American Idol, aww yeah!

American Idol Top 10 Ladies Night...

Zoanette chose "What's Love Got to Do With It," by Tina Turner. A really rough start to the song. And middle. And end. She's got a really aggressive sound, but this doesn't seem like the song for it. Yeah and that shriek at the end was pretty painful. The audience seems to love it, but I don't.

Judges reactions: Keith says it was "an interesting song choice." Nicki straight up tells her "that wasn't it." Someone got blanked out for swearing.  Randy used 4 yos, so you know he means business. "That was a mess, babe." He kinda repeats himself 5 more times. Mariah says this "wasn't her favorite performance that" she'd done. But YOU GUYS ZOANETTE IS PERSONALITY UNBRIDLED, WE LOVE HER. Not.

Breanna picked a song that was a little high pitched for her, because that opening was painful. PAINFUL. "Flaws and All," by Beyonce. (I had to look that one up, I didn't know it. Is it because Aubrey did Beyonce great last week.)
Judges reactions: Keith loves her song choices. But to not out-Beyonce Beyonce. Nicki calls her "sexy lady." And disagrees with everything Keith said. "You sounded like you were straining throughout the performance." DAMN RIGHT NICKI. Randy "I agree with Randy." Mariah says "I feel like that was a unique song choice for you."

Aubrey sings "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie. Nearly a paint by numbers cover. I kinda wish she'd do SOMETHING different from Fergie's original, because I'm hearing both running through my head. Also, she has a hard time with the pace Fergie sets in the song. Still, she's better than the first two. Oh, except for that really bad "yeahhhh" she did toward the end.
Judges reactions: Keith "could hear [her] personality." He wanted her to "soar more at the end." I don't buy that. Nicki says she doesn't even hear Keith. She loves Aubrey's humility. Randy thinks "we all love you." I got bored and didn't hear the rest of Randy or Mariah's commentary.

Janelle was dismayed by the judges' reactions last week so she chose a slower song this week. "If I Can Dream," by Elvis Presley. This is more suited to her voice. Much much much better, but I'm still mad over Rachel losing out to her last week. But yeah, this is the girl who we saw in Hollywood Week, goddamn.
Judges Reaction: Keith: "I loved that, baby." He says she's got a classic country voice. Mr Jesse said she sounded like Patsy Cline, so I can dig it. Nicki said she wants to eat Janelle. Randy copied all three of them, even Mr Jesse who he couldn't hear. Mariah says she's "an American sweetheart kind of thing."

Tenna Torres talks about her hair, and how Nicki told her to change it. Now she's got a different head. This didn't work well for Erika Van Pelt last season, so let's see how it plays out.  She's doing a Faith Hill song called "Lost Lyrics," which I love. Waaaaay too much vibrato for my taste. She sounds like a goat. Otherwise she's doing pretty well.
Judges Reaction: Keith loves the song, and says Faith is a great singer. He wants her not to get distracted by the camera. He was too busy paying attention to the camera to notice the goat. Nicki was distracted by Tenna's boobs and wins because she actually told Randy to shut up.  LITERALLY. And Randy copied all of Keith's ideas.

Angie...ie Angela Miller is doing one of Colton's songs. Apparently she changed names over the last week. But yay! I loved Colton last season, so I am excited to see her cover his song. Let's see! Song is called "Never Gone," so it's one of those great Christian songs that could be interpreted as not about God. We heard Colton perform it during the tour, but I really like her vocal on this song. This girl is IT, as Nicki has been saying all night. Or well, she said "not it." Anyway, best of the night so far.
Judges Reaction: Keith is singing "Angie" by the Rolling Stones at her, he's so excited. Nicki says "trumpets should sound when you walk into the room, girl!" Nicki yells to Nigel to get her Angela's album asap. Randy says "Angie is what they say, she's going places!" And rehashes everything the other two said AGAIN.

