It looks like I am 3 books short from last years record of 24. As a reader and a writer, I can only aspire to be at Stephen King’s productivity level.

Here is the list of books I’ve read all the way through and it includes some I read, more like studied, for work. Books I gave up reading are not listed.

1. The Insider Threat (Pike Logan Thriller) by Brad Taylor
   [ This is the 8th Pike Logan novel yet I am still amazed at how Brad manages to take things from many different directions and tide everything up without missing any details. ]
2. You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter by Dr. Joe Dispenza
   [ I’ve always believed that mind over matters, Dr. Dispenza not only presents scientific evidences, he also offered an user friendly way to make your mind work for you instead letting your aimless mind live your life. POINT: brain-emotion-physical connection. Non-fiction. Recommand! ]
3. The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne
   [ The main character, Melissa, opened her own personal “adviser/shopper” business as Honey and helped many clueless male clients. I loved her business ideas and struggles between being Mel and Honey. Fast pace, twist, and funny. Observation: this English author writes almost like an American. ]
4. The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
   [ Fun to read an Australian novel, different wording but closer to US English than British English. Love the tension and suspense in waiting to see what the characters might do though not the usual material I’m interested in, marriage, old-relationship, motherhood, etc. ]
5. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (人生がときめく片づけの魔法) by Marie Kondo (近藤麻理恵)
   [ It CHANGED my life as promised. I felt better on the 2nd day of cleaning my cloth out (read KonMari related posts.) In her Japanese videos, she said to just try it even if you don’t believe it. I didn’t need to, it made perfect since to me. I have so much stuff, I’m only up to the document category after 1.5 months into it, but I know I have to do it right so I will never have to do it again. ]
6. Lair of Dreams: A Diviners Novel (2) by Libba Bray
   [ It’s a thick book but Libba didn’t let the middle fall flat. I love how she strings words together like an artist with beads. I do recommend reading the two books together. I waited so long for the 2nd book I forgot most of the 1st one. ]
7. The Agency 4: Rivals in the City by Y.S. Lee
   [ If you are new to The Agency Series, read The Agency 3 review. Lee writes great characters, even though I had guessed the plot, I still wanted to know how each person would react as the story progress. And I love how she weaved history, race issues, and mystery together. ]
8. The Intern’s Handbook: A John Lago Thriller (1) by Shane Kuhn
   [ John Lago is an trained assassin who found himself as he finishes his last assignment. Lots of twists in the book, good use of words. Found it a bit screenplay-ish which does works in this novel. ]
9. A Discovery of Witches: All Souls Trilogy (1) by Deborah Harkness
   [ Interesting concept of uniting witches, vampires, and demons, like nations on Earth should. However, I wasn’t interest in parts of book about wines and European/religious history, took much effort to finish this thick book. ]
10. Survive the Unthinkable: A Total Guide to Women’s Self-Protection by Tim Larkin
    [ Read as part of my research, found his Target Focus Training makes most sense among other women self defense books. He asks you to become more aware in the first place and for women to take the power back from their attackers. ]
11. Edison Effect: A Professor Bradshaw Mystery (4) by Bernadette Pajer
    [ Wow, this is the best Bradshaw case yet, Professor grew into a modern man and I didn’t guess the actual murderer. ]
12. Capacity for Murder: A Professor Bradshaw Mystery (3) by Bernadette Pajer
    [ Bernadette is getting better and better, the relationships between people are getting deeper and the plot is even more interesting than the the first two books. ]
13. Fatal Induction: A Professor Bradshaw Mystery (2) by Bernadette Pajer
    [ Perfect series for engineers who want to read for clean fun, I had guessed the ending early for the first book (A Spark of Death). This one is more complex and has more interesting science and history. ]
14. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley
    [ Flavia left home for the first time, she has to survive in the all girls boarding school and solve a mystery at the same time. All the while, she realizes she misses her sister and how she turns out to be much like her mother who she never really knew. ]
15. I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella.
    [ Best romance novel I’ve read so far (No sappy romance for me, thx!). It’s funny and it has depth. As we discover the characters, we also discover the plot. The story runs on constant warp speed so I’ll need to read a few other books until I can read another one of her books. ]
16. The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine.
    [ A perfect book for people who love their sisters. A reminder of how we help each other survive. (read my review) ]
17. The Rosie Effect (Don Tillman Book 2) by Graeme Simsion
    [ Though the 2nd “Rosie” book didn’t hit me as hard, it’s fun to see the struggles in a relationship during a pregnancy. To me, though Don has issues with reading emotions, I think all expected mothers will encounter as many problems as Rosie. And it seems if people can be honest with each other without taking it personally, everything might work out sooner and easier. ]
18. The Rosie Project (Don Tillman Book 1) by Graeme Simsion (Must Read)
    [ The best self-help book I’ve ever read and its a ROM-COM fiction! I see so much of myself in Don, I am applying what he learned in my own life. Read my reactions in 3 parts. ]
19. No Fortunate Son (Pike Logan Thriller) by Brad Taylor
    [ Brad as skillful as before, begins the story with multiple threads, with actors in each thread serving for their own interest (as they logically should), created hit and miss for the heros Pike and Jennifer. ]
20. Son (4 of 4 in The Giver Quartet) by Lois Lowry
    [ Written a while back but still reflects the negative side of human nature that is still true today. The conclusion offers one way to see the evil, also a way to resolve it. ]
21. The Body Snatchers Affair (Book 3 of Carpenter and Quincannon Mystery) by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini
    [ The wife and husband team of mystery writers are at work again. Of the two cases, I managed to solve the first one pretty early on. The thread though out this series is the relationship between the two detectives. Being written by a real life couple, the ups and downs between them ring true. ]