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. 22 for 2016!

Title: Most Wanted
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Rating: 3/5
Book: 22/50
Pages:  417 pgs
Total Pages: 9,026/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6) by Cassandra Clare

I don’t know what I think about this one if I am to be honest. The premise is interesting and makes you think what you would do if you were in the main character’s position but there was a lot of the story that dragged, a lot that was unbelievable and a too quick reveal and wrap up in the last less than 50 pages of the book. Despite all of this, I did find the book interesting and I’m glad that I read it. I just wasn’t wowed by this one.

About the Book: 

Christine Nilsson and her husband, Marcus, are desperate for a baby. Unable to conceive, they find themselves facing a difficult choice they had never anticipated. After many appointments with specialists, endless research, and countless conversations, they make the decision to use a donor.

Two months pass and Christine is happily pregnant. but one day, she is shocked to see a young blond man on the TV news being arrested for a series of brutal murders-and the blond man bears an undeniable and uncanny resemblance to her donor.

Delving deeper to uncover the truth, Christine must confront a terrifying reality and face her worst fears. Riveting and fast-pace, with the depth of emotionality that has garnered Lisa Scottoline legions of fans, Most Wanted poses an ethical and moral dilemma: What would you do if the biological father of your unborn child was a killer?

No. 21 for 2016!

Title: Underground to Canada
Author: Barbara Smucker
Rating: 5/5
Book: 21/50
Pages:  187 pgs
Total Pages: 8,609/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: Most Wanted by Lisa Scottoline

This book was a re-read for me. My grade 7 teacher gave me this book to read and I really enjoyed it back then so I thought it was time to re-visit it and see if I still felt the same about it. I do. Definitely recommend this one.

About the Book: 

Taken away from her mother by a ruthless slave trader, all Julilly has left is the dream of freedom. Every day that she spends huddled in the slave trader’s wagon travelling south or working on the brutal new plantation, she thinks about the land where it is possible to be free, a land she and her friend Liza may reach someday. So when workers from the Underground Railroad offer to help the two girls escape, they are ready. But the slave catchers and their dogs will soon be after them…

No. 20 for 2016!

Title: The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court #1)
Author: Richelle Mead
Rating: 4/5
Book: 20/50
Pages:  400 pgs
Total Pages: 8,422/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: Underground to Canada by Barbara Smucker

I really liked this book. I loved the premise and as with all of Mead’s books, the characters are likeable. There were a few parts that dragged a little for me but overall I liked the book and I can’t wait for the next one!

About the Book: 

Big and sweeping, spanning from the refined palaces of Osfrid to the gold dust and untamed forests of Adoria, The Glittering Court tells the story of Adelaide, an Osfridian countess who poses as her servant to escape an arranged marriage and start a new life in Adoria, the New World. But to do that, she must join the Glittering Court.

Both a school and a business venture, the Glittering Court is designed to transform impoverished girls into upper-class ladies who appear destined for powerful and wealthy marriages in the New World. Adelaide naturally excels in her training, and even makes a few friends: the fiery former laundress Tamsin and the beautiful Sirminican refugee Mira. She manages to keep her true identity hidden from all but one: the intriguing Cedric Thorn, son of the wealthy proprietor of the Glittering Court.

When Adelaide discovers that Cedric is hiding a dangerous secret of his own, together they hatch a scheme to make the best of Adelaide’s deception. Complications soon arise—first as they cross the treacherous seas from Osfrid to Adoria, and then when Adelaide catches the attention of a powerful governor.

But no complication will prove quite as daunting as the potent attraction simmering between Adelaide and Cedric. An attraction that, if acted on, would scandalize the Glittering Court and make them both outcasts in wild, vastly uncharted lands…

No. 19 for 2016!

Title: The Obsession
Author: Nora Roberts
Rating: 5/5
Book: 19/50
Pages:  453 pgs
Total Pages: 8,022/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court #1) by Richelle Mead

This was a typical Roberts romance mystery but I really enjoyed it. It kept me turning the pages and I didn’t see the twist coming.

About the Book: 

Naomi Bowes lost her innocence the night she followed her father into the woods. In freeing the girl trapped in the root cellar, Naomi revealed the horrible extent of her father’s crimes and made him infamous.

Now a successful photographer living under the name Naomi Carson, she has found a place that calls to her, thousands of miles away from everything she’s ever known. Naomi wants to embrace the solitude, but the residents of Sunrise Cove keep forcing her to open up—especially the determined Xander Keaton.

Naomi can feel her defenses failing, and knows that the connection her new life offers is something she’s always secretly craved. But as she’s learned time and again, her past is never more than a nightmare away.

No. 18 for 2016!

Title: Gone Again (Jack Swyteck #12)
Author: James Grippando
Rating: 3/5
Book: 18/50
Pages:  309 pgs
Total Pages: 7,569/15,000 pages
Version: Book
Next up: The Obsession by Nora Roberts

This wasn’t my favourite of the Grippando books that I have read but I still enjoyed it just the same. I found the plot dragged on in many places and everything seemed to be rushed in the end.

 About the Book:

Sashi Burgette vanished three years ago on her way to school. The night after the teenager’s disappearance, ex-con Dylan Kyle was stopped for drunk driving. An article of Sashi’s clothing was found in his truck, and a police videotape of his drunken explanation under interrogation sealed his fate at trial. Now, just days from Kyle’s execution, Sashi’s mother visits Jack Swyteck, doing pro bono work at the Freedom Institute, and delivers shocking news: “Sashi called me.”

The police dismiss the call as a cruel hoax. The State Attorney refuses to consider the new evidence, insisting the case is closed. The governor has already signed the death warrant. An innocent man may be executed and time is running out—unless his lawyers can locate Sashi.

A man of principle who believes in justice, Jack jumps into the investigation. But the deeper he digs the more he discovers that nothing is what it appears to be. Not the victim. Not her alleged killer. And definitely not Sashi’s parents, whose grief ruptured their marriage, each openly blaming the other for what happened to their daughter.

As their gut-wrenching and hopelessly conflicting version of events unfolds in a Miami courtroom, it becomes clear there is something even more difficult to find than a long-missing girl . Mary’s. But Mary is on a journey of her own, one that will either bring them closer together or cause a split that neither will recover from…