Pasta with Veggies and Peanut Sauce

One of the publishers at ALA Midwinter always gives away their display books to people who can answer 3 trivia questions.  Of course I had to try to win one...and I did.  Called "The Clueless Vegetarian: a cookbook for the aspiring vegetarian," I figured it would have some good ideas.  And after taking a look at it, I think it does!

The first recipe I tried was one for "Spicy Peanut Pasta."  I made a few changes to make it easier and healthier: swapping fresh veggies for frozen, adding more vegetables and sauce, using whole wheat pasta, and dividing it into more servings.  (For some reason the book said a full pound of pasta would be only make 4 servings, but I divided it into 7).

Sauce Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• ground red pepper flakes (I did about 6 shakes from my small shaker, could definitely have done more)

Pasta Ingredients:

• 1 lb. whole wheat spaghetti
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil 
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tsp. fresh ginger root, finely grated
• 2 medium carrots, coarsely grated
• 2 packages frozen steam-in-bag stir fry mixed vegetables
• 1 package frozen steam-in-bag cauliflower
• green onions, optional 
• roasted peanuts, optional 

Directions:

1. Add all sauce ingredients together in a blender and blend until smooth
2. Cook pasta until al dente, drain, and rinse with cool water
   
3. Heat vegetables in the microwave for less time than directed, just long enough to be unfrozen/warmish, but not to thoroughly heat.
4. Heat oil in large pot (I used the same one that I cooked the pasta in), add onion and ginger, cook for 1 to 2 minutes over high heat.
   
5. Add veggies and grated carrots and cook until carrots are tender and other veggies are thoroughly warm
    
6. Add cooked pasta and stir, then heat for a minute or two
7. Add sauce and stir, cooking until everything is heated through
   
   
8. Divide and top bowls with peanuts and/or green onion, as desired. 

Reading Challenge 2017

This year I started the PopSugar Reading Challenge right in January and worked pretty well on it for a while.  I didn't finish, but I did get 25 categories of the 50 covered.  I only allowed myself to count a book in one category, even if it would fit in more than one.  I also didn't count anything that I didn't finish...ooops!  And things like articles didn't count.  

Total for the year: I finished 43 books (low for me) with over 16500 pages read (low for me), but I feel pretty good about it.  The oldest book I read was published in 1939 (And Then There Were None) and the newest were published this year. The longest book was 662 pages (The Name of the Wind).  

REGULAR (24 of 40 finished!)

1. A book recommended by a Librarian
2. A book that's been on your To Be Read list for way to long
   City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett (452 pages, read in hard copy in April 2017, published in 2014, fiction--fantasy) How it fits the category? Three years isn't ALL that long, but I got this book for free when it was featured by its publisher at the ALA conference in 2014.  There was actually a really cool display/advertisement on a staircase...*so* clever!  It is a pretty neat book, with a setting that is kind of an alternate, fantastical future in India, Russia, and Asia.  
3. A book of letters
4. An audiobook
   Born a Crime:Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (304 pages--8 hours and 50 minutes, published in 2016, narrated by the author, non-fiction--memoir) How it fits the category?  It is an audio book and I would recommend listening to this one instead of reading it.  It is like the author really is telling you stories.  Plus, the language, voices, and accents make it worth it.  
5. A book by a person of color
6. A book with one of the four seasons in the title
   Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman (444 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1984, fiction--fantasy)  How it fits the category?  "Well," says Captain Obvious, "It has the word 'autumn' in the title, there."
7. A book that is a story within a story
   The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (662 pages, read in hard copy, published in 2007, in April 2017, fiction--fantasy) How it fits the category? The whole book is a story being told over two days/nights in the main character's pub in an out-of-the-way town.  Sometimes it is actually a story within a story within a story! 
8. A book with multiple authors
   Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews (260 pages, read on kindle and phone, published in 2007, read in December 2017, fiction--urban fantasy) How it fits the category? Written by a husband-wife team Ilona and Andrew Gordon.  
9. An espionage thriller
10. A book with a cat on the cover
    In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce (264 pages, read in hardcopy, published in 1984, read in August 2017, fiction--fantasy, YA/middle grade) How it fits the category?  It has Faithful, Alana's magical cat on the cover, complete with violet eyes.  This is a re-read and an old favorite, but I had a hard time finding books featuring illustrations of cats...
    
