Half-Moon Investigations

Book #186 (Unique books)
Book #43 in 2012

 Half-Moon Investigations

by Eoin Colfer

 "Fletcher Moon has never been like other kids. For one thing, he has had to suffer the humiliating nickname "Half Moon" because of his short stature. But the real reason Fletcher is different is that ever since he was a baby, he's had a nose for sniffing out mysteries. And after graduating at the top of his Internet class, he is officially certified as the youngest detective in the world. He even has a silver-plated detective's badge to prove it. Everything is going along fine until two things happen: a classmate hires him to solve a crime, and his prized badge is stolen. All signs point to the town's most notorious crime family, the Sharkeys.
As Fletcher follows the clues, evidence of a conspiracy begins to emerge. But before he can crack the case, Fletcher finds himself framed for a serious crime. To clear his name, he will have to pair up with the unlikeliest of allies and go on the run from the authorities. Fletcher has twelve hours to find the guilty party--or he "is" the guilty party."

November 26th to December 2nd -  7 days - 290 pages

Notes:

THIS BOOK IS SO GREAT

Nine Stories

Book #185 (Unique books)
Book #42 in 2012

 Nine Stories

by J. D. Salinger

 "The Stories:

'A Perfect Day for Bananafish' (1948)
'Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut' (1948)
'Just Before the War with the Eskimos' (1948)
'The Laughing Man' (1949)
'Down at the Dinghy' (1949)
'For Esmé – with Love and Squalor' (1950)
'Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes' (1951)
'De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period' (1952)
'Teddy' (1953)"

November 20th to 28th -  9 days - 302 pages

Notes:

Favorite stories:

A Perfect Day For Bananafish

Just Before the War with the Eskimos

De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period

Teddy (I like this one most of all.)

Coraline (re-read) (audiobook)

***Just decided that audiobooks should be recorded and actually should count toward my goals because why shouldn't they be? It's still a book I don't know why I thought I shouldn't count them before, and also this way I am less behind on my 50 book goal.***

***Posting this 12/8/12 but moving it to the spot it should actually be in my list of books.***

Book #41 in 2012

Coraline

by Neil Gaiman

"Coraline's often wondered what's behind the locked door in the drawing room. It reveals only a brick wall when she finally opens it, but when she tries again later, a passageway mysteriously appears. Coraline is surprised to find a flat decorated exactly like her own, but strangely different. And when she finds her "other" parents in this alternate world, they are much more interesting despite their creepy black button eyes. When they make it clear, however, that they want to make her theirs forever, Coraline begins a nightmarish game to rescue her real parents and three children imprisoned in a mirror. With only a bored-through stone and an aloof cat to help, Coraline confronts this harrowing task of escaping these monstrous creatures."

 October 27ish? to November 27ish? - about a month. I didn't keep track.

Notes:

Started by listening to the chapters from here, as I was going to sleep:

http://www.mousecircus.com/coraline-videos.aspx

but then got impatient when it was the end of the book and the last two chapters weren't up so I got the audiobook from the library.

Love this book a lot. Especially when it is being read to me by Neil Gaiman.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Book #184 (Unique books)
Book #40 in 2012

 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

by Mark Haddon

 "Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. Routine, order and predictability shelter him from the messy, wider world. Then, at fifteen, Christopher’s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.

Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents’ marriage. As he tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, we are drawn into the workings of Christopher’s mind.

And herein lies the key to the brilliance of Mark Haddon’s choice of narrator: The most wrenching of emotional moments are chronicled by a boy who cannot fathom emotion. The effect is dazzling, making for a novel that is deeply funny, poignant, and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing is a mind that perceives the world literally."

November 18th to 20th - 2 1/2 days - 226 pages

This Book is Full of Spiders (Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It)

Book #183 (Unique books)
Book #39 in 2012

 This Book is Full of Spiders (Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It)

by David Wong

"WARNING: You may have a huge, invisible spider living in your skull. THIS IS NOT A METAPHOR.

