50 Books Sort Of
Jan. 30th, 2008 04:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jule1122I recently started reading more fiction so I was thinking about joining ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
50bookchallenge, but I realized the chances of me posting to ir reading entries in a community of people who don't share at least one fannish interest with me was pretty slim. So I joined ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
flashfly's short story community classicshorts instead. However, since I like the idea of tracking my reading I will be posting here as though I were doing the official 50 book challenge. Lucky you flist! At this point I am primarily reading what I call serial killer books although I suppose the better genre would be suspense or thriller.
1. Double Homicide by Jonathan and Faye Kellerman
Jonathan Kellerman is probably my favorite author right now. This book had 2 short stories he co-wrote with his wife (also a novelist) Faye. Each story focused on a specific city. The first story was set in Boston and I had a hard time getting into it although the resolution was interesting. The second story was set in Santa Fe and much stronger in my opinion.
2. Shadow Catchers by Thomas Lakeman
I loved this book! He only has one other which I am waiting to get from the library. Basic premise-FBI agent on semi-disgraced leave is in small desert town and get caught up in a child abduction and murder. There are a lot of secrets both old and new that I couldn't wait to find out about. I like how the author built the tension without dragging things out to the point I felt manipulated. Other than a few fights scenes I skimmed, I loved every word of this.
3. Dark Hollow by John Connolly
This book was really long and had it been trimmed by at least 100 pages I probably would have really liked it. I read 2 other books in the time it took me to finish this one. I thought the central mystery was very interesting and I like the main character and most of the supporting characters. But there was one subplot that needed to go completely. And the story is very heavy on description especially of setting something I find boring. I didn't care about the history of every town in Maine that they visited. Frankly half the time I couldn't remember where they were. But if you like that type of description and like mysteries with a small supernatural component and a lot of darkness, this was a good story. I doubt I'll read this author again though.
4. Tell No On by Harlen Coben
Another story I liked a lot. The main character begins to think his dead wife is alive and tries to find out what really happened. I was very emotionally invested in this story. The characters were very well written and I liked them all and wanted to know what was going to happen to them. The final twist made a few earlier plot elements questionable and they were a couple of action scenes that dragged on too long, but overall a great book. I have another by this author to read and I can't wait.
5. Capital Crimes by Jonathan and Faye Kellerman
This is the second collaboration between them and while the format is the same, the stories are much stronger. My Sister's Keeper is set in Berkley and focuses on the murder of a lesbian politician (someday I will post about all the GLBT characters I keep running into). I was surprised at the resolution and it was interesting to read a story so focused on a gay character. Music City Breakdown is set in Nashville and involves the murder of a musical had been. I have to say I was very disturbed (in a good way) by the resolution of this story. It was interesting to see Alex Delaware the main character in Jonathan Kellerman's series int his story. As he mentioned it gives readers and chance to see him from another POV and it's something I will carry to that series.
6. True Blue: A Tribute to Mike Krzyzewski's Career at Duke by Dick Weiss
I am a huge Duke basketball fan and have been for almost 20 years. Each chapter of this book focused on another person's relationship with Mike Krzyzewski. Some were players others coaches, reporters etc. One thing I liked is I learned as much about them as I did about Mike. The only confusing thing is that the chapters seem like they should have been written by the person profiled but they weren't so at times I was confused by when the author was speaking vs the subject of the chapter.
And the book I couldn't finish. Dark Harbor by Stuart Woods. I checked this book out by accident thinking he was an author I wanted to read (I meant Stephen White. They have the same initials). But once I realized I thought I'd read it anyway because he has several series with reoccurring character something I like. I noticed in the first few chapters there were a few "don't read" triggers for me. The focus on wealth annoyed me as well as some unbelievable circumstances setting up the story. But last night two things drove me over the edge. The dead guy's daughter was named Esme. Weird, but whatever. However the dead guy's brother had twin sons named Eben and Enos. No explanation at all. The real problem was the language especially the dialogue felt wrong. I couldn't get into the story because I couldn't hear it. The writing wasn't natural at all.
