August Reads

68. Chill Factor (Brown)

69. The Terrible Axe-Man of New Orleans (Geary)

70. The Likeness (French)

*71. Spirit Whisperers (Moorman)

72. Fallout (Hopkins)

73. Oxygen (Cassella)

74. The Good Daughters (Maynard)

The Days When You Were Anything Else (Sakey)

75. Too Close to Home (Barclay)

As Breathing (Sakey)

Gravity and Need (Sakey)

The Time Before the Last (Sakey)

No One (Sakey)

Cobalt (Sakey)

The Desert Here and the Desert Far Away (Sakey)

76. Scar Tissue: Seven Stories (Sakey)

77. Bury Your Dead (Penny)

Short Story (not counted)

BOLD titles made my Best Reads List

Clicking on a title will link you to "Thoughts of Joy..."

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Monthly - Yearly Genre Stats:

Chick-Lit: 0 - 0

Classic: 0 - 0

Fiction: 2 - 18

Graphic Memoir: 0 - 1

Memoir: 0 - 2

Mystery/Police Procedural: 2 - 19

Non-Fiction: 1 - 2

Non-Fiction Graphic Novel: 0 - 1

Short Story Collection: 1 - 3

Suspense/Thriller: 2 - 12

True Crime: 0 - 1

YA Classic: 0 - 0

YA Fiction: 1 - 6

YA Graphic Novel: 1 - 7

YA Mystery: 0 - 1

YA Non-Fiction: 0 - 0

YA Science Fiction: 0 - 0

YA Short Collection: 0 - 1

YA Thriller: 0 - 1

Children's Fiction: 0 - 1

Children's Graphic Novel: 0 - 1

Children's Thriller: 0 - 0

Children's Sci-Fi/Fantasy: 0 - 0

Short Stories: 7 - 20

Audiobooks: 3 - 33

Books: 6 - 42

eBooks: 1 - 2

Total: 10 - 77

Best Reads: 0 - 3

Series: 4 - 30

DNF: 1 - 1

BURY YOUR DEAD

Author: Louise Penny

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Series #6

Published: 2010

Personal Rating: 3.5/5 (good)

Yearly Count: 77

From the back of the ARC:

In Bury Your Dead, Penny peers deeper into the psyche of her beloved Inspector Gamache, unveiling a broken man coming to terms with his buried grief and guilt.

It is Carnival in Quebec City and Gamache has come not to join the celebration but to recover from an investigation gone wrong. But death is inescapable, even in the sanctuary of the Literary and Historical Society - where an obsessive historian's quest for the remains of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, ends in murder. Could a secret buried for nearly 400 years be so dreadful that someone would kill to protect it?

I adore Louise Penny's writing style. It's quiet, introspective and smart. This book, however, was extremely slow for me mainly due to the focus point of the plot - Champlain, the founder of Quebec. I simply had no interest in him; therefore, I didn't enjoy a great portion of the book.

The draw was whenever the scenes shifted to the village of The Three Pines or when a recent memory of a past investigation was remembered. So, I am among the few that were not thrilled with this latest edition to the series, but I am ever so thankful that the last quarter of the book was excellent. (Guess where most of it resided?) Unanswered questions were addressed, and it ended on a good note.

My thanks go to LibraryThing Early Reviewers program and Minotaur Books for sending me this ARC. Bury Your Dead is scheduled to be released on September 28, 2010.

SCAR TISSUE: SEVEN STORIES

Author: Marcus Sakey

Genre: Fiction, Standalone

Published: Scar Tissue: Seven Stories About Love and Wounds, 2010

Personal Rating: 3.5/5 (good)

Yearly Count: 76

Even with a couple of Marcus Sakey books sitting on my TBR Shelves, this short story collection commanded my attention. It was my first introduction to Sakey, as well as my first e-Book of short stories, and I'm ending with a good feeling about my experience. So, the average rating of 3.5 (good) is right on. Now Marcus Sakey is no longer a new-to-me author!

I found that I really enjoyed having a little bit of background before each story regarding how they came into existence. It added a nice personal touch.

