Spin Cycle: Books!!

Even though I just did a reading challenge update, I saw that Jen, at Sprite's Keeper has brought back a favorite of mine.... The Spin Cycle!  This week's spin is about books.  What we're reading now, what are our favorite books and authors.  

Here's my spin.

I just finished Stieg Larsson's Millenium trilogy, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.  I listened to these books in my car.  I loved them!!!  I was rooting for Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist throughout the books!  I'm sad that Stieg Larsson has passed away and we won't get to enjoy any more wonderful books from this gifted author.

The Pond is a wonderfully spooky book!   "A small boy drowns in a Pennsylvania pond, enters the ranks of the ghostly and seemingly returns decades later to haunt the family indirectly responsible for his demise." ~KIrkus Reviews   Although this story is strictly fiction, the idea for the book is based on an actual event that occurred many years ago in the Reading, Pennsylvania area.  You may have to get this book from Amazon, and it is available for Kindle!

Right now I'm reading False Dawn, the third of the Jake Lassiter series by Paul Levine.  Jake Lassiter is a former pro football player, turned attorney-at-law in Miami, Florida.  In the course of his job, Jake manages to find himself in the middle of murders and intrigue.  I like the subtle humor in these books too!

If you like beach books, you can't go wrong with any or all of Elin Hilderbrand's books!  All of Elin's books take place on Nantucket, and each story is unique.  The first book of Elin's that I read was Barefoot, about a woman going through chemotherapy for lung cancer and how her summer on Nantucket affects those around her, including her sister and her friend, as well as her husband and children.  I loved this book!  My favorite was The Blue Bistro about a woman working in a restaurant over one summer on Nantucket.  Maybe it's because I also work in a restaurant, I wanted to work here!!  If I did, I could have taken the rest of the year off!  All of Elin's books are wonderful!  I'm waiting for her newest novel, Silver Girl to be delivered to my Kindle any day now!

This is my new very favorite author, Sarah Pekkanen!  Her first book, The Opposite Of Me, I read in less than 3 days!  I haven't done that in years!  She was recommended by Jennifer Weiner (another favorite of mine!)  and I'm so glad she did!  The Opposite Of Me is the story of twins and how different they really are!  Not long after I read it,  her second novel came out, Skipping A Beat.  This one was equally enjoyable! Skipping A Beat is about a married couple whose lives are completely changed when the husband suffers cardiac arrest and he dies for several minutes.  Even Oprah says to pick up this book!  Sarah just finished her third novel, but I have to be patient, because it won't hit the book store until April 2012! 

So there are my recommendations for reading this summer!  Enjoy!

Reading Challenge Updates

I'm in the middle of 3 reading challenges for this year.  I'm making some progress, especially since I'm down with a lousy cold and I'm home trying to get well.  I seem to have lots of time to get some reading done!

I have a general reading challenge, called The Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge 2011. The Book Vixen is hosting this challenge! Click on the link to check her out!  I'm keeping track of the books I've finished here. Outdo Yourself Challenge.  So far, I have 29 books listed on this challenge. My hope is to read 100 books this year (I read 65 in 2010)  I'm not sure if I can get to 100, but I'm sure going to try! 

This next challenge is a James Patterson Reading Challenge.  It goes from September 1, 2010 to August 31, 2011.  I have to say I have read  far more James Patterson books than I have listed on my challenge.  Yvonne at Socrates Book Review is hosting this one!  The thing I like about reading James Patterson is he also introduces you to new writers.  At least one writer that I know of, Andrew Gross,  has gone on to write fabulous books on his own!  I just finished reading Gross's The Blue Zone and it was great!!  Couldn't put it down!  Anyway, I'm halfway through the JP Challenge, having read 8 of the 16 books I have listed.  Check them out by clicking on the link!

And last, but not least, I have the Nicholas Sparks Reading Challenge.  This challenge is also hosted by The Book Vixen.  Until I started reading these books, I never read a Nicholas Sparks book, or seen any of his movies.  I'm not a big Romance book fan, but these aren't like the romance novels I've read in the past.  I thought I'd do my best to see if I could read all of the 16 books Nicholas Sparks has written.  I have finished 5 of them.  To be honest, I've been listening to these on audio, in my car.  My list of all his books, and the ones I"ve finished, crossed out, can be found here.  I've discovered that I do like his books! 


In the past year, I have discovered many new writers (and some old favorites) that I really enjoy reading!   You can Google them to see what they've written.  I'm listing them below.  Please check them out!


Sarah Pekkanen
Maryann McFadden
Tamera Lawrence
John Grisham
Claire Cook
Amy Hatvany
Paul Levine
Lisa Scottoline
Janet Evanovich
Tess Gerritsen
Andrew Gross
Elin Hilderbrand
Stieg Larsson
Patricia Cornwell
Sue Grafton
and so many more that I have yet to discover!


