2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion
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2017 RecapGoodreads 2017 Reading Challenge
Reading Stats:
Books read: 29/50
Pages read: 10,640
Rating System
★★★★★ - LOVED IT! It's a Desert Island book
★★★★☆ - I really liked it, a lot.
★★★☆☆ - Good (enough)
★★☆☆☆ - It might be good, for someone else
★☆☆☆☆ - Hated it!
Ratings recap
★★★★★ 1
★★★★☆ 4
★★★☆☆ 16
★★☆☆☆ 8
★☆☆☆☆ 0
My favorite book of the year, by far, was A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman. It was such a delightful, hopeful, story. Beautifully written. Exactly what was called for in a tough year - a reminder that, even in the blackest of times, there can be hope. People are good, and kind. All is not lost!
Probably the most disappointing book was The Guest Room by Chris Bohjalian. He's one of those authors who hooked me with a fantastic book (The Sandcastle Girls), and I keep going back for more, but... it's not happening.
Diversity stats
In addition to the challenges above, I want to read more diversely this year. Here's a word cloud to illustrate my 2017 reading themes:
1. Women v. Men: 80% women (23 women/6 men)
2. POC v. White: 7% POC (2 POC/27 white)
3. Other countries v. US/Canada/England/Australia: 10% other countries (3 from Sweden [weird], and 26 from the US, UK and Canada)
4. Queer v. Straight: 0% (as far as I know, all the writers I read were straight)
5. Non-Fiction v. Fiction: 3% (1 non-fiction, 28 fiction)
So, I nailed US white women's fiction, YA, and mystery... and I read way too many 2-star books. I want to see a much more diverse word cloud next year!
2018 Challenge TrackerChallenges: 5/16
Pages: 25,624/60,000
Books in challenges: 173/272
1. ❌
2. ❌
3. ✅
4. ❌
5. ✅
6. ✅
7. ✅
8. ❌
9. ❌
10. ❌
11. ❌
12. ✅
13. ❌
14. ❌
15. ❌
16. ❌
*
Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge
* 2018 Personal Challenge: 51-100
Summary
Goal:
* 75/100 books
* 25,624/60,000 pages
Ratings Recap:
Average Rating - 3.6
★★★★★ 17
★★★★☆ 22
★★★☆☆ 27
★★☆☆☆ 8
★☆☆☆☆ 1
Books:
1. ★★★☆☆ (2014) The Life We Bury, Allen Eskens ✅- 1
2. ★★★★☆ (2017) Celine, Peter Heller ✅- 2
3. ★★★☆☆ (2017) Turtles All the Way Down, John Green ✅- 2
4. ★★★☆☆ (2017) Warcross, Marie Lu ✅- 2
5. ★★★★☆ (2006) Life As We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer (reread) ✅- 1
6. ★★★☆☆ (2008) The Dead and the Gone, Susan Beth Pfeffer ✅- 1
7. ★★☆☆☆ (2010) This World We Live In, Susan Beth Pfeffer ✅- 1
8. ★☆☆☆☆ (2013) The Shade of the Moon, Susan Beth Pfeffer ✅- 1
9. ★★★★★ (2018) The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin ✅- 1
10. ★★☆☆☆ (2017) Into the Water, Paula Hawkins ✅- 1
11. ★★★★☆ (2017) The Ninth Hour, Alice McDermott ✅- 1
12. ★★★☆☆ (1994) The Alienist, Caleb Carr ✅- 1
13. ★★★★★ (1967) From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg (reread) ✅- 2
14. ★★★☆☆ (2016) A Study in Charlotte, Brittany Cavallaro ✅- 2
15. ★★☆☆☆ (2017) Beneath a Scarlet Sky, by Mark T. Sullivan ✅- 1
16. ★★★★☆ (2003) Inkheart, Cornelia Funke ✅- 2
17. ★★★★☆ (1932) Brave New World, Aldous Huxley ✅- 2
18. ★★★☆☆ (2009) Twenties Girl, Sophie Kinsella ✅- 2
19. ★★★★★ (2017) The Idiot, Elif Batuman ✅- 1
20. ★★★★☆ (2006) The Last Templar, Raymond Khoury ✅- 2
21. ★★★☆☆ (1992) Fatherland, Robert Harris ✅- 2
22. ★★★★★ (2015) Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon ✅- 2
23. ★★★☆☆ (2013) The Paris Architect, Charles Belfoure ✅- 1
24. ★★☆☆☆ (2018) As You Wish, Chelsea Sedoti ✅- 1
