer with truly shallow interests, which is a reasonable expectation from Austen's Lydia having matured six years. I was also frankly disappointed with the solution of the mystery, finding it just a little too convenient for getting Wickham off the hook.

-Kelly Irvin 9-23-15
I truly liked this second novel in the New Hope Amish trilogy. The characters are well drawn, and the plot deals with some truly tough issues surrounding grief and forgiveness. There were actually a few really good bits of theology thrown into the story in a non-preachy manner, which I quite enjoyed. I truly sympathized with Phoebe and Michael's sense of guilt and their difficulties in forgiving themselves for making a poor choice that resulted in a tragic accident. It's a well written novel that has earned a place on my favorites' list.

-Kelly Irvin 9-24-15
After truly enjoying the first two novels in the New Hope Amish trilogy, I had reasonably high expectations for this concluding novel of the trilogy, but it was honestly my least favorite of the trilogy. Even though I still found Irvin's writing style to be well done even with country song lyrics interrupting the flow of the story on a consistent basis, I was disappointed by how flat the story line felt in comparison to the previous two novels in the trilogy. In addition, I just had a harder time connecting to Adah and Matthew as characters. I found Matthew to be a much flatter male character than the love match to the protagonist should be. Adah, while a well-rounded protagonist, just irritated me by how impulsive and flighty she was; however, I did sympathize with her inner connection to music--even though I hate country music--and how that caused her to give into several temptations than she would have otherwise. Anyhow, it just didn't win a place on my favorites' list although it's a fairly decent Amish romance.

Rachel wrote: "-P.D. James 9-21-15
I always tend to be cautious when attempting to read a "sequel" to a literary classic that I really love because many times they fai..."

I had looked at the P.D. James book. Thanks for your thoughts on it. Now I'll probably put it lower on my list.

Well, I took my niece's recommendation and read THE WESTING GAME by Ellen Raskin. I loved it. It was an interesting mystery and well thought out. I did not figure it out until the end when Turtle was reasoning it out.

Wow! I just finished The Outsiders. What a fantastic book. It's hard to believe she was only 16 when she wrote it. It's a book that will stay with me a long, long time.

-Dani Pettrey 9-30-15
This was a well written and entertaining Christian suspense novel with a romantic subplot. I really liked the characters and the interesting plot twists along the way. I truly enjoyed it, and I look forward to reading more of the series. It has earned its place on my favorites' list.