W... W... W... Wednesdays

Linking up with Should be Reading for this weeks edition of W..W..W Wednesdays.

It's easy to play- just answer the following questions

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you'll read next?

I'm currently reading Scone Cold Dead by Kaitlyn Dunnett. It was a cozy that caught my eye at the library. That happens to me a lot!

   I just finished reading The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry. 

What do I think I'll read next? Hmm I said The Survivor last week, but then I started a different book. The next book I have from the library is Wedding Day Murder by Leslie Meier, but I have to write a paper on Hitler for school, so I have some books about him I need to go through.  I'll say Wedding Day Murder!!

~ Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. ~ Author Unknown

~Review~ The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry

Synopsis (from book jacket)


When Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile in 1821, he took to the grave a powerful secret. As general and emperor, he had stolen immeasurable riches from palaces, national treasuries, and even the Knights of Malta and the Vatican. In his final days, his British captors hoped to learn where the loot lay hidden. But he told them nothing, and in his will he made no mention of the treasure. Or did he?


Former Justice Department operative Cotton Malone is about to find out when trouble comes knocking at his Copenhagen bookshop. Actually, it breaks and enters in the form of an American Secret Service agent with a pair of assassins on his heels. Malone has his doubts about the anxious young man, but narrowly surviving a ferocious firefight convinces him to follow his unexpected new ally.


Their first stop is the secluded estate of Malone's good friend Henrik Thorvaldsen. The wily Danish tycoon has uncovered the insidious plans of the Paris Club, a cabal of multimillionaires bent on manipulating the global economy. Only by matching wits with a terrorist-for-hire, foiling a catastrophic attack, and plunging into a desperate hunt for Napoleon's legendary lost treasure can Malone hope to avert international financial anarchy.


But Thorvaldsen's real objective is much more personal: to avenge the murder of his son by the larcenous aristocrat at the heart of the conspiracy. Thorvaldens's vendetta places Malone in an impossible quandary - one that forces him to choose between friend and country, past and present. Starting in Denmark, moving to England, and ending up in the storied streets of Paris, Malone plays a breathless game of duplicity and death, all to claim a prize of untold value. But at what cost?




Here's what I think...


First, I love Berry. I have never read a book by him that didn't grab and hold me from the very beginning. Until now. I wanted to love this book as I had all his others - but I just couldn't. The focus was less on the power play and more on the personal vendetta side and I didn't enjoy that quite as much. 


As always, he always intertwines little factoids about history, which I love, and even separates real from what he concocted at the end. Those writer's notes are one of the things I love about him! There was enough action, intrigue, and back stabbing to make it a decent read, but for me, being such a fan I was a little disappointed.


Sadly (and I hate to do it!) I have to give it only a 2 - it was just O.K. for me.



~ Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. ~ Author Unknown

Friday Book Blog Hops 3.25.11

So glad it's Friday! 

Today's first hop is hosted by Crazy-for-Books

Today's question -

If you could physically put yourself into a book or series... which one would it be and why?

Great question! A hard one too. I would have to say I would like to be in the Little House books. Those were my first favorites and I still think it would be awesome to live in the "pioneer days".  Although, I think I'd rather live in town than out on the homestead working my butt off for 20 hours a day!

Now it's time for Follow Friday hosted by Parajunkee

Today's Fun - 

Inspired by the inane twitter trend of #100factsaboutme give us five book related silly facts about you.

Wow - another hard one. Let's see what I can think of...

1. I'm obsessed with picking books to read. I have hundreds on my eReader and shelves full but I still have to go the library at least once a week and get some to read from there too. I'll never be able to read all of them.

2. I never read new releases. The hype is too much and I think I'll be disappointed. I usually wait about a year before I read anything 'new'.

3. I don't keep my books. *GASP* If I've bought books, after I read them I donate them to the library.

4. I never reread books. That's why I don't feel obligated to keep them.

5. I always read a cozy mystery (or two!) after reading a big ass book. Yes, even when it's a series and no, I don't know why!


Join the book hopping fun and have a great weekend!

~ Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. ~ Author Unknown

W... W... W... Wednesdays

Since it sometimes takes me forever to finish a book and my poor book blog feels neglected today I thought I'd link up with Should Be Reading to play in her WWW Wednesdays.

To play along just answer these three questions and link up!
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you'll read next?



