read 100 books in 2007

ISBN: 0976633949
Format: Hardback, 239pp
Pub. Date: August 1, 2006
Genre: Horror
Dates Read: 03/05/07-02/10/07 (6 days)
Not part of a series
Bought on Amazon.com for $25

From the Publisher

Alex stared at the red pocketknife shown to him by his daughter. A pocketknife owned by somebody he hadn’t seen in years… CHILDREN They met first in boarding school at age twelve. Alex Fletcher, shy and scared. Darren Rust, always furiously scribbling away in a private journal. It was not an immediate friendship, but then one night Darren convinced his roommate to sneak off school grounds to see something glorious. There was a sleazy strip club, you see, and every once in a while the back door opened just long enough to maybe catch a quick glimpse… Though a bond was formed from their pre-pubescent interest in completely naked women, Darren had another interest. A morbid curiosity about death. A curiosity that turned into something much more sinister. FRIENDS They crossed paths again in college and became the best of friends. But Darren wasn’t just looking for a friend. He had dark, ghastly urges squirming around in his mind, and he believed he saw the same things – the urge to hurt, the urge to kill – in Alex. He was looking for somebody who understood. A partner. But Alex could never become a monster. Not even when Darren tried to bring out his friend’s most deeply buried feelings of rage. Not even when Darren tried to show him the euphoria of having that much power over another human being. It just couldn’t happen…right? ENEMIES Now Alex has a wife and a daughter. And Darren is back. He’s hiding. He’s patient. His mind is twisted in the worst possible way. And he’s seeking a soul mate.

My Opinion of the Book

Jeff was right when he said this book isn’t like his others. I’m a huge fan of his comic/horror Andrew Mayhem series and I do think that I enjoy that writing-style of his more so than that of PRESSURE, but I did enjoy PRESSURE and would read other books by Strand written in this style. It’s nice to see authors having various writing styles and being able to pull them all off! :) PRESSURE is a very weird book and Darren is just a f’ed up character. I hope I never meet anyone like him! shudders

ISBN: 1594264538
Format: Trade Paperback, 186pp
Pub. Date: July 7, 2006
Genre: Comic Fantasy
Dates Read: 03/03/07 – 03/04/07 (2 days)
Not part of a series
Purchased at Amazon.com for $12.00

From the Publisher

From the creative genius who would have brought you Hamlet, The Scarlet Letter, and a less-boring Moby Dick (if he’d been born on time) comes this outrageous comic fantasy. It’s a tale filled with so much adventure, so much excitement, so much vocabulary, that all who read it will suffer a fit of giddiness that will freak out everyone in their general vicinity.

It’s the saga of Randall, a squire assigned to escort the lovely Princess Janice on a diplomatic journey of utmost importance. Then she gets killed. Now Randall must overcome desperate odds and ridiculous dangers in his quest to bring her back to life…before the entire Generic Fantasy Land falls into the evil clutches of The Dark One!

Packed to the bursting point with unrestrained silliness (so be sure to hold it a safe distance from your face when reading), How to Rescue a Dead Princess is the novel all the really cool people are reading this year, an epic fantasy for your family to cherish approximately forever.

My Opinion of the Book

So I get addicted to MySpace because I found that I can actually talk to authors on there, which got me extremely excited! I come across Jeff Strand (whose books I’ve thoroughly enjoyed thus far) and end up chatting it up with him. This leads me to tracking down even MORE of his books and went a bit crazy on various sites trying to find his books. At any rate, Jeff is a fantastic guy and author! DEAD PRINCESS was just the book I needed this weekend because I was having a very depressing weekend. Thanks to Strand’s book I was able to laugh my way through all the stress and avoid yet ANOTHER migraine! I don’t want to spoil anything from the book by commenting directly about anything inside, but I’m going to highly recommend this book to any and all that need a good laugh… yes, it’s a bit silly, but we all need silly from time to time. I still think his Andrew Mayhem series is better, but this one is not far behind them!

“Oh defecate!!!” (one of my fave lines from DEAD PRINCESS) I almost forgot, you should go check out Jeff Strand’s website:

JeffStrand.com

ISBN: 0385729367
Format: Hardback, 328pp
Pub. Date: January 9, 2007
Genre: Teen Fiction
Dates Read: 02/24/07-03/01/07 (6 days)
Series: #4 in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Cheriepie loaned this copy of the book to me as she snagged it on BookMooch, but has yet to read the others in the series.