So, what authors do you love?

Update on my 3 reading challenges

I signed up for 3 separate reading challenges this year.  I think I'm doing pretty well, so far!  


First off, I'm doing a James Patterson Reading Challenge.  Most, if not all of the James Patterson books I'm "reading" are audio books.  I do a lot of driving, so I listen to the books in my car.  I've challenged myself to read 10+ James Patterson books.  The challenge ends on September 1, 2011.  I have 15 books on my list, as seen on this blog post .  I'm happy to report, as of this morning, I have 6 books under my belt!!


Another challenge I have signed for is the Nicholas Sparks book challenge.  I've never read any of Nicholas Sparks books and I've seen one or two of the movies! I have all of Nicholas Sparks listed here on this blog post.  There are 4 books crossed off this list so far.  This challenge ends at the end of the year.


The last challenge I'm doing is the Outdo Yourself reading challenge!  This one is cool because I can include my James Patterson books AND my Nicholas Sparks books I've read to the list!  I have those books listed here.  I'm happy to report that I have finished 17 books so far and have 3 in the works as I type!


If you click on the links to see the books I've read, there is also a link to the Challenges themselves!


My goal is to read 100 book in 2011.  I hope to read or listen to all he Nicholas Sparks books that are out there (he has a new one coming out soon too!)  I had a big head start on the James Patterson books!  I read quite a few of this books before this challenge even started, so all the books I have listed are his newest ones.  In my more general challenge, I'm including my very favorite authors, among them Sarah Pekkanen,  Jennifer Weiner, Janet Evanovich, Lisa Scottoline, Paul Levine, Stieg Larsson, Eleanor Brown, Elin Hilderbrand and many more!  If you're looking for some new authors to read, why not check out some of these fine authors!  My guess is you won't be sorry!

Boy, do I love to read! (this is longer than originally planned)

First of all, I love to read.  I used to read 3 or 4 books a week, but that was BK (before kids).  Taking care of small kids, my reading time was limited.  I'd often fall asleep after reading only a few pages of a book.  Then came household computers and the internet.  I found myself reading message boards and chat rooms, rather than books.  For a lot of years, I was lucky to read 3 or 4 books a year, rather than 3 or 4 books a week!  I kept buying books, especially when Borders or Barnes and Noble had buy 3, get 1 free, or buy 1, get a 2nd one for half price.  I'm a sucker for books and sales.


I was reading books on Oprah's Book Club, but so many of her books were SO DEEP, or books about women triumphing over adversity.  They are all well and good, but every now and then, you just need a good trashy novel!  I did find a few real gems in her books club though.  House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III, Midwives by Chris Bohjalian, Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts,  The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve (this book had me hooked from page 1) were the few books that I simply loved.  


I discovered that the Good Morning America Book Club was even better!  I found so many other books that I was more interested in reading!  Books like The Secret Life of Bees  by Sue Monk Kidd,  The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold,  Three Junes by Julia Glass,  The Dive from Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer (this book was sooo good!)  


A couple of years ago, I made a deal with myself to try to read a book a month. I had a huge pile of books (50 or more), many from some of my favorite authors (Sue Grafton, Patricia Cornwell, John Grisham, Dan Brown,  James Patterson, Jennifer Weiner to name a few)  I was really surprised to realize that I read 23 books in 2009!  


John gave me a Kindle for Christmas in 2009 (just months before the price dropped drastically!)  I started buying books for my Kindle, even though I still had a good 30 or more print books at home, waiting to be read.  I learned how to search for free books and the newest books were considerably less than the hard-cover versions in the store! (My Kindle has more than paid for itself this past year)


I also bought a Blackberry from a co-worker who just HAD to get the Droid as soon as it came out, even though he bought the Blackberry only 3 months before.  I found out that I could download audio books from my local library to my computer and transfer them to my BB!  So instead of having music on the MP3 player part of my phone, I have BOOKS!!    And I listen to them in my car when I'm driving for 30 minutes or more.  The best $10 I ever spent was for a Jupiter Jack.  It works like a charm! (Thanks Billy Mays, wherever you are!)  Plug that baby into my Blackberry, tune my car radio to channel 99.3 FM, and I hear my books clear as a bell (most of the time... it doesn' t like the mountains on the PA Turnpike and parts of Wilmington, DE)


So I now have 3 different ways to get my book loving in.  The print books I keep in my work bag.  I'm afraid to bring my Kindle into work.  All I need is someone to spill a drink on it and it's ruined.  I keep my Kindle in my regular bag or in my netbook bag.  I often read that when I'm at John's.  I bet I have 35 books on my Kindle right now.  Some were freebies that are only so-so.  Others are books by my favorite authors and I have some new favorite authors now.   


