Books Read in 2013

So long, 2013, and hasta la vista to the 56 books I read in the last 365 days. That's the same number I finished in 2012, although since 2012 had an extra day, being Leap Year and all, it's almost like I read more in 2013.

I seem to have read a lot of e-books and audiobooks this year, which isn't really good news for all the real books that are languishing on my shelves (four BILLY bookcases and counting!). I should make some sort of resolution for 2014 like e-book, audiobook, real book, real book. Because resolutions always last.

So here is a list of the books I finished in 2013. You can follow the links to their journal entries on BookCrossing; those books without a link were either borrowed, or are in my permanent collection for the moment. (E) indicates they were read on my Kindle/Nook/iPod Touch; (A) means they were audiobooks; (R) means I re-read some old friends.

My favorites this year? "Redshirts," by John Scalzi; the six books that made up Stephen King's "The Green Mile"; "Sacré Bleu," by Christopher Moore; and "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," by Ian Fleming, because it was read by David Tennant.

January
1. Jake Howard's Wife, by Anne Mather (R)
2. I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, by Amy Sedaris (A)
3. Tess of the d'Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy (A) (E)

February
4. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
5. Redshirts, by John Scalzi
6. Doctor Who: The Devil in the Smoke, by Justin Richards (E)

March
7. Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen
8. Never Sit in the Exit Row, by Denise Howard (E)
9. Doctor Who: The Taking of Chelsea 426, by David Llewellyn (E)
10. The Two Dead Girls (The Green Mile, Book 1), by Stephen King

April
11. A Loving Scoundrel, by Johanna Lindsey (A)
12. The Mouse on the Mile (The Green Mile, Book 2), by Stephen King
13. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (E)
14. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, by Maggie O'Farrell (A)
15. Birth Marks, by Sarah Dunant
16. Roast Mortem, by Cleo Coyle (E)

May
17. Damned, by Chuck Palahniuk (A)
18. The Rose Hotel, by Rahimeh Andalibian (E)
19. Serenity Volume Three: The Shepherd's Tale, by Joss Whedon, Zack Whedon, and Chris Samnee
20. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, by David Sedaris (A)
21. The Family Under the Bridge, by Natalie Savage Carlson
22. Coffey's Hands (The Green Mile, Book 3), by Stephen King
23. Love Virtually, by Daniel Glattauer
24. The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix (The Green Mile, Book 4), by Stephen King
25. War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo

June
26. Son, by Lois Lowry
27. Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn (E)
28. Sacré Bleu, by Christopher Moore (A)
29. Notorious Nineteen, by Janet Evanovich (E)
30. Doctor Who: Marco Polo, by John Lucarotti (E)
31. Night Journey (The Green Mile, Book 5), by Stephen King
32. Pieces of My Heart, by Robert J. Wagner (A)
33. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman

July
34. Coffey on the Mile (The Green Mile, Book 6), by Stephen King
35. On Her Majesty's Secret Service, by Ian Fleming (A)
36. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
37. Death Comes to Pemberley, by P.D. James (E)
38. Doctor Who: A Big Hand for the Doctor, by Eoin Colfer (E)
39. Everyone Worth Knowing, by Lauren Weisberger (A)
40. The Brief History of the Dead, by Kevin Brockmeier
41. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, by Laurie Viera Rigler
42. Doctor Who and the Crusaders, by David Whitaker (E)

August
43. The Romanov Bride, by Robert Alexander
44. The Boy in the Suitcase, by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis (E)
45. Cheaper By The Dozen, by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
46. About A Boy, by Nick Hornby

September
47. Through Violet Eyes, by Stephen Woodworth
48. My Cousin Rachel, by Daphne du Maurier

October
49. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin (E)
50. The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket (R)
51. A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin (E)

November
52. A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin (E)

December
53. The Blue Lagoon, by Henry De Vere Stacpoole (E)
54. Gregor the Overlander, by Suzanne Collins (E)
55. Doctor Who: Planet of Giants, by Terrence Dicks (E)
56. An Unexpected Song, by Iris Johansen

Damned, by Chuck Palahniuk

Borrowed this unabridged audiobook from my local library. Read by Tai Sammons. This is my first Chuck Palahniuk book, and I liked it. Even though I found it completely gross and repulsive and meandering and inconsistent at times, I can forgive all for validating my opinion that viewing "The English Patient" is so great a punishment that it should be served only on those consigned to Hell for all eternity. I loved the irreverent dark humor and will definitely keep my eyes, and ears, out for more by Palahniuk.

