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2015 Book List
Oh hey! It’s been a while. A long while actually. I didn’t realize it had quite been this long. The last time I was on my blog it was because it got hacked. Nice. All is back to working order now, so that’s good.
The holiday season was really nice. I might post a few pics of some of the decorations in a few days, so stay tuned. 😉
For now, I’m going to post my 2015 Book List. I didn’t quite hit 50 books this year but I came close, 45. I honestly wasn’t sure I was even going to get that many because I was only in the 20s by the Fall. I found a few series though and plowed through. If you’d like to see last year’s list it’s posted here.
Title Author Closer to the Edge (Playing With Fire #4) T.E. Sivec The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest Daniel James Brown Crown Me: Alexander and Clara #3 (Royals Saga) Geneva Lee The Billionaire’s Obsession: The Complete Collection Boxed Set (Mine For Tonight, Mine For Now, Mine Forever, Mine Completely) (The Billionaire’s Obsession series Book 1) Scott, J.S. Wreckage Emily Bleeker Heart Of The Billionaire (The Billionaire’s Obsession, Book 2) Scott, J. S. The Billionaire’s Salvation ~Max (The Billionaire’s Obsession, Book 3) Scott, J. S. Billionaire Undone ~ Travis (The Billionaire’s Obsession, Book 5) Scott, J. S. Thirty-Four and a Half Predicaments: Rose Gardner Mystery #7 Denise Grover Swank Never Never: Part One of Three Colleen Hoover The Eternals Kristie K Shafer Eternally Yours (The Eternals Book 2) Shafer, Kristie K. Abandon Crouch, Blake Badass: A Stepbrother SEAL Romance Barlow, Linda Stepbrother Charming: A Billionaire Bad Boy Romance Snow, Nicole Worthy Hyde, Catherine Ryan Life As We Knew It (Life As We Knew It Series Book 1) Pfeffer, Susan Beth This World We Live In (Life As We Knew It Series Book 3) Pfeffer, Susan Beth The Dead and The Gone (Life As We Knew It Series Book 2) Pfeffer, Susan Beth The Shade of the Moon (Life As We Knew It Series Book 4) Pfeffer, Susan Beth Virulent: The Release (Virulent Book 1) Wescott, Shelbi The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Marie Kondo Funerals for Horses Hyde, Catherine Ryan The System (Virulent Book 2) Wescott, Shelbi The Variables (Virulent Book 3) Wescott, Shelbi The Color of Water in July Carroll, Nora Out on a Limb: A Smoky Mountain Mystery Jourdan, Carolyn Pines (The Wayward Pines Trilogy, Book 1) Blake Crouch The Last Town (The Wayward Pines Trilogy, Book 3) Crouch, Blake Wayward (The Wayward Pines Trilogy, Book 2) Crouch, Blake Primal Fear Diehl, William The Martian: A Novel Andy Weir Wrong Number, Right Guy (The Bourbon Street Boys Book 1) Elle Casey Dirty English Madden-Mills, Ilsa Hard to Let Go: A Hard Ink Novel Laura Kaye Shine Not Burn Elle Casey MacKenzie Fire: A Sequel to Shine Not Burn Elle Casey The Survivors Book 1: Summer V.L. Dreyer The Survivors Book II: Autumn V.L. Dreyer The Survivors Book III: Winter V.L. Dreyer The Survivors Book IV: Spring V.L. Dreyer In the waning light Loreth Anne White Crave Me (Royals Saga 1: Smith and Belle) Geneva Lee Covet Me (Royals Saga 2: Smith and Belle) Geneva Lee Capture Me (Royals Saga 3: Smith and Belle) Geneva Lee A few highlights from this year’s list:
- Life As We Knew It – series. A post apocalyptic series about what happens when a meteor hits the Moon. I enjoyed the first two books. Each book was set with different characters who eventually connected in Book 3. In Book 1, we meet Miranda and her family. We follow them through the first year following the meteor collision with the moon. This causes earthquakes, tsunamis that wipe out many major cities, and a sky full of volcanic ash that blocks the sun. In Book 2 we follow Alex and his family during the same time frame in a different city. Book 3 finds the 2 groups meeting and struggling to survive. Book 4 is a continuation of Book 3 but 2 years later. I personally didn’t care for Book 4 and I’m not sure you miss much stopping at Book 3.
