2026 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)
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Dragon Rambles' Law of Fives Bingo
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2017 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge (retired challenge - doing old boards for fun)
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Showing posts sorted by relevance for query the secret keeper. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query the secret keeper. Sort by date Show all posts
Thursday, March 05, 2015
If I Had To Choose a Favorite Morton Novel, It Would Probably Be This One ...
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
On a lazy summer afternoon in the English countryside, 16-year-old Laurel Nicolson hides in her backyard treehouse. High above her seeking sisters she lounges, dreaming of her secret boyfriend and the rendezvous they've planned for the evening. In that moment, anything—and everything—seems possible.
Laurel has no idea just how much this ordinary afternoon will change her life until she spies a stranger in her yard. Unseen by him or her mother, Laurel witnesses a shocking crime that throws everything she knows about her family and their seemingly perfect home life into question. Unable to process what it all means, Laurel flees to London, with no intention of ever going back.
Fifty years later, Laurel's sisters are organizing a birthday party for their mother, who is turning 90. Reluctantly returning to her childhood home, Laurel vows to finally get the truth about what happened that long ago summer afternoon. Her mother's frail, with a memory that's fading fast—it's now or never. As Laurel probes for answers, she learns the incredible story of three people, whose lives intertwine in ways that will change all of them forever.
Considering the fact that I've raved about every book she's ever written, it's not going to surprise you that I loved The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. The Australian author just knows how to write the kind of stories that capture not only my attention, but also my heart. Her family sagas are full of everything I look for in a novel—rich, atmospheric settings; complex, empathetic characters; intriguing, mystery-filled plot lines; and vivid, flowing prose. I adore all her books, but The Secret Keeper might be my favorite of them all. Really, the only complaint I have with this author is that she writes too slowly (although she does have a new book coming out in October).
(Readalikes: Kate Morton's other books—The House at Riverton, The Forgotten Garden, and The Distant Hours)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for language (no F-bombs), violence, and mild sexual content
To the FTC, with love: I bought a copy of The Secret Keeper at Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger. Ha ha.
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Top Ten Tuesday: A Decade of Favorites
This week's TTT topic is a fun one: Favorite Books Released in the Last Ten Years (one book per year). Since I keep lists of all the books I read each year, with asterisks denoting my favorites, I'm going to use those lists to put my own spin on the topic. Instead of chatting about my favorite books released in a certain year, I'm going to talk about the best ones I read each year, regardless of when they were published. That should be a little easier than Googling "Best Novels of 20--"!
Before I do that, I want to encourage you to join in the TTT fun. It's a good time and a great way to spread some love across the book blogosphere, find new blogs to love, and add intriguing-looking titles to your TBR pile. What's not to love? All you have to do is click over to That Artsy Reader Girl, read a few instructions, make your own list, and share it with the world. Easy cheesy.
Okay, here we go with my Top Ten Favorite Books Read Over the Last Ten Years:
2009:
The Help (2009) by Kathryn Stockett—Like scores of other readers, I loved this revealing novel about a Southern socialite who decides to write a tell-all book about what it's like for the black women working for white society women in the 1960s South. It's a warm, funny, poignant novel that makes for a wonderful read. I adored the movie as well, which is odd since I don't usually like book-to-film adaptations.
2010:
This is the year I discovered Kimberley Griffiths Little, a talented writer who has since become a personal friend. Back in 2010, she was writing MG novels only. These days, she pens books for children, young adults, and adults.
I read and loved two of her books in 2010—The Healing Spell, which came out that year, and an ARC of Circle of Secrets, which was published in 2011. Both are atmospheric stories set in the Louisiana bayou that concern family, friendship, and finding one's place in the world.
2011:
I found another talented MG author in 2011: Cynthia Lord. I read both Rules (2006) and Touch Blue (2010) this year. Rules is a sweet novel about a 12-year-old girl who's frustrated with her autistic brother and the way his condition seems to overwhelm her life and that of her family. Touch Blue concerns an island in Maine where the state is planning to shut down the local school, forcing the island children to go to the mainland to get an education. In an effort to save the school by increasing enrollment, island families take in foster kids. Tess's family takes on a 13-year-old boy whose presence in their lives could be either a blessing or a curse. I enjoyed both books and have continued to read every book Lord writes.
2012:
Cinder (2012) by Marissa Meyer—Sci-fi isn't really my jam, so it took me a while to actually pick up my ARC of Cinder. When I did, I was surprised to find myself totally drawn into this YA story about a cyborg Cinderella. It's a fun, inventive novel, which I enjoyed very much. I've since read—and loved—the whole series, which is exciting, engrossing, clean, and entertaining.
2013:
How the Light Gets In (2013) by Louise Penny—Apparently, I didn't post my "Books Read" list for this year, so I had to Google books that came out in 2013. I've enjoyed every book in Penny's Inspector Gamache series and How the Light Gets In, which I read in 2017, is still my favorite. It's tense and exciting, but also tender and funny.
2014:
Apparently, this was the year I discovered Kate Morton, who quickly became one of my favorite authors. I read four of her books, all the ones she had published to that point, in 2014: The House at Riverton (2008), The Forgotten Garden (2009), The Distant Hours (2010), and The Secret Keeper (2012). Although I enjoyed them all, The Secret Keeper was my favorite. All of them are atmospheric, engrossing tales about families and secrets.
