Books I've Read in 2014

My grand total for 2013 was 84 books which is down from 113 books in 2012. This includes standard books, ebooks and audio books. 

BOOKS

January

1. 419 by Will Ferguson
2. Kinsey and Me by Sue Grafton
3. Real Vampires Know Size Matters by Gerry Bartlett
4. Parlor Tricks by Jennifer Estep
5. Glitches by Marissa Meyer
6. A Cat Was Involved by Spencer Quinn

February

7. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
8. The Finisher by David Baldacci

March

9. Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a Family Man by Brian McGrory
10. Feedback by Peter Cawdron
11. Far Gone by Laura Griffin

April

12. The Chase by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
13. The Wife of John the Baptist by K. Ford K.
14. Missing You by Harlen Coben

May

15. Orphan Train: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline
16. And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman

June

17. The Wizard of Oz FAQ by David J. Hogan
18. Inkslingers Ball by Sheila Lowe

July

19. A Woman of Fortune by Kellie Coates Gilbert

August

20. How to Fall by Jane Casey
21. The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani

September

22. Poison Promise by Jennifer Estep
23. Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace

October

24. How to be Death by Amber Benson
25. The Case of the Killer Divorce by Barbara Venkataraman
26. The Job by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

November

27. The Murder of Adam and Eve by William Dietrich
28. No Place Like Oz by Danielle Paige

December

29. Murder at the Book Group Maggie King

AUDIO BOOKS

January

1. The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls
2. Taken in Death by J.D. Robb
3. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde

February

4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
5. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
6. Ill Winds by Rachel Caine

March

7. The Dog Who Knew Too Much by Spencer Quinn
8. Working Stiff by Rachel Caine
9. Big Jack by J.D. Robb
10. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
11. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

April

12. The Martian by Andy Weir
13. Flight of the Silvers by Daniel Price
14. The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
15. Heat Rises by Richard Castle

May

16. Crazy Little Thing by Tracy Brogan
17. The Goldfinch by Donna Tart
18. Storm Surge by Richard Castle
19. 14 by Peter Clines
20. Private: #1 Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
21. The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd

June

22. Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand
23. Saucer: The Conquest by Stephen Coonts
24. The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry

July

25. The Passage by Justin Cronin
26. What a Ghoul Wants by Victoria Laurie
27. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

August

28. The Twelve by Justin Cronin
29. Death by Didgeridoo by Barbara Venkataraman
30. Demons are Forever by Julie Kenner
31. The Giver by Lois Lowry
32. Bristol House by Beverly Swerling

September

33. After I'm Gone by Laura Lippman
34. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

October

35. Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith
36. The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore
37. Pros and Cons by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg (short story)
38. Top Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich
39. How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back By Diana Rowland

November

40. Concealed in Death by J.D. Robb
41. The Ghoul Next Door by Victoria Laurie
42. Cyberstorm by Matthew Mather
43. The Little Android by Marissa Meyer

December

44. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Grand Total for 2014 - 73


Here's what I read in previous years:

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

Books I've Read in 2014

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2014/01/read-in-2014.html

Review: Exposed by Laura Griffin

Product Description:
With the click of her camera, Maddie Callahan inadvertently added herself to the hit list of a criminal mastermind the FBI’s been investigating for months. Agent Brian Beckmann is determined to protect the sexy photographer, but she may be his only lead.

As a forensic photographer, Maddie is used to seeing violence up close, but she’s never before been a target. When a freelance photo shoot goes awry, she realizes she may have seen, and perhaps photographed, the kidnapping of a key witness in a federal probe. And although her camera was stolen, Maddie has something that could be even more valuable to investigators. With the help of her colleagues at the Tracers crime lab, Maddie uncovers DNA evidence that provides a desperately needed break in the case.

Although Brian is reluctant to involve Maddie, she’s determined to help with the investigation and the two set out to track a vicious criminal known as The Doctor, whose far-reaching violence has led to multiple deaths. But as the task force gets closer to catching the deadly Doctor, Maddie is in more danger than ever.

My Thoughts:
My favorite part of reading Laura's books is how realistic they are. The investigating and crime solving always makes me think that Laura has got to be some sort of forensic investigator herself. The plot line of Exposed was something I could see playing out on my favorite TV crime show.

Another aspect I look forward to is how characters from other books in the Tracers series make cameo appearances through The Delphi Center where Maddie works.  In my opinion each book in the series is a stand alone so when I recognize characters from the other books I get a thrill thinking I know something that stand alone readers don't which adds a bit of fun to my read.

My Recommendation: 
I recommend Exposed and truly the whole Tracers series to anyone who loves a good romantic suspense read with believable characters and story lines. 

Review: Exposed by Laura Griffin

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2013/06/review-exposed-by-laura-griffin.html

Review: Status Quo by Mark Rosendorf

Blurb:

College student Alexander Copeland worked as an assistant for astronomer Gordon Maxwell. Alex was offered the opportunity of a lifetime – to join a small civilian crew and travel to outer space to investigate a mysterious wormhole presumed to have been created by an alien species. But the top-secret government division sponsoring Dr. Maxwell’s research abruptly canceled the expedition and closed down the entire project.

Seven years later, twenty-five-year-old Alex, working as a New York inner-city junior high school science teacher, is contacted by the same arrogant government project director who tells him the original space expedition has been revived. Alex is offered a seat on an advanced space shuttle christened Status Quo, set to go through the wormhole. But Alex is immediately suspicious. After seven years, why is the project suddenly on again?

