Small Blogs, Big Giveaways!

Reading Romances has put together a blog hop where you can enter to win a total of 48 prizes (37 books + 11 Gift Cards). The giveaway runs from June 6-13.

The 1st prize winner will get to choose 16 prizes (including maximum number of 2 gift cards).

The 2nd prize winner will get to choose 14 prizes after the 1st prize winner has had their pickings (including the maximum number of 2 gift cards).

The 3rd prize winner will get to choose 10 prizes after the 2nd prize winner has had their pickings (including the maximum number of 2 gift cards).

For all the details, click HERE.

My First Blog Award!

How the Award works

1. Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 deserving blog buddies.
4. Contact those buddies to congratulate them.

Thanks so much to both Vampyre Gurls Book Club and Bending The Spine for nominating me for this award!

And now for seven random facts about me:

1. I have a glass jar with all my baby teeth in them.
2. I love thunderstorms!
3. My favourite colour is purple.
4. I am Canadian, which is why you will see strange (aka Canadian) spellings of words like "favourite" instead of the American spelling "favorite" and "colour" instead of the American spelling of "color".
5. I love horror movies!
6. I tend to be accident-prone and klutzy: Breaking things, spilling things, dropping things, you name it!
   
7. I cannot eat Brussels sprouts. They make me gag.
   

I would like to pass along this award to the following blogs:

1. Teresa's Reading Corner
   
2. A Few More Pages
3. Stiletto Storytime
4. Jamie's Bookshelf
5. Socrates' Book Review Blog
6. Beth Fish Reads
7. Reading Extravaganza
8. A Night's Dream of Books
9. Book Addict
10. The Book Diva's Reads
11. Sunniesarecool reads books....
12. Laine's Fiction Book Reviews
13. Fabulosity Nouveau
14. Thoughts Of An Endless Dreamer
15. The Secret Writer
    

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Dark Lover

TITLE: Dark Lover
SERIES: Book #1 of the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series
AUTHOR: J.R. Ward

NARRATOR: Jim Frangione
PUBLISHER: Recorded Books
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2009 (first published September 6, 2005)
FORMAT: Unabridged CDs - 13 hours, 35 minutes
GENRE: Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 978-1440704215

SYNOPSIS FROM GOODREADS:

The first novel of J. R. Ward’s New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series features a unique take on vampire lore and heavy doses of sensuality. The vampire Darius fears for the life of his half-breed daughter, who is unaware of her unusual destiny. To oversee her transformation, Darius seeks help from Wrath, a dangerous loner and the world’s only purebred vampire.

MY REVIEW:

This book was hard for me to get into. I loved Twilight, and I expected that I would love this book as well. When it still wasn't doing it for me after a quarter of the way through the book, I wondered whether my expectations were too high after seeing all of the amazing reviews for this series!

It was hard for me to keep all of the characters straight in the beginning of the book. I think that was one of the issues that made it difficult for me to become engrossed in the story. It wasn't until halfway through the book when the main characters, Wrath and Beth, started to show some vulnerability that I began to connect with them. Once this happened, then I was hooked and I really began to enjoy the story. As we learned more about each member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, we began to see their weaknesses which made them seem more "human" and discovered that there really is much more to each one than just what we see on the surface.

One thing that I do like about this book more than I did about Twilight is the strength of the leading female role. Beth Randall is not Bella Swan, and I mean that in a good way. I did not care for Bella's utter dependence on Edward. Beth is a strong, tell-it-like-it-is, I'm-not-going-to-take-any-of-your-bull kind of woman. She is great!

It would have been handy to have a glossary with this book that laid out all of the odd terminology used such as "doggen" (servant), "Hellren" (a male vampire that has been mated to a female), "Lesser" (a de-souled human who hunts vampires), and "Shellen" (a female vampire that has been mated to a male).

My favourite quote from the book was from Fritz to the Brotherhood with reference to Butch: "If you're going to bloody the human, would you be good enough to do it in the backyard?" A little bit of the dark humor!

This definitely is a book that is adult-rated due to the explicit sex scenes. I have often heard it described as "Twilight for adults", which is certainly true although I do not hold it to the same calibre.

