I DID IT!!! I FINISHED ALL THE BOOKS!!! Ten days ago i looked at the list & saw that I had 11 books left to read. I decided (insanely) to go for it. And I just finished my last book this morning! Two-part post: first, I'll give you a quick update with book titles; keep reading past that if you want to find out a little more about my thoughts on the various books, and how they were chosen!
Part 1
Since my last update, I've read: Ramona and Her Mother, which is a National Book Award winner; Flash Fire, which is a book I haven't read since high school; P is for Palmetto, which is a book set in my home state (SC); The Great Gilly Hopkins, which is a book that became a movie this year; March: Book One, which is a political memoir; Antony and Cleopatra, which is a book at least 100 years older than me; She's Come Undone, which is a book from Oprah's Book Club; The Witch Must Burn and The Wicked Will Rise, which is a book and its prequel; Talking as Fast as I Can, which is a book written by a comedian; Booked, which is a book of poetry; Giant Dance Party, which was the first book I saw in abookstore library; Night, which is a classic from the 20th century; and The Dakota Cipher, which is a book about a road trip!
Previously, I've read:
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson, which is a book based on a fairy tale.
Part 1
Since my last update, I've read: Ramona and Her Mother, which is a National Book Award winner; Flash Fire, which is a book I haven't read since high school; P is for Palmetto, which is a book set in my home state (SC); The Great Gilly Hopkins, which is a book that became a movie this year; March: Book One, which is a political memoir; Antony and Cleopatra, which is a book at least 100 years older than me; She's Come Undone, which is a book from Oprah's Book Club; The Witch Must Burn and The Wicked Will Rise, which is a book and its prequel; Talking as Fast as I Can, which is a book written by a comedian; Booked, which is a book of poetry; Giant Dance Party, which was the first book I saw in a
Previously, I've read:
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson, which is a book based on a fairy tale.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, which is a YA bestseller.
Journal of Major George Washington, 1754 by George Washington, which is a book translated to English.
The Cage by Megan Shepherd, which is a romance set in the future.
Journal of Major George Washington, 1754 by George Washington, which is a book translated to English.
The Cage by Megan Shepherd, which is a romance set in the future.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, which is a book set in Europe.
The Fireflies Book by Brett Ortler, which is a book that's under 150 pages.
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith, which is a New York Times bestseller.
#scandal by Sarah Ockler is a book recommended by someone I just met.
The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp is a self-improvement book.
#scandal by Sarah Ockler is a book recommended by someone I just met.
The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp is a self-improvement book.
Prohibition Bakery by Leslie Feinberg with Brooke Siem, which is a book I can finish in a day.
Situation Momedy: A First-Time Mom's Guide to Laughing Your Way Through Pregnancy & Year One by Jenna Von Oy, which is a book written by a celebrity.
Baby 411 by Ari Brown with Denise Fields, which is a book that's more than 600 pages.
Baby 411 by Ari Brown with Denise Fields, which is a book that's more than 600 pages.
Meridian by Josin L. McQuein, which is a science-fiction novel.
On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo with Robert Bucknam, which is a book recommended by a family member.
The Harlem Hellfighters by Max Brooks, which is a graphic novel.
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco, which is a book that is published in 2016.
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, which is a book with a protagonist who has my occupation.
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, which is a book with a protagonist who has my occupation.
Circa Now by Amber McRee Turner, which is a book that takes place during Summer.
What We Lost in the Dark by Jacquelyn Mitchard, which is a murder mystery.
Near Enemy by Adam Sternbergh, which is a dystopian novel.
The Forever Girl by Alexander McCall Smith, which is a book with a blue cover.
The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan, which is a book from the library.
I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had by Tony Danza, which is an autobiography.
I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had by Tony Danza, which is an autobiography.
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith, which is a book about a culture I'm unfamiliar with.
Mama Tried by Emily Flake, which is a satirical book.
The Young Elites by Marie Lu, which is a book that takes place on an island.
Wild Ones by Jon Mooallem, which is a book that's guaranteed to bring me joy.
Part 2
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson | A book based on a fairy tale This is a YA novel based on Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, and told from Tiger Lily's point of view. I loved it! I'd had it sitting on my bookshelf for years; so glad this challenge finally prompted me to read it. (I'd bought it for the cover.)
