2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

My goal is 52 books in 2016 or a book a week.

Great goal! Good luck!

1. The Food of a Younger Land: The WPA's Portrait of Food in Pre-World War II America
Interesting book compiled from a depression work project called the Federal Writers Project. The idea was to write about food and eating habits in different areas of the country. I loved the descriptions of the feasts and festivals. There wasn't much about everyday eating habits, though. I was a little disappointed in that.

2. A Civil War: Army vs. Navy - A Year Inside College Football's Purest Rivalry
I have had season tickets to Navy football for several years and found this book very interesting. Feinstein tells the stories of the seniors on each team and the stories of the games of fall 1995 including the exciting finale: a very close Army Navy game. 4 stars.

3. Being Human: Life Lessons from the Frontiers of Science by Robert M. Sapolsky
I wasn't sure I would like this after the first lecture, but Professor Sapolsky really grew on me. I liked his voice and his sense of humor. Plus the science and his conclusions were interesting.

4. The Martian
Pretty good book. As a math person I liked and appreciated the nerd aspect of Mark, the lead character.

my goal for this year is 50 books because I am prepared for reading slumps. Which occurred many times in 2015

5. The Fifth of March: A Story of the Boston Massacre
Young adult novel about the Boston massacre.

The Food of a Younger Land- looks really interesting... shame there wasn't much focus on eating habits of different regions but great idea for a future read. Great list BTW :).

6. Globejotting: How to Write Extraordinary Travel Journals
I am going on a trip soon and thought I would read this to get some ideas about travel journaling. The book is funny and definitely has some ideas I am going to try.

7. Parallel Journeys
This book was assigned to eighth grade where I substitute. I read it so I could discuss with them. It's a decent overview of World War II and the Holocaust from a young adult perspective.

8. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
I've had this one a while. Enjoyable WWII era novel.

9. Paris by Edward Rutherford
Read this as background for my trip in a few weeks. It took me a long time to get through because it jumps all over the place. Once I outlined what I was reading it helped me to see how it all tied together and it went faster. Enjoyable book, overall.

10. Book by Book: Notes on Reading and Life
A bit too intellectual for me but made me fantasize about what it would be like to get paid for reading for work.... Would it still be as fun? I wonder.

Good Luck on your reading challenge, looks like you have already read some great books!

11. Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard

12. You Are Now Less Dumb: How to Conquer Mob Mentality, How to Buy Happiness, and All the Other Ways to Outsmart Yourself by Davic McRaney

13. Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster
I am behind on my reading because of a calculus class. It will be over in a couple of weeks and then I plan on doing a lot of catch up!

Interesting titles! Good luck with your goal this year :)

14. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.
Of course, this is a re-read. I had forgotten the twists and turns. Definitely a book you don't want to put down. The narrator drove me crazy most of the book, a reaction I don't remember having when I was younger. I'll have to do more classic re-reads this summer. This one was fun.

15. The Katyn Order by Douglas W. Jacobson
Excellent historical novel about the Second World War in Poland. Covers the Warsaw uprising and the beginnings of the Russian occupation after the war. The history is something Americans don't know very well but should.

16. Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will by Kevin DeYoung.
Short practical book on figuring out what God wants you to do.

17. Flowers from Berlin by Noel Hynd
I really like to read WWII fiction. This one was pretty good. Lots of twists and turns, some pretty unbelievable, but still fun to read. Good for a rainy weekend.

Great job, Anne! What has been your favorite book so far?

Cassandra wrote: "Great job, Anne! What has been your favorite book so far?"

I think Paris by Edward Rutherfurd. It gave me a lot of background information before my trip to Paris in March.

The next ten books I read are going to be ones I already own on my kindle or bookshelf. I am not going to let myself buy any more books until I finish these. The books I plan to read are:
1. The Foreign Correspondent
2. Radiant Angel
3. Defending Jacob
4. Between the Woods and the Water
5. Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives
6. Julia Child Rules: Lessons on Savoring Life
7. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
8. Miracles: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life
9. The Girl on the Train
10. Mission to Paris

But when the last Passage book comes out (The City of Mirrors), I am going to have to drop everything and read that one. It kind of counts as an already owned because I have it pre-ordered on the kindle.