The following are the individual titles and links to my thoughts:

1. The Days When You Were Anything Else

2. As Breathing

3. Gravity and Need

4. The Time Before the Last

5. No One

6. Cobalt

7. The Desert Here and the Desert Far Away

THE DESERT HERE AND THE DESERT FAR AWAY (7 of 7)

Author: Marcus Sakey

Genre: Fiction, Standalone

Published: Scar Tissue: Seven Stories About Love and Wounds, 2010

Personal Rating: 3.5/5 (good)

(ss) Yearly Count: 20

This story shows what war can do to a person.

While I thought the story was good, I didn't like it written in second person and that seemed to get in my way of really enjoying it. However, I did feel like I had a front row seat to every scene, so I was involved.

Cobalt (6 of 7)

Author: Marcus Sakey

Genre: Fiction, Standalone

Published: Scar Tissue: Seven Stories About Love and Wounds, 2010

Personal Rating: 2.5/5 (eh)

(ss) Yearly Count: 19

Before every individual short story, Marcus shares a bit of his personal life that led up to or encouraged each one. Here's a portion of what he said before Cobalt:

"From 1997 to 2001, I ran a web and graphic design shop. . . . There was so much I saw in those years that amused me, so much that was completely impractical and yet landing millions in funding, so many excesses and so much silliness. The whole thing struck me as a warped theme park design by brilliant morons."

I think Marcus succeeded in what he was trying to accomplished in Cobalt, but it didn't work for me. I felt like it was an inside joke or a satirical memory. Maybe the blurb put that thought in my head before I began, so it was doomed from the start - I don't know. But still, an "eh" rating isn't horrible.

NO ONE (5 of 7)

Author: Marcus Sakey

Genre: Fiction, Standalone

Published: Scar Tissue: Seven Stories About Love and Wounds, 2010

Personal Rating: 4/5 (very good)

(ss) Yearly Count: 18

A college student types out his thoughts to ease the pain of a relationship gone bad.

I liked the uniqueness of this story and how it was subtly told.

THE TIME BEFORE THE LAST (4 of 7)

Author: Marcus Sakey

Genre: Fiction, Standalone

Published: Scar Tissue: Seven Stories About Love and Wounds, 2010

Personal Rating: 4/5 (very good)

(ss) Yearly Count: 17

An editor challenges Marcus with the "Hemingway Challenge," which he completes by creating a full story in 25 words.

I could see, hear, feel and smell the short scene. Well done.

GRAVITY AND NEED (3 of 7)

Author: Marcus Sakey

Genre: Fiction, Standalone

Published: Scar Tissue: Seven Stories About Love and Wounds, 2010

Personal Rating: 3.5/5 (good)

(ss) Yearly Count: 16

A man and woman meet and become enmeshed in one another.

This one definitely had the feel of a soap opera. Even so, I was intrigued to find out the full story and was a tiny bit surprised at the end.

AS BREATHING (2 of 7)

Author: Marcus Sakey

Genre: Fiction, Standalone

Published: Scar Tissue: Seven Stories About Love and Wounds, 2010

Personal Rating: 3/5 (just okay)

(ss) Yearly Count: 15

A woman asks a man to kill someone for her, but he's put that line of work behind him. However . . . the man loves the woman.

I had somewhat of a difficult time getting into this one and had to reread parts in order to understand it in its entirety. That could have been solely due to my poor reading . . . or not. Who knows? But, I'm still excited to read more in this collection.

TOO CLOSE TO HOME

Author: Linwood Barclay

Genre: Thriller, Standalone

Published: 2008

Personal Rating: 3.5 (good)

Yearly Count: 75

Derek Cutter's best friend and neighbor, Adam Langley, is brutally killed along with his parents on the evening they were leaving for vacation. Derek was in the home right before they left - making him the last person to see or talk to the Langleys. Does he have any idea why someone would want to murder this family? That's where the investigation begins.

I have thoroughly enjoyed every Barclay book I have read. He keeps me engaged and always wanting to pick it up. However, this is my least favorite of the 4 that I have had the pleasure of reading.