Ramona and Her Mother by Beverly Cleary | A National Book Award winner In November/December I downloaded and listened to all of the Ramona Quimby books, as a nice mental "break" from all the studying at the end of the semester. Turns out the National Book Award list has a "children's" category, and Ramona and Her Mother won one year! So this was just a serendipitous fulfillment of the challenge. Learned an interesting fact: while Ramona herself ages only 6 years over the course of 6 books, they were published over the span of nearly 20 years.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo | A YA bestseller This was one of the first books I checked off the list! Working in the YA department of a library certainly helped. A coworker told me I must read it, so I did, and it's FANTASTIC. I'm passing along the advice: read this book!
Flash Fire by Caroline B. Cooney | A book I haven't read since high school Do I get bonus points for reading the exact same copy that I read in high school? lol I still had my battered paperback copy of it, with it's awesome (slightly appalling) 1990's cover graphic and my name (well, my former/maiden name) inked in the inside cover. I think I read it multiple times in high school; it was one of the first thrillers I ever read and I loved it. It was just as I remembered!
P is for Palmetto by Carol Crane | A book set in my home state I was technically born in PA, but we moved to SC when I was one- way too young to feel like PA was my home state. I did all of my growing up in SC and only moved to NC a few years ago, so I chose to do SC as my "home state." This was one of a handful of challenge components that I feel like I fudged just a little: it's a picture book. It's a delightful one, and a bit lengthier than most picture books, but still a picture book.
Journal of Major George Washington, 1754 by George Washington | A book translated to English While we all know that George Washington spoke and wrote in English, this one still counts! In the introduction, it was explained that this particular year's journal was confiscated by the French and translated to French. Many, many years later, the French translation was discovered but the original English version has never been found. So we can only read the journal translated to English from French from the original English. It was slightly "choppy" to read because of this, but I still really enjoyed "hearing" my hero's words!
The Cage by Megan Shepherd | A romance set in the future Another YA book! (This shouldn't surprise you.) I had previously read (and loved) Shepherd's other trilogy, and The Cage didn't disappoint. I look forward to reading the next two books in the trilogy soon. It's really unique: six teens are kidnapped from earth and put in a zoo of sorts on an alien planet. It might give away part of the story to tell you where the romance comes in!
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah | A book set in Europe If I'd wanted to "cheat" a little, this one could have double-counted! It's a book set in Europe that was recommended by a family member! It was so good, and I'm so glad my sister-in-law recommended it. It's not one I would have picked up on my own, I think, but I really enjoyed reading it. It follows two sisters who are very young adults, living just outside Paris during WWII.
The Fireflies Book by Brett Ortler | A book that's under 150 pages I think this one was only about 20 pages! Definitely fits the challenge requirement. I got it while on a camping trip with my family and friends to see the synchronous fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains. Such an awesome experience! My family promises that we'll go back when the boy is a bit older so that he can see it too.
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith | A New York Times bestseller I binge-read this whole series earlier this year! It's a popular one, so the later books in the series were all bestsellers, according to The New York Times. I thought they were fun books; little cozy mysteries set in Botswana.
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson | A book that's becoming a movie this year This is the last book I finished for the challenge, on New Years' Eve morning! I looked at a list of all the movies released in 2016, and picked the one that would be the shortest. Surprisingly, I'd never read this children's classic. I loved it!
#scandal by Sarah Ockler | A book recommended by someone you just met This one was required reading by one of my professors this past summer. I'd never had the professor before, so she counted as "someone I just met." It was ok. At least it was YA and not lengthy. My favorite character was the horse (and it was just a normal horse, not a magical talking horse or anything).
The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp | A self-improvement book This book was meant to help improve my mothering skills. However, I think the whole 300+ page book could've been boiled down to a long magazine article and saved me some time that could've been spent with the baby. It wasn't a lot of new information.
Prohibition Bakery by Leslie Feinberg and Brooke Siem | A book you can finish in a day A cookbook! I did actually "read" it cover to cover, though, so I don't look at this as cheating. It had great little tidbits about Prohibition scattered between recipes for delicious-looking baked goods infused with alcohol. I was, however, pregnant while reading it and therefore couldn't try any of the recipes.
Situation Momedy by Jenna Von Oy | A book written by a celebrity I read this one right after giving birth! It rang so true in so many ways, and was well-written to boot. I find that a lot of written-by-celebrity books are slightly sub-par (they're really good at acting; not always great at writing), but this one was good! And it literally made me laugh out loud. And it gave me some confidence at mom-ing. So it was totally a win.