- The Virulent – series. A post apocalyptic series about what happens when an act of bioterrorism is unleashed. We follow Lucy, her brother, and her friends as they make their way to rest of Lucy’s family. I don’t want to say too much more because I feel like that might give some away. It’s worth the read and one of the better series I read.
- Wayward Pines – If you watched the TV show then you should definitely read the books! I think the books were SOOO much better than the series. I read the books first and then watched the series. I was pretty disappointed with the TV adaption. *As a side note, I read book 3 before I read book 2. Somehow I got out of order and there was some major freak outage when I realized what I’d done. So be careful!
- The Martian – Again, I read the book and then saw the movie. Unlike Wayward Pines, they did a wonderful job of following the book. While it wasn’t spot on, which they rarely are, I felt like you didn’t really need to read the book if you saw the movie. The book goes into a lot of technical details that they gloss over in the movie, but honestly, I glossed over a lot of that because, well it was over my head. 😉
- The Survivors Book – series. Yet another post apocalyptic series (I’m hooked!) This one is set in New Zealand following an Ebola type outbreak. The difference here is that the virus doesn’t kill everyone and some of those people end up in a Zombie like state. It wasn’t heavily focused on that though. We find Sandy ten years after the initial outbreak struggling to survive, alone. Along the way she begins to meet more people and adds them to her group. Sandy slowly becomes the leader of the group, and eventually the face for a new start. I blew through the last 3 books in a matter of days. This was probably my favorite series of last year.
- Wrong Number, Right Guy – this was a pretty fun book to read. I found it similar to the Hard Ink series. I’ve only read the 1st book but I will most like read a few more. If you want action and romance, this is your book.
I hope that this list helps if you are looking for something to read.
~k
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2014 – A Year End Book Review
I did this post last year too and I like the idea of keeping a list of books I read throughout the year. The current tally is 50 books! WOO HOOO! That was my unofficial goal for the year. It was also a rather pricey year for books at Casa de E. hehe. Thanks to mint.com Matt was able to pull up how much I’d spent on books. Whoops. It was a little more than I expected. I feel like this was the year of the series though. I got sucked into
severalnumerous series this year. Most of the books weren’t more than a few dollars but it adds up for sure.A Demon’s Wrath: Part 2 (Peachville High Demons Book 8), Sarra Cannon
Demons Forever (Peachville High Demons Book 6), Sarra Cannon
Rival Demons (Peachville High Demons Book 5), Sarra Cannon
Shadow Demons (Peachville High Demons Book 4), Sarra Cannon
A Demon’s Wrath: Part 1 (Peachville High Demons Book 7), Sarra Cannon
Beautiful Demons Box Set, Books 1-3, Sarra Cannon
Hard to Come By: A Hard Ink Novel, Laura Kaye
Thirty-Three and a Half Shenanigans (Rose Gardner Mystery), Grover Swank
Conquer Me (Royals Saga, Book 2), Geneva Lee
STRIPPED, Part 3, Kellie Perkins
STRIPPED, Part 2, Kellie Perkins
Billionaire Unmasked ~ Jason (The Billionaire’s Obsession), J. S. Scott
Being Neighborly: a novella, Carey Heywood
One Night with a Billionaire, J. S. Scott
BROKEN SYMMETRY: A Young Adult Science Fiction Thriller, Dan Rix
Command Me (Royals Saga, Book 1), Geneva Lee
STRIPPED, Kellie Perkins
Crash (Billionaire New Adult Romance), Vanessa Waltz
Going Down (Wish Upon A Stud – Book 1), Elise Sax
Hard to Hold On To: A Hard Ink Novella, Laura Kaye
Shattered Hearts (Shattered #1), Octavia Wildwood
The Job Offer, Eleanor Webb
PSYCHOPHILIA: A Disturbing Psychological Thriller, Michelle Muckley
Thirty-Two and a Half Complications (Rose Gardner Mystery), Denise Grover Swank
Thirty-One and a Half Regrets (Rose Gardner Mystery, Book 4), Denise Grover Swank
Thirty and a Half Excuses (Rose Gardner Mystery, Book 3), Denise Grover Swank
Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons (Rose Gardner Mystery), Denise Grover Swank
