The Next Best Book Club discussion

Will this be the year I actually meet my reading goal?? I decided to be slightly more reasonable and challenged myself to read 60 books this year. I know I have a tendency to get distracted but I remain hopeful!

Personal Reading Stats*

Total Books Read: 60

the BEST: Stitches by David Small (nonfiction)

God Is Dead by Ron Currie Jr. (fiction)
The Disenchanted by Budd Schulberg (fiction)

the WORST: Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

Books Purchased: 16+ (I didn't keep proper track. Oops!)

First Reads: 13


Goodreads Authors: 12
Lisa Unger
Shane Jones
James Patterson
Jeremy Tarr
Katy Smail
Scott Snyder
Kristen Den Hartog
Ernest Cline
Josh Neufeld
David Eagleman
Gerry Alanguilan
Gillian Flynn

States Visited: 9
California
Colorado
Louisiana
Michigan
Missouri
Nevada
New York
Ohio
West Virginia

Countries Visited: 14
Argentina
Canada
China
Democratic Republic of the Congo
England
France
Ireland
Japan
Norway
Philippines
South Africa
Sudan
United States
Uruguay


*A few things I'd like to keep track of....depending how things turn out in the end I'll either be pleased with myself or slink away in shame.

Mini Challenge: Below is a list of the ten books that have been on my to-read shelf the longest.


1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood*
2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
3. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
4. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
5. The Cave by Tim Krabbé
6. Company of Liars by Karen Maitland
7. The Tyranny of Dead Ideas: Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash a New Prosperity by Matt Miller
8. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls*
9. Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel; New, Complete, Uncensored Version by A. Anatoli
10. God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question-Why We Suffer by Bart D. Ehrman*

This year I will show some love to the books that have been long buried at the bottom of my TBR mountain. I pledge to read everyone of these books by the end of the year (wishful thinking?). I think I can make it if I spread them out to one every month or so.

Added bonus: My mom will be so happy because a couple of these she recommended quite some time ago!

1. The Philosopher and the Wolf: Lessons from the Wild on Love, Death and Happiness by Mark Rowlands (★★)
2. Negropedia: The Assimilated Negro's Crash Course on the Modern Black Experience by Patrice Evans (★★)
3. The Devil's Tickets: A Vengeful Wife, a Fatal Hand, and a New American Age by Gary M. Pomerantz (★★)
4. The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (★★★)

A bit of a lackluster beginning.

Dionisia wrote: "1. The Philosopher and the Wolf: Lessons from the Wild on Love, Death and Happiness by Mark Rowlands (★★)
2. [book:Negropedia: The Assimilated Negro's Crash Course on the Modern Blac..."

The Devil's Ticket - It's now on my TBR list. Who would have dreamed bridge could be such a vicious game :)

Jane wrote: "Dionisia wrote: "1. The Philosopher and the Wolf: Lessons from the Wild on Love, Death and Happiness by Mark Rowlands (★★)
2. [book:Negropedia: The Assimilated Negro's Crash Course o..."

I had no idea the bridge craze reached such heights or scandal! Admittedly, I didn't know that much about the bridge craze at all and so it was interesting to learn the ins and outs of how the Culbertsons were able to build their bridge empire. For me, the book suffered when it tried to stuff the stories of the Bennett murder, the rise and fall of the Culbertsons, AND the investigative exploits of the author into one little book.

Dionisia wrote: "Jane wrote: "Dionisia wrote: "1. The Philosopher and the Wolf: Lessons from the Wild on Love, Death and Happiness by Mark Rowlands (★★)
2. [book:Negropedia: The Assimilated Negro's C..."

I'm looking forward to it. I may have to have it jump higher on my TBR list.

5. There Is No Long Distance Now: Very Short Stories (★★★)
6. You Shall Never Know Security by J.R. Hamantaschen (★★★★)

7. Darkness, My Old Friend by Lisa Unger (★★★★)
8. Paris vs New York by Vahram Muratyan (★★★)

9. Stitches by David Small (★★★★)

10. The Bedside Book of Beasts: A Wildlife Miscellany by Graeme Gibson (★★★★)
11. The Walking Dead, Vol. 15: We Find Ourselves by Robert Kirkman (★★★)
12. Light Boxes by Shane Jones (★★)

My library's winter read-a-thon has begun! I'm not sure what to expect this year but I'm still excited about participating. Now I just have to keep track of all my pages read between now and March 15th.

13. God Is Dead by Ron Currie Jr. (★★★★★)
14. Bookhunter by Jason Shiga (★★★)
15. Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson (★)

16. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey (★★★★)
17. TV Goes to Hell: An Unofficial Road Map of Supernatural by Stacey Abbott, David Lavery (★★★★)
18. A Lonely Place To Die by Wessel Ebersohn (★★★)
19. Divide the Night by Wessel Ebersohn (★★★★)
20. Closed Circle by Wessel Ebersohn (★★)

21. Boxer, Beetle by Ned Beauman (★★★)
22. An American Spy (★★★)
23. Remarkable by Lizzie K. Foley (★★)
24. The Postcard Killers by James Patterson (★)
25. Pocket Kings by Ted Heller (★★)

26. (S)MYTHOLOGY by Jeremy Tarr (★★)

27. The Boy Who Stole the Leopard's Spots by Tamar Myers (★★★★)

28. The Girl Giant: A Novel by Kristen Den Hartog (★★★★)
29. American Vampire, Vol. 1 by Scott Snyder (★★★)
30. American Vampire, Vol. 2 by Scott Snyder (★★★)
31. American Vampire, Vol. 3 by Scott Snyder (★★★★)

32. The Perfect Gentleman: A Muslim Boy Meets the West by Imran Ahmad (★★★)
33. The Disenchanted by Budd Schulberg (★★★★★)
34. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne (★★)

35. Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette (★★★★)
36. The Art of Asking Your Boss for a Raise by Georges Perec (★★★)
37. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (★★)
38. The Seamstress and the Wind by César Aira (★★)
39. The Walking Dead, Vol. 16: A Larger World by Robert Kirkman (★★★★)
40. This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin (★★★)
41. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (★★★)
42. The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin (★★★★)
43. Alice's Adventures Underground by Lewis Carroll (★★★★)
44. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (★★★★)

I have loved the past couple of reads. Some real gems there. The Stepford Wives creeped the hell out of me and Ready Player One was an incredibly fun book to dig into. I didn't even know Alice's Adventures Under Ground existed until I stumbled across it in a library book sale. Lucky me!

45. Stuart Little by E.B. White (★★)
46. Madeleine is Sleeping by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum (★★★)
47. Undecided: How to Ditch the Endless Quest for Perfect and Find the Career-and Life-That's Right for You by Barbara Kelley (★★★)

I haven't even touched my mini-challenge. Haha, oops!

48. Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman (★★★★)
49. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (★★★★)
50. The Butterfly Revolution by William Butler (★★)

51. The Wild Party by Joseph Moncure March (★★★)
52. The House of Paper by Carlos María Domínguez (★★★)

53. The Devil's Storybook by Natalie Babbitt (★★★)
54. A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld (★★★★)
55. I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly (★★★★)
56. Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman (★★★)
57. Elmer by Gerry Alanguilan (★★★★)
58. Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks (★★★★)
59. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (★★★★)
60. Aliss at the Fire by Jon Fosse (★★)

Completely failed at my mini-challenge but I reached my overall goal so...YAY!