25. ★★★★★ (2017) The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas ✅- 2
26. ★★★★★ (2000) Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, Marjane Satrapi ✅- 2
27. ★★★☆☆ (2003) Summer Blonde, Adrian Tomine ✅- 1
28. ★★★☆☆ (2007) Shortcomings, Adrian Tomine ✅- 1
29. ★★★★☆ (2015) Killing and Dying: Stories, Adrian Tomine ✅- 1
30. ★★★☆☆ (1997) Sleepwalk and Other Stories, Adrian Tomine ✅- 2
31. ★★★★☆ (1995) The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman ✅- 1
32. ★★★☆☆ (2016) The Dry, Jane Harper ✅- 1
33. ★★★☆☆ (2016) Good as Gone, Amy Gentry ✅- 1
34. ★★★☆☆ (2018) The Hazel Wood, Melissa Albert ✅- 1
35. ★★★☆☆ (2018) Before We Were Yours, Lisa Wingate ✅- 1
36. ★★★★★ (2017) Idaho, Emily Ruskovich ✅- 1
37. ★★★☆☆ (2014) Bird Box, Josh Malerman ✅- 1
38. ★★★★★ (2008) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer ✅- 2
39. ★★☆☆☆ (1997) The Winner, David Baldacci ✅- 1
40. ★★★★★ (2017) White Tears, Hari Kunzru ✅- 1
41. ★★★★★ (2012) The Fault in Our Stars, John Green ✅- 1
42. ★★★★☆ (2018) The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore, Kim Fu ✅- 1
43. ★★☆☆☆ (2017) The Life She Was Given, Ellen Marie Wiseman ✅- 1
44. ★★★☆☆ (2017) Bluebird, Bluebird, Attica Locke ✅- 1
45. ★★★★☆ (2012) Wool Omnibus Edition, Hugh Howey ✅- 1
46. ★★★☆☆ (2018) Red Clocks, Leni Zumas ✅- 1
47. ★★★★★ (2017) Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward ✅- 2
48. ★★★★☆ (2016) Eligible, Curtis Sittenfeld ✅- 1
49. ★★★★☆ (1997) Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden ✅- 2
50. ★★★★☆ (1979) Kindred, Octavia E. Butler ✅- 2
51. ★★★☆☆ (2017) The Jane Austen Project, Kathleen A. Flynn ✅- 1
52. ★★★★☆ (1993) Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler ✅- 2
53. ★★★☆☆ (1998) Parable of the Talents, Octavia E. Butler ✅- 1
54. ★★★★☆ (2017) Priestdaddy: A Memoir, Patricia Lockwood ✅- 2
55. ★★★★☆ (2017) Sourdough, Robin Sloan ✅- 1
56. ★★★★☆ (2015) Vengeance Road, Erin Bowman ✅- 2
57. ★★★☆☆ (2018) Providence, Caroline Kepnes ✅- 0
58. ★★★☆☆ (2017) The Alice Network, Kate Quinn ✅- 1
59. ★★☆☆☆ (2017) The Good Widow, Liz Fenton ✅- 1
60. ★★★☆☆ (2018) Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi ✅- 1
61. ★★★☆☆ (2018) Something in the Water, Catherine Steadman ✅- 0
62. ★★★★★ (2017) Exit West, Mohsin Hamid ✅- 1
63. ★★☆☆☆ (2018) The One Man, Andrew Gross ✅- 2
64. ★★★☆☆ (2018) The Wedding Date, Jasmine Guillory ✅- 1
65. ★★★★☆ (2018) A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, Jill Twiss ✅- 1
66. ★★★★★ (1976) Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor ✅- 2
67. ★★★★☆ (2011) The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller ✅- 2
68. ★★★★★ (1935) Little House on the Prairie. Laura Ingalls Wilder ✅- 1
69. ★★★★★ (1933) Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder ✅- 1
70. ★★★★★ (1937) On the Banks of Plum Creek, Laura Ingalls Wilder ✅- 1
71. ★★★★☆ (2018) Girls Burn Brighter, Shobha Rao ✅- 2
72. ★★★★☆ (1939) By the Shores of Silver Lake, Laura Ingalls Wilder ✅- 1
73. ★★★★★ (1940) The Long Winter, Laura Ingalls Wilder ✅- 1
74. ★★★★★ (1941) Little Town on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder ✅- 1
75. ★★★☆☆ (2018) Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men, Harold Schechter ✅- 1
❌Goal: 16/24
1. A book published posthumously
* The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer
* Published July 2008, just months after the author's death in February 2008.
