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80. Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family by Joaquin "Jack" Garcia - I gave it a good rate because of the fact that it's a true story, very interesting relation of the FBI agent. Unfortunately, I don't know why it made me bone-tired while reading, I actually don't really know why - was it because of the other stories included into this book, which were not needed in my opinion? Or maybe the person who was helping to this guy write this book did not succeed to create a more "reader-friendly" style? Just the book did not involve me.

81. Bez pożegnania by Barbara Rybałtowska - "Without farewell" - a bitter story about a experiences of a woman, who survived II World War wandering around Soviet Union and many other countries, who lost her husband at the beginning of the war, most of the family later and to whom the closest living person was her little daughter, woman who needed to do really a lot to survive and feed herself and her kid, a though story about surviving. I'm really curious about what will happen in next 3 books of this cycle. I'm sorry it's not translated into English.

Aga, congrats on already surpassing 75 books this year. Wow!

I'm so glad you're updating us on everything you're reading this year - I really enjoy your reviews.

Kay - thanks! :) I have a lot of time this year, so it's pretty easy to read so much.
I'm happy you're happy :D I'm actually really happy that I decided to write a few words about each book this year. It makes me think and remember.

82. Ś�ɾ��Ծ��Dz��������� by Magda Szabó - what a "stuffy" and uncheerfull novel! Everything is wrong, only bad things happen to characters, and actually they are also nasty. Especially I didn't like two main charakters - Pólika and Csutak. But this all together is not changing the fact, that it's really well written book.

83. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - there is nothing too less or too much in this book, it's fine balanced, spare in style story of love and hate, executioner and his victims, family, religion, situation in Nigeria. Very well written book.

Aga, I have to say that I really enjoy what people say about their books so I'm always glad when people do it. I use to and then I stopped because it seemed like a lot of people just did the list thing and well let's be honest it is a lot easier! I think next year I may go back to mini review method.

84 Upadły Anioł by Mari Jungstedt - Polish title is "Fallen Angel" - after reading 4 book of this series I think I can say already: her books are accurate, sometimes even quite good, but she is far from the masters of crime stories ;)

Andres - :) Yeah, I also enjoy it much more than a simple list. And my friend did manage to convince me to do it since this year. I like it, so I think I'll continue further :)
Yeah, simple list is much easier, but also less interesting for people, so if you do a public list, then it's rather better to do it more informative. Somehow ;)

I agree, I like reading people's thoughts. I also like writing a bit about the books I read. Even if I don't have the time to write a coherent review for my profile, I can share my thoughts here in a more informal setting, and then use that to write a review later.

I just jot down a few notes and that's about it. Sometimes If I really like a book or hate it I might go into more detail about why.

85. No cóż, za moich czasów... by Klára Fehér - very interesting book, in a light way is carrying not a light matters. Under simple home, school and love adventure of a teenager we're learning for example also about II World War, living in Hungary then, discrimination against Jews. A book in a old, nice style :)

Girls, so we have a similar points of view. In a Polish website similar to this one I also have such list, but we also do a monthly collations - one person is creating a thread on forum and each person is copy pasting what he/she read in this month, with comments and marks. It's also a nice habbit.

86. Ród Aszura by نجيب محفوظ - - another great book of this author. Already [Midaq Alley] was bewitching and this book is fabulous :) Mafhuz is using a wonderful language, is painting with words, creating such interesting character. And in addition it's a family saga and it's even greater pleasure, bravo!

87. Namiestniczka by Wiera Szkolnikowa - indeed, I can agree on the accusation that it's a "slow" book, but it did not disturb me + for me it was not soooo slow as for the other people. I like this "adult" fantasy, which in a big part is a story about power, politics, fights in the Governors' court, ruling an empire. There is no strange creatures (ok, there are Elfs, but there are not so much appearing in this book), there is no "waving" the sword around. There is pretty some thinking, talking and a bit emotions.

Don - I read just the two of them which I've mentioned, but I already have two other on my shelfs and plan to get more of them. Unfortunatelly there are not so many translated into Polish, but I hope that with time we'll get more.