11. A book by an author that uses a pseudonym
    Melusine by Sarah Monette (477 pages, read in hard copy in June 2017, published in 2006, fiction--high fantasy) How it fits the category? So....this book was written under the author's real name, but she also has written under the pseudonym Katherine Addison.  
12. A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read
13. A book by or about someone with a disability
14. A book involving travel
    The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith (273 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1955, read in June/July 2017, fiction-mystery/literature)  How it fits the category? The titular Tom Ripley travels to Italy on Mr. Greenleaf's dime, to get Greenleaf's wayward son Dickie to come home.  Tom travels to the small village in Italy, then around Italy with Dickie, then kills Dickie, then travels around pretending to BE Dickie, and finally leaves Italy for Greece under his own identity.  
15. A book with a subtitle
16. A book published in 2017
    Etched in Bone (#5 in The Others series) by Anne Bishop (397 pages, read in hard copy, published in 2017, read in March 2017, fiction-urban fantasy) How it fits the category? Erm...it was published in 2017.
17. A book involving a mythical creature
    Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (314 pages, read in hard copy in February 2017, published in 2016, fiction-fantasy) How it fits the category? This is a fantasy novel--that has guns in it--set in a a desert.  There are mythical beasts roaming around, including djinn (genies!).
18. A book that you've read before that never fails to make you smile
    One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (320 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1994, read in July 2017, fiction--mystery) How it fits the category?  I first read this book the first time I worked at the bookstore--between 2003 and 2005.  The series was quite popular and I wondered what all the fuss was about.  I think these are pretty funny books, though this one had more violence than I remember from before.  I sort of love that cars keep blowing up, that she has a pet hamster, and that the hot private security guy keeps saving her.    
19. A book about food
20. A book with career advice
21. A book from a nonhuman perspective
    Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs (371 pages, read in hard copy and read in April 2017, published in 2017, fiction--urban fantasy) How it fits the category? The main character is a non-human, a coyote shapeshifter.   
22. A steampunk novel
    Mission Impossible (London Steampunk: The Blue Blood Conspiracy #1) by Bec McMaster (380 pages, read on phone in November 2017, published 2016, fiction--steampunk urban fantasy?)How it fits the category? This is a bit of a silly book that is very cross-genre.  Sort of a procedural, steampunk, werewolf/vampire, romance book. 
23. A book with a red spine
    A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (416 pages, read in hard copy, published in 2015, read in February 2017, fiction--YA, fantasy)  How it fits the category?  Well, the spine of the book is red, like the cover :)
    
24. A book set in the wilderness
25. A book you loved as a child 
    The Woman Who Rides Like a Man - Song of the Lionness Quartet #3 by Tamora Pierce (253 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1986, read in July 2017, fiction--young adult, fantasy) How it fits the category?  I read this series when I was a kid and loved the girl-disguises-herself-as-a-boy story.  This and the Robin McKinley books (Blue Sword and Hero & the Crown) were favorites in childhood. The women were women that embraced all aspects of themselves, their strength, smarts, abilities, and ultimately their femininity, as well.  
26. A book by an author from a country you've never visited 
    The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood (308 pages , read on phone, published 2015, read January 2017, fiction--sci-fi, literature)  How it fits the category? Margaret Atwood is Canadian...and it sometimes shows through in this book.  Occasionally someone will say something that is much more Canadian than American, even though the book is set in the U.S.
27. A book with a title that's a character's name
    Alanna: The First Adventure - Song of the Lionness Quartet #1 by Tamora Pierce (274 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1983, read in July 2017, fiction--young adult, fantasy) How it fits the category?  Duh.
28. A novel set during wartime
29. A book with an unreliable narrator 
30. A book with pictures
     The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume 1 by Alan Moore (192 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1999, read in July 2017, graphic novel)  How it fits the category?  It's a graphic novel.  I'm still not a graphic novel fan, but I keep trying to find one that I enjoy.  This, at least, only took an hour to read.  It was a Amazing Book Club of Doom selection for the movie/book meeting month (where we traditionally eat pie!).  
31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than youSmilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg (469 pages, read in hard copy, published in 1995, read in February 2017, fiction--mystery) How it fits the category? The main character, Smilla Jasperson, is half Danish and half indigenous-Greenlander.  Raised in Greenland by her mother--mostly in a traditional, in-nature sense--she is a unique character...torn between the two very different parts of her.  The mystery involves the death of her neighbor, a little boy who is also part-Greenlander.  
32. A book about an interesting woman
    Trick of the Light by Rob Thurman (339 pages, read in hard copy, published 2009, read September 2017, fiction--urban fantasy) How it fits the category?  The main character, Trixa, is interesting in a number of ways: she owns a dive bar that she lives above, has a pet crow, has a semi-reformed-from-really-bad best friend, took in two "stray" teens who have psychic abilities and are now in their 20s, has an ongoing battle-flirtation with a vampire, etc.  And then there's the ending, which I won't spoil here.  
33. A book set in two different time periods:
    Future Shock by Elizabeth Briggs (272 pages, read in hard copy, published 2016, read January 2017, fiction--YA). How it fits the category? A group of teenagers are recruited to travel to the future in a type of corporate espionage.  They were supposed to be sent 10 years forward, but end up 30 years in the future and they discover that someone is going to kill them upon their return to the present. 
34. A book with a month or a day of the week in the title
35. A book set in a hotel
    And then there were None by Agatha Christie (264 pages, published in 1939, Read in December 2017 in hard copy, fiction--mystery)  How it fits the category?  I mean, technically the plot follows 10 guests at a private island house...but it is like a hotel, complete with staff. Read the book and saw the play for December bookclub and they varied quite a bit, including the ending.  
36. A book written by someone you admire
37. A book that's becoming a movie in 2017
    The Circle by Dave Eggers (493 pages, read on my phone, published 2013, Read in July 2017, fiction--maybe sci-fi?)  How it fits the category?  It was made into an Emma Watson/Tom Hanks movie this year.  Haven't watched it yet, but I will.  This story is pretty scary because it was written over 4 years ago and the way social media works has followed the path in this book.  :(
38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas
39. The first book in a series you haven't read before: 
    Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (465 pages, read in hard copy, published 2015, read January-February 2017, fiction--YA, fantasy) How it fits the category?  This is the first of a duology that is actually set in the same world as a previous trilogy.  (But this is a separate book that can be read individually.) I've been meaning to read it since it came out.  In fact, I got it the week it came out because I stumbled upon it on Amazon.com and thought, "Awesome!"  It is a combo of fantasy and a heist story.  And certainly more of a book for teens than for younger readers--all characters are flawed, there is a certain amount of violence, and adult themes like abuse and prostitution that are handled in not-graphic, but effective ways.  I was lucky to get the sequel from a vendor for only $5 at ALA Midwinter this year.  
40. A book you bought on a trip
    

