Anna Begins

Woohoo- new books! And oh oh oh!!!! Read Pillars of the Earth first

World War Z. Did not impress.

Ok, I'll do Top 20. I always think, " If I were stranded on a deserted island..." 1. Fleetwood Mac- Rumors 2. Alice in Chains- Jar of Flies 3. Counting Crows- Recovering the Satellites 4. Counting Crows- August and Everything After 5. Counting Crows- Across A Wire Live (yes, all THREE of these must be here!) 6. U2- Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby 7 Mazzy Star- She Hangs Brightly 8. Bright Eyes- I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning 9. Amy Winehouse- Back to Black 10. Cypress Hill (Pretty much anything) 11. Kings of Leon- Only by the Night 12. Matchbox 20- Yourself or Someone Like You 13. 2Pac- All Eyez on Me 14. Rage Against the Machine- Renegades or The Battle for Los Angeles 15. Johnny Cash- The Legend of Johnny Cash 16. Snow Patrol- Final Straw 17. Coldplay- A Rush of Blood to the Head 18. Toad the Wet Sprocket- Fear 19. Sofia Coppala's soundtrack to Marie Antoinette 20. David Bowie (pretty much anything- even the 80's parts lol)

I like the cover

13 Reasons Why will be my next read. Seems interesting and I'm in the mood for some YA.

I can't think of one bad thing to say about it, really! Have you heard if Kidsmum finished it? I haven't seen her around the last few days, we started the same time, but I took 3 days out for the read-a-thon.

Welcome to the forum! Have you read Starship Troopers by Robert A Heinlein? Good, short and fast. Also, I just read Brandon Sanderson's Steelheart, which was good too, but the 2nd one doesn't come out til January.

Me too! My Kindle is going to overload with Samples. There just isn't enough time! This site does NOT help lol I started on Lee Child's Jack Reacher 17, A Wanted Man. It comes with a bonus short story called Deep Down. I only have like, 3 left in the whole series, but am skipping around with the end of the series a bit (as Lee Child does, releasing #16 as a prequel to the series, which I find annoying). The new one is out in September and I *think* I might want to be caught up by the time the new one (Personal) comes out, which is no problem at all, considering I read a few each month. Next will be 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, or another Chinese epic, called Empress Orchid by Anchee Min; this one set during the end of the Ch'ing Dynasty, about the last female emperor. BTW- I just found out Lee Child is really a pen name. I've read 15 of these books in a yr and 1/2 and I never knew that. It's probably not a surprise to those not in the US, as he is a British writer, something else I did not know.

LOVED Different Seasons!

That's so strange because when I looked it up, either as Masters of Rome or by Colleen McCullough, I can only find The October Horse and Anthony and Cleopatra. Maybe because I am looking them up as Kindle books and not paperbacks? I dunno, but I will check out the sample to both... I always read Kindle samples first (except for Jack Reacher books. Did you know Lee Child is a pen name? Probably.)

I just finished Jung Chang's Wild Swans. Wow. Review in my thread. Like Athena, I think I need something lighter in between this and another epic like or longer book. I'm thinking of the YA Thirteen Reasons Why By Jay Asher, but I might need some Reacher to cleanse my palate.

(5/5) Wild Swans, Jung Chang 570pages I don't even know what to say about this book. Written so well and so well researched, Wild Swans follows the lives of three women from the 1870's to the 90's. From a concubine (Jung Chang's grandmother) to her mother (a communist revolutionary), to herself, a British journalist, every part of this book tells the history of China along with that of the women. Full of description of Communist China and the environment it caused, the lives that you lead with these women and the people in their lives, is brilliantly executed. This was no Pearl S. Buck like I first imagined when I began it, but more of a modern portrayal of China, a different perspective- even the communist lack of colors (green, blue and grey) present a picture. The hardships the Chinese experienced lead to a whole new respect for what went on during Mao's reign.

Good wishes to you & your family in your new home!

Oh yes, Kindle can be very bad You should see all my Samples! I was looking up The Masters of Rome series after you reviewed it and I saw that Anthony and Cleopatra. I might read it. Are the Masters series supposed to be read in order? Amazon doesn't have all of them. I mainly wanted to start with the one you did. And Roma looks good too. After Wild Swans, I might have to take a small break from epics

I'm about 65% into Wild Swans and am enjoying it immensely. Kidsmum- Still enjoying it? How far along are you?

