Book Your Ticket

I told you it was a busy month for books, and I had some humdingers in the mix:

The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War, James Bradley[1]

If I Have a Wicket Stepmother, Where’s My Prince?, Melissa Kantor[2]

Wicked Lovely, Melissa Marr*

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving*

Stopping Time, Melissa Marr*

The Mystery of Lewis Carroll: Discovering the Whimsical, Thoughtful and Sometimes Lonely Man Who Created Alice in Wonderland, Jenny Woolf*[3]

Nose Down, Eyes Up: A Novel, Merrill Markoe*

Heart of Texas, Vol. III (Nell’s Cowboy & Lone Star Baby), Debbie Macomber*

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand: A Novel, Helen Simonson*

Summer on Blossom Street, Debbie Macomber*

Deception: An Alex Delaware Novel, Jonathan Kellerman*

The Help, Kathryn Stockett*

Breach of Trust, DiAnn Mills*

Born Under a Million Shadows, Andrea Busfield*[4]

Super Freakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance, Steven D. Leavitt & Stephen J. Dubner*

Confessions of a Compact Camera Shooter, Rick Sammon

Drive Me Crazy, Vicki Lewis Thompson*

The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafón*[5]

That's 18 books for the month, 81 71 books year-to-date.

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*Read on Kindle

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[1] For all you history buffs, and those who don’t understand why we’re reviled in Asia, this book by the author of Fly Boys and Flags of Our Fathers is a must read. It is in no way, shape or form an easy read, but it is a must read.

[2] Young adult reading.

[3] I couldn’t bring myself to finish this apologia for a moralizing pervert and mentally threw it across the room set it aside at about the halfway point. The woman who wrote this is so in love with Carroll’s literature that she quotes his blatantly manipulative writings as proof of his moral uprightness. Ugh. Unreadable twaddle.

[4] Best main character since Piscine Molitor Patel. And that’s really saying something!

[5] It’s a quest novel. It’s a coming of age novel. It’s a murder mystery. It’s a thriller. It’s about a love of books. It’s a love story. I had a terrible time putting this one down. It’s so good, in fact, that I just bought the next book in the series.

PSA

There are people in this world that do good things for others. Erik Johnson is one of them.

4 years ago [my good friend] Rob told me he was diagnosed with Chondroblastic Osteosarcoma, a childhood form of bone cancer, and I decided that it was my responsibility, as a friend and teammate, to help him and his family. My way of helping Rob and his family was to raise money to help cover some of the extreme expenses they were sure to have; therefore I decided to start a fundraiser in Rob'sname. I talked with the captain of the competition dance team at the University of Wisconsin- La Crosse (UWL) and organized a dance benefit show with the dance team and 12 football players (Rob and I were teammates on the UWL football team). I was responsible for bringing all the dancers and football players together and creating an amazing event that we never thought would last more than one year. The first two years the show took place I danced in the show and organized a large majority of the responsibilities. The last two years I took a step back and helped on a behind the scenes basis. As the spokesperson for, The Rob Wagner Dance Benefit Show, I feel I deserve to win one of the 3 Lionheart's for the Grand Award because of the tremendous impact this event has had, not only on myself and Rob, but the dozens and dozens of other young men and women who have put in hours upon hours of hard work, sweat, tears and emotion to help another person in need.

Help him out by voting here so that he can win $10,000 towards this worthy cause. He's done all the work. All you need to do is click your mouse.

Thanks!

Book Your Ticket

I'm still hanging in there with my sole New Year's resolution. Here's April's mish-mash of literary sustenance:

• Me Cheeta: My Life in Hollywood, Cheeta the Chimp*
• Without Fail, Lee Child*
• What She Wants, Cathy Kelly*
• Angel Mine, Sherryl Woods*
• Deadly Deals, Fern Michaels*
• I Would Lick It For Hours: Two Lumps – Year One, Mel Hynes and J. Grant
• The Sculptress, Minette Walters
• Lost & Found, Jacqueline Sheehan
• Once Again to Zelda: The Stories Behind Literature’s Most Intriguing Dedications, Marlene Wagman-Geller
• Key Witch, Robert Tacoma*
• Key Manatee, Robert Tacoma*
• Key Lucky, Robert Tacoma*

A friend of a friend recently asked to take a peek at the archive on my Kindle. Her comment? "Boy, you really do have eclectic taste in books, don't you?"

Yes, I do.

(53 books consumed, year-to-date.)

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*Read on Kindle.

And those three Robert Tacoma books in a row? I'm currently in the middle of a very tough read and needed to put it down every once in a while. What's the tough read? Tune in next month. I'll finish it by then.

Book Your Ticket

The only resolution I made for the year 2010 was to keep a list of every book I read this year. This is as much for me as it is for you, as I've never kept track before and suspect I'll shock even myself with the final number. Here's what was on tap for January:

Conspiracy in Kiev, Noel Hynd*

Skeeter: A Cat Tale, Anne L. Watson*

Mossy Creek, Deborah Smith, Donna Ball, Debra Dixon, Sandra Chastain, Virginia Ellis and Nancy Knight*

Pacific Avenue, Anne L. Watson*

Heart of Texas, Vol. I (Lonesome Cowboy & Texas Two-Step), Debbie Macomber

The Crossroads Café, Deborah Smith*

Heart of Texas, Vol. II (Caroline’s Child & Dr. Texas), Debbie Macomber

The Abbot’s Ghost, Louisa Mae Alcott writing as A.M. Barnard*

Behind A Mask, Louisa Mae Alcott writing as A.M. Barnard*

Suite Scarlett, Maureen Johnson*[1]

Key Weird, Robert Tacoma*

‘Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy, Leslie Langtry*

The Kiribati Test, Stacey Cochran*

Murder Takes the Cake, Gayle Trent*

When Pigs Fly, (short story) Helen Joan Casper*

Cape Refuge, Terri Blackstock*

Southern Storm, Terri Blackstock*

Key Weirder, Robert Tacoma*

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Franklin*

Lip Service, Susan Mallery*

Straight from the Hip, Susan Mallery*

Keep in mind that this is a probably a shorter list than normal, as I've spent more time on blogging and politics than normal!

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[1] Young adult reading, but give it a whirl anyway. Absolutely charming.

*Kindle book

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Update:

I've decided to take this challenge, even though it should only take me a few months to complete. How about you?