Read 100+ Books in 2012 discussion

Can you believe school will soon be starting in the U.S.? But we still have a month of freedom left (well, maybe 3 weeks for some people.) Here's August's Challenge themes.

1. Read a book that is 8th in a series or an author's 8th book.

2. Read a book with an A-U-G-S-T in the title or author's name.

3. Read a book about water.

4. Read a book about flying.

5. Read a book about a vacation or holiday in a place you want to go or have gone to and enjoyed.

6. Read a book about a sport.

7. Read a book that's a thriller.

8. Read a book about a kitchen.

9. Your choice.

As usual Seila, great ideas! Just started reading "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck so I'll have time to ponder over my August reads.

My August Books:
1. Read a book that is 8th in a series or an author's 8th book.

2. Read a book with an A-U-G-U-S-T in the title or author's name.
"Wild Child" by T.C. Boyle

3. Read a book about water.

4. Read a book about flying.

5. Read a book about a vacation or holiday in a place you want to go or have gone to and enjoyed.

6. Read a book about a sport.

7. Read a book that's a thriller.
"Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

8. Read a book about a kitchen.

9. Your choice.
"The Fifth Witness" by Michael Connelly
"The Age of Dreaming" by Nina Revoyr

Manda wrote: "My august books -

1. 8th book by Jeffrey Deaver and on my shelves waiting years to be read.....

2. AUGUST - This book looks amazing

3. Water a..."

I loved I Am Number Four. I put off buying it for some time then broke down and got it. Fantastic. I have the sequel but haven't read it yet.

While the movie doesn't follow the book totally, it is one of the best book to films adaptations I've seen. I was impressed by it.

Well, here I go again:

8/9, 11 books

1. Read a book that is 8th in a series or an author's 8th book.

2. Read a book with an A-U-G-S-T in the title or author's name--The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid--Bill Bryson--finished 8/11/12.

3. Read a book about water--Credence: Foundation, Book 1 by Marco Guarda--finished 8/7/12.

4. Read a book about flying--Fear of Landing: You Fly Like a Woman by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley--finished 8/3/12.

5. Read a book about a vacation or holiday in a place you want to go or have gone to and enjoyed--Fear of Falling by Susan Kiernan-Lewis-finished 8/2/12.

6. Read a book about a sport--Playing for Pizza by John Grisham--finished 8/28/12.

7. Read a book that's a thriller--Sanctus by Simon Toyne--finished 8/21/12.

8. Read a book about a kitchen--Life After Paris by Kara Lewis--finished 8/30/12.

9. Your choice--Pattaya Beach by John Elray--finished 8/1/12.

Bonus reads:
Geronimo Stilton, Book 1: Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye by Geronimo Stilton--finished 8/12/12
Button Holed--Kylie Logan--finished 8/23/12
One Whisper Away--Emma Wildes--finished 8/25/12

I just finished Fear of Falling by Susan Kiernan-Lewis. It's set in Ireland where I would love to go but I don't want to go on this kind of vacation. See my review. It's a powerful, thought-provoking book. Really good.

Went camping to Henry Cowell State Park in California's Santa Cruz Mountains - On the drive to California's central coast and back to southern California, we listened to "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro.

"As children Kathy, Ruth and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life. And for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special — and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together."

That was an interesting book. Twisted thinking by the powers that be in that world.

I LOVED "Never Let me Go". The movie isn't very good though.

Kristy wrote: "I LOVED "Never Let me Go". The movie isn't very good though."

Didn't know there was a movie version - I'll have to watch it. Thanks for the tip!

OK, I haven't even started to think about what I'm going to read this month. so this is all TBA


1. Read a book that is 8th in a series or an author's 8th book.

2. Read a book with an A-U-G-S-T in the title or author's name.

3. Read a book about water.

4. Read a book about flying.

5. Read a book about a vacation or holiday in a place you want to go or have gone to and enjoyed.

6. Read a book about a sport.

7. Read a book that's a thriller.
Heat Rises by Richard Castle

8. Read a book about a kitchen.

9. Your choice.

Finished reading "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck - 10 out of 5 stars. Lots of tears shed at the last page.

"Timshel!"

Now reading "The Fifth Witness" by Michael Connelly, the 4th book of the Mickey Haller series.

I just finished The Life and Times of the Thunder Bolt Kid by Bill Bryson. This is one of the funniest books I have ever read. I took longer to read this because I laughed so hard--tears rolling down my face hard. If you grew up in the 50's and 60's, it's a trip down memory lane. I could identify so much with what he wrote. His Walk in the Woods is good also.

Sheila wrote: "I just finished The Life and Times of the Thunder Bolt Kid by Bill Bryson. This is one of the funniest books I have ever read. I took longer to read this because I laughed so hard--tears rolling ..."

Thanks for the tip Sheila, I'll need to add this books - Thanks again!

My niece got the first 20 books in the Geronimo Stilton series for her birthday. She said she was in "book heaven." I read the first one today. If you have children you want good books for, this series is good. For 8 and up. It's about a rat and his adventures. A lot of tongue-in-cheek humor that adults will read one way and children another.

Just wanted to do a quick check-in with the group. It's been a crazy month so far, have done almost no reading. Still working on Heat Rises by Richard Castle that I started around the 1st of the month. IT was slow starting but I'm getting more into it now.

