IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THOSE WHO FOLLOW MY BLOG!

Okay, do I have everyone's attention now, lol?? Sorry about the capitals but I just want to make sure people don't miss this very important post. I hate to cause all the confusion with everyone's blogrolls and Google Readers (or whatever reader you use), but I am indeed switching over to Wordpress. I am all set up with my posts how I want them, my pages how I want them and everything set and ready to go! I was able to keep "Tales of a Book Addict" so that should help somewhat in the conversion. So here goes:

For everyone who follows me on blogspot, please follow me over to my new blog home on wordpress:

Tales of a Book Addict

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope it doesn't cause too much trouble and/or confusion when updating your information.

Important News

Hello fellow bloggers. I just wanted to post here and let you know that I am thinking about switching over to WordPress at the first of the year. I have set up an account and am playing around with it until I can get things settled and see how I like things. If everything goes smoothly I will be switching over and making another announcement with my new address. If everything does NOT go smoothly I will more than likely just stay right where I'm at. Right now I'm having trouble moving my posts over into the right areas. I want to have everything all in one place with pages rather than having 4 different blogs, but I'm having trouble getting posts on the pages I want. So that's where I'm at right now. I'll keep updating as I go.

Tara

Finished Challenge - A Well-Rounded Challenge

I recently finished my seventh challenge. I finished Jan's A Well-Rounded Challenge. The idea behind this challenge was to read 6 books from different challenges that you were currently signed up for.

I read:

1. J.F. Freedman, The Disappearance (Initials Challenge)
   
2. Alex Kava, The Soul Catcher (Series Challenge)
   
3. Michael Connelly, The Black Echo (Celebrate the Author)
   
4. Stephen King, The Shining (1% Well-Read)
   
5. Kevin O'Brien, One Last Scream (2008 2nds)
   
6. Dennis Lehane, Mystic River (Book Awards II)
   

Favorite: One Last Scream (O'Brien)
Least Favorite: Mystic River (Lehane)

Finished Challenge - Series Challenge Season 2

I finished my sixth challenge recently. I finished the Series Challenge Season 2 hosted at Crazy Cozy Murders. The goal was to read as many books as you chose in order to be up-to-date with the series that you are reading. I read only two books to make me current in one series. I really feel like I failed in this challenge because I had originally planned on trying to finish 3 series'. (However, to make up for this I will be signing up for the season 3 which starts Monday!)

I read:

1. Alex Kava, The Soul Catcher
2. Alex Kava, A Necessary Evil
   

Quicksand by Iris Johansen

Quicksand
by Iris Johansen

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 361
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Nov. 23-28, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: Someone was watching him.

Eve Duncan is still searching for Bonnie, her little girl. Her search takes her to a man named Kistle. Kistle will lure Eve into a swamp with Joe. But in the end, it will be just another sick play that Kistle will make.

I'm getting kind of sick of the Eve Duncan series. I'm sorry, but how long is she going to drag on the search for Bonnie? I understand that the series is selling and that once she finds Bonnie the series will more than likely end, but come on, it's the same stuff every time it seems like.

Dead by Sunset by Ann Rule

Dead by Sunset
by Ann Rule

Copyright: 1995
Pages: 528
Rating: 2/5
Read: Nov. 20-23, 2008
Challenge: Triple Eight - True Crime Category; Celebrate the Author

First Line: September 21, 1986, was a warm and beautiful Sunday in Portland - in the whole state of Oregon, for that matter.

Attorney Cheryl Keeton's body was found in her van on an Oregon freeway. Her husband, Brad Cunningham, was the prime suspect. Unfortunately, there was no evidence linking him. He married again, to Sara, a physician. She adopted his three sons and they settled to have a fairytale life together. Unfortunately, things start to go wrong and everything becomes a nightmare...

I was not really impressed by this book. I usually like Ann Rule's books, but this one seemed to drag a little bit. Maybe it was because I didn't know anything about this case before picking the book up. I'm not sure, this one just didn't appeal to me very much.

Trust Me by Brenda Novak

Trust Me
by Brenda Novak

Copyright: 2008
Pages: 435
Rating: 4/5
Read: Nov. 15-20, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: You already heard, right?

Four years ago Skye Kellerman was attacked in her own bed. She saved her own life by fighting back with a knife. Her attacker, Dr. Oliver Burke, would be caught and sent to prison, but her life was already changed. But when she learns that he is being released from prison, she doesn't know what to do. The detective that was on Skye's case has to do everything he can in order to keep Burke behind bars. Unfortunately, Burke gets out ... and he is determined to finish what he started.....


I enjoyed this book quite a bit! It took me forever to read though, and it should have been a quick and easy read, but life kind of got in the way :-) Anyways, I really liked this book, and I'm definitely looking forward to finding the next book in this series, Stop Me, and finding out more about Skye and her two friends.

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Mystic River
by Dennis Lehane

Copyright: 2001
Pages: 448
Rating: 3.5/5
Read: Nov. 10-14, 2008
Challenge: Books Awards II, Book to Movie, Triple Eight - From my TBR Shelf

First Line: When Sean Devine and Jimmy Marcus were kids, their fathers worked together at the Coleman Candy plant and carried the stench of warm choclate back home with them.

When Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus and Dave Boyle were children, something happened that would forever change their lives. A car pulled up to them while they were out playing, one boy got into the car and the other two didn't. That would end up changing their friendship and themselves forever. Years later, their lives would be tied together again by murder.


I wasn't really impressed by this book like I thought I would be. I enjoyed it, but just not as much as I thought I would. I also never saw this movie, I don't know why I missed it, but I hope to see it in the near future.

In the Woods by Tana French

In the Woods
by Tana French

Copyright: 2007
Pages: 429
Rating: 3/5
Read: Nov. 3-9, 2008
Challenge: No challenge; personal read

First Line: Picture a summer stolen whole from some coming-of-age film set in small-town 1950s.

When Katy Devlin, a 12-year-old girl who is an up-and-coming dancer, is found murdered at a local archaeological dig, Detectives Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox get the case. But what they find is harrowing at best. There are strange similarities between this case and a 20 year old case involving the disappearance of two young children from the same neighborhood. But what really makes this case difficult, is that for Ryan, those two kids from the previous case, were his best friends. It will take a lot out of these two Detectives to piece this case together and find the killer, and it will fracture their friendship and working relationship before Rob is technically forced off the case because of his connection. But when they finally figure the case out, it will be a shocker.

I wanted SO MUCH to love this book. But in the end, I just didn't. I was disappointed. I tend to not like a lot of fluffy and pretty words, and I felt like this book had a lot of them. Just give me the story - I don't want any long flowing descriptions that are pointless in the end. And I felt like this book had that problem. And the ending, oh my goodness ... it was such a disappointment, it really and truly was! Maybe that's because there really was no ending. I just wasn't impressed by this book.

Author Michael Crichton Dies

I know I'm really late on this, but I'm back-dating it to make it look better (hehe). Michael Crichton, 66, died on Nov. 4, 2008. He passed away after a private battle with cancer. I have not read many of his books actually I think Timeline is the only book that I have read, although I have Jurassic Park on my shelf that I intend to get to eventually.

You can click here to read one of CNN's article on Crichton.