88. Manikiur dla nieboszczyka by Daria Doncowa - it's nothing serious, a light crime story with a bit of humor, giving a god entertainment to the reader. I'll not write anything about the plot, but I think it's worth of reading when you feel, you need a light book. It was good to read it and I'll for sure get to the rest of her books.

89. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White - it's such a great book for it's category (which is a light entertainment mostly for young people). A bit "crock", very girlish main character, a lot of paranormal creatures, bad Elfs, being in love, fighting for live, this combination is a recipe for success! All this "Hush, Hush"-kind-of-books can hide themselves versus this one!

90. Lockdownby Alexander Gordon Smith - another good book for young people. The world where characters are send is cruel and strange, but this books is sending a clear message related with good, helping each other, friendship, persistence, sacrifice. But it's finishing in such a way, that I have a desire to bite! No one should finish book like that if I don't even know when the next one will be here ;)

91. �Ҵ�ś�����Ծ��� by Andrzej Kozioł - I don't know an English word for that, something like a wide road, but it was used mostly in older times, when people where travelling longer etc. This is a story full of melancholy about lapse of time. Virgin Brought by Woter, Guardian of this road is a kept in a small shrine next to the road. She is watching people passing, listening to their news, look at constant changes. Years are passing, world is changing more and more, is there still place fo such Virgins?

92. Abandon by Meg Cabot - an interesing story of a teenager and a guardian of souls, story of a diamond of Persephone, Furies, connected with nowadays and life of American teens. I wonder how it will be developed in next books.

I blinked and you read like 50 books..hahah ;)

93. Gaumardżos! Opowieści z Gruzji by Anna Dziewit-Meller and Marcin Meller - Gaumaradjos(?): stories from Georgia - it's a really good book, I experieced a lot of emotions while reading, totally subjective story, full of emotions which Georgia is and was causing in authors, very testy story, but also sometimes scary, touchy, sad and wonderful. It passed the exam of being "book for travelling"
94. Namiestniczka #2 by Wiera Szkolnikowa - it seems that the rule of the 2nd book in trilogies is right ;) Or maybe it's jut because that so many threads were opened and so less were closed and now I don't have a clue why they appeared and for what it's needed. Now, I'm realllllly curious how she will close this trilogy.

Andrea - eeeee... no, just 43 Hihihiihi ;)

94. Namiestniczka by Wiera Szkolnikowa - it seems that the rule of the 2nd book in trilogies is right ;) Or maybe it's jut because that so many threads were opened and so less were closed and now I don't have a clue why they appeared and for what it's needed. Now, I'm realllllly curious how she will close this trilogy.

95. The Double-Edged Sword: The Nowhere Chronicles Book One by Sarah Silverwood - cool idea, different worlds were already used many times, but in this book we've got a combination which I've never knew, so I like it :) It's good - because it's mostly targeted on youth - that's there is a lot of focus on good behaviors and attitudes likes: loyalty, fidelity, friendship, responsibility etc.

Agnieszka T. wrote: "94. The Double-Edged Sword: The Nowhere Chronicles Book One by Sarah Silverwood - cool idea, different worlds were already used many times, but in this book we've go..."

Sounds like a good one.

* For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence by Alice Miller - I gave up reading, it's not for me, I read half and I will not continue. The examples used are extremely interesting, terrifying, but it's not my specialization and all these information between examples are not so interesting for me to motivate me to read the whole one.

Charleen - it is a good one, check it out :)

96. Trucicielka by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt - I can't help that: I like books of Schmitt and that's all ;) I don't look for the "life truth" in them, I just like his style, I'm convinced with emotions, these are 4 nice short novels + a small part of authors' journal.

97. Claudine at School by Colette - what an enjoyable story :) Long time passed since I read such hm... "school-for-girls-in-old-times" book, here in addition having some scandals and well written. I'll check other books for sure.

98. Kieszonkowy atlas kobiet by Sylwia Chutnik - Pocket Atlas of Women - an interesting debut, generally utterly not in my style, but even though I managed to read it and actually many excerpts I liked a lot, so not all "modern literature (especially so called ambitious)" is not for me. I wonder what she will write in the future.