Hope everyone is having a good summer!

Finished "The Fifth Witness" by Michael Connelly, Book 4 of the Lincoln Lawyer/Mickey Haller series. Now reading "Wild Child" by T.C. Boyle.

"The fourteen stories in this rich new collection display T.C. Boyle's astonishing range and imaginative muscle. Nature is the dominant player in many of these stories, whether in the form of a catastrophic mudslide that allows a cynic to reclaim his humanity or in Boyle's powerfully original retelling of the story of Victor, the feral boy who was captured running naked through the forests of Napoleonic France a moving and magical investigation of what it means to be human. Other tales range from the drama of a man who spins Homeric lies in order to stop going to work to the sad comedy of a child born to Mexican street vendors who is unable to feel pain."

Kristy wrote: "Just wanted to do a quick check-in with the group. It's been a crazy month so far, have done almost no reading. Still working on Heat Rises by Richard Castle that I started around the 1st of the mo..."

Having a good summer, thanks!

Finished reading "Wild Child" by T.C. Boyle - Great stories! My favorites? La Conchita, Sin Dolar, The Lie, The Unlucky Mother of Aquiles Maldanado, Ash Monday, 1300 Rats, Anacapa and Wild Child.

Now reading "The Age of Dreaming by Nina Revoyr, one of my favorite writers.

Working on Santus by Simon Toyne. It's the same genre as The DiVinci Code but different. I'm really liking it. Lots of questions.

Just finished Sanctus. Really good. I liked the short chapters because it was easy to know where to pick the book up when I could get back to reading it. I enjoyed it. Same genre as The DaVinci Code but a different style of book. I enjoyed it and I'll have to get the second book.

I just finished Button Holed by Kylie Logan. A good cozy mystery. Perfect after some of the heavy reading I've done this month. Light and fun. I even figured it out before the reveal scene.

Finally finished "Heat Rises" tonight. I like the Castle novels despite the fact that they are supposed tone written by a fictional character. I think they are just fun mysteries that usually have me guessing until the end.

Problem with my Yahoo! account, so had to re-enter all!

My August Books:
1. Read a book that is 8th in a series or an author's 8th book.

2. Read a book with an A-U-G-U-S-T in the title or author's name.
"Wild Child" by T.C. Boyle

3. Read a book about water.
"The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien.

4. Read a book about flying.

5. Read a book about a vacation or holiday in a place you want to go or have gone to and enjoyed.

6. Read a book about a sport.

7. Read a book that's a thriller.
"Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

8. Read a book about a kitchen.

9. Your choice.
"The Fifth Witness" by Michael Connelly
"The Age of Dreaming" by Nina Revoyr
"The Redbreast" by Jo Nesbo

Finished read "The Age of Dreaming" by Nina Revoyr - 5 Stars!

Now reading "The Redbreast" by Jo Nesbo.
"The Redbreast won the Glass Key prize for the best Nordic crime novel when it was first published, and was subsequently voted Norway’s best crime novel. The Devil’s Star, Nesbø’s first novel featuring Harry Hole to be translated into English, marked Nesbø as a writer to watch in the ever more fashionable world of Nordic crime."

Also reading "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. The best book about the Viet Nam war that I have read. "The Things They Carried" carries not only the soldiers' intangible burdens - grief, terror, love, longing - but also the weight of memory, the terrible gravity of guilt."

Chuck wrote: "Finished read "The Age of Dreaming" by Nina Revoyr - 5 Stars!

Now reading "The Redbreast" by Jo Nesbo.
"The Redbreast won the Glass Key prize for the best Nordic crime novel when it was first publ..."

How is The Redbreast? It sounds interesting. Never Let Me Go was a good book. I read it a couple of years ago for a book club. Lots of discussion.

Manda wrote: "just finished reading the tooth fairy - loved it. Will start Hangover Square next..."

What's The Tooth Fairy about?

Sheila wrote: "Chuck wrote: "Finished read "The Age of Dreaming" by Nina Revoyr - 5 Stars!

Now reading "The Redbreast" by Jo Nesbo.
"The Redbreast won the Glass Key prize for the best Nordic crime novel when it ..."

Just started reading it last night . . . This is Book 3 of the 'Harry Hole' series. Books ! & 2 have not been published for the US as of yet.

Chuck wrote: "Sheila wrote: "Chuck wrote: "Finished read "The Age of Dreaming" by Nina Revoyr - 5 Stars!

Now reading "The Redbreast" by Jo Nesbo.
"The Redbreast won the Glass Key prize for the best Nordic crime..."

How can they publish book 3 before giving us 1 and 2? Can you understand it or do you need info contained in 1 and 2?

Sheila wrote: "Chuck wrote: "Sheila wrote: "Chuck wrote: "Finished read "The Age of Dreaming" by Nina Revoyr - 5 Stars!

Now reading "The Redbreast" by Jo Nesbo.
"The Redbreast won the Glass Key prize for the bes..."

Hey Sheila - Not sure why but I'll try to find out why and get back to you.

I just finished John Grisham's Playing for Pizza. What fun! An easy, light read.

Sheila wrote: "I just finished John Grisham's Playing for Pizza. What fun! An easy, light read."

John Grisham certainly has that touch for fun, light books. You need to add "Calico Joe" to your list - One of his better stories.

I know I put it on my TBR list. It probably would have been more appropriate for the season.