Well... I will try to finish 50 books before the end of 2009. And I will review all the books I finish.

Here are the books that either a) I finished in the last 3 weeks b) I am currently reading c) are going on vacation with me and will be finished when I get back in 2 weeks

Agents of Light and Darkness
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Doomsday Book
Fairyland
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge
Star Strike (The Inheritance Trilogy, Book 1)
The Strain:book One Of The Strain Trilogy
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked
Hit and Run
Hit List
Hit Parade
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
Life As We Knew It
Ark Baby
Child of God
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Geek Love
No Dominion
Neuropath

That looks like a lot... but... my vacation location doesn't have a tv and I won't be going to any "tourist attractions"... unless the white sandy beaches of PEI are considered tourist attractions!

-edited for a typo and to see why touchstones not all working...

Message edited by its author, Sep 7, 2009, 10:31am.

#21 is Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Actually it was an enlightening read and I enjoyed the first 2/3 of it (then it went all political and lost my interest).

Did you like Doomsday book? I enjoyed the 14thC parts of it, but I thought the near-future Oxford chapters could have been omitted.

I agree completely... it would have been so much better if the future part was less intrusive, or if the characters at least behaved realistically...

I gave it an "average" rating... but I don't think I'll read any more of Willis' stuff 'cause I didn't like the other book of hers I read either (To Say Nothing of the Dog)

#22 was Black by Ted Dekker

What a waste of a great concept! I wish he'd have left it as a apocalyptic tale, even with the Christian overtones, and stayed FAR FAR away from his understanding of romance. I still feel the urge to gag over his "Great Romance"

#23 was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - having never read the original (yeah, I know), I wasn't sure on what part of the novel was Austen's and what part was Grahame-Smith's (well, other than the zombie references of course). I guess this means it was a pretty seamless modification of the original.

I liked it for what it was.

#24 was The Forgotten Garden

It was... well... a long book if you like that. But, otherwise, it's historical chick lit so whyever I even opened it is beyond me... GACK. I must go read about some spaceships blowing up now!

Message edited by its author, Sep 7, 2009, 10:30am.

#25 was Bank Shot

It's too "funny" for my tastes.

#26 The Hunger Games

I really enjoyed it - would have been perfect if it was just a little less YA.

#27 Galactic Corps

My intention was to read a cheap n easy space military conflict - ended up with space conflict plus some stupid political complaining... sigh.

#28 Outliers

Makes me wish I were less lazy.

#29 Angelica

Actually, I finished this before Outliers, so their numbers should be reversed, but it doesn't really matter I suppose.

#30 A Prisoner of Birth

Out of my usual genre (legal thriller I think it's called) but a good read.

#31 The Killing Floor by Lee Child

It's been on my to-read list for ages. Picked it up since I've finished all of Lawrence Block's Keller books.

Other than the fact I can't figure out where the title came from, I quite enjoyed this book. It's not as good as Keller's series because the plot/story itself is kinda weak (really, could such a large criminal enterprise only attract the attention of one federal investigator?) and the main character a bit less believable (really, can he be such a killing machine?)

Message edited by its author, Sep 17, 2009, 7:33pm.

# 32 Angel-Seeker

Oh, what a nice romance with quite a bit of adult angst.

#33 Pattern Recognition

Though the darkened parentheses enveloping me hindered my full appreciation of this severe dark and deep exploration of brand labeling...

err... it sucked.

Message edited by its author, Sep 17, 2009, 10:56am.

#34 One Second After

Decent research paper...oh, right, it was supposed to be a novel.

#35 The 19th Wife

Um. A combo of historical investigation of polygamy and a modern whodunnit.

#36 The Melanin Apocalypse

OMG... this book is so bad that I can't even frame a discussion for just how terrible it is.

#37 The Last Centurion

It's like reading a (well-thought out) right wing blog about an apocalypse.

#38 Blood Meridian

Book summary: go to a town, drink, murder, burn, leave, travel the desert... rinse and repeat at next town

#39 The Shack

Comforting religious fiction - that is - if you like to be comforted by religious fiction.

#40 Year Zero

This was my 200th book entered on LT! I wish it were better than it was - too much going on and none of it quite fulfilling enough.

#41 Die Trying

Jack Reacher = Good
Jack Reacher + Gun = Good
Jack Reacher + Politics = err... not so much

#42 Section 8

Wow. It was an ER book so I didn't know what to expect. It was a pretty good look into a very different lifestyle. I'm surprised how much I enjoyed it, pornography and all.

#43 and #44 Hyperion Cantos

Since this is two books nicely bundled into one spine, I'm counting it twice. And it's long enough that I should be allowed to count it 3X! (It's 1000 pages of "artsy" sci-fi.)

#45 Dead Until Dark

Very enjoyable light read about vampires, lust and murder.

#46 The Book Thief

Why did I read this? Not my cup of tea... can't think of whose cup of tea it would be but obviously some people liked it.

#47 Tripwire

Just what you'd expect from a Reacher novel... maybe a bit too much "romance"

#48 The Gunslinger

I'm not sure what the big who-ha is - nothing really happens; a lot of flashbacks, and hints as to what's going on, but nothing really goes on.

#49 Running Blind by Lee Child

Finally, Jack Reacher saves the day, minus politics, minus romance...

Message edited by its author, Oct 25, 2009, 10:56am.

And, finally, number 50 The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I picked a good one to be my 50th! It was fast and engaging and 'believable'

Well, congrats on finishing them well before the end of the year. Will you keep adding books to the list, or have you lost your drive?

I think I'll keep adding them just so I can see how many books I really do read; and next year I can pick a challenge that will be harder to complete!

# 51 Storm Glass

It was fast, and mostly good. It felt like the author was a bit scattered in where she wanted to go with the story.

The Rising

Woulda been better with less rape and more logic.

#53 Living Dead in Dallas

Even better than the first book in the series.

#54 Echo Burning

Oh, it's a great Reacher book! Best of the lot so far.

#55 Consider Phlebas

or do I really mean Hyperion? oh, yeah, they are different books. Plot is so similar it's hard to tell them apart.

#56 I Am Legend

Quite dated, very unlike the Will Smith movie; overall... it was okay but too... err... "internal"

#57 The Graveyard Book

Don't let 'em fool ya... it is a children's book, not YA, and certainly not "mature" enough for an adult reader who normally reads fiction that has sex and violence and decent kick-butt action.

#58 Plague Year

Not bad. Not sure I'll read the 2nd in the series though.

#59 Sea Glass

Better than Storm Glass but only about 2/3 as good as the Poison Study series.

#60 The Rapture

This is my last Liz Jensen book; her writing style is just too wordy for me.

#61 March Upcountry

This was a great military sci-fi. I'll be reading the rest in the series.

#62 Level 26

Great concept. Crappy story.

Wintergirls

err... very lyrical. Might mean more if one knew something about eating disorders.

#64 1984

it's a classic alright - bit too much talky talky, not quite enough action, but that could just be the frame of mind I'm in this month.

#65 Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Well... isn't he clever. No, really, he's very clever. It's a different point of view, kinda interesting... just wish Lindsay hadn't tried so hard to be funny.

#66 Powers

Well... weak characters (who do not develop), and non-stop running from an unexplained "Badness"... nope, certainly not recommended, though it's not a completely terrible book.