99. Dobranoc, słonko by Heidi Hassenmüller - what a book! In such a short story there is so many blowing down emotions! Skocking testimony, balanced and through that even more scary. People can be the worse being which appeared on Earth, how you can do such things??

Aga, I am so sorry! For some reason I thought your goal was 100 so I was just going to say alomst there! That's when I realized that maybe your goal was 75! Now I'm just confused though, what were you thinking for your goal?

100. The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafón - I liked this book much more than The Prince of Mist - plot is more interesting, characters as well. For me it's more convincing, a few times I even did "Ah!" while reading ;) Now I will wait until October for the next book (after the huge success of the The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game one publisher decided to publish his book from the first one and I'm reading it in such order :)

Andrea - well, I was not sure about my free time in 2011, about my job and it's influence on my free time and a few different things, that's why I decided to stay here for this year. And now I'm confusing here ;)

101. Życie zaczyna się po sześćdziesiątce by Bernard Ollivier - - Life is starting after being 60 - a very inspiring book, which helps you to again stand on your legs, gives motivation to be active in all ages. Story about a man, who after retirement started to march for long distances (like few thousands km!), write books, starts a foundation which helps young people punished by law. When I will have no power for being active, then I'll read it again :)

Congrats on reaching 100!

That is fine!!! We never want you to leave, that would make me very sad! Should I move you over to the completed section or would you like to revamp your goal?

102. Daughter of the River: An Autobiography by Hong Ying - I really don't understand why this book was created. For me it looks like clearance with life, city, family and herself, but if she felt such a need of creating clearance then she could write it in a dairy or in a letter to a friend, not necessarily published it as a book. It's not badly written, but totally did not reach me.

Charleen - thanks! :)

Andrea - oh, that's so nice to hear! :) We'll I think I should revamp my goal - reaching it is much more fun that just counting further ;) Shall I just change it to some different number or how I should do it?

I don't think it really matters, it's all just the fun of couting and saying you reached your goal. You don't have to change anything. If you want to say I'm going to try for 150 then we'll just leave you over here and then when you hit 150 will move you over. We never had any real rules so whatever makes you happy is what we'll do :)

103. The Julian Game by Adele Griffin - the book is ok, but it gained in my eyes because of underlining the role of internet (especially Facebook) in lives of nowadays youngsters. It's a simple story: high school intrigues, outsider + "the coolest girl in the school + guy + Facebook = recipe for a catastrophe! It's decently written book with a strong impact of internet on life of someone.

Andrea - ok :) So, I'll try to reach 200 ;)

Wow, that's a BIG goal! Good for you hun :)

Agnieszka T. wrote: "103. The Julian Game by Adele Griffin - the book is ok, but it gained in my eyes because of underlining the role of internet (especially Facebook) in lives of nowaday..."


That does sound like a really interesting (and very real) concept for a YA book.

104. The Summoner by Gail Z. Martin - author used a lot of schemes of fantasy, but still - it's a great read! Patricide, brother against brother, beautiful and lion-heart women, brave warriors, magic and strange creatures. Very compelling, you don't feel it's such a thick book. But it's a bit funny when you hear a knight saying "frustration" or when warriors have while travelling with caravan a clean cloths for the wounds.

Andrea - :) It's big, but if nothing changes I think I can reach it.

Charleen - yeah, it seems to be. I don't know so well reality of youngsters in different countries, but in here I would say it can happen like that.

105. Czarny Horyzont by Tomasz Kołodziejczak - "Black Horizon" - I liked this book very much, it was standing on my shelf for a long time, so I did not remember what I should expect from it, I was reading with an empty mind and I felt good with it ;) Post-apocalyptic vision of Poland and whole Europe, mix of technologies and magic, fight between good and bad, a lonely hero, and this all in quite unique sauce ;) And what a weird world! Catholics mixed with Elfs, different dimensions and meetings in coffees in Warsaw, fight related with time of tolls, timetables of trains, set-ups of buildings etc.

