I have been in a funk since the move (tip: don't ever move with teenagers-wherever you live when your kids are older than 12, just plan on staying there until they all graduate). Since I am happier when I am working on a goal, my good friend Suzanne forwarded me a reading challenge she was working on in 2015. I finished my first book yesterday (in red) and now I am ready to move on to the next. I was hoping some of you might help me round out my list. So check out my categories and give me some suggestions-pretty please.
If it is written in red, I read it and the * are out of 5*.
UPDATE: I finished the last book sometime early morning January 4th on my way back from dropping my oldest off to college. Now I need to think of a fun challenge for 2016. (sorry for all of you you with OCD, I don't know what is up with the margins, but I am too lazy to fix them)
2015 Reading Challenge
1. A book with more than 500 pages
City
of Heavenly Fire-Cassandra Clare***
(don't judge)
I personally think she should have
stopped after book 4, but she's a great author if you are looking mindless
demon and vampire romance.
2.
A book of short stories
The Illustrated Man-
Ray Bradburry*****
Bradburry is the man.
3. A classic romance
Me Before You-Jo Jo Moyes****1/2
A quirky outcast
gets a new job helping a rich quadriplegic and it is
great, but will make you cry.
4. A
book that became a movie
If I stay -Jan21 ***
Great teenage romance to escape
reality.
5. A book published this year ***
The Heir-Keira Cass****
If the Bachelorette was set in a futuristic diastopian society, it
would be this. This is the 4th in the series and each one isn't a good as
the previous one.
6. A book with a number in the title
#16 Things I thought Were True-Janet Gurtler
***
Meh
7. A book written by someone under 30
The Darkest Mind-Alexandra Bracken****
Kids start
developing supernatural abilities and out of fear are rounded up by the
government. A perfect book for hanging out a basketball practice.
8. A book with non-human characters
Dragon Song- Anne McCaffrey**
I started to read this for my series, but I didn't
enjoy it enough to read
anymore.
9. A funny book
Bridget Jones Diary-Helen Fielding **
I may be the only one that didn't love this. I
found her constant string of
bad decisions annoying and
frustrating.
10.
A book by a female author
Feeling Sorry for Celia-Jacyln Moriarty****
The book takes place in a series of notes from mother and daughter
and I kind of loved it.
11. A mystery or thriller
Looking For Me-Beth Hoffman****
A young antique dealer tries to cope
with the disappearance of her
brother. The mystery is a bit of a stretch, but it is full of
southern charm.
12.
A book with a one word title
Backwater-Joan
Bauer ***
A
girl from a family of lawyers, heads up into the
mountains to meet her reclusive aunt. Quick, easy read.
13.
A book set in a different country
Inside the Kingdom-Carmen Bin Ladin ****
Fascinating non-fiction into the lives of Saudi Women
14.
A non-fiction book
The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau **
Loved the idea of this book, but
didn't really like how it was written. I would have loved reading more
about people's pursuits.
15. A popular authors first book
That Summer-Sarah Dessen ***
Full of teenage angst and summer love.
Great reading to forget you're really 43.
16. A book from an author that
you love but you haven’t read yet
Saving Lucas Biggs-Marissa de los Santos ***
Love, love, love her adult books. This time-traveling
tale written for kids is a wonderful book about friendship
and forgiveness.
17. A book a friend
recommended
The
Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani ****
Epic tale of a girl from a small
village in the Italian Alps that makes her life in America. I really didn't
think her love interest was good enough for her and it bugged me.
18. A Pulitzer Prize
winning book
Gilead
by Marilynne Robinson
It is a long letter of an elderly father to his son. I tried to
love this, but there wasn't much of a plot, and I had to force myself through
it.
19. A book based on a true story
Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker by Jennifer
Chiaverini **
Interesting story told in super boring way.
20. A book at the
bottom of your to read
list
Grave Mercy-Robin
Lefevers ***
Female medieval assassins-what's not to like.
21. A book your mom
loves
The Rent Collector-Camron Wright****
Story of Cambodian garbage pickers.
I was worried it would be depressing, but it was uplifting.
