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Friday, April 30, 2010

April: Monthly Run-down

April wasn't a bad month for reading. I set a goal to read 7 books, and I did just that. Here's what I devoured:

1. Weep No more my Lady by Mary higgins Clark
2. Living Dead in Dallas By: Charlaine Harris
3. Leaving Ireland By: Ann Moore
4. Stillwatch by Mary Higgins Clark
5. The Magnificent Ambersons By: Booth Tarkington
6. The Kite Runner By: Khaled Hosseini
7. A Cry in the Night By: Mary Higgins Clark

TBR challenge: 1
Classics: 1
Pulitzer: 1

I read alot of Mary Higgins Clark, as I had a three in one book of hers, I actually have another one as well in my TBR shelf that I may get to later on this year. I was pleasantly surprised that I met my goal to read 7 books this month.

Yearly book count: 30
Yearly page count: 10,059

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Book Review: "The Kite Runner"

Title: The Kite Runner
Author:Khaled Hosseini
Pages:372
Personal Rating: A or 5/5
Number read for the year: 29


Goodreads review:An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from the final days of Afghanistan’s monarchy to the atrocities of the present.
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption. And it is also about the power of fathers over sons -- their love, their sacrifices, their lies.
The first Afghan novel to be written in English, The Kite Runner tells a sweeping story of family, love, and friendship against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before, bringing to mind the large canvasses of the Russian writers of the nineteenth century. But just as it is old-fashioned in its narration, it is contemporary in its subject -- the devastating history of Afghanistan over the past thirty years. As emotionally gripping as it is tender, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful debut.
Author Biography: Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, the son of a diplomat whose family received political asylum in the United States in 1980. He lives in northern California, where he is a physician. The Kite Runner is his first novel.

Personal Thoughts:Phenominal book!! I don't know why it's been sitting on my TBR shelf for sooooo long, I can't wait to get to A Thousand Splendid Suns! That one is also in my stacks, I bought them at the same time...a few years ago, when they were going through their hayday, it's taken me just now to get to them...this book makes me thank God for allowing me to live in America, and for the men and women in our armed forces who are willing to risk their lives to go into a place like Afghanistan and save those less fortunate, as well as make sure our country stays a free place.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Book Review: "Stillwatch" By: Mary Higgins Clark

Title:Stillwatch
Author: Mary Higgins Clark
Pages: 368
Personal Rating: B or 4/5
Number read for the year: 27

From the insde flap cover: Broadcast journalist, Pat treymore comes to Washington to do a piece on the senator andvice-presidential nominee Abigail Jennings, but also to discover the truth behind her own mysterious past. Despite anonymous warnings to stay away, PAt continues her search- revealin gdark secrets that threaten to end the senators political career...and Pat's life.

My Personal thoughts:This one was ok, not as great as previous ones I've read of hers. But still enjoyable. I gave it a 4/5 rating. It had been sitting on my TBR shelf for quite some time, and I decided I was in the mood for some mystery and went for it.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Book Review: "Living Dead in Dallas"

Title: Living Dead in Dallas
Author: Charlaine Harris
Pages:279
Personal rating:A or 5/5
Number read for the year: 26

From goodreads review: "Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is on a streak of real bad luck. First, her co-worker gets murdered and no one seems to care. Then Sookie is attacked - and poisoned - late one night by some weird and apparently mythical beast. She only survives because the local vampires roll up and graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn't enjoy it). But in return the blood-suckers need a favor.

Which is why Sookie ends up in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire, on the condition that her undead friends don't do anything, well, vampiric while she's there. Easier said than done. All it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly."



Personal Thought:I thought the second one in this series (this one) was better than the first. I think I'm starting to get addicted to this series...oh boy! lol

Friday, April 9, 2010

Book Review: "Leaving Ireland" By Ann Moore

Title: Leaving Ireland
Author: Ann Moore
Pages: 378
Personal Rating: A or 5/5
Number read for the year: 25


From the back Cover:Hoping for a better future, Gracelin O'Malley sets sail from her beloved Ireland- a journey that takes her to a world far different from anything she's ever known. After surviving the difficult voyage, she joins her brother Sean, already much changed by his exciting life in Manhattan. she takes a job in a saloon, learning firsthand the harsh reality of immigrant life and the horrors ofthe Irish tenement district. Haunted by the choices of her past, and desperate for news of the infant son she left behind in County Cork, she finds solace in the friendship of a runaway slave, a woman who has made unspeakable choices of her own. As grace struggles to adapt to her new home, she reunites with a man she once misjudged. With his help, she finds the courage to take a stand against the corruption and injustice around her, but her brave actions threaten the very people she swore to protect.

Personal thoughts: This author was new to me at the beginning of the year, when I read the first one of the Gracelin' O'Malley series. I fell in love with her writing and her characters. There is a third book in the series, and I want to read it eventually, though I don't own it yet. If you have any Irish in your blood, I would suggest this one for you, these novels are rich with Irish History as the story of Gracelin O'Malley unfolds in this delightful series.