joeinma's 150+ Challenge for 2009

Having finished 2008 with 151 books read, my goal for 2009 is to surpass that amount, even if I only get to 152!

Happy reading and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and good luck!

I thought about shooting for 150 but I don't want to stress! I set a goal of 125 this year. Read 107 in 2008 and that was mostly before I retired, so I'm pretty confident.

Happy new year!

Good luck to both of you. Here is book # 1 of the year done...

#1 - The Ghost War - Alex Berenson.

One day, one book. If I keep that pace up, I will finish with 365! Yeah, right!

#2 - Divine Justice - David Baldacci

#3 - Hard Landing - Stephen Leather

#4 - Last to Die - James Grippando

#5 - Hear No Evil - James Grippando

#6 - When Darkness Fall - James Grippando.

Thanks to having 4 days in a row off, I was able to bang through 6 books in the first 4 days. Unfortunately that pace will not continue since it's back to work time!

I did not post my 6th book last year until the 1/15 and finished with only 10 for the month of January, so definitely ahead of last year's pace.

#7 - Soft Target - Stephen Leather

#8 - Got the Look - James Grippando

# 9 - Your Government Failed You: Breaking the Cycle of National Security Disasters - Richard A. Clarke

#10 - Cruel Justice - William Bernhardt

#11 - Naked Justice - William Bernhardt

#12 - Blind Justice - William Bernhardt

#13 - Bone in the Throat - Anthony Bourdain

#14 - Gone Bamboo - Anthony Bourdain

#15 - Primary Justice - William Bernhardt

15 in 20 days, puts me on a pace of .75 books a day, which comes to 273+ for the year. LOL! Like I can keep that pace up! My current office book for lunch hours is a 600 pager, reading only at lunch...so that will be at least a two week read.

#16 - Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City - Jed Horne

#17 - Deadly Justice - William Bernhardt

#18 - Perfect Justice - William Bernhardt

#19 - Extreme Justice - William Bernhardt

#20 - The Bobby Gold Stories - Anthony Bourdain

#21 - The Nasty Bits - Anthony Bourdain

Most likely my final book of January with one day left. 21 books in 31 days. I am going to be hard pressed to keep that pace up.

#22 - The Associate - John Grisham

#23 - Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain

#24 - The Book of Lies - Brad Meltzer

#25 - Lost Horizon - James Hilton

#26 - House - Ted Dekker

#27 - The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 - Rick Atkinson

#28 - A Cook's Tour - Anthony Bourdain

#29 - Black Ops - W.E.B Griffin

#30 - The Expected One - Kathleen McGowan

#31 - The Human Stain - Philip Roth

32 - Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs - Ken Jennings

#33 - King Solomon's Mines - H. Rider Haggard
#34 - The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett

What did you think of King Solomon's Mines? I read it last year, and didn't like it much, but then I read She which was great. Have you read it? If not, I recommend it - a very fun adventure story.

I read She and other Haggard novels when I was a teenager and was absolutely bowled over. I thought, then, if I had a daughter I would call her Ayesha. When I did have a daughter however, we named her Diane.

I thought King Solomon's Mines was alright, but not as good as I anticipated. The story was more about the trip to the mines then the actual finding of the mines.

I did not read She yet.

#35 - All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque

#36 - The Stolen: A Henry Parker Novel - Jason Pinter

#37 - Mr. Monk is Miserable - Lee Goldberg

#38 - A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway

#39 - White Flag Down - Joel N. Ross

#40 - Rabbit is Rich - John Updike

#41 - Kilo Option - Sean Flannery

42 - To the Death - Patrick Robinson

#43 - Flesh and Bone - Jefferson Bass

#44 - How to Rig an Election: Confessions of a Republican Operative - Allen Raymond

#45 - Seeker - Jack McDevitt

#46 - Terminal Freeze - Lincoln Child
#47 - Cross Country - James Patterson
#48 - Achilles Heel - Sean Flannery

#49 - Carved in Bone - Jefferson Bass

#50 - Winner Takes All - Sean Flannery

#51 - Don't Look Twice - Andrew Gross

#52 - Confessions of a Political Hitman - Stephen Marks

#53 - Pandora's Legion: Harold Coyle's Strategic Solutions, Inc. - Harold Coyle and Barrett Tillman

#54 - The Devil's Bones - Jefferson Bass

#55 - The Mark - Jason Pinter

Hey Joe, thanks for showing me some more Anthony Bourdain! Since I don't get to watch him anymore (no cable), I'm obsessed with reading him!