2. A book of true crime
* Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men, Harold Schechter
3. A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance)
* Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
* SciFi classic
4. A comic written and drawn by the same person
5. A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa)
* Girls Burn Brighter, Shobha Rao
* India
6. A book about nature
7. A western
* Vengeance Road, Erin Bowman
8. A comic written or drawn by a person of color
* Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, Marjane Satrapi
* Iranian
9. A book of colonial or postcolonial literature
10. A romance novel by or about a person of color
* The Wedding Date, Jasmine Guillory
* By AND about a POC
11. A children’s classic published before 1980
* Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor
* Published in 1935
12. A celebrity memoir
13. An Oprah Book Club selection
14. A book of social science
15. A one-sitting book
* The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
16. The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series
* Warcross, Marie Lu
17. A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author
* Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler
18. A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image
* Summer Blonde, Adrian Tomine
* Publshed by Drawn & Quarterly
19. A book of genre fiction in translation
* Inkheart, Cornelia Funke
* SciFi/Fantasy, originally published in German
20. A book with a cover you hate
* Turtles All the Way Down, John Green
21. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author
* Bluebird, Bluebird, Attica Locke
22. An essay anthology
23. A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60
* Celine, Peter Heller
* Protaganist is Celine, age almost 70
24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished)
❌My goal is 24 physical books, that I own. 12 fiction, 12 non-fiction.
Goal: 3/24
Fiction
1. Twenties Girl, Sophie Kinsella
2. The One Man, Andrew Gross
3. A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, Jill Twiss
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Non-Fiction
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Donated
* 9 boxes of books to the library on Jan 31
* Twenties Girl and The One Man to the tiny free library on Park Ave in February
* Gifted A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo to a friend
❌
Read 3 books on Peter Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list before March 31, 2018. The complete list is here.
Goal: 1/3
1. Brave New World
2. xx
3. xx
✅Goal: 15/15
White
Pink
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Light Blue
Dark Blue
Purple
Brown
Black
Metallic
At least 5 colors on the cover
A color in the title of the book
Word describing colors
❌Goal: 25,624/60,000
January: 5,620 (15 books)
February: 5,570 (18 books)
March: 3,890 (11 books)
April: 2,344 (6 books)
May: 1,643 (5 books)
June: 0
July: 0
August: 899 (2 books)
September: 302 (1 book)
October: 0
November: 537 (1 book)
December: 4,819 (15 books)
❌Goal: 21/26
A The Alice Network
B Before We Were Yours
C Children of Blood and Bone
D The Dry
E Everything, Everything
F The Fault in Our Stars
G The Good Widow
H The Hazel Wood
I Idaho
J The Jane Austen Project
K Killing and Dying: Stories
L The Life She Was Given
M Memoirs of a Geisha
N The Ninth Hour
O The One Man
P The Paris Architect
Q
R Red Clocks
S A Study in Charlotte
T Turtles All the Way Down
U
V Vengeance Road
W White Tears
X
Y
Z
I loved The Guest Room am so sorry you didn't. I also really enjoyed The Sleepwalker and am anxiously waiting for his next book, The Flight Attendant.
Nancy from NJ wrote: "I loved The Guest Room am so sorry you didn't. I also really enjoyed The Sleepwalker and am anxiously waiting for his next book, The Flight Attendant."Did you read Sandcastle Girls? I loved that one so much.
❌Read a book published in each year since I was born.
