#100(!!!!) The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

My inner geek girl is twirling in my head - I finished book #100 at about 6:00 on New Year's Eve - not exactly what I had planned on doing but work yesterday was so incredibly crazy that every time I walked out the door with my nook in hand I got stopped or someone needed something.  I was going nuts!  It should not have taken me so long to finish 40 pages.  The important thing is they got read. I made my goal and I'm crazy happy about it!

On to the review: I'm not really sure how I feel about this one.  The writing was impeccable but that is to be expected from Neil Gaiman.  There were some intriguing metaphysical concepts that were discussed and - for a YA type novel - explored just enough.  I was sucked in with the mysterious appearance of the coins and manifestation through dreams. 

My issue with the book is that it didn't seem as cohesive as I wanted it to be.  A lot of things happened but the thread that held it all together was pretty thin.  I would have liked a little more meat around the bones of where Ursula originated.  It's not my normal genre so I don't have a lot to char

If you are a fan of the paranormal, I bet this would be a great book for you (it won a goodreads award for 2013 Best Fantasy) It's just not my cup of tea.

Goodreads rating: 3 stars

#99 - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

NINETY NINE!  This is book #99 that I have read this year.  I'm a little freaked out!  I'm going to make my goal! **ok geek out over**

This book was a crazy surprise to me.  Forget about the "racing" part of the story - its there but its not overwhelmingly male.   I never thought that a book that was narrated by a dog would be so compelling but, if you think about it, who better to tell the story about the rise and fall of a family than the pet who is a silent observer of everything that happens in a household.  Everything in this book made me want to go home and hug my puppy and make sure that he knows how much he is a loved and valued member of our family.

The story itself (even without the dog part) is one awful twist after another.  It makes you wonder how people can be so just plain mean to each other. Poor Denny, the main character, suffers so much loss that is always followed by a slap in the face.

Tissue alert for the last chapter.  Beautiful tears, though, gorgeous ones.

Goodreads rating: 5 stars

On deck: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.

#98 - Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb

Wishin' and Hopin' was just the novella that I needed to fill in the gap to make my goal but it was an enjoyable little romp.  Following in the proud tradition of stories like "A Christmas Story" Wally Lamb's distinct voices compelled the book forward and gave us plenty of giggles along the way.  I never get tired of the random foibles of Middle America, even though you could see some of it coming (I mean come on - could a book like this have a Christmas play that actually goes off as planned? I think not!)

All in all it was a great little Christmas story that stimulates the visual imagination with familiar characters. I read it in a few hours on Christmas day. A bite size chunk of cuteness.

Goodreads rating 3 stars

Read date: December 25, 2013

#97 - Strangers in Death by J.D. Robb

Reading about Eve Dallas always makes me happy.  Not much to say that would be different from my other reviews of this series.  I did enjoy the fact that Eve followed her gut to the conclusion - sometimes that's what more of us have to do, stick by an opinion and go from there.

The sub plot with Charles and Louise was really sweet and it did make me think about what I would do if I fell in love with someone with a questionable occupation and their news at the end made me smile like I had just heard from a good friend in my real life. This is totally why I love books.

Goodreads rating: a predictable 3 stars

#96 - The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Wow - I want to start with a huge thank you to Netgalley, Sue Monk Kidd and Penguin Group Viking for allowing me an advanced reader copy of "The Invention of Wings".

This is a wonderful story of two women growing up in pre Civil War South Carolina, one (Hetty "Handful")  is a slave, the other (Sarah Grimke) a woman of privilege.  When, on her 11th birthday, Sarah is gifted Hetty as a personal maid, ideas and plots were set in motion that would change the life of both of those women.

I am so disheartened reading this story that people were ever treated as the slaves in the south were.  I had a visceral reaction to each of the punishments that were described in this book.  Oh how I want to believe that this is just fiction not history...

I have been trying to pinpoint exactly what kept me from a five star rating on this book, The writing was lovely, I adored the characters of Hetty and her slave family, and the end left me wondering about the future for all of the characters involved.  I think it was parts of Sarah's story that got a little muddled near the middle that lost a little bit of the complete wow factor on my end...but looking back through the plots I couldn't point to one specific part of the book that I thought should be eliminated in favor of another.

I can see why this was chosen for Oprah's Book Club 2.0.  It is a beautiful tale and really shows the heart of those who go through and are stronger for their own oppression.  Do yourself a favor and pick it up when it becomes available on January 7th.

Goodreads rating: 4.5 stars (oh how I wish there were a true half rating.)

Date completed: December 25, 2013

#95 - We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

So much reading happening and so little blogging...tis the season I guess!

Let's start where we left off.  With the punch in the gut that is "We Need To Talk About Kevin".  Warning - do NOT read the final few chapters of this book when you are around people...just trust me on this one...be alone in a safe place when you read them.

This book was disturbing on so many levels.  It's every mother's nightmare, to want a baby so badly, to have the right timing, the money and time to be able to stay home with them, nourish them and provide them with anything that they need - and to have them be completely unresponsive and subversive.  To top off the suffering, to have your spouse not believe you when you try to warn him that something is not right.  As a woman/mother/wife most of this book made me alternately mad and sad and wanting to crawl under the covers and squeeze on my babies.

As this is written in letters I thought the audio format was a good fit for this book.  It was like the narrator was reading her private letters aloud but a friend of mine was not a fan of the format so choose at your own risk.  Just don't make the mistake that I did and have your ear buds in at work for the last hour of the audiobook.  Just don't.

Goodreads rating: 5 stars for emotional impact alone.