My pleasure, Teacher! You can catch his shows on TV.com or on Amazon's video on demand service, though they charge $1.99 each.

#56 - Corsair: A Novel of the Oregon Files - Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul

#57 - Exact Revenge - Tim Green

#58 - Reliquary - Douglas Preston

#59 - Post-Mortem - Patricia Cornwell

#60 - Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse - Lee Goldberg

#61 - The Bourne Legacy - Eric Van Lustbader

#62 - Walls of Jericho - Jon Land

#63 - Dark Justice - William Bernhardt

#64 - The Guilty: A Henry Parker Novel - Jason Pinter

#65 - Dead Shot - Jack Coughlin

#66 - Scarecrow - Matthew Reilly

#67 - The Silent Man - Alex Berenson

#68 - The Night Stalker: A novel of suspense - James Swain

#69 - The Mask of Atreus - A.J. Hartley

#70 - The Lost Gospel - David Gibbins

#71 - Bones of Betrayal - Jefferson Bass

#72 - Afraid - Jack Kilborn

#73 - Cold Kill - Stephen Leather

#74 - Road Dogs - Elmore Leonard

After starting the year strong, I have slowed down some, but after 5 months, I am 3 books ahead of last year's pace.

#75 - The Footprints of God - Greg Iles

#76 - The City of the Sun - David Levien

#77 - The Deep Blue Alibi - Paul Levine

#78 - City Primeval - Elmore Leonard

#79 - Hot Blood - Stephen Leather

#80 - Kill All the Lawyers - Paul Levine

#81 - Basket Case - Carl Hiaasen

#82 - Illegal - Paul Levine

#83 - Swagbelly - David Levien

#84 - Marine One - James Huston

#85 - Solomon vs. Lord - Paul Levine

#86 - Trial & Error A Solomon vs. Lord novel - Paul Levine

#87 - Cold Choices - Larry Bond

#88 - The Tehran Conviction - Tom Gabbay

#89 - Intent to Kill - James Grippando

#90 - In Secret Service - Mitch Silver

#91 - The First Apostle - James Becker

#92 - The Increment - David Ignatius

#93 - Mr. Monk Goes to Germany - Lee Goldberg

#94 - By the Sword: A Repairman Jack Novel - F. Paul Wilson

#95 - Dead Men - Stephen Leather

96 - House Rules: A Joe DeMarco Thriller - Mike Lawson

This will be my last book for June completed, though I have two others started. This puts me 16 books ahead of last year's pace and on track for 192 books for the year!

wow! congratulations!

Thanks! Have always been a fast reader since like 4th grade when I was tested at 9th grade reading levels..this year I put my mind to reading at least 3 books a week. I usually read them all at the same time, a work book for lunch hour, a home book for after dinner and a "library" book for when I am in the, ahem, "library". LOL!

Actually just finished a "library" book that I have been slow to read to add one more to the June total...