Goal: 24/54
2018: The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin
2017: Into the Water, Paula Hawkins
2016: A Study in Charlotte, Brittany Cavallaro
2015: Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon
2014: The Life We Bury, Allen Eskens
2013: The Shade of the Moon, Susan Beth Pfeffer
2012: The Wool Trilogy, Hugh Howey
2011: The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller
2010: This World We Live In, Susan Beth Pfeffer
2009: Twenties Girl, Sophie Kinsella
2008: The Dead and the Gone, Susan Beth Pfeffer
2007: Shortcomings, Adrian Tomine
2006: The Last Templar
2005:
2004:
2003: Inkheart, Cornelia Funke
2002:
2001:
2000 Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, Marjane Satrapi
1999:
1998: Parable of the Talents, Octavia E. Butler
1997: Sleepwalk and Other Stories, Adrian Tomine
1996:
1995: The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman
1994: The Alienist, Caleb Carr
1993: Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler
1992: Fatherland, Robert Harris
...
1979: Kindred, Octavia E. Butler
1978:
1977:
1976: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
...
1967: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, E.L. Konigsburg
✅
For Library Lover's Day, on Feb 14th, read books from the Library. Challenge dates, Feb 7 - 21.
Goal: 2/2
1. The Last Templar, Raymond Khoury
2. Fatherland, Robert Harris
❌ Goal: 0/2
Picks:
1. Revolution for Dummies: Laughing through the Arab Spring
2. Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day
3. A Short History of Nearly Everything
❌Reread 12 books that I want to revisit.
Goal: 10/12
1. Life As We Knew It
2. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
3. The Winner
4. Memoirs of a Geisha
5. Little House on the Prairie
6. Farmer Boy
7. On the Banks of Plum Creek
8. By the Shores of Silver Lake
9. The Long Winter
10. Little Town on the Prairie
Double DownDon't use a book to fulfill more than two challenges (exclusive of the overall reading goal/list, and the turn pages challenge).
2018 Challenges List
Challenges: 172 Books
1. ❌
2. ✅
3. ❌
4. ✅
5. ✅
6. ✅
7. ❌
8. ❌
9. ❌
10. ❌
11. ✅
12. ❌
13. ❌
Goal: 73/86 (unique books)
Books used in a completed challenge:
A
1. The Alienist
* Every year for 1994
2. As You Wish
* Color challenge for Light Blue
3. The Alice Network
* A-Z for "A"
B
1. Beneath a Scarlet Sky
* Color challenge for "color in title"
2. Brave New World
* BRRHC (a classic of genre fiction [i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance])
* 2018 Q1 Boxall's 1001
3. Before We Were Yours
* A-Z for "B"
4. Bird Box
* Mar - Page to Screen
5. Bluebird, Bluebird
* BRRHC (mystery by a POC)
6. By the Shores of Silver Lake
* Reread it
C
1. Celine
* BRRHC (female protagonist over 60)
* Color challenge for Green
2. Children of Blood and Bone
* A-Z for "C"
D
1. The Dead and the Gone
* Every year for 2008
2. The Dry
* A-Z for "D"
3. A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo
* Clear the Shelves
E
1. Everything, Everything
* A-Z for "E"
* Every year for 2015
2. Exit West
* Color challenge for Purple
3. Eligible
* Color challenge for Red
F
1. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
* Reread It
* Every year for 1967
2. Fatherland
* Feb - Library Lovers
* Every year for 1992
3. The Fault in Our Stars
* A-Z for "F"
4. Farmer Boy
* Reread it
G
1. The Golden Compass
* Every year for 1995
2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
* Mar - Page to Screen
* BRRHC (a book published posthumously)
3. The Good Widow
* A-Z Challenge for "G"
4. Good as Gone
* Color Challenge for Yellow
5. Girls Burn Brighter
* Color Challenge for a word describing color
* BRRHC (a book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries)
H
1. The Hate U Give
* BRRHC (a once sitting book)
* Color challenge for White