What am I currently reading?  I know my sidebar shows I'm reading three - but the reality is I've started three.  I really only read one at a time and that's The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry.  It's a library book and I own the other two, so that one got bumped up!

What did I recently finish reading?  Monkeewrench by P.J. Tracy.  I loved that book so much and once again I want to thank whomevers blog I read that recommended it!  I wish I could remember who it was!

What do I think I'll read next?  I will probably finish The Survivor by Sean Slater.  I've been working on that one for a while now and it's time to get it done!

~ Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. ~ Author Unknown

~Monkeewrench~ by P.J. Tracy

Image from Goodreads

Synopsis - Haunted by a series of horrifying and violent episodes in their past, Grace MacBride and the oddball crew of her software company, Monkeewrench, create a new computer game where the killer is always caught, where the good guys always win. But their game becomes a nightmare when someone starts duplicating the fictional murders in real life, down to the last detail. By the time police realize what's happening, three people are dead. While the authorities scramble to find the killer, the Monkeewrench staff is playing their own game, analyzing victim profiles in a frantic attempt to discover the murderer's next target. In a thriller populated by characters both hilarious and heartbreaking, a rural Wisconsin sheriff, two Minneapolis police detectives, and Grace's gang are caught in a web of decades-old secrets that could get them all killed. ~From the book jacket


What I have to say - WOW! This book was incredible. I didn't even have this on my radar until I read a review on another blog about it and realized I HAD to read it. Then I went to the library, hunted up a copy and read like mad! I can't remember where I read the review now but thanks so very much.  I mean that sincerely. I'm not going to try and get all smart sounding on you by analyzing the characters and their emotional baggage.  I am going to tell you that each person is probably the most perfect mix of good and bad - just like real people.  I'm also going to tell you that you must read this book!  Now I have to add the rest of the series to my TBR pile!


I give this book 5/5 - it was awesome

~ Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. ~ Author Unknown

I {heart} the Library

I've always been a fan of the library.  Since I was young girl, waiting (im)patiently for the book mobile during summer break.  Books that are the nice hard covers, that are free?  Dang, what's not to love?  But lately the library and I have grown apart.

The last time I was in there was about a month ago - on a mission - looking for a book for my English paper.  I went to the book, checked it out, and went home.  No browsing, no wandering aimlessly through the shelves of goodness.  In and out in under 5.  Sad.

But yesterday, I had to return said book.  And I was just going to drive by and throw it in the drop box.  But I didn't ~ I went in.  And spent close to 40 minutes wandering around looking for books that I've seen on the various reading blogs I follow.

I finally decided on two - yes only two.  Because I do still have school, and I don't have as much time to just read (which breaks my heart) and I went to check them out.  And the Librarian says "You never picked up The Venetian Betrayal - let me get that for you."

People, I wait listed that book a long time ago - and they called when the flu was running around my house to come get it - but I couldn't.  And they still had it for me.  Amazing.

And that is why I {heart} my library...


~ Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. ~ Author Unknown

~ Reading Challenges Update ~

I'm not uber huge on doing posts with updates.  I do have my page of challenges, which I do update as I go along.  But since I'm procrastinating about writing a paper for English that's due tomorrow I thought I'd go ahead and do a blanket update!

Challenge 1 - Show me the Free Reading Challenge
I have read 2 out 12 free ebooks.  I have more listed to read, but haven't made it to them yet.  According to my little meter I'm 17% done with this challenge!

Challenge 2 - Mystery and Suspense Reading Challenge 2011
I'm almost halfway done with this one (42%!) having read 5 out of 12.  This was the only challenge I originally signed up for because these are my favorite types of books.  I guess that shows in the overall count!

Challenge 3 - A to Z Reading Challenge
I signed up for this one late but so far I've read 6 out of 26 for a 23% completion rate.  This challenge has taught me that a lot of titles start with the same letter!  Come on authors - let's get creative!!

Challenge 4 - 100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2011
I'm going to be honest - what was I thinking?  But that's O.K. - it's fun trying to see if you can accomplish something and then next year I can try and beat it.  So far I've read 7 out of 100 for a whopping 7% completion rate!  I do like that this one is easy to figure out mathematically!

Like I said earlier, my Challenge Page is updated as I go.

I may do another one of these though - I think I still have one more paper due this semester!!

~ Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. ~ Author Unknown