Rach's 2009 Reading Lists

[Stephanie2008]

 

I know, I'm such a loser lol. Since uni finished I've had loads of spare time since there's no essays and book lists to get through .

 

You're not a loser At least you're doing something productive. All my days just fizzle into one.

[rach.at.the.disco]

50. Saving Grace - Ciara Geraghty

Synopsis from Waterstones:

When Grace O'Brien wakes up next to Bernard-from-IT, she blames the out-of-date bottle of Baileys for making her cheat on her boyfriend of one year, nine months, three weeks and six days. But then she finds she can't get Bernard - geeky dress sense, red hair and all - out of her mind. It gets worse when Grace's best friend falls in love with a blind date - Bernard. Somehow Grace can't help feeling that she's to blame for all this mess. She usually is, after all ...

 

Started: 11th July

Finished: 13th July

440 pages

Rating: 8/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

51. Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella

Synopsis from Waterstones:

Lara has always had an overactive imagination. Now she wonders if she is losing her mind. Normal twenty-something girls just don't get visited by ghosts! But inexplicably, the spirit of Lara's great aunt Sadie - in the form of a bold, demanding Charleston-dancing girl - has appeared to make one last request: Lara must track down a missing necklace Sadie simply can't rest without. Lara's got enough problems of her own. Her start-up company is floundering, her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, and she's just been dumped by the love of her life. But as Lara spends time with Sadie, life becomes more glamorous and their treasure hunt turns into something intriguing and romantic. Could Sadie's ghost be the answer to Lara's problems and can two girls from different times end up learning something special from each other?

 

Started: 13th July

Finished: 14th July

432 pages

Rating: 7.5/10

[bethany725]

I've somehow been living under a rock and didn't even know Kinsella came out with a new book! I see you gave it 7.5/10.. Are you a strict critic, or did you not enjoy it a ton?

[rach.at.the.disco]

I wasn't aware there was a new book out either Beth until I saw it in the supermarket. I can't say I enjoyed it as much as her previous books, especially the Shopaholic series. The main character Lara really wound me up sometimes I wanted to give her a good shake which put me off a bit. Still a good book and rather an enjoyable read though so I hope you get to read it sometime .

[rach.at.the.disco]

52. The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory

Synopsis from Waterstones:

From the bestselling author of 'The Other Boleyn Girl' comes a wonderfully atmospheric evocation of the court of Henry VIII, and the one woman who destroyed two of his queens. The year is 1539 and the court of Henry VIII is increasingly fearful at the moods of the ageing sick king. With only a baby in the cradle for an heir, Henry has to take another wife and the dangerous prize of the crown of England is won by Anne of Cleves. She has her own good reasons for agreeing to marry a man old enough to be her father, in a country where to her both language and habits are foreign. Although fascinated by the glamour of her new surroundings, she senses a trap closing around her. Katherine is confident that she can follow in the steps of her cousin Anne Boleyn to dazzle her way to the throne but her kinswoman Jane Boleyn, haunted by the past, knows that Anne's path led to Tower Green and to an adulterer's death. The story of these three young women, trying to make their own way through the most volatile court in Europe at a time of religious upheaval and political uncertainty, is Philippa Gregory's most compelling novel yet.

 

Started: 15th July

Finished: 21st July

514 pages

Rating: 7/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

53. Marley And Me - John Grogan

Synopsis from Waterstones:

John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they bought home Marley, a wiggly yellow fur ball of a puppy. Life would never be the same. Marley quickly grew into a barrelling, ninety-seven pound steamroller of a Labrador retriever, a dog like no other. He crashed through screen doors, gouged through drywall, flung drool on guests, stole women's undergarments, and ate nearly everything he could get his mouth around, including couches and fine jewellery. Obedience school did no good - Marley was expelled. And yet Marley's heart was pure. Just as he joyfully refused any limits on his behaviour, his love and loyalty were boundless, too. The heartwarming and unforgettable story of a family in the making and the wondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life.

