2011 Goal 4: Swap one electronic device for another

It has been a rough couple of weeks in our household as we all managed to come down with something this month that required a z-pack.  Not all of us tested positive, but we're pretty sure we managed to pass strep throat around.  Hopefully that's out of the way for the rest of the season .

I thought a good way for me to keep track of my goals would be to assess them monthly to see where I am.  I thought I'd tackle #4 first since I am pretty confident I won't get another book read this month.  Looking at the tally in the Goodreads Challenge box in the sidebar, I read 5 books for the month of January.

Before I look at what I've read, I'll clarify why all the books I read were written by the same author.  I'm a huge fan of TNT; they've introduced a lot of new shows that are of much better quality than the basic networks these days (The Bachelor is STILL on - really?).  I've gotten hooked on quite a few:  The Closer, Leverage and Hawthorne, just to name a few.  They introduced one last summer with Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander (of NCIS fame) called Rizzoli and Isles.

Names sound familiar and I couldn't quite place why but then I remembered in my stack (OK, box) of paperback books I had a few of the Rizzoli and Isles series, written by Tess Gerritsen.  I read the first 3 or 4 in the series and I was hooked.  I am a fan of police procedural novels anyway, but Gerritsen has a way of pulling you in and keeping you in until you reach the end of the book.   I have an account on paperbackswap.com and some credits to use up, so I ordered the next ones in the series.  Here is what I managed to get through this month:

Body Double:  I gave this one 4 stars on Goodreads.  The excerpt of the back of the book was enough to pull me in.  A woman is found shot in front of Isles home and she could be her double.  Couldn't wait to get through to the end.

Vanish:  I also gave this one a 4 star rating.  Nine months pregnant and in labor and Rizzoli finds herself a hostage in the hospital.  Another page turner that kept me engrossed until the end.

Memphisto Club:  This has been my least favorite of all her books so far and got a whopping 2 star rating from me.  The book itself focused way too much on religious symbolism (in my opinion).  I found my eyes glazing over and I started skimming over a lot of it just to get to the end to see who the serial killer was.

The Bone Garden:  This one was OK.  I didn't realize that it wasn't truly a Rizzoli and Isles book - Isles shows up for about 4 pages and that's it.  This was more of a historical romance mystery that kept jumping from the 1840's to present day.  Honestly I think the jumping around kept the characters (from either century) from really being developed.  You learned a little about one - whoosh - back in time you go.  Book was OK though, just not what I was expecting.

The Keepsake:  I was very happy that in this book Gerritsen was back to doing what she does best - weaving a riveting story.  What was thought to be a centuries-old well preserved mummy turned out to be a present day murder victim.  Another one that kept my attention through the end.

All in all, I didn't do too bad with this goal.  Granted none of the books I read were classics, but I have 11 more months to read 5 of them!