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pontalba's 2013 reading list


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pontalba's 2013 Reading List
 
 
JANUARY

Dangerous Instincts by Mary Ellen O'Toole, Ph.D. and Alisa Bowman 3.5/5
Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard 4/5
Hit Me by Lawrence Block 4/5
Invisible by Paul Auster 4/5
Borrowed Time by Robert Goddard 4/5
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 5/5
The Bridge Over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle 3/5
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer 3.5/5
 
FEBRUARY
 
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry 4/5
The Music of Chance by Paul Auster 5/5
Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Auster 5/5
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson 2/5
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster 5/5
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa 4/5
Asset by Jonathan Orvin 4/5
I could Pee on This by Francesco Marciuliano  cute
 
MARCH
 
 
Dangerous Liaisons  by Choderlos De Laclos 4/5
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark 2.5/5
The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin 5/5
Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter (unfinished, only read 44%) 1.5/5
Dark Shadows: The Salem Branch by Lara Parker 2.5/5
Dark Shadows: Angelique's Descent by Lara Parker 3/5
Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 4/5
 
APRIL
 
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel 5/5
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel 5/5
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 4/5
Lord John and the Zombies (novella) by Diana Gabaldon 4/5
Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King 3.5/5
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber 1/5 (only managed 25%)
Morgue Drawer Four by Jutta Profijt 3/5
 
MAY
 
All That Is by James Salter 4/5
the long-legged fly by James Sallis 4/5
Morgue Drawer Next Door by Jutta Profijt 3/5
Killing Trail by Charles Allen Gramlich 5/5
The Last Day on Earth by R.M. Allinson 4/5
Morgue Drawer For Rent by Jutta Profijt  4/5
Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor 5+/5
Replay by Ken Grimwood 5/5
Death Will Have Your Eyes by James Sallis 5/5
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 2/5
The Man Who Folded in on Himself by David Gerrold 3/5
 
JUNE
 
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley 4.5/5
Mary, Queen of France by Jean Plaidy 2.5/5
Dust Angel by Jutta Profijt 3/5
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan 1.5/5 (read 50% only)
Six Years by Harlan Coben 4/5
Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley 5/5
The Lolita Man by Bill James 5/5
The Night Gardner by George Pelecanos 5/5
Night Bus by Giampiero Rigosi 4/5
The Lost Rocks (The Dare Stones and the Unsolved Mystery of Sir Walter Raleigh's Lost Colony) by David La Vere 4/5
Her Majesty's Spymaster by Stephen Budiansky 4/5
Past Caring by Robert Goddard 4/5

 

JULY

 

If The Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr 4/5

An Unexpected Guest by Anne Korkeakivi 4/5

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory 5/5

The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory 4/5

The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory 5/5

World War Z by Max Brooks 5+/5

Ratlines by Stuart Neville 4/5

 

AUGUST

 

The White Princess by Philippa Gregory 4/5

By the Time You Read This by Giles Blunt 3.5/5

Blood Will Tell (A Medical Explanation of the Tyranny of Henry VIII) by Kyra Cornelius Kramer  3/5

The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory 3/5

Felicia's Journey by William Trevor 2/5  (read about 2/3rds, meh)

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 5/5

Adaptation by Malinda Lo 3.5/5

 

SEPTEMBER

 

The Infatuations by Javier Marias 4/5

Death of an Englishman by Magdalen Nabb 2.5/5

By Blood by Ellen Ullman 5/5

Close to the Machine: Technophlia and its Discontents by Ellen Ullman 5/5

 

OCTOBER

 

Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett 4/5

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams 5+/5

All Souls by Javier Marias 3.5/5

The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham

A Daughter of Warwick by  Julie May Ruddock 4/5

Village of the Damned aka The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham 5/5

Others of My Kind by James Sallis 5/5

Livia: First Lady of Imperial Rome by Anthony A. Barrett

An American Spy by Olen Steinhauer 4/5

 

NOVEMBER

 

Under the Dome by Stephen King 5/5

Half (200 pages) of Titus Groan by M. Peake 1/5

...wild about Harry by Deno Seder 3/5

Dirty Love by Andre Dubus III 5/5

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III 5+/5

The Preacher by Camilla Lackberg 3.5

 

DECEMBER

 

The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick 4/5

Purge by Sofi Oksanen 3.5/5

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 4/5

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan 3/5

Hostage by Robert Crais 4/5

Lucky 'person of dubious parentage' by Charles McCarry 3/5 *

Booked to Die by John Dunning 3/5

The Bookman's Wake by John Dunning 3.5/5

Pines by Blake Crouch 4/5

Wayward ( #2 in the Wayward Pines series) by Blake Crouch

Dusk and Other Stories by James Salter 5/5

The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch 3/5

Exit Vertigo: Part I : A Wayward Pines novella by Jordan Crouch (brother to above Blake Crouch) 4/5

 

 

*Apparently the filter on the site changes some words.  The word that it has changed means an illegitimate child or a really unscrupulous person. 

