50 Book Challenge 2013 -The Sequel!

My reading has been appalling recently, so this year I've set myself a goal to read 30 books (no way I could read fifty, although I used to...) I am, quite embarrassingly, way behind my goal, but my reading speed has picked up and I make sure to read a bit every day, rather then sit on my laptop/play candy crush... So there's still hope!

So far this year I've read:

1. Coraline - Neil Gaiman
2. Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut
3. Them: Adventures with Extremists - Jon Ronson
4. The Stepford Wives - Ira Levin
5. Sabra Zoo - Mischa Hiller
6. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
7. 1984 - George Orwell

Currently reading:

1. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War - Max Brooks
2. The Smoke Jumper - Nicholas Evans

Number 8 is good, number nine is rubbish, both nearly finished.

Just finished 37, the Agatha Raisin story. Great fun.

23: Life of Pi. I really enjoyed this story and I cried at the end .

Nearly finished 24: Changeling - Philippa Gregory. I'm enjoying this one too. It's a YA book so it's a nice easy read and although it is historical it reads rather like a fantasy book which is right up my street.

I'm trying to decide what will be 25, maybe a reread of Brave New World, or maybe I'll go on to We need to talk about Kevin, or maybe something else will catch my eye.

Finished 22: the last of the current Game of Thrones book. Have thoroughly enjoyed them.

Book 23 will be a re-read of an old favorite. Janice Galloway's "The Trick is to Keep Breathing".

25. P&P - Austen and almost finished 26. Tomorrow, When the War Began - John Marsden.

I think I really have to clear some of the backlog on my kindle and my bookshelf before buying anything else who am I kidding

24. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin

22. Anne of Green Gables - L M Montgomery. A re-read, I would last have read it over 30 years ago, but was reading it to my 6 yo DD as her bedtime story. Inspiring and innocent.

23. The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters. The speaking tube incident had me too frightened to go downstairs and let the cat in! I had to read something bland to shake the mood off.

I'm reading that now, Mary . I love a bit of Agatha- it's my guilty pleasure.

No 38 The Fairies of Fynham - MC Beaton Painless and light.

Now on

No39 Gods and Monsters - Denise Mina very gripping so far,

1. Mandarin Gate - Eliot Pattison
2. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig
3. Garden of Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng
4. Born to Run - Christopher McDougall
5. Poet - Michael Connelly
6. Existence - David Brin
7. The Power Of Now - Eckhart Tolle
8. Casino Royale - Ian Fleming
9. The Quantity Theory Of Insanity - Will Self

... and I just finished:
19. Destination: Void - Frank Herbert

Herbert is the author of the widely acclaimed Dune books. This is a book about the creation of artificial intelligence and talks extensively about what consciousness is, how/why it is generated, what purpose it serves, etc. I was quite impressed by it, especially considering that it was published in 1978!

Meg - You have already read my favourites: A Scanner Darkly, Martian Time-Slip, Valis.

Have you started reading PKD's short story collections? They are pretty good, too. Minority Report and Total Recall ("We Can Remember It For You Wholesale") are among his short stories, for example.

22 is done!

23. twenty wishes - debbie macomber

apologies for my poor taste in books!

PKD not PDK!

Cote I'm slowly making my way through the PDK 'classics'. Have read Do Androids Dream..., Three Stigmata..., Man In The High Castle, Ubik, Valis, A Scanner Darkly and now Martian Time-Slip. What would you recommend next?

23. Carrie by Stephen King

MegBusset - I have read pretty much all of Philip K Dick's books (and he has written many) a long time ago, and still remember Martian Time-Slip as one of his best, a brilliantly brain-hurty book

ok... my list so far...

1. twelve days of christmas - trisha ashley
2. where rainbows end - cecelia ahern
3. deja view - lisa armstrong
4. out on a limb - lynne barrett-lee
5. the hat shop on the corner - marita conlon-mckenna
6. when i fall in love - miranda dickinson
7. love always - harriet evans
8. dont look back - scott frost
9. something blue - emily griffen
10. naver say never - melissa hill
11. left to die - lisa jackson
12. mini shopaholic - sophie kinsella
13. cold shoulder - lynda la plante
14. the last letter from your love - jojo moyes
15. chosen to die - lisa jackson
16. the little one - lynda la plante
17. the beach hut - veronica henry
18. gone girl - gillian flynn
19. the shop on blossom street - debbie macomber
20. a good yarn - debbie macomber
21. old boyfriends - debbie macomber
22. back in blossom street - debbie macomber

a little behind on my target as gone girl took me 4 weeks to read as i absolutely hated the 2nd half... but im hoping to catch up soon

31. Martian Time-Slip - Philip K Dick. Not PKD's best (written in 1964 and his views on the future's technology seem terribly quaint, the psychological stuff is dated too) but still better than most other writers' best stuff!

Next up is Bleak House, at 900-odd pages I think it will take a while!

12. Entertaining Eric, Maureen Wells.

Non-fic reprint of letters written by a young woman to her fiancee during WWII. She had a "good war" in the Wrens - interesting as social history, although I didn't entirely warm to the author (possibly just pique as she regards everyone over 25 as ancient).

23. Why French Children Don't Throw Food by Pamela Druckerman. I found this interesting and irritating in equal measures.

ooh shiney

my list is downstairs so ill have to wait till tomorrow. will list them all again so i can just flip back. think im on book 22 but not too sure without looking.

ive come up with a good way for me to focus... i go to weight watchers every tuesday evening and ive decided i have to turn up with a different book each week. its working so far

well done to those that are near or over 50 already

22. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

I lurked on the last one too. So far, I have read:

Home Fires, by Elizabeth Day
These Things Hidden, by Heather Gudenkauf
Dog Days, Glenn Miller Nights, by Laurie Graham
The Laws Of Gravity, by Liz Rosenberg
She Rises, by Kate Worsley
Started Early, Took My Dog, by Kate Atkinson
Finders Keepers
Darkside, both by Belinda Bauer
Queen Of New Beginnings, by Erica James
In her Shoes, by Jennifer Weiner
Good in Bed, by Jennifer Weiner
The Distant Hours, by Kate Morton
Mrs Robinson's Disgrace, by Kate Summerscale
A Lady Cyclist's Guide To Kashgar
Human Remains, by Elizabeth Haynes
Capital, by John Lanchester
The Ninth Life Of Louis Drax, by Liz Jenson
The Lessons, by Naomi Alderman
War Crimes For The Home, by Liz Jenson
Missing You, by Louise Douglas
The Hundred Year-Old Man, by Jonas Jonasson
My Animals And Other Family, by Clare Balding
Safe House, by Chris Ewan
Looking Good Dead
Dead Simple, both by Peter James
The Language Of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbach
The White Devil, by Justin Evans
The Secret Keeper, by skate Morton
The Impossible Dead, by Ian Rankin
11.22.63, by Stephen King
Remarkable Creatures, by Tracy Chevalier
Alys Always, by Harriet Lane
The Playdate, by Louise Millar
The Half-Life Of Hannah, by Nick Alexander
The House At Riverton, by Kate Morton
The Forgotten Garden, ditto

I think that's it since the new year, plus a few bashes at things I didn't get along with. Let me tot it up...36! Not too shabby.

I might suggest it for book club on Monday.

I never get round to reading the Book Vipers reads, I will try harder.