THE LOST BOY

Author:  Greg Ruth

Genre:  Sci-Fi YA Graphic Novel, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  1/5 (Don't Bother)

Format:  Book

Yearly Count:  2

From Goodreads:

Some mysteries are too dangerous to ignore. . .

After Nate moves into his new house, he discovers an old tape recorder in his bedroom and is suddenly thrust into a dark mystery about a boy who went missing many years ago. Now, as strange creatures begin to track Nate, he must partner with Tabitha, a local sleuth, to find out what they want with him. But time is running out, because a powerful force is gathering strength in the woods at the edge of town, and before long Nate and Tabitha will be forced to confront a terrifying foe and uncover the truth about the Lost Boy.

This is not the genre for me! I'm sure there are many, many people who thoroughly would love this graphic novel. The artistry was terrific, but again -- just not for me.

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TENTH OF DECEMBER

Author:  George Saunders

Genre:  Short Story Collection, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  3.5/5 (good)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/
George Saunders

Yearly Count:  40

From Goodreads:

Writing brilliantly and profoundly about class, sex, love, loss, work, despair, and war, Saunders cuts to the core of the contemporary experience. These stories take on the big questions and explore the fault lines of our own morality, delving into the questions of what makes us good and what makes us human.

Another short story collection with a 3.5/5 rating.  While, most landed in the okay - good realm, I did really like some of the stories. Overall, it was a good collection.

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LIGHTER THAN MY SHADOW

Author:  Katie Green

Genre:  Graphic Memoir, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  4/5 (very good)

Format:  Book

Yearly Count:  19

From Goodreads:

Lighter Than My Shadow is a hand-drawn story of struggle and recovery, a trip into the black heart of a taboo illness, an exposure of those who are so weak as to prey on the vulnerable, and an inspiration to anybody who believes in the human power to endure towards happiness.

The honest and raw expressions through words and graphics were very clear and precise as to what Katie was experiencing.  The clarity of feelings helped me to understand the illness.

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ENGAGING STUDENTS WITH POVERTY IN MIND

Author:  Erik Jensen

Genre:  Non-Fiction, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  4.25/5 (very good +)

Format:  Book

Yearly Count:  15

From Goodreads:

Drawing from research, experience, and real school success stories, this galvanizing book explores engagement as the key factor in the academic success of economically disadvantaged students.

Another successful read by Jenkins. It was very practical and succinct. It can be a good reminder or maybe a new strategy or two can be discovered through the reading.

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THE INNOCENCE GAME

Author:  Michael Harvey

Genre:  Mystery, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  3/5 (just okay)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/
Robbie Daymond

Yearly Count:  50

Graduate students are enrolled in a seminar that explores freeing those that are in prison that have been falsely accused a crime.

This was just okay.  It reminded me of the TV show, How to Get Away with Murder, but different, of course!  I liked the chatter of school, but it didn't entice me to pick it up other than on my commute.

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NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY: STORIES

Author:  Ron Rash

Genre:  Short Story Collection, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  3.75/5 (good +)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Various

Yearly Count:  45

This book is a collection of 14 Appalachian stories.

Rating this book poses a problem for me.  Without a doubt, I thought every story was intriguing and presented vibrant characters.  Loved that.  However, every ending left me with a bit of a let down.  I'm not exactly sure what I actually experienced as a catch all reason.  I think I just may have been invested and wanted more.  I will for sure continue with more Ron Rash, but am somewhat questioning this collection.  

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MY STORY

Author:  Elizabeth Smart

Genre:  Memoir, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  3.25/5 (just okay +)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Elizabeth Smart

Yearly Count:  41

Elizabeth Smart shares the nightmare she experienced when she was kidnapped for 9 months at the age of 14.

While the story was heartbreaking to hear, I think it could have been presented in a much better way.  Elizabeth was expressing her sassy and sarcastic 14-year-old attitude when she described certain aspects of her captivity.  That didn't bode well with me.  It sounded childish and not the mature adult she is today.  However, I love her attitude regarding the terrifying 9 months of her life and how she has moved on to help others.

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READING IN THE WILD

Author:  Donalyn Miller 

Genre:  Professional, Companion Book

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  4/5 (very good)

Format:  Book

Yearly Count:  24

From Goodreads:

Reading in the Wild offers solid advice and strategies on how to develop, encourage and assess key lifelong reading habits,  including dedicating time for reading, planning for future reading, and defining oneself as a reader.  It contains accessible strategies, ideas, tips, lesson plans and management tools along with lists of recommended books.

This a companion book to The Book Whisperer.  It contains all the details needed to run a reading classroom.  It's filled with Miller's experience and has much value for a novice.  

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ALWAYS WATCHING

Author:  Chevy Stevens

Genre:  Thriller?, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  2.75/5 (eh +)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Joyce Bean

Yearly Count:  20


A psychiatrist realizes that she has much more in common with a patient than she ever imagined.