Roast Mortem, by Cleo Coyle

Read on my Kindle. This is the ninth installment of Cleo Coyle's Coffeehouse Mystery series and I have mixed feelings about it. I really liked the look inside the workings of an FDNY house, but the execution of the story felt kind of clunky. The metaphors were a little too obvious; the dialogue was a little too unnatural; the recipes were a little too numerous; the characters were acting a little too much out of character; and the plot was a little too much like the TV series "House" (this is what happened! no? then this must be it. no? then how about this? no? does this work? i knew it all along.). To top it off, the Kindle edition I read was riddled with typos. I don't know if the print version suffered the same fate; I tend to think "probably" since the first few books of the series had the same problem.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Read on my Kindle. I didn't have high expectations for zombies at Longbourne, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well they blended into the story. It was amusing to go back and forth between this book and Jane Austen's original and realize just how much snark came from her; it gave me a whole new appreciation of the source material. I thought this was really well done and quite satisfying.

Doctor Who: The Devil in the Smoke, by Justin Richards

I was thrilled to find this book available through my local library's digital lending program. For some reason, I have been too frugal to pay the less than $3 that amazon.com is asking for it. This was an entertaining story that sort-of-kind-of tied in with the 2012 Doctor Who Christmas special, "The Snowmen," in that it featured Madame Vastra, Jenny, Strax, and snowmen in Victorian England. But it's the devil in the smoke who is the villain of this story, and even though the Doctor and his beautiful blue box don't make an appearance, I liked it, and I would recommend it to any fan of the Eleventh Doctor.

Books Read in 2012

Well, it's the end of 2012 and I managed to finish 56 books in the last 366 days--that's 5 more than in 2011. That's probably due to the long stretches between new Doctor Who episodes and the extra 24 hours thanks to Leap Year. That and the fact that the lawn-mowing season started in May this year, and continued through November. Stupid grass.

I made my first BookCrossing wild releases on the European continent this year when I travelled to Paris, France, in May. Two of the books I released there were caught and journalled, making them my first international catches.

Here is a list of the books I finished in 2012. You can follow the links to their journal entries on BookCrossing; those books without a link were either borrowed, or are in my permanent collection for the moment. (K) indicates they were read on my Kindle Fire or the Kindle app on my iPod Touch; (A) means they were audiobooks; (R) means I re-read some old friends. My favorites this year? The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter, by Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook; Let's Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson, a/k/a The Bloggess (who I was lucky enough to meet in person!); The Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain; Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry; Messenger, by Lois Lowry; American Gods, by Neil Gaiman; and The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman (who I was lucky enough to see in person!).

January

1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs (K)
2. The Brilliant Book of Doctor Who 2012, edited by Clayton Hickman
3. The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain (K)
4. The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter, by Russell T. Davies and Benjamin Cook
5. I Want It Now!, by Julie Dawn Cole (K)
6. Death on a Silver Platter, by Ellen Hart
7. Espresso Shot, by Cleo Coyle

February
8. Big Fish, by Daniel Wallace
9. Hemingway's Ghost, by Layton Green (K)
10. Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry
11. Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris (A)

March
12. The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern (K)
13. Doctor Who: Night of the Humans, by David Llewellyn (A)
14. Lulu Meets God and Doubts Him, by Danielle Ganek

April
15. Waiting for Gertrude, by Bill Richardson
16. Wishful Drinking, by Carrie Fisher (A)
17. Highlander: Scimitar, by Ashley McConnell

May
18. Chasing Mona Lisa, by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey (K)
19. Star Trek: Nemesis, by J.M. Dillard (A)
20. 1776, by David McCullough (A)
21. Because She Can, by Bridie Clark (A)
22. Doctor Who: The Last Voyage, by Dan Abnett (A)
23. Doctor Who: Dead Air, by James Goss (A)
24. Let's Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson, a/k/a The Bloggess
25. The Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain
26. Murder on the Eiffel Tower, by Claude Izner

June
27. In Our Time, by Ernest Hemingway
28. The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo (A)
29. A Study in Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (K)
30. Any Place I Hang My Hat, by Susan Isaacs

July
31. The Guinea Pig Diaries, by A.J. Jacobs (A)
32. I Was Amelia Earhart, by Jane Mendelsohn (A) (R)

August
33. The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton (K)
34. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum (K)
35. Survival of the Sickest, by Dr. Sharon Moalem
36. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling (A) (R)

