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161. Czarne mleko by Elif Shafak - great internal discussion focused on motherhood. What is more important - being a writer or a mother? Is it possible to combine it? Or you can't combine it becouse you'll not be able to do both well? Very interesting description of internal fight and description of how did it look like in cases of different writers.

162. The Year Everything Changed by Georgia Bockoven - average book. The idea for the plot is not bad, especially since the death of Jessie, but the implementation of the ideas is just average - predictable, very simple, nothing surprising or special.

163. �ܲ���ł����Ծ�ę���� by Elana Johnson - pretty good dystopia novel for youth. Of course - in a big part - the vision of the future is pretty similar to many such novels, but still the author was able to add pretty much from her side and enrich the plot. Bravo for the ending!

164. Ziemia kłamstw by Anne B. Ragde - auch, what a sad, strong book, even thou it seems to be so slow and almost without action, it has a strong impact on the reader. And this atmosphere - cold, hopelessness, inability of sharing emotions, emptiness, brrr....)

Hi, Aga! I am very impressed with your reading list this year.

165. Ostatni dobry człowiek by A.J. Kazinski - at the beginning it was difficult to get involved in the book, later it was better, but still I have a bit mixed feelings. God, philosophy, conversions, desertions, untypical theme.

Hi Kay! Thank you :) I hope it's not only the quantity, but also quality which you like ;)

166. 1Q84 #2 by Haruki Murakami - ufff... what a story! Definitely Murakami in a good shape, it's an excellent read. And this gathering of symbols, connections between realism and wildcat, building the story, great! I want the third book, now!

167. Wieszać każdy może by Andrzej Pilipiuk - very good entertainment without ambitions of being something more :> Main character is a lush, camp but with an idea of being cump, so everything is fine + good ideas of the author.

168. Żyjący z wilkami by Shaun Ellis - what a great book! Actually not even a book itself, but the story of a man, who loved wolves so much that he decided to be almost a one of them. This situation resulted with him almost forgetting how it's to be a human being and brought troubles to him. Wonderful descriptions of wolves, their live, functioning, social rules, living with people etc. I definitely recommend it :)

Hi Kay! Thank you :) I hope it's not only the quantity, but also quality which you like ;)

Aga - absolutely!

169. "Każdy kot ma dwa końce" by Przemek Wechterowicz - - "Each cat has two ends" - a small book - collection of saying adapted in a "cats way" plus very nice illustrations. It's a pity it's a bit too expensive, but very good idea for a gift for a cat lovers :)

170. "Między nami niebotyczne góry" by Ewa Ostrowska - "Towering mountains between us" - a great story of toxic, destructive relationship. What a stuffy, scary, tiring book! Bravo for the author for great psychological depth. Worrying book, worrying characters, but in the same time I was sorry for them, so young, so bitter, stuck in a sick relationship.

171. Triumf. Bitwa pod Assaye, 1803 by Bernard Cornwell - first book of this author which I had a chance to read, a good first meeting. Very interesting story of one special battle and faiths of Sharpe and a few other people. Also interesting reality of British soldiers in India, as well as possibility to learn more about local rebels.

172. Księga Tris by Tamora Pierce - an interesting continuation of the first boo, much more action than in the previous one, nice development of the friendship of this young four, the magic is waking up and they can already use them as they wish, at least partly. Now I'm curious what will hapen next.

173. Spacer po szczęście by Lucy Dillon - great chick-lit , even a bit more than that. Warm, romantic, shaggy (even thou sometimes a bit corny) story about love, family, friendship, mourning, coming back to life. It was very good read for me and now I'm sure I'll check Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts out as well.

174. The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen - uffff... since a long time I did not read such a book! Fresh, fiddly, asking so many questions, all the time "teasing the nerve" of the reader, not leaving him in peace! I'm confused totally, don't know what to think about it. Religious child as a tool of God, maker of miracles? Each miracle has two sides and always good have bad consequences? What is good and what is evil? And God and devil?

175. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin - what will happen when suddenly you would fall down from the stairs and lost memories of last 4 years? And you're a teenager, with a lot of things around you, how you would manage with partial amnesia? An interesting idea, good implementation, but a bit too sweet.

176. An anthology of short stories related somehow with Christmas, works of young Polish authors - pre-publishing review.