March: Book One by John Lewis | A political memoir A graphic novel political memoir, no less! :) I read this one in December, at the very end of the challenge, so I was super glad to find a graphic novel political memoir. This one was ok. It had been talked about for awards and all, so my expectations were pretty high, and it just didn't quite meet them. A coworker read March: Book Two recently and said it wasn't really any better. Oh dear.
Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare | A book at least 100 years older than me Written in the 1500s, it's way more than 100 years older than me! I know it was written as a play (and might still be performed somewhere), but it's considered a "classic" and not a "script" at my library, so I'm counting it for this challenge! I hadn't read this one before, and it was ok. I need to look and see if it was written before or after Romeo and Juliet. They felt very similar. I wonder if Shakespeare was slightly lazy?
Baby 411 by Ari Brown and Denise Fields | A book that's more than 600 pages I know most people would just buy this one and put it on the shelf for reference, but I read it cover to cover. It counted for this challenge! And now I know more than anyone probably wants to know about babies. Of course, after reading tons of baby books, I can also tell you that every baby is different and doesn't fit the baby book descriptions. My baby, for example, eats more than the baby book says a baby his age will eat. (He grows super fast.) But he's still within "normal," so that's all ok.
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb | A book from Oprah's Book Club UGH. I hate-listened to this audiobook at the very end of December. It was just such a downer of a book! Every time I thought that things couldn't get worse for the main character, the author found a way to work in another tragedy. Ugh.
Meridian by Josin L. McQuien | A science-fiction novel Another YA book! This is the sequel to Arclight. These books have an interesting premise, but it's almost too science-fictiony for me. I need a little bit of an anchor to contemporary things to be able to follow the story (personally), and this one was completely foreign. Not terrible, just not really for me.
On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam | A book recommended by a family member Two family members told us about this book while we were pregnant, so I read it and we followed it and it worked! I know sleep training is controversial, but for our family, this is what worked. We have a healthy boy who sleeps on his own through the night. He wakes up well-rested and we never deny him food when he's hungry. Our pediatrician sees him regularly and declares him perfectly healthy. While Babywise may not be the book for you, it was the book for us.
The Harlem Hellfighters by Max Brooks | A graphic novel I truly enjoyed reading this one! The title and the cover make it look like an action graphic novel, but it's actually historical. It tells a slightly fictionalized story of the first all-black Army unit to fight overseas in WWI. It was really well done, and I've since recommended it to many teens.
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco | A book that is published in 2016 I sometimes feel like I'm always playing catch-up with my to-read list, and not reading anything brand new. The publisher contacted me this year and asked if I'd review this one on Tynga's Reviews and I agreed, and got to read a brand new book! The publisher sent me a finished hardcover of it- how awesome is that?
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins | A book with a protagonist who has my occupation (librarian) This one was a fantasy book, and the librarian worked in an other-world library that held literally all the secrets and knowledge of the whole universe. It was kind of a mind-bender as well.
Circa Now by Amber McRee Turner | A book that takes place during Summer This was a pretty cute MG book. From the back cover summary, I was expecting fantasy but it turned out to be straight up contemporary. This left me feeling just a little misled, but the story was still really good, so that made up for it.
The Witch Must Burn and The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige | A book and its prequel Well, this one wasn't fair of PopSugar! This is one checkmark for two books! Nevertheless, I dutifully sought out a book with a prequel. I'd already read Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1) last year, so I guess you could say I fudged this one just a little. I read The Witch Must Burn (Dorothy Must Die #0.1) and The Wicked Will Rise (Dorothy Must Die #2) this year. Still within the same series, so I'm counting it! I'm loving these retakes on The Wizard of Oz. Or, I guess it'd be more accurate to call them continuances of The Wizard of Oz, since they take place after the original. Either way, they're edgy and sometimes funny and sometime tense and always well done.
What We Lost in the Dark by Jacquelyn Mitchard | A murder mystery Surprisingly, none of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books are murder mysteries! So even though I read a ton of them this year, I ended up going with a YA thriller for this challenge to-do item. What We Lost in the Dark is actually a sequel to What We Saw at NIght. It's a cool duology- the main characters have xeroderma pigmentosa, so they can only go out at night. While out at night they do unique sports, such as parkour and deep free diving. And they witness a murder.
Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham | A book written by a comedian Before reading this book, I didn't believe in "reading slumps." I kinda filed that term away with "tooth fairy" and "Santa Claus." However, I'd been struggling through a massive baby book and decided that just this once I'd put aside a book in order to start a new one. (I always like to finish a book before starting the next.) So I put aside the massive baby book and read Talking as Fast as I Can in just 24 hours! Turns out I'd been in a reading slump and didn't even know it! I did eventually finish the baby book, but now I know that reading slumps exist, and can be broken with a hilarious book by Lauren Graham.
Near Enemy by Adam Sternbergh | A dystopian novel This is actually a sequel to Shovel Ready, which I read last year. Both are excellent! While they are adult fiction, they're not long at all and will make you laugh out loud. The main character is super snarky! I love some good snark.
The Forever Girl by Alexander McCall Smith | A book with a blue cover This book's cover isn't solid blue, but it's definitely majority blue. As I've mentioned, I binge-read Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books this year and loved them. They make me laugh. The Forever Girl is 100% different. Not a bad book, but not what I was expecting from the author, which threw me for a loop.
Booked by Kwame Alexander | A book of poetry In hindsight, I think this one was fudged a little, as well. But not intentionally. Booked is a novel in verse, so it's a book in poetry, not necessarily a book of poetry. Maybe? Let's not quibble over that. Alexander is a brilliant YA author, and reading Booked makes me want to read ALL. THE. ALEXANDER. BOOKS. I don't even usually like sports books! I immediately recommended his books to a nephew. I mean immediately. At, like, 2am. My sister-in-law had to tease me about that late-night email... but I was too excited!
Giant Dance Party by Betsy Bird | The first book I saw in abookstore library I don't go to bookstores. Too dangerous. Like taking someone in Weight Watchers to a cupcake shop. So I went to a library. To my library. Which is a children's library. .... Ok, so this one was a fudge as well. I deliberately did the first book I saw in a library that I knew shelved and displayed picture books up front. But I really did work hard on this list and I wasn't going to let this last little checklist item stop me!
Night by Elie Wiesel | A classic from the 20th century Believe it or not, I'd never been required to read this one in high school. It is incredibly moving. Night is nonfiction as well as a classic, making it even more hard-hitting. The hubby and I also own the follow-ups, Dawn and Day, and I look forward to reading them in 2017.
The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan | A book from the library My coworkers and I all checked off on this item right away!
I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had by Tony Danza | An autobiography This isn't a full autobiography of Tony Danza's life; it just covers a year that he spent teaching in a Philadelphia high school. It's really interesting. Recommended to me by my aunt... so this one could've double-counted too!
The Dakota Cipher by William Dietrich | A book about a road trip I love how some of my books perfectly fit the requirement, and yet also take a tad of imagination... this one is historical fiction, set in the mid-1800s, and the "road trip" is a horseback/carriage/walking/canoeing trip across the Louisiana Purchase land.
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding by Alexander McCall Smith | A book about a culture you're unfamiliar with Another No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency book! I told you that I read a lot of these this year. Before starting this series, I was completely unfamiliar with Botswanan culture. Now I almost feel like I could get around a little in Gabarrone! Or, at least, in Mme. Makutse's fictitious neighborhood. ;)
Mama Tried by Emily Flake | A satirical book Ugh. This book- ugh. Yeah, it was satirical, so it totally fits this challenge requirement, but it also totally stunk. I thought it would be a snarkily humorous book about motherhood. Instead, the author comes across as kinda inept and very whiny. One or two pages of the book actually made me wonder a little about the health and safety of her kid.
The Young Elites by Marie Lu | A book that takes place on an island This is another one that perfectly fits the challenge requirement in an unusual way: its a YA fantasy, so it takes place on a fictitious island! A great book with lots of action, and the author and I share a first name!
Wild Ones by Jon Mooallem |A book that's guaranteed to bring you joy I had read an excerpt of this book in 2015 and loved it, so I figured the full-length book was guaranteed to bring me joy. I was right! This is an interesting nonfiction look at climate change and extinction. What makes it unique is the total lack of preachiness. Love that.
What about you? Did anyone else complete this (or any other) challenge? Leave a link & I'll check out your results too! Happy New Year!