Amber decided to do "I Believe in You and Me," by Whitney Houston. At least it's not Mariah. I guess Mariah songs will be hard to come by because she's sitting at the table now. YAY. This girl's got mad control over her voice. Where was Nigel hiding her all these weeks? She's great!
Judges Reaction: Standing Ovation. Keith says it's the perfect song for her. Nicki said something, but I wasn't paying attention. And Randy informs us all Amber is in it to win it.  Mariah says everyone will love her.

Kree "takes on" a Faith Hill song. Keith clearly loved it as he's the only one on his feet. I enjoyed it, but I was trying to figure out the name of the song. Keith used the name of the show as a pun.  He's talking music and I have no idea what he's talking about, but it sounds about right. He says she fits in with the tradition of country music artists. Nicki went with her British accent for this and decided she married Kree now. "I'm just trying to do my wife proud," Kree says.  Hur hur, Randy's decide Kree's in it to win it.

Adriana is our youngest girl.  She's from Alaska, and singing "Stand Up for Love" by Destiny's Child. Apparently Beyonce is this season's Mariah and Whitney, where everyone sings her songs. It's a really pretty rendition. And she's dressed really pretty. But she's a little nasally. I also feel like she's talk-singing. If that makes sense.
Keith says that wasn't the best song choice for her. Says it took too long to cook. "Do you really hope you're wrong, Keith?" Nicki smartmouths. She says that Adriana needs to work on it and she should come back next year.  Randy went with the "pageanty" line.  I keep accidentally ignoring Mariah. Whoops.

Candice did "Ordinary People" by John Legend.  I ...I think I would listen to Candice nonstop. This girl OWNS it. It just comes easy for her. Randy and Keith were nodding and bobbing along to the song. Stealing Nicki's line for Angie...I want Candice's album now. YES YES YES AND MORE YESES.
Judges Response: Keith gives a Standing O. Well deserved too. "The level of singers tonight is crazy. Through the roof." Nicki salutes her, and says "That's it, that's my comment." Randy couldn't figure out how to copy her. And now he's copying Keith. He thinks we need a wild card. Probably, but Mariah says "thank you for that performance."

I'd select my best of the night, but it's the same as my top 5 list. Here's MY top 5:
Candice, Kree, Angie, Amber, and Janelle.
Who will be top 5  on Thursday? I'd love to say the same group, but I worry about Amber's popularity. I think that Zoanette, with the VFTW vote could be a spoiler, but also look out for Adriana, who comes from Alaska and could get the pity vote. Amber or Janelle could tumble. The other three seem to have established fanbases.

Reality Singing Show Time!

NYC American Idol auditions

So much has been made of teh dustup between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, but no one is talking about how much I want to see some fool try to sing one of Mariah's greatest songs to her. SERIOUSLY. You know someone did. The woman is a great singer/songwriter (haters may hate), an amazing singer. She was one of the best mentors this show had (S7: See David Cook's choice of "Always Gonna Be My Baby").
Also, millions of Americans just realized that Keith Urban, a country star -- was actually Australian.
Of course, this appears it to be the season of focus on the judges again. We're 17 minutes in, including a couple of commercial breaks, and we've seen one audition. First auditioner who isn't a joke is singing a Mariah song. At least this one's not horrible.

And of course Randy Jackson asks himself how he votes. It's not American Idol if Randy Jackson isn't trying to steal the spotlight.

Oh and of course it's time to make fun of the Asian teenager who has an accent and thinks he's the next Justin Bieber. Mariah gave a wonderful reply to the kid, telling him that if he really does love music, he could consider DJ. But Randy tries to ruin it of course.

I think the theme of this season is clearly SHUT UP RANDY.

aaand we have achieved white guy with guitar and sob story. So he's the winner of season 12, right? Whoa, he was sent away. I'm shocked, because he broke out both the Jason Mraz and Bon Jovi.

Another quirk this season is allowing people to be nominated to Idol. Totally stolen from The Voice -- Carson Daly hand delivers invites to the blind auditions, and for some reason they send Randy Jackson to invite the white girl with guitar plays. And apparently a capella auditions are a thing of the past if you're a dude or lady with a guitar.  Randy told her to play the guitar and Nicki won't let her sing again. So unfair.

