The 104 Book Challenge - 2011 discussion

Good Luck to everyone and I can't wait for 2011 to arrive!

1) Torment

In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences
A Great and Terrible Beauty
The Silence of the Lambs

I like your topic title :)

Thanks, I hope to add more books soon to make it more "O' Plenty"!

LOL. Being unemployed somewhat helps in giving me reading time, but then I feel guilty for reading when I should be good and be job hunting.

Make someone hire you as a book critic. Problem solved : )

I wish :-)

5) Fever 1793

Oh, I was looking at that! (Fever 1793). How was it?

It's pretty good so far. I've been craving a YA historical read for awhile. I'm about half done so I will let you know but my sister said it was really good.

Here's a brief opinion of the books I've read so far:

1). Torment- This was actually pretty good. I didn't initially plan to read this series because it kept getting bad reviews but I thought "What the heck". It was nice to get away from vampires for awhile. I've heard a lot of criticism on Lauren Kate's writing but my opinion is "a good story, is a good story" and this one definitely kept me turning pages well into the night. I'm glad I read it and I can't wait for the next in the series.

2). In Cold Blood- I really liked how this book read. It is considered "non-fiction" but reads like a fiction novel. The way Capote writes really makes you feel like you're there and he tries to make you feel compassion for the murderers at the end. There were some long-winded parts where my brain checked-out for a bit but that didn't happen too often. This was my first Capote and I would like read some more of his stuff.

3). Fever 1793- This was very good! It's really well written and gives you a feel for post-revolutionary America and what Americans went through during the plague of yellow fever. A lot of books I've read over the past year have had weak female roles but Maddie was a good, strong character. I think high schools should consider making this required reading. Also, for some reason this makes me want to read about zombies now!


Now to finish The Silence of the Lambs and start A Great and Terrible Beauty.

6). Sabriel

Sabriel by Garth Nix was pretty good. The first few chapters left a bit to be desired but I decided to keep reading as this book seemed promising. I'm glad I kept at it! The magic and world Nix created were awesome and I absolutely loved Mogget. I'm not sure if I will read the rest of the series as this was a stand-alone book.

7.) Rebel Angels by Libba Bray is pretty good so far but I'm only about 1/3 of the way done, so we'll see where it goes.

8.) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is next. I've already read this one a couple times but I've decided to check out the audio book. I may listen to the audio books for the other 2 when I'm finished.

Oh--definitely read Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr and Abhorsen. Lirael is much faster paced and leads to an exciting climax in Abhorson. They don't take as long to get into as Sabriel did, for me at least.

OK! That settles it then. I wasn't sure because a lot of the reviews stated that Sabriel was better... I'll check it out though.

I finished The Hunger Games audio book. I didn't like the narrator's voice at first (I don't know why) but once I got used to it, it was great. I wanted to get the Catching Fire audio book next but it's not available from my library yet. So I decided to listen to....

Lord of the Flies by William Golding. The Hunger Games always reminds me of Lord of the Flies (and Battle Royale) so I decided I would listen to this next since Catching Fire wasn't available. It's narrated by the author, William Golding, and it's too soon to tell whether that's a good or bad thing.

Lord of the Flies is a little dated but as long as you don't mind the classics, I think it's an awesome book.

If you liked the Hunger games there's another book you should read called Battle Royale (which I mentioned above). It's very similar to The Hunger Games but Battle Royale was actually written first. If you haven't read it yet, you should because it's very good! It's a Japanese book that was later translated. That being said, it's much more gory as the Japanese seem to get away with it more for YA books. At first, it can be a little hard to follow all the characters because there are 48 kids and they all have Japanese names. I also think it's cool that there's a map in the book!

9.) Lord of the Flies by William Golding - Finished. Just as good as I remember it.

10.) Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King. Finished. This was also good. I saw the mini-series back when that was on TV and I wish I would've read the book first. However, there were a few stories included on the mini-series that were in other short-story collections of his. This makes me want to finish Night Shift and I will be starting The Sweet Far Thing either tonight or tomorrow while we're snowed in!

11.) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - Finished. This was my third time "reading" this book (reading in quotes as I listened to the audiobook).

12.) The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray - Currently reading. I am excited to see how this series ends.

13.) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - Round 2 with this one.

13.) Finished Mockingjay. I think I enjoyed it more the second time than the first. This book is very depressing.

14.) Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. I haven't read this book since I was about 9. I kinda got choked up at some parts.

15.) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I haven't read this classic yet (gasp!) and I feel like I should since I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

15.) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Pretty much finished with this. Not much to review since I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies already and that stuck almost completely to the original story but with zombies and kung fu and all that. Although, I can say that I appreciate Ms. Austen's sense of humor better since there's no zombie humor to distract. Overall, very good, 4/5 stars.

16.) Zombies vs. Unicorns by Various Authors. This is a compilation of short stories about Zombies and Unicorns by various YA authors. I saw this at the book store one day and the title and the cover art drew me in and I had to check it out (especially since I noticed there were stories by Libba Bray, Scott Westerfeld and Garth Nix).

I am so glad that I bought this! From the icons at the top of the page, a zombie or unicorn, indicating which one the story would be about to the funny commentary at the beginning of each story by Justine Larbalestier (Scott Westerfeld's wife) and Holly Black, this book is very unique. They're the ones responsible for starting the Zombies vs. Unicorns debate in the first place.

Also, there were quite a few authors in this book I wasn't familiar with that I'll now definitely be checking out. There were a couple stories that I really didn't care for at all (the ones by Alaya Dawn Johnson and Cassandra Clare) but I think that comes with any short story book. If you haven't read this yet, you should.