From the Publisher

With unraveled embroidery and fraying hems, the Traveling Pants are back for one last, glorious summer.

Lena: Immerses herself in her painting and an intoxicating summer fling, fearing that the moment she forgets about Kostos will be the moment she sees him again.

Carmen: Falls under the spell of a sophisticated college friend for whom a theatrical role means everything and the heritage of the Pants means nothing.

Bridget: Joins a dig for an ancient city on the coast of Turkey and discovers that her archaeology professor is available in every way except one.

Tibby: Leaves behind someone she loves, wrongly believing he will stay where she has left him.

Join Ann Brashares’s beloved sisterhood once again in a dazzling, fearless novel about a summer that will forever change the lives of Lena, Carmen, Bee, and Tibby, here and now, past and future, together and apart.

My Opinion of the Book

I think this is the first Traveling Pants book that didn’t make me cry, which is a wonder since I’ve been so depressed lately (hence this is only my 9th read of the year), but I did get goosebumps several times and I was quite a bit sad about the ending of the book because I’m not sure that there will be any more books put out in this series. :( Anyway, I loved it just as much as the other books and do hope that there are more to come or else Ms. Brashares goes off into another storyline that’s just as good.

ISBN: 0373513674
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 288pp
Pub. Date: August 1, 2005
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Dates Read: 02/11/07 & 02/15/07-02/18/07 (5 days)
Series: #1 in Red Letter Days series
Recieved as part of a bookring from colebear

From the Publisher

NEVER TRUST A MAN BEARING RED ENVELOPES

Jazz Callender – don’t ever call her Jasmine – is an ex-cop with a goal: opening her own private detective agency and proving her former partner is innocent of murder. Too bad no one will lend her the money. Until a sexy lawyer with the devil’s own grin appears with an offer she can’t refuse…

$100,000. A savvy new partner. And an agreement to make any case arriving via red envelope a top priority. But if Jazz accepts, there’s no turning back. Because once she opens that envelope, all hell’s gonna break loose…

RED LETTER DAYS

You’ll never believe what’s inside

My Opinion of the Book

This was a fun read unlike anything I’ve read before really. The paranormal aspect isn’t much, but it is in there with a “psychic”. I read where some people thought this book was bad due to the main character being too whiny, but I didn’t really see that at all. The book ended with a major cliffhanger so I’m really looking forward to reading “The Devil’s Due” which is next in the series. I’ll be starting it soon, but have a couple of other bookrings I need to get to first.

ISBN: 1419954830
Format: Trade Paperback, 209pp
Pub. Date: June 30, 2006
Genre: Humor, Erotica
Dates Read: 02/03/07-02/12/07 & 02/15/07 (11 days)
Bought at Borders via the buy 5 romance for the price of 4 (so, this one ended up being free rather than $11.49)

From the Publisher

Unemployed scholar Annabelle du Fouet lived a quiet life until her Uncle Henry disappeared, leaving behind a mountain of kinky porn. Ordered by her Aunt Ruth to get rid of it, Annabelle decided to study the books, magazines and videos, hoping to understand Uncle Henry’s secret life. Then Annabelle made a decision that changed her life;to write the world’s first research report on all things kinky. And she would do it from the inside. As Mistress Dominique, Annabelle plunged ito the murky world of kink and changed it forever. Mostly for the worse, as it turned out. Follow Mistress Dominique’s adventures as she: – Destroys a kinky party by filling a house with smelly green foam. – Causes a gigantic submissive known as Crazy Morty to terrorize a trailer park. – Starts a riot that sends the chairwoman of the Savvy Seeders garden club to a psychiatric hospital. – Leads a band of enraged ponygirls to attack the Rocking Robins bird club. – Helps a drunken kinky clown traumatize a women’s religious studies group. And much more! Through Annabelle’s historical research, you will learn why Vikings were kinky but not as kinky as the ancient Egyptians. You will discover why the man who invented golf also invented an implement found in dungeons everywhere, and how a man named Thomas Edison (but not that Edison) nearly blew up a town by inventing the world’s first electric kinky device. You will meet people with a fetish for pirate outfits, a man who wears an owl suit, and people who pretend to be elderly in order to cause scenes in bookstores. Be warned though;while this in-depth research document contains frank discussions of sexual deviations, its history and the people who participate in it, there are no actual sexual encounters described. Really. Please! Annabelle is a professional and this was all done in the name of science.