177. Wielki Bazar, Złoto Brayana by Peter V. Brett - this book is rather an addition for the fans of this cycle, more that, than being a "true" book - 2 scenes cut from previous books, "Brayan's Gold" - the best thing in the whole book in my opinion + 2 dictionaries. Nice read, but nothing spectacular.

178. Krew na Placu Lalek by Krzysztof Kotowski - "Blood on the Dolls Square" - I can't be objective in the relation with this book. An interesting idea, quite unusual, but the whole book just made me sooo tired that I was happy to close it after finishing. I don't know what to think about it.

179. Jak znaleźć pracę i nie zgubić po drodze siebie by Pawel Burdzy - "How to find a job and not to lose yourself on the way" - I think it's a second self-help book which I've read in my life and first of this type, so I don't really have any comparison. In general I think it's a good material - a lot of exercises for self-reflection, interesting hints and comments about the whole process and both sides of this process.

I find a little self help now and then to be good, but I don't think it is a genre a could read all the time :)

180. House Rules by Jodi Picoult - what I can do about it, I just like her books. Reading one after other is not a question, but once per half a year or year - it's a great read. This time it's a story of a boy with Asperger's syndrome, who is accused for the murder of his carer. Very interesting study of the family.

181. Błogosławieni, którzy robią ser by Sarah-Kate Lynch - warm, full of good, lightly fairy tale book, great read for the fall. Light book, but its so "tasty" and full of wonderful characters. A bit like "Chocolate", but just set on Irish cheese farm ;)

I really admire all the research Jodi Picoult puts into her books. She makes every effort to live her subject before she writes about it and I think that is why people feel an emotional charge from reading her books.

182. Ty by Drvenkar Zoran - You - I think I will never ever will be able to be objective about this author! What does he do to the reader?! For sure he is not sparing us, his books are crazy, convulted, touching, in some moments breathtaking. Unique style, Drvenkar has talent.

Andrea - oh, yes! I also find her research as very good and the proof she wants to put as much effort to make her books reliable and good as possible.

183. �Ჹń���� by J.M. Coetzee - I don't know what to think about it. Good, but tiring. Strange characters, strange reality, cruel life.

184. Kobieta z wydm by Kōbō Abe - unfortunately, meeting with this - so much vaunted - book did not go well. Too much philosophizing, a bit forcefully, too much sand, dyspnea, torment. It's probably a plus for the great book ;) But for me it was just simply too tiring, so tiring that I can't rate her higher than average.

185. Droga by Cormac McCarthy - I was quite skeptic about reading this book, because I've heard that the style in which it's written it's not the one which I like. Yes, indeed, it's not the most favorite one, but it did not matter. What a book! Touching, scary, disturbing, with hideous vision of the future, with a great father-son relation. I need to admit I've receive more than I expected.

186. Mroczne szaleństwo by Karen Marie Moning - very good entertainment! It would be even better if the main female character would not be soooo "blondie" ;) Very nice paranormal chick-lit. Unique in a sense that still in this book there is no love between the two main characters ;) I'll read the second book with pleasure, especially at this time of the year ;)

187. Ojciec by Karol Arentowicz - a book which is probably for some of the readers quite controversial, especially in one part. Author seems to be very honest, he is doing his "conscience account" concerning being a father. He has an idea about huge influence of father on the life of kids and he tries to prove it taking as an example: himself, his daughter, Jesus, Hitler and Stalin. An interesting read.

188. Słodkie lato by Mari Jungstedt- this part I like more than the previous one. It's simply more interesting for me. But in general this series is "ok crime story", nothing with a high quality.

189. Szamanka od umarlaków by Martyna Raduchowska - "Shaman lady(?) of stiffs" - I took it with me for the whole day of travelling and for this it function veeery well! Very interesting fantasy-lit (is there any fantasy chick-lit name? ;p), with cool main and secondary characters :)

190. Uśmiechy Bombaju. Podróż do Indii zmieniła moje życie. by Jaume Sanllorente - book (even is great itself) is not so important as the message! Young man did - because of his love to rejected kids - in a few years much more than other people during their whole life! Incredible read, I'm recommending it to you with my whole heart!

* Droga ślepców by Marek Dryjer - "The Road of Blind People" - I've tried, tried hard to read it until the end, but I couldn't. First time I since ages I decided to give a grade to unread book - the worst book of the year! I read until page 44 and further I simply couldn't continue! Tragedy not the book.