ADVANCED (1 of 12 finished)

1. A book recommended by an author you love
2. A bestseller from 2016
3. A book with a family-member name in the title
4. A book that takes place over a character's life span
5. A book about an immigrant or a refugee
6. A book from a genre/subgenre that you've never heard of
7. A book with an eccentric character
8. A book that's more than 800 pages
9. A book you got from a used book sale
    Ghosts in the Snow by Tamara Siler Jones (488 pages, read in hard copy, published in 2004, read Feb. to March 2017, fiction--fantasy, mystery) How it fits the category? I purchased this from a used book sale in Chapel Hill back when I was in grad school.  Turns out it is a cool blend of mystery, fantasy, and historical novel.   
10. A book that's been mentioned in another book
11. A book about a difficult topic
12. A book based on mythology

Rustic Fruits-of-the-Summer Galette

Once a year my book club--The Amazing Book Club of Doom--has a book/movie combo.  We read a book made into a movie (or vice-versa), watch the movie together, and discuss both.  In previous years it was Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express and the classic 1974 film, or Ian Fleming's Casino Royale followed by the 2006 movie.  This year we read the graphic novel of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vol. 1, then watched the 2003 movie.

The other notable thing about this book/movie meeting is that we also usually eat pie.  I'm not sure why or where the pie-thing came from, 'cause it pre-dates my membership in the club.  But it is almost certainly our best meeting of the year.  This year there was pizza and sweet pies.  Someone brought a cherry, another brought blueberry/frangipane, and another was chocolate cream.  Someone else brought peach/cream mini pies made in wonton wrappers. They were all really awesome.

My contribution was a rustic fruit galette--Fruits of the Summer--and it gave me an opportunity to try a new technique.  It was incredibly easy, especially because I used a store-bought crust...and it turned out great!

[Oh, and I based my version on a recipe from a blog called Gimme Some Oven.]  

Ingredients:

• 1 (9 inch) refrigerated pie crust (I used Pillsbury)
• 2 Tbsp. sugar, plus extra for sprinkling on crust
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 3 cups of fresh fruit, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used peaches, strawberries, and blueberries...because that's what I had in my house)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Unroll pie crust and put it out flat on a parchment-lined baking sheet
   
3. In a medium bowl or really big measuring cup, mix together fruit, sugar, and cornstarch. (The recipe I looked at suggested that if there's a lot of extra juice, you should pour the whole fruit mixture into strainer. I didn't have to this time, though.) 
     
   
   
4. Put the mixture in the center of the unfolded pie crust, with a 1 1/2- to 2-inch border.
   
5. Fold up the uncovered border over the edge of the fruit and pinch into pleats.
   
6. Brush the egg onto the crust, and sprinkle crust and top of fruit with sugar.
   
7. Bake in preheated oven until crust is lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes.
   
8. Serve warm or at room temperature (or, if you happen to have left-overs, you could serve it cold from the fridge).
   

2015/16 Reading Challenge: Year-end update

In 2015 I started PopSugar's reading challenge.  By the end of the year I had finished 31 of the 52 categories.  I read more books than that, but 31 was the number that matched with categories.  I decided to keep working on the challenge in 2016, but I honestly didn't try all that hard...ooops! I did end up reading 50 books this year, and getting to 9 more of the categories (total of 40 categories).  According to my calculations, this means that I read over 17,900 pages this year.  Yay!  