 

Started: 21st July

Finished: 24th July

335 pages

Rating: 7/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

54. Upfront And Personal - Coleen Nolan

Synopsis from Waterstones:

Writing with the warmth and humor that have made her so popular, Coleen describes her eventful life, from joining her sisters' band The Nolans when she was only nine to growing up in the spotlight as they went on to chart-topping success around the world. Coleen also reveals how she coped with her tumultuous marriage to television star Shane Richie and how, after they split she was left a single parent struggling to get through each day. She landed the job of presenter on "This Morning" and was just finding her feet when she was sacked, plunging her into depression as she lost all confidence. A way out finally came in the form of chat show "Loose Women", where Coleen reclaimed her place in the nation's hearts. Today she is happily married and an inspiration to women everywhere who believed their 'best days' were behind them. Entertaining, funny and shockingly honest, this book is sure to appeal to her many fans old and new.

 

Started: 21st July

Finished: 25th July

357 pages

Rating: 6/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

55. That's Another Story - Julie Walters

Synopsis from Waterstones:

Julie Walters has been described as the nation's most popular actress and comedienne. She has been delighting us on screen and on stage for over 25 years and we have taken her to our hearts. Now she tells us her own story, in her own words. Born in fifties Birmingham, daughter of an Irish Catholic mother, Julie was sent to a convent school. She always wanted to be an actress but first went into nursing to appease her mother before leaving to join the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. West End success followed, and she quickly replicated her success on film, earning an Academy Award nomination for her role in Educating Rita. Julie's collaborations with Victoria Wood have given us the unforgettable Mrs Overall in ACORN ANTIQUES and Petula in DINNERLADIES, and she's found a new generation of fans playing Mrs Weasley in the Harry Potter films and starring in the record-break hit film MAMMA MIA!. The winner of countless awards, Julie has continued to be in some of Britain's best TV drama and has been awarded the OBE and CBE.

 

Started: 24th July

Finished: 27th July

301 pages

Rating: 7/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

56. The Drowning Girl - Margaret Leroy

Synopsis from Waterstones:

A haunted child. A desperate mother. An unspeakable truth. 'She's my daughter, but in some weird way I feel she isn't really my child'. Young single mum Grace is drowning. Her little girl Sylvie is distant, troubled and prone to violent tantrums which the child psychiatrists blame on Grace. But Grace knows there's something more to what's happening to Sylvie. There has to be. Travelling from the London suburbs to the west coast of Ireland, Grace and Sylvie embark on a journey of shocking discovery, forcing Grace to question everything she believes in and changing both their lives forever.

 

Started: 28th July

Finished: 30th July

395 pages

Rating: 7.5/10

[Adam]

56. The Drowning Girl - Margaret Leroy

 

Synopsis from Waterstones:

A haunted child. A desperate mother. An unspeakable truth. 'She's my daughter, but in some weird way I feel she isn't really my child'. Young single mum Grace is drowning. Her little girl Sylvie is distant, troubled and prone to violent tantrums which the child psychiatrists blame on Grace. But Grace knows there's something more to what's happening to Sylvie. There has to be. Travelling from the London suburbs to the west coast of Ireland, Grace and Sylvie embark on a journey of shocking discovery, forcing Grace to question everything she believes in and changing both their lives forever.

 

Started: 28th July

Finished: 30th July

395 pages

Rating: 7.5/10

 

Sounds like a good read. You read it pretty fast too

[rach.at.the.disco]

57. The Jane Austen Book Club - Karen Joy Fowler

Synopsis from Waterstones:

Six people - five women and a man - meet once a month in California's Central Valley to discuss Jane Austen's novels. They are ordinary people, neither happy nor unhappy, but each of them is wounded in different ways, they are all mixed up about their lives and relationships. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable - under the guiding eye of Jane Austen a couple of them even fall in love..."

 

Started: 31st July

Finished: 3rd August

250 pages

Rating: 6.5/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

58. Single Mother On The Verge - Maria Roberts

Synopsis from Waterstones:

Maria is twenty-nine years old. She is a single mother and lives on a council estate in Manchester. She's also a chronic day-dreamer. One day she'd like to marry a beautiful man with a huge income to look after her and Jack, her nine-year-old son. The only problem is that her current boyfriend, Rhodri, a chickpea-loving vegan eco-warrior, has turned his back on career ladders. Neither does he believe in monogamy. And so Maria finds herself unexpectedly juggling one, two, three lovers ...When Damien, Jack's abusive father, who threatened more times than Maria cares to remember to kill her makes an unwelcome reappearance, she gets a wake-up call. Will Maria find a wonderful father figure for Jack by the time she turns thirty? A surprisingly humorous memoir with heartbreaking and unexpected moments, "Single Mother on the Verge" is a seductive and extremely touching read.