2015:
Salt to the Sea (2016) by Ruta Sepetys—I didn't love Sepetys' Between Shades of Gray (2011), but I really enjoyed Out of the Easy (2013). Apparently, I received an ARC of Salt to the Sea because I read the book in 2015, before it came out. This WWII novel is vivid, heartbreaking, and moving. I loved it.
2016:
Little Black Lies (2015) by Sharon Bolton—This mystery/thriller about a string of children who go missing from a small, safe community on the Falkland Islands and the people desperate to find them, is my favorite of Bolton's books. It kept me guessing until the very last sentence. Literally.
2017:
The Disappearances (2017) by Emily Bain Murphy—It's hard to explain the plot of this unique novel. The cover makes it look like a horror novel, but it's not. Suffice it to say, I adored the story. I've heard rumors that the author FINALLY has a new book coming out in 2020 and I cannot wait. After The Disappearances, I want to read everything Murphy writes!
2018:
The Solace of Water (2018) by Elizabeth Byler Younts—Younts was raised Amish and while she has since left the religion, she remains close to the Amish community and her family members who still reside there. This familiarity with their religion/culture gives Younts an insider's view that informs her fiction. I've read a couple of Younts' books and The Solace of Water, a novel about two very different women (one is a black preacher's wife, the other a white Amish woman) who form an unlikely friendship in the 1950s South, is my favorite. It's a powerful, touching novel which I loved.
2019:
I've read a couple books so far this year that I've marked as favorites, but the one that stands out most is The Island of Sea Women (2019) by Lisa See. I've read and enjoyed several books by See, but this one gleams even among them. It tells the story of a real group of women in South Korea who have been going into the sea for generations to harvest seafood that they sell to support their families. The women are the breadwinners, leaving their husbands behind to rear the children. It's a sweeping, epic novel that stretches across several decades, focusing especially on the WWII years. Warm, intriguing, and memorable, it's a fantastic read that I highly recommend.
So, there you go, some favorites that I've read over the past decade. Which titles did you choose for each year? I'd truly love to know. Leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.
Happy TTT!
Tuesday, April 09, 2013
Newest Ladies in Waiting Novel Offers a Rich, Poignant Examination of Love and Loyalty (with a Giveaway!)
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
When Sweden's Princess Cecelia sails for England in 1565, she takes along an entourage of servants, including her favorite ladies-in-waiting. Among these is 17-year-old Elin von Snakenborg, a redheaded beauty longing for a change of scenery. Elin leaves behind a fiancé who's recently fallen for her sister and a dowry that's been gambled away to almost nothing. With little to draw her back to Sweden, she decides to stay in England, pledging her services to Queen Elizabeth I. As a foreigner, Elin's received a bit coolly by the other ladies, but it doesn't take her long to bond with the queen. Thanks to an advantageous marriage, Elin soon receives the title of Marchioness, making her the highest-ranking woman in all of England (save the queen). As such, she is able to be more to the monarch than just a maid—she's now a friend, someone Queen Elizabeth depends on, confides in, and trusts.
Even as a married woman, Elin finds life at court exciting. The daily gossip always sizzles with tales of romance, deceit and treason. Enemies constantly threaten the queen, vying for a chance to seize her throne. As Elizabeth deals with danger—both from within her borders and without—she relies on her ladies-in-waiting to comfort, support and distract her. Elin fills her role faithfully, doing everything she can to serve the queen she loves. But when problems within her own home arise, Elin questions whether her loyalty to Elizabeth will cost her more than she's willing to give. Can she save her marriage, even if it means defying the most powerful woman in the land? And does she really want to, especially now that she's not sure she can trust her own husband? In a country already swarming with danger and deception, Elin must decide where her true fealty lies—before her own neck ends up on the chopping block.
Roses Have Thorns, the third book in Sandra Byrd's Ladies in Waiting series, continues the story of England's Tudor queens, as told through the eyes of the women who were closest to them. Like To Die For and The Secret Keeper, the newest volume in the series brings historic England to vivid life using painstaking period detail as well as a richly-imagined scenes between the principal characters. Still, while the constant turmoil caused by real, historically-accurate events provides plenty of background tension, the main storyline sags a bit in the middle, growing dull before it picks up again toward the end. Byrd writes well, but my interest in Elin's plight definitely waxed and waned, depending on the pacing of the plot. Overall, though, I found Roses Have Thorns to be a rich, poignant examination of love, loyalty and the life lessons we can all glean from the world's very turbulent history.
(Readalikes: To Die For and The Secret Keeper by Sandra Byrd; also reminds me of The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner and Nefertiti by Michelle Moran)
Grade: B-
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for violence and very mild sexual content
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Roses Have Thorns from the generous folks at Howard Books (a division of Simon & Schuster) via those at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours. Thank you!
----
Now for the fun part -- you can win your very own copy of Roses Have Thorns. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post telling me which historical time period is your favorite to read about. I will also need an email address so I can contact you if you win. Easy peasy, right? The giveaway will end on April 22nd at midnight. Good luck!
Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Top Ten Tuesday (on a Wednesday): Favorite Books By Favorite Authors
I'm late to the party this week. Yesterday was a DAY, and I just wasn't up to crafting a TTT list. I was up all night with an upset stomach, so I finally just got out of bed in spite of the early hour. It's quiet and peaceful in my house, so it's the perfect time to make my belated list. This week's prompt is May Flowers, a follow-up to the April Showers one from a few weeks ago. Even though we haven't had much rain at all this year in the Phoenix area, we do have flowers blooming. The lantana in our backyard has been growing like crazy. I'm not sure how long it will last considering the crazy hot temps we've had this week. Our high yesterday was 105! Anyway, as much as I like flowers, I'm going to go rogue this week. Since I will be cruising the Yucatan on May 26, I'm going to jump ahead and do the theme for that week: My Favorite Books By My Favorite Authors (submitted by Cathy @What Cathy Read Next). Sounds like fun!
As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.
My Favorite Books By (Ten Eleven of) My Favorite Authors
The following authors aren't my ten absolute favorites. However, they are all writers I love and read often. More importantly, I can identify the one book of theirs that I love most. I can't necessarily do that with all of my favorite authors, you know? Or am I just weird? (I might just be weird. That's okay!) Here we go in alphabetical order:
1. A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong—I yap about Armstrong a lot because I enjoy her crime fiction so much. Her urban fantasy novels don't interest me at all, and I haven't loved her horror novels either. As much as I enjoy her Rockton/Haven's Rock series, the Rip Through Time series is my favorite. The books are less graphic than the Rockton/Haven's Rock ones and funnier. All of the installments are worth reading, the but the first one is the one I like best so far.
In A Rip Through Time, a modern-day homicide detective travels to Edinburgh, Scotland, to visit her dying grandmother. While taking a mind-clearing jog, she is assaulted in the same spot where a chambermaid was attacked exactly 150 years earlier. When Detective Atkinson wakes up, she's in Victorian Scotland inhabiting the body of the maid, who works for a physician who moonlights as a coroner. As a confused Mallory tries to figure out what is happening and how to get home, she realizes that her professional skills can be of great use to her boss, who helps the police catch killers. How can she help him without revealing that she's not actually an uneducated maid? And how in the world is she going to get home?
2. Bluebird by Sharon Cameron—This YA author pens historical novels centered around World War II as well as sci-fi/fantasy books. Bluebird is the former. It's about a young German woman who travels to the U.S. after the war in order to unmask the Nazi who spearheaded a series of psychological experiments performed on concentration camp prisoners. Absorbing and memorable, Bluebird is a stunner of a novel.
3. Exiles by Jane Harper—I've enjoyed every book I've read by Harper, but those starring federal investigator Aaron Falk are my favorite. Of those, I like Exiles best. It tells a quieter, more intimate story than the other installments in the series do, but it's still a compelling mystery/thriller in its own right. The mystery revolves around a young mother who goes missing at a town festival, leaving her infant behind.
4. The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth—Another Australian author, Hepworth writes domestic fiction with lots of warmth and wit. This novel, my favorite of hers, is my book club's selection for May, so I'll be happily rereading it before next Tuesday. As is indicated by the title, the story concerns sisters, twins Fern and Rose. Fern lives a carefully structured life, sticking religiously to her routines in order to keep her fragile psyche intact. Rose is one of her few friends, someone for whom she is profoundly grateful, so when Rose learns she can't have children, Fern offers to carry a baby for her. She just needs to find a father. That search begins a journey that will profoundly affect both sisters as old secrets surface and new tensions emerge between them.
5. The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee—Lee writes YA novels, most of which are historical fiction, featuring characters of Chinese descent. This one tells the story of 17-year-old Jo Kuan, a Chinese American who works as a maid for a wealthy, powerful family in Atlanta. Secretly, she also writes an advice column, doling out wisdom for genteel Southern ladies. As Jo's writing gains in popularity, she decides to use it to protest against the injustices she sees every day in her community. She's not prepared for the backlash those articles receive or the danger it will put her in if anyone discovers her secret identity. In the meantime, she's also grappling to understand her own mysterious past.
6. The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner—I've read almost all of Meissner's books and this one, about the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, is the one that has lingered most in my mind. It stars Sophie Walen, an Irish woman who is so desperate to escape poverty in her homeland that she travels across the sea to become the mail-order bride of an American man she's never met before. She's confused by her silent stranger of a husband, although she quickly becomes enamored of his young, mute daughter. Although she doesn't know it yet, Sophie's life is about to be rocked to its core, not just by a deadly earthquake that will literally shake up her world but also by the unknown woman who will appear at her door, revealing shocking secrets that will change the course of both of their lives.
7. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton—Morton's rich family sagas always sweep me away. Although I haven't loved her more recent books nearly as much as I do her older ones, I still consider her one of my favorite authors. Published in 2012, The Secret Keeper is about a woman who secretly witnesses a disturbing crime when she is 16 years old, an event that puts into question everything she knows about her mother. Fifty years later, Laurel is back home to celebrate her mom's 90th birthday. Realizing that time is running out to discover the truth about her mother, she determines to uncover all of the woman's many secrets.
8. How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny—Although I've only read 13 of the 20 books in the Armand Gamache series (the 21st comes out in October), it's one of my very favorite crime series. How the Light Gets In, #9, is set at Christmastime. Our hero, Inspector Armand Gamache, is at a low point in both his professional and personal life. When a friend in Three Pines invites him to come back to the quaint village to investigate a disappearance, he leaps at the chance to return to the place that always feels like home. Turns out, the missing woman is a celebrity who was once famous all over the world. What has happened to her? Because I hate to see my beloved Gamache suffer, How the Light Gets In was a bit of a painful read for me, but it's also a tender and heartening one.