To recap my personal challenge rules:

• Each book could only count in one category...even if it fit into more than one
• Once I put a book in a category, I couldn't move it...even if that would make it easier to complete categories
• Only books read entirely could count for my year-end totals for books and pages.  
• Novellas and full books of short stories or non-fiction articles counted, but single short stories and articles, and professional journals didn't.
• Every book didn't have to fit the challenge...I didn't want to feel repressed or forced to read anything.  

Here are the books from the last 2 years of challenges.  I will probably start working on a new challenge this year, maybe the PopSugar 2017 challenge.

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.

3. A book that became a movie
The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner #1) by James Dashner (384 pages, published in 2009, read on my phone, finished 13 September 2015)
I had a hard time with this one, picking it up and putting it down several times over the months.  I liked the movie, which is what made me want to read the book.  The movie had a variety of differences, many of which make sense in the book vs. movie.  The best thing I can say is that the idea was kind of unique and definitely had an ending that was not expected.  The set up for the rest of the series is actually pretty cool.

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
I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies #1) by Pittacus Lore (440 pages, published 2010, read on my phone, finished 23 October 2015)
I saw the movie of this one first, and figured it might be worth it to read the book so that I could see how the rest of the series goes.  The movie and book are very similar, actually, though the character development is almost better in the movie.

6. A book written by someone under 30
Tangled Webs by Lee Bross (304 pages, published 2015, read in hard copy, advanced reader copy, finished 15 April 2015)
The plot follows Arista--aka Lady A--who is taken out of a horrible orphanage by a horrible man named Bones. He makes her into a thief (though not much of that is shown, to be honest) and by the time she's a teenager, she is the lynchpin in his blackmail operation. Wearing fancy dress and a feathered mask she attends masked parties and balls across London, collecting "secrets" and money from clients and victims. When not doing this, she lives in utter squalor and dresses like a boy to travel safely around the city. Eventually things go bad and she ends up indebted to a different terrible crime-lord, who places her in the home of a lovely shipping-merchant family. Of course, she falls in love with their dreamy son and decides that she not only *wants* to be, but that she *will be* good...and then she'll run away to India.  A YA novel with a Dickensian setting.  I really have no idea if the author is under 30, but this is her first book and she looks fairly young in a photo I saw....so I'm just going to go with it.  If she is over 30, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I said she is younger! :)

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
Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living by Nick Offerman (340 pages, published in 2013, read in hard copy and on my phone, finished 3 March 2016)
I was inspired to read this book after I saw Nick Offerman speak at ALA this past summer.  I got this book and had it signed at a signing, but I didn't read that copy.  I read library copies on my phone and in print to keep my copy nice!  Book was OK.  Some really funny parts, but some other parts that seemed pretty repetitive.

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
Three-Ten to Yuma and Other Stories (193 pages, published 1953, read in hard copy, finished 5 October 2015)
I have read some of Leonard's books, but not any of his westerns.  However, I loved the movie of 3:10 to Yuma and many of the movies and shows based on his works.  These short stories were really interesting, with a grey tone to the characters.  My favorite was The Captive, the longest story...almost a novella.  It had a protagonist and antagonist that were fairly close in sensibility, circumstances made them go to opposite sides of the law (something that is in 3:10, too).

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
You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day (262 pages, published 2015, read in hard copy, finished early December 2015)
A really interesting memoir/autobiography by actress, producer, writer, and all-around nerd Felicia Day.  A truly weird life and a very, very smart woman.  The story also resonated with me on several levels: as a smart person, as someone who was weird as a kid, as a woman who is tech savvy, as a feminist, etc.

15. A popular author’s first book
The Eyre Affair by Jaspar Fforde (374 pages, published in 2003, read in hard copy, finished 17 January 2016)
A quirky alternate-reality book set in a 1980s UK where the main character is a secret agent that protects literature, Wales is a vicious independent country with closed borders, and the Crimean War has been going on for over 130 years.  Interesting, funny, and the first in a series of books featuring the character Thursday Next.

16. A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Philbrick, Nathaniel (461 pages, published in 2006, read in hard copy, finished 30 September 2015)
I read this one because I really, really liked In the Heart of the Sea:The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.  (I recommend it to all kinds of people!)  This one was a really, really good book.  Well researched and well told.  It is not really the story of the Mayflower alone, though that is how it starts.  It is actually the story of the landing and then the next 60 years, all the way to King Phillip's War.  Basically a story of the interactions between all the groups (Pilgrims, various Indian groups, other settlers, etc.).  A complicated story, and one that blows all the stereotypes of the Mayflower and Thanksgiving right out of the water.

17. A book a friend recommended
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (published in 1990, 430 pages, read in hard cover, finished 27 December 2015)
I read this one for the December Book Club o' Doom meeting and it was suggested my my co-worker Sondra Reierson.  (I finished it after the book club meeting, but still went to talk about the first 2/3 that I did finish on time!)  Very funny!  I love the asides, the quirkiness, and the switching of perspective.  Plus, the relationship between the angel and the demon is really amazingly awesome.  My favorite part is when they talk about helping each other out with their "work" on earth, just for efficiency's sake.

