WEEK 52

"House of Reckoning" by John Saul
(from inside flap)
After the untimely death of her mother, fourteen-year-old Sarah Crane is forced to grow up quickly in order to help tend her family's Vermont farm and look after her grieving father, who's drowning his sorrow in alcohol. But their quiet life together is shattered when her father is jailed for killing another man in a barroom brawl and injuring Sarah in a drunken car crash. Left in the cold care of a loveless foster family and alienated at school, Sarah finds a kindred spirit in classmate Nick Dunnigan, a former mental patient still plagued by voices and visions. And in eccentric art instructor Bettina Phillips, Sarah finds a mentor eager to nurture her talent for painting.
But within the walls of Bettina's ancestral home, the mansion called Shutters, Sarah finds something altogether different and disturbing. Monstrous images from the house's dark history seem to flow unbidden from Sarah's paintbrush--images echoed by Nick's chilling hallucinations. Trapped for ages in the shadowy rooms of Shutters, the violence and fury of long-dead generations have finally found a gate way from the grave into the world of the living. And Sarah and Nick have found a power they never had: to take control, and take revenge.

MY THOUGHTS: This is a great book. It will grab you from the first chapter, you won't be able to put it down. I got the book on Saturday and finished it this morning. Following Sarah through her accident, therapy, and placement into foster care was like seeing first hand the system through which children go through. The foster family Sarah is put into is just in it for the money and soon Sarah is the cook and house cleaner. As Sarah starts school she is soon shunned because of her injury because she walks with a limp from her broken hip. Then Sarah meets Nick and her Art Teacher. Things start happening that can't be explained logically. The Art Teacher is reputed to be a witch by all the town folk. Nick is deemed crazy. Then Sarah is called evil. When all three of them come together at the house, Shutters, things begin to fall into place and soon the drawings and visions make sense.

MY RATING: 5


52 Books in 52 Weeks is over for the year. This is my 52nd book. This is my wrap up of that challenge.

This is the last week of the year and should have you starting book 52. Next Thursday, the last day of the year, we'll be wrapping up our 2009 Read 52 Books in 52. Questions to think about for our wrap up. Did you manage to read 52 books this year? Even if you didn't, how many did you manage to read? Did you discover a new author or a new genre. Did you rediscover an old classic or reread a book from years gone by? What book are you finishing up the challenge with? Have you started your wish list for 2010? Congratulations on making it through the year and thank you to all who followed our progress through out the year. Lots of good books, interesting discussions and new discoveries coming up next year.

I did read 52 books for this challenge. My 52nd book was House of Reckoning by John Saul. Here is my list of books. I did read some books that I don't usually read and I also read some books by new authors to me. Which one was my favorite? I can't really narrow it down to one. There are several that I really enjoyed reading. You can see the reviews on all my books here.

Week 1 - The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Week 2 - The Martin Chronicles - Ray Bardbury
Week 3 - In Defense of Food - Michael Pollan
Week 4 - The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Week 5 - High Noon - Nora Roberts
Week 6 - The Pagan Stone - Nora Roberts
Week 7 - The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck
Week 8 - The River's Edge - Terri Blackstock
Week 9 - The Senator's Wife - Sue Miller
Week 10 - Airborn - Kenneth Oppel
Week 11 - A Treasury of Peter Rabbit and other stories - Beatrix Potter
Week 12 - Skybreaker - Kenneth Oppel
Week 13 - StarClimber - Kenneth Oppel
Week 14 - Betrayals - Carla Neggers
Week 15 - World Without End - Ken Follett
Week 16 - The Woman Who Rides Like A Man - Tamora Pierce
Week 17 - Lioness Rampant - Tamora Pierce
Week 18 - Shadow Music - Julie Garwood
Week 19 - What Jamie Saw - Carolyn Coman
Week 20 - Elephant Run - Roland Smith
Week 21 - The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
Week 22 - Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood
Week 23 - Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
Week 24 - The Bride's Necklace - Kat Martin
Week 25 - Retribution - Jilliane Hoffman
Week 26 - Specials - Scott Westerfeld
Week 27 - City of Bones - Michael Connelly
Week 28 - Falling into the Sun - Charrie Hazard
Week 29 - Bare Bones - Kathy Reichs
Week 30 - A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
Week 31 - E is for Evidence - Sue Grafton
Week 32 – The Narrows – Michael Connelly
Week 33 – Ice Land – Betsy Tobin
Week 34 – Dead Wrong – J. A. Jance
Week 35 – Dancing With Ana – Nicole Barker
Week 36 – A Mercy – Toni Morrison
Week 37 – The Stone Diaries – Carol Shields
Week 38 – The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
Week 39 – The Dangerous Days of Daniel X – James Patterson
Week 40 – The Story of Edgar Sawtelle – David Wroblewski
Week 41 – The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard – Erin McGraw
WEEK 42 – The Help – Kathryn Stockett
WEEK 43 - The Bone Garden – Tess Gerritsen
Week 44 – The Last Oracle – James Rollins
Week 45 – The Manufactured Identity – Heath Sommer
Week 46 – The Blue Notebook – James A. Levine
Week 47 – March – Geraldine Brooks
Week 48 – Betrayal in Death – J. D. Robb
Week 49 – A Season of Gifts – Richard Peck
Week 50 – The Cost of Dreams – Gary Stelzer
Week 51 – Deadly Codes – JP O’Donnell
Week 52 – House of Reckoning – John Saul