So, I decided that what I needed was an update post, entirely separate from the original. Since it is slightly more than halfway through the year, it also makes sense to just check in on how I'm doing in reaching my goal and maybe ruminate on how to be sure to finish it by the end of 2015.
Here's the list:
1. A book with more than 500 pages
Kushiel's Dart (Phèdre's Trilogy #1)by Jacqueline Carey (1015 pages, published 2003, read in hard copy from my collection, finished March 21)
This was a reread, but I'm thinking of reading the whole trilogy and the world is just *so* complicated (places, religion, politics, ethnic groups, etc.). Had to read it again, just to remember what all was going on and who the characters were.
2. A classic romance
My Pleasure by Connie Brockway (384 pages, published in 2004, read in hard cover, finished in April)
This spring I decided that it made sense to start at the top of the list and work down. I got #1 and #2 read in order before I was distracted and read something else. oops. This book I picked up as the "get one" in a buy two, get one free offer at an airport used book store when I was on my way home from my UNC job interview.
4. A book published this year
Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard (383 pages, published February 2015, read in hard copy, finished 22 July 2015)
I picked up this book at the ALA midwinter conference in Chicago this year. It is a young adult novel, and it reminds me of a lot of the other kinds of things that have been published in the world of young adult books: sort of a future-post-apocalyptic-but-also-a-throwback kinda thing. It was pretty entertaining. When I found out that the woman who wrote it was a script writer as well, it made lots of sense.
5. A book with a number in the title
6. A book written by someone under 30
7. A book with nonhuman characters
Charming (Pax Arcana #1) by Elliott James (366 pages, published 2013, read in hard copy, finished 19 Jan 2015)
8. A funny book
9. A book by a female author
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling (222 pages, published 2011, read on my phone, finished 11 July 2015)
I've wanted to read this pretty much since it came out in 2011, but never got around to it. Now that it is readily available to check out from the library (in both regular and ebook formats), I finally did it. I always suspected that I would have a lot in common with Mindy Kaling, and I was right. She is officially on my "celebrities I wish I could actually be friends with" list. And on my "would they make a good next door neighbor" scale for judging celebrities, I think she scores extremely high. People tell me I'm funny and sometimes I actually think I am, and this kind of book is basically what I wish I could write and have people want to read. And--who knows--maybe I could. But she already has!
10. A mystery or thriller
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (322 pages, published in 1934, read on my phone, checked out from 3M ebooks, finished 17 July 2015)
Read this for my book-club's book-movie-pie event. We ate pie, discussed the book, and then watched the movie. I really think that the story holds up well for being over 80 years old. This is at least partially because of the setting: snowed in on a train with no communication from the outside. The mystery has to be solved while they are isolated and nobody can use any fancy technology, so it seems plausible to figure it out through interviewing the people on the train and using psychology.
11. A book with a one-word title
Vicious by V.E. Schwab (364 pages, published 2013, read in hard copy checked out from library, finished 3 January 2015)
An interesting take on the idea of super-powers: what constitutes a "power," who has them, how they get them, and what powers people end up with. This was the Dec/Jan book for the Amazing Book Club of Doom.
12. A book of short stories
13. A book set in a different country
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks (308 pages, published 2001, read in hard copy, finished Jan. 2015)
14. A nonfiction book
15. A popular author’s first book
16. A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet
17. A book a friend recommended
18. A Pulitzer Prize-winning book
19. A book based on a true story
20. A book at the bottom of your to-read list
21. A book your mom loves
22. A book that scares you
23. A book more than 100 years old
24. A book based entirely on its cover
25. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t
26. A memoir
27. A book you can finish in one day
28. A book with antonyms in the title
Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder (320 pages, published in 2010, read on my phone, finished 8 Jan. 2015)
I was a fan of Snyder's Study series (starting with Poison Study) and thought the idea of Inside Out was very cool. It is her first book written for a young adult audience and the main character is a young woman living in a dystopian reality where there is a literal hierarchy. She is one of the "lowers"--the workers--but she works cleaning the air vent system, which gives her the opportunity to explore higher levels. I described it on my Goodreads account as "Sort of Cube meets Snowpiercer meets Hunger Games/Divergent."
29. A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit
30. A book that came out the year you were born
31. A book with bad reviews
32, 33, 34. A trilogy
32. Trilogy Book 1
Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth (487 pages, published 2011, read in hard copy, finished 8 Feb. 2015)
33.
34.
35. A book from your childhood
36. A book with a love triangle
37. A book set in the future
38. A book set in high school
39. A book with a color in the title
Written in Red (The Others #1) by Anne Bishop (433 pages, published 2013, read in hard copy, finished 24 Jan. 2015)
40. A book that made you cry
41. A book with magic
42. A graphic novel
Ms. Marvel #1: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson (author) and Adrian Alphona (Artist) (120 pages, published 2014, finished 21 March 2015)
Read this one for Book Club o' Doom and I've decided: I want to like graphic novels, there are elements of graphic novels that I like, and there are movies/shows based on comics/graphic novels that I love. But I still haven't found a graphic novel that I actually enjoyed reading. sigh.
Kindred by Octavia Butler (264 pages, published 1979, tried to read in ebook on my phone and ended up reading in hard copy from the library, finished 19 June 2015)
OK, I've read at least one Butler short story, I'm pretty sure. But I'm really not sure which one. And I know I've never read one of her books, so I think it is fair to count this hear. Kindred is a book I've been meaning to read for years, and I'm glad I finally did. Thanks goes to the Book Club o' Doom for pushing me to read this one now! Really good, really interesting. The racial aspects are most often talked about, but I thought the gender aspects were really where she shines. She writes a great main character in Dana, but the men are nuanced as well. They have fears, weaknesses, control issues, emotions. Something that you don't often see: a sci-fi writer who can actually write male and female characters. That this was published in the 1970s makes this story even more amazing.
44. A book you own but have never read
45. A book that takes place in your hometown
46. A book that was originally written in a different language
47. A book set during Christmas
48. A book written by an author with your same initials
49. A play
50. A banned book
51. A book based on or turned into a TV show
52. A book you started but never finished
Total read so far this year: 13 of the 52 categories
I'm far less than halfway done, which bums me out. Not that I'm not on track to read 52 books this year; I've already finished a total of 35 books this year. It's just that they aren't books that fit with my whole "trying to read different and new things" category.
Also, I'm in the middle of 2 books that can go on the list: The Mazerunner and Mayflower. Both start with M, but they are extremely different. And I'm really reading 3 books at the same time, something I always used to do and something I'm glad I'm back to doing. (The third book is Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed, a fantasy novel, but one set in a fantastical land based on the Middle East rather than being set in some fantastical version of Europe. Not sure if it'll make it on the list, though, but it might.)
Obviously I need to concentrate on the list so that I can finish it by the end of the year! I'm going to try to work from the top down, for the most part, and see how that goes. I also solicited suggestions from friends on Facebook for a few of the categories like Book Set in High School, Book Set During Christmas, and about 3 more. Now I have some to-read books that are on-deck, so to speak.
I'll probably check in with my running total some time in the fall.... And here's hoping I finish!