18. The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst
Set just before World War 2 in Paris and Berlin, a spy novel about Italian anti-fascists doing what they can to resist. I am excited to have finally read Furst. There are a ton of books in this series and I can see myself reading them all!

19. Radiant Angel by Nelson DeMille
I've read most of DeMille's books. I love the witty dialogue and the fast paced action. This one was no exception.

20. Defending Jacob by William Landay

This book has been on my kindle for years, but I never got around to reading it until now. A family courtroom murder mystery with some unexpected twists. I finished it in 2 days. Good read.

21. Between the Woods and the Water by Patrick Leigh Fermor

This book transports you back almost a hundred years to the lands surrounding the Danube in Central Europe.

22. Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin

Felt like I was having coffee with a girlfriend and we were talking about how to stop bad habits and start and keep good ones. Still I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. Three stars.

23. The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin

Not as good as the Passage, but a good conclusion to the series. Very spiritual. 4 stars.

24. Julia Child Rules: Lessons on Savoring Life by Karen Karbo
Ok memoir about the author and about Julia Child. I gave it 3 stars, but would have probably given it more if the author had not badmouthed Julia's conservative father so horribly. That bothered me....

25. Utopia and Terror in the 20th Century by Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius

Great Courses lecture series on the history surrounding all the terrorism that has taken place in the last 100 years. Should be heard by many.

26. Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
I have read most of Larson's books. I always learn so much. I give this one 4 stars.

27. Hot X: Algebra Exposed by Danica McKellar
It took me a year and a half to read this book. I'm a math tutor so I know the concepts, but I wanted to learn Danica's way to explain the concepts to students. I've read her first two books, and they definitely helped me be a better tutor, as has this one. There's one more to read about Geometry. Hopefully it won't take me as long.

28. Miracles: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life by Eric Metaxas

Very moving and inspirational.

29. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Well, it certainly pulled me along, read it in two sittings. None of the characters had any redeeming qualities. Still, it was an enjoyable, quick read.

30. Diet Cults: The Surprising Fallacy at the Core of Nutrition Fads and a Guide to Healthy Eating for the Rest of US by Matt Fitzgerald

This was a discount audio book that I bought and listened to while walking and doing housework. Learned a few things about the diet culture in the bodybuilding and fitness world. 3 stars.

31. Mission to Paris by Alan Furst

Another enjoyable WW2 spy novel by Furst. Will read more! Also having that list of ten books to read before I bought another helped me read more and faster. Will have to do that again! I did buy a couple discount books but no full price ones.

32. The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma

A father reads to his daughter every night for years. Fun book about their lives and reading.

33. The Winds of War by Herman Wouk

I read this back in the 70s so it is technically a reread, but it's been 40 years so I didn't remember much. Historical fiction about WWII before the US enters the war. Good storytelling along with a lot of history. 4 stars. Now onto the sequel.

34. War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk
Excellent fictional history of the American part of World War II. It was over 1300 pages, however, took me forever.

35. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Of course this was a re-read... but I needed something light and amusing and fun to read while our family had a medical emergency. I may do more re-reads the next couple of months while my daughter fights on.

36. Moral Decision Making: How to Approach Everyday Ethics lectures by Clancy Martin

Pretty even treatment of ethical issues in our modern day. Most was common sense. After the lectures I can see why we are in such a state in modern society. We are too distracted to think about right and wrong.

37. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

HeLa cells have definitely been a factor in my life. So interesting.

38. Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds by Kelly A. Turner

39. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Loved the beginning and the end. However the middle was too long and depressing.

40. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
Lots of twists and turns in this one. I enjoyed it.

41. Lightning Fall: A Novel of Disaster by Bill Quick

What would happen if our country was attacked by an emp and all our electronics were destroyed? Lightning Fall looks at the possible after effects of this catastrophe. This book was similar to One Second After but wasn't quite as good. More politics in this one, where the other focused more on one family trying to survive.

42. Above Suspicion by Helen MacInnes
Another of my favorite genres: WWII spy novel. Except this one was written in 1941 by a British lady. I can see why it was a bestseller at the time.

43. Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It by Gary Taubes
Don't eat so many carbs!

44. One Year After by William R. Forstchen
Don't trust people from the government offering deals, even if your community lives in the dark.

45. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization by Anthony Esolen
If we ignore the wisdom handed down from the generations before us we are going to be making some terrible problems in our world.