Note added to goal 'Read 50 books (leisure or educational)' by 'breeannzp'

36. Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse
Good book - and an interesting way to tell a buddhist message. I did pull quite a few quotes from it - but the rest is up for discussion at the next book club meeting!

35) Super Sad True Love Story - Gary Shteyngart
Interesting, very interesting.

34) Flight Behavior - Barbara Kingsolver Took me longer than I thought. Good read but I definitely wouldn't rank it among the best of Kingsolver.

33) The Search - Nora Roberts (Don't judge...I know you're judging. Okay read; terrible ending.)

4 months ago

32) Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami
while not uplifting, most novels I read are not. Truly a wonderfully sad book.

4 months ago

31. The Friday Night Knitting Club - Kate Jacobs.
This was just okay. Got better as I went but probably would have been a better book for when I was older; at the same point in my life as the characters in it.

5 months ago

30) I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith
Actually a very good "chick book" ... I ended up reading the bulk of it between two days!

5 months ago

29.) Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

6 months ago

28.) Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton
Powerful read on South Africa and humanity as a whole.

7 months ago

27. Spy Glass -Maria Snyder. The final of the trilogy and just as good. Author is very talented for the YA Fantasy world - which is my guilty pleasure.

9 months ago

26. Storm Glass - Maria Snyder
Love these books - easy reads but such a cool world that is created!

9 months ago

25. Halfway Point!! Fifty Shades Darker - EL James.
Have to finish what I start. Better than the first, in my opinion...the actual writing isn't great, the story just okay, the love dovey-ness frustrating - but I'm still somehow reading it.

9 months ago

24. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Very good - I'm excited to discuss at the first book club meeting this upcoming thursday. :)

23. Storm Glass - Maria V. Snyder.
I had read a trilogy prior to starting this one a few years ago. Not profound reads but the story definitely captures my imagination and attention. Finsihed in record time!!

22. Nanny Returns - Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus (sequel to the Nanny Diaries)

It was one of those good reads - not because it's mesmorizing or thought provoking but it's just a good story - a good continuation to a story.

21. Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James
Quick read...but that's the general trend (I hear) with this book. Yeah...I might read the other two in the trilogy...just might.

20. The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver. My favorite author does it again. A bit slow to start but such an amazing novel and I learned so much too! She finds a magically way to incorporate tidbits of knowledge worded more eloquently than I have ever been able to do myself. AMAZING read!

11 months ago

19. Between Barack and a Hard Place - Tim Wise
I had taken another non-fiction book on - this one a social justice treat that discusses racism and white denial in the age of racism. "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continous struggle."

11 months ago

18. Ironically enough, my 18th book is titled "Explosive Eighteen" by Janet Evanovich. Part of the Stephanie Plum series...funny, entertaining, but also incredibly predictable (it's number 18).

17. The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
Oddly enough, an inspirational read for me even though it also left me in a mild state of sadness. The good news - I read it in under 24 hours over the Easter holiday...so the sadness didn't grasp me for too long. "That which you manifest is before you."

15. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest - Stieg Larsson Finally got to finish this series! SO good! Read the majority of this book in one lazy weekend: saturday & sunday. sometimes you just need a lazy reading day. :)

14. Lies My Teacher Told Me - Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong (3.23.12) Outstandingly Informative and necessary.

13. The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson (2/20/12) - AWESOME. Need to find the third in the trilogy somehow/someway!

12. Sula - Toni Morrison (2/5/12)

11. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer. Gives me heavy boots but a very thoughtful novel.

10. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson (1/19/12) Holding off for a bit, but excited to read the second in this trilogy. After the first 60 pages, this book picked up to fall into the category of "cannot put down."

9. Back to the Bedroom - Janet Evanovich (12/24/11). I thought I'd like it because it was Janet Evanovich...I didn't like it at all.

8. Animal Dreams - Barbara Kingsolver (12/18/11) Wonderfully insightful, spirited, thought provoking novel. Barbara Kingsolver still remains my favorite author.

7. Baby Proof - Emily Giffin (11/13/11) (Read in less than 24 hours. I have a problem.)

6. The Devil in the White City - Erik Larson (11/12/11)

4. Something Blue - Emily Giffin (9/27/11)
5. The House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros (Currently Reading)

1. Smoking Seventeen – Janet Evanovich (8/26/11)
2. Running With Scissors – Augusten Burroughs (9/18/11)
3. The Girl with the Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier (9/22/11)
4. Something Blue (Currently Reading)