Now that the groundwork has been laid, I hope that I will enjoy the second book in the series more than the first.

This is my first narration by Jim Frangione, and I quite like him! He does a nice job conveying emotion, and the subtle adjustments to his voice with each character makes for a nice distinction.

MY RATING: 3.5 stars! Were it not for the slow start, I would have given it 4 stars.

This book qualifies as:
#36 for my 2011 100+ Reading Challenge
#23 for my 2011 Audio Book Challenge
#23 for my 2011 "Whisper Stories in My Ear" Challenge
#13 for my What an Animal Reading Challenge IV 
#8 for my 1st In a Series Challenge 2011
#6 for my Vampire Challenge 2011
#5 for my 101 Fantasy Reading Challenge (Item #51)
#5 for my What's in a Name 4 Challenge
#1 for my Black Dagger Brotherhood Reading Challenge
#1 for my Paranormal Romance Challenge 2011

Announcing The LOST Books Perpetual Challenge

I was a LOST groupie, so I was very excited to stumble upon this challenge! It is being hosted by Amy and Heather on its own dedicated blog.

If you were a LOST fan, you know that the books featured in the show often played important parts of the story.

Here are the details of the perpetual challenge:

Now that LOST is over, we have more time than ever to reflect on what it all meant! Therefore, Heather and I are pleased to announce that we'll be keeping the LOST Books Challenge Blog and we're introducing the perpetual challenge.

LOST was a literary show. The writers and creators based so much of the show on the history of great stories as told through books. They named their characters and episodes after literary giants. They seamlessly wove books into many scenes and left us all to ponder what it all meant.

And while the show is over, the speculation around LOST lives. There's still so much to think about and many theories that can be formed...therefore we still find value in reading the many books mentioned on LOST.

Here are the details of the challenge:

1)This is a perpetual challenge--which means there's no end in sight! You have plenty of time to read the books mentioned on LOST. It starts for you the moment you sign up!

2) You can choose books from the LOSTpedia Book List, the LOST book club on ABC, or the LOST books list on DarkUFO. Feel free to look in other places as well!

3) Sign the Mister Linky below with your blog url if you have one, if not with just your name or twitter handle. You can follow us on Twitter at @LOSTreading. Please also consider posting about the challenge on your blog so that others can learn about it!

4) Email lostbookschallenge@gmail.com to be added as a contributor to this blog. You can post your reviews in their entirety here on this blog or a snippet with a link back to your blog.

5) You can also post other items and notes of interest to LOST fans.

6) Have fun! There's no end date so this should be a fun way to revisit our favorite show again and again!

If you want to join me in the LOST challenge, click HERE.

Here is the list of books:

1. Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The by Mark Twain
2. After All These Years by Susan Isaacs
3. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
4. Animal Farm by George Orwell
5. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
6. Bad Twin by Laurence Shames
7. Bluebeard by Charles Perrault
8. Book of Laws by Manu
9. Holy Bible, The
10. Brief History of  Time, A by Stephen Hawking
11. Brothers Karamazov, The by Fyodor Dostoevsky
12. Caravan of Dreams by Idries Shah
13. Carrie by Stephen King
14. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
15. Christmas Carol, A by Charles Dickens - read 4 Jan 2013
16. Chosen, The by Chaim Potok
17. Chronicles of Narnia, The by C.S. Lewis
18. Coalwood Way, The by Homer Hickam
19. Dark Horse by Tami Hoag
20. Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger, The by Stephen King
21. Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three, The by Stephen King
22. Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands, The by Stephen King
23. Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah, The by Stephen King
24. Dirty Work by Stuart Woods
25. Epic  of Gilgamesh, The by Gilgamesh
26. Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
27. Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie
28. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
29. Fear and Trembling by Søren Kierkegaard
30. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
31. Fountainhead, The by Ayn Rand
32. Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
33. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
34. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salmon Rushdie
35. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
36. High Hand by Gary Phillips
37. Holy Qur’an, The
38. Hotel by Arthur Hailey
39. I Ching
40. Invention of Morel, The by Adolfo Bioy Casares
41. Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
42. Island by Aldous Huxley
43. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
44. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
45. Kings of Love: The Poetry and History of the Ni’Matullahi Sufi Order by Nasrolla Pourjavady and P.L. Wilson (translators)
46. Lancelot by Walker Percy
47. Langoliers by Stephen King
48. Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov
49. Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins
50. Little Prince, The by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
51. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
52. Manservant and Maidservant by Ivy Compton-Burnett
53. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
54. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
55. Moon Pool, The by A. Merritt
56. Mysteries of the Ancient Americas: The New World before Columbus by Robert Dolezal
57. Mysterious Island, The by Jules Verne
58. Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
59. Oath, The by John Lescroart
60. Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, The by Ambrose Bierce
61. Odyssey, The by Homer
62. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
63. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
64. On Writing by Stephen King
65. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
66. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
67. Outsiders, The by Susan E. Hinton
68. Pearl, The by John Steinbeck
69. Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy
70. Rick Romer’s Vision of Astrology by Rick Romer
71. Roots by Alex Haley
72. Separate Reality, A by Carlos Castaneda
73. Shape of Things to Come, The by H.G. Wells
74. Sheltering Sky, The by Paul Bowles
75. Shining, The by Stephen King
76. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
77. Stand, The by Stephen King
78. Stone Leopard, The Colin Forbes
79. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
80. Survivors of the Chancellor, The by Jules Verne
81. Tale of Two Cities, A by Charles Dickens
82. Third Policeman, The by Flann O’Brien
83. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
84. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
85. Turn of the Screw, The by Henry James
86. Ulysses by James Joyce
87. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
88. Valhalla Rising by Clive Cussler
89. Valis by Philip K. Dick
90. Watership Down by Richard Adams
91. What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
92. Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The by L. Frank Baum
93. Wrinkle in Time, A by Madeleine L'Engle

I am going to keep track of my progress below:

1. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
2. The Gunslinger by Stephen King (The Dark Tower, Book 1)
3. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Christmas Books, Book #1)
4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter, Book #1)  
5. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Oz, Book #1)
6. The Shining by Stephen King (The Shining, Book #1)

Understand My Sorrow Challenge (Perpetual)

I have joined this perpetual reading challenge, which is being hosted by Lilly at Reading Extravaganza.

Lilly touches on some very serious issues, and I think that it is important to know as much as we can about these illnesses as it is possible that someone we know and love will one day be stricken by one of these or another like them.

Here is what Lilly writes about the challenge:

Depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder.

I could go on and on. These are very real and very painful illnesses, and yet they are one of the most neglected, misunderstood, ignored and stigmatized ones as well. These are demons that destroy lives, break human spirits and annihilate happiness. Millions of people struggle with them, fight daily battles. Some are lost and some are won. I hope that one day none will be lost and that's why I decided to host this reading challenge. The purpose of it is to increase awareness and understanding of a mental illness. In my small way I wish to help people see through the stereotypes and the fog of ignorance surrounding the serious medical conditions under an umbrella of mental illness. These conditions are deadly when untreated and more often than not still pose a risk of death after a person receives proper medical treatment. The statistics are frightening and below I am providing you with a couple of links so you can read for yourselves.

Anyway, the rules for the challenge are pretty easy. It starts today but I would like to make it an ongoing process, therefore there will not be a deadline in the nearest future. If I decide that the no deadline rule somehow doesn't work, I will let you know at least six months in advance. The only requirement is that you read a minimum of one book on the subjects provided below.

