100 books challenge (Q1)

i'm proud to be called a bookworm.. hehe.. i think i will die at the possibility of not being able to read anything..


so here's a list of what books (and e-books) i've read since jan 2010 (in no particular order):
1.) sarah dessen - just listen

Annabel Greene seemingly had everything: cool friends, close family, good grades, and a part-time modeling career in town. But it all came crashing down, and Annabel has spent the summer in shaky, self-imposed exile. She finds herself dreading the new school term and facing, well, everyone again. The last thing she wants to do is revisit old friendships while the losses are painful, the secrets behind the rifts are almost unbearable. Her solid family seems fragile, too. What happened to cause the stiff silences and palpable resentments between her two older sisters? Why is no one in her loving but determinedly cheerful family talking about her middle sister's eating disorder? Annabel's devastating secret is revealed in bits and snatches, as readers see her go to amazing lengths to avoid confrontation. Caught between wanting to protect her family and her own struggles to face a devastating experience, Annabel finds comfort in an unlikely friendship with the school's most notorious loner. Owen has his own issues with anger, but has learned to control it and helps her realize the dangers of holding in her emotions.




2.) sarah dessen - someone like you

Halley has always been close to her mother, a therapist who publishes books about adolescent behavior. But the summer before her junior year of high school, Halley begins cutting the umbilical cord. She and her best friend, Scarlett, start hanging out with Ginny Tabor ("a cheerleader with a wild streak a mile wide and a reputation among the football team for more than her cheers and famous midair splits"); Halley dumps her nerdy boyfriend (the son of her mother's best friend) and becomes involved with reckless Macon, a boy her parents have forbidden her to see. Then Scarlett discovers she is pregnant two months after her boyfriend Michael is killed in a motorcycle accident. Walking a line between childhood and adulthood, the two girls turn to each other instead of their families for support. Together they explore the meaning of love, sex and responsibility. 


3.) sarah dessen - dreamland

Strange, sleepy Rogerson, with his long brown dreads and brilliant green eyes, had seemed to Caitlin to be an open door. With him she could be anybody, not just the second-rate shadow of her older sister, Cass. But now she is drowning in the vacuum Cass left behind when she turned her back on her family's expectations by running off with a boyfriend. Caitlin wanders in a dream land of drugs and a nightmare of Rogerson's sudden fists, lost in her search for herself.
Why do so many girls allow themselves to get into abusive relationships--and what keeps them there? In this riveting novel, Sarah Dessen searches for understanding and answers. Caught in a trap that is baited with love and need, Caitlin must frantically manage her every action to avoid being hit by the hands that once seemed so gentle. All around her are women who care--best friends, mother, sister, mentor--but shame keeps her from confiding in any of them, especially Cass, her brilliant older sister, whose own flight from home had seemed to point the way.

4.) sarah dessen - the truth about forever

When asked how she is coping with her father's death, invariably seventeen year old Macy Queen's answer is "fine," when nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality, she is drowning in grief while maintaining a flawless façade of good grades and unblemished behavior. Though she feels lost when her boyfriend heads to "Brain Camp" for the summer, she finds herself a job with the quirky Wish Catering crew, and meets "sa-woon"-worthy Wes, whose chaotic lifestyle is in direct opposition to her own. As the two share their stories over the summer, Macy realizes she can no longer keep her feelings on ice. Though it feels like her future endedwith her dad's death, Macy's learns that forever is all about beginnings. 


Rating: 5 Stars for all of Dessen's books. Wow! All her stories are so powerful and poignant! She's such a great writer. I recommend her books to everyone, she will touch your heart your soul!


5.) nicholas sparks - dear john

An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life--until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else. "Dear John," the letter read...and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love--and face the hardest decision of his life.


Rating: 5 stars - I'm not a sparks fan.. but this is the book that really made me admire him. I love the beautiful but heartbreaking story between John and SAvannah. Can't wait to watch the movie! I heard they changed it to *spoiler ahead* a happy ending.


6.) julie james - just the sexiest man alive

Chicagoan Taylor Donovan is driven to succeed, and her track record in defending corporate clients against sexual-harassment lawsuits is unsurpassed. On loan to her firm’s Los Angeles office, she reluctantly agrees to coach big-name actor and sexy heartthrob Jason Andrews for his upcoming role as a lawyer. His attitude irks her, while her insistence on maintaining a professional distance intrigues him. 


Rating: 4 Stars - typical romance novel but the characters and writing are fresh and light that it's an easy summer read. I can imagine Jen Aniston or Kate Hudson as Taylor and George Clooney as Jason Andrews.






7.) julie ortolon - drive me wild

With the face that launched a thousand newscasts, drop-dead-gorgeous TV anchor Brent Michaels returns to his Texas hometown--to be the "bachelor" in a Dating Game fund-raiser. He can't refuse his old friend Laura Beth Morgan's request. And soon, he can't refuse the shy do-gooder anything. The tomboy he remembered had blossomed into a beautiful woman. An irresistible challenge for the man every woman wants...
Laura Morgan yearns to break free, just as Brent Michaels did. He'd come a long way from the boy who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, the friend who kissed her once, then ran. But even as he warns her he's incapable of love, he's not running now. For Laura was stirring him like no woman had before, making him consider the "M" word for the first time, leaving him certain of only one thing: Laura Morgan could be his undoing....
Rating: 3 1/2 stars - the plot was interesting but for some reason, it was hard for me to finish this novel as quickly as i would have liked it to be.