191. Adibas by Zaza Burczuladze - crazy style, nutty characters, unreal reality, war somewhere in the background. Probably no one expected book like that when they took it in their hands. It impress me in some way. Ah, and it's full of sex ;)

192. 1Q84, #3 by Haruki Murakami - so this is the end! ;) An interesting trilogy, unique, with many literary references, fine woven of the plot, really crazy story. Definitely a good example of writings of this author.

193. Czarny statek by Sherko Fatah - slow, touching story about a young guy, who was growing up in Iran while there where different fights, including the war with the USA. And this is not all - he decided to escape to Germany, has an incredible trip and at the end his destiny is totally different than the one from his dreams.

194. Willa by Magdalena Zimniak - gosh, how much this book is touching the emotions of the reader! And the book itself has a looot of emotions, mainly negative. In the same time it is addictive, "stuffy", tiring, bitter, very strange mixture. And the plot is nutty!

195. Rowerem przez Chiny, Wietnam i Kambodżę by Robb Maciąg - "Biking through China, Vietnam and Cambodia" - an interesting relation from the trip through the region which I don't really know well. Many interesting stories, photos, but also not needed "exhibitionism", pseudo-philosophise, staying just on the surface of things. Now I'm curious about the second book of this author and the direction which he took.

196. Papiery po Glince: Opowiadanie z życia Karola Radziwiłła "Panie Kochanku" by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski - "Papers of Glinka" - very interesting story how the ordinary noble cheated famous Polish aristocrat, not only once ;) Colorful story!

197. Miłość we Wrocławiu by Igor Karpowicz and the others - "Love in Wrocław" - it's an ok anthology, mainly because of a few short stories, for example by Chwin or Karpowicz. A few are also a good one, the rest is average, I couldn't finish one of them. Good idea, implementation is ok with a few small "pearls".

198. Święta z kardynałem by Fannie Flagg - I don't know if it's because I finished reading it during Christmas Eve (day? ;p) or it's because of the flood of goodness and humanity - I loved it a lot! Wonderful, fairy tale story about good, supporting each other and community, knick-knack :)

199. Dallas '63 by Stephen King - once I've read a few horror written by him, then there was a looong break and now this book. It's really great and I could actually stop with this sentence. but I'll just add that I loved a lot the descriptions of the provincial life in old times in the USA, King conquered my heart with this amazing atmosphere. Well, the last 10 pages were just good and somehow I did not feel they fit into the whole book, but what means 10 pages for the 850 pages of the great book? ;)

I am reading 11/22/63 now. I, too, used to read Stephen King when I was younger. This is a VERY long book, and I didn't think I'd like it. But I am 1/2 way through and enjoying it very much! It will, however, make my list a little shorter this year as it's taking a long time to read.

200. Oskarżona: Wiera Gran by Agata Tuszyńska - "Defendand: Vera Gran" - very moving and in the same time very tiring book. I was so tired while reading it. But it really shows bitter case of a destroyed life, bringing someone to the mental disease. This read also took away from me the nimb of the vision of the noble Szpilman. Only one minus - for me there was too much of the reflections made by the author.

Alecia - yes, it's long, but I did not feel it's long at all while reading it :) I'm happy that you like it also a lot :)

201. Dla ratowania życia by Anna Reszela - "For saving a life" - idea for the plot is really good, untypical. But the implementation is not so good any longer- everything seems to be so easy and superficial. Everyone fells in love immediately, problems are solved sooo soon etc. But it's a debut, so I will keep my eye on this author and observe what will happen next.

202. Niosący latarnie by Sutcliff Rosemary - a good ending of the whole trilogy. This time it's a story of Aquila in the times of Saxons-Jutes invasions on Britain, when they wanted to escape from the poor badlands of Jutland. The main themes according to me are: loyalty, practicing what someones preach, honor. The whole trilogy is a very good classic adventure book example.

Congrats on hitting 200!

203. Ostatnie fado by Iwona Slabuszewska-Krauze - "Last Fado" - it should get higher rate because of great descriptions of the old and new Lisbon, but because of different things I just gave a good mark. Very nostalgic, full of "saudade" story of places and people who are not present any longer, about wasting our life and finding chances.

Charleen - thanks! Now, I'm done for this year, how I can move it to completed challenges?

Amazing, Aga! You are my reading idol :)

Oooh, so sweet :) Thanks :)

Well, I hope to change job and the place of living in this year, which probably means a lot less of reading.