Finally, you're probably wondering, Team Zombie or Team Unicorn? While zombies have always been a favorite of mine, I would have to say that specifically to this book, I'm TEAM UNICORN!

My brother is trying to get me to read Sabriel but I'm shying away from it. Is it a book that you would reccommend?

Sarah wrote: "My brother is trying to get me to read Sabriel but I'm shying away from it. Is it a book that you would reccommend?"

If you enjoy fantasy like Terry Brooks or sort of medieval fantasy you will most likely enjoy Sabriel. I loved the entire Abhorsen series. I encouraged my son and my husband to read them and they loved them too. It depends on what you like but I would recommend them.

I really liked this book. I don't know what made me decide to read it. I like fantasy though. I actually listened to it on audiobook which was cool because it was narrated by Tim Curry (who I love!). It started off a little slow but if you can get through the beginning, it's fine. So, in short I would recommend to anyone who likes fantasy and strong lead female characters.

17.) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. This was really good. I kept seeing these books every where and was planning on getting around to them eventually. Well, someone ended up forcing this book on me so I read it sooner rather than later.

The story moved slow in the beginning but around 150-200 pages in it took off and I didn't want to put it down. It was a little hard to follow all the Swedish names and places but after a lot of repetition, it wasn't so bad. Great characters! I can't wait to pick up the next one.

18.) Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. Everyone keeps recommending these books to me but I refused to read them for two reasons. The first reason being that there's just too much of that vampire crap out there that looks lame. The second reason being that I hate the covers on these books. It was ok. A very quick read but I liked the characters in this book. The writing was nothing special. I will probably check out the rest of the series because I wanna know what happens but I might wait a bit before I pick up the next book.

19.) The Crucible by Arthur Miller. This was ok. Got me interested to read more into the Salem Witch Trials.

20.) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I really liked the world that Card set up in this book. There were some despicable characters (in a good way!) The battle scenes were a little lengthy though. I haven't decided if I'm going to pursue the series.

21.) The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong. This was a re-read. I really like this series and I'm not sure why... I just like the general feel of the books.

22.) The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. I really liked this book. Maybe more so than the first. I can't wait to finish the series.

23.) The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. This book was a nice surprise. Someone suggested it to me quite some time ago and I've been meaning to get around to it.

The characters are great. The bad guys are so despicable and you really find yourself rooting for Kylar. This book was very gritty with lots of coups and plot twists. The magic system was also very original. A must read for any fantasy fan.

24.) The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson. This was very good. Like the others in the series, it started off a bit slow but once it picked up, it moved at a quick pace. I split this book between an audiobook and an ebook. I find listening to these books helps with the pronounciation of all the Swedish.

25.) And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. This is the second time with this book for me. I read it back in junior high and it was my introduction to Agatha Christie. Loved it that time and I loved it this time. Still one of her best, imo.

26.) The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie. Decided I wanted some more Agatha Christie. Since I hadn't read any of her Miss Marple books yet and I tried this one because it had one of the higher scores on goodreads. It was ok. There wasn't much of Miss Marple in this book. I may try another one sometime.

27.) The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I LOVED this book. Someone loaned this book to me and insisted that I read it. At the time, I had no idea what it was about but I remembered that I had kept seeing it everywhere. I never picked it up previously because I didn't like the cover. This was a great book. Very well written. I highly suggest you check it out.

28.) Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman. I'm not a Neil Gaiman fan. The only reason I picked this up is because it had to do with Norse Mythology, which I find facinating. I wasn't too impressed with this one. Great as a mythology introduction for kids.

29.) The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King - 4/5 stars.

30.) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling - 5/5 stars. Reread.

31.) The Waste Lands by Stephen King - 5/5 stars.

32.) City of Bones by Cassandra Clare - 3/5 stars.

Wow. Been awhile since I've update this. Sorry : (

33.) The Waste Lands by Stephen King - 3/5 stars.

34.) Mystic River by Dennis Lehane - 4.5/5 stars.

35.) Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris - 4/5 stars.

36.) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling - I think this was my third time through. 5/5 stars.

37.) Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris - 4/5 stars.

38.) Wizard and Glass by Stephen King - 3/5 stars.

39.) Wake by Lisa McMann - 4/5 stars.

40.) Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore - 5/5 stars. This book was hilarious. I also think it's cool that Christopher Moore was born in my hometown.

There's more books to add but I'll do those later : )

Continuing on.....

41.) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - 3/5 stars.

42.) Club Dead by Charlaine Harris - 4/5 stars.

43.) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - 5/5 stars. I've read this book multiple times. I actually listened to the audio book which was narrated by Gary Sinise. It was interesting. I <3 Steinbeck.

44.) Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane - 4/5 stars. Very good. Depressing though.

45.) Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris - 4/5 stars.

46.) Cujo by Stephen King - 4/5 stars. Very good but I think the booking ending was different from the movie ending. Don't really remember.

47.) Fade by Lisa McMann - 3/5 stars. The last two books in this series weren't as good as the first. It was a good idea but I didn't really like what she did with it.

48.) The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - 3/5 stars. I wanted to like this more.

49.) Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris - 3/5 stars.

50.) The Giver by Lois Lowry - 3/5 stars.

51.) Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris - 3/5 stars.

52.) The Shining by Stephen King - 4/5 stars.

53.) Moon Called by Patricia Briggs - 2/5 stars.

54.) Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich - 4/5 stars.

55.) Gone by Lisa McMann - 3/5 stars.

56.) Insomnia by Stephen King - 2/5 stars.

57.) All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris. 3/5 stars.