'Tis a puzzlement. :)

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pontalba's books read list (2007)

 

 

I only started keeping track/lists in 2007. Drat. Wish I'd started way sooner. Oh well, it is what it is, and here 'tis. :readingtwo:

 

btw, I'm cateline on Goodreads.

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Kat

I have the same book on my Kindle but have yet to read it . It sounded interesting,didn't it ?

You also sound like me, sometimes I'll be clanking around like a ping pong ball in a windstorm ,trying to focus enough to find a book to settle down to .

I'm kinda in the same place you are right now, trying to find something that grabs my attention .

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Yesterday and today turned out to be excellent reading days. :D I finished Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard last night.

 

Infuriating, outrageous and so well researched and written, Destiny of the Republic chronicles the ascendancy to the Presidency of the United States by James A. Garfield and his tragic and untimely assassination. He didn't want or seek the position, it was thrust upon him, quite literally by the political waves around him. In the style of the time, he did not even campaign after he was nominated. It was considered beneath the dignity of the candidate to stump around the country begging for votes. What a wonderful concept, and profound contrast to today.

However dirty politics were just as dirty, possibly a slight bit dirtier than they are today. A different brand of dirt I'd venture to say.

Millard goes over in excruciating detail the medical "treatment" that Garfield received, which was in fact more a factor in his death than the bullet wounds themselves.

 

A fascinating piece of history I was not familiar with in the least. It kept me totally wound up from front to back.

If you are a history buff, you must read this! 4/5

 

I also managed to finish another book last night...Dangerous Instincts by Mary Ellen O'Toole, Ph.D. and Alisa Bowman. The sub-title is "Use an FBI profiler's tactics to avoid unsafe situations." That may be tooting it's own horn a bit much, but it does contain some great common sense advice for getting out of, or really managing NOT to get into dangerous situations. Her methodology is precise and to the point. The book is also interspersed with fascinating stories of O'Toole's FBI career as a profiler. She interviewed many of the serial killers of the last several decades, playing a pivotal role in their captures, and interviews. If you like lists, this is a great book for you. :)

 

Recommended 3.5/5

 

Just finished a little while ago the newest Lawrence Block, Hit Me.....another in the Keller series. This is the series that introduced me to Block's writing. He has a direct and straight from the shoulder prose that states the facts. Keller is a hit man, but he is trying to quit. He has a wife and child now, living in post-Katrina New Orleans and doing ok for himself.

Block tells Keller's stories in a sort of series of novellas.....they connect, and refer to each other, but could stand independent of each other.

 

This one started off a bit slowly for me, but came up to speed about a third of the way through, and really delivered.

 

Recommended. 4/5

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Great reviews -- I have the one about Garfield ,but have yet to read it . It sounds really interesting . I'd heard before about all the Nimrod docs and their shenanigans trying to remove the bullet. The docs ended up killing him,not the bullet .

 

It sounds like you have been on a reading roll ! I need to get a move on and get another book started . I've just been fiddling around lately ..too much else on thmy plate right now I think .

 

Keep up the good work !

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Oh, gee whiz frankie, I didn't think to say it was ok..... :blush2: Very glad you both have! Thanks for the best wishes!

I actually thought I'd go back and link previous book blog threads in the second post. But when I am more awake. lol

 

Thanks Julie, Millard really is an exhaustive researcher, I have her book on Teddy Roosevelt too, River of Doubt also. I almost feel like getting to it right away, but I don't want to read them too close together.

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Oh, gee whiz frankie, I didn't think to say it was ok..... :blush2: Very glad you both have! Thanks for the best wishes!

I actually thought I'd go back and link previous book blog threads in the second post. But when I am more awake. lol

 

Thanks Julie, Millard really is an exhaustive researcher, I have her book on Teddy Roosevelt too, River of Doubt also. I almost feel like getting to it right away, but I don't want to read them too close together.