It was not believable, but I still listened to it.  And it definitely wasn't a thriller.

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THE LIFE LIST

Author:  Lori Nelson Spielman

Genre:  Women's Fiction, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  3/5 (just okay)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Rebecca Gibel

Yearly Count:  13

When Brett's (female) mother passes away, she must complete some selected items from her Life List that she made when she was 14 years old, in order to receive her inheritance.  

I have no clue how this got in my collection of audiobooks, but I saw it there and for some reason it appealed to me.  I began to get dizzy with all the eye-rolling I was experiencing, but . . . I admit it, I wanted to know how she would accomplish her goals.  It ended up being totally cheesy with lots of predictability, but somewhat enjoyable nonetheless.  😝

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THE RIVER IS DARK

Author:  John Hart

Genre:  Thriller, Liam Dempsey Series #1 

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  3.25/5 (just okay +)  

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Erik G. Dove  

Yearly Count:  12

A little boy is the surviving victim in a brutal attack against his family and another.  He only can identify the assailant as a monster.

This book had great potential.  I was enjoying the storyline and the characters until the ending, which was a bit predictable and ridiculous.

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THE DAYS THE CRAYONS QUIT

Author:  Drew Daywalt & Oliver Jeffers

Genre:  Children's, 1 of 2

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  3/5 (just okay)

Format:  eBook

Yearly Count:  7

When a little boy opens his crayon box, he is surprised with a letter from each of the colors explaining why they quit!

I loved the idea of this book and the creativity; however, I was expecting more.

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A CRIME OF PRIVILEGE

Author:  Walter Walker

Genre:  Mystery, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  2/5 (not enjoyable)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Stephen Hoye

Yearly Count:  65

From NetGalley:

A murder on Cape Cod.  A rape in Palm Beach.

All they have in common is the presence of one of America’s most beloved and influential families. But nobody is asking questions. Not the police. Not the prosecutors. And certainly not George Becket, a young lawyer toiling away in the basement of the Cape & Islands district attorney’s office. George has always lived at the edge of power. He wasn’t born to privilege, but he understands how it works and has benefitted from it in ways he doesn’t like to admit. Now, an investigation brings him deep inside the world of the truly wealthy—and shows him what a perilous place it is.

Years have passed since a young woman was found brutally slain at an exclusive Cape Cod golf club, and no one has ever been charged. Cornered by the victim’s father, George can’t explain why certain leads were never explored—leads that point in the direction of a single family—and he agrees to look into it.

What begins as a search through the highly stratified layers of Cape Cod society, soon has George racing from Idaho to Hawaii, Costa Rica to France to New York City. But everywhere he goes he discovers people like himself: people with more secrets than answers, people haunted by a decision years past to trade silence for protection from life’s sharp edges. George finds his friends are not necessarily still friends and a spouse can be unfaithful in more ways than one. And despite threats at every turn, he is driven to reconstruct the victim’s last hours while searching not only for a killer but for his own redemption.

I did not enjoy this book very much.  The mystery seemed incredibly drawn out, and the characters were not people I cared to read about.  I, also, didn't like all the s*xual innuendos.  AND, the ending wasn't satisfying either.  Overall, not a good experience for me.

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My thanks go to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with this eGalley.

RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA

Author:  Kimberly McCreight

Genre:  Fiction, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  3/5 (just okay)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Khristine Hvam

Yearly Count:  44

A mother is called at work to come pick up her daughter from school for cheating.  By the time she arrives, her daughter has been found dead . . . an apparent suicide.

I had NO IDEA that this was a high school drama story AND adult drama.  It was not what I anticipated at all.  It kept my attention enough to finish it.

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THE FAST METABOLISM DIET

Author:  Haylie Pomroy

Genre:  Non-Fiction, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  4.5/5 (excellent)

Format:  eBook

Yearly Count:  42

This diet consists of 3 Phases:

Phase 1 (Monday-Tuesday):  Lots of carbs and fruits
Phase 2 (Wednesday-Thursday):  Lots of protein and veggies
Phase 3 (Friday-Sunday):  All of the above, plus healthy fats and oils

The diet is designed to heal and revitalize your metabolism in 28 days.

I find the idea of this diet, which Pomroy likes to use the word diet as Did You Eat Today?, to be very doable for me.  I don't have much weight to lose, but feel that it'll make me healthier and who couldn't use a raging metabolism?!  :)

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CALLING ME HOME

Author:  Julie Kibler

Genre:  Historical Fiction, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  4.25/5 (very good +)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/

Bahni Turpin & Lorna Raver

Yearly Count:  36

An older woman is called home (across the country) to attend a funeral and invites her hairdresser to accompany her.