8.) libba bray - a great and terrible beauty

Gemma, 16, has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother’s death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls’ academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left wi! th the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the "others" and rebuild the Order.


Rating: 3 1/2 stars - what a really out-of-this-world tale of fantasy. Some parts were a bit scary but there were so many questions left unanswered and unresolved plots that i think i need to read the 2nd and 3rd book before I can appreciate the entire story. but overall an okay book.


9.) nancy collins - vamps


When the sun goes down, New York's true elite all head to one place: Bathory Academy, where the young ladies of the finest vampire families are trained in shapeshifting and luring their prey. Bathory's reigning queen, Lilith Todd, is the daughter of a powerful vampire businessman, and she knows exactly what she wants from life. She wants to look beautiful for eternity and party till the sun comes up with her gorgeous boyfriend, Jules. And she doesn't want any New Blood upstarts standing in her way. Enter Cally Monture, an unexpected threat from a trash zip code. When their first meeting leads to tragic results, Lilith is hungry for revenge.


10.) nancy collins - night life

Fashion victim just got a whole new meaning. When vampire heiress Lilith Todd decides she wants a modeling career, she won't let her father stop her—even if he does threaten to cut off her credit cards. Lilith's rival, Cally Monture, is in a different kind of hot water. Her boyfriend, Peter, is a vampire hunter—a sexy, sensitive soul mate who just happens to be sworn to destroy her entire race. With the Rauhnacht Grand Ball fast approaching, both girls need the same things: a handsome escort and a dress to die for. But in a sea of shifting and dangerous loyalties, there's no telling who will betray them next.


11.) nancy collins - after dark

What good is a designer dress if someone puts a stake through it? It's the most important event of the season in New York's upper-crust vampire society. The Rauhnacht Grand Ball has everything you need for a night of scandal and intrigue: gala dresses, stolen boyfriends, forbidden love . . .Then a team of vampire hunters shows up and ruins everything! The surprise attack by Van Helsings is the worst gate-crashing ever. In the aftermath, half sisters Lilith and Cally scramble to regain their footing at the exclusive Bathory Academy—and in the world of high fashion, where both have star potential. When new suitors turn the romance up a notch, it's almost enough to make the half sisters forget their intense rivalry. Almost. But shared blood between vampires is not easy, and before long Lilith and Cally find themselves face-to-face again.

Rating: 4 Stars each - this book is more gossip girl than blue bloods. the first novel was just fluff, but the 2nd and 3rd book had better plots. a quick YA read.


12.) rachel gibson - true love and other disasters

Gorgeous Faith Duffy has been a lot of things in her 30 years. She started as an exotic dancer at 18, then became a Playboy model, a devoted wife to her 81-year-old husband Virgil, and now, a widow and business owner. Virgil Duffy owned the Seattle Chinooks hockey team and left it to Faith in his will, even though she knows nothing about the sport. Determined to prove she’s more than just one of Hef’s bunnies, she dives in, learning all she can about hockey and her new team. The only obstacle is the team captain, Ty Savage. Brooding and intimidating, Ty has led his team to the NHL playoffs, and he’s not about to let some gold digger of a widow ruin his chances. The press build up the initial rivalry between Faith and Ty, but the pair may not be as acrimonious as everyone thinks. A steamy story with plenty of fast-paced action on and off the ice.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars - this is a good read, but the plot was not fresh - i felt like reading a watered down version of Susan Elizabeth Phillips' It Had To Be You (which was such a great romance novel)


13.) rachel gibson - daisy's back in town

Thirty-three-year-old Daisy Lee Brooks possesses a rare maturity for a romance heroine. She has been a wife and mother for 15 years and now, as a widow, she has returned to her hometown of Lovett, Texas to set things right with the one person she has terribly wronged, Jackson Parrish, her former lover and the unwitting father of her 15-year-old son. Jackson, however, has never forgiven her for abandoning him the week his parents died and marrying their mutual best friend, Steven, and he's determined to avoid her—a task made difficult by Daisy's persistence and his still intense attraction to her. 
Rating: 3 1/2 stars - this book was better than Lola Carlyle reveals all, but i didn't love the whole premise. other wise, this was a good read.


not bad for someone with a 9 to 5 job and spends the night playing facebook games, chatting with friends, catching up on the latest kpop gossip and downloading tv shows, k/j-dramas and listening to k/jpop! i am thinking of blogging the books i've read every month just to keep track and see if i can read 100 books by dec 31, 2010.. i don't think it will be a problem for me since i've got my kindle! (am thinking of naming my kindle Kaye..but i'm still thinking of some cooler names for her).. so let's start counting shall we? :)