Wild Ones by Jon Mooallem, which is a book that's guaranteed to bring me joy.
Part 2
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson | A book based on a fairy tale This is a YA novel based on Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, and told from Tiger Lily's point of view. I loved it! I'd had it sitting on my bookshelf for years; so glad this challenge finally prompted me to read it. (I'd bought it for the cover.)
Ramona and Her Mother by Beverly Cleary | A National Book Award winner In November/December I downloaded and listened to all of the Ramona Quimby books, as a nice mental "break" from all the studying at the end of the semester. Turns out the National Book Award list has a "children's" category, and Ramona and Her Mother won one year! So this was just a serendipitous fulfillment of the challenge. Learned an interesting fact: while Ramona herself ages only 6 years over the course of 6 books, they were published over the span of nearly 20 years.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo | A YA bestseller This was one of the first books I checked off the list! Working in the YA department of a library certainly helped. A coworker told me I must read it, so I did, and it's FANTASTIC. I'm passing along the advice: read this book!
Flash Fire by Caroline B. Cooney | A book I haven't read since high school Do I get bonus points for reading the exact same copy that I read in high school? lol I still had my battered paperback copy of it, with it's awesome (slightly appalling) 1990's cover graphic and my name (well, my former/maiden name) inked in the inside cover. I think I read it multiple times in high school; it was one of the first thrillers I ever read and I loved it. It was just as I remembered!
P is for Palmetto by Carol Crane | A book set in my home state I was technically born in PA, but we moved to SC when I was one- way too young to feel like PA was my home state. I did all of my growing up in SC and only moved to NC a few years ago, so I chose to do SC as my "home state." This was one of a handful of challenge components that I feel like I fudged just a little: it's a picture book. It's a delightful one, and a bit lengthier than most picture books, but still a picture book.
Journal of Major George Washington, 1754 by George Washington | A book translated to English While we all know that George Washington spoke and wrote in English, this one still counts! In the introduction, it was explained that this particular year's journal was confiscated by the French and translated to French. Many, many years later, the French translation was discovered but the original English version has never been found. So we can only read the journal translated to English from French from the original English. It was slightly "choppy" to read because of this, but I still really enjoyed "hearing" my hero's words!
The Cage by Megan Shepherd | A romance set in the future Another YA book! (This shouldn't surprise you.) I had previously read (and loved) Shepherd's other trilogy, and The Cage didn't disappoint. I look forward to reading the next two books in the trilogy soon. It's really unique: six teens are kidnapped from earth and put in a zoo of sorts on an alien planet. It might give away part of the story to tell you where the romance comes in!
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah | A book set in Europe If I'd wanted to "cheat" a little, this one could have double-counted! It's a book set in Europe that was recommended by a family member! It was so good, and I'm so glad my sister-in-law recommended it. It's not one I would have picked up on my own, I think, but I really enjoyed reading it. It follows two sisters who are very young adults, living just outside Paris during WWII.
The Fireflies Book by Brett Ortler | A book that's under 150 pages I think this one was only about 20 pages! Definitely fits the challenge requirement. I got it while on a camping trip with my family and friends to see the synchronous fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains. Such an awesome experience! My family promises that we'll go back when the boy is a bit older so that he can see it too.
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith | A New York Times bestseller I binge-read this whole series earlier this year! It's a popular one, so the later books in the series were all bestsellers, according to The New York Times. I thought they were fun books; little cozy mysteries set in Botswana.
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson | A book that's becoming a movie this year This is the last book I finished for the challenge, on New Years' Eve morning! I looked at a list of all the movies released in 2016, and picked the one that would be the shortest. Surprisingly, I'd never read this children's classic. I loved it!
#scandal by Sarah Ockler | A book recommended by someone you just met This one was required reading by one of my professors this past summer. I'd never had the professor before, so she counted as "someone I just met." It was ok. At least it was YA and not lengthy. My favorite character was the horse (and it was just a normal horse, not a magical talking horse or anything).
The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp | A self-improvement book This book was meant to help improve my mothering skills. However, I think the whole 300+ page book could've been boiled down to a long magazine article and saved me some time that could've been spent with the baby. It wasn't a lot of new information.
Prohibition Bakery by Leslie Feinberg and Brooke Siem | A book you can finish in a day A cookbook! I did actually "read" it cover to cover, though, so I don't look at this as cheating. It had great little tidbits about Prohibition scattered between recipes for delicious-looking baked goods infused with alcohol. I was, however, pregnant while reading it and therefore couldn't try any of the recipes.
