Best of Me Nicholas Sparks

#3 *A Book that Became a Movie* Started Jan 19 Finished Feb 1

Goodreads Synopsis:

THE BEST OF ME is the heart-rending story of two small-town former high school sweethearts from opposite sides of the tracks. Now middle-aged, they've taken wildly divergent paths, but neither has lived the life they imagined . . . and neither can forget the passionate first love that forever altered their world. When they are both called back to their hometown for the funeral of the mentor who once gave them shelter, they will be forced to confront the choices each has made, and ask whether love can truly rewrite the past.

My Review:

I love Nicholas Sparks books & this one was no exception it was awesome! I watched the movie afterwards & as usual it didn't disappoint either. Definitely recommendable....

My Sisters Grave Robert Dugoni

# 10 *Mystery or Thriller*  Started Jan 12 Finished Jan 18.......

Goodreads Synopsis:

Tracy Crosswhite has spent twenty years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah’s disappearance and the murder trial that followed. She doesn’t believe that Edmund House — a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah’s murder — is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers.

When Sarah’s remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington State, Tracy is determined to get the answers she’s been seeking. As she searches for the real killer, she unearths dark, long-kept secrets that will forever change her relationship to her past — and open the door to deadly danger.

My Review:
I loved this book, it was page turning always had me guessing. To me it got a little slow in the middle but it was worth it at the end. Totally unexpected is all I can say without giving way to much. Definitely recommendable...

The Phantom Killer: Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders: The Story of a Town in Terror

So I decided since it's the start of a new school semester and I don't currently have the time to devote to a 500 page book that I'm going to go out of order on the list. So the first Book I read was number 14 - *Non-Fiction Book*
The Phantom Killer: Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders: The Story of a Town in Terror By: James Presley

Started: Jan 1, 2015 Finished: Jan 12, 2015

Here is the Goodreads synopsis:
 
       The salacious and scandalous murders of a series of couples on Texarkana's "lovers lanes" in seemingly idyllic post-WWII America created a media maelstrom and cast a pall of fear over an entire region. What is even more surprising is that the case has remained cold for decades. Combining archival research and investigative journalism, Pulitzer Prize nominated historian James Presley reveals evidence that provides crucial keys to unlocking this decades-old puzzle.

Dubbed "the Phantom murders" by the press, these grisly crimes took place in an America before dial telephones, DNA science, and criminal profiling. Even pre-television, print and radio media stirred emotions to a fever pitch. The Phantom Killer, exhaustively researched, is the only definitive nonfiction book on the case, and includes details from an unpublished account by a survivor, and rare, never-before-published photographs.

Although the case lives on today on television, the Internet, a revived fictional movie and even an off-Broadway play, with so much of the investigation shrouded in mystery since 1946, rumors and fractured facts have distorted the reality. Now, for the first time, a careful examination of the archival record, personal interviews, and stubborn fact checking come together to produce new insights and revelations on the old slayings

Here is what I thought: 

             I've always loved true crime books, and this one happened in Texas where I was born and raised. I loved this book personally it taught me a lot I didn't know about Texarkana and the surrounding area. I think they did a really good job and explaining the whole situation and it felt like you were there during the 40's when it happened. I would recommend this book.

The Book Thief (To Be Read)

The first check on the list is a book over 500 pages. For that one I'm going to read The Book Thief by: Markus Zusak. Here is a brief synopsis of the book:

      It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. — By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.

I'm excited to read this book maybe after I read it I will watch the movie, I've been wanting to see it as well. I will write a review of the book as soon as I'm done with it. Happy Reading! 

