2015 Reading Challenge [Closed] discussion

1. a book with more than 500 pages American Gods
2. a romance Fortune's Fool
3. a book that became a movie Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
4. a book published this year The Woman Who Stole My Life This one is on hold at the library, so I hope I get it in time.
5. a book with a number in the title Four to Score
6. a book written by someone under 30
Frankenstein
7. a book with nonhuman characters King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian
8. a funny book Go the Fuck to Sleep
9. a book by a female author The Human Age: The World Shaped by Us
10. a mystery or thriller Murders Most Foul
11. a book with a one-word title You
12. a book of short stories Smoke and Mirrors?
13. a book set in a different country The Rosie Project
14. a nonfiction book Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls
15. a popular author's first book The Sword of Shannara
16. a book from your favorite author that you haven't read yet No One Noticed the Cat
17. a book a friend recommended The Da Vinci Code
18. a Pulitzer-prize winning bookLonesome Dove
19. a book based on a true story Night Of The Caribou
20. a book at the bottom of your to read list Two Solitudes
21. a book your mom or dad loves Carrie
22. a book that scares you Dracula
23. a book more than 100 years old A Study in Scarlet
24. a book based entirely on its cover The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared
25. a book you were supposed to read in school but didn't The Great Gatsby
26. a memoir Lucky Man: A Memoir
27. a book you can finish in a day Childhood's Endand The Door Into Summer
28. a book with antonyms in the title Big Little Lies
29. a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit The Husband's Secret
30. a book that came out the year you were born The Great Train Robbery
31. a book with bad reviews What Came from the Stars
32. a trilogy (the first)Armageddon's Children
33. a trilogy (the second)The Elves of Cintra
34. a trilogy (the third) The Gypsy Morph
35. a book from your childhood The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
36. a book with a love triangle The Ten-Year Nap
37. a book set in the future The Martian
38. a book set in high school Ready Player One
39. a book with a color in the title Defending Turquoise
40. a book that made/makes you cry Odd Thomas
41. a book with magic Homeland
42. a graphic novel The Odyssey
43. a book by an author you've never read before Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
44. a book you own but have never read The Housewife Assassin's Handbook
45. a book that takes place in your hometown In Days Lang Syne Memories of Muskoka
46. a book that was originally written in another language The Little Prince
47. a book set during Christmas (or similar holiday)Immoveable Feast: A Paris Christmas
48. a book written by an author with your same initials Act of Will
49. a play - Simpleton, Six of Calais, The Millionairess
50. a banned book The Canterbury Tales
51. a book based on OR turned into a TV show Anne of Green Gables
52. a book you started but never finished Les Misérables

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is really lovely! I loved the narrator, she was so precocious and wonderful. Hope you enjoy it!

I didn't know Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep was a movie!

Morgan, it looks interesting and I am reading it for my book club too. Jessica it is the basis for BLADE RUNNER. I watched a documentary on the author, which made me curious about his books. Quite a few are now well known movies.

I am going to be changing a few of my books. I have already read "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie". It was a great story that I am going to share with my teenage children.
I need to change "A tree grows in Brooklyn" also. I am currently reading it with my book club, and wish to read challenge in order.
I may just go to the library and look at the shelves each week to see what interests me in those categories that week.

I now have new books to add to my list. Week 11 is changing to You and Week 13 to The Rosie Project.

Both books are being read by others taking the challenge. I was not sure what I wanted to read for this week and these look great.

There are so many books being added to my TBR list now that I have joined the group. Each week has revealed some great new reads and authors.

May has been a terrible month for reading. My choice for the Pulitzer Prize week was not available at the library on time, so I read one of my other books first, Night of the Caribou.
It was a nice quick read with some interesting facts about Canadian History.
Lonesome Dove, the book I waited for, was too long to read in one week. The book deserved more attention then I had to give it. It was a re-read for me so that was not a bad thing.
The true disappointment was the Steven King novel I tried to read as one a parent loves. Both of my parents love long books, like 1000 pages or more books. While I would normally not care about the length of the book, after speed reading Lonesome Dove at over 800 pages, I did not want another long book to read. I also felt that I was behind in the challenge. My sister loves Steven King, and I chose the The Eyes of the Dragon. It was a bad choice on my part. It was very disappointing for a well-known author to write a book more suited to an English Lit student.
Two Solitudes was a pleasant surprise. This book was recommend to me after reading another book about WWI and Canada. I enjoyed some parts immensely. It moved slowly at first, but picked up in the end.
June should be a better month. I have been looking forward to reading a few of the books in this month since the challenge started.

Hey there, I just wanted to say that your name is beautiful. I'm actually reading a book about Princess Anastasia and her sisters right now! :D

The Lit Lover wrote: "Hey there, I just wanted to say that your name is beautiful. I'm actually reading a book about Princess Anastasia and her sisters right now! :D"

Which book is it. I am named after the Princess. My ancestry is Russian.

The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport.

We are just over halfway done this years challenge. The discussions have lead to the discovery of some new great authors, to rediscovery old ones, and to my enjoyment reading again.

My reading life had almost disappeared, between work, housework, and kids I learned to let go of reading time. I was reading about a book a month, which was starving my reading soul. Now I average a book or more a week. It feels great.