Alex’s new shipmates only add to his anxiety. Sara Maxwell, gifted daughter of the late Dr. Maxwell, has spent the last seven years in a mental institution. The ship’s pilot is a teenage boy whose only flight experience is on a simulator. The pilot’s mother, also chosen as a crewmember, is supposedly psychic. The ship’s doctor is a novice who wants nothing to do with the mission. A troubled teenage girl on the brink of suicide is also accepted as part of the crew. There’s even a convicted murderer and a cat aboard. Absolutely no one chosen for this mission has any sort of astronaut training or experience. And worst of all, the project director’s agenda appears to be making sure that the ship and all aboard never return to Earth.

It’s a conspiracy that leaves these lost souls stranded in a strange galaxy with a damaged ship surrounded by threats both human and alien. Even if this group worked together and managed to survive, could they – would they – return to the uncaring world that sent them to space to die? With the alternative looking exceedingly grim, the journey of Status Quo seems doomed. Or is it?

My Thoughts:

Status Quo was quite a bit different from what I've previously read by Mark Rosendorf. Where The Rasner Effect series was full of action and adventure, Status Quo is more of a thought provoking book. But don't get me wrong, there is plenty of adventure. Most of it just happens to be through a wormhole in space.

Really and truly the storyline was way out there and super cheesy but it was pretty fun. In my opinion Status Quo is more of a YA book because of that.  What I really enjoyed is that I could clearly picture my 15 year old niece as Gilda (without the terrible home life) so I was quickly pulled into the story. 

The ending was very unexpected and I thought it really worked. It was a typical happy ending with a twist I never saw coming. 

My Recommendation:

I recommend Status Quo for both YA readers or anyone who loves sci-fi and intriguing adventures in space.  

Review: Status Quo by Mark Rosendorf

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2013/05/review-status-quo-by-mark-rosendorf.html

The Office of Mercy: A Novel by Ariel Djanikian

Blurb:

Weaving philosophy and science together into a riveting, dystopian story of love and adventure, The Office of Mercy illuminates an all-too-real future imagined by a phenomenal new voice in fiction.

Twenty-four-year-old Natasha Wiley lives in America-Five—a high-tech, underground, utopian settlement where hunger and money do not exist, everyone has a job, and all basic needs are met. But when her mentor and colleague, Jeffrey, selects her to join a special team to venture Outside for the first time, Natasha’s allegiances to home, society, and above all to Jeffrey are tested. She is forced to make a choice that may put the people she loves most in grave danger and change the world as she knows it.

The Office of Mercy is speculative fiction at its best with a deeply imagined, lush world, high-stakes adventure, and romance that will thrill fans of Suzanne Collins, Margaret Atwood, Justin Cronin, and Kazuo Ishiguro.

My Thoughts: 

From the opening pages I was very disappointed with The Office of Mercy. Okay, scratch that. The prologue was great and showed lots of promise but Chapter 1 brought that to a screeching halt. The book was off and running with absolutely no backstory and it took me quite a few chapters to finally understand what their world was like and what what going on. 

Natasha lives in America Five, an underground compound settled by the Alphas. While working for the Office of Mercy Natasha gets an opportunity to go on a mission outside the compound. When she does her eyes are opened to a whole new world and she begins to re-think everything she has learned. It really just seems too forced and the turn of Natasha and Jeffrey's relationship is completely awkward. 

Incidents would arise and I would think, "This sounds interesting. Let's see what becomes of it." and pfft... the plot line fizzled. Overall it was just too predictable and I really couldn't connect with any of the characters.

My Recommendation: 

I really don't feel like I can recommend this one to adult readers but if you love YA dystopian novels (even though this book isn't billed as YA) this might be an enjoyable read for you.

The Office of Mercy: A Novel by Ariel Djanikian

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2013/03/the-office-of-mercy-novel-by-ariel.html

Review: Dented Cans by Heather Walsh

Blurb:
A family secret is revealed during an ill-fated--yet hilarious--trip to Disney World. Sixteen-year-old Hannah Sampson knows her family is not what you would call normal. Her father compulsively buys dented cans and has a particular fondness for cans without labels, which are extremely discounted because their contents are a mystery. Her mother takes countless pictures of her family and then glues them down into the pages of her scrapbooks, but does not allow anyone to look at them. Ryan, Hannah's mischievous fourteen-year-old brother, is headed straight for the remedial track at the local community college, if he’s lucky. Ben, her eight-year-old brother, is a walking sound effects machine, who prefers to communicate with noises rather than words. While Hannah is focused on escaping her working-class Connecticut suburb, she also finds herself being tugged back home as she worries about her brother Ben. Hannah’s parents inflict one last family vacation on the Sampson children, a trip that goes comically wrong almost from the get-go. Hannah is forced to confront her family's past in Disney World, of all places, when an emotional argument prompts her parents to disclose a secret they have been keeping from the children for sixteen years. Ultimately, she must decide whether to leave her hometown and not look back, or to focus on helping her family.

My Thoughts:
Dented Cans was a quick and easy read but I wanted more to happen. The blurb refers to a big family secret that gets revealed during a miserable vacation to Disney World but that doesn't happen until the end of the book. The rest of the story just kind of breezed by with nothing to engage me. I think just about everyone I know can claim a dysfunctional family but the Sampsons really do have family drama and I think more could have been done earlier in the book to show why Hannah can't wait to get out of her small town.

Also there were little hints of more drama that never got fleshed out. I was left wondering about why her parents were so secretive about where they met. Why was Aunt Lydia staring at Ben so sadly. What really happened to cousin Eddie and where is he now? Why doesn't her Mom let anyone see the scrapbooks? Was something really wrong with Ben or are the sounds his way of coping? Overall this was a pretty good read but I feel it could have been so much more. 

My Recommendation:
I recommend this one for anyone who loves dysfunctional family drama. 

Review: Dented Cans by Heather Walsh

https://www.readingwithmonie.com/2013/01/review-dented-cans-by-heather-walsh.html