43/64: The Mountain Between Us

Cover of The Mountain Between Us: A Novel43/64: The Mountain Between Us by Martin, 4.5/5 Stars
Entertained Me: High / Made Me Think: High

Loved this latest book by one of my favorite authors, Charles Martin. Completely surprised the crap out of me at the end; didn't see it coming. Simply love the way that Martin describes love, writes his female characters as strong, sassy and smart--I fall in love with every single damn one of them. When I got to about 75% complete, I had to make the mad race to the end and couldn't put it down again. Keep writing, Charles!

READ MORE!
Follow us at the Twitter hashtag #52bks52wks!

Book #42 = The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Murakami, 2/5 Stars

Book #41 = The Devil in the White City by Larson, 3/5 Stars

Book #40 = The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Shaffer, 3.5/5 Stars

Book #39 = The Help by Stockett, 4/5 Stars

Book #38 = The Accidental Tourist by Tyler, 2/5 Stars

Book #37 = Room With a View by Forster, 1.5 Stars

Book #36 = The Dead Town by Koontz, 2.5/5 Stars

Book #35 = Lost Souls by Koontz, 3/5 Stars

Book #34 = Dead and Alive by Koontz, 2/5 Stars

Book #33 = City of Night by Koontz, 3/5 Stars

Book #32 = Prodigal Son by Koontz, 3/5 Stars

Book #31 = Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke, 5/5 Stars

Book #30 = The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #29 = The Fisher King by LaGravenese, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #28 = The Passage by Justin Cronin, 2/5 Stars
Book #27 = I Hope They Have Beer in Hell by Tucker Max, 0/5 Stars
Book #26 = Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney, 3/5 Stars
Book #25 = Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #24 = Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #23 = Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Rowling, 4/5 Stars
Book #22 = Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Rowling, 2/5 Stars
Book #21 = Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #20 = Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #19 = Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Rowling, 3/5 Stars
Book #18 = For an Architecture of Reality by Michael Benedikt, 4/5 Stars
Book #17 = The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #16 = Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars
Book #15 = Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, 5/5 Stars
Book #14 = This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper, 4/5 Stars
Book #13 = After Dark by Haruki Murakami, 1.5/5 Stars
Book #12 = Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #11 = Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Auster, 1/5 Stars
Book #10 = American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars
Book #09 = Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen, 4.5/5 Stars
Book #08 = The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson, 3/5 Stars
Book #07 = The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson, 5/5 Stars
Book #06 = What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Murakami, 4/5 Stars
Book #05 = Existentialism by Steven Earnshaw, 1/5 Stars
Book #04 = The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav, 1/5 Stars
Book #03 = The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, 5/5 Stars
Book #02 = The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Kabani, 2/5 Stars
Book #01 = Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky, 3/5 Stars

See 2010's list of 40 books.
See 2009's list of 53 books.

22/52: When Crickets Cry

22/52: When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin, 4/5 Stars
I have such a hard time putting down a Charles Martin book once I've started reading it. Guess what I did on Sunday? "When Crickets Cry," ay yup. Though I could have done without all the medical jibberish that proved Reese's knowledge of what's what, I still loved the characters that Martin created and how he wove them all together for another happy ending.

At one point Reese said something that really resonated with me, "“If you’re working for a bank, you don’t study the counterfeit to know the real thing. You study the real thing to know the counterfeit.” Now, you don't have any idea why it resonated, but someone else very close to me will.

Martin has a new book coming out in June. I'll be looking for it.

READ MORE!

Book #22 = When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin, 4/5 Stars
Book #21 = The Holy Man by Susan Trott, 4/5 Stars
Book #20 = Shopgirl by Steve Martin, 2/5 Stars
Book #19 = Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris, 1/5 Stars
Book #18 = On the Beach by Nevil Shute, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #17 = Sanibel Flats by Randy Wayne White, 3/5 Stars
Book #16 = The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright, 4/5 Stars
Book #15 = The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #14 = Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss,
Book #13 = Captivate! by Adam Nisenson, 2/5 Stars
Book #12 = Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, 3/5 Stars
Book #11 = Maggie by Charles Martin, 4/5 Stars
Book #10 = The Dead Don't Dance by Charles Martin, 3/5 Stars
Book #09 = Duma Key by Stephen King, 2.5.5 Stars
Book #08 = Every Woman Has a Story by Daryl Ott Underhill, 2/5 Stars
Book #07 = Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin, 3/5 Stars
Book #06 = Maybe (Maybe Not) by Robert Fulghum, 4/5 Stars
Book #05 = The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt, 1/5 Stars
Book #04 = The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis, 2/5 Stars
Book #03 = Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour, 3/5 Stars
Book #02 = The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson, 3/5 Stars
Book #01 = Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars

Follow us at the Twitter hashtag #52bks52wks!

See last year's list of 53 books...

