Ravenel 3: Devil In Spring

Title: Ravenel 3: Devil In Spring

Author: Lisa Kleypas

Genre: Historical Romance, Series

Time: 4 hours

Rating: 10 out of 10

here's a short description of the book in goodreads.

The Idiot Plot

Found this from a Knowable article when I was facebooking.  This is the first time I encountered this term but I have read many a romance novels that has exactly this--The Idiot Plot.  Many books, in particular romance ones, could have easily ended in Chapter 2 or 3 if both characters would've just talked to each other.  Sometimes it makes me want to tear my hair out.

In Death 54: Apprentice In Death

Title: In Death 54: Apprentice In Death

Author: J. D. Robb

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Police Procedural, Series

Time: 4.5 hours

Rating: 10 out of 10

here's a short description of the book in goodreads.

Book Haul

It's been months since I last read a book.  It's sooo not me.  I am always reading a book.  Maybe I put too much pressure on reaching a target number of books to read per year.. maybe I just couldn't connect with any of the new books I found.. maybe life just happened.. I don't know.. But I figured, I'll just go with the flow and I'll eventually want to start to read again.

And so today, for some reason, I wondered if any of my favorite authors have new books published.  So I checked.  Lo and behold! New books from J. D. Robb, Sophie Kinsella, Gillian Flynn, William Landay, Liane Moriarty and I even managed to find copies of Anna David's book which I have been looking for since forever!

I hope I get my reading groove back on.  We'll see in a couple of days.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

I haven't been posting for a while now.  For some reason, I just cannot click with any of the new books I got.  I don't know why, though.  For the past recent years, there was not a month that goes by that I was not reading a book.

Maybe it was just the pressure of trying to reach that 100 books a year quota that is stopped being fun?  Or maybe I just could not find books that clicked?

Here's to hoping that I find great books in 2017.

When Will There Be Good News?

Title: Jackson Brodie 3: When Will There Be Good News?

Author: Kate Atkinson

Genre: Mystery

Time: unfinished or read already?

Rating: N/A

This was the only book of the series I haven't read yet.  Or so I thought.  As I was reading chapter one and I got a sense of deja vu.  As I read on, I get vague flashbacks.  Like there was a train derailment or was it a collision?  I remember people so many people on the train, so many people trying to help the injured.  A dilapidated/ramshackle house near the trains?  A well-off lady disappearing or did she run away?  The family in the introduction part of the book.  The two girls and a baby brother with their harried mother.  This all feels familiar, like I've been here before.

This happens to me once in a while.  That's the thing with reading soooo many books, you end up getting a book you've read before without realizing it until you're a few chapters in.  I have no idea how many books I've read in my lifetime and I've only started tracking since 2013 and I've found out that I average like 80-100 books a year.  I started reading and collecting books at 5 or 6 but the almost "non-stop" reading started around 8 or 9 when I discovered the school library.  Not mentioning my age but I probably read like a thousand books already.  

And I think I've read this book before.  But I just can't put my finger as to when but I think it's fairly recent.  And I can't remember anymore the ending.  And since I wanna end with 100 new books read this year I'll just skip this for now until I'm sure.

Ravenel 2: Marrying Winterborne

Title: Ravenel 2: Marrying Winterborne

Author: Lisa Kleypas

Genre: Historical Romance

Time: 4.7 hours

Rating: 10 out of 10

Missing Jackie Collins

As I've probably mentioned a couple of times here in my blog, that whenever I find a good book I like, I tend to get all the other books that author wrote and read all of it... kinda like binge watching a new series on netflix, but with books.  When I've read that author's books (and all of my other favorite authors' books), I try to discover a new "favorite" author.

But a couple of times a year, I check in with my top favorite writers and see if they have anything new.  I've been doing this for years now... some of my go to amazing authors are Lisa Kleypas, Sue Grafton, Candace Bushnell, J. D. Robb, Sophie Kinsella, etc., etc., etc.,

Well today, I was doing that and realized that I had to take one off that list... I forgot that Jackie Collins has passed away a year ago... I felt sad.. I love her books... and she was a very prolific writer and one of the few authors that I really went to collect the actual (not ebooks) books of.  Some I had to troll ebay for because she published since the 80s.

She had a distinct way of writing and some characters resembled real life celebrities that I try to guess who they were loosely based on.  I'll miss her books and I'm sad that it's one less thing to look forward to every year.

And Then I Found You

Title: And Then I Found You

Author: Patti Callahan Henry

Genre: Romance

Time: 3.1 hours

Rating: 7 out of 10

Never Never

Title: Never Never

Author: Colleen Hoover & Tarry Fisher

Genre: Romance, Young Adult

Time: 1.9 hours

Rating: 5 out of 10

Confess

Title: Confess

Author: Colleen Hoover

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Time: 3.4 hours

Rating: 8 out of 10

Fresh Off The Boat

Title: Fresh Off The Boat

Author: Eddie Huang

Genre: Memoir

Time: 8.1 hours

Rating: 8 out of 10

Orange Is The New Black

Title: Orange Is The New Black

Author: Piper Kerman

Genre: Memoir

Time: 7.3 hours

Rating: 8 out of 10

The Secret Keeper

Title: The Secret Keeper

Author: Kate Morton

Genre: Historical Fiction

Time: 10.3 hours

Rating: 10 out of 10

The Actress: A Novel

Title: The Actress: A Novel

Author: Amy Sohn

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Time: 6.8 hours

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin

Title: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin

Author: Kathy Griffin

Genre: Memoir

Time: 8 hours

Rating: 8 out of 10

Little Bitty Lies

Title: Little Bitty Lies

Author: Mary Kay Andrews

Genre: Chic Lit

Time: 5.8 hours

Rating: 6 out of 10

If you want a book description, you can it check out on goodreads.

Book Hunt: Jodi Picoult

Saw this book suggestion article on my facebook newsfeed.  The list is for Jodi Picoult fans.  I think I've probably read one of her books but I can't remember anymore which one.

I'm always on the look out for new books to read and I like that this list are of bestseller authors.  But I'm bookmarking this list for now as I am nowhere near finishing my latest Book Haul.

The Lie

Title: The Lie

Author: C. L. Taylor

Genre: Suspense, Thriller

Time: 4.7 hours

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

If you want a book description, you can check out on goodreads.

iLove

Title: iLove (Down the Rabbit Hole)

Author: Elaine Fox

Genre: Romace

Time: unfinished

The third novella under the Down The Rabbit Hole anthology.  I wasn’t a fan of the second novella, Alice and the Earl in Wonderland.  And I’m not feeling anything with this one, too.  As short as these novellas are, I think I should cut my losses with this book and find something else to read.