Date completed: December 16, 2013

#94 - Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich

I don't know what I expected.  Actually I knew exactly what I expected
- I expected a quick book to read - OK I will give it that - I read it in about a minute and a half mainly because a good 20% of the book is exactly the same information that was conveyed in the last 19 novels.  Really Janet? I think we all know who the characters are and what they look like and how you got there.  Very few readers are going to pick up what is quite obviously the 20th book in the series and expect a full recap of everyone.  Give us some credit.

- I expected some quirky fun - Meh, I don't know why Evanovich thought a giraffe was the whimsical push that her books were missing but - well - it wasn't

- I expected indecision between Morelli and Ranger: check.

- I expected no plot development and improbable situations and resolutions.

What I didn't expect was how much I am beginning to loathe Stephanie.  I am practically begging Ranger to quit enabling Stephanie to feel like she is better at this stuff than she actually is.  I want something really bad to happen to her just so everyone will finally write her off.  If I were a quitter, I would quit on this series.  Unfortunately my OCD tendencies prohibit me from truly quitting...but c'mon Evanovich.  Quit phoning this in and wrap it the hell up already or kill off an important character or do  SOMETHING to keep this series from going stale (to quote my lovely friend who was too sweet to write this but I couldn't resist including it for public consumption.  Just because you can poop on a page and it will be a best seller doesn't mean you should)

Goodreads rating: 2 stars - just because my expectations were low to begin with so I wasn't disappointed enough to demote this to a 1 star rating which means it is virtually unreadable.  I finished it - therefore it was a 2 star read.

In progress: We need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver
On Deck: The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

#93 - Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

What a delightful surprise this book was.  First of all a HUGE thank you to  my fellow Posse girl Mandi for recommending and letting me borrow this book.  I snuggled up on a lovely snowy day and read this whole thing in one (or two) sweet sessions.

Even though this is a YA selection, it brought back some crazy awesome memories and I had to turn on a little punk playlist because the mix tape selections put an earworm in my brain so deep that I needed a little dose of the Cure, the Smiths and the Dead Kennedys to put me in the mood.

I was instantly transported back to 1994 and holding hands with a cute boy that shouldn't have liked me on the bus to a band competition.  The visions this novel produced were so sweet and tender.  I only wish there were more - the last page was perfection.  Seriously.   Loved it.  Please read this.

Goodreads rating: 5 stars!!!  Finally breaking my chain of meh.

In progress: Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
On Deck: The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

#92 - Perfect by Rachel Joyce

With a title like Perfect, expectations were high going in - especially since The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was one of my top reads of the year.  So when the opportunity to read this as part of the NetGalley advanced reader program I couldn't hit the Request button fast enough!

I have to say - the whole experience of this book was totally and completely worth it!  Rachel Joyce's writing has always felt so effortless to me and each page painted such a beautiful picture I felt like I was reading a screenplay.  Perfect was so much different than Harold Fry but every bit as magical.  The idea that just a few seconds can change the course of so many lives is intriguing and unsettling.   The story goes back and forth between 1972 and present day and the voices of the characters in both stories were seamless.  Every person in the book I felt like I could have known in real life.  I loved the innocence of the boys, I loved the life cycle of the tenuous friendship between the mother and Jeannie  even though, in my throat, I could feel where it was heading.  And the relationship between Jim and Eileen was perfectly weird and quirky.

I have traditionally been critical of books that throw in a twist at the end but most of the time they are predictable and unnecessary but when my breath caught in my chest I knew it was not going to be chalked up in that category.

The ending.  It broke my heart.  I wanted more.

Thank you to Netgalley, Doubleday Publishing and Rachel Joyce for allowing me the privilege of reading this book.  Its one to add to your bookshelf when it comes available for sale on January 7th.

Goodreads rating: 5 shining glittering stars

In progress: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (audio)

#91 - Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres

Well I didn't mean to do that.  I just happened to have clicked on this selection in my iBooks shelf and it was just the sweet quick funny read that I needed.

If you are a fan of Ellen, you can hear her voice in every single word of this book.  She is so full of honesty and perspective that it is really refreshing.  Not many people can pull of the kind of silly sarcasm that Ellen can but it all just kind of works together.

Feel free to pick this up if you just need a little smile or a smirk, it won't disappoint.

Goodreads rating: 4 stars

#90 - The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

What to say about this book?  Well - I finished it...there's that...

OK I went back and forth about this book. On one hand it took me a LONG time to get into the story like at least a third of the way through when things actually started happening that made sense.

That being said, the writing was beautiful and detailed and I enjoyed reading Heller's descriptions of the post apocalyptic world were really beautiful.  Maybe this was just a book more designed for the way men look at the world (yeah its cliche' but its the best way I can think of to describe the actions, reactions and military tendencies that prevail in this novel.)

I did this one in an audio format and the narrator was very slow and it took a long time to get through it even though I could feel myself being able to read it faster to the same effect.

Goodreads rating: 2.5 stars rounded up to 3

In Progress: Perfect by Rachel Joyce (nook)
We Need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver (audio)

#89 - Insurgent by Veronica Roth

No this was not the 89th book of the year - this was actually book #77 but somehow - who knows why - I never got my review up on the blog.

When we last left Tris and company they were heading out of the city - fleeing from the factions that no longer existed as they once were and - well - it gets worse.

I thoroughly enjoyed book #2 in this series! There was enough intrigue and excitement to keep things moving without it being one constant battle scene.  The personal drama between Tris and Four felt very genuine and - the end of their issues was just heart in your throat sweet.  I drank this up right after book 1 because I knew that book 3 was coming out in October and now - over a month after it released, I haven't even read it...I'm scared to now that I have seen some of my very respected posse reviewer's reactions.  One of these days I will but I hate when a series is SO good and the alst book ruins it...

Actual read date: August 2, 2013
Goodreads Rating: 4 stars.