***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