75 Books...More or Less! discussion

Having read 89 books in 2016, with several months of the year spent still in school, I've decided to finally go for the big 100 in 2017. That will include all types of books. I thought about separating them out and aiming for 75 not including picture books, or something like that, but decided instead to just go for 100 total.

Books are books, count'em all! :) Good luck and welcome back!

1. The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike

Wow, what a start to the year! It may have taken me 8 days but I read most of it in the last two days or so, once it got so scary I couldn't put it down.

I don't do well with scary books, they give me nightmares...lol

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "1. The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike

Wow, what a start to the year! It may have taken me 8 days but I read most of it in the last two days or so,..."

This sounds goooood! Daytime reading for sure though. lol

2. Bone, vol. 7: Ghost Circles by Jeff Smith

3. Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon (audiobook)

Finished my first audiobook of the year, a little 5 hour one. I now love Ruth Bader Ginsburg even more than I already did.

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "3. Notorious RBG: The Lif..."

I want to read it!! And then right after, My Own Words!

4. Shade's Children by Garth Nix

5. Twin Spica, vol. 6 by Kou Yaginuma

6. Fangbone #2: The Egg of Misery by Michael Rex

7. A Recipe for Bees by Gail Anderson-Dargatz

That last one is the January/February book for the Amnesty International Book Club, and was way outside my comfort zone. Am I the only one who struggles with non-genre fiction because it's hard to identify the plot? Anyway, I was able to appreciate the human stories involved, but it was very sad.

Anywho, I've read 7 books, and apparently I'm supposed to have read 14 books, so it looks like it's time for some quicker reads! Too bad I have a lot of novels and non-fiction books out from the library right now!

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "4. Shade's Children by Garth Nix..."

How was Shade's Children? I like most of Nix's books that I've read, but I haven't come across this one.

Garth Nix is still in my TBR. I need to get to Sabriel!

Elyse wrote: "Garth Nix is still in my TBR. I need to get to Sabriel!"

I think I read Sabriel way back in like junior high or something. Been meaning to reread it and get to the rest of the series for a long time!

Stacie wrote: "How was Shade's Children? I like most of Nix's books that I've read, but I haven't come across this one."

Mostly I liked it. It's definitely a cool setting, a world where all the adults have inexplicably disappeared and children are killed at age 14, their brains used to make monsters. I also liked the characters and was caught up in the story. However, be prepared for a LOT to go unexplained. I would have liked more of an epilogue, and also a lot more explanation of what the heck happened to make the world like this in the first place!

8. The Courageous Princess, vol. 3: The Dragon Queen by Rod Espinosa

I really enjoyed this graphic novel trilogy. Really original but with lots of bits of other fairy tales added in in interesting ways.

9. Darkwood by M.E. Breen

This book took directions I definitely didn't expect! Turned out to be really cool, but the ending left me wanting more information. A sequel might be nice.

10. Bone, vol. 8: Treasure Hunters by Jeff Smith

I'm almost done Bone and, while I enjoy it enough to keep reading, I still haven't figured out the popular sentiment that it's the greatest comic book series of all time. *shrug* Bartleby is great though.

11. The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass

You know that feeling when you've been in a bit of a reading slump and then suddenly you get TOTALLY into a book and it's the best feeling ever? Yeah I had that with this book.

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "11. The One (The Selection, #3) by Kiera Cass The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass
You know that feeling when you've been in a bit of a reading slump and then suddenly you get TOTALLY into a book and it's the best feeling ever? Yeah I had that with this book.

It's a cute series! But I think she went too far with continuing it for so long.

12. Amulet, vol. 7: Firelight by Kazu Kibuishi

And now I'm caught up on this series! Unfortunately I found myself completely unable to keep track of all the characters so for the last few books I felt like I didn't entirely know what was going on. Maybe I'll reread them one day.

13. Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass

Squeeeeee! I'm such a sucker for happy endings. The additional epilogue to The One alone made this book worth reading for me.