I have happily discovered Elin Hilderbrand, whose books all take place on Nantucket.  Janet Evanovich, who has me laughing out loud with the antics of her Trenton, NJ heroine, Stephanie Plum.  Lisa Scottoline, who writes a series of book about an all-women law firm, as well as other books.  Maryann McFadden who has 2 excellent books under her belt. Sarah Pekkanen whose 2 books I simply could not put down until they were finished. Tamera Lawrence,a local writer (I wait on her at Fridays all the time) who has one book published (The Pond.. it's spooky and really good!) and has another that will be out by the end of the year. And Paul Levine, who has a series of books I'm reading about an attorney in Miami.   And I keep discovering new authors all the time!


In 2010, I'm happy and surprised to report that I've read 65 books!!  


For 2011, I signed up for a few reading challenges and my goal is to read 100 books (or as close to that as I can get!)


I'm reading all of Nicolas Sparks' books.  I have 2 (of the 15) finished so far.  


I'm doing a James Patterson challenge that ends at the end of August (it started in September.)  I'm hoping to read more than 10 of his books. I have 3 finished and 1 nearly finished.   I mostly listen to his books on audio.  


Then there is a general reading challenge.  I keep track of all the books I'm reading on that blog. I have 6 books finished so far this year.  I do keep track of all my reading on my sidebar.  You can see what I'm currently reading and what I've finished so far this year.  Check them out!  Maybe you'll find a book or two that you might be interested in checking out!

Look at all this cool loot!!

This story actually begins way back in March 2010.  One of my favorite authors, Jennifer Weiner recommended a book by a new author.  The book was The Opposite Of Me and the author was Sarah Pekkanen.  I was looking for something new to download to my Kindle that I had just gotten for Christmas. So I bought the book.  I started reading The Opposite Of Me on May 1, 2010.  I finished it on May 3, 2010.  I have to tell you that I have not read a book that fast in nearly 20 years.  I. Could. Not. Put. This. Book. Down!!  I even wrote a blog post about it the next day.  You can read it here, if you'd like.


OK, fast forward to the week before Christmas 2010.  Sarah is a friend of mine on Facebook now (along with about 1500 of her closest friends).  She had a new short story (All Is Bright) coming out for eREaders for only 99 cents.  As an incentive for people to buy it, she was doing a 5 day give away where each day she was adding another prize to the pile. All you had to do was buy her short story  to your Kindle, Nook, eREader and forward a copy of the receipt as proof of purchase to her email account. So I did!  Sarah also reminded everyone that Jennifer Weiner also has a short story (The Half Life) coming out the same day.  (Do these ladies look out for each other or what!!)   Day one prize was her new book, Skipping a Beat (that will be in stores at the end of February 2011) , Day 2 prize was Skipping and Jennifer Weiner's latest book, Fly Away Home.  Day 3 add The Opposite Of Me, Day 4 add Godiva Chocolates and a $50 donation to a shelter of your choice  to the mix and Day 5, all of the above and an eREader!  


Everyone was hoping they'd win, especially Day 5!!  I already have a Kindle, so I said to my daughter, Dani, who was turning 20 on December 26, "If I win the big prize, do you want the Kindle?"  Of course, she said YEAH!!!  I never ever dreamed I'd win, but I did!!!  Sarah left me a message on Facebook, telling me to look at her homepage.  And there was my name!!!  Woo hoo!!!!


We emailed back and forth, so I could send her my address and which charity I wanted the donation to go to, and which eREader  I wanted.  A few days later, I get a package in the mail from Sarah with Sarah's 2 books, The Opposite Of Me (which I'm sending to my daughter in Delaware because she's a reading machine! but I want it back because it's signed! ), a signed copy of Skipping A Beat (an advanced copy!  you can't even buy it until February!) and a box of Godiva Chocolates.  You can't see the candy because I ate it!  I saved the box so I could take a picture of everything together!


Yesterday the package from Amazon arrived with a copy of Jennifer Weiner's newest book, Fly Away Home (which I have on Kindle, so this is also going to my daughter in Delaware) and the newest generation of Kindle!  


I activated the Kindle, charged it up and put The Opposite Of Me on it and will be mailing it tomorrow to Dani at school!  She's excited to get it!  I hope this will get her to read more.  I bought my son a Kindle for Christmas and he's been reading like crazy!  Gina, my reading machine daughter in Delaware has a Nook that she loves too!


So,all in all, it was a pretty good week!  If you're a reader and you haven't done it yet, give Sarah's book, The Opposite Of Me a try.  It's truly wonderful!!  Then get Skipping A Beat when it comes out next month!  Trust me.  You won't be sorry you did.  And I'm not saying that because I won all this cool stuff!!  She really is a great writer!  And she answers your comments on Facebook!