10.22.2012

from my bookshelf

I've been reading a few good books lately, so I thought I'd share them in case your bookshelf is lacking.

I'm not very discriminating on types of books I will read, but if a book doesn't capture me in the first few pages, I'm very easily persuaded to put it down. Hello, Hunger Games. Thank goodness I ran out of things to read on vacation and picked it back up.

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But just like I love a good crime show, I also love a good crime novel. I picked this one up randomly a wild back. I think it was a good price on Barnes and Noble for my Nook or something.

212 by Alafair Burke

"When New York University sophomore Megan Gunther finds personal threats posted to a Web site specializing in campus gossip, she's taken aback by their menacing tone. Someone knows her daily routine down to the minute and is watching her — but thanks to the anonymity provided by the Internet, the police tell her there's nothing they can do. Her friends are sure it's someone's idea of a joke, but when Megan is murdered in a vicious attack, NYPD Detective Ellie Hatcher is convinced that the online threats are more than just empty words. With smooth, straight-talking partner J. J. Rogan at her side, Ellie tries to identify Megan's enemies, but she begins to wonder if the coed's murder was more than just the culmination of a cyber obsession. Phone records reveal a link between Megan and a murdered real estate agent who was living a dangerous double life. The detectives also learn that the dead real estate agent shared a secret connection to a celebrity mogul whose bodyguard was mysteriously killed a few months earlier. And when Megan's roommate suddenly disappears, they know they have to find her before another young woman dies."




I just finished it this past weekend and thought it to be very good. I think it's the third in the "Ellie Hatcher series," and I'll be reading the others.

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I heard my friends Shannon and Nicole discussing this one just before my trip to DC in September, but just got around to starting it today. And though I wasn't sold on the plot line at first, I read 100 pages at lunch today, so it's safe to say I'm convinced now!


Matched by Ally Condie

  


"In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.
Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one… until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow — between perfection and passion."

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I'm also in the middle of an audio book right now - yes, I know, I am a nerd. I've only been listening to it when I drive long distances or occasionally while I work out so I haven't gotten too far, but I've heard enough to be intrigued.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynne






"On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick Dunne’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick Dunne isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but hearing from Amy through flashbacks in her diary reveal the perky perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister Margo at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was left in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?"

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What are you reading? I'm always looking for new books to add to my list!

2 comments:

  1. Yay - I'm glad you're reading Matched. I really liked it until I started reading The Giver this weekend and realized the author of Matched pretty much just tweaked the plot of The Giver....

    HIGHLY recommend The Giver. It's an older book and I think most people read it in high school (or even junior high) but I didn't.

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    Replies
    1. Ahhh, say it's not so. I'm glad I had already started Matched before you told me this.

      I will definitely check out The Giver next.

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