After an hour and 15 minutes I've heard 2 people who could sing and one who I guess could outside of her screeching (Israeli megastar). I know it's episode one, but SHOW US THE TALENT JFC.

Also I love the girl with the country singing both Carrie Underwood and Nicki Minaj -- then Randy tried the pigeonhole crap with her and got Keith Urban thrown under the bus.

And again with the tired trope of pushing the Asian dudes who can't sing. Way to play to stereotypes, Idol.

So we heard like 5 people actually going through. Let's hope that next episode has a little bit more in the way of auditions.

BOOK REVIEW TIME

So here's the second part to my 2012 book recap!

What's the best book you read this year?
I can't decide between Emma Donoghue's Room and Jo Walton's Among Others.

Any other reading highlights?
I also loved Bernard Beckett's Genesis, which was a great throwback to older sci-fi stories, and Miserere, by Teresa Frohock. This was the year of sci-fi, I think.

What's the most challenging book you read this year?
Genesis and Room were pretty tough, but the winner probably was Perfume, by Patrick Suskind.

What's the worst book you read this year?
Self-published tripe: Henry VIII's Seventh, by Steve Farndon. What a load of BUNK. And poorly edited to boot.  I think His Last Duchess, by Gabrielle Kimm would be my least favourite published book.

Which authors featured most prominently for you in 2012?
Mira Grant, even though I was ultimately disappointed by Blackout.

Were you part of a reading challenge? Did you meet it?
I had a goal of 120 books, and 52 from countries around the world. I missed the former by 6, the latter by a lot. It's really difficult to do!

Are you signed up for any in 2013?
Just to read 115, since I missed that number last year.

What books did you get for Christmas? 
Weird-O-Pedia, and the box set of The Hunger Games series. I also got amazon gift cards that I will use to purchase many more books.

What books are you going to buy next? 
Ettiquette and Espionage, by Gail Carriger (comes out Feb 5). The rest I decide upon when they're up on Kindle Daily Deals or I suddenly learn of their existence.

Which books are you most looking forward to reading in 2013?
Definitely E&E, along with the books I got for my birthday -- including two Alison Weir books I hadn't acquired before. I also plan on finishing Elizabeth Chadwick's oevre.


(these questions I stole from last year's post)

Unexpected Terrible Book: I think I was most surprised that Empire State by Adam Christopher was so terrible. The concept was great but the execution was so BORING.

Worst Series: This was more about ultimately unsatisfying conclusions to trilogies: Mira Grant's as well as Jacqueline Carey's Naamah trilogy.

Unexpected Surprise, Nonfiction: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. JUST KIDDING. No, it would be While the World Watched, by Carolyn Maull McKinstry.

Unexpected Surprise, fiction: Miserere, Teresa Frohock

Best Series of the Year: I still love Kelly Gay's Charlie Madigan series. If you're not reading them, and you like truly kickass lady heroines, you should check that series out.

Best Young Adult Novel of the Year: A Bad Beginning: A Series of Unfortunate Events #1, Lemony Snicket. YES I REALIZE THEY HAVE BEEN OUT FOREVER. YES I AM A SLACKER.

Most Important Book I Read This Year: The Nuremberg Trials, Ann Tusa and John Tusa. This was long and detailed but totally worth it.

Right now I'm reading books 4 and 5 of the year!

End of the Year Book ROUNDUP!

This book list is all 114 books I read last year. Missed my ultimate goal by six, missed my LY by 1. Not too shabby, though.

 January:
01 The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas (started at the tail end of 2011)
02 Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher
03 Bossypants, Tina Fey
04 Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man, Chaz Bono
05 The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, Julia Quinn
06 Among Others, Jo Walton
07 The Virgin's Lover, Phillipa Gregory
08 Miserere, Teresa Frohock
09 Some Dream for Fools, Faisa Guene
10 4000 Years of Uppity Women: Rebellious Belles, Daring Dames, and Headstrong Heroines Through The Ages; Vicky Leon

