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1. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain

4/5 - I really enjoyed this, though that's not a huge surprise since I love food-related things and sort of think Bourdain's a sexy sort of person, despite (because of?) his complete honesty about his myriad flaws. I especially appreciated that he took the time to point out and highlight the work done by often under appreciated and recognized back-of-house members of the service industry. The edition I read included a number of extras at the end of the book; I'd recommend getting that edition if at all possible.

2. Bad Influence by Kristin Hardy

2/5 - Sometimes you can dig up a superfun read in the monthly release Harlequin Blaze type books, but I wouldn't say this was one of those times. Pretty mediocre in every way, all in all.

3. Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb

I've actually read most of the Eve Dallas books, but one day I got bored and decided to reread all of them. This has lead me to the likely unsurprising conclusion that the older ones are, in my opinion, markedly better than the newer ones. :)

Rooks wrote: "1. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain"

Ah, I love Bourdain and his snark. Have read all of his non-fiction books. Too bad he's married. :)

Lyssa, I have definitely thought that to myself more than once when watching his show. :D

4. Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb

5. Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb

6. Holiday in Death by J.D. Robb

7. Midnight in Death by J.D. Robb

Does anyone know if this should count? I'm clearly reading the entire In Death series sequentially, and this is a novella from an anthology. In the spirit of full disclosure, I didn't read the entire anthology, so . . . I guess I'll keep it up for the moment?

Edit: It does count! Hooray! Here's a link to the non-anthology version though, iffn' you care: Midnight in Death

8. Conspiracy in Death by J.D. Robb

9. Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb

10. Witness in Death by J.D. Robb

11. Judgment in Death by J.D. Robb

12. Betrayal in Death by J.D. Robb

13. Interlude in Death by J.D. Robb

(It's another novella. I'd actually never read or even heard of this one, which was slightly startling. I suppose I'll have to get used to the feeling, however, because at this rate, pretty soon I'm going to start running up on ones I've never laid eyes on.)

14. Seduction in Death by J.D. Robb

I'm having trouble deciding if I like a plot structure wherein we as readers basically know who the killer is and are just waiting for the gang to catch up to them, or if I prefer it when we have no effing clue who the killer is and we just have to figure it out as it goes. I think the latter. (This book would be an example of the former.)

Things I have realized thus far in doing my book challenge:

A) I'm terrible at updating.
B) In Death is like the crack/cocaine of the book world, because at some point, it sort of just stops mattering whether or not it's good for you.
C) I clearly have no rational conception of how many books I actually read - I thought I'd maybe finished five, max, when I began doing this update.
D) I have an absurd - and much more diverse - group of books that I'm partway through, and once I get done with this procedural crime novel binge, I should likely focus on finishing some of those before starting another series.
E) All of the above.

E, obviously. (of course, keep in mind I'm re-reading all of Agatha Christie this year....)

I binged on those books one summer ago, and then realized I have no capacity to keep up with them.

Plus, the older ones were better. :)

Mary wrote: "Plus, the older ones were better. :)"

Right?! I mean, they are so formulaic. I once wrote a blog post about crime procedurals (TV and books) having this problem of eventually getting really pat using the In Death books as an example. It's amazingly telling and obvious when one actually reads them all in one go, as it were. And yet I don't stop. Reading Dame Agatha seems a lot more classy, somehow. :)

Rooks wrote: "Things I have realized thus far in doing my book challenge:

A) I'm terrible at updating.
B) In Death is like the crack/cocaine of the book world, because at some point, it sort of just stops matte..."

You are really funny! I've read some of the JD Robb books... I should start at the beginning & get my fix though! ha ha

15. Reunion in Death by J.D. Robb

16. Purity in Death by J.D. Robb

17. Portrait in Death by J.D. Robb

18. Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas by Brad Thomas Parsons

4/5 - I swear to goodness I almost typed Bitters in Death, y'all. Clearly I needed a palate cleanser, and this did a pretty good job. Thing is, on the one hand, while I love to read cookbooks and the like, I expected this book to have more history and fewer recipes; it has sections on history and lots of lovely li'l anecdotes, but it's really more of a practical guide than a history, and my head was all prepped for a history. On the other, it has recipes and advice for making one's own bitters! Holy smokes! (It also has recipes for drinks - mainly classic cocktails or variations thereon - and for using bitters in food, even Bitters Compound Butters, which you'd better believe I have every intention of trying.) It's also got an amazing resources section and a lot of really fun tidbits about the current cocktail scene.