9. The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan—Ryan's latest two novels (one of which comes out next month) are set in the 1950s, but the rest of her books are all set during World War II. The Spies of Shilling Lane is my favorite of hers because although it has its poignant moments, it's mostly a fun, lively, madcap adventure. It stars the indomitable Mrs. Braithwaite, a hilarious queen bee who's knocked off her throne by her scandalous divorce. Indignant, she hies off to London to lick her wounds with her daughter, Betty, who has been in the city helping with war work. When Betty's timid landlord informs her mother that Betty is missing, Mrs. Braithwaite strong arms the reluctant landord into helping her locate her daughter. Turns out, her child has a much more complicated complicated life than Mrs. Braithwaite ever could have imagined, a life that will put all of them in grave danger.
10. Middle of the Night by Riley Sager—Final Girls is the only one of Sager's novels that I haven't read. I've enjoyed all of them, some more than others naturally, but Middle of the Night is my favorite. It's different from his other books, more gentle and moving. Never fear, though, it's just as riveting as his other thrillers. The story revolves around Ethan Marsh, a man who returns to the picture-perfect neighborhood he lived in as a child. It was there that, many years ago, his 10-year-old best friend disappeared during an overnight campout in Ethan's backyard. Already suffering from insomnia and disturbing nightmares, Ethan is plagued by strange things happening in the middle of the night. Signs of his missing friend keep appearing. Is someone playing a terrible joke on Ethan? Or has his long missing pal returned? What really happened the night of the campout? Ethan is determined to find out.
11. The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James—I love St. James' eerie thrillers. This one is set in a rundown motel in a dying town where strange things are known to happen. Viv Delaney reluctantly takes a job at the dumpy place with the goal of saving enough money to escape to New York City. It doesn't take long for her to realize that something is very wrong at her place of employment. There's a reason for the bad juju that emanates from the Sun Down Motel and she's going to uncover all its many secrets.
There you go, eleven of my favorite books by eleven of my favorite authors. Have you read any of them? Which are your favorite books by your favorite authors? I'd love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Monday, October 29, 2018
Newest Kate Morton Saga Not Quite Up to Snuff
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
"It occurs to me that this house is like that, too. It remembers, just as I do. It remembers everything."
When London archivist Elodie Winslow discovers an old leather satchel at work, she thinks little of it. Until she finds two remarkable items within. She's intrigued by the old photo of an arresting woman wearing Victorian-era clothes, but she's completely mesmerized by an artist's sketch of a riverside country manor that appears to be straight out of a storybook. Although Elodie's never actually seen such a place, she's intimately familiar with the twin-gabled home nestled in a bend of the river. Somehow, the artist has drawn the exact place where Elodie's mother set all the fanciful bedtime stories with which she enchanted her young daughter.
As Elodie peers into the past in search of answers, she discovers that Birchwood Manor is, indeed, a real place. Built in the 1500s, it's been an artists' retreat, a boarding school for girls, even a refuge for children fleeing London during World War II. Its residents have experienced every emotion—grief, joy, fear, comfort, triumph, and tragedy. The estate houses ghosts and the key to solving at least one mystery. When Elodie learns of the mysterious events of 1862, when one woman was shot to death and another went missing from a summer artists' getaway, she knows she won't be able to rest until she finds out what really happened. She hopes her search for the truth will reveal the answer to the most unsettling question of all—What does Elodie's mother have to do with the many sorrows of Birchwood Manor?
It's no secret that I'm a raving Kate Morton fan. I adore her eloquent, atmospheric dual-timeline novels featuring crumbling mansions, mysterious heirlooms, and juicy family secrets. I've read—and loved—all of her books. Since they only come out every 2-3 years, I wait with bated breath for new sagas from this talented Australian author. So, to say I was excited for the emergence of The Clockmaker's Daughter would be a vast understatement. Did Morton's newest live up to my (admittedly very high) expectations? No, actually. While I liked it overall, it's my least favorite of the author's books. Why? The story had a little different format from Morton's others, which left it feeling overly long, unfocused, and dull in places. I loved learning about Birchwood Manor's long history, but with so many characters over so much time, I got a tad lost. So, while I found the mystery at the novel's center compelling, the plot felt a bit loosey-goosey and a little confusing. On the whole, I still enjoyed The Clockmaker's Daughter—just not nearly as much as I've loved all Morton's others.
(Readalikes: Reminded me of The House Between Tides by Sarah Maine and other books by Kate Morton, including The Lake House; The House at Riverton; The Forgotten Garden; The Distant Hours; and The Secret Keeper)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for mild language (no F-bombs), violence, and mild sexual content
To the FTC, with love: I received an e-ARC of The Clockmaker's Daughter from the generous folks at Simon & Schuster via those at NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Morton's Newest Another Rich, Succulent Gem
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Midsummer's Eve, 1933—Loeanneth, the Edevane Family's summer home in Cornwall, is the sparkling center of a lavish party. Hundreds of revelers gather on its grounds, sipping champagne, watching a bonfire burn on the lake, and enjoying the perfect weather. It's a night of enchantment, anticipation, and excitement. A night that will turn tragic when the disappearance of 11-month-old Theo Edevane is discovered. With no body, no ransom note, no clue as to what has happened to the child, the case of the missing baby goes unsolved. Crushed by grief, the Edevanes close up the lake house, never to return.