Yay!  This was a very good book.  I have to admit, I had a teeny-tiny melt down when I discovered there were two storylines and two timeframes . . . again (my last experience was not a good one)!!!  Thankfully, the utter pain of that realization only lasted for a few moments, because it was handled with perfection!  :)  I had no problem with the time shifts and enjoyed both storylines.  PHEW!

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WAITING TO BE HEARD

Author:  Amanda Knox

Genre:  Memoir, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  4/5 (very good)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Amanda Knox

Yearly Count:  21

Amanda travels abroad to study in Italy.  Her desire to learn the language and soak in the culture turns to a very limited environment . . . prison.  She was convicted of murdering her roommate.

This wasn't an edge-of-your-seat kind of book (mainly because I know the current status); however, it was told very succinctly and encompassing.  I was able to follow and understand everything she went through:  physically, emotionally and mentally.  

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UNSEEN

Author:  Karin Slaughter

Genre:  Thriller, Will Trent Series #7

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  3/5 (just okay)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Kathleen Early

Yearly Count:  15

From NetGalley:

Will Trent is a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent whose latest case has him posing as Bill Black, a scary ex-con who rides a motorcycle around Macon, Georgia, and trails an air of violence wherever he goes. The cover has worked and he has caught the eye of a wiry little drug dealer who thinks he might be a useful ally. But undercover and cut off from the support of the woman he loves, Sara Linton, Will finds his demons catching up with him.

Although she has no idea where Will has gone, or why, Sara herself has come to Macon because of a cop shooting: Her stepson, Jared, has been gunned down in his own home. Sara holds Lena, Jared’s wife, responsible: Lena, a detective, has been a magnet for trouble all her life, and Jared’s shooting is not the first time someone Sara loved got caught in the crossfire. Furious, Sara finds herself involved in the same case that Will is working without even knowing it, and soon danger is swirling around both of them.

I think this series may have run its course for me. There wasn't anything necessarily wrong with this book, but I simply didn't care. I listened and went along for the ride, but the whole Sara and Will relationship does nothing for me, and Lena, well, I've never cared for her, so there really wasn't much left. Not sure what will come of this series and me. I'm guessing I'll continue, but I'm not drawn or eager anymore.

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My thanks go to Bantam Dell and NetGalley for providing me with the eGalley.

PRACTICE TO DECEIVE

Author:  Ann Rule

Genre:  True Crime, Standalone

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  3.5/5 (good)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Anne Twomey

Yearly Count:  13

From NetGalley:

Nestled in Puget Sound, Whidbey Island is a gem of the Pacific Northwest; accessible only by ferry and the soaring Deception Pass Bridge, it is known for its artistic communities and stunning natural beauty. Life there is low-key, insular, and the island’s year-round residents tend to know one another’s business. But when the blood-drenched body of Russel Douglas was discovered the day after Christmas in his SUV in a hidden driveway near Whidbey’s most exclusive mansions, the whole island was shocked. A single bullet between his eyes was the cause of death, but no one could imagine who among them could plot such a devious, cold-blooded crime. At first, police suspected suicide, tragically common at the height of the holiday season. But when they found no gun in or near the SUV, Russel’s manner of death became homicide. Like a cast of characters from a classic mystery novel, a host of Whidbey residents fell under suspicion.

 I thought this was pretty good.  It was a little cumbersome with characters and side stories, but it wouldn't be a book if it were a cut and dry type of case, right?  Even though, the ending was a little anti-climatic, and it wasn't all that compelling, I still enjoyed the process of solving the crime.

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My thanks go to Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing me with this eGalley.

HIS MAJESTY'S HOPE

Author:  Susan Elia MacNeal

Genre:  Historical Fiction, Maggie Hope Series #3

Published:  2013

Personal Rating:  3/5 (just okay)

Format/Narrator:  Audiobook/Susan Duerden

Yearly Count:  12


From NetGalley:

World War II has finally come home to Britain, but it takes more than nightly air raids to rattle intrepid spy and expert code breaker Maggie Hope. After serving as a secret agent to protect Princess Elizabeth at Windsor Castle, Maggie is now an elite member of the Special Operations Executive—a black ops organization designed to aid the British effort abroad—and her first assignment sends her straight into Nazi-controlled Berlin, the very heart of the German war machine. Relying on her quick wit and keen instincts, Maggie infiltrates the highest level of Berlin society, gathering information to pass on to London headquarters. But the secrets she unveils will expose a darker, more dangerous side of the war—and of her own past.

This series hasn't been a big winner for me, but I still want to continue it.  I think it's because it reminds me of Nancy Drew.  Maggie is the grown version of Nancy, but unfortunately, she's not much more sophisticated.  And, the storyline has so many coincidences that it becomes ridiculous at times.  However, like I said, I'm still drawn to it, so there's something good inside there.  :)

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My thanks go to Bantam Dell and NetGalley for providing me with the eGalley.