September
37. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë
38. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde (R)
39. Best Foot Forward, by Joan Bauer (A)
40. Portrait of Bethany, by Anne Weale
41. Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry
42. Messenger, by Lois Lowry

October
43. Reunion, by Michael Jan Friedman (A)
44. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman (K)

November
45. The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
46. Pearl Harbor, by Randall Wallace (A)
47. Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys
48. Moranthology, by Caitlin Moran
49. FlashForward, by Robert J. Sawyer
50. Visions of Sugar Plums, by Janet Evanovich
51. If We Ever Break Up, This Is My Book, by Jason Logan

December
52. Holiday Grind, by Cleo Coyle
53. The Mirror Crack'd, by Agatha Christie
54. Dead End in Norvelt, by Jack Gantos
55. The Professor and the Madman, by Simon Winchester
56. A Shtinky Little Christmas, by Patrick McDonnell

Chasing Mona Lisa, by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey

I really liked the action-adventure-spy-mystery parts of this book that takes place in the days just before and after the liberation of Paris in August 1944, but I could have done without the cliché love stories. It was like the authors took a few pages from a Ken Follett book, then a few pages from a Harlequin romance, back to the action, time for some gooey stuff, back and forth, and so on. I did enjoy it, but I would have liked to like it all.

The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern

Wasn't there an episode of "Torchwood" that featured a circus that was open only at night and that seemed to appear like magic in a clearing in the forest? With that in mind, I thought this book would be more sinister than it turned out to be. Erin Morgenstern was very adept at describing her fantastical world and drawing the reader in, but I'm not sure anything really happened plotwise. Perhaps that's part of the mystery of the circus.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

Borrowed from my local library. I was expecting this book to be a grownup horror story. It started off strong and properly spooky, but the second half devolved into some sort of teen X-Men-wannabe action-adventure with an icky-if-I-think-about-it-too-much love story thrown in. It was a promising premise: I loved the strange old photos, but the story took a wrong turn for me. If Riggs had finished the story he started, or started the story he finished, I probably would have liked both books better than this amalgamation.

Books Read in 2011

Another year has come and gone and my mind is 51 books richer--that's 29 fewer than in 2010, which is almost entirely due to my discovery of and obsession with David Tennant and Doctor Who. My reading in 2011 was rather destination based: I read a number of books only because I was travelling somewhere where I wanted to release them, and I wanted to read them first. It was a good way to get them off Mt. TBR, but it often felt like I was assigned to read them rather than wanted to read them at that particular point.

Here is a list of the books I finished in 2011. You can follow the links to their journal entries on BookCrossing; those books without a link were either borrowed, or are in my permanent collection for the moment. (K) indicates they were read on my Kindle Fire, which I unexpectedly love. My favorite reads this year? The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, by Louise Murphy; Alice Bliss, by Laura Harrington; The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins; Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins; Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins; Airman, by Eoin Colfer; and my reread of Pride & Prejudice, by Jane Austen.

January

1. The Next Queen of Heaven, by Gregory Maguire 

2. Unpleasant Ways to Die, by Evan Fleisher
3. Just A Geek, by Wil Wheaton
4. Getting Rid of Bradley, by Jennifer Crusie
5. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot (audio)
6. Strega Nona Meets Her Match, by Tomie dePaola

February
7. Boy: Tales of Childhood, by Roald Dahl
8. Swapping Lives, by Jane Green
9. The Swallows of Kabul, by Yasmina Khadra
10. The Inside Ring, by Mike Lawson

March
11. Everyone Is Entitled to My Opinion, by David Brinkley
12. Murder In The Supreme Court, by Margaret Truman
13. Weight, by Jeanette Winterson (audio)
14. 101 Things You Didn't Know About Einstein: Sex, Science, and the Secrets of the Universe, by Cynthia Phillips, Ph.D., & Shana Priwer
15. Waiting-for-Spring Stories, by Bethany Roberts
16. Sizzling Sixteen, by Janet Evanovich

April
17. Murder at Ford's Theatre, by Margaret Truman
18. The Land of Narnia, by Brian Sibley
19. In the Company of a Courtesan, by Sarah Dunant (audio)
20. Murder on the Lusitania, by Conrad Allen

May
21. Skeleton Hiccups, by Margery Cuyler
22. Dream When You're Feeling Blue, by Elizabeth Berg
23. The Wright 3, by Blue Balliett
24. Austenland, by Shannon Hale
25. A Dirty Job, by Christopher Moore (audio)
26. I'm A Stranger Here Myself, by Bill Bryson
27. The Venetian Betrayal, by Steve Berry