Cornwall, 2003—After making a career-ending mistake, London detective Sadie Sparrow is forced to take a leave of absence. While cooling her heels at her grandfather's seaside cottage in Cornwall, she stumbles across a once grand, now decaying home. Intrigued by the ruin, Sadie starts asking questions. When she learns about Loeanneth's mysterious history, she becomes obsessed with the Edevanes. Determined to find out what happened to young Theo, she seeks out the boy's remaining family members as well as anyone with connections to Loeanneth.
Alice Edevane, now a well-known mystery writer in her late 80s, holds pieces to the puzzle of what really happened on that summer night back in 1933. But not all. Although she longs to piece it all together, she doesn't want the exposure. Can she trust Sadie Sparrow to find answers? Does Alice really want to know the truths her family has always gone to such pains to hide?
As Sadie comes closer to solving the very cold case, she will make some startling discoveries about the Edevanes, revelations that will lead her to illuminating epiphanies about herself and her own family. If her manic search for answers about Theo Edevane doesn't kill her first.
It's no secret that I'm a huge Kate Morton fan. I've read—and loved—all of her novels. Sure, they're all kind of the same, but I don't care. I adore them. The Lake House, Morton's newest, is no exception. With well-developed characters, intricate plotting, and a compelling mystery, it definitely held my interest. Some of the story's plot surprises did strike me as annoyingly convenient, but I still very much enjoyed this multi-layered family saga, which kept me guessing nonetheless. Morton's skillful storytelling never fails to captivate me, even when I see twists coming, which is why she's quickly become one of my favorite authors. For me, her books are must-read, auto-buy treasures. If you dig absorbing, suspenseful reads about old houses, family secrets, and past/present mysteries, don't miss The Lake House or anything else by the incomparable Kate Morton.
(Readalikes: Reminds me of Kate Morton's other novels, including The Distant Hours; The Forgotten Garden; The House at Riverton; and The Secret Keeper)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for language (no F-bombs), violence, and mild sexual content
To the FTC, with love: I received an e-ARC of The Lake House from the generous folks at Atria Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) via those at NetGalley. Thank you!
Friday, January 02, 2015
How It All Shook Out: My Reading Year in Review
My favorite thing about starting a new year is how fresh and hopeful everything feels. I really, really would have liked to start the 2015 blogging year by being all caught up on my reviews, but, well, yeah ... didn't happen. I'm still woefully behind (evidence: the last book I reviewed was one I read in August)! Shame on me. As far as blogging resolutions, I'm going for the same ole, same ole (as unattainable as they may be): catch up on reviews, keep up on reviews, and try to read 200 books this year. That's it. We'll see how I do.
As for my 2014 reading, here's how it shook out:
Total books read: 139 (3 more than last year)
Number of fiction books read: 130 (94%)
Number of non-fiction books read: 9 (6%)
Number of adult books read: 46 (33%)
Number of YA books read: 69 (50%)
Number of MG/chapter books read: 24 (17%)
Number of books read by female authors: 119 (86%)
Number of books read by male authors: 20 (14%)
Number of books read by LDS authors: 17 (20%)
Number of books read from personal collection: 33 (24%)
Number of books read, review copies: 58 (42%)
Number of books read from library: 48 (35%)
Reading challenges joined in 2014: 2
Reading challenges completed in 2014: 1 (In my defense, reading a book from each of the 50 states is not as easy as it sounds!)
In comparison with 2013, I read more non-fiction this year, more adult novels, more of my own books and more books from the library. Wow. Does that mean I've matured a little since last year? Surprisingly, I read fewer review books this year. Not by many, but still ... interesting.
How about you? How did your reading year go? What were your favorite reads of 2014? I love end-of-the-year lists/surveys, so let me know if you've got one up on your blog. I'd love to come take a look!
Thanks for all the love you've given my blog this year. It makes me so happy to read your comments, check out your book recommendations, and hop around to your blogs. Here's to another great year of bloggin' 'bout books!
P.S. Before I delete the list of books I read in 2014 from the bottom of my blog, I'm going to list them here. Asterisks denote favorites.