The story line was a bit contrived and the connections between characters were just too unrealistically entangled. And, the casual use of swear words between Derek and his parents was eye-rolling ridiculous. Regardless, I was still curious and enjoyed it, but it wasn't Barclay's best. A new thought: Maybe it was Christopher Lane (audiobook narrator) that kept me coming back for more. I don't know, but I sure do like him. :)

THE DAYS WHEN YOU WERE ANYTHING ELSE (1 of 7)

Author: Marcus Sakey

Genre: Fiction, Standalone

Published: Scar Tissue: Seven Stories About Love and Wounds, 2010

Personal Rating: 4/5 (very good)

(ss) Yearly Count: 14

A father that has lost everything and gained hate from his daughter is presented with a dilemma when he is approached by her kidnapper who demands money. Money he doesn't have.

I believe I have 3 Sakey books on my TBR Shelves and sad to say, I have not touched one yet. This short story was a great opportunity for me to get a taste of his writing. Did I like it? Yep, sure did. I've been wanting to read The Blade Itself for years now. Hopefully this will give me that nudge I need to actually pick it up. It's not a matter of want, though - it's a matter of time. I need more of it!

THE GOOD DAUGHTERS

Author: Joyce Maynard

Genre: Fiction, Standalone

Published: 2010

Personal Rating: 3/5 (just okay)

Yearly Count: 74

From Joyce Maynard's Website:

They were born on the same day, in the same small New Hampshire hospital, into families that could hardly have been less alike.

Ruth Plank is an artist and a romantic with a rich, passionate, imaginative life. The last of five girls born to a gentle, caring farmer and his stolid wife, she yearns to soar beyond the confines of the land that has been her family's birthright for generations.

Dana Dickerson is a scientist and realist whose faith is firmly planted in the natural world. Raised by a pair of capricious drifters who waste their lives on failed dreams, she longs for stability and rootedness.

Different in nearly every way, Ruth and Dana share a need to make sense of who they are and to find their places in a world in which neither has ever truly felt she belonged. They also share a love for Dana's wild and beautiful older brother, Ray, who will leave an indelible mark on both their hearts.

Told in the alternating voices of Ruth and Dana, The Good Daughters follows these "birthday sisters" as they make their way from the 1950s to the present. Master storyteller Joyce Maynard chronicles the unlikely ways the two women's lives parallel and intersect—from childhood and adolescence to first loves, first sex, marriage, and parenthood; from the deaths of parents to divorce, the loss of home, and the loss of a beloved partner—until past secrets and forgotten memories unexpectedly come to light, forcing them to reevaluate themselves and each other.

Moving from rural New Hampshire to a remote island in British Columbia to the '70s Boston art-school scene, The Good Daughters is an unforgettable story about the ties of home and family, the devastating force of love, the healing power of forgiveness, and the desire to know who we are.

I'm so disappointed that I didn't care for this book more, because I find Maynard's writing to be very engrossing. Her words can swallow me up and take me wherever she wants me to go. And, she did that with this novel as well; however, the book just felt like it had a cloud hanging over it - just too much gloom. Also, I didn't care for the way in which the details were revealed, because it seemed to never reach a climax. Well, it did, but I already knew it, so it felt like it just plodded on. Disappointing for me, but others will probably love it. Especially if you are a Maynard fan.

Again, my thanks go to LibraryThing Early Reviewers program and HarperCollins Publishers for sending me this ARC. The Good Daughters is scheduled to be released on August 24, 2010.

OXYGEN

Author: Carol Cassella

Genre: Fiction, Standalone

Published: 2008

Personal Rating: 3/5 (just okay)

Yearly Count: 73

Dr. Marie Heaton, an established anesthesiologist, is devastated when a patient under her care dies during surgery. Marie is then thrown into a whirlwind of emotions and lawyers. She wonders if she will ever be able to work again.

This book turned out to be just okay for me. I had hoped that I would be drawn in but, unfortunately, that didn't happen. However, it did have a realistic feel to it - which I liked, but the characters never made me care about them. So . . . not bad, but not all that great either.

FALLOUT

Author: Ellen Hopkins

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction, Trilogy #3

Published: 2010

Personal Rating: 4/5 (very good)

Yearly Count: 72

From the ARC cover:

Nineteen years after Kristina Snow met the monster - crack - her children Hunter, Autumn and Summer are reeling from the consequences of her decisions. A predisposition to addiction and a sense of emptiness where a mother's love should be leads all three down the road of their mother's notorious legacy. S*x, drugs, alcohol, abuse - there is more of Kristina in her children than they would ever like to believe. But when the thread that ties them together brings them face-to-face, they'll discover something powerful in each other and in themselves - the trust, the hope, the courage to begin to break the cycle.

