Kadyn (Books 17-20)

Kadyn's Blitz continues....

17. Jim Thorpe Biography               by Ellen C. Labrecque
18. Book 3 of Everest "The Climb" by Gordan Korman
19. "Wringer"                                   by Jerry Spinelli
20. I survived the Nazi Invasion.     by  Lauren Tarshis

Kaleb (Book 6-24)

So...catching Kaleb up in his reading blitz.

6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid "Cabin Fever"         by Jeff Kinney
7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid "Hard Luck"            by Jeff Kinney
8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid "Rodrick Rules"      by Jeff Kinney
9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid "The Last Straw"     by Jeff Kinney
10.Diary of a Wimpy Kid "Dog Days"            by Jeff Kinney
11.Diary of a Wimpy Kid "The Third Wheel" by Jeff Kinney
12.Diary of a Wimpy Kid                                 by Jeff Kinney
13.Diary of a Wimpy Kid "The Long Haul"     by Jeff Kinney
14.Diary of a Wimpy Kid "The Ugly Truth"     by Jeff Kinney
15. I survived the bombing of Pearl Harbor      by Lauren Tarshis
16. I survived the San Francisco Earthquake     by Lauren Tarshis
17. I survived the attacks of September 11        by Lauren Tarshis
18. I survived the sinking of the Titanic            by Lauren Tarshis
19. I survived the Shark Attacks of 1916.          by Lauren Tarshis
20. I survived the Nazi Invasion.                        by Lauren Tarshis
21. STAT (Standing Tall And Talented)            by Amar'e Stoudemire
22. Punished                                                        by David Lubar
23. The Maze Runner.                                         by James Dashner
24. The Scorch Trials.                                         by James Dashner

Kaleb enjoys the "I Survived" series which Lauren Tarshis has done a marvelous job writing a children's version of historical fiction. A perfect blend of history and children fantasy!

Summer Reading List 2015

I'm still in the middle of my annual reading blitz, but thought I'd share my "Summer Reading List" and why I chose them as part of my Summer Blitz. Twenty-four books made the list putting the reading time frame as two books a week.

1. The Passage * Cronin (Suggested by local Librarian and listed as one of the top horror reads)
2. The Twelve * Cronin.   (Part two of The Passage Trilogy..with book 3 out in October 2015)
3. All The Pretty Horses ** McCarthy (Cormac McCarthy is one of my favorite authors and...
4. The Crossing ** McCarthy (this is part of award winning trilogy "Border Trilogy"...
5. Cities Of The Plain** McCarthy (book 3 of trilogy. Won national book and critic circle awards)
6. Dark Places--Flynn (Finishing 3 book set of "Gone Girl" & "Sharp Objects" Big year for Flynn)
7. The Casual Vacancy--Rowling (Reading another J.K. Rowling book that IS NOT Harry Potter)
8. Thereby Hangs A Tail--Quinn (Continue reading clever mystery series with narrator as the dog)
9. The Invention Of Wings--Kidd (Made Operah's Book Club, Best Seller Category)
10. The Last Full Measure--Shaara (Finishing the Killer Angels Trilogy. Classic Historical Fiction)
11. American Sniper--Kyle (Following the Chris Kyle craze and Clint Eastwood Film)
12. Finders Keepers--King (book 2 of trilogy following Mr. Mercedes. Stephen King has a winner)
13. All The Lights We Cannot See--Doerr (2014 National Book Finalist, GoodReads "Best Hist. Fic")
14. Landline--Rowell  (Best Fiction 2014 GoodRead Choice Awards)
15. Outlaws Of Sherwood--McKinley (a Robin Hood twist I couldnt resist from BookBub)
16. Station Eleven--St. John Mandel (National Book Award Finalist 2014)
17. The Round House--Erdrich (2012 National Book Award Winner)
18. I Am Pilgrim--Hayes (Made GoodChoice Critic Award List for "Best Thrillers")
19. The Girl On The Train--Hawkins (hottest book of 2015...huge waiting list at library)
20. The Quick--Owen (One of the biggest Books last year 2014. Next Gillian Flynn) 
21. The Vacationers--Straub (Recommended by a friend.) 
22. We Were Liars--Lockhart (National book finalist, GoodReads 2014 YA winner)
23. The Wright Brothers--McCullough (made top read for 15, Barnes & Noble)
24. In The Garden Of The Beast--Larson (huge Larson fan!)