18. A Pulitzer Prize-winning book

19. A book based on a true story
The Unwritten Law: A True Crime of Passion by Danny Cantrell (144 pages, published in 2013, read on my phone, finished on 27 December 2015)
A novelization of a true crime story, but one that is supposed to hew pretty close to the truth.  The author's idea was to tell the story, complete with dialogue, based on a depression area case. A Kentucky wife shoots her husband's mistress on a train in front of tons of witnesses and is acquitted based on the "unwritten law" of protecting her family.  An interesting story and a crazy set of circumstances.

20. A book at the bottom of your to-read list
Out of the Silent Planet (Cosmic Trilogy #1) by C.S. Lewis (158 pages, published in 1938, read in hard copy, finished 10/29/2016)
A sci-fi novel written by C.S. Lewis, of the Chronicles of Narnia fame (for most people, anyway). Apparently written after Lewis had a conversation with J.R.R. Tolkien about the state of modern fiction; Lewis decided to write a space travel book and Tolkien decided to write a time travel one.  Main character Ransom ends up drugged and kidnapped by two weirdos who have somehow not only figured out space travel, but also discovered a planet with intelligent life.  Luckily, Ransom is a expert in linguistics, so when he runs away from his kidnappers he is able to talk to the residents of the planet.  Like other Lewis books, it is really about religion, morals, sacrifice, etc.  This wasn't even on my to-read list, nor was any other of Lewis's non-Narnia books.  Then it was my least favorite choice on the monthly book club voting list.  And even then, I waited until the last minute to read it.  It was OK, but a little heavy for my taste.


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
The Clockwork Scarab (Stoker & Holmes #1) by Colleen Gleason (356 pages, published in 2013, read in hard copy, finished 1 November 2015)
A steampunk YA novel featuring the much-younger sister of Bram Stoker (a vampire hunter) and niece of Sherlock Holmes (a detective in her own right).  A clever idea, though I HATED the time-travel element that was thrown in.  And the cover *is* awesome:



25. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t

26. A memoir
The Rose Hotel: A Memoir of Secrets, Loss, and Love From Iran to America (336 pages, published 2015 in trade paperback, read in hard-copy, finished October 2015)

27. A book you can finish in one day
Countdown (The Sixties Trilogy #1) by Deborah Wiles (394 pages, published 2010, read in hard cover, started/finished 18 September 2015)
A middle-grade book (though a long one) for Book Club o' Doom.

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
Night Broken (Mercy Thompson #8) by Patricia Briggs (341 pages, published in 2014, read on my phone, finished 28 January 2015)
Set in the Tri-Cities in Washington state.  I've never been to the Pacific Northwest at all, but it seems like a beautiful place with some cool people, stuff, and general outlooks.  

30. A book that came out the year you were born
I have tried all year to finish reading The Bourne Identity.  It is pretty awful.  I love the movie, but I just cannot get through the book.

31. A book with bad reviews
The Amazing Tales of Wildcat Arrows by Dara Joy (261 pages, published in 2006, read in hard copy, finished in October 2016)
This book has what is possibly the best story behind it.  When I lived in Raleigh I went to the annual Wake County Library book sale several times.  It was always a huge sale, in an old empty Kmart store.  I found a copy of this book and it was ridiculously awesome.  The cover was obviously made in paint or some other non-photoshop image software.  And it featured the single least-sexy cover model...pretty much ever.  (see below)  I gave the copy to my friend Emily as a complete joke.  It was sort of a I-dare-you-to-read-this sort of thing.  Just flipping through it and randomly reading passages was FLATOUT painful.  Then I was at another book sale and literally put my hand down on as I turned a corner.  I almost started cracking up right in the middle of the aisle...and I obviously bought it.  What is even better is that it is a self-published book, so there are very few copies out in the world and I have inadvertently found TWO OF THEM!

I was never going to read this book, but then I read some of the reviews on amazon.com.  And then I needed to!  Turns out that people's bad reviews were being deleted, so they started reposting them as comments to other comments.  Here are some quotes:

• "This was the book was a travesty. Don't waste your money or your valuable time reading it."
• " Do yourself a favor and poke your eyes out before you read this book."
• "I, too, feel that it's incredibly sad when you can't post a deservedly bad review. I have only posted a few bad ones on books that truly warranted them. I'm an avid reader, often reading at least a book and a half a day, if not two. I think after reading at this level for almost 40 years, I know the difference between a great novel, and a dismal failure. Two of my low reviews were never posted, and I don't think that it is fair to other customers. They deserve to know."
• "I agree. There were all these posts warning others to STAY AWAY. This book was worse than abysmal - it was outright thievry to plagarize a story that was probably written by a 12 year old. I wasted my money on this horrible, horrible book, and this author has deleted all the negative posts. My one consolation is that this author will never get anymore of my money."