Several topics remain in my mind since reading this: nature vs nurture, genetics, separation anxiety, addiction, family dynamics, attraction, acceptance, drugs, etc. Hours could be spent dissecting them all.

I was somewhat surprised at how Kristina turned out. Why I was, I'm not so sure. Maybe it was just good old-fashioned wishful thinking. Needless to say, my heart broke for the family as a whole. Yes, there were good/decent time frames, but in general every member was directly or indirectly damaged. We don't choose our families, so all we can do is the best we can with what we get. I think the Snow family made every attempt to do that.

I'm not a fan of the style in which Hopkins writes (poetic spurts?), and I had an adjustment period of remembering characters and connections, but other than that - I kept my nose in the book whenever time allowed.

I read this as a promotion with Staci from Life in the Thumb. Fallout was released on September 14.

FALLOUT

Ellen Hopkins

Scheduled to be released on September 14

THOUGHTS COMING SOON!

SPIRIT WHISPERERS

Author: Chick Moorman

Genre: Non-Fiction, Standalone

Published: 2001

Personal Rating: 5/5 (absolutely outstanding)

Yearly Count: 71

Subtitled: Teachers Who Nourish a Child's Spirit

Educators are encouraged to become "spirit whisperers." Spirit whisperers are people that gently, but purposefully help students blossom into responsible adults through the most minute to major situations. Through their specific guiding and teaching, students learn to make their own decisions and accept their consequences.

I love this book (reread). It has a wealth of wise advice and reasons to back it - every educator should be required to read it. Not everybody will "buy into it," but it would be very difficult to not take something positive from it.

THE LIKENESS

Author: Tana French

Genre: Police Procedural, Series #2

Published: 2008

Personal Rating: 4.25/5 (better than very good)

Yearly Count: 70

Detective Cassie Maddox (Murder Squad in Dublin), is thrust into a unique situation when she looks into the face of a dead woman and discovers that the reflection she sees is her own! The fact that the woman died is revised to just injuries, so that Cassie can assume the woman's identity/life in order to identify her murderer.

After taking a healthy dose of suspended disbelief, I became deeply engrossed and was thoroughly transported into the world of Whitethorn House. The characters were entangled magnificently and contributed to the excellent psychological plot - which I loved. Despite the loved, ever-present suspense, I felt the book as a whole was a little on the lengthy side, and I didn't feel settled regarding a few important aspects. Other than that, great book!

THE SCHOOL OF ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS

Author: Erica Bauermeister

Genre: Fiction, Standalone

Published: 2009

Personal Rating: DNF #1

The story line was essentially uninteresting.

THE TERRIBLE AXE-MAN OF NEW ORLEANS

Author: Rick Geary

Genre: YA NF Graphic Novel, Series

Published: 2010

Personal Rating: 4/5 (very good)

Yearly Count: 69

Beginning in 1918, during the darkest time of night, someone is murdering grocery store owners (that live behind the store front) with the victims' own axe.

I did not know about this axe-man. I didn't even know anything about the history of New Orleans, so this was very informative. Can't say I enjoyed learning about the deaths, but the way in which the mystery is told is fascinating. Kudos to Rick! Again.

CHILL FACTOR

Author: Sandra Brown

Genre: Romantic Suspense, Standalone

Published: 2005

Personal Rating: 4/5 (very good)

Yearly Count: 68

In the snowy mountains of North Carolina, newly divorced Lilly is trapped in her sold cabin with an injured acquaintance (Ben) that she accidentally hit on her way out of the woods to beat the storm. Meanwhile back in town, the authorities are diligently hunting for a male that has abducted 5 females - now believed to be murdered. Lilly begins to wonder if she could be keeping company with the killer.

I believe I have only read one other Sandra Brown novel and recall enjoying the suspense quite a bit, so I decided to give her another try. Sandra's suspenseful writing is what kept me intrigued with this one, as well. I'm not big on the "romantic" scenes (which were quite graphic), but enjoyed the entrapment portion of the plot. I also liked that there were many subplots going on outside the cabin along with many twists. It was a little heavy on the evils of the world, but the suspense kept me curious.