Kadyn (Books 10-16)

10. Amelia Earhart by Victoria Garrett Jones
11. Everest (Book One) by Gordan Korman
12. Everest (Book Two) by Gordan Korman
13. Wood Song by Gary Paulson
14. House on the Gulf by Margaret Pederson
15. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
16. Tales from the Odyssey by Mary Pope Osborne

Playing a little catch up for Kadyn...but he has been reading a lot lately! Kaleb will be following in a later post for HIS reading challenge update!

Book 70 "The Picture Frame"

THE PICTURE FRAME

BY

Iain Rob Wright

Book 70 of the reading blitz came about from the reading site Book Bub. It was offered as a free download in the horror category. It wasn't very scary from other horror books I have read, but like accepting a free meal, who can resist a free book? 

"The Picture Frame" is about a spooky picture frame found buried deep in the ground and away from civilization. We discover much later that the picture frame has a habit of taking over the ones who find it and death follows at every lurking corner.

Book 69 "Redeployment"

Redeployment

By

Phil Klay

When the readers of Goodreads choose a winner, it's usually worth reading. Not to mention that "Redeployment" won the honor of National Book Award Finalist and Winner!

The book showed the ugly truth of war in little snap shots and collections of short stories. I didn't read the book as a political piece and it surely had undertones of anti-war messages. However, the brutal truth isn't left for the weak of heart and as General Sherman was famously quoted, "War is Hell". 

I would give it a 5 star rating and it deserves a place on the reading shelf. It made my reading blitz at book 69.

book 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, and 68 ROMANCE

Romance 

63. The Bridges of Madison County By Robert James Waller

64. Romeo and Juliet By William Shakespeare

65.  Pride and Prejudice By Jane Austen

66. Fifty Shades of Grey By E.L. James

67. Fifty Shades Darker By E.L. James

68. Fifty Shades Freed By E.L. James

Let me start by saying that I took the "love month" of February and dedicated it to reading romance books, or topics around the subject. It was the hardest month of reading I have ever done. However, I discovered something through the process. I despise romance, lovey, dovey, mushsy, gushy, (and for the fifty shades fans...sexual graphic) stuff. Jane Austen...I still can't stand you. Waller....interesting but boring. Shakespeare is Shakespeare...where thou art dear Shakespeare? Fifty Shades was a trilogy read because of all the hype. The books were mediocre and boring. Add six more books to the list. Six more books that I will never, ever, read again.

***Book 62*** Sharp Objects

"Sharp Objects"

By

Gillian Flynn

 

 

Book 62 hits a milestone for me. A few years ago I had attempted a Reading Blitz of sorts? I had read a book (Tolstoy and the Purple Chair) where the author had mourned the death of her sister by reading 365 books in a year. Naturally, that amount of books amazed my so-so reading mind. She offered a challenge to do a 360 Day Challenge (which I re-named a Reading Blitz) and set out on a reading journey to read as many books in a year that I could manage. I fell extremely short, but managed to read more books than I EVER had before! More importantly, something that was MAYBE a partially part-time hobby of reading a few books a year...became a passion. My love of books, libraries, booksellers (both used and new) and those who love them...increased dramatically! 

So....that leaves me with book 62 (Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn). 

I have equaled the amount of books from the last Reading Blitz in Half the Time! 

 

That leaves me with book 62.

Gillian Flynn has hit occult like status with her HUGE following of fans. Her book "Gone Girl" hit the big time on film and with her other two novels being equally dark, crazy, and naturally thrilling, there's this feeling of mystery around her work. 

I had to put my name on a waiting list for over a month! In fact, I almost broke down TWICE to buy the paperback version, but waited with eager patience and found myself rewarded with another brilliant read. (Not as good as Gone Girl. BUT....just as edgy!)