- 139. ATLANTIA BY ALLY CONDIE (DEC)
- 138. SINK REFLECTIONS BY MARLA CILLEY [RE-READ] (DEC)
- 137. DOLLBABY BY LAURA LANE MCNEAL (DEC)
- 136. RUNNING OUT OF NIGHT BY SHARON LOVEJOY (DEC)
- 135. RITES OF PASSAGE BY JOY N. HENSLEY (DEC)
- 134. WHAT GOOD MEN DO BY DAVID S. BAXTER (DEC)
- 133. SON BY LOIS LOWRY (DEC)
- 132. SAVE ME BY KRISTYN KUSEK LEWIS (DEC)
- 131. FAR FROM YOU BY TESS SHARPE (DEC)
- 130. UNDIVIDED BY NEAL SHUSTERMAN* (DEC)
- 129. UNSOULED BY NEAL SHUSTERMAN* (DEC)
- 128. THIS STAR WON'T GO OUT BY ESTHER EARL (DEC)
- 127. WHILE BEAUTY SLEPT BY ELIZABETH BLACKWELL* (DEC)
- 126. BLEEDING HEART BY LIZA GYLLENHAAL (NOV)
- 125. THE HALCYON BIRD BY KAT BEYER (NOV)
- 124. THE DEMON CATCHERS OF MILAN BY KAT BEYER (NOV)
- 123. FORBIDDEN BY KIMBERLEY GRIFFITHS LITTLE* (NOV)
- 122. THE SECRET KEEPER BY KATE MORTON* (NOV)
- 121. MESSENGER BY LOIS LOWRY (NOV)
- 120. LADY EMMA'S CAMPAIGN BY JENNIFER MOORE (NOV)
- 119. STATION ELEVEN BY EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL (NOV)
- 118. WAKING UP JOY BY TINA ANN FORKNER (NOV)
- 117. HER DARK CURIOSITY BY MEGAN SHEPHERD (NOV)
- 116. THE DISAPPARATION OF JAMES BY ANNE URSU (OCT)
- 115. GET HAPPY BY MARY AMATO (OCT)
- 114. BIG LITTLE LIES BY LIANE MORIARTY* (OCT)
- 113. WHEN BY VICTORIA LAURIE (OCT)
- 112. LEAVING TIME BY JODI PICOULT* (OCT)
- 111. PAINTING KISSES BY MELANIE JACOBSON* (OCT)
- 110. SWEET UNREST BY LISA MAXWELL (OCT)
- 109. REMAKE BY ILIMA TODD (OCT)
- 108. BROWN GIRL DREAMING BY JACQUELINE WOODSON* (OCT)
- 107. BIRD BOX BY JOSH MALERMAN (OCT)
- 106. WE HEAR THE DEAD BY DIANNE K. SALERNI (OCT)
- 105. STILLWATER RISING BY STEENA HOLMES (OCT)
- 104. WEIGHT LOSS BOSS BY DAVID KIRCHHOFF (OCT)
- 103. MERCY MODE BY EM GARNER (OCT)
- 102. CONTAMINATED BY EM GARNER* (OCT)
- 101. DOLL BONES BY HOLLY BLACK (SEP)
- 100. CROSS MY HEART AND HOPE TO SPY BY ALLY CARTER (SEP)
- 99. GATHERING BLUE BY LOIS LOWRY (SEP)
- 98. GHOSTING BY EDITH PATTOU (SEP)
- 97. THE BOXCAR CHILDREN: THE MYSTERY OF THE WILD PONIES [#77] BY GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER (SEP)
- 96. THE BOXCAR CHILDREN: THE GARDEN THIEF [#130] BY GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER (SEP)
- 95. NEEDFUL THINGS BY STEPHEN KING (SEP)
- 94. A SINGLE SHARD BY LINDA SUE PARK (SEP)
- 93. THE GIVER BY LOIS LOWRY* [RE-READ] (SEP)
- 92. THE BLACKHOPE ENIGMA BY TERESA FLAVIN (SEP)
- 91. RED HILL BY JAMIE MCGUIRE (SEP)
- 90. JUST CALL MY NAME BY HOLLY GOLDBERG SLOAN (SEP)
- 89. I'LL BE THERE BY HOLLY GOLDBERG SLOAN* (SEP)
- 88. ANYWHERE BUT PARADISE BY ANNE BUSTARD (SEP)
- 87. A LONG WALK TO WATER BY LINDA SUE PARK (SEP)
- 86. THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER BY MEGAN SHEPHERD (SEP)
- 85. THE ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD BY AUSTIN ASLAN (AUG)
- 84. THE CAGED GRAVES BY DIANNE K. SALERNI (AUG)
- 83. THE UNDERTAKING OF TESS BY LESLEY KAGEN (AUG)
- 82. WHITER THAN SNOW BY SANDRA DALLAS (AUG)
- 81. SWAMP BONES BY KATHY REICHS (AUG)
- 80. SARAH'S KEY BY TATIANA DE ROSNAY (AUG)
- 79. THE SECRET PLACE BY TANA FRENCH* (AUG)
- 78. THE TIME OF THE FIREFLIES BY KIMBERLEY GRIFFITHS LITTLE* (AUG)
- 77. GASP BY LISA MCMANN (AUG)
- 76. BONE GAP BY LAURA RUBY* (AUG)
- 75. WINTERKILL BY KATE A. BOORMAN* (JUL)
- 74. THE DEVIL'S ARITHMETIC BY JANE YOLEN (JUL)
- 73. THE WITCH OF BLACKBIRD POND BY ELIZABETH GEORGE SPEARE* (JUL)
- 72. THE WALLED CITY BY RYAN GRAUDIN* (JUL)
- 71. NUMBER THE STARS BY LOIS LOWRY (JUL)
- 70. (DON'T YOU) FORGET ABOUT ME BY KATE KARYUS QUINN (JUL)
- 69. THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD BY MICHAEL KORYTA (JUL)
- 68. FIVE DAYS AT MEMORIAL BY SHERI FINK (JUL)
- 67. PROTOTYPE BY M.D. WATERS (JUL)
- 66. ARCHETYPE BY M.D. WATERS* (JUL)
- 65. THE EIGHTH DAY BY DIANNE K. SALERNI (JUL)
- 64. TYGER, TYGER BY KERSTEN HAMILTON (JUL)
- 63. SUGAR BY JEWELL PARKER RHODES (JUL)
- 62. BONES NEVER LIE BY KATHY REICHS* (JUL)
- 61. ONE CAME HOME BY AMY TIMBERLAKE (JUL)
- 60. FALLING HOME BY KAREN WHITE (JUN)
- 59. A LONG TIME GONE BY KAREN WHITE* (JUN)
- 58. ON THE FENCE BY KASIE WEST (JUN)