When trying to decide what to rate it, I felt that the great info contained therein definitely outweighed my mild chagrin at the somewhat misleading title, though naturally the rating could change based on how my bitters turn out. :)

Longer review here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Rachel wrote: "You are really funny! I've read some of the JD Robb books... I should start at the beginning & get my fix though! ha ha "

Aw, thanks! I figure if 15+ of my next 20 books are going to be entirely predictable for everyone else, the least I can do is try to be somewhat entertaining about it. :)

I'm telling you, the first book was actually kind of great, in retrospect. You can totally see (and not feel at all bad about) how ol' Nora sucked us all in, even as you find yourself, 15 books later, kinda wondering what the heck happened. :D

19. Ice Dancing by Nicolas Walker

4/5 I've enjoyed these books off and on for years, and just happened to decide to reread them this weekend as something quick and cute and fun.

20. Ice Princess by Nicolas Walker

4/5 I only ever had the first two of these books, but apparently there are two more? I will *totally* be hunting those down.

21. Bet Me by Jennifer Cruisie

5/5 This is my favorite Cruisie, despite the startling lack of abundant sexytimes. Total reread.

22. Imitation in Death by J.D. Robb

23. Remember When by Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb

Dear Nora,

If I wanted to read the mild-grade schlock you normally write, I'd totally read it. It's really not fair to make me read your standard stuff as backstory to your J.D. Robb stuff, only to eventually discover that it was totally superfluous backstory, and I didn't need to read it at all. Poot.

Love,
Me

24. Divided in Death by J.D. Robb

25. Visions in Death by J.D. Robb

26. Survivor In Death by J.D. Robb

27. The Initiation by L.J. Smith

3.5/5 I always liked these more than the Vampire Diaries series. To each their own? Mostly, I reread them to assure myself that The Secret Circle tv series is as completely different from the books as I suspected.

28. The Captive by L.J. Smith

3/5 Good lord is Cassie a milquetoasty heroine.

29. The Power by L.J. Smith

4/5 Once things begin to really come together, the whole series picks up to a generally satisfying climax.

30. Society Scandals by Elizabeth Drury (ed.)

Oh em to the Gee, it was so much fun. Recommended if you can find a copy. Full review here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

31. The Mystery Kiss by Elaine Harper

3/5 It's bad, but oh so good . . . at being really bad. Doesn't mean I don't have an abiding affection for 80s teen romances, though, even if I freely admit that this rating is predicated on my level of enjoyment of its crappiness, as opposed to the book's actual merits.

32. Origin in Death by J.D. Robb

33. Memory in Death by J.D. Robb

34. Haunted in Death (novella) by J.D. Robb

35. Born in Death by J.D. Robb

36. Innocent in Death by J.D. Robb

This is the first non-novella that I can be absolutely certain I'd never read before (some of them I'm not sure if I'm good at guessing or if I've actually already read it, could be some combo of the two, I suppose) - I don't think it's a bias to say that it was a better plot and mystery than most of the In Death books, and it was fun to get that jolt of, "Oh crap! Who the hell did it?!"

37. Eternity in Death (novella) by J.D. Robb

38. Creation in Death by J.D. Robb

I don't think I'd read this one either - it was kinda trippy!

39. Strangers in Death by J.D. Robb

At least when she borrows plots from famous mysteries, she gives said earlier works their due? I guess?

40. Ritual in Death (novella) by J.D. Robb

41. Salvation in Death by J.D. Robb

Clearly I had the flu and a lot of time on my hands. I'm *so close* to being done with these books - only eleven more to go!

42. Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey.

Reread for the umpteenth time - I love this trilogy with deep and epic fangirl levels of passion. :D