 

Started: 3rd August

Finished: 4th August

327 pages

Rating: 7.5/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

59. Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris

Synopsis from Waterstones:

 

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much - not because she's not pretty - she's a very cute bubbly blonde - or not interested in a social life. She really is ...but Sookie's got a bit of a disability. She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill: he's tall, he's dark and he's handsome - and Sookie can't 'hear' a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting all her life for. But Bill has a disability of his own: he's fussy about his food, he doesn't like suntans and he's never around during the day ...Yep, Bill's a vampire. Worse than that, he hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, with a reputation for trouble - of the murderous kind. And then one of Sookie's colleagues at the bar is killed, and it's beginning to look like Sookie might be the next victim ...

 

Started: 5th August

Finished: 7th August

336 pages

Rating: 8.5/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

60. Operation Sunshine - Jenny Colgan

Synopsis from Waterstones:

Evie needs a good holiday. Not just because she's been working all hours in her job as a receptionist for two high-powered plastic surgeons - but also because every holiday she has ever been on in her life has involved sunburn, arguments and projectile vomiting - and sometimes all three at once. Why can't she have a normal holiday, like other people seem to have - some sun, sand, sea and (hopefully) sex? So when Evie's employers invite her to attend a conference with them in the south of France, she can't believe her luck. At last, the chance to hob nob with the rich and glamorous, to party under the stars, to live the life she's dreamed about. It's certainly the holiday of a lifetime - but not quite in the way Evie imagines!

 

Started: 7th August

Finished: 8th August

309 pages

Rating: 6.5/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

61. Living Dead In Dallas - Charlaine Harris

Synopsis from Waterstones:

Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is having a streak of bad luck. First her co-worker is killed, and no one seems to care. Then she comes face-to-face with a beastly creature which gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn't enjoy it). The point is: they saved her life. So when one of the bloodsuckers asks for a favour, she obliges - and soon Sookie's in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She's supposed to interview certain humans involved, but she makes one condition: the vampires must promise to behave, and let the humans go unharmed. But that's easier said than done, and all it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly ...

 

Started: 8th August

Finished: 11th August

279 pages

Rating: 8.5/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

62. In Their Footsteps - Tess Gerritsen

Synopsis from play.com:

The quiet scandal surrounding her parents' deaths twenty years ago has always haunted Beryl Tavistock. Now she's decided that the only way to exorcise the ghosts of the past is to search for the truth. Beryl starts asking dangerous questions, and the answers are proving that old secrets die hard.

 

Caught in what's become a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, her quest takes her from the rain-slick streets of Paris to the sun-drenched isles of Greece. And as she gets pulled into a world of international espionage, Beryl quickly discovers that she needs help. Richard Wolf, an ex-CIA agent and a man she`s only just met, is her only hope.

 

But in a world where trust is a double-edged sword, friends become enemies and enemies become killers.

 

Started: 11th August

Finished: 12th August

329 pages

Rating: 8/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

63. Out Of My Depth - Emily Barr

Synopsis from Waterstones:

When Susie decides to invite her old school friends for a reunion she tells herself that it's just about showing off. It's about letting Amanda, Izzy and Tamsin, see how well she's done, with her successful career as an artist, her gorgeous house in France, her deliciously louche boyfriend. But the truth is that this is a dark plan. A plan that could make or break her seemingly perfect life!and she knows it. As the old friends gather at Susie's for a long weekend of catching up and comparisons, it is clear that despite their lives having taken very different turns, they are all still haunted by a dark and common past. They each know that up until now they have been treading water - waiting for the inevitable moment when they have to face the truth. The question is, now that the time has come, who will sink and who will swim?

 

Started: 13th August

Finished: 16th August

408 pages

6/10

[Janet]

Have you read any other of Emily Barr's books, Rach?

 

I see you gave it 6/10. I've read most of hers apart from The Sisterhood (which is in my to read pile). I thought the one I read before this (Plan B) had lost the usual edgy feel to it that her previous offerings had. Although this wasn't as good as earlier ones I felt it was more of a return to form.

 

You've made me think I'll push The Sisterhood up the pile to see how that one compares.