February

11 Islands, Alistair MacLeod (I had been reading it off and on in 2011)
12 Blood Rights, Kristen Painter
13 Perfume, Patrick Suskind
14 Right Hand Magic, Nancy Collins
15 The Borgias and Their Enemies: 1431-1519, Christopher Hibbert
16 Rapunzel, Leila Bryce Sin
17 The Lady Queen: The Notorious Reign of Joanna I, Queen of Naples, Jerusalem, and Sicily; Nancy Goldstone
18 Zazen, Vanessa Veselka
19 The Sum of Our Days, Isabel Allende
20 Fear of Landing: You Fly Like a Woman, Sylvia Wrigley Spruck

March

21 Flesh and Blood, Kristen Painter
22 Bad Blood, Kristen Painter
23 Timeless, Gail Carriger
24 Of Blood and Honey, Stina Lecht
25 This Side of the Grave, Jeaniene Frost
26 Empire State, Adam Christopher
27 Scandalous Women: The Lives and Loves of History's Most Notorious Women, Elizabeth Kerri Mahon
28 Stupid History: Tales of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythconceptions Throughout the Ages; Leland Gregory
29 Finnikin of the Rock, Melina Marchetta
30 Heidi, Johanna Spyri
31 The Hour of Dust and Ashes, Kelly Gay
32 A Princess of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs

April

33 Go the Fuck to Sleep, Adam Mansbach
34 Ladies Coupe, Anita Nair
35 The Warrior's Path, Catherine M. Wilson
36 The Nuremburg Trials, Ann Tusa
37 For the Sake of Sin, Suzie Grant
38 The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands, Mary Seacole
39 Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters, Logan Marshall

May

40 Game of Survival, Marijane Meaker
41 Smilla's Sense of Snow, Peter Hoeg
42 The Stolen Crown: The Secret Marriage that Forever Changed the Fate of England, Susan Higganbotham
43 The Loss of the SS Titanic: Its Story and Its Lessons, Lawrence Beesley
44 Vixen; Samantha Derr, ed.
45 Naamah's Blessing, Jacqueline Carey
46 The Hangman's Daughter, Oliver Potzsch
47 Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeannette Winterson
48 Lesbian Crushes and Bulimia: A Diary on How I Acquired My Eating Disorder, Natasha Holme
49 Blackout, Mira Grant
50 Countdown, Mira Grant
51 The Lost World, Arthur Conan Doyle
52 Wicked Desires, Eliza Lloyd

June

53 The Whiskey Rebellion: Frontier Epilogue to the American Revolution, Thomas P. Slaughter
54 Finding Oscar: Massacre, Memory, and Justice in Guatemala, Ana Arana
55 A Cold Day for Murder, Dana Stabenow
56 Red Velvet and Absinthe: Paranormal Erotic Romance, Mitzi Szereto
57 After the Apple: Women in the Bible: Timeless Stories of Love, Lust, and Longing; Naomi Harris Rosenblatt
58 The Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole
59 Far Above Rubies, Cynthia Polansky
60 Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Seth Graeme-Smith
61 Vlad: the Last Confession, CC Humphries
62 The Forever Queen, Helen Hollick
63 America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines; Gail Collins

July

64 Henry VIII's Seventh, Steve Farndon
65 Steamlust: Steampunk Erotic Fiction, Kristina Wright
66 Taking Instruction, Cheyenne McCrae
67 Fed, Mira Grant
68 San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the Californa Browncoats, Mira Grant
69 On Call in Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story, Dr Richard Jadick
70 Veil of Pearls, ML Tyndall
71 Island in the Sea of Time, SM Sterling
72 Sicko, I Set You Free: A Treasury of Erotica for the Easily Amused, Soren Narnia

August

73 World War Z, Max Brooks
74 50 Shades of Romney (Hint, They're All White), Tim Young
75 Futility or The Wreck of the Titan, Morgan Robertson
76 Isaac's Army: The Jewish Resistance in Occupied Poland, Matthew Brzezinsky
77 Romans de la Table Ronde: Erec et Enide, Cliges, Lancelot, Yvain; Chretien de Troyes
78 Shadows Before the Sun, Kelly Gay
79 Different Strokes: How I (Gulp) Wrote, Directed, and Starred in an X Rated Movie; Lawrence Block
80 The Gate 2: 13 Tales of Isolation and Despair, Robert J. Duperre, ed.
81 Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton
82 Kidnapped at the Altar, Laura Jean Libby
83 Gregor the Overlander, Suzanne Collins
84 Grace Doll, Jennifer Laurens