The second half of my reading list is a little empty. It is that way because I wanted to fill in the last categories as I go. The trilogy is the most difficult decision, I have so many to choose from : LoTR, one by Robin Hobb , or Terry Brooks. Currently I am reading the Fool's Errand, but I am still ahead of the challenge so may use a different series.
Mmmm, so many good books to choose from.

I have not updating my reading list every month, but wanted to do so this month.

Reads for Challenge

Big Little Lies This was a great book. She deals with some very big issues with a great sense of humour.

The Husband's Secret I enjoyed the writing, but the ending was a little to pat for me. It reminded me of Shakespeare's need to have everything tied up in a neat little bow. I will read more of her stories but I will space them out more I think.

The Great Train Robbery Another great read. Michael Crichton is now on my to read list.

What Came from the Stars This was a meh read for me. It is a childrens book, but I found it lacking in depth.

Side Reads
I had quite a few of these this last month. A few of them could fit into later categories, but I will try to put new books in those spaces.

The Art of Racing in the Rain This book definitely made me cry. I really was not expecting it but the last two pages just did me in.

The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock It was an interesting read (audio book) but I would not recommend it to everyone.

The Complete Tawny Man Trilogy: Fool's Errand, The Golden Fool, Fool's Fate I love how Robin Hobb sucks you into her world and refuses to let you go. I finished this trilogy in about a week or so. It was that good.

Dear Life Not my kind of book

Tailchaser's Song recommended to my son. It was okay but not worth rereading.

A Dragon-Lover's Treasury of the Fantastic Some great dragon stories.

The Darkest Evening of the Year It was okay. I enjoyed the Watchers more though.

The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child
Loved how she breaks down the type of readers in school. I will be using some of her theories with my kids.

I am so enjoying the hot summer months with an abundance of reading time. A cold glass of lemonade on the deck, and ignoring those chores that are calling me, while being drawn into some great stories has been so much fun.

August is going to be another great reading month.

I am a little ahead of the challenge right now, and patiently waiting for a book from the library. I am next in line for the electronic version of The Martian and can hardly wait to get it.

I have requested The Odyssey for the graphic novel week, and Odd Thomas for makes me cry.

There are a few weeks that I am having difficulty choosing what to read. Magic week, and an author I have never read before. The magic week is difficult because there are so many great books to chose from. I would like to try a new author in this genre too.

The book I originally picked for new author was not available at the library. Since it is the first book in the series I do not want to read a different one first. I think I will just randomly chose a book at the library for that week.

Currently I am reading The Angel of Darkness as a side read. The historical references are fascinating. I have already looked up a dozen different people, learning more about the era and science of that time. It is amazing how fast science moved at that time as well as this one.

I really loved The Martian so it's always nice to hear others are reading it. I came sort of close to abandoning it early on because it was really scientific but that sort of decreases later on (either that or I just grew accustomed to it). I liked the main character a lot and found him really funny so I'm sure that added to the enjoyment :)

Laura wrote: "I really loved The Martian so it's always nice to hear others are reading it. I came sort of close to abandoning it early on because it was really scientific but that sort of decreases later on (ei..."

I really liked the main characters sense of humour too. Have you watched the movie yet? It is just a good.

This last month I have been able to read a wide variety of books. A client lead me too R.A. Salvatore and his Homelandseries. I have read the first 3 books in the series and have add at least two of them to next years challenge.

Another person doing this challenge lead me to reading Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, which is a very inspiring story. It is a story that I would highly recommend to others, even if you do not like war stories.

Medicine Walkis another great book. It is a very deep book that does not seem so at first. I found it to be a quiet read that was refreshing, while making comments on society without screaming it from the roof tops. I am looking for more of his books to add to my list.

The Housewife Assassin's Handbook was a funny light read. I am keeping the others in the series for those times when I need something fluffy. :)

I haven't watched the movie yet but it is definitely on my short list. Hopefully I can watch it soon.

I finally finished Les Misérables. which brings me to the end of the challenge.

I have had such a good time this year. Reading each persons choices of books for the different categories, their opinions on the books that were read, and the encouragement offered on those difficult to read books has been great.

Over the year I have discovered some great new authours, rediscovered ones that I love, and overcome my avoidance issues with classical literature.

There were so many great reads this year it is difficult to pick my favourite ones. The ones that stand out the most for my are:

Frankenstein-I have recommended it to so many people

Anne of Green Gables-This brings back my childhood, and reminds me to be more understanding of my daughter

The Martian- another book that I have recommended to others, and a great movie

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared- a very funny book

Big Little Lies - an author who deals with difficult subjects in a sensitive but humorous way.

Two Solitudes- a book that brought me closer to understanding the deeper differences between Quebec and the rest of Canada.

There are many side reads that this group has lead me to that are very profound also. I look forward to next years challenge with the expectation of finding some more great books, with some great discussions too.

Happy Holidays to everyone, and a Happy New Year.

Congrats :)

I couldn't resist to offer Big Little as a Christmas present! I'm looking forward to discovering Anne, it has too a such good feedback here!


Merry Christmas :)