The book is super, super terrible.  It is, quite possibly, the worst book I have ever read.  But it is hilariously bad.  The guy pretending to be a sex robot, a weird birdlike character, a ship whose artificial intelligence is completely out of whack...It was obviously supposed to be a sexy, comic sci-fi adventure, but it mostly failed. 

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.Trilogy Book 2
Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth (525 pages, published 2012, read on my phone, finished 5 October 2015)
34. Trilogy Book 3
Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth (526 pages, published 2013, read in hard copy, finished 16 January 2016)


35. A book from your childhood
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (240 pages, published in 1987, read in hard copy, finished 10 February 2016)

36. A book with a love triangle
Heart of Brass (Clockwork Agents #1) by Kate Cross (371 pages, published 2012, read in hard copy, finished 28 November 2015)
A steampunk, romance-y novel with a sort-of love triangle between the main character, her husband (returned after being missing for several years), and his best friend.  The friendship between the protagonist and the husband's friend grew on his part to love, but not really on hers.  It is sort of a they-might-have-ended-up-together-except story: except the husband returned, except the protagonist is really independent, except she never gave up that the husband might return, except they were better friends than a couple in her eyes, etc. 



37. A book set in the future
Jaran (Jaran #1) by Kate Elliott (496 pages, published 2002, read on my phone, finished  1 Jan. 2015)

38. A book set in high school
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray (finished June 7, 2016)

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
Dream London (The Dream World #1) by Tony Ballantyne (404 pages, published in 2013, read in hard copy, finished 12 March 2015)
A very creative, very cool, very weird book.  With science, magic, confusion, and craziness.  The world essentially changes constantly and leaving London isn't really possible once you are there.  Elements of noir and a rugged, rough hero.   

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.

43. A book by an author you’ve never read before
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
Throne of the Crescent Moon (The Crescent Moon Kingdoms #1) by Saladin Ahmed (367 pages, published 2012, read in hard copy, finished 13 August 2015)
I picked this one up at the Barnes and Noble shortly after it was published--an impulse purchase from the new sci-fi/fantasy paperbacks display.  It won several awards and is a fascinating take on epic fantasy in a non-Euro-centric way.  Worth buying and worth reading. 

45. A book that takes place in your hometown
Undead and Unwed (Undead #1) by MaryJanice Davidson (255 pages, published in 2004, read in hard copy, finished 24 September 2015)
I read this one a long time ago, maybe the first year of grad school.  But I didn't remember it at all, and I definitely didn't remember it being set in the Twin Cities.  It was a funny book about a woman who basically just wants to live her life and have some nice shoes, but she gets turned into a vampire....and is actually queen-vampire material.  Sort of like a paranormal Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum novel in tone. 

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
The Cold Dish (Longmire TV show) finished

52. A book you started but never finished
The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard #3) by Scott Lynch (650 pages, published in 2013, read in hard copy, finished 11 September 2015)
I love Scott Lynch's books, so I bought this one when it first came out.  It literally arrived on my doorstep in an Amazon.com book the day it was released.  I started it, but didn't want to read it too fast.  I wanted to SAVOR it.  So I put it aside....and eventually I had put it aside for long enough that I forgot what was going on.  So I waited....and waited....and 2 years later I started it again.  I tried to read it at a slow pace and I rationed the book, only reading a chapter or two at a time and reading something else simultaneously so I wouldn't finish too quickly.  Worth it!!!!  

End of the Year: Reading Challenge Check-in

Looking back at 2015, I'm really proud of my reading this year.  The reading challenge and its categories helped me reach beyond my normal or go-to genres and authors, encouraging me to read new and different things.  It also encouraged me to talk to my friends and family about what they were reading and seek recommendations.

I'm particularly pleased with my adventures in reading non-fiction this year: I didn't read as much factual stuff as I would have liked to, but way more than in some of the years since I finished grad school.  And since I could read them for me, I got to enjoy them more than I enjoyed many of the non-fiction books I read in school.  

I have also read more new books than I have in a long time.  My stash of Advanced Reader copies and books from ALA midwinter and annual conferences was one inspiration, but I also made use of the good ol' public library to seek out specific books that would be good for a few categories.

At the end of the year, I managed to finish a total of 56 books (Note: even though my Goodreads account--the way I was keeping track of my books this year--shows 56 in the list, it only counts 53.  That's weird, but I'm not sure why.)  Since my unofficial number goal was to average a book a week, I'm really happy with this number.  And the total page count was almost 19,000 pages, which I think is great!  

To recap my personal challenge rules:

• Each book could only count in one category...even if it fit into more than one
• Once I put a book in a category, I couldn't move it...even if that would make it easier to complete categories
• Only books read entirely could count for my year-end totals for books and pages.  
• Novellas and full books of short stories or non-fiction articles counted, but single short stories and articles, and professional journals didn't.
• Every book didn't have to fit the challenge...I didn't want to feel repressed or forced to read anything.  