Started:
Finished: 
Here is the Review:

Tentative List for the Reading Challenge 2015

Here is a list of the books that I'm going to read for the Reading Challenge that I posted before this:

1.       The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)                          *Book with more than 500 pages*      

2.       The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)            *A Classic Romance*

3.       Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)                                      *A Book that Became a Movie*

4.       My Heart & Other Black Holes (Jasmine Warga)   *A Book Published 2015*

5.       One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Kesey)      *Book with a number in title*

6.       Paper Towns (John Green)                                       *Author under 30*

7.       Animal Farm (George Orwell)                                 *Book with nonhuman characters*

8.       Shit My Dad Says (Justin Halpern)                          *Funny Book*

9.       All the Rage (Courtney Summers)                            *Female Author*

10.   My Sister’s Grave (Robert Dugoni)                           *Mystery or Thriller*

11.   Kindred (Octavia E Butler)                                         *One word title*

12.   Smoke and Mirrors (Neil Gaiman)                                *Book of short stories*

13.   Anne Perry and The Murder of the Century (Peter Graham)  *Book Set in Different Country*

14.   The Phantom Killer: Unlocking the Mystery of the Texarkana Serial Murders: The Story of a    Town in Terror  James Presley                                           *Nonfiction Book*

15.   Everything Is Illuminated (Jonathan Safran Foer)        *Popular Authors 1st Book*

16.   Gray Mountain (John Grisham)                                  *Book haven't read author you love*

17.   The Longest Ride (Nicholas Sparks)                          *Recommended by friend*

18.   The Executioner's Song (Norman Mailer)                  *Pulitzer Prize book*

19.   Beyond Ugly (Constance Briscoe)                              *Based on a true story*

20.    Forever & Always Jasinda Wilder                             *Bottom of your reading list*

21.   Weekend Warriors (Fern Michaels)                             *Book mom loves*

22.   The Shining Girls (Lauren Beukes)                             * Book that scares you*

23.   Venus in India (Charles Devereaux)                            *Book over 100 yrs old*

24.   Smashed, Squashed, Splattered, Chewed, Clunked and Spewed (Carbuncle) *picked by cover*

25.   To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)                      *Book you were supposed to read in school*

26.   A List of Things that Didn’t Kill Me ( Jason Schmidt)    *Memoir*

27.   Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck                              *Book you can finish in a day*

28.   The Husband’s Secret (Liane Moriarty)                      *Book with antonyms in title*

29.   Venetian Love Knots (Normandie Alleman)             *Book set somewhere you want to go*

30.   Apt Pupil (Stephen King)                                             *Came out yr you were born*

31.   The Awakening (Kate Chopin)                                     *Book with bad reviews*

32.   Night Trilogy *Night, Dawn, Day* (Elie Wiesel)         *Trilogy*

33.   A Midsummer Night’s Scream (R.L. Stine)                  *Book from your childhood* 

34.   Sex Love Repeat (Alessandra Torre)                           *Book with a love triangle*

35.   The Martian (Andy Weir)                                            *Book set in the future*

36.   The Year of Luminous Love (Lurlene Mcdaniel)        *Book set in high school*

37.   The Color Purple (Alice Walker)                                 *Book with a color in the title*

38.   Before I Fall (Lauren Oliver)                                       *Book to make you cry*

39.   Catori’s Worlds (Murielle Cyr)                                    *Book with magic*

40.   How to Be Happy (Eleanor Davis)                              *Graphic Novel*

41.   The Geography of You and Me (Jennifer E. Smith)    *Author you've never read*

42.  Little Bee (Chris Cleave)                                               *Own but never read*

43.   The Steps they Took (Scott A Williams)                     *Takes place in your hometown*

44.   The Whisperer *II suggeritore* (Donato Carrisi)       *Originally wrote in another language*

45.   The Mistletoe Promise (Richard Paul Evans)             *Book set during Christmas*

46.   Breathing Water (T. Greenwood)                                *Author with same initials*

47.   Gone with the Wind: The Screenplay (Margaret Mitchell)    *A Play*

48.   Beloved (Toni Morrison)                                             *A Banned Book*

49.   Orange is the New Black Piper Kerman                      *Book turned into a TV Show*

50.   The Deal, the Dance, and the Devil (Victoria Christopher Murray) *Book you never finished*

As I said before after I read the book I will right a review on it....

2015 Book Challenge!