• Depression
• Schizophrenia
• Bipolar Disorder
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

There are of course many more disorders that we could talk about but for now I'd like to focus on the four. So, you have to read a minimum of four (4) books, one on each subject, either fiction or non-fiction (any format is fine: graphic novel, e-book, audio, etc.). I am including a button on the side on my blog that you can grab just for this challenge and put it on your blog. Also, when you write an introductory post about this challenge, please come back and sign up under McLinky. Optimally, I would love for this to spark discussion. I'd like to talk with all and any of you. If you read a book or two, or more and they evoke strong emotions withing you, I'd love to invite you to write a guest post sharing them with me and other readers. If you have a story to tell, that's even better. I would be happy to read your story and invite others to do it as well. It doesn't matter if it's on my blog as a guest post or your own blog, as long as it's under the Understand My Sorrow banner. Another important thing: you do not have to be a blogger to join in. If you don't have a blog, you can leave me a comment letting me know that you're joining and when you decide which books to read, when you read any of them and want to talk about them, email me and I will, with your permission spotlight your thoughts, stories, even book reviews on my blog. List of some books you might find interesting:

1. Depression:

a) Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon
b) Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression by Nell Casey
c) Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel
d) Jesus Wept:When Faith and Depression Meet by Barbara C. Crafton

2. Schizophrenia:

a) The Day the Voices Stopped by Ken Steele and Claire Berman
b) The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness by Elyn R. Saks
c) I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Joanne Greenberg
d) The Quiet Room by Lori Schiller and Amanda Bennett
e) Welcome Silence by Carol North, M.D.

3. Bipolar Disorder:

a) An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison
b) Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher
c) Manic by Terri Cheney

4. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder:

a) Tormenting Thoughts and Secret Rituals by Ian Osborn
b) The Imp of the Mind by Lee Baer, Ph.D.
c) Rewind, Replay, Repeat by Jeff Bell

Once again, the above titles are just some suggestions in case you feel a little lost, not a required reading at all. If you know of books that you'd like to recommend to others, please include them in your post. Thank you all for joining.

I'm not going to lie, it is very, very important to me that as many people join me as possible.

If you want to join me in this challenge, click here.

You can link-up your book reviews HERE.

I am going to keep track of my progress below:

BOOK REVIEW: Kildee House

TITLE: Kildee House
AUTHOR: Rutherford Montgomery

ILLUSTRATOR: Barbara Cooney
PUBLISHER: Walker Books for Young Readers
DATE OF PUBLICATION: September 1, 1993 (first published 1971)
FORMAT: Paperback, 224 pages
GENRE: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 978-0802773883

SYNOPSIS FROM GOODREADS:

Newbery Honor Book, 1950 An early naturalist and philosopher escapes civilization by building his house among the giant redwoods.

MY REVIEW:

I read this book aloud with my daughters. It is a 1950 Newbery Honor Book.

Upon his retirement, Jerome Kildee builds a house under a giant redwood tree in the wilderness surrounded by 100 acres of woods and hillside. Although his intention was to remain reclusive, he opens both his home and his heart to his woodland friends which include raccoons, skunks, mice, rats, and even a deer. His home is between two feuding neighbours: the Eppys and the Cabots. When Jerome befriends Emma Lou Eppy it piques the curiosity of Donald Roger Cabot and both children often come to visit him. As the animals multiply and take over Jerome's little house, Emma Lou and Donald Roger work together to find a solution. Doing so, repairs the rift between the feuding families.

We loved this book! My children love animals, so we really enjoyed reading how Jerome lived his life with raccoons in his wood stove and skunks under his bed!

I have often daydreamed about what life would be like to live in the wilderness away from technology and surrounded by nature. I would think it would be a peaceful existence - a simpler time. As long as I had books to read, I could live without television and the internet!

This is a wonderful book to enjoy with your children!

MY RATING: 4.5 stars!

This book qualifies as:
#35 for my 2011 100+ Reading Challenge

1001 Books To Read Before You Die Challenge (Perpetual)

Have you ever heard of this book?

The book was originally released in 2006, and then updated versions were released in 2008 and 2010.

The book lists 1001 books that everyone should read before they die, and they give a little caption for each book explaining why the book was chosen.

With the 2008 and 2010 editions, some books were removed and some books were added. You can see a list of the original 2006 books HERE. In browsing this list, I see quite a few books on my "Fill in the Gaps" Challenge and also on my TBR list.

I figured, what the heck! This is a lifelong endeavour, so why not? I am the type of person who likes to challenge herself, so I am going for it!

Now, being the anal (what? me??) type of person that I am, I not only want to read the books on the 2006 original list but also the ones that were added in 2008 and 2010!