14. Fangbone, vol. 3: The Birthday Party of Dread by Michael Rex

Got a reluctant reader? Hand them the Fangbone books. Seriously.

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "13. Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass

Squeeeeee! I'm such a sucker for happy endings. The additional epilogue to The One alone made this book worth reading for me...."

Have you read the last 2 yet? I enjoyed this one as well, though I had already read some of the novellas separately.

Elyse wrote: "Have you read the last 2 yet? I enjoyed this one as well, though I had already read some of the novellas separately. "

Not yet! I read this one soon after reading The One (which I could have stayed up all night reading tbh). And I had read The Prince before but the rest of the stories were new to me.

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "Having read 89 books in 2016, with several months of the year spent still in school, I've decided to finally go for the big 100 in 2017. That will include all types of books. I thought about separa..."

I like your ambition! I wish I had the guts!

Juli wrote: "I like your ambition! I wish I had the guts!"

I'm so far behind, though! Coming up on the halfway mark and I've only read 30 books! Definitely gonna have to put some real effort into this one.

OK, fell behind on my updates again:

15. Nightfall by Jake Halpern

16. Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O'Neill

Because lesbian princesses!! In a kids' graphic novel!!

17. Saga, vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

OMG this series is SO GOOD.

18. The Bear Who Wasn't There and the Fabulous Forest by Oren Lavie


The following 6 books are the ones I read during Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon on April 29:

19. Elfangor's Secret (Megamorphs #3) by K.A. Applegate

20. Saga, vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan

21. Twin Spica, vol. 7 by Kuo Yaginuma

22. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

23. The Other Boy by M.G. Hennessey

24. The Surprise Party (Fear Street #2) by R.L. Stine

And now for the books I've read since the read-a-thon, in the last 2 months:

25. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Reread this to refresh my memory before watching the show (which I still haven't started watching!).

26. Anishnaabe World: A Survival Guide for Building Bridges Between Canada and First Nations

27. Triathlon Training (Idiot's Guides) by Steve Katai

28. Saga, vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan

29. The Vault of Dreamers by Caragh M. O'Brien

30. Twin Spica, vol. 8 by Kuo Yaginuma

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "And now for the books I've read since the read-a-thon, in the last 2 months:

25. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Reread this to refresh my memory before watching the..."

I still have to reread American Gods. I have all the episodes on my DVR. lol.

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "American Gods by Neil Gaiman Reread this to refresh my memory before watching the show (which I still haven't started watching!)...."

I love the show!

Stacie wrote: "Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "American Gods by Neil Gaiman Reread this to refresh my memory before watching the show (which I still haven't started watching!)...."

I love the show!"

Good! I love the guy who plays Shadow. He was on The 100 and I was so sad when he died!

31. Annihilation (Southern Reach #1) by Jeff VanderMeer

32. The Heir (The Selection #4) by Kiera Cass

33. The Crown (The Selection #5) by Kiera Cass

34. Genius: The Game by Leopoldo Gout

Oh my gooood, I'm so far behind!! I'm gonna have to have some extra read-a-thons or something. Can I just quit my jobs and be a full-time reader??

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "Can I just quit my jobs and be a full-time reader??..."

Can't we all?! lol

35. A Vision of Fire (The Earthend Saga #1) by Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin

OMG Scully wrote a book!! That is what made me read this. It took me longer to get through than I feel a thriller really should, but I did like the main character and will read the other two books.

36. Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Fun and oddly philosophical picture book. Picked up for the Jon Klassen illustrations but loved everything about it.

37. Saga, Vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

This series continues to be awesome.

38. This Strange Way of Dying: Stories of Magic, Desire, and the Fantastic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

It's weird that I liked this. I'm not huge on short stories, really don't care for short stories with weird, ambiguous endings, and yet enjoyed these ones. They have a certain beauty.

39. Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee

OMG. 13 year old girl discovers she's bisexual when she develops a crush on the new girl? Stars in Romeo and Juliet with her? The story involves practically no homophobia and is instead all about the awkwardness of junior high romance? Yes please!! This story was SO CUTE I could not put it down.

The only part I didn't like was when Mattie said something about Willow hating her and Gemma said something like "she doesn't hate you; she's just not your friend", and like Willow is clearly a bully and it annoyed me that Gemma would defend her like that. But that's a sensitive spot for me because I was bullied in junior high and all my "friends" stayed friends with the bully and do so until this day, so. Yeah. But I'm not gonna let one little line ruin a 5 star book.

Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "35. A Vision of Fire (The Earthend Saga #1) by Gillian Anderson and Jeff Rovin

OMG Scully wrote a book!! That is what made me read this. It took me longer to ..."

Most of these are in my TBR. I'm very curious about Jillian Anderson's book!

40. The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon (audiobook)

The following 7 books are the ones I read during Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon:

41. The Reunion (Animorphs #30) by K.A. Applegate

42. Saga, Vol. 5 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

43. The Overnight (Fear Street #3) by R.L. Stine

44. Vampire Knight, Vol. 1 by Matsuri Hino

45. Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor

46. Saga, Vol. 6 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

47. Jughead, Vol. 1 by Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson

And here's the stuff I've read in the couple weeks since the read-a-thon:

48. 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey

49. Genius: The Con by Leopoldo Gout

50. The Teeny Tiny Ghost by Kay Winters

51. The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket

52. Stinky Cecil in Operation Pond Rescue by Paige Braddock

53. Blood of the Dead by A.P. Fuchs

So, I hit 50, the half way point of my goal, around Halloween. Not ideal. But I decided to stick with my goal and therefore am trying to read a book a day for the rest of the year! Obviously that's gonna involve some graphic novels and other quick reads in between finishing novels. But I've been successfully the last 3 days!

Woot good luck!

You can do it!!! Give yourself a break and get some short ones in there!

Whoops, haven't updated this in a while!

54. Archie Vol. 1 by Mark Waid and Fiona Staples

55. Weenipeeg by Bill Ballantyne

56. The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman

57. Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton

58. Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

59. Alienated (Alienated #1) by Melissa Landers

60. Until Midnight (Alienated #1.5) by Melissa Landers

61. The Queen and the Cure by Amy Harmon (audiobook)

62. All My Stripes by Shaina Rudolph

63. The Epic of Gilgamesh

64. ALPHABET edited by Jon Macy

65. Invaded (Alienated #2) by Melissa Landers

66. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore

67. Curious George Museum Mystery

68. The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann

69. The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein

70. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galazy by Douglas Adams

Umm yeah so that plan of reading almost a book a day and hitting 100 did not happen! :') But I'm still going for 75! I've been reading like mad trying to finish all the books that I'm in the middle of before the end of the year because I hate carrying stuff over from year to year. As of right now (with a little over 24 hours to go) I'm still in the middle of 3 that I probably won't be able to finish. And I still need to read 5 more books. I have several graphic novels out from the library so it IS doable... Wish me luck! :D Oh and I also work tomorrow lol! But after that it's read read read!

You can do it, Lianne!! Go go go!

Aaaand final 24 hours of reading! :D

71. Luke Helps Out by Sheryl Fehr

72. The Poet: Pauling Johnson by David Alexander Robertson

73. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

74. Super Narwhal and Jelly Jolt by Ben Clanton

75. Mooncake by Frank Asch

So with a combination of picture books and graphic novels, I did it! Not my original 100 goal but at least my adjusted 75 goal. This was definitely not my year for reading. Luckily, tomorrow's a new year! :) And I'll be going for 100 again! Join my in my 2018 thread. Happy New Year everyone!

Great job!

75 is great!! At first I felt let down that I missed my goal of 125 then Elyse reminded me that the amount I read was still great.