2026 Reading Challenge discussion

I just joined goodreads.com today but I am up to the challenge of reading/listening to 50 books by the end of the year! I am a stay at home mom so I listen to audiobooks often so that I may enjoy a story while taking care of business! I also read print books before bed (almost) every night.

July 2014:
1. The Glass Castle 4/5
2. The Tesseract 3/5
3. Half Broke Horses 4/5
4. The Silver Star 4/5
5. Real Murders (Aurora Teagarden, #1) 2/5
6. A Bone To Pick (Aurora Teagarden, #2) 2/5
7. Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (Aurora Teagarden, #3) 3/5
8. Bright Lights, Big City 3/5
9. The Julius House (Aurora Teagarden, #4) 2/5
10. The Savage Murder of Skylar Neese 4/5
11. Dead Over Heels (Aurora Teagarden, #5) 2/5
12. Orphan Train 5/5
13. Bossypants 5/5

I really enjoyed Jeannette Walls' books, If I had to rank the three of hers that I read I would say The Glass Castle 1st, The Silver Star 2nd, and then Half Broke Horses. They were all enjoyable but that is the order of which I liked best.

The Tesseract by Alex Garland I gave 3/5 because after reading his novel The Beach I had expected another page turner. It was an entertaining read but I wasn't as excited about it as I expected to be.

Good luck with your challenge!

My sister read Half Broke Horses last week and said I need to read it as she found it amazing.

August 2014:
14. Midnight Crossroad (Midnight Texas, #1) 4/5
15. Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties 3/5
16. The Storyteller 3/5
17. A Fool and His Honey (Aurora Teagarden, #6) 3/5

another charlene harris book!!!! thank you!! :) I still need to finish the sookie series first. lol but I'm loving the author.

*SIGH* I am struggling this month. I was on a roll in July with 13 more books under my belt. Granted, only 3 of my books last month were print and the other 10 audio, I find myself preoccupied this month. I do have a 4 month old who has been exceedingly difficult and I'm failing to get her on a schedule. I will try not to be so hard on myself though, I think I have a good excuse :).

I am currently reading 2 print books and listening to one audio.
Salems Lot, The Night Circus, and A fool and his honey (Aurora Teagarden Series), are the books I am currently reading.

I'm reminding myself that reading is suppose to be fun! And it is, I'm just pressuring myself on quantity of books read and I need to stop.

I have four more books left to go in my quarterly challenge which ends in a month and a half I believe. I'm also doing the Randomizer Challenge (in the yearly challenges), and I think I have all of those left to accomplish also. BLAH. Just venting :).

Alison wrote: "another charlene harris book!!!! thank you!! :) I still need to finish the sookie series first. lol but I'm loving the author."

Alison,

I do love Charlaine Harris' books, however, I am listening to her Aurora Teagarden series and don't love it. I think I was spoiled by Sookie :). Her Harper Connelly series was really good and her new book Midnight Crossroad is good as well. Midnight Crossroad incorporates characters from her other novels which makes it extra cool!

September 2014:

18. Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades, #1) 1/5
19. Last Scene Alive (Aurora Teagarden, #7) 2/5
20. Poppy Done to Death (Aurora Teagarden, #8) 2/5
21. Darkly Dreaming Dexter (Dexter, #1) 4/5
22. Holidays On Ice 4/5

October 2014:
23. 'Salem's Lot 3/5
24. The Night Circus 4/5
25. Gift Wrap 5/5
26. Dearly Devoted Dexter (Dexter, #2) 3/5
27. Animal Farm 3/5
28. The Metamorphosis 4/5
29. Graveyard Shift and Other Stories from Night Shift 2/5
30. Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir 2/5
31. Anne of Green Gables 5/5
32. The Call of the Wild 3/5
33. Children of the Corn 3/5
34. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls 4/5
35. "Two Blondes" short story from the world of Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris 5/5
36. "Fairy Dust" short story from the world of Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris 5/5
37. A Brief History of Time (Not yet rated because I plan to re-read)
38. The Sookie Stackhouse Companion 3/5
39. Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades, #2) 1/5

November 2014:
40. Gone Girl 4/5
41. Horns 4/5
42. 1408 4/5

December 2014:
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude 3/5
44. West Of The Moon 2/5
45. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time 2/5
46. One Word Answer 3/5
47. Orange Is the New Black 3/5
48. Yes Please 4/5
49. Dexter in the Dark 3/5
50. Dexter By Design 4/5
51. Dish: The Inside Story on the World of Gossip 5/5
52. Doctored Evidence 4/5
53. The Story of Holly and Ivy 4/5

3 books over my yearly goal! Happy New Year everyone!!! Can't wait for 2015's reading adventures :)

Congratulations, Alisia! Happy New Year to you as well. :)

What were your favorite books from this year?

I'd say the most memorable in no particular order were...


Orphan Train
The Storyteller
The Savage Murder of Skylar Neese (The book wasn't that great, but the story itself was gut wrenching as I'm sure any true crime story can be)
The Night Circus (I want to be in that world for a little while. I have heard they are doing a movie and I hope it's done justice!)
Gone Girl (I still haven't seen the movie)
Dish: The Inside Story on the World of Gossip (SOOO interesting and will make you skeptical of everything you read)
Anne of Green Gables (The movies are childhood favorites of mine so I decided to read the books and so far the books are just as wonderful!)
Midnight Crossroad (I love any supernatural world Charlaine Harris creates)

Awesome! I read The Night Circus too this year, and that world sticks with me so much. It's so beautiful.