2016 Reading Year in Review!!

January

1. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
2. The Mistletoe Promice (Mistletoe Collection) by Richard Paul Evans
3. Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination by J.K. Rowling
4. Storm Front (Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher

February

5. Corrupted (Rosato & DiNunzio #3) by Karen Slaughter
6. Mistborn (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson
7. The Bitter Season (Kovac and Liska #5) by Tami Hoag

March

8. Glass Sword (Red Queen #2) by Victoria Aveyard
9. NYPD Red 4 (NYPD Red #4) by James Patterson and Marshall Karp
10. Stars Above (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer
11. City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments #4) by Cassandra Clare
12. City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments #5) by Cassandra Clare
13. She’s Not There by Joy Fielding

APRIL

14. Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4) by Diana Gabaldon
15. Private Paris (Private #11) by James Patterson and Mark T. Sullivan
16. Darkness by Karen Robards
17. The Beast (Black Dagger Brotherhood #14) by J.R. Ward

MAY

18. Gone Again (Jack Swyteck #12) by James Grippando
19. The Obsession by Nora Roberts
20. The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court #1) by Richelle Mead
21. Underground to Canada by Barbara Smucker
22. Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline

JUNE

23. City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6) by Cassandra Clare
24. Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1) by Cassandra Clare
25. Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare
26. 15th Affair (Woman’s Murder Club #15) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

JULY

27. The Last Mile (Amos Decker #2) by David Baldacci
28. The BFG by Roald Dahl
29. Matilda by Roald Dahl
30. Cruel Crown (Red Queen #0.1 and #0.2) by Victoria Aveyard
31. The Widow by Fiona Barton
32. Don’t You Cry by Mary Kubica
33. Clockwork Princess (Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare
34. The Pursuit (Fox and O’Hare #5) by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

AUGUST

35. First Comes Love by Emily Giffin
36. Tomorrow, When the War Began (Tomorrow #1) by James Marsden
37. The Games (Private #11) by James Patterson and Mark Sullivan
38. Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare
39. Damaged (Rosato & DiNunzio #4) by Lisa Scottoline

SEPTEMBER

40. With Malice by Eileen Cook
41. A Torch Against the Night (Ember in the Ashes #2) by Sabaa Tahir
42. Blood Kiss (Black Dagger Legacy #1) by J.R. Ward
43. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
44. This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1) by Victoria Schwab
45. The Trial (Women’s Murder Club #15.5) by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
46. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

OCTOBER

47. Bound to Darkness (Midnight Breed #13) by Lara Adrian

NOVEMBER

48. Bullseye (Michael Bennett #9) by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
49. Missing (Private #12) by James Patterson and Kathryn Fox
50. Heartless by Marissa Meyer

DECEMBER

51. Cross the Line (Alex Cross #24) by James Patterson
52. The Mistletoe Secret (The Mistletoe Collection) by Richard Paul Evans
53. No Man’s Land (John Puller #4) by David Baldacci
54. Turbo Twenty-Three (Stephanie Plum #23) by Janet Evanovich

No. 34 for 2016!

Title: The Pursuit (Fox and O’Hare #5)
Author: Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
Rating: 4/5
Book: 34/50
Pages:  320 pgs
Total Pages: 13,620/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: First Comes Love by Emily Giffin

This series a guilty pleasure.  I love Nick. If you like Evanovich’s other novels, you should definitely give this series a go.

About the Book: 

Nicolas Fox, international con man, thief, and one of the top ten fugitives on the FBI’s most-wanted list, has been kidnapped from a beachfront retreat in Hawaii. What the kidnapper doesn’t know is that Nick Fox has been secretly working for the FBI. It isn’t long before Nick’s covert partner, Special Agent Kate O’Hare, is in hot pursuit of the crook who stole her con man.

The trail leads to Belgium, France, and Italy, and pits Nick and Kate against their deadliest adversary yet: Dragan Kovic, an ex–Serbian military officer. He’s plotting a crime that will net him billions . . . and cost thousands of American lives.

Nick and Kate have to mount the most daring, risky, and audacious con they’ve ever attempted to save a major U.S. city from a catastrophe of epic proportions. Luckily they have the help of an eccentric out-of-work actor, a bandit who does his best work in the sewers, and Kate’s dad, Jake. The pressure’s on for Nick and Kate to make this work—even if they have to lay their lives on the line.

No. 33 for 2016!

Title: Clockwork Princess (Infernal Devices #3)
Author: Cassandra Clare
Rating: 4/5
Book: 33/50
Pages:  568 pgs
Total Pages: 13,300/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: The Pursuit (Fox and O’Hare #5) by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great conclusion to a great series.

About the Book: 

Tessa Gray should be happy – aren’t all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa’s heart, will do anything to save her.

No. 32 of 2016!

Title: Don’t You Cry
Author: Mary Kubica
Rating: 4/5
Book: 32/50
Pages:  324 pgs
Total Pages: 12,732/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: Clockwork Princess (Infernal Devices #3) by Cassandra Clare

I really like Kubica’s past books and this one was just as good. My only complaint is that the ending was a little rushed. Kubica could have fleshed it out a bit more instead of trying to neatly tie up all the loose ends in a chapter or two at the end.