September

85 Deadgirl, BC Johnson
86 Navajo Code Talkers, Nathan Aaseng
87 While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age During the Civil Rights Movement, Carolyn Maull McKinstry
88 Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories, Sandra Cisneros
89 John Dies at the End, David Wong
90 Pollyanna, Eleanor Porter
91 Dark Futures: Tales of Dystopia SF, Jason Sizemore ed.
92 Time Up, Justin McLaughlin
93 The City of Refuge, Diana Wilder

October

94 The Unruly Passions of Eugenie R, Carole DeSanti
95 Breakdown, Katherine Amt Hanna
96 For the King's Favor, Elizabeth Chadwick
97 The Gate: 13 Dark and Odd Tales, Robert J. Duperre ed.
98 Room, Emma Donoghue
99 Master of Disguise, Antonio J Mendez
100 After the Rising, Orna Ross
101 City of Women, David Gillham

November

102 Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic, Jennifer Niven
103 Out for Blood, Kristen Painter
104 Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East, Michael Oren (the book that ate November)

December

105 The Kings' Mistresses: The Liberated Lives of Marie Mancini, Princess Colonna, and Her Sister Hortense, Duchess Mazarin; Elizabeth Goldsmith
106 The Ships We Sail, Miriam Oudon, ed.
107 In My Skin: A Memoir, Kate Holden
108 The Bloodletter's Daughter, Linda Lafferty
109 Russian Disco, Wladimir Kaminer
110 Genesis, Bernard Beckett
111 Gathering of Waters, Bernice McFadden
112 Bitten: Dark Erotic Stories, Susie Bright,ed.
113 The Bad Beginning: A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket
114 His Last Duchess, Gabrielle Kimm

Coming Soon: A Summary of The Best/Worst/Other these Were!

January Book Reads!

It's that time of month again, where I regale you with what I read. Last month's reading included 10 books. My goal is 120, while I am also reading 52 books from around the world. Those will be delineated with an asterisk.

01. The Three Musketeers*, Alexandre Dumas.

It's no Monte Cristo, but the adventures of D'Artagnan and his friends the three Musketeers of the title are entertaining. And the character of Milady is as fascinating as it gets in fiction. I rather wish (SPOILER ALERT FOR 200 YEAR OLD BOOK) Dumas hadn't killed her off, because she was a formidable foe. And I don't like the way she went out, it wasn't true to who she was.

02. Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher

Fisher's hilarious memoir of her substance abuse, her movie star family, and of course THAT MOVIE (George Lucas ruined my life is the title of one chapter!) kept me literally laughing out loud the entire time I was reading it. Can't wait to read more of her books.

03. Transition: The Story of How I Became a Man, Chaz Bono

A memoir of an identity search, Bono tells us how he always felt uncomfortable in his own skin. While his writing can come off as a little sexist, I think it's also his way of working through his issues with women and his shifting paradigm. I found it a fascinating read.

04. Bossypants, Tina Fey

I expected laugh-out-loud with this one. I didn't get it, but it also didn't disappoint. She reminded me of how much I loved (and still do) love improv. And I like that she didn't sugarcoat the glass ceiling for women in comedy. Highly recommended.

05. The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, Julia Quinn

Julia Quinn writes good romance. Holy crap does she ever. Her heroines are Jane Austen-esque, but not in a rip off sort of way. And when she rips those bodices, dayum isn't the word! It's nice and refreshing to read a girly book that doesn't tax my feminist sensibilities.

06. Among Others*, Jo Walton

I will copy and paste my review from Goodreads because I think it sums this book up:
This book is the book for those little girls who grew up reading science fiction and fantasy, who were a bit outside of their peers, who were loners. This book is for me. And I loved the great use of historiography -- I have a wishlist chock full of scifi writers I hadn't even heard of thanks to this book. I know this year is young yet, but this is the best one I've read.