22. A book that
scares you
The Ghosts of Ashbury
High-Jacyln Moriarty***
A mysterious couples are
the new kids at a rich boarding school in Australia.
23. A book more than 100 years old
A Room with
a View- E.M
Forster***
There are lots of great themes in this book, but I just had a hard
time caring about any of the characters.
24. A book based
entirely on its cover
The Fourteenth Goldfish***
A girl's grandfather discovers the secret to youth, and becomes
her age.
25. A book you were
supposed to read in school but didn’t
The Bell Jar-Sylvia Plath ***
A young women's decent into
madness.
26. A memoir
Taking Flight by
Michaela DePrince ****
Memoir of a orphan girl's journey to
become a professional ballerina.
27. A book you can finish in a day
Hope
Was Here-Joan Bauer ****
I like this author, if you are looking for clean stuff for your teens to
read. This one's about a girl that moves around a lot, and
finally settles in a small town. She develops waitressing to an art.
28. A book with antonyms in the title
The Hotel at
the Corner of Bitter and Sweet-Jamie Ford****
Forbidden love of a Chinese boy and a Japanese girl during WWII.
29. A book set somewhere you’ve always
wanted to visit
What Alice Forgot-Liane
Moriarty****1/2 (Australia) A 40
year old woman wakes up from a concussion with no memory of the last 10 years.
I loved it.
30. A book with bad reviews
Into the
Ever Blue-Veronica Rossi.***
Average teenage
diastopian romance
31. A book from the
year were born (1972)
An Unsuitable
Job for a Woman-PD James ***
Young brittish femal PI investigates
the suicide of a wealthy misfit.
32. A
trilogy
Across the Universe-Beth Revis****
The story of a family that is frozen
for centuries as
they travel to another planet, but the teenage daughter awakes early.
33. A book from your childhood
Dandelion Wine-Ray Bradburry****
34.
A book with a love triangle
In Their Footsteps-Terri Gerritson ****
A women investigates the death of parents who had been secret
agents.
35. A book set in the future
Under the Never Sky-Veronica Rossi***
Average teenage diastopian romance
36. A book set in high school
Buzzkill-Beth
Fanatskey ****
Teenage reporter investigates
a murder in her high school
37. A book with a colour in the title
The Girl in
Hyacinth Blue-Suasan Vreeland **
An epic novel about the different
owners of a painting. I have loved some of her other books, but this didn't
hold my interest.
38. A book that made you cry
We are Called to Rise-Laura McBride ***
It tells the
stories of an8 year old Albanian boy, a middle age woman, and social worker,
and an injured vet. There stories collide in a not-so happy string
of coincidences.
39. A book with magic
Princess of Thorns-Stacey Jay***
A retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
40. A graphic novel
Rapunzel's
Revenge-Shannon Hale *
Not my favorite genre
41. A book by an
author you’ve never read before
Everybody's Got Something-Robyn
Roberts***1/2
Super uplifting, quick, fun read.
42. A book you own
but have never
read All You Could Ask For-Mike Greenberg
Women connect through a breast
cancer forum-it made me cry and schedule my mammogram.
43. A book that takes place in your
hometown
The Man That Owned Vermont-May 1, 2015 *
The guy in this story has some issues.
44. A book that was originally written
in a different language
Reckless-Cornelia Funke **
A take on the Grimm Fairy Tales, but
it just wasn't a page turner for me.
45. A book set during Christmas
Redbird
Christmas-Fannie Flagg ***
Maybe not
my favorite of her books, but enjoyable.
46. A book written by an author with
your same initials
Girl Missing- Terri Gerritson ****
Crime drama
47. A play
A Raisin in
the Son by Lorraine Hansberry***
I didn't enjoy it, because I was
waiting the entire book for something bad to happen.
48. A banned book (or previously
banned)
Fahrenheit 451- Ray Bradbury
Jan 28 *****
My
daughter’s favorite book
49. A book based on or turned into a TV
Show
Astronaut's
Wives Club-Lily Koppel ****
(Don't read this if astronauts are
your heroes)
50. A book you started but never
finished
Big
Little Lies-Liane Moriarty****
Tells the story of a murder that took place at a PTO function at a
small school in Australia.