You will dismiss this as ridiculous fearmongering. Dismissing things as ridiculous fearmongering is, in fact, the first symptom of parasitic spider infection-the creature secretes a chemical into the brain to stimulate skepticism, in order to prevent you from seeking a cure. That's just as well, since the "cure" involves learning what a chain saw tastes like.

You can't feel the spider, because it controls your nerve endings. You can't see it, because it decides what you see. You won't even feel it when it breeds. And it will breed. So what happens when your family, friends, and neighbors get mind-controlling skull spiders? We're all about to find out.

Just stay calm, and remember that telling you about the spider situation is not the same as having caused it. I'm just the messenger. Even if I did sort of cause it.

Either way, I won't hold it against you if you're upset. I know that's just the spider talking."

October 30th to November 16th - 18 days - 406 pages

Notes:

Liked John Dies at the End better. Didn't love it. :( (Sorry David Wong.)

Light Boxes

Book #182 (Unique books)
Book #38 in 2012

 Light Boxes

by Shane Jones

 "In Light Boxes, the inhabitants of one closely-knit town are experiencing perpetual February. It turns out that a god-like spirit who lives in the sky, named February, is punishing the town for flying, and bans flight of all kind, including hot air balloons and even children's kites. It's February who makes the sun nothing but a faint memory, who blankets the ground with snow, who freezes the rivers and the lakes. As endless February continues, children go missing and more and more adults become nearly catatonic with depression. But others find the strength to fight back, waging war on February."

October 27th to 29th - 3 days - 149 pages

Watchmen

Book #181 (Unique books)
Book #37 in 2012

 Watchmen

by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

"This Hugo Award-winning graphic novel chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes plagued by all-too-human failings. Along the way, the concept of the super-hero is dissected as the heroes are stalked by an unknown assassin.
One of the most influential graphic novels of all time and a perennial bestseller, WATCHMEN has been studied on college campuses across the nation and is considered a gateway title, leading readers to other graphic novels such as V FOR VENDETTA, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and THE SANDMAN series."

October 19th to 26th -  1 week - 408 pages

Notes:

I do not like this book and I do not understand why it is such a big deal and so popular and apparently influential. This is not my type of book. I don't even know why I finished it, but there you go. At least now I am only 3 books behind.

The Catcher in the Rye

Book #180 (Unique books)
Book #36 in 2012

 The Catcher in the Rye

by J. D. Salinger

 "The hero-narrator of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story. Perhaps the safest thing we can say about Holden is that he was born in the world not just strongly attracted to beauty but, almost, hopelessly impaled on it. There are many voices in this novel: children's voices, adult voices, underground voices-but Holden's voice is the most eloquent of all. Transcending his own vernacular, yet remaining marvelously faithful to it, he issues a perfectly articulated cry of mixed pain and pleasure. However, like most lovers and clowns and poets of the higher orders, he keeps most of the pain to, and for, himself. The pleasure he gives away, or sets aside, with all his heart. It is there for the reader who can handle it to keep."

October 14th to 19th -  6 days - 277 pages

Notes:

I loved this book.

John Green talks about The Catcher in the Rye:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqfThmVIIAc&feature=fvwp&NR=1

Part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=QUnQ-wOPGUE

M is for Magic

Book #179 (Unique books)
Book #35 in 2012

 M is for Magic

by Neil Gaiman

"Stories to delight, enchant, and surprise you.

Bestselling author and master storyteller Neil Gaiman here presents a breathtaking collection of tales that may chill or amuse readers—but always embrace the unexpected."

October 10th to 14th - 4 1/2 days - 260 pages

Notes:

Favorite stories:

The Case of Four and Twenty Blackbirds

Troll Bridge

Chivalry

Instructions

The Mysterious Benedict Society

Book #178 (Unique books)
Book #34 in 2012

 The Mysterious Benedict Society

by Trenton Lee Stewart

 "'Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?'

When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, can test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.

As our heroes face physical and mental trials beyond their wildest imaginations, they have no choice but to turn to each other for support. But with their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all?

Welcome to the Mysterious Benedict Society."

September 29th to October 9th -  11 days - 485 pages