June
28. Little Bee, by Chris Cleave
29. No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy (audio)
30. The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, by Louise Murphy

July
31. Inés of My Soul, by Isabel Allende (audio)
32. A Reporter's Life, by Walter Cronkite (audio)

August
33. Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger
34. Alice Bliss, by Laura Harrington

September
35. The Johnstown Flood, by David McCullough (audio)
36. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

October
37. Dance of Death, by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (audio)
38. Hallowe'en Party, by Agatha Christie
39. Practical Magic, by Alice Hoffman
40. Rosemary's Baby, by Ira Levin

November
41. The Case of the Glamorous Ghost, by Erle Stanley Gardner
42. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
43. Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins (K)
44. Pride & Prejudice, by Jane Austen (reread) (K)
45. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
46. Smokin' Seventeen, by Janet Evanovich (K)
47. Airman, by Eoin Colfer (K)

December
48. Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins (K)
49. Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson
50. Plugged, by Eoin Colfer (K)
51. Explosive Eighteen, by Janet Evanovich (K)

Wild Releases #1160 & #1161

CAKE put on a fantastic show last night at the Riviera Theatre, even though the fans were *really* bad at identifying what kind of tree was being given away. I swear that added a half hour onto the show, so we got home pretty late. Unfortunately, we had to get up obscenely early for a full day of seeing Chicago by bus. The weather was dreary again, and since it was Sunday, some of the buildings we were supposed to be able to get into were closed, but overall it was a good day. I left Elizabeth Berg's "Dream When You're Feeling Blue" on a blue seat on the 151 Sheridan bus around 8 a.m., and Blue Balliett's "The Wright 3" on a wall outside the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Robie House around 11 a.m.

Wild Release #1159

I'm visiting friends in Chicagoland this weekend and we have a full schedule of sightseeing and CAKE worshipping planned, even though the weather is rather chilly, rainy, and yes—windy. We just got back from a tour of Wrigley Field, where we got to go up in the press box and down in the dugout. We were even witnesses to a wedding proposal on the big scoreboard! (He said yes, but we're not sure he really wanted to.) After our tour, we walked to El Burrito Mexicano for some delicious takeout (excellent guacamole!), and I left Gary Larson's "The Far Side Observer" on top of a newspaper box on the sidewalk outside.

Catch #185!

The mystery of where "Summer Garden Murder" is now has been solved. An AnonymousFinder writes: "I love the concept of  "Catching a Wild Book". It was a good story. I had not read any of this series before."

Wild Release #1158

I smuggled John Bellair's "The Hand of the Necromancer" into the Greensburg-Hempfield Area Library book sale because the front cover scared me too much to leave it in my car any longer. I left it on the table with the children's books and bought a nice big bag of books that don't scare me.

Catch #184!

"Abe Lincoln's Hat" has been found (again) by 6of8, who picked it up at the convention, but somehow missed journalling it. It sounds like it is ready for a big adventure now!

Wild Release #1157

I found myself at Lowe's in Greensburg this evening, so I took the opportunity to leave "Evening," by Susan Minot, on an inviting lawn chair in the garden section while I was there.

Catch #183!

It's been a little over eighteen months since I released "The Resident Witch," so I was very happy to receive a journal alert from an AnonymousFinder today. "It's a difficult read.. it took me awhile," they report. I'm glad it was read, no matter how long it took!

Wild Release #1156

If Greensburg were home to an Outback Steakhouse restaurant, it would have been the perfect place to leave "Mutant Message Down Under," by Marlo Morgan. Unfortunately, we are limited to steakhouses that hail from Texas, so I had to make do, leaving the book on a window ledge in the vestibule of LongHorn Steakhouse.

Catches #179 – #182!

Convention catches continue to trickle in! Today, "George Washington and the General's Dog" and "101 Things You Didn't Know About Einstein" were journalled by FutureCat; "Under the Duvet" was journalled by melydia; and "Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles" was journalled by azuki.

Wild Releases #1154 & #1155

I was kind to my car today and took it for an oil change at Jiffy Lube (I had a coupon, and they are jiffy). Before I hit the road, I left "Miss Julia Hits the Road," by Ann B. Ross, on a table in the waiting room.

Later, Sister No. 6 forced me to go annual and perennial shopping with her at Laurel Nursery in Latrobe, so I took the opportunity to leave "Summer Garden Murder," by Ann Ripley, tucked in a trellis display.