92. Water for Elephants

Again, after a slow start this one was a really interesting and different book. I especially love the ending!

Here's a description from B&N.com: As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

91. Magic Hour

This one started off slow, but ended up being a good read.

This review pretty much sums up my feelings toward the book:

Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case. Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters' professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia's name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who's never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl's parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl's perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah's torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice's past and creating a home for her. Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

90. Hopeless Romantic

I bought this one because it looked good, but more importantly because it was long. I read books so quickly that it only makes sense to buy them if they are on sale or really long. At over 500 pages, this met the "really long" criteria.

For the first 75 pages or so I was regretting my purchase because I really didn't like the main character, but, once she got her act together, the book got much better.

Here's a description from B&N.com:

Laura Foster is a hopeless romantic. Her friends know it, her parents know it - even Laura acknowledges she lives either with her head in the clouds or buried in a romance novel. It's proved harmless enough, even if it hasn't delivered her a real-life dashing hero yet. But when her latest relationship ends in a disaster that costs her friendships, her job, and nearly her sanity, Laura swears off men and hopeless romantic fantasies for good.With her life in tatters around her, Laura agrees to go on vacation with her parents. After a few days of visiting craft shops and touring the stately homes of England, Laura is ready to tear her hair out. And then, while visiting grand Chartley Hall, she crosses paths with Nick, the sexy, rugged estate manager. She finds she shares more than a sense of humor with him - in fact, she starts to think she could fall for him. But is Nick all he seems? Or has Laura got it wrong again? Will she open her heart only to have it broken again?

89. Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce and Culture

My name is Stacy and I'm a Starbucks-aholic.

Yes, I can admit my fondness for their beverages, as overpriced as they may be. So of course, this book caught my attention on the shelves of Barnes & Noble. But I think it is safe to say even those who hate the 'bucks or don't really care either way would find this book interesting. Part one looks at the rise of the coffee industry and Starbucks in particular and part two looks at all of the reasons people hate Starbucks and whether or not they are valid. On top of that, the author is pretty witty and filled the books with fun footnotes and interesting stories.

Here's the description from B&N:

STARBUCKED will be the first book to explore the incredible rise of the Starbucks Corporation and the caffeine-crazy culture that fueled its success. Part Fast Food Nation, part Bobos in Paradise, STARBUCKED combines investigative heft with witty cultural observation in telling the story of how the coffeehouse movement changed our everyday lives, from our evolving neighborhoods and workplaces to the ways we shop, socialize, and self-medicate.

In STARBUCKED, Taylor Clark provides an objective, meticulously reported look at the volatile issues like gentrification and fair trade that distress activists and coffee zealots alike. Through a cast of characters that includes coffee-wild hippies, business sharks, slackers, Hollywood trendsetters and more, STARBUCKED explores how America transformed into a nation of coffee gourmets in only a few years, how Starbucks manipulates psyches and social habits to snare loyal customers, and why many of the things we think we know about the coffee commodity chain are false.

88. The Quickie

I'm not sure how I feel about this one... in the end I liked it, but it took until the third of three sections for me to actually feel sympathy towards the main character. Which means I had a hard time caring about the storyline until that point. But again, in the end, I liked it.

Here's the description from B&N.com:

Lauren Stillwell is not your average damsel in distress. When the NYPD cop discovers her husband leaving a hotel with another woman, she decides to beat him at his own game. But her revenge goes dangerously awry, and she finds her world spiraling into a hell that becomes more terrifying by the hour.In a further twist of fate, Lauren must take on a job that threatens everything she stands for. Now, she's paralyzed by a deadly secret that could tear her life apart. With her job and marriage on the line, Lauren's desire for retribution becomes a lethal inferno as she fights to save her livelihood--and her life.Patterson takes us on a twisting roller-coaster ride of thrills in his most gripping audiobook yet. This story of love, lust and dangerous secrets will have listeners' hearts pounding to the very last page.

87. Crazy in Love

Cheesy, predictable fluff. Which was exactly what I needed to read this week...

Here's the description from B&N:

Flynn Daly is turning thirty. And thirty is the age where she has to, gulp, get a job. Not just any job, but a job working for her real estate magnate father, a man who's tired of supporting his daughter through her many careers. So when their great-aunt Esther Goodhouse, proprietress of a historic inn nestled in Nowhere, New York, dies, Flynn finds herself smack dab in the country, contending with a hotel staff that's unsure of their new boss, a scruffy, sexy ex-policeman named Jake Turner who's convinced that Esther's death wasn't as natural as it seemed, and the ghost of Aunt Esther herself, who starts showing up in Flynn's dreams and undoing all the personal touches that Flynn tries to make to her new home.