- 57. SURVIVE BY ALEX MOREL (JUN)
- 56. ALL RIGHT HERE BY CARRE ARMSTRONG GARDNER (JUN)
- 55. PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG BY ANNE BLANKMAN (JUN)
- 54. WHISPER BY CHRIS STRUYK-BONN (JUN)
- 53. THE CHAPEL WARS BY LINDSEY LEAVITT (JUN)
- 52. MISSISSIPPI JACK BY L.A. MEYER* (MAY)
- 51. THE YEAR SHE LEFT US BY KATHRYN MA (MAY)
- 50. WHERE THE ROCK SPLITS THE SKY BY PHILIP WEBB (MAY)
- 49. MERCY SNOW BY TIFFANY BAKER (MAY)
- 48. THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY BY GABRIELLE ZEVIN* (MAY)
- 47. NIL BY LYNNE MATSON (MAY)
- 46. IN COLD BLOOD BY TRUMAN CAPOTE (MAY)
- 45. I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN BY MARY HIGGINS CLARK (MAY)
- 44. SAVE THE CAT BY BLAKE SNYDER* (MAY)
- 43. THE DISTANT HOURS BY KATE MORTON* (APR)
- 42. UPSIDE DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE BY JULIE T. LAMANA* (APR)
- 41. A SNICKER OF MAGIC BY NATALIE LLOYD* (APR)
- 40. THE BOXCAR CHILDREN: THE AMAZING MYSTERY SHOW BY GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER (APR)
- 39. DEAR america: like the willow tree by Lois Lowry (apr)
- 38. IN A HANDFUL OF DUST BY MINDY MCGINNIS* (APR)
- 37. CRESS BY MARISSA MEYER* (APR)
- 36. THE BOXCAR CHILDREN: THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED BOXCAR BY GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER (MAR)
- 35. HIDDEN LIKE ANNE FRANK BY MARCEL PRINS AND PETER HENK STEENHUIS (MAR)
- 34. THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY BY HOLLY SCHINDLER (MAR)
- 33. COINCIDENCE BY J.W. IRONMONGER (MAR)
- 32. THE HOUSE AT RIVERTON BY KATE MORTON* (MAR)
- 31. THE FORBIDDEN LIBRARY BY DJANGO WEXLER (MAR)
- 30. CURED BY BETHANY WIGGINS (MAR)
- 29. SLAYERS: FRIENDS AND TRAITORS BY C.J. HILL (MAR)
- 28. PIVOT POINT BY KASIE WEST (FEB)
- 27. THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN BY KATE MORTON* (FEB)
- 26. THE BOXCAR CHILDREN: THE MYSTERY OF THE STAR RUBY BY GERTRUDE CHANDLER WARNER (FEB)
- 25. BLACK OUT BY ROBISON WELLS (FEB)
- 24. INSOMNIA BY J.R. JOHANSSON (FEB)
- 23. STUNG BY BETHANY WIGGINS* (FEB)
- 22. SOMETHING REAL BY HEATHER DEMETRIOS (FEB)
- 21. STEELHEART BY BRANDON SANDERSON (FEB)
- 20. AND WE STAY BY JENNY HUBBARD (FEB)
- 19. FINDING JUNE BY SHANNEN CRANE CAMP (FEB)
- 18. CLOSE YOUR EYES, HOLD HANDS BY CHRIS BOHJALIAN (FEB)
- 17. GOING VINTAGE BY LINDSEY LEAVITT (FEB)
- 16. ALL THE TRUTH THAT'S IN ME BY JULIE BERRY* (FEB)
- 15. A DEATH-STRUCK YEAR BY MAKIIA LUCIER* (FEB)
- 14. ONCE WAS LOST BY SARA ZARR (FEB)
- 13. DELUSION BY LAURA L. SULLIVAN (FEB)
- 12. ATTACHMENTS BY RAINBOW ROWELL (FEB)
- 11. THE KILLING WOODS BY LUCY CHRISTOPHER (JAN)
- 10. SKINNY BY DONNA COONER (JAN)
- 9. INNOCENCE BY DEAN KOONTZ (JAN)
- 8. A TIME TO KILL BY JOHN GRISHAM (JAN)
- 7. THE BLOSSOMING UNIVERSE OF VIOLET DIAMOND BY BRENDA WOODS (JAN)
- 6. FANGIRL BY RAINBOW ROWELL (JAN)
- 5. THE OFFERING BY KIMBERLY DERTING (JAN)
- 4. WANDERVILLE BY WENDY MCCLURE (JAN)
- 3. THE ESSENCE BY KIMBERLY DERTING (JAN)
- 2. THE PLEDGE BY KIMBERLY DERTING [RE-READ] (JAN)
- 1. HALF A CHANCE BY CYNTHIA LORD (JAN)
Saturday, July 24, 2010
A Hoppin' Weekend
I'm having a good ole time with The Hogwarts Challenge hosted by Bunnitaz over at Worth Reading It? I'll be sad to see it end in August. Before it finishes, though, our wonderful hostess is giving us all a chance to boost our points big time. The mini challenge is too complicated to explain here, but since it has to do with summer reading lists, I'm going to post the one I'll be using. I had a hard time finding any official summer reading lists (except for Oprah's, of course), but I liked the selections on this one from Parkway High School in Missouri. Students there are encouraged to read at least three of the titles before the school year begins. It's not exactly beach reading, either. The lists for all grades are below - I've crossed out the ones I've read previously. Which have you read? Which do you think I need to read?School starts here in two weeks - think I'll be ready for high school by then? Hee hee ...
