25) A Hollywood Ending by Robyn Sisman

I've picked up a bunch of chick-lit books on sale at Chapters recently, in an effort to read some light stuff by my pool and speed up my "number of books read" as much as I can... haha. The first one I tried was called A Hollywood Ending, by author Robyn Sisman.

This story is about Paige Carson, famous movie star, who is dissatisfied with how things are going in Hollywood and with how she's beginning to be viewed as a bratty star.  She takes off to London to perform Shakespeare on stage in order to combat her reputation and remember the reason she became an actress in the first place.

Oh, but before you get to that you have page after page of not-so-great-but-also-not-that-exciting things happen to Paige back in Los Angeles.

When the book switches to England, we somethings get the story from the perspective of Ed, Paige's landlord who is trying very hard to be unimpressed with "The Paige Carson" living upstairs -- he thinks she's a snobby Hollywood type, so he sets out to have nothing to do with her.

Things happen, there's a romance, there's a 'misunderstanding that nearly wrecks the whole romance', then next thing you know the book is done.

This wasn't the worst random chick-lit I've ever read.  I liked the characters well enough.  I did find the ending to be a little short with some stuff left up in the air (such as how her performance in As You Like It actually goes, and whether or not she is well-received again back in L.A.).  I felt like the beginning of the book before Paige gets to England dragged on a bit, and my favourite parts of the book were when Ed and Paige were getting to know each other a little and realizing they were wrongly judging one another's behaviours -- but that was only a few scenes, I could have had a little more of that to keep up the romance side of the story.

It wasn't bad, it wasn't fabulous, but it certainly was just the right type of light, lounge-by-the-pool reading that I was searching for.

25 down, 75 to go!

21-24) The Vampire Diaries by LJ Smith

I have been really enjoying the new TV series "The Vampire Diaries".  I knew that the show was based on Young Adult novels of the same name written by LJ Smith, but I hadn't read the books yet.  I decided to give them a try, and borrowed the first two novels (which were combined into one volume) from Martin's sister.  The first two stories are The Awakening and The Struggle, the second two are The Fury and Dark Reunion.

These books are dramatically different that the TV series.  The TV series is also a hundred times better.  There are extra characters in the books who aren't on the show, and there are characters on the show who aren't in the books.  The first couple of books are sort of boring, and I didn't really understand the motivation behind some of the actions of the characters -- it was too forced with no explanations.  The second two stories, once the characters were more established and there was some action, were much better.

At the bookstore the other day I noticed there are more books in this series, which I think were written a little later than these original four stories, and I do feel like I would like to read them too.  However, I'm really glad the TV series is what it is -- the characters are much better explained, I love the backstory they provide, and the characters they've added who are not a part of the books are really layered and interesting.

These books are pretty similar to the Twilight books, which were written many years later than these ones, but the Twilight books are actually a much better read.

At least I knocked four books out of the park in a fairly short time span!

24 read, 76 to go!  I know I'm way behind where I should be, but have faith...

20) Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

I teach the first grade and I wanted to read them a novel, as time-filler and to get them used to the idea of not always having pictures to look at in the books they read.  I chose the classic story Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.  I'm counting this as one of my 100 novels read this year, since I did read it in its entirety and if I didn't count things like this I'd surely never get through this challenge! haha.

It's the classic story of Wilbur the pig, who is rescued by Fern and then raised in Zuckerman's barn.  He befriends a spider named Charlotte, who uses her miraculous web-spinning powers to write words in her web to encourage Mr. Zuckerman to view Wilbur as "some pig!" in order to save Wilbur from being turned into bacon.  The kids loved the story, and after we finished we watched the 2006 live-action film version of the book starring Dakota Fanning.  It was also well-received.

A very classic children's tale, and book 20 in my quest to read 100 books in 2010.

19) Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

A few weeks ago I finally finished catching up on all of the Stephanie Plum novels released so far by Janet Evanovich!  Plum Spooky, one of those "between-the-numbers" novels was the last one I had to read.  I enjoyed it much better than all of the other between-the-numbers books, but my favourite stories in this series are mostly just the regular numbered Stephanie Plum mysteries.  Book 16 comes out this year, so I'll take it out from the library as soon as I can.  I plan on staying caught up with each new release, and I'm certainly very glad Janet is continuing to write more stories in this series.  I love these characters A LOT.

I'm still reading, just slowly!  Ugh!

19 down, 81 to go!

18) The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

I'm still enjoying the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan.  I've just finished Book #3, The Titan's Curse.  This one was a really great adventure, I liked it better than Book #2 (Sea of Monsters).  I know I'm slightly older than the target audience for this series, but I really enjoy the storyline and I highly recommend it.  I just liken it to adults enjoying the Harry Potter series when it first came out -- it really is a good story for all ages.  Scooter just finished reading Book #4, so I'll soon read that one as well.

18 down, 82 to go!

17) Thanks For The Memories by Cecelia Ahern

I've read a couple of Cecelia Ahern novels now, and I'm finding I quite enjoy her writing.  Thanks for the Memories is about two main characters - Irish Joyce and American Justin.  Justin, somewhat against his own will, donates blood during a blood drive at an Irish University where he has been guest lecturing.  Joyce, after a terrible accident, receives a blood transfusion.

Along with that, Joyce receives a batch of memories that are not her own.

Joyce and Justin have a strange connection, and randomly see each other at times in the book, not understanding what role they really play in each other's lives.  The pacing of the story is good, and Joyce's elderly father adds a nice touch of family and humour to the tale.

If you've enjoyed Cecelia's writing as I have, having additionally read PS, I Love You and Where Rainbows End (alternate title: Love, Rosie), I definitely recommend you read Thanks for the Memories.

17 down! 83 to go!

16) Finger-Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

I skipped over one of the "between the numbers" books because they didn't have it at my library at the time, but other than that one book, I'm completely caught up on my Stephanie Plum stories!  Fortunately the sixteenth book comes out this summer!  I love these novels and I'm so glad I read them, and I'll miss spending so much time with Stephanie Plum and her crazy friends and family.

Finger-Lickin' Fifteen was a great story, like all the others.  I can't get enough of this series, seriously!

16 down, 84 to go!