Situation Momedy by Jenna Von Oy | A book written by a celebrity I read this one right after giving birth! It rang so true in so many ways, and was well-written to boot. I find that a lot of written-by-celebrity books are slightly sub-par (they're really good at acting; not always great at writing), but this one was good! And it literally made me laugh out loud. And it gave me some confidence at mom-ing. So it was totally a win.
March: Book One by John Lewis | A political memoir A graphic novel political memoir, no less! :) I read this one in December, at the very end of the challenge, so I was super glad to find a graphic novel political memoir. This one was ok. It had been talked about for awards and all, so my expectations were pretty high, and it just didn't quite meet them. A coworker read March: Book Two recently and said it wasn't really any better. Oh dear.
Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare | A book at least 100 years older than me Written in the 1500s, it's way more than 100 years older than me! I know it was written as a play (and might still be performed somewhere), but it's considered a "classic" and not a "script" at my library, so I'm counting it for this challenge! I hadn't read this one before, and it was ok. I need to look and see if it was written before or after Romeo and Juliet. They felt very similar. I wonder if Shakespeare was slightly lazy?
Baby 411 by Ari Brown and Denise Fields | A book that's more than 600 pages I know most people would just buy this one and put it on the shelf for reference, but I read it cover to cover. It counted for this challenge! And now I know more than anyone probably wants to know about babies. Of course, after reading tons of baby books, I can also tell you that every baby is different and doesn't fit the baby book descriptions. My baby, for example, eats more than the baby book says a baby his age will eat. (He grows super fast.) But he's still within "normal," so that's all ok.
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb | A book from Oprah's Book Club UGH. I hate-listened to this audiobook at the very end of December. It was just such a downer of a book! Every time I thought that things couldn't get worse for the main character, the author found a way to work in another tragedy. Ugh.
Meridian by Josin L. McQuien | A science-fiction novel Another YA book! This is the sequel to Arclight. These books have an interesting premise, but it's almost too science-fictiony for me. I need a little bit of an anchor to contemporary things to be able to follow the story (personally), and this one was completely foreign. Not terrible, just not really for me.
On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam | A book recommended by a family member Two family members told us about this book while we were pregnant, so I read it and we followed it and it worked! I know sleep training is controversial, but for our family, this is what worked. We have a healthy boy who sleeps on his own through the night. He wakes up well-rested and we never deny him food when he's hungry. Our pediatrician sees him regularly and declares him perfectly healthy. While Babywise may not be the book for you, it was the book for us.
The Harlem Hellfighters by Max Brooks | A graphic novel I truly enjoyed reading this one! The title and the cover make it look like an action graphic novel, but it's actually historical. It tells a slightly fictionalized story of the first all-black Army unit to fight overseas in WWI. It was really well done, and I've since recommended it to many teens.
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco | A book that is published in 2016 I sometimes feel like I'm always playing catch-up with my to-read list, and not reading anything brand new. The publisher contacted me this year and asked if I'd review this one on Tynga's Reviews and I agreed, and got to read a brand new book! The publisher sent me a finished hardcover of it- how awesome is that?
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins | A book with a protagonist who has my occupation (librarian) This one was a fantasy book, and the librarian worked in an other-world library that held literally all the secrets and knowledge of the whole universe. It was kind of a mind-bender as well.
Circa Now by Amber McRee Turner | A book that takes place during Summer This was a pretty cute MG book. From the back cover summary, I was expecting fantasy but it turned out to be straight up contemporary. This left me feeling just a little misled, but the story was still really good, so that made up for it.
The Witch Must Burn and The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige | A book and its prequel Well, this one wasn't fair of PopSugar! This is one checkmark for two books! Nevertheless, I dutifully sought out a book with a prequel. I'd already read Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1) last year, so I guess you could say I fudged this one just a little. I read The Witch Must Burn (Dorothy Must Die #0.1) and The Wicked Will Rise (Dorothy Must Die #2) this year. Still within the same series, so I'm counting it! I'm loving these retakes on The Wizard of Oz. Or, I guess it'd be more accurate to call them continuances of The Wizard of Oz, since they take place after the original. Either way, they're edgy and sometimes funny and sometime tense and always well done.