2. The Hazel Wood
* A-Z for "H"
3. Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men
* BRRHC (a book of true crime)
I
1. The Immortalists
* Every year for 2018
2. Into the Water
* Every year for 2017
3. Inkheart
* BRRHC (genre fiction in translation - fantasy, German)
* Every year for 2003
4. The Idiot
* Cover challenge for Pink
5. Idaho
* A-Z for "I"
J
1. The Jane Austen Project
* A-Z for "J"
K
1. Killing and Dying: Stories
* A-Z for "K"
2. Kindred
* Every year for 1979
* Apr - Surprisingly Similar
L
1. The Life We Bury
* Every year for 2014
2. Life As We Knew It
* Reread It
3. The Last Templar
* Feb - Library Lovers
* Every year for 2006
4. The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore
* Color challenge for Dark Blue
5. The Life She Was Given
* A-Z for "L"
6. Little House on the Prairie
* Reread it
7. The Long Winter
* Reread it
8. Little Town on the Prairie
* Reread it
M
1. Memoirs of a Geisha
* Reread It
* A-Z for "M"
1. A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo
* Clear the shelves
N
1. The Ninth Hour
* A-Z for "N"
O
1. The One Man
* Clear the Shelves
* A-Z Challenge for "O"
2. On the Banks of Plum Creek
* Reread it
P
1. The Paris Architect
* A-Z for "P"
2. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
* BRRHC (a comic written or drawn by a POC)
* Every year for 2000
3. Parable of the Sower
* BRRHC - A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author\
* Every year for 1993
4. Parable of the Talents
* Every year for 1998
5. Priestdaddy: A Memoir
* May - Growth
* Color challenge for Brown
6. Providence
* Nothing
R
1. Red Clocks
* A-Z for "R"
2. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
* BRRHC (children's classic published before 1980)
* Every year for 1976
S
1. The Shade of the Moon
* Every year for 2013
2. A Study in Charlotte
* A-Z for "S"
* Every year for 2016
3. Summer Blonde
* BRRHC (a comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image, published by Drawn & Quarterly)
4. Shortcomings
* Every year for 2007
5. Sleepwalk and Other Stories
* Every year for 1997
* Color challenge for Black
6. Sing, Unburied, Sing
* Apr - Surprisingly Similar
* Color challenge for Orange
7. Sourdough
* Growth
8. Something in the Water
* Nothing
9. The Song of Achilles
* Color challenge for Metallic
* Every year for 2011
T
1. Turtles All the Way Down
* BRRHC - book with a cover I didn't like
* A-Z for "T"
2. Twenties Girl
* Every year for 2009
* Clear the shelves
V
1. Vengeance Road
* BRRHC (a western)
* A-Z for "V"
W
1. Warcross
* BRRHC - new to me YA series
* Color challenge for book with 5 colors on the cover
2. This World We Live In
* Every year for 2010
3. The Winner
* Reread It
4. White Tears
* A-Z for "W"
5. The Wool Trilogy
* Every year for 2012
6. The Wedding Date
* Book Riot Read Harder Challenge (romance by our about a POC)
✅ Goal: 2/2
1. Bird Box, Josh Malerman
2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer
✅Goal: 2/2
1. Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward
2. Kindred, Octavia E. Butler
✅Goal: 2/2
1. Priestdaddy: A Memoir, Patricia Lockwood
* This book is a fit for multiple categories in this challenge, but I'll go with "Read a book about productivity or creativity." It is a book as much about writing, as it is about growing up the daughter of a priest.
2.Sourdough
* HAH Ha ha ha... growth - and it's also a book about productivity and creativity.
2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men (other topics)Sleepwalk and Other Stories (other topics)
The Sparrow (other topics)
The Alienist (other topics)
The Fault in Our Stars (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Marjane Satrapi (other topics)Alexander Chee (other topics)
Nicola Yoon (other topics)
Jesmyn Ward (other topics)
Angie Thomas (other topics)
More...