I finished 31 of the 52 categories and I'm in the middle of 3 books right now.  

I will put the unfinished ones on the challenge list below, with the status noted.  And I'm planning on finishing the rest of this challenge in the New Year.  I definitely think I can do it before summer if I try, and then I can start a new one!

[Categories highlighted in yellow are in process of being finished. Categories highlighted in lavender haven't been started yet.]

Here's the end-of-year 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.

3. A book that became a movie
The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner #1) by James Dashner (384 pages, published in 2009, read on my phone, finished 13 September 2015)
I had a hard time with this one, picking it up and putting it down several times over the months.  I liked the movie, which is what made me want to read the book.  The movie had a variety of differences, many of which make sense in the book vs. movie.  The best thing I can say is that the idea was kind of unique and definitely had an ending that was not expected.  The set up for the rest of the series is actually pretty cool.

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
I Am Number Four (Lorien Legacies #1) by Pittacus Lore (440 pages, published 2010, read on my phone, finished 23 October 2015)
I saw the movie of this one first, and figured it might be worth it to read the book so that I could see how the rest of the series goes.  The movie and book are very similar, actually, though the character development is almost better in the movie.

6. A book written by someone under 30
Tangled Webs by Lee Bross (304 pages, published 2015, read in hard copy, advanced reader copy, finished 15 April 2015)
The plot follows Arista--aka Lady A--who is taken out of a horrible orphanage by a horrible man named Bones. He makes her into a thief (though not much of that is shown, to be honest) and by the time she's a teenager, she is the lynchpin in his blackmail operation. Wearing fancy dress and a feathered mask she attends masked parties and balls across London, collecting "secrets" and money from clients and victims. When not doing this, she lives in utter squalor and dresses like a boy to travel safely around the city. Eventually things go bad and she ends up indebted to a different terrible crime-lord, who places her in the home of a lovely shipping-merchant family. Of course, she falls in love with their dreamy son and decides that she not only *wants* to be, but that she *will be* good...and then she'll run away to India.  A YA novel with a Dickensian setting.  I really have no idea if the author is under 30, but this is her first book and she looks fairly young in a photo I saw....so I'm just going to go with it.  If she is over 30, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I said she is younger! :)

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
Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living by Nick Offerman (340 pages, published in 2013, read in hard copy, NOT YET FINISHED as of 1 Jan. 2015)
I was inspired to read this book after I saw Nick Offerman speak at ALA this past summer.  I got this book and had it signed at a signing, but I'm not reading that copy; I'm reading a library copy.  I had to return it once, but have it again and will be finishing it soon!

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
Three-Ten to Yuma and Other Stories (193 pages, published 1953, read in hard copy, finished 5 October 2015)
I have read some of Leonard's books, but not any of his westerns.  However, I loved the movie of 3:10 to Yuma and many of the movies and shows based on his works.  These short stories were really interesting, with a grey tone to the characters.  My favorite was The Captive, the longest story...almost a novella.  It had a protagonist and antagonist that were fairly close in sensibility, circumstances made them go to opposite sides of the law (something that is in 3:10, too).

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
You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day (262 pages, published 2015, read in hard copy, finished early December 2015)
A really interesting memoir/autobiography by actress, producer, writer, and all-around nerd Felicia Day.  A truly weird life and a very, very smart woman.  The story also resonated with me on several levels: as a smart person, as someone who was weird as a kid, as a woman who is tech savvy, as a feminist, etc.

15. A popular author’s first book

16. A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Philbrick, Nathaniel (461 pages, published in 2006, read in hard copy, finished 30 September 2015)
I read this one because I really, really liked In the Heart of the Sea:The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.  (I recommend it to all kinds of people!)  This one was a really, really good book.  Well researched and well told.  It is not really the story of the Mayflower alone, though that is how it starts.  It is actually the story of the landing and then the next 60 years, all the way to King Phillip's War.  Basically a story of the interactions between all the groups (Pilgrims, various Indian groups, other settlers, etc.).  A complicated story, and one that blows all the stereotypes of the Mayflower and Thanksgiving right out of the water.

17. A book a friend recommended
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman (published in 1990, 430 pages, read in hard cover, finished 27 December 2015)
I read this one for the December Book Club o' Doom meeting and it was suggested my my co-worker Sondra Reierson.  (I finished it after the book club meeting, but still went to talk about the first 2/3 that I did finish on time!)  Very funny!  I love the asides, the quirkiness, and the switching of perspective.  Plus, the relationship between the angel and the demon is really amazingly awesome.  My favorite part is when they talk about helping each other out with their "work" on earth, just for efficiency's sake.