Business as Usual (Off the Subject Book 3), Denise Grover Swank
Redesigned (Off the Subject Book 2), Denise Grover Swank
A Separate Peace, John Knowles
After Math (Off the Subject Book 1), Denise Grover Swank
Top Secret Twenty-One: A Stephanie Plum Novel, Janet Evanovich
Hard As You Can: A Hard Ink Novel, Laura Kaye
Hard As It Gets: A Hard Ink Novel, Laura Kaye
Presumed Dead (A Dylan Scott Mystery), Shirley Wells
The Back Road, Rachel Abbott
Only The Innocent, Rachel Abbott
Worn Me Down (Playing With Fire, #3), T.E. Sivec
Because of You (Playing with Fire, #2), T.E. Sivec
Sleep Tight , Rachel Abbott
A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire, #1), Tara Sivec
Here (YA Romance), Ella James
Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes (Rose Gardner Mystery), Denise Grover Swank
The Last Year Boxed Set, Books 1-4, Trisha Leigh
Last year I kind of got on a paranormal kick. I’m not normally one to read about things like witches, demons, or aliens, but this year found me reading about all of these things. Mostly the books are well written and suck you in. Here are a few highlights from the past year.
The Rose Gardner Mystery series by Denise Grover Swank
These books are similar in style to the Janet Evanovich series I’ve read for the past few years. The difference being Rose has a gift for seeing things that will happen in the future. It could be something as mundane as a dog running away or something big like a murder. Her “visions” find her in a series of comical adventures which lead to a relationship with a local State Trooper. Over the course of the series (which isn’t complete) Rose finds herself in numerous bad situations caused by her visions. The books are funny and well written. By the time I finished the last one, I’d say I was a tad bored with the series as a whole but I also read most of them back to back. I will more than likely keep my eye out for the next book and read it when it comes out.
If you hadn’t noticed I’ve developed a little bit of a thing for Denise. Something about her books draw me in. If you are looking for a new author check her out!
The Playing with Fire series by T.E. Sivec
I stumbled across these books when I was looking for something a little more “adult” oriented. I was pleasantly surprised that the storyline was actually good. The sex scenes were steamy but played well into the storyline. This series is about 2 friends who set out to find the truth behind what happened when one of their friends is tragically killed. Book 4, the last of the series, came out in Sept but somehow I missed that one so I will be downloading it later today. 🙂 You can now buy the series as a boxset if you’re interested. I would definitely check out this series if you like a little spice and a fast moving story. (ETA: I read book 4 in a day and it deals with pregnancy loss. It was quite the tear jerker. I think you could read the first 3 books and not miss if you don’t read the 4th book)
The Hard Ink series by Laura Kaye
Not a bad overall plot but the individual storylines pretty much the same: troubled guy meets girl in some extraordinary circumstance and falls in love. All of the books take place over the course of a week or two. A group of dishonorably discharged Army buddies come together to find out what really happened on a mission gone wrong involving their commander when the commander’s son goes missing. His daughter contacts one of the guys and the group is reunited in order to save the son and clear their names.
The Peachville High Demons by Sarra Cannon
I finished the year with this series about witches and demons. Harper is a teen that has been bounced around from foster home to foster home when she finds herself at a home for girls in Peachville GA. Once arriving, Harper starts to discover that Peachville isn’t your ordinary small town. The town has secrets and she is about to be thrown right into the middle of them. It turns out Harper comes from a long line of witches from Peachville. The story unfolds as she falls for Jackson, a demon from another dimension. Together they set out to right the wrongs being done the demon world by the Order of Shadows witches.
Happy New Year!
~k