Now that I am back in the US I am still taking public transportation which includes a train ride to work.  It’s not long but between waiting for the train and the actual ride I get some chapters in.  My friend Tim used to have a two hour train commute and read a lot on the train.  Now that he isn’t commuting he reads less…  

So you would think that with the train rides and bringing my Nook everywhere I would have read more books this month.  I did some traveling this month so I was social instead of hiding in a book.  I have also been listening to a lot of audio books but they have been books I have read before so they aren’t added to the list.  Having said that, I read over 15 books in a month…Is that normal???

I am still trying to find the next great thing so I read a lot of books that people recommended in hopes of finding a series I can’t put down…Not there yet…

A few notes:

1. The order of books is the order I read them.

2. They are hyper-linked to Goodreads so you can check out other reviews or more info

The Hit by David Baldacci – (Mystery) This is the follow up book to the Innocent which I loved!  This one was pretty good too but I think the relationships in the first book drew me in more.  The same characters are back in some form in this book and Will forms a relationship with the woman he is hunting…pretty dynamic and lots of twists!  Great read for people who love suspense!

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman – (Fantasyish) This was kind of an odd book.  I gave it 3 stars because I finished it and enjoyed it but didn’t love it.  I can’t really remember if there were any specific reasons but that could be telling in itself…it wasn’t memorable.

Reckless Abandon and Two Dollar Bill by Stuart Woods – (Mystery) More of the Stone Barrington books.  I only read two this month…trying to read other things.  In case you haven’t seen my other posts about these books… I LOVE them.  Stone is an interesting character… Ex Cop/Lawyer/Womanizer.  He’s sarcastic and funny. The same characters come and go through the book and that keeps you coming back…what happens next?  These books are such fast reads that its easy to read the whole series in a row but I am spacing it out some.

Jumper (and Reflex) by Steven Gould – (YA) While I was in Mexico Barbara was reading these books and loving them.  If the name sounds familiar its because there was a movie.  Basically the same idea…a guy can jump…but the movie went in a different direction than the movie did.  I liked both books…the second one didn’t go in the direction I thought it would so that made it even better.  There are a few more in the series that I will try to read.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin – (NF)  So my sister Lisa was reading this when we were in OR for the wedding…she let me read it.  What’s funny is now that I have read it I have noticed that there are a few other “Happiness” books out there.  I guess everyone is trying to figure out if they are happy or not.  I am debating writing a blog post just on that…  In general I thought the book was good.  She didn’t really give advice…more explained her journey.  It was real and encouraging.

The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch – (Fiction)  This book was based in the 1600’s I believe and the name of it is a little deceiving.  Even though the daughter is a main character its really the Hangman that is the star of the book.  Took me a while to get through this book and I really wanted to know what happened.  There’s love, a mystery, murder and witchcraft…perfect ingredients for a book!

The Gunslinger by Steven King – (Fiction) So my brother James couldn’t stop talking about this series (The Dark Tower) and even got a tattoo that symbolizes something in the series so I was excited to start the series but I did not like this book at all.  It was way too wordy, SK describes the settings way too much for my taste.  I want dialouge and action not a description of everything to the minute detail.  I ended up skimming a lot but it seemed like I skimmed 80% of this book…I have read other SK books so this seemed odd to me. James really loved the series so I am doing to give the second one a chance before I give up for good.

The Heist by Janet Evanovich – (Mystery) WOW!  JE did it again…a great start to a series.  Its totally different than the Stephanie Plum series but fans will not be disappointed.  Its a fast read and page turner.  I love the two main characters and can’t wait to see how the next five years turn out!  If you love the show White Colloar then you will love this book!

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez – (Fiction) Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get into the classics. This book was too slow for me…and I was listening to it.  I decided I didn’t want to finish it.  It was somewhat interesting but not real engaging.  I might have better luck reading it because I could skim over the names (the author used the full name of every person every time) and to tell you the truth they all kind of ran together.

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (Pseudonym), J.K. Rowling – (Mystery) After her last book I was nervous but this book was really good.  If you like mysteries with strange PIs then you will like this book.  The book is very British though so I had to look up some of the words….lol…I was teasing someone that I would have to call my brother James to translate for me 🙂 Great first book…I hope she continues with the series!  Like I mention with JE and the Heist…its not Harry Potter but its a fun fast read.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani – (Fiction) Kind of a historical fiction book about a camp in NC during the depression.  Very interesting getting a peek into that world.  Fast read but if you are the type of person who gets annoyed with the “reason” being dragged out forever then you would be annoyed with this book.  I was slightly annoyed but overall I enjoyed the book and her journey.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin – (YA) This was recommended a while ago and I really enjoyed it.  Its kind of kooky but a lot of fun and a fast read.  Good for younger readers who like mysteries.