About the Book: 

In downtown Chicago, a young woman named Esther Vaughan disappears from her apartment without a trace. A haunting letter addressed to My Dearest is found among her possessions, leaving her friend and roommate Quinn Collins to wonder where Esther is and whether or not she’s the person Quinn thought she knew.

Meanwhile, in a small Michigan harbor town an hour outside Chicago, a mysterious woman appears in the quiet coffee shop where eighteen-year-old Alex Gallo works as a dishwasher. He is immediately drawn to her charm and beauty, but what starts as an innocent crush quickly spirals into something far more dark and sinister than he ever expected.  people believe anything…

No. 31 for 2016!

Title: The Widow
Author: Fiona Barton
Rating: 4/5
Book: 31/50
Pages:  324 pgs
Total Pages: 12,412/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: Don’t You Cry by Mary Kubica

I liked this book. I figured the book out and how the mystery would unfold within the first 50 pages but overall, the story was interesting and most of the characters were likeable. I do recommend.

About the Book: 

When the police started asking questions, Jean Taylor turned into a different woman. One who enabled her and her husband to carry on, when more bad things began to happen…

But that woman’s husband died last week. And Jean doesn’t have to be her anymore.

There’s a lot Jean hasn’t said over the years about the crime her husband was suspected of committing. She was too busy being the perfect wife, standing by her man while living with the accusing glares and the anonymous harassment.

Now there’s no reason to stay quiet. There are people who want to hear her story. They want to know what it was like living with that man. She can tell them that there were secrets. There always are in a marriage.

The truth—that’s all anyone wants. But the one lesson Jean has learned in the last few years is that she can make people believe anything…

No. 30 for 2016!

Title: Cruel Crown (Red Queen #0.1 and #0.2)
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Rating: 3/5
Book: 30/50
Pages:  144 pgs
Total Pages: 12,088/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: The Widow by Fiona Barton

This book was okay. I’m not a big novella fan to begin with but I did like dabbling back in the Red Queen world again. Worth the read if you are a fan of the series.

About the Book: 

Queen Song

Queen Coriane, first wife of King Tiberias, keeps a secret diary—how else can she ensure that no one at the palace will use her thoughts against her? Coriane recounts her heady courtship with the crown prince, the birth of a new prince, Cal, and the potentially deadly challenges that lay ahead for her in royal life.

Steel Scars

Diana Farley was raised to be strong, but being tasked with planting the seeds of rebellion in Norta is a tougher job than expected. As she travels the land recruiting black market traders, smugglers, and extremists for her first attempt at an attack on the capital, she stumbles upon a connection that may prove to be the key to the entire operation—Mare Barrow.

No. 29 for 2016!

Title: Matilda
Author: Roald Dahl
Rating: 5/5
Book: 29/50
Pages:  240 pgs
Total Pages: 11,944/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: Cruel Crown (Red Queen #0.1 & #0.2) by Victoria Aveyard

Still a favourite after all of these years.

About the Book: 

Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents think she’s just a nuisance. She expects school to be different but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull, a kid-hating terror of a headmistress. When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back. It’ll take a superhuman genius to give Miss Trunchbull what she deserves and Matilda may be just the one to do it!

No. 28 for 2016!

Title: The BFG
Author: Roald Dahl
Rating: 5/5
Book: 28/50
Pages:  208 pgs
Total Pages: 11,704/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: Matilda by Roald Dahl

Still love this book even after all of this time.

About the Book: 

Captured by a giant! The BFG is no ordinary bone-crunching giant. He is far too nice and jumbly. It’s lucky for Sophie that he is. Had she been carried off in the middle of the night by the Bloodbottler, the Fleshlumpeater, the Bonecruncher, or any of the other giants-rather than the BFG-she would have soon become breakfast.

When Sophie hears that they are flush-bunking off in England to swollomp a few nice little chiddlers, she decides she must stop them once and for all. And the BFG is going to help her!

No. 27 for 2016

Title: The Last Mile (Amos Decker #2)
Author: David Baldacci
Rating: 4/5
Book: 27/50
Pages:  417 pgs
Total Pages: 11,496/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: The BFG by Roald Dahl

 

I enjoyed this book. It was another classic mystery by Baldacci. The only thing that I didn’t like was the constant reminder that Decker is overweight. Baldacci made a comment towards Decker’s size in almost every chapter. I don’t really know what purpose it served but it did start to bother me a little. We get it. Decker’s overweight. Let’s move on already.

About the Book: 

Convicted murderer Melvin Mars is counting down the last hours before his execution–for the violent killing of his parents twenty years earlier–when he’s granted an unexpected reprieve. Another man has confessed to the crime.

Amos Decker, newly hired on an FBI special task force, takes an interest in Mars’s case after discovering the striking similarities to his own life: Both men were talented football players with promising careers cut short by tragedy. Both men’s families were brutally murdered. And in both cases, another suspect came forward, years after the killing, to confess to the crime. A suspect who may or may not have been telling the truth.

The confession has the potential to make Melvin Mars–guilty or not–a free man. Who wants Mars out of prison? And why now?

But when a member of Decker’s team disappears, it becomes clear that something much larger–and more sinister–than just one convicted criminal’s life hangs in the balance. Decker will need all of his extraordinary brainpower to stop an innocent man from being executed.