 

We must have the same taste in books ! I have River of Doubt too . It sounded really interesting .

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Happy reading in 2013, Pontalba! I look forward to reading your reviews and all about your book-buying adventures. :)

 

LOL, thanks Kylie. Adventures they are indeed. Now that we are doing a bit of traveling, there are new cities to explore for just that purpose! :D

I just heard about a great bookstore in Oxford, Mississippi and that just happens to be William Faulkner's home town. Only a 5 hour drive from here. :cool:

 

Happy reading for 2013 pontalba :D

Good luck with your reading this year Ponalba :smile:

 

Thanks so much Brian and Kidsmum! I hope to manage more this year than last, perhaps to come back up to previous years totals. :readingtwo: :readingtwo:

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I've edited the second post on this thread to show the Reading Lists I have compiled over the last 6 years. 2007 was the first year I kept track of what and when I read titles.

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Paul Auster's Invisible is really a simple story. The difficult part comes in when the reader must decide who is telling the truth, and what that truth consists of in the final analysis.

 

A manuscript entitled 1967 is sent to an old friend by a dying man. It is divided into sections, finally Spring, Summer and Fall. Are we to believe the original narrator, or, for that matter, believe the transitional narrator? What is their agenda, if any? Did, or could the events chronicled in the manuscript have happened, or are they the product of a weak and/or deranged mind? Murder, betrayal, intrigue abound, Auster style.

 

Each reader must decide for themselves.

 

Recommended 4/5

 

This was an inadvertent reread for me, as I believe I mentioned elsewhere. I am glad it happened though. :)

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I bought 'Dangerous Instincts' by accident the other day when I meant to just add it to my wish list. When I bought something else (on purpose) later on it was already in my basket. What's a girl to do?

 

I have to agree with your review of the book , pretty much says all that can be said on it. :smile: Thanks for the recommendation.

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I bought 'Dangerous Instincts' by accident the other day when I meant to just add it to my wish list. When I bought something else (on purpose) later on it was already in my basket. What's a girl to do?

 

I have to agree with your review of the book , pretty much says all that can be said on it. :smile: Thanks for the recommendation.

 

Thanks Chrissy. :)

 

Ya know.....I have those "accidents" too. :o:readingtwo::D Thankfully!!

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Borrowed Time by Robert Goddard is a rather convoluted murder mystery. A man and woman. A chance meeting. Violence. Murder. Is the narrator a reliable one? What, if anything, is he leaving out?

 

Just when the reader thinks they've figured it out, and have discounted the obvious, another twist comes into play. I thought I had it solved a couple of times, only to be surprised.

 

Goddard is certainly an author to be reckoned with, and one heretofore unknown by myself. Although all of the characters were not fully realized, it didn't take away my enjoyment of the ever thickening plot.

 

Recommended 4/5

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Oh, you found Robert Goddard ! Love him !

 

I haven't read any of his recent ones,but read several of his first ones : Past Caring ( my all time favorite), In Pale Battalions, Into the Blue ,Beyond Recall, Hand in Glove, Closed Circle, Debt of Dishonor, Painting the Darkness .

 

I know what you mean about trying to figure out the mystery. I'm no good at figuring out ANY mystery books I read,but his are especially so. Lots of turns you never see coming .

 

Guess I should pick up one of his newer ones .Not sure why I haven't other than the fact that I have too many books in line,and not enough time to read them all .

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I have Hand in Glove, Past Caring and Never Go Back. I really want to get to them soon, well worth it.

 

I'm glad I have one of your favorites Julie. :D

As soon as I can, I'll get it out and read it, maybe next. If I can find it. :roll:

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Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 5/5

 

Finished my reread last night. /sigh/ I did mine one or two nuggets I'd either forgotten or missed before. The ups and downs of Jamie and Claire's relationship are thrilling and verra extreme, and the reader is not quite sure just how it will turn out till almost the end.

 

For the one or two out there :P that have not heard of the Outlander series, it is the story of a woman, circa 1945 that 'falls' through the standing stones. The standing stones of fairy tales that usually begin with .....200 years ago..... She, Claire, is thrown back the aforementioned 200(ish) years to a barely pre-Culloden time. The story tells of her survival in, what is for her, a barbaric time, and her bond with a young man, Jamie. How that bond develops, strengthens and culminates makes for a fascinating and enrapturing story.

 

Highly Recommended.

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