My Opinion of the Book

This is the funniest damn book I’ve read in a long time!!! I recommend this to anyone that isn’t bashful and wants a good laugh. CTGMOM and I read this one aloud during a couple of our bookshopping excursions and were laughing so hard it was making it hard for her to drive (which isn’t good if you’ve seen her drive whistle ) The author seems so naive, yet is probably extremely knowledgeable when it comes to the “world of kink”. Definitely check this out if you’re not afraid of this subject matter. Just a warning… don’t try reading or eating at the same time… could really be hazardous. Also, this would make a great party read with a group of friends! :)

ISBN: 0060820578
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 357pp
Pub. Date: September 27, 2005
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Dates Read: 01/28/07-01/29/07 & 02/04/07-02/11/07 (10 days)
Series: #1 in Mojo/Voodoo Series
Bought at HalfPrice Books in Louisville, KY for $3.50

From the Publisher

Start With Bad Mojo …

There’s something strange afoot in the small town of Mojo, Louisiana. Yet even as the annual voodoo festival gets underway, Penny Francisco, who runs a health food business, refuses to believe in black magic. Her mind is on celebrating her divorce from her lying, cheating husband Deke.

Add a Pinprick of Revenge …

Fueled by run-ins with her ex-mother-in-law and Deke’s busty mistress, Penny is eager for the “emancipation party” her friends plan. When she receives a Deke voodoo doll as a gag gift, she sticks it with a pin as a joke. But when Deke winds up fatally stabbed, the police aren’t laughing.

And Watch Things Boil Over …

A junk-food junkie P.I. offers his services, and although Penny is wary of the sexy Cajun’s motives (and his diet), she’s desperate. Dodging a media sideshow and a looming murder rap, Penny realizes that somehow she’s landed herself In Deep Voodoo.

My Opinion of the Book

This book was a lot of fun to read! I was having trouble putting it down in the end because I wanted to know who the killer was. The books had lots of twists & turns and it all comes out in the end. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series, “Finding Your Mojo”, which goes on in more detail about one of the other characters.

ISBN: 034549217X
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 330pp
Pub. Date: January 30, 20067
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Dates Read: 01/29/07-02/04/2007 (7 days)
Series: #2 in “A Novel of Vampire Love” series
Bought at Barnes & Noble the day BEFORE it was supposed to come out for $6.99 (minus my 10% discount of course)

From the Publisher

SHE’D LIKE HER BLOOD BOTTLED, PLEASE!

The sassiest vampire in all of Manhattan, Lil Marchette, is the owner of Dead End Dating – a matchmaking service for hip, intelligent singles like herself. After only three months, business is booming, and she can finally pay her bills (and, more important, feed a hungry cosmetics addiction). But when one of her clients turns up dead (as in never coming back), Lil is name as the prime suspect.

Murder?

Sure, she’s a vampre, but she can’t even work up her nerve when it comes to blood-sucking. Hacking somebody to pieces is so out of the question.

To make matters worse, Lil must also contend with a pack of werewolves who ask – no, demand – that she find each one a tall, dark, and handsome mate before the next full moon. Plus, the to-die-for-if-I-wasn’t-already-dead Ty Bonner, a lusciously sexy lover but totally unsuitable eternity mate, is never far from her midnight fantasies. But Lil has no time for such thoughts. She must prove her innocence and focus on pairing off the dead and the furry – and maybe stake a claim to her own tasty true love.

My Opinion of the Book

So… there has been too much of a gap since I read the first one to know which I liked better, but this was a fun read and I’m looking forward to the next one, which sigh doesn’t come out until October of this year. I’m just glad this book finally involved some vamp sex (not to mention the werewolf orgy!!!) as it was needed in the first book IMO! ;)

ISBN: 0515142220
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 272pp
Pub. Date: November 28, 2006
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Dates Read: 01/14/07-01/16/07 and 01/25/07-01/27/07 (5 days)
Series: I believe it will be a series, but not sure of title yet since it’s the first one
Borrowed a copy from CTGMOM and then was also sent a copy from Noumena12… LOL!!!

From the Publisher

Fred is a mermaid. But stop right there. Whatever image you’re thinking of right now, forget it. Fred is not blonde. She’s not busom. And she’s definitely not perky. In fact, Fred can be downright cranky. And it doesn’t help matters that her hair is ocean-colored.