How do you keep track of that all, you ask? Arukiyomi (link to follow below) created a fantastic Excel spreadsheet that keeps track of it all! You can mark books as TBR (to be read), R (read), or W (wish list), and you can assign your star rating. The spreadsheet even has a handy-dandy formula where you plug in your age, country of residence (so it can calculate life span), sex, and the number of books that you read a month to determine how long it will take you to finish the entire list. You can choose whether to complete the 2006 list, 2008 list plus the 2006 books removed, 2008 list only, 2010 list plus 2008 books removed, all three lists, or the core books (the ones that were on the original 2006 list that have never been removed from either the 2008 or 2010 lists).

So, at my present age and at the rate of three books a month from this list, I am on target to finish the total 1,294 books and finish the plan when I am 75 years old!! Isn't that a hoot? I tried inputting only two books a month, and it told me that I needed to increase to three books a month in order to complete the challenge since I am likely to die in another 42 years when I am 82.

You can sort your books on this spreadsheet by author or title or even by rating, and each list of books is colour-coded. It keeps statistics for you to mark your progress!

You can also click on the book title or author, which takes you to a hyperlink (usually Wikipedia) to learn more about the author/title before you read.

I cannot rave enough about how cool this spreadsheet is! I wish I had something like this for all my books, LOL!

How can you get one, too? The Lite version of the spreadsheet is a free download, but you only get the 2010 list which it is not searchable or sortable and does not contain all the cool bells and whistles. The one that I am describing above is the Full version which is available by donation, and you choose the amount you want to donate, from £2 to £10. Pretty nominal charge, right?

Click on the button below:

If this has inspired you to take up your own challenge, let me know! I would love to hear from you!

I am keeping track of my progress below (here are the ones first up on my TBR list - reviews will be linked up as they are read:

1. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
2. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving 
3. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Christmas Books, Book #1)
4. Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
5. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
6. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
8. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
9. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
10. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
11. Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 1)
12. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
13. Dracula by Bram Stoker
14. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
15. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
16. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
17. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
18. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
19. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
20. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
21. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
22. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
23. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
24. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings, Book 1)
25. The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
26. Emma by Jane Austen
27. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
28. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
29. Persuasion by Jane Austen
30. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
31. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
32. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
34. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
35. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
36. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
37. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
38. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
39. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Little Women Series, Book 1)
40. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
41. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
42. Lord of the Flies by Sir William Golding 

The Fill in the Gaps: 100 Project Reading Challenge

I am so excited to join this challenge, which was started by MoonRat, and which has been mentioned on numerous blogs.

It works like this: You compile a list of 100 books that you have sitting in your To Be Read ("TBR") pile, and you give give yourself five years to complete the challenge. Allowing for a leeway of 25%, you should consider that you have succeeded in this challenge if you finish 75% of your list.

My challenge will end on May 28, 2016.

2016 UPDATE: I didn't do very well on my five-year challenge! When I wrote this post in 2011, 2016 seemed so far away! A lot has happened in my personal life since that time, so reading and blogging took a back-burner. As a result, I only read four books on my list of 105:

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander, Book 1)
2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy 
3. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter, Book #1) 
4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter, Book #2)

So, I am keeping the same list and extending for another five-years to May 28, 2021! Let's hope that I make better progress than just four books!

If you want to join me in the challenge, click HERE.

I had a really hard time narrowing down my list to just 100. My TBR pile is HUGE! I could have easily just made an entire list of classics that I want to read, but I thought that might be too daunting! I tried to mix it up a bit.

I ended up paring down my list to:

• Classics that are on the top of my TBR list.
• Popular books that were on bestseller lists.
• Recommendations from others.

My lists runs to 105 because I needed to get the entire Outlander series in there, and I could not figure out which five books to eliminate!

If I manage to get through this list, I clearly will need to start another one!

Wish me luck! This list is in no particular order, other than grouping authors/series together. I do not pledge to read them in this order.

