JANUARY 2012

Its already March and Im so far behind (in both reading and posting).  Ever since school started I have been falling further and further behind in reading or keeping up with anything not school or work related. 

January:

1. 92 Pacific Boulevard - Debbie Macomber (Cedar Cove #9)
I didn't enjoy this book as much as i have others in the series. I do think its a cute series that reads really quickly and I find it easy to connect with most of the characters Debbie Macomber has created. I do like that there are additional characters in each book instead of just reading about the same 4 or 5 people over and over again.

 

2. War by Sebastian Junger

This was an audio book - Im really glad I went with the audio.  It was intense at times, but it was a really good look at some of the people behind Restrepo.

 

3. Private #1 Suspect - James Patterson.
Predictable ending. Its better to read the first two before this one bc of the storyline. Lately im disliking James Patterson more and more. But my ocd forces me to keep going with the series he writes once ive started them. They are starting to run into each other. So many are the same plot.

 

4. The Shop on Blossom Street - Blossom Street Series 1 - Debbie Macomber
I really had a difficult time liking the characters of this book at first, but after a few chapters, I really started to get into the story. I think Margaret and Lydia are a good balance for each otheir. The story line was okay - not too much that wasnt predictable but I like Debbie Macomber.

5. A Good Yarn - Blossom Street Series 2 - Debbie Macomber
Im happy to see the addition of new characters like in Cedar Cove. It keeps the books a little more fresh and interesting. I think I like the Cedar Cove series a little better - but Im more invested in that one. I have up to book 8 waiting for me on my nook for this series, so Im going to keep going with it. I hope it can keep my interest.

6. Anatomy of a Disappearance - Hisham Matar
This book was really good. I HATED the stepmother from the minute her character entered the scene. The story is told from the perspective of a son whose father is an Egyptian dissident who is abducted in Geneva. There are quite a few characters to follow but the main characters are the son and his step mother with whom he has a bit of an unhealthy obsession. It dragged a bit in the middle but was overall a good story.

 

7. Kill Alex Cross - Alex Cross Series # 18 - James Patterson

Quote:

The President's son and daughter are abducted, and Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene. But someone very high-up is using the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA to keep him off the case and in the dark. A deadly contagion in the water supply cripples half of the capital, and Alex discovers that someone may be about to unleash the most devastating attack the United States has ever experienced. As his window for solving both crimes narrows, Alex makes a desperate decision that goes against everything he believes--one that may alter the fate of the entire country. KILL ALEX CROSS is faster, more exciting, and more tightly wound than any Alex Cross thriller James Patterson has ever written!

8. Back On Blossom Street - Blossom Street Series #4 Debbie Macomber
I skipped the third book - I started listening to it on audio but didnt like it.

Quote:

There's a new shop on Seattle's Blossom Street—a flower store called Susannah's Garden, right next door to A Good Yarn. Susannah Nelson, the owner, has just hired an assistant named Colette Blake, a young widow who's obviously hiding a secret—or two. When Susannah and Colette both join Lydia Goetz's new knitting class, they discover that Lydia and her sister, Margaret, have worries of their own. Margaret's daughter, Julia, is the victim of a random carjacking, and the entire family is thrown into emotional chaos. Then there's Alix Townsend, whose wedding is only months away. She's not sure she can go through with it, though. A reception at the country club, with hundreds of guests she's never met—it's just not Alix. But, like everyone else in Lydia's knitting class, she knows there's a solution to every problem… and that another woman can usually help you find it!

9. Testimony - Anita Shreeve (unabridged audio)

Quote:

At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora's box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voices--those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal--that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment. Writing with a pace and intensity surpassing even her own greatest work, Anita Shreve delivers in TESTIMONY a gripping emotional drama with the impact of a thriller. No one more compellinglyexplores the dark impulses that sway the lives of seeming innocents, the needs and fears that drive ordinary men and women into intolerable dilemmas, and the ways in which our best intentions can lead to our worst transgressions.