11/52: Maggie by Charles Martin

Maggie by Charles Martin, 4/5 Stars
I love Maggie! I dream about Maggie. Every time I go to the True Love store they tell me that Maggie is on back order and there's no delivery date in the system. Damn, everyone wants a Maggie, huh? I need to find out where they're manufactured: sensitive, active, caring, realizes her own faults, challenges her man to be better, an inability to give up on her dream--which eludes her over and over and over again--but with the strength to rebuild her hope. And ultimately, understand what life has given to her. I say this often to friends, "If you keep working it will work out, one way or another." Stay proactive people, don't let decisions make themselves... and you, too, might get asked if you want to go down to the river for a night time swim. I believe this book is Martin's second effort... and in this one he nailed it.

READ MORE!

Book #11 = Maggie by Charles Martin, 4/5 Stars
Book #10 = The Dead Don't Dance by Charles Martin, 3/5 Stars
Book #09 = Duma Key by Stephen King, 2.5.5 Stars
Book #08 = Every Woman Has a Story by Daryl Ott Underhill, 2/5 Stars
Book #07 = Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin, 3/5 Stars
Book #06 = Maybe (Maybe Not) by Robert Fulghum, 4/5 Stars
Book #05 = The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt, 1/5 Stars
Book #04 = The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis, 2/5 Stars
Book #03 = Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour, 3/5 Stars
Book #02 = The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson, 3/5 Stars
Book #01 = Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars

Follow us at the Twitter hashtag #52bks52wks!

See last year's list of 53 books...

9/52: Duma Key, 10/52: The Dead Don't Dance

The Dead Don't Dance by Charles Martin, 3/5 Stars
I come to expect a lot from Martin because, so far, his books have captivated me. However, I ho-hummed through most of the this novel until the end, where at least he got me to laugh out loud. It dawns on me that maybe the ho-hum was intentional because part of the protagonist's life was missing--and maybe I'll never know the answer to that--but, I'm willing to give Martin the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to another good experience in his writing mind.

Duma Key by Stephen King, 2.5/5 Stars
I blew through the first four or five hundred pages of this thing thinking, "This is the Stephen King that I miss; the one that can capture the edge of the surreal and leave me believing that it's a true story--suspended disbelief, you know--saying to myself that it's possible, it's possible... and it lends credibility to my own experiences with the intangible metaphysical." And then, ghouls storm into beach-side houses in the middle of the night, not just as figments of the imagination, but as true physical hellbent-on-killing beings that are going to drag you back into the sea where you will spend the rest of your days eating Krabby Patties. Boo. Yawn. I shoulda stopped a hundred pages short and wrote my own ending.

READ MORE!

Book #10 = The Dead Don't Dance by Charles Martin, 3/5 Stars
Book #09 = Duma Key by Stephen King, 2.5.5 Stars
Book #08 = Every Woman Has a Story by Daryl Ott Underhill, 2/5 Stars
Book #07 = Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin, 3/5 Stars
Book #06 = Maybe (Maybe Not) by Robert Fulghum, 4/5 Stars
Book #05 = The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt, 1/5 Stars
Book #04 = The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis, 2/5 Stars
Book #03 = Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour, 3/5 Stars
Book #02 = The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson, 3/5 Stars
Book #01 = Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars

Follow us at the Twitter hashtag #52bks52wks!

See last year's list of 53 books...

7/52: Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin

Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin, 3/5 Stars
Though I love Martin's style and find him very easy to read, it took me quite a few chapters to get into this book. Ultimately, I found the pain that he wrote into a character whose father only paid attention to him when he felt a beating was in order to be very well done, even though I know nothing about that kind of a father-son relationship. And, as always--and this is truly what I love about Charles Martin's writings--he brings it back to love (even though it was always about love): lean on love, trust in love, love will never give up on you. Definitely worth a read. Enjoy!

READ MORE!

Book #07 = Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin, 3/5 Stars
Book #06 = Maybe (Maybe Not) by Robert Fulghum, 4/5 Stars
Book #05 = The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt, 1/5 Stars
Book #04 = The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis, 2/5 Stars
Book #03 = Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour, 3/5 Stars
Book #02 = The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson, 3/5 Stars
Book #01 = Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis, 3/5 Stars

Follow us at the Twitter hashtag #52bks52wks!

See last year's list of 53 books...

The Final 52... well 53.

Image by fimoculous via Flickr

With a little more than a month to go, I was worried. In fact, prior to Thanksgiving I considered giving up the quest--my ONE resolution for 2009--to read 52 books during the year, one for each week. With great vigor (and no job), I read 4 books during the 4 days of Thanksgiving holiday. I could taste victory. As it turns out, I finished my 53rd book a week before the year actually ended.

I meant to finish my book as number 52, but I realized that I can't just read it without rewrites and edits. So, I had some backups in place (and already completed).

