2015 Reading Challenge Recap

In 2015 I posted a reading challenge. Forgot about it, did you? For those of you who didn’t, I know you’re dying to hear how it went.

Well . . . I got almost half of them ticked off. Here are the details:

• A book with more than 500 pages — Mistborn: The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson (these books are huge!)
• A classic romance —
• A book that became a movie — A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby
• A book published this year —
• A book with a number in the title — Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
• A book written by someone under 30 —
• A book with non-human characters — (technically The Amulet of Samarkand and Stroud’s other books fall here, but I used them for another entry).
• A book by a female author — Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood
• A mystery or thriller —
• A book with a one-word title — Ireland, Frank Delaney
• A book of short stories — Angels and Visitations: A Miscellany, Neil Gaiman
• A book set in a different country — The Truth About You, Susan Lewis
• A non-fiction book — Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy, Gabriella Coleman
• A popular author’s first book — Storm Front, Jim Butcher
• A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet — I wanted to fill in this category, trust me, I did. American Gods is waiting for me, but I haven’t had a chance to pick it up yet =(.
• A book a friend recommended —
• A Pulitzer Prize-winning book — Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard
• A book based on a true story —
• A book at the bottom of your to-read list —
• A book your mom loves —
• A book that scares you —
• A book more than 100 years old — Moby Dick, Herman Melville
• A book based entirely on its cover —
• A book you were supposed to read in school, but didn’t — Lord of the Flies, William Golding
• A memoir —
• A book you can finish in a day — Coraline, Neil Gaiman
• A book with antonyms in the title —
• A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit — (Ireland, Frank Delaney)
• A book that came out the year you were born —
• A book with bad reviews —
• A trilogy — The Amulet of Samarkand, The Golem’s Eye, and Ptolemy’s Gate, Jonathan Stroud
• A book from your childhood —
• A book with a love triangle —
• A book set in the future — The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
• A book set in high school —
• A book with a color in the title —
• A book that made you cry — Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers
• A book with magic —
• A graphic novel —
• A book by an author you’ve never read before — The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch
• A book you own but have never read —
• A book that takes place in your hometown —
• A book that was originally written in a different language —
• A book set during Christmas —
• A book written by an author with your same initials —
• A play —
• A banned book — (Lord of the Flies, William Golding)
• A book based on or turned into a TV show — (Storm Front, Jim Butcher)
• A book you started but never finished —

Considering I read quite a few non-fiction books, craft books, and short stories, I think that’s pretty good! As for reading a book a week, I came in close. Here’s the final breakdown:

• 10 Non-fiction — Autism, generational studies, hackers, nature, and more!
• 6 Classics — mostly sci-fi related classics by masters like Bradbury and Wells.
• 9 Writing Craft books — books dealing with the craft of writing.
• 1 Poetry book — I don’t typically read poetry books, but I’m glad I picked up this one. I’m definitely putting poetry books on my wish list from now on.
• 4 Short Story collections — These are easy to read, especially for where I am in life at the moment. I don’t know about you, but I’ll get everything squared away and finally sit down with a book only to hear, ‘Mom!’ twenty seconds later. This is why women spend so much time in the bathroom. We’re reading and the bathroom is our sanctuary. Go away.
• 32 Short stories — I read these on blogs, the Kindle, or online fiction journals.
• 20 Fiction books — genres include mainstream, literary, christian, fantasy, sci-fi, young adult, women’s literature.

The grand total?

10 + 6 + 9 + 1 + 4 + 20 = 50

(I didn’t include the individual short stories in the book count and the list doesn’t include any short stories or plays read for my writing group. )

So close! I just need more hours in the day.

The thing I love about a new year is all the possibilities. So in 2016 I get to try again. At least one book a week.

I can so do this.

Whatever your reading goals are for the new year, may you enjoy every book along the way =).