(9th Grade)
Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Anaya, Rudolfo A. Bless Me, Ultima.
Blackwood, Gary. The Year of the Hangman.
Covey, Sean. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens.
Cox, Lynne. Swimming to Antarctica.
Dessen, Sara. The Truth about Forever.
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist.
Grimes, Nikki. Dark Sons.
Halberstam, David. Firehouse.
Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster.
Lord, Walter. A Night to Remember.
Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. Dairy Queen.
Murray, Jaye. Bottled Up.
Nolan, Han. Dancing on the Edge.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East.
Peck, Richard. The Teacher’s Funeral.
Philbrick, Nathaniel. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.
Schaap, Jeremy. Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics.
Uchida, Yoshiko. Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family.
Woodson, Jacqueline. Behind You.
(10th Grade)
Alexie, Sherman. Flight.
Alvarez, Julia. In the Time of the Butterflies.
Anderson, M.T. Feed.
Bissinger, H.G. Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream.
Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game.
Cary, Kate. Bloodline: A Novel.
Collins, Billy (Editor). Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry.
Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
Du Maurier, Daphne. Rebecca.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in Boom-Time America.
Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Halberstam, David. October 1964.
Jeter, Derek. The Life You Imagine: Life Lessons for Achieving Your Dreams.
Kooser, Ted. Delights and Shadows.
Larsen, Judy Merrill. All the Numbers.
Naidoo, Beverley. Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope.
Poe, Edgar Allen. Selected Tales.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor's Tale I and II.
Thomas, Marlo. The Right Words at the Right Time.
Tsukiyama, Gail. Dreaming Water.
Volponi, Paul. Black and White.
(11th Grade)
Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility.
Berthon, Simon. Warlords: An Extraordinary Re-creation of World War II Through the Eyes and Minds of Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin.
Blumenthal, Karen. Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX, The Law that Changed the Future of Girls in America.
Brooks, Martha. True Confessions of a Heartless Girl.
Callahan, David. The Cheating Culture.
Collins, Billy. Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems.
Danticat, Edwidge. The Farming of Bones: A Novel.
De Botton, Alain. The Art of Travel.
Erdrich, Louise. Tracks: A Novel.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
Hersey, John. Hiroshima.
Hilton, James. Lost Horizon.
Hopkins, Ellen. Crank.
Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake.
Matheson, Richard. I am Legend.
Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar.
Preston, Richard. Hot Zone.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation.
Walls, Jeanette. The Glass Castle: A Memoir.
Welty, Eudora. One Writer’s Beginnings.
(12th Grade)
Ambrose, Stephen. Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany.
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale.
Bissinger, Buzz. Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager.
Bryson, Bill. A Short History of Nearly Everything.
Cisneros, Sandra. Caramelo.
Chandrasekaran, Rajiv. Imperial Life in the Emerald City.
Fleming, Ian. Casino Royale: A James Bond Novel.
Foer, Jonathan Safran. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Friedman, Thomas. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century.
Goodwin, Doris Kearns. No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.
Haruf, Kent. Plainsong.
Hughes, Langston. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes.
King, Stephen. The Shining.
Kingsolver, Barbara. The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel.
Larkin, Emma. Finding George Orwell in Burma.
Mortenson, Greg. Three Cups of Tea.
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Sittenfeld, Curtis. Prep: A Novel.
X, Malcolm. The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Xiaolong, Qiu. Death of a Red Heroine.
--
It's the weekend again, which means it's time for another Book Blogger Hop. Yay! These are so much fun. It's a fabulous opportunity to find new book blogs and "meet" other bloggers. Join the fun by clicking over to Crazy For Books.
This week's question is: What are you reading now? You're never going to believe my answer - nothing. I finished Beauty by Robin McKinley this morning. I really enjoyed it. Next up is The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams. I've sneaked a peek or two, but haven't actually started reading it yet. I'm excited to see what it's all about.
Happy Hopping!
Friday, June 06, 2014
It's a Kate Morton Novel—Of Course I Loved It!
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
If only Edie could let it go. Intrigued by the idea of her dull, predictable mother harboring a deep, dark secret—which she must, considering her odd reaction to the old letter—Edie decides to find out just what happened when her mother stayed with the Blythes during World War II. When she's asked to write an introduction to a new edition of The True History of the Mud Man, Edie knows it's a perfect opportunity to find the truth. But, when she visits the Blythe sisters, a trio of elderly women who still live in their family's moldering castle, she leaves with more questions than answers. She knows the Blythes are hiding something, but what? And what does Edie's mother have to do with it all? The deeper Edie digs, the more shocking her discoveries. As revelations from the past illuminate mysteries of the present, she must decide what to do with her new-found knowledge—knowledge that could have alarming consequences for four women about whom Edie cares deeply.
Like Kate Morton's other novels, The Distant Hours tells a lush, absorbing tale about the secrets family members keep from one another, sometimes for generations. It feels similar to the author's other books, true, but that's okay, the Morton Formula works for me! Even though I guessed a few of this novel's plot "surprises," that really didn't detract from my enjoyment of this book. As I have with the other stories I've read by Morton, I liked this one immensely.
(Readalikes: Other books by Kate Morton, including The Forgotten Garden, The Secret Keeper, and The House at Riverton)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), violence, and mild sexual content
To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find
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