18. A Pulitzer Prize-winning book

19. A book based on a true story
The Unwritten Law: A True Crime of Passion by Danny Cantrell (144 pages, published in 2013, read on my phone, finished on 27 December 2015)
A novelization of a true crime story, but one that is supposed to hew pretty close to the truth.  The author's idea was to tell the story, complete with dialogue, based on a depression area case. A Kentucky wife shoots her husband's mistress on a train in front of tons of witnesses and is acquitted based on the "unwritten law" of protecting her family.  An interesting story and a crazy set of circumstances.

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
The Clockwork Scarab (Stoker & Holmes #1) by Colleen Gleason (356 pages, published in 2013, read in hard copy, finished 1 November 2015)
A steampunk YA novel featuring the much-younger sister of Bram Stoker (a vampire hunter) and niece of Sherlock Holmes (a detective in her own right).  A clever idea, though I HATED the time-travel element that was thrown in.  And the cover *is* awesome:


25. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t

26. A memoir
The Rose Hotel: A Memoir of Secrets, Loss, and Love From Iran to America (336 pages, published 2015 in trade paperback, read in hard-copy, finished October 2015

27. A book you can finish in one day
Countdown (The Sixties Trilogy #1) by Deborah Wiles (394 pages, published 2010, read in hard cover, started/finished 18 September 2015)
A middle-grade book (though a long one) for Book Club o' Doom.

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
Night Broken (Mercy Thompson #8) by Patricia Briggs (341 pages, published in 2014, read on my phone, finished 28 January 2015)
Set in the Tri-Cities in Washington state.  I've never been to the Pacific Northwest at all, but it seems like a beautiful place with some cool people, stuff, and general outlooks.  

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.Trilogy Book 2
Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth (525 pages, published 2012, read on my phone, finished 5 October 2015)
34. Trilogy Book 3
Allegiant (Divergent #3) by Veronica Roth (526 pages, published 2013, read in hard copy, NOT YET FINISHED as of 1 Jan. 2015)

35. A book from your childhood

36. A book with a love triangle
Heart of Brass (Clockwork Agents #1) by Kate Cross (371 pages, published 2012, read in hard copy, finished 28 November 2015)
A steampunk, romance-y novel with a sort-of love triangle between the main character, her husband (returned after being missing for several years), and his best friend.  The friendship between the protagonist and the husband's friend grew on his part to love, but not really on hers.  It is sort of a they-might-have-ended-up-together-except story: except the husband returned, except the protagonist is really independent, except she never gave up that the husband might return, except they were better friends than a couple in her eyes, etc.


37. A book set in the future
Jaran (Jaran #1) by Kate Elliott (496 pages, published 2002, read on my phone, NOT YET FINISHED as of 1 Jan. 2015)


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
Dream London (The Dream World #1) by Tony Ballantyne (404 pages, published in 2013, read in hard copy, finished 12 March 2015)
A very creative, very cool, very weird book.  With science, magic, confusion, and craziness.  The world essentially changes constantly and leaving London isn't really possible once you are there.  Elements of noir and a rugged, rough hero.  

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.

43. A book by an author you’ve never read before
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

Throne of the Crescent Moon (The Crescent Moon Kingdoms #1) by Saladin Ahmed (367 pages, published 2012, read in hard copy, finished 13 August 2015)
I picked this one up at the Barnes and Noble shortly after it was published--an impulse purchase from the new sci-fi/fantasy paperbacks display.  It won several awards and is a fascinating take on epic fantasy in a non-Euro-centric way.  Worth buying and worth reading.

45. A book that takes place in your hometown
Undead and Unwed (Undead #1) by MaryJanice Davidson (255 pages, published in 2004, read in hard copy, finished 24 September 2015)
I read this one a long time ago, maybe the first year of grad school.  But I didn't remember it at all, and I definitely didn't remember it being set in the Twin Cities.  It was a funny book about a woman who basically just wants to live her life and have some nice shoes, but she gets turned into a vampire....and is actually queen-vampire material.  Sort of like a paranormal Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum novel in tone.

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
The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard #3) by Scott Lynch (650 pages, published in 2013, read in hard copy, finished 11 September 2015)
I love Scott Lynch's books, so I bought this one when it first came out.  It literally arrived on my doorstep in an Amazon.com book the day it was released.  I started it, but didn't want to read it too fast.  I wanted to SAVOR it.  So I put it aside....and eventually I had put it aside for long enough that I forgot what was going on.  So I waited....and waited....and 2 years later I started it again.  I tried to read it at a slow pace and I rationed the book, only reading a chapter or two at a time and reading something else simultaneously so I wouldn't finish too quickly.  Worth it!!!!  

Reading Challenge Update

The interaction between Blogger on my phone and on my computer continues to ruin posts.  This is particularly annoying.  This time, it is the fact that I had been updating my reading challenge list as I went, but at some point in June the post reverted to its original form from January.  I lost all the book descriptions and comments.  Boo.

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.

3. A book that became a movie

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.

43. A book by an author you’ve never read before
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!