[rach.at.the.disco]

I haven't actually Janet. I think I'll have to have a look at her others and see if any of them interest me.

 

Hope you enjoy The Sisterhood .

[rach.at.the.disco]

64. Club Dead - Charlaine Harris

Synopsis from Waterstones:

There's only one vampire Sookie Stackhouse is involved with - at least voluntarily - and that's Bill. But recently he's been a little distant - in another state distant. His sinister and sexy boss Eric has an idea where to find him, and next thing Sookie knows she's off to Jackson, Mississippi, to mingle with the underworld at Club Dead. It's a dangerous little haunt where the elusive vampire society can go to chill out and suck down some Type O - but when Sookie finally finds Bill caught in an act of serious betrayal she's not sure whether to save him, or to sharpen some stakes. The Sookie Stackhouse books are delightful Southern Gothic supernatural mysteries, starring Sookie, the telepathic cocktail waitress, and a cast of increasingly colourful characters, including vampires, werewolves and things that really do go bump in the night.

 

Started: 20th August

Finished: 22nd August

274 pages

Rating: 8/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

65. P.S I Love You - Cecelia Ahern

Synopsis from Waterstones:

Some people wait their whole lives to find their soul mates. But not Holly and Gerry. Childhood sweethearts, they could finish each other's sentences. No one could imagine Holly and Gerry without each other. Gerry's death devastates Holly. But as her 30th birthday looms, Gerry comes back to her. He's left her a bundle of notes, one for each of the months after his death, guiding Holly into her new life without him, each note signed 'PS, I Love You'. As the notes are opened, the man who knows Holly better than anyone teaches her that life goes on. With some help from her friends and her family, Holly finds herself laughing, crying -- and being braver than ever before. Life is for living, she realises -- but it always helps if there's an angel watching over you.

 

Started: 27th August

Finished: 28th August

503 pages

Rating: 9/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

66. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

Synopsis from Waterstones:

My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father talked to him once about fertilizer. This is Susie Salmon. Watching from heaven, Susie sees her happy, suburban family devastated by her death, isolated even from one another as they each try to cope with their terrible loss alone. Over the years, her friends and siblings grow up, fall in love, do all the things she never had the chance to do herself. But life is not quite finished with Susie yet ...

 

Started: 28th August

Finished: 31st August

328 pages

Rating: 8.5/10

[rach.at.the.disco]

67. Queen Of Babble: Big Mouth, Big Heart, Big Problems - Meg Cabot

 

Synopsis from Waterstones:

Lizzie Nichols has a problem, and it isn't that she's blowing her college graduation money on a trip to visit her long-distance boyfriend Andy in London. She just can't keep anything to herself, including her indignation at finding out her beloved boyfriend wasn't completely faithful to her during their separation. She's now out on the streets with no money and a non-changeable airline ticket home for exactly a month away. Fortunately, Lizzie's best friend, Shari, comes to the rescue. She's spending the summer in the South of France catering weddings in a romantic sixteenth century chateau, and she's able to sort Lizzie out with a job. One glimpse of the gorgeous Chateau Mirac, not to mention the equally gorgeous son of the owner, and Lizzie is hooked.

 

Started: 31st August

Finished: 1st September

309 pages

Rating: 8/10

Edited September 10, 2009 by rach.at.the.disco

[rach.at.the.disco]

68. Queen Of Babble: In The Big City - Meg Cabot

 

Synopsis from Waterstones:

When "Summer Fling" Luke uses the L word (Living Together), Lizzie is only too happy to move in with the love of her life in his mother's Fifth Avenue pied-a-terre. But Lizzie's not as lucky in her employment search. As her best friend, Shari, finds the perfect job, Lizzie struggles through one humiliating interview after another, until Shari's boyfriend Chaz lands Lizzie a receptionist's position at his father's posh law firm.The non-paying gig at a local wedding-gown shop Lizzie manages to find all on her own. But Lizzie's notoriously big mouth gets her into trouble almost at once - first at the law firm, where she becomes too chummy with a society bride, and then with Luke when she brings up the M word (Marriage). Soon Lizzie finds herself jobless and homeless all over again. Can Lizzie save herself and find career security (not to mention a committed relationship) at last?

 

Started: 1st September

Finished: 3rd September

307 pages

Rating: 8/10

Edited September 10, 2009 by rach.at.the.disco