1. Unbroken: An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive by Lauren Hillenbrand
2. Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
3. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 
4. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
5. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
6. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
7. Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie
8. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
9. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
10. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
11. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
12. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
13. Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 1)
14. The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 2)
15. The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 3)
16. The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 4)
17. Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 5)
18. The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 6)
19. Merrick by Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 7)
20. Blood and Gold by Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 8)
21. Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 9)
22. Blood Canticle by Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles, Book 10)
23. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
24. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
25. Dracula by Bram Stoker
26. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
27. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
28. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
29. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
30. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (Robert Langdon Series, Book 1)
31. The da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Robert Langdon Series, Book 2)
32. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (Robert Langdon Series, Book 3)
33. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
34. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
35. ‘Tis by Frank McCourt
36. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
37. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
38. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
39. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
40. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
41. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings, Book 1)
42. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings, Book 2)
43. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings, Book 3)
44. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter Series, Book 3)
45. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter Series, Book 4)
46. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter Series, Book 5)
47. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter Series, Book 6)
48. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter Series, Book 7)
49. The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
50. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
51. Emma by Jane Austen
52. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
53. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
54. Persuasion by Jane Austen
55. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel (Earth’s Children Series, Book 1)
56. The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel (Earth’s Children Series, Book 2)
57. The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel (Earth’s Children Series, Book 3)
58. The Plains of Passage by Jean M. Auel (Earth’s Children Series, Book 4)
59. The Shelters of Stone by Jean M. Auel (Earth’s Children Series, Book 5)
60. The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel (Earth’s Children Series, Book 6)
61. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
62. The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
63. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
64. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
65. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
66. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
67. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
68. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
71. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
72. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
73. Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
74. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Little Women Series, Book 1)
75. Little Men by Louisa May Alcott (Little Women Series, Book 2)
76. Joy’s Boys by Louisa May Alcott (Little Women Series, Book 3)
77. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Series, Book 1)
78. Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Series, Book 2)
79. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Series, Book 3)
80. On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Series, Book 4)
81. By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Series, Book 5)
82. The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Series, Book 6)
83. Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Series, Book 7)
84. These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Series, Book 8)
85. The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Series, Book 9)
86. On the Way Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Series, Book 10)
87. West from Home by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House Series, Book 11)
88. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
89. Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
90. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
91. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
92. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
93. Lord of the Flies by Sir William Golding
94. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Millennium Series, Book 1)
95. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson (Millennium Series, Book 2)
96. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest by Stieg Larsson (Millennium Series, Book 3)
97. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander Series, Book 2)
98. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander Series, Book 3)
99. Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander Series, Book 4)
100. The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander Series, Book 5)
101. A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander Series, Book 6)
102. An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander Series, Book 7)

BOOK REVIEW: The Mystery of the Stolen Statue by George E. Stanley

TITLE: The Mystery of the Stolen Statue

SERIES: Book #10 of the Third-Grade Detectives Series

AUTHOR: George E. Stanley

PUBLISHER: Aladdin

DATE OF PUBLICATION: November 2, 2004

FORMAT: Paperback, 80 pages

GENRE: Juvenile Fiction, Chapter Books

ISBN: 978-0689864919 

 

SYNOPSIS FROM GOODREADS:

The Third-Grade Detectives are looking forward to their field trip to a local art museum, where a priceless fifteenth-century statue of Joan of Arc is on loan from a Paris museum. But when they arrive, they discover that the statue has been stolen!

The police quickly find the statue — smashed into pieces and thrown in a Dumpster. Why would someone steal the statue only to destroy it? It looks like a new case for the Third-Grade Detectives — even if the museum director doesn't seem to want their help.

MY REVIEW: 

 

I read this book with my daughters.

We are enjoying this mystery series! This is the fourth one in the series that we have read, although we have not been reading them in order. Since each book can be read as a stand-alone, it does not matter if you do  not read them in sequence.

The teacher of the Third Grade class is a former spy, and he gives the students code clues to help them solve mysteries. We always have a lot of fun trying to break the code or solve the riddles before we read ahead to find out the answer.

The chapters are short and more than one can be read at a time without being too tiresome. We plan to read more in the series.

MY RATING: 3.5 stars!

This book qualifies as:
#73 for my 2011 100+ Reading Challenge