(2/5- it was just ok) Zombie Apocalypse 1 By Keith Luethke Kindle e-book, 72pages (2/5) Zombie Apocalypse 2: Spreading the Disease By Keith Luethke Kindle e-book, 71 pages (2/5) Zombie Apocalypse 3: The Haunted Wasteland By Keith Luethke Kindle e-book, 92 pages (2/5) Zombie Apocalypse 4: Those Who Remain By Keith Luethke Kindle e-book, 58 pages (2/5) Zombie Apocalypse 5: Desperate Measures By Keith Luethke Kindle e-book, 85 pages I read these for Athena's June read- a- thon and am reviewing them, mostly basically because the covers are so cool. The book is the journal of Rachael Cormac, a woman in her early 20s, who has been stranded in her house, surrounded by Zombies, including her husband, who she has kept in the basement. After being infected and taking an antidote which turns her into a half human, half Zombie, she decides to travel (on foot- why is it always on foot??) to her sister and niece in Ohio. The journals continue, the author using terrible grammar that was not part of the character. I don't know how many times I read "are" and not "our". Anyway, the stories move along fast, as each page or so is a entry to the diary, describing past day or nights' events. Rachael continues with her niece throughout different human settlements, sometimes teaming up with other Zombies to take out revenge on humans (for experimenting on Zombies) or arming herself with a weapon to save some humans. It is a crazy story with not much character development, little description of motives...but somehow perfect for a read-a thon or in between book because of the pace and shortness of each ebook. They turned out to be a nifty guilty pleasure. The post wouldn't let me post all of the covers, but they are all on Amazon, once you click on the first book. They are really different. There are around 12 or so of these! I couldn't find much info on the writer but he ends each book saying he isn't planning to write another, but will continue to keep them to 99 cents if he does continue. Pretty cool, considering the price of some 100 page singles or Amazon ebooks (King, Roth, etc).

I agree! I like Faulkner and can't wait to read it.

I want to see Maze Runner. Just can't decide if I should read the book first or not.

For Sunday June 8: Zombie Apocalypse: Spreading the Disease (#4) 70 mins, 59 pages Zombie Apocalypse, Desperate Measures (#5) 70 mins, 66 pages Total= 1hr 20 mins 125 pages For entire read-a- thon: 418 pages, aprox. 6hrs, 5 books read I was kind of all over the place yesterday, reading BBC History and some of Wild Swans, which I didn't time/ keep track of. Yes, that one might be hard, as the 4th of July is a big o deal over here in the US (Independence Day). Disappointingly, The 3 other Divergent Free Four Kindle Shorts come out on the 8th, otherwise, I would read them for the read- a thon.

That's discouraging! I had hoped to read it after Wild Swans, but now... I'm a bit put off. How is everyone else reading it fairing?

There are so many of these Zombie Apocalypse books, I might just keep them in mind for other read-a- thons. For Saturday June 7th. 2hrs, 92pages Zombie Apocalypse: Haunted Wasteland (#3) 1hr, 20 mins, 60 pages, Wild Swans by Jung Chang Total= 3hrs and 20 mins, 152 pages Woke up late and am getting a late start for Sunday.

Answered you in my own thread before I saw this one!

Oh that's great to hear because I liked the writing so much in POTE. I will totally read the sequel, maybe next, if Rushdie and Mr Mercedes doesn't catch me! How are you liking Wild Swans so far? Edited: Just saw the Wild Swan comments on the other thread... I'm 174 page in. I read 2 books about footbinding and did a ton of research in the past. What a bizarre custom. Guess you could say the same about corset, ya? Anyway, I am liking it- a lot. It's quite different from Peal S Buck's China. I am reading some Zombie shorts for the Read- a - thon, but today I might take sometime to read it... I missed it yesterday!

Morning Athena! I read 2 of them yesterday, the story is fast passed, but the writing isn't too good. It's ok though, except for the occasional Grammar slip, I'm into it. 1h, 25 mins, 70 pages Zombie Apocalpyse- Keith Luethke (#1) 2hrs 20 mins, 71 pages Zombie Apocalpyse: Spreading the Disease (#2) Total for Friday: 3hrs, 45mins, 141 pages I wish I could read as fast as you! I can do about 100 pages a day, but I read little bits here and there throughout the day, but my main reading is first thing in the morning, about 2 hours or so. Maybe I'll be Better today!

Oh duh didn't see that you were already reading it! Do you like it? IMO, it IS the most beautiful drive in the US I've been from Seattle to Oceanside by Long Beach- through out parts of my life. We loved Southern Carolina too. Myrtle Beach was so much fun. The ocean there was so beautiful.