07. The Virgin's Lover*, Philippa Gregory

I keep trying and hoping that Gregory will recapture the magic from the first parts of this series. I am so disappointed -- there was a lot that could have been done with Robert, Amy, and Elizabeth. Instead she went for cliches. I wanted nothing to do with any of them after the first 30 pages.

08. Miserere: An Autumn Tale, Teresa Frohock.

A debut novel, this is the story of another world between ours and Hell. Lucian betrayed his lover to save his sister, but she didn't want saving. When he encounters the young Lindsay and saves her from Hell, he is given a second chance. A taut and gripping read, with just the right mix of fantasy and reality. I couldn't put this down. I couldn't believe this was a debut, because it was so intense and polished. Definitely worth a read.. It was my 2nd 5 star book of the year.

09. Some Dream for Fools*, Faiza Guène

The story of a young Algerian immigrant in France as she goes about her day to day life and struggles to keep food on her plate and her brother out of jail. I actually found this pretty funny -- I think that Ahlème is a very relatable character. Guène's characters are sparkling, and the scenes she spins are a great look at the underbelly of France.

10. 4000 Years of Uppity Women: Rebellious Belles, Daring Dames, and Headstrong Heroines Throughout the Ages, Vicky Léon

Like the women in war book I read in December, this book celebrates both well and lesser known women. I was happy to find a lot more emphasis on women outside of Europe and 20th century North America. They're short bits on each woman, but Léon has a bibliography for further reading.

Right now I'm working through 2 books: Smilla's Sense of Snow, Peter Hoeg, and World Without End, Ken Follet. They're slow going because they are long, and I will probably switch on and off from another couple of books in the interim. IN the mean time, you only have til 23 March to read THE HUNGER GAMES, dammit.

Book wrap-up!

Now let's talk about my best/worst list for books.

Worst Book: Rosamund's Revenge, Madeleine Conway. TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE BOOK. This wasn't surprising though.

Unexpected Terrible Book: The Other Queen, Philippa Gregory.
Even if her books are never historically accurate there is enough bodice ripping and good imagery to go around. This book was historically accurate and SO COMPLETELY BORING.

Worst Series: Three Days to Dead, Kelly Meding. There's a whole series behind these books but I stopped after one. SO predictable.

Unexpected Surprise, Nonfiction: Hunting Eichmann, Neal Bascomb. Saw this on a National Geographic special and thought I knew the story. It kept me turning pages like nobody's business!

Unexpected Surprise, fiction: The Sookie Stackhouse series, Charlaine Harris. SHUT UP DON'T JUDGE ME. The last few books were mediocre bordering on terrible, but those first few? HELL YEAH.

And now, dun dun dun:
Runner Up Best Series of the Year: Parasol Protectorate Series, (Gail Carriger). A great fun steampunk Victorian series.

Best Series of the Year: Feed, by Mira Grant. They're a trilogy about zombies. I didn't expect to like it but I can't stop thinking about it. Amazing.

Runner up Best Young Adult Novel of the Year: A Northern Light, Jennifer Connelly. This was a book set in MY HOME REGION with a girl that reminded me a lot of myself. I may have shed a few tears. SHUT UP.

Best Young Adult Novel of the Year: Jellicoe Road, Melina Marchetta. A book that probably requires two readings, but is so spectacular and gripping you can't help but to finish it in one sitting.

Most Important Book I Read This Year: Shake Hands with the Devil, Romeo Dallaire. It's grisly, soul-destroying, and all true -- an eyewitness account of the genocide in Rwanda. It made me feel incredibly guilty as an American citizen.

Best Book of the Year: Feed & Deadline, Mira Grant. Seriously, I'm still thinking about these books months after I read them. SMH.

SO that's this year's wrap up! Stay tuned, I'm gonna post a meme that looks pretty awesome about reading habits next time.

Books, Yearly Roundup Style!