Anyhow, here are the final 52 (53) books from 2009.
(I've already started on the same task for 2010!)

Notes on Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin:
One of the most captivating books that I've ever read. I cried most of the last 50 pages as things that I'd suspected were revealed... and things that I hadn't were discovered.

“Love does that. It names the nameless and gives voice to the voiceless.”

“He said he gave up what he couldn’t keep to gain what he couldn’t lose.”

“Men spend their entire lives asking Who I am when the real question is Whose am I? I don’t think you can answer the first until you’ve settled the second. First horse, then cart. Identity does not grow out of action until it has taken root in belonging.”

I started this book on an afternoon after having finished "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," and found myself finishing it near 2am--complete in one sitting.

BONUS Book #53 = "Chasing Fireflies" by Charles Martin, 4.5/5 Stars
Book #52 = "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #51 = "The Autumn People" by Ray Bradbury, 2.5/5 Stars
Book #50 = "Into the Wild" by John Krakauer, 3/5 Stars
Book #49 = "Old School" by Tobias Wolff, 4/5 Stars
Book #48 = "Firmin" by Sam Savage, 3/5 Stars
Book #47 = "The Devil and Miss Prym" by Paulo Coelho, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #46 = "The Shack" by William P. Young, 3/5 Stars
Book #45 = "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #44 = "The Prince" by Niccolo Machiavelli, 1/5 Stars
Book #43 = "Highlighted in Yellow" by H. Jackson Brown, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #42 = "Warrior of the Light: A Manual" by Paulo Coelho, 5/5 Stars
Book #41 = "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd, 1/5 Stars
Book #40 = "It's Not About the Bike" by Lance Armstrong, 2/5 Stars
Book #39 = "Dragonfly" by K.R. Dwyer (Dean Koontz), 3/5 Stars
Book #38 = "Teaching a Stone to Talk" by Annie Dillard, 1/5 Stars
Book #37 = "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury, 5/5 Stars
Book #36 = "The Illustrated Man" by Ray Bradbury, 2/5 Stars
Book #35 = "The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway, 3/5 Stars
Book #34 = "Now & Forever" by Ray Bradbury, 4/5 Stars
Book #33 = "Coincidence" by David Ambrose, 2/5 Stars
Book #32 = "The Discreet Charm of Charlie Monk" by David Ambrose, 2/5 Stars
Book #31 = "Fish" by Lundin, Paul, Christensen, & Blanchard, 4/5 Stars
Book #30 = "Purple Cow" by Seth Godin, 3/5 Stars
Book #29 = "The System's Bitch" by John Wright, 3/5 Stars
Book #28 = "Twitter Power" by Joel Comm, 3/5 Stars
Book #27 = "The Cluetrain Manifesto" by LLSW, 3/5 Stars
Book #26 = "What Kind of World Do You Want?" by Jim Lord, 5/5 Stars
Book #25 = "The New Rules of Marketing & PR" by David Meerman Scott, 4/5 Stars
Book #24 = "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell, 3/5 Stars
Book #23 = "Lisey's Story" by Stephen King, 1/5 Stars
Book #22 = "My Favorite Place on Earth" by Jerry Camarillo Dunn, 4/5 Stars
Book #21 = "Wisdom 2.0" by Soren Gordhamer, 4/5 Stars
Book #20 = "Oath Of Gold" by Elizabeth Moon, 5/5 Stars
Book #19 = "The Age Of Engage" by Denise Shiffman, 3/5 Stars
Book #18 = "What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20" by Tina Seelig, 4/5 Stars
Book #17 = "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, 4/5 Stars
Book #16 = "Divided Allegiance" by Elizabeth Moon, 3/5 Stars
Book #15 = "The Curious Incident of the Dog..." by Mark Haddon, 2/5 Stars
Book #14 = "The Sheepfarmer's Daughter" by Elizabeth Moon, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #13 = "Love Is The Killer App" by Tim Sanders, 4/5 Stars
Book #12 = "Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk, 4.5/5 Stars
Book #11 = "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger, 5/5 Stars
Book #10 = "The Finder" by Colin Harrison, 3.5/5 Stars
Book #9 = "Veronika Decides To Die" by Paulo Coelho, 1/5 Stars
Book #8 = "By The River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept" by Paulo Coelho, 3/5 Stars
Book #7 = "Stiff" by Mary Roach, 2/5 Stars
Book #6 = "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, 1/5 Stars
Book #5 = "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, 3/5 Stars
Book #4 = "Eleven Minutes" by Paulo Coelho, 2/5 Stars
Book #3 = "The Good Guy" by Dean Koontz, 3/5 Stars
Book #2 = "My Ishmael" by Dan Quinn, 2/5 Stars
Book #1 = "The Zahir" by Paulo Coelho, 3.5/5 Stars