The Bourne Trilogy (Book 59, 60, 61)

The Bourne Trilogy

By

Robert Ludlum

 

Book 59 "The Bourne Identity"

Book 60 "The Bourne Supremacy"

Book 61 "The Bourne Ultimatum"

 

 

Robert Ludlum has masterfully written this series based around (the main character) Jason Bourne.

The book took on a whole new form when Hollywood took it to the "big screen". I wanted to read Robert Ludlum for a very long time and it happened to literally fall off the shelf as I walked by in the library one day. (Chance? I think not. I'm sure the CIA was somehow behind the library controversy.) Having been a fan of the movies and seeing that the original three books were surrounded by a host of other "Bourne Books" my curiosity was peaked. I immediately put it on my "Reading Blitz List" and FINALLY finished the original trilogy.

Let me warn readers that if you are expecting similarities between the book and the screen adaptation you will be disappointed. Apparently, Hollywood hired writers to make up their own version of the story because they are NOTHING ALIKE. In fact, you could read the books and get a whole new version of "Bourne". 

Ludlum pours it on thick. Be prepared to have times in the series where you will speed through chapters at a time in a few hours. While you are speed reading along you will undoubtedly hit serious road blocks that take DAYS to chew through. Still....it's worth it if you are a espionage thriller fan!

Book 58 "I'm having so much fun here without you"

"I'm Having So Much Fun Here Without You"

By

Courtney Maum

It's amazing what Maum does with this little book. She takes a topic that NOBODY wants to talk about and weaves in and out of this fragile little relationship between affair and heartbreak and leaves the reader in a fit of fear and celebration.

Without going into much detail, I would highly recommend this book for any book clubs out there, because it really does open a dialogue on discussing marriage and relationships, the good, the bad, the ugly. The pretty parts of our lives and the messy parts. Good stuff.

I applaud Courtney for taking this subject on and writing an easy to read book on a difficult subject. Her debut novel too! Not bad!



Maze Runner Trilogy and Prelude (Books 54, 55, 56, and 57)

      #54 The Maze Runner

     #55 The Scorch Trials

  #56 The Death Cure

AND

 #57 The Kill Order

By James Dashner

Reading the Maze Runner series was a request by my brother Doug, and I must admit it was a challenging task for many reasons.

#1 I was attempting to read the series through the public library

#2 Every Tom, Dick, Harry, Larry, Curly and Moe were ALSO trying to read the series.

#3 Teenage Cult fans never return things to the library. =) Come on guys!

And this wasn't some kind of book you could just spend your whole month reading. I mean, you needed the next book to read so you could finish the entire SERIES in a week! It was addicting. So...thanks Big Brother Doug for trying to get me hooked on Dashner!

The solution to the problem was easy. Ask for the series for Christmas (and I was lucky enough that my lovely wife and kids went out and splurged to buy the entire box set!) Gracias family!

I would suggest the series for any read (and in my case) they worked beautifully in the reading blitz! Four more down and we're not quite half way through the year yet!

***And since this isn't a book review blog...I will only add ONE little thing about this series***

IT IS NOT WHAT YOU EXPECT. YOU WILL GET SO MANY CURVE BALLS IT AIN'T FUNNY LITTLE BOY'S and GIRL'S!!!!!



314 (Book 53)

314

By

A.R. Wise

My first book read via Kindle through Bookbub.com.

My earlier post talked about bookbub.com and I highly recommend it for free and reduced reads! I downloaded 314 and quickly realized it is a part of a trilogy from A.R. Wise. It wasn't my favorite from a horror genre, but for FREE? You really can't go wrong. The story ready fast and since I read one book into the trilogy (I'll fall for the marketing trap) and buy the other two books to give it a fair shake. Perfect read for a short flight or weekend horror read.

BookBub

If you are looking for a cool site that will direct you to hundreds of free and discounted books that are online (and deliverable to your Kindle!) Check out www.bookbub.com

My sister showed me this over Christmas break and my library and reading list is OVER FLOWING!

This is a great way to enhance or grow your library at little to no cost!

I search quite regularly to try and find good online book deals and found that bookbub can make the job a little easier by searching over multi-sites and EVERY genre! Check it out!

WWW.BOOKBUB.COM