Feel free to rec me any books you think I might like!
50bookchallenge, but I realized the chances of me posting to ir reading entries in a community of people who don't share at least one fannish interest with me was pretty slim. So I joined flashfly's short story community classicshorts instead. However, since I like the idea of tracking my reading I will be posting here as though I were doing the official 50 book challenge. Lucky you flist! At this point I am primarily reading what I call serial killer books although I suppose the better genre would be suspense or thriller.1. Double Homicide by Jonathan and Faye Kellerman
Jonathan Kellerman is probably my favorite author right now. This book had 2 short stories he co-wrote with his wife (also a novelist) Faye. Each story focused on a specific city. The first story was set in Boston and I had a hard time getting into it although the resolution was interesting. The second story was set in Santa Fe and much stronger in my opinion.
2. Shadow Catchers by Thomas Lakeman
I loved this book! He only has one other which I am waiting to get from the library. Basic premise-FBI agent on semi-disgraced leave is in small desert town and get caught up in a child abduction and murder. There are a lot of secrets both old and new that I couldn't wait to find out about. I like how the author built the tension without dragging things out to the point I felt manipulated. Other than a few fights scenes I skimmed, I loved every word of this.
3. Dark Hollow by John Connolly
This book was really long and had it been trimmed by at least 100 pages I probably would have really liked it. I read 2 other books in the time it took me to finish this one. I thought the central mystery was very interesting and I like the main character and most of the supporting characters. But there was one subplot that needed to go completely. And the story is very heavy on description especially of setting something I find boring. I didn't care about the history of every town in Maine that they visited. Frankly half the time I couldn't remember where they were. But if you like that type of description and like mysteries with a small supernatural component and a lot of darkness, this was a good story. I doubt I'll read this author again though.
4. Tell No On by Harlen Coben
Another story I liked a lot. The main character begins to think his dead wife is alive and tries to find out what really happened. I was very emotionally invested in this story. The characters were very well written and I liked them all and wanted to know what was going to happen to them. The final twist made a few earlier plot elements questionable and they were a couple of action scenes that dragged on too long, but overall a great book. I have another by this author to read and I can't wait.
5. Capital Crimes by Jonathan and Faye Kellerman
This is the second collaboration between them and while the format is the same, the stories are much stronger. My Sister's Keeper is set in Berkley and focuses on the murder of a lesbian politician (someday I will post about all the GLBT characters I keep running into). I was surprised at the resolution and it was interesting to read a story so focused on a gay character. Music City Breakdown is set in Nashville and involves the murder of a musical had been. I have to say I was very disturbed (in a good way) by the resolution of this story. It was interesting to see Alex Delaware the main character in Jonathan Kellerman's series int his story. As he mentioned it gives readers and chance to see him from another POV and it's something I will carry to that series.
6. True Blue: A Tribute to Mike Krzyzewski's Career at Duke by Dick Weiss
I am a huge Duke basketball fan and have been for almost 20 years. Each chapter of this book focused on another person's relationship with Mike Krzyzewski. Some were players others coaches, reporters etc. One thing I liked is I learned as much about them as I did about Mike. The only confusing thing is that the chapters seem like they should have been written by the person profiled but they weren't so at times I was confused by when the author was speaking vs the subject of the chapter.
And the book I couldn't finish. Dark Harbor by Stuart Woods. I checked this book out by accident thinking he was an author I wanted to read (I meant Stephen White. They have the same initials). But once I realized I thought I'd read it anyway because he has several series with reoccurring character something I like. I noticed in the first few chapters there were a few "don't read" triggers for me. The focus on wealth annoyed me as well as some unbelievable circumstances setting up the story. But last night two things drove me over the edge. The dead guy's daughter was named Esme. Weird, but whatever. However the dead guy's brother had twin sons named Eben and Enos. No explanation at all. The real problem was the language especially the dialogue felt wrong. I couldn't get into the story because I couldn't hear it. The writing wasn't natural at all.
Feel free to rec me any books you think I might like!