What We Lost in the Dark by Jacquelyn Mitchard | A murder mystery Surprisingly, none of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books are murder mysteries! So even though I read a ton of them this year, I ended up going with a YA thriller for this challenge to-do item. What We Lost in the Dark is actually a sequel to What We Saw at NIght. It's a cool duology- the main characters have xeroderma pigmentosa, so they can only go out at night. While out at night they do unique sports, such as parkour and deep free diving. And they witness a murder.
Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham | A book written by a comedian Before reading this book, I didn't believe in "reading slumps." I kinda filed that term away with "tooth fairy" and "Santa Claus." However, I'd been struggling through a massive baby book and decided that just this once I'd put aside a book in order to start a new one. (I always like to finish a book before starting the next.) So I put aside the massive baby book and read Talking as Fast as I Can in just 24 hours! Turns out I'd been in a reading slump and didn't even know it! I did eventually finish the baby book, but now I know that reading slumps exist, and can be broken with a hilarious book by Lauren Graham.
Near Enemy by Adam Sternbergh | A dystopian novel This is actually a sequel to Shovel Ready, which I read last year. Both are excellent! While they are adult fiction, they're not long at all and will make you laugh out loud. The main character is super snarky! I love some good snark.
The Forever Girl by Alexander McCall Smith | A book with a blue cover This book's cover isn't solid blue, but it's definitely majority blue. As I've mentioned, I binge-read Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books this year and loved them. They make me laugh. The Forever Girl is 100% different. Not a bad book, but not what I was expecting from the author, which threw me for a loop.
Booked by Kwame Alexander | A book of poetry In hindsight, I think this one was fudged a little, as well. But not intentionally. Booked is a novel in verse, so it's a book in poetry, not necessarily a book of poetry. Maybe? Let's not quibble over that. Alexander is a brilliant YA author, and reading Booked makes me want to read ALL. THE. ALEXANDER. BOOKS. I don't even usually like sports books! I immediately recommended his books to a nephew. I mean immediately. At, like, 2am. My sister-in-law had to tease me about that late-night email... but I was too excited!
Giant Dance Party by Betsy Bird | The first book I saw in a
Night by Elie Wiesel | A classic from the 20th century Believe it or not, I'd never been required to read this one in high school. It is incredibly moving. Night is nonfiction as well as a classic, making it even more hard-hitting. The hubby and I also own the follow-ups, Dawn and Day, and I look forward to reading them in 2017.
The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan | A book from the library My coworkers and I all checked off on this item right away!
I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had by Tony Danza | An autobiography This isn't a full autobiography of Tony Danza's life; it just covers a year that he spent teaching in a Philadelphia high school. It's really interesting. Recommended to me by my aunt... so this one could've double-counted too!
The Dakota Cipher by William Dietrich | A book about a road trip I love how some of my books perfectly fit the requirement, and yet also take a tad of imagination... this one is historical fiction, set in the mid-1800s, and the "road trip" is a horseback/carriage/walking/canoeing trip across the Louisiana Purchase land.
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding by Alexander McCall Smith | A book about a culture you're unfamiliar with Another No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency book! I told you that I read a lot of these this year. Before starting this series, I was completely unfamiliar with Botswanan culture. Now I almost feel like I could get around a little in Gabarrone! Or, at least, in Mme. Makutse's fictitious neighborhood. ;)
Mama Tried by Emily Flake | A satirical book Ugh. This book- ugh. Yeah, it was satirical, so it totally fits this challenge requirement, but it also totally stunk. I thought it would be a snarkily humorous book about motherhood. Instead, the author comes across as kinda inept and very whiny. One or two pages of the book actually made me wonder a little about the health and safety of her kid.
The Young Elites by Marie Lu | A book that takes place on an island This is another one that perfectly fits the challenge requirement in an unusual way: its a YA fantasy, so it takes place on a fictitious island! A great book with lots of action, and the author and I share a first name!
Wild Ones by Jon Mooallem |A book that's guaranteed to bring you joy I had read an excerpt of this book in 2015 and loved it, so I figured the full-length book was guaranteed to bring me joy. I was right! This is an interesting nonfiction look at climate change and extinction. What makes it unique is the total lack of preachiness. Love that.
What about you? Did anyone else complete this (or any other) challenge? Leave a link & I'll check out your results too! Happy New Year!