Okay, so according to my goodreads tabulator, I read 114 books. If I stick with their formatting -- the one that counts Time Machine and War of the Worlds as one book, I lose. If I don't, I win. So therefore, I win.

Roll Call!
January:
01. Highway to Hell: Dispatches from a Mercenary in Iraq, John Geddes
02. Esperanza's Box of Saints, Maria Amparo Escandon
03. Memories of My Melancholy Whores, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
04. The Lady in the Tower, Alison Weir
05. The Men Who Stare at Goats, Jon Ronson
06. The Translator: A Tribesman's Memory of Darfur, Daoud Hari
07. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, David Grann
08. Body of Work: Meditations on Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab, Christine Montross
09. Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
10. The Wordy Shipmates, Sarah Vowell

February:
11. A Place Where the Sea Remembers, Sandra Benitez
12. Mary, Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley, Alison Weir (aka the book that Ate February)
13. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Lauren Willig
14. Playing Baseball With the Enemy: A Baseball Prodigy, a World at War, and the Long Journey Home, Gary W. Moore

March:
15. The Manual of Detection, Jedediah Berry
16. Rough Justice, Peter Elkind
17. Ash, Malinda Lo
18. The Breaking of Eggs: A Novel, Jim Powell
19. The Better Part of Darkness, Kelly Gay
20. Poison, Sara Poole
21. Dime Store Magic, Kelley Armstrong
22. Harem, Dora Levy Mossanen
23. The Ghost Writer, Robert Harris
24. Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman
25. The Darkest Edge of Dawn, Kelly Gay
26. The Chess Machine: A Novel, Robert Lohr
27. Hunting Eichmann, Neal Bascomb

April:
28. Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, Romeo Dallaire
29. A Game of Thrones, George RR Martin
30. The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield
31. Three Days to Dead, Kelly Meding
32. Podkayne of Mars, Robert Heinlein
33. Finding Nouf, Zoe Ferraris
34. Amalia's Tale: A Poor Peasant, an Ambitious Attorney, and a Fight for Justice, David Kertzer
35. The Other Queen, Philippa Gregory

May:
36. and the shadows took him, Daniel Chacon
37. A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages, Kristin Chenoweth
38. Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters
39. Working for the Devil, Lilith Saintcrow
40. Sixty-One Nails, Mike Shevdon
41. Bury Me Deep: A Novel, Megan Abbott
42. Naamah's Curse, Jacqueline Carey
43. Telex from Cuba, Rachel Kushner
44. Blue Nude, Elizabeth Rosner
45. Jellicoe Road, Melina Marchetta
46. A Northern Light, Jennifer Donnelly

June
47. Decoding the Heavens: Solving the Mystery of the World's First Computer, Jo Marchant
48. Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love, and Death in Renaissance Italy, Sarah Bradford
49. Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Alison Weir
50. Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain, Portia de Rossi
51. The Greatest Knight, Elizabeth Chadwick

July
52. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
53. Heartless, Gail Carriger
54. Escape, Carolyn Jessop
55. Surrender the Dark, L.A. Banks
56. Guerrillas: Journeys in the Insurgent World, Jon Lee Anderson
57. Mistress of Rome, Kate Quinn
58. Slammerkin, Emma Donoghue
59. Blindness, Jose Saramago
60. The Bad Girl, Mario Vargas Llosa
61. PopCo, Scarlett Thomas
62. The Welsh Girl: A Novel, Peter Ho Davies
63. The Flanders Panel, Arturo Perez Reverte

August:
64. The King's Pleasure: A Novel of Katharine of Aragon, Norah Lofts
65. Feed, Mira Grant
66. Point Omega, Dom Delillo
67. The Scarlet Lion, Elizabeth Chadwick
68. The Wars of the Roses, Alison Weir
69. Daughters of Rome, Kate Quinn
70. Classic Stories 1: The Golden Apples of the Sun/R is for Rocket, Ray Bradbury
71. Hungry: A Young Model's Story of Appetite, Ambition, and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves, Crystal Renn
72. Christ Stopped at Eboli: A Story of a Year, Carlo Levi
73. Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
74. Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
75. Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul

September:
76. Chicks Kick Butt, Rachel Caine (ed.)
77. Rosamund's Revenge, Madeleine Conway
78. The Lady Matador's Hotel: A Novel, Cristina Garcia
79. A Single Man, Christopher Isherwood
80. Caesar's Women, Colleen McCullough
81. Living Dead in Dallas, Charlaine Harris
82. Club Dead, Charlaine Harris
83. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, Simon Winchester
84. A Palace in the Old Village: A Novel, Tahar Ben Jelloun
85. Dead to the World, Charlaine Harris
86. Dead as a Doornail, Charlaine Harris
87. Rat Girl, Kristin Hersh
88. The Second Duchess, Elizabeth Loupas
89. Definitely Dead, Charlaine Harris
90. To Be Queen: A Novel of the Early Life of Eleanor of Aquitane, Christy English
91. All Together Dead, Charlaine Harris

October:
92. From Dead to Worse, Charlaine Harris
93. Snow, Orhan Pamuk (aka the book that ate October)
94. Dead and Gone, Charlaine Harris
95. Dead in the Family, Charlaine Harris
96. The Other Tudors: Henry VIII's Mistresses and Bastards, Philippa Jones
97. Dead Reckoning, Charlaine Harris
98. Deadline, Mira Grant
99. Tomorrow Sucks, Greg Cox (ed.)
100. A Partisan's Daughter, Louis de Bernieres
101. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs

November:
102. Louisiana Vampires, Lawrence Schimel
103. The Story of a Marriage, Andrew Sean Greer
104. America Libre, Raul Ramos y Sanchez
105. Grave Sight, Charlaine Harris
106. The Life of Elizabeth I, Alison Weir (aka the book that ate November)
107. The Time Machine, HG Wells
108. The War of the Worlds, HG Wells

December
109. Mr Cavendish, I Presume?, Julia Quinn
This was apparently book 2, but the first book just tells the story from a different perspective. I'll be reading it later, but for now I wanted to say I really enjoyed this romance novel. It had a pretty strong heroine, and there was a really really steamy bodice ripping scene. YES IT DID.

110. Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Philip K. Dick
A neglected classic for me, but I picked it up for 50c at Goodwill, and I really enjoyed it. I have a soft spot for dystopias. I want to rewatch the movie though.

111. The Illuminator, Brenda Rickman Vantrese
Much like Weir's Captive Queen, this is the story of a middle aged woman trying to survive in a man's world. And it's very bleak and depressing and ends terribly. I didn't like the ending at all -- it made little to no sense. Whatever, it satiated my need for historical fiction.

112. Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury
I think this book loses something in today's world -- we don't have childhoods like these anymore, they're not that 1950s idyll that we imagine and harken back to. I do think that this book is more suited to television and movie than the text.

113. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury.
Even more prescient today than it was when it was written. We're actually picking up on a lot of the tech he discusses -- the television in any room, projection tvs, the ability to direct and control what we see on the the television. However, the afterword and commentary completely soured me. Instead of responding to critiques about the lack of characters of other races or including women in his stories for more than decoration, he says that the critics should write their own stories and he'll continue to write his just white male universe. SMDH.

114. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
Surprisingly, I didn't care about the mysteries. I liked the flashback sequences, the descriptions of the country, the people. I really enjoyed everything in the book. I can't wait to read more of this series!

115. Hell Hath No Fury: True Stories of Women at War from Antiquity to Iraq, Rosalind Miles and Robin Cross.

YES this was great! It couldn't include anyone and everything, and I take a bit of dismay in the fact that a lot of women from Asia and Africa were merely described and not named, but I hope they'll expand on this topic in future texts. And what was wonderful were some of the source listings that they drew from, so I can harvest more stories of awesome women.

So that was my 115 books!

This year's challenge is to read 52 books from around the world -- each one from a different country. I received a kindle for Christmas, so this will be a bit easier, I think. I'm also gonna try to get 120 books in total this year, so I don't have to force it.

I will be posting my best/worst list sometime soon, so keep an eye out for that!