Being a mermaid does help Fred when she works at the New England Aquarium. But, needless to say, it’s there that she gets involved in something fishy. Weird levels of toxins have been found in the local water. A gorgeous marine biologist wants her help investigating. So does her mer-person ruler, the High Prince of the Black Sea. You’d think it would be easy for a mermaid to get to the bottom of things. Think again…

What I thought of the book

I had heard a lot of people disappointed in this book, but I loved it! I guess I’m less picky than some and can take a bit more “fluff” in my reading. This definitely was a fun & fluffy read and I can’t wait for the next book in the series… unfortunately, there is no clue to when the next book will come out. I loved all the characters in the book, but I have to agree with CTGMOM that Fred’s friend, Jonas, definitely made the book! He was frickin’ hysterical!!!

ISBN: 0060590297
Format: Hardback, 328pp
Pub. Date: January 16, 2007
Genre: Fiction/Paranormal
Dates Read: 01/17/07-01/25/07 (9 days)
Series: Jody & Tommy series, #2
Bought book via pre-order at Amazon for $14.93

From the Publisher

“YOU BITCH, YOU KILLED ME. YOU SUCK!”

Being dead sucks. Make that being undead sucks. Literally. Just ask Thomas C. Flood. Waking up after a fantastic night unlike anything he’s ever experienced, he discovers that his girlfriend, Jody – the woman of his dreams – is a vampire. And surprise! Now he’s one, too.

For some couples, the whole biting-and-blood thing would have been a deal reaker. But Tommy and Jody are in love, and they vow to work through their issues. Like how much Jody should teach Tommy about his new superpowers (and how much he needs to learn on his own). Plus there’s Tommy’s cute new minion, sixteen-year-old goth girl Abby Normal. (Well, someone has to run errands during daylight hours!)

Making the relationship work, however, is the least of Jody and Tommy’s problems. Word has it that the vampire who nibbled on Jody wasn’t supposed to be recruiting any new members into the club. Even worse, Tommy’s erstwhile turkey-bowling pals are out to get him, at the urging of a blue-dyed Las Vegas call girl named (duh) Blue.

And that really sucks.

What I thought of the book

Okay, this has to have been my favorite Moore book thus far. BSF had replaced Lust Lizard as my favorite, but this one was by far even funnier!!! I found myself laughing out loud on almost every page at something and occasionally skipping over laughing and going straight into a snort. Abby, the goth girl, was hilarious and I loved the way she talked and wrote in her journal… she cracked me up. I wonder where Moore gets some of the ideas he comes up with, but as long as he’ll share them with us in books, I’m content with that alone. Based on the end of the book, I highly think there will be another in this “series” to come out… I just hope that I don’t have to wait years for it as I’m ready for more of it now!

ISBN: 0446605484
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 378pp
Pub. Date: January 2002
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Dates Read: 01/01/07-01/09/07 (9 days)
Series: Alex Cross Series, #6
Bought book at New Albany library sale (assuming either $0.50 or $0.25 depending on if it was mystery sale day or not)

From the Publisher

In this heart-pounding but touchingly romantic new thriller, Detective Alex Cross pursues the most complex and brilliant killer he’s ever confronted— mysterious criminal who calls himself the Mastermind.

In a series of crimes that has stunned Washington, D.C., bank robbers have been laying out precise demands when they enter the building—and then killing the bank employees and their families if those instructions are not followed to the letter.

Detective Alex Cross takes on the case, certain that this is no ordinary bank robber at work—the pathological need for control and perfection is too great. Cross is in the midst of a personal crisis at home, but the case becomes all-consuming as he learns that the Mastermind is plotting one huge, last, perfect crime.
With twists and reversals that only the mind of James Patterson could create, Roses Are Red is by far the most explosive, surprising, and fast-paced novel of James Patterson’s extraordinary career.

What I thought of the book

I received “Mary, Mary” by James Patterson as a gift in the book relayer’s Boxing Day exchange this past Christmas and it made me realize how much I’ve been wanting to get back to this series as I had read the first 5 books back in 2004. I’m really glad I picked this book up because I still love this series! I was a bit frustrated with the ending as I had planned on trying to read a couple of bookrings that I have waiting for me, but with the way this book ended I HAVE to read “Violets Are Blue” next. Hopefully it won’t leave me hanging so badly that I can’t then go on to a bookring or two that I need to be reading. :P So… a special thanks goes to alsgal for getting me back hooked onto this series! I’ve been reading nothing but paranormal stuff for so long that this was a refreshing change (although I LOVE my paranormals!). Of course, I have heard that “Violets Are Blue” contains a vampire so that should be quite interesting. I’m curious to see what Patterson does with that! :)