106. The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue - and interesting concept of observing a group of changelings when they're changing one of them in the place of a real kid and this kid is forced to join the group of changelings. We can see the story from two perspectives: changeling, who went to the place of Henry and Henry who took a place of the changeling. An interesting, unique read.

Agnieszka T. wrote: "106. The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue - and interesting concept of observing a group of changelings when they're changing one of them in the place of a real kid and thi..."

Aga, I just added "The Stolen Child" to my To-Read list.

107. Eona: The Last Dragoneye by Alison Goodman - a great continuation and closing! Really inspiring fantasy based on the ancient Chinese and Japanese culture, but extended with a lot of new inputs. Well written, addictive so much that in some moments I almost stop my breathing, very diverse. Alison Goodman have got a loyal fan in me :)

Kay - so, give me know when you will read it, I'm curious about your feelings :)

108. Ž��������� by Květa Legátová - the title is a name of the village - I appreciate that it's a very good book, I have such general feeling. But at this moment it's not reaching me in such a way that it could in a different time. Maybe it's because of my travelling and heavy Tonsillitis which I'm having since a few days? I don't know, I just now it's worth to know this book.

109. Misjonarze z Dywanowa. Polski Szwejk na misji w Iraku: Część I. PINKY czyli Nowicjusz by Władysław Zdanowicz - this very long title is related with Polish crops sent to the mission in Iraq. Actually with a newby-soldier, pretty stupid and full of problems which is all the time causing troubles. Something like modern Polish version of [The Good Soldier Svejk] - very similar style and main characters.

110. Wyrok by Mariusz Zielke - "Sentence" - I'm starting July with a stron accent - it's a really good economical thriller focused on Stock Exchange in Warsaw. It's well written, using easier language that this usual economical one, with a bent (it's visible that author is an economical journalist), very interesting. The content is scary - if even one fifith of it is true, then it's bringing down. Actually it's probably even worse in reality than he was describing in this book, who knows ;) The worse was the matter of media, I had very little illusions about them, but even them disappeared.

111. Fałszywa miłość by Heidi Hassenmüller - "False love" - I don't know, maybe I'm simply to old for such type of moral stories for youth. The first book I've read (it is somewhere in this thread) was really amazing, but this one is a bust. Despite of horrible behaviors of guys, everything looked funny for me and that's all. Such a stupid-naive teenagers and bad guys. Now I don't know what to think about the author and her works, maybe I need to read a third book to decide: I like or I don't like ;)

112. The Library of Shadows by Mikkel Birkegaard - a very good idea for the plot, many interesting scenes and descriptions, but very straightforward book (if you can say that about the book, not a person ;)). It's wasn't difficult to guess what will happen next.

113. Ś�ɾ������� by Ilja Mitrofanow - "The Witness" - immensely bitter story about people living in Bessarabia during the II WW. Written - at least at the beginning - in a light style, gradually changes into a bitter and tragic story. Very good novel.

114. Wyznania księży alkoholików by Stanisław Zasada - Confessions of priests-alcoholics - I was reading with an attitude "it'll be good and positive, nothing negative", but I had a nice surprise. Confessions seems to be honest, priests are telling stories about their life, reasons of alcoholism, reactions of families, parishioners, authorities. It seems also that author does not avoid different topics. For example he clearly write about lack of support between bishops and priests, bishops' attitude "I'll send you to quarry, then you'll have no time and will to think about alcohol!", about hiding alcoholism between bishops, lack of support between priests, their loneliness etc.

115. The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver - Deaver - like usual - gave me a lot of emotions. This time even bigger emotions, because this book is focused on collecting data about each of us, question of privacy, using data to manipulate and destroy humans. Very well written, keeping in suspense, well prepared.

116. Murderers in Mausoleums: Riding the Back Roads of Empire Between Moscow and Beijing by Jeffrey Tayler - it's actually an interesting read, but I was missing something. I did not feel bond with author, even sometimes he was irritating me, he was "flying" from place to place, in each venue was 1-3 days and from this the whole journey was build. A lot of interesting meetings and impressions, but nothing deeper, I don't really get till the end why he was doing this jounrey.