TOC
* 2017 Recap
* 2018 Challenge Tracker
* 2018 Book, Page & Rating Tracker
2018 Reading Recap
* My Year in Books (Goodreads)
* Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge
Reading Stats
Books read: 75/100
Pages read: 25,624/60,000
Average length of book: 342 pages
Average days to read a book: 3.79 days
Longest book: The Alienist at 608 pages
Shortest book: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo at 40 pages
Most popular book: The Fault in Our Stars
Least popular book: Sleepwalk and Other Stories
Highest rated book: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo
Best title: Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men
Top Ten (in no particular order)
1. The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas
2. White Tears, Hari Kunzru
3. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, Marjane Satrapi
4. Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward
5. Everything, Everything, Nicola Yoon
6. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
7. Exit West, Mohsin Hamid
8. The Idiot, Elif Batuman
9. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer
Ratings
Average Rating: 3.6
★★★★★ 17
★★★★☆ 22
★★★☆☆ 27
★★☆☆☆ 8
★☆☆☆☆ 1
Likes and Dislikes
I won't spend much time on dislikes. I thought The Shade of the Moon was dreadful (as in run away, do not read it). In fairness, I should say Susan Beth Pfeffer's first book in the series, Life As We Knew It which I also read this year, for the second time, was quite good.
I will also mention Beneath a Scarlet Sky because so many people loved it, and I expected to as well (I bought it), but I was disappointed. I thought it was very poorly written.
Much more importantly, I'm happy to have read so many really great books in 2018. I gave 17 books 5 stars, and another 22 books 4 stars! I don't know how to pick a favorite out of those. For a few the reading experience was like getting "a punch in the gut," they were exquisitely written but very difficult to read books - The Hate U Give, White Tears, The Fault in Our Stars, and Sing, Unburied, Sing top that list. Some were just marvelously written stories; like Idaho, The Idiot (by Elif Batuman not Dostoyevsky), and Exit West. I also loved rereading most of the Little House series which, much to my relief, stood the test of time beautifully. And I loved finally experiencing Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry which was wonderful. But, at the end of the day, my favorite was probably the lovely Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. It was such a wonderful story - tragic, beautiful, hopeful, and all the things that make me feel like everything is not totally shit. A book that needed to be read by me, this year.
Themes
Fascism
I unintentionally read a lot of books about WW2, nazism, and fascism. It was a really strong theme. Out of 75 books total that I read, 8 (11%) were about fascist regimes, WW2 and/or people affected by the war... including one that provided an alternate ending - a reality in which Hitler and Germany won the war.
Reviews
I started off the year taking notes when I was reading, and writing up a review of the book afterward. I stopped doing that because I felt silly - I really questioned why anyone would want to read a book review by me?! Turns out, I want to read them! When I looked back through the books I read this year, I found I really enjoyed reading the reviews and it helped me to remember much more clearly what the book was about, and why I liked it (or didn't). I made it a personal challenge for 2019 to write a review of most books I read.
Graphic Novels/Comics
I read some Graphic novels this year for the Book Riot Read Harder challenge, and was surprised by how much I liked them. I voluntarily started adding recommended Graphic Novels to my TBR list and they're something I would have flat-out rejected in the past.
Diversity stats
1. Women v. Men:
* 72% women (51 women, 24 men)
* Down from 80% women in 2017
2. POC v. White:
* 30% POC (22 POC, 53 white people)
* Up from 7% POC in 2017
3. Other countries v. US/Canada/England/Australia:
* 5.3% other countries (1 Germany, 1 France, 1 India, 1 Pakistan, 71 US, UK and Australia)
* Down from 10% in 2017
4. Queer v. Straight:
* 2.6% Queer (2 books with queer main characters, no gay authors as far as I know)
* Up from 0% in 2017
5. Non-Fiction v. Fiction:
* 2.6% (2 non-fiction, 75 fiction)
* Down from 3% in 2017 (but more books at 2 instead of 1)
6. Diversity in genre
* 21% (5 graphic novels, 8 children's book's, 1 horror, 1 western, 1 romance, 1 true crime... all out of my normal genre preferences)
* 100% increase over 2017
7. Religious diversity (books that were in some way religiously diverse - non-mainstream/Christian)
* 2.6% (2 books written by Jewish authors)
Goodreads Giveaways
I won six books this year, 3 in Kindle format and 3 physical books.
DNFs that I would like to finish
1. Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders
2. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke
3. A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles
4.
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood, Trevor Noah5. 1984, George Orwell
6. You Can't Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain, Phoebe Robinson
7. The Queen of the Night, Alexander Chee
8. An Unnecessary Woman
9. Possession
10. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
11. The Sparrow