97 - The Confession: A Hard Case Crime - Domenic Stansberry

98 - Sign of the Cross - Chris Kuzneski

#99 - Home is the Sailor - Day Keene

#100 - LaBrava - Elmore Leonard

#101 - The Cleaner - Brett Battles

#102 - Mr. Monk Goes To Hawaii - Lee Goldberg

#103 - 361 - Donald E. Westlake

#104 - Doomsday Key - James Rollins

#105 - Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants - Lee Goldberg

#106 - Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu - Lee Goldberg

#107 - Mr. Monk in Outer Space - Lee Goldberg

#108 - Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris

#109 - Plunder of the Sun - David Dodge

#110 - The Road Home - Rose Tremain

#111 - Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris

#112 - Halliburton's Army - Pratap Chatterjee

#113 - Silent Justice - William Bernhardt

#114 - Branded Woman - Wade Miller

#115 - Sword of God - Chris Kuzneski

# -116 - Rules of Deception - Christopher Reich

#117 - The Plantation - Chris Kuzneski

#118 - Medusa - - Clive Cussler

#119 - Raising Atlantis - Thomas Greanias

#120 - Murder One - William Bernhardt

#121 - Bad Things Happen - Harry Dolan

#122 - Criminal Intent - William Bernhardt

#123 -Dutch Uncle - Peter Pavia

#124 - A Deadly Silver Sea - Bob Morris

#125 - The Atlantis Prophecy - Thomas Greanias

#126 - Confessions of an Economic Hit man - John Perkins

#127 - The Strain - Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Was The Strain any good? I love his movies, but can he write?

I thought the Strain was very good. Could not put it down. Reading it felt like watching one of this movies. I wonder how much he actually wrote though. He could have come up with the premise, then Chuck Hogan put it into book form.

It's the first book of a Trilogy, next one due in 2010.

#128 - The Girl with the Long Green Heart (Hard Case Crime) - Lawrence Block

#129 -Night Walker (Hard Case Crime) - Donald Hamilton

#130 - The Secret History of the American Empire - John Perkins

#131 - Spartan Gold - Clive Cussler

#132 - Rules of Vengeance - Christopher Reich

#133 - Club Dead - Charlaine Harris

#134 - Six Suspects - Vikas Swarup

#135 - The Traffickers - W.E.B Griffin

#136 - The Gutter and the Grave - Ed McBain

#137 - The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

#138 - The Verona Cable - Brent Ghelfi

How was the Lost Symbol? I'm debating whether to buy it in hardcover or wait til it comes out in softcover.

I thought it was good, but not on the level of Dan Brown's previous work. I think the big difference is that his prior books dealt more with the Catholic Church and this one was about Freemasons and Washington D.C.

I would recommend buying it now.

#139 - Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris

#140 - Michelangelo's Notebook - Paul Christopher

#141 - The Lost Throne - Chris Kuzneski

#142 - The Circle - David Poyer

#143 - A Touch of Death - Charles Williams

#144 - Face of a Killer - Robin Burcell

#145 - Lost Souls - Michael Collins

#146 - Dead as a Doornail - Charlaine Harris

#147 - Hate Crime - William Bernhardt

#148 - On the Fifth Day - A.J. Hartley

#149 - Get Real- Donald Westlake

#150 - The Neighbor - Lisa Gardner

151 - The Secret Sentry - Matthew M. Aid

#152 - The Devil's Banker - Christopher Reich

With this book, I have surpassed my total number of books read last year.

#153 - Say it with Bullets - Richard Powell

#154 - The Blind Man of Seville - Robert Wilson

#155 - Death Row - William Bernhardt

#156 - In Praise of Slowness - Carl Honore

#157 - The Shimmer - David Morrell

#158 - City of Thieves - David Benioff

#159 - Without Warning - John Birmingham

#160 - Witness to Myself - Seymour Shubin

#161 - Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free - Charles P. Pierce

#162 - The Fury - Jason Pinter

#163 - The Pursuit of Honor - Vince Flynn

#164 - Double Cross - James David Jordan

#165 - Bust - Ken Bruen

#166 - House Secrets - Mike Lawson

167 - Under the Dome - Stephen King

#168 - Republican Gomorrah - Max Blumenthal

#169 - Rogue Forces - Dale Brown

#170 - Tomahawk - David Poyer

#171 - The Audacity to Win - David Plouffe

172 - Hollywood Crows - Joseph Wambaugh

#173 - The Paris Vendetta - Steve Berry

#174 - Rizzo's War - Lou Manfredo

#175 - Black Rain - Graham Brown

#176 - The Disciple - Stephen Coonts

#177 - Sudden Prey - John Sandford E-book.

Final two books of 2009:

#178 - Straight Cut - Madison Smartt Bell

#179 - Paying Back Jack: A Vincent Calvino Novel - Christopher G. Moore

I increased by total read by 28 over 2008.