Marleen's 2016 Reading Plan (DONE!)

[Marleen]

Hello! It took me quite some time to compose this list but here it is. It's the first time I'm participating in such an ambitious challenge. I've tried to use books from my TBR as much as I could, adding in some classics and children's stories as well.

As you might notice, some categories were hard for me - mainly because I don't like to read crime or mystery (anything too scary and I won't sleep for the next nights). So if you have any 'light' suggestions for those categories, please let me know!

--
Progress: 52/52
last updated on December 31st

✓ 1. A book you meant to read in 2015, but didn't
Fates and Furies | My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories
Read 30 December

✓ 2. A book set in a different continent
Paper Towns
Read: 2 January

✓ 3. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2015 (winner or nominated)
The Sword of Summer
Read: 6 February

✓4. A book by an author you discovered in 2015
Fangirl
Read: 31 March

✓5. A book with a title beginning with the 1st letter of your name
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl | Made You Up Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet
Read: 28 June

✓ 6. The highest rated on your TBR
The Nightingale
Read: 22 January

✓7. A book about books
The Book of Lost Things
Read: 8 August

✓ 8. A classic book with less than 200 pages
The Little Prince
Read: 24 April

✓9. A book that was mentioned in another book
To Kill a Mockingbird | Danny the Champion of the World
Read: 30 November

✓ 10. A book by an author you feel you should have read by now
A Darker Shade of Magic / Vicious | A Farewell to Arms
Read: 21 February

✓11. A book from the Rory Gilmore challenge
Little Women Charlotte's Web
Read: 16 November

✓ 12. A childhood classic
Anne of Green Gables | Alice in Wonderland Matilda
Read: 26 December

✓13. Reader’s Choice
Empire of Storms
Read: 9 September

✓14. A book with one of the five W’s -or H in the title
Where Rainbows End | When We Collided
Read: 5 November

✓15. A book set in the past (more than 100 years ago)
Wuthering Heights | Jane Eyre
Pride and Prejudice
Read: 5 May

✓16. A book from the top 100 mystery novels
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Read: 12 January

✓17. A book with a beautiful cover
Uprooted | Made You Up
Read: 13 July

✓ 18. A book on a summer/beach reading list
My Brilliant Friend| The Girls
Read: 14 October

✓ 19. A non-fiction book
You're Never Weird on the Internet | The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are
Modern Romance
Read: 28 February

✓ 20. A book with a first name in the title
The Rosie Project | The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender | Elizabeth Is Missing
A Study in Charlotte
Read: 6 March

✓21. A book from the Goodreads Recommendations page
The Winner's Curse | Cinder
Read: 14 July

✓ 22. The first book in a new to you series
Cruel Beauty | Walk on Earth a Stranger
Cinder
Read: 4 April

✓ 23. The next book in a series you are reading
A Court of Mist and Fury | The Infinite Sea
Read: 2 May

✓24. A "between the numbers" book of a series (0.5, 1,5, 2.5, etc.)
The Assassin's Blade (Throne of Glass 0.1 - 0.5)
Read: 18 August

✓25. A book whose main character is in a profession that interests you
Cinnamon and Gunpowder - main characters are a chef and a pirate!
Read: 28 September (dnf)

✓26. A book everyone is talking about
Me Before You
Read: 18 June

✓27. A book with a beautiful title (in your own opinion)
Finnikin of the Rock | An Ember in the Ashes
Read: 2 November

✓28. A biography, autobiography, or memoir
Wildflower
Read: 9 November

✓29. A book by an author who writes under more than one name
The Unexpected Everything (Morgan Matson & Katie Finn) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two

✓ 30. A fairytale from a culture other than your own
The Forbidden Wish Arctic fairytales from Northern Norway

✓31. A work of young adult fiction
I'll Meet You There | Just Visiting
Anna and the French Kiss
Read: 22 April

✓32. A historical fiction book
Under a Painted Sky And I Darken
Read: 15 June

✓33. The 16th book on your TBR
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Read: 20 December

✓34. A book about mental illness
Everything, Everything | Made You Up
Read: 16 July

✓ 35. An award winning book
Rooftoppers (Waterstones Children's Book Prize/Blue Peter Book Award)

✓36. An identity book - a book about a different culture, religion or sexual orientation
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Read: December 4th

✓ 37. A book that you've seen the movie of but haven't read
Hector and the Search for Happiness | Sense and Sensibility
The Fault in Our Stars
Read: 14 January

✓38. A book about an anti hero
The Young Elites
Read: 20 October

✓39. A previous suggestion that did not make it into the list
I’m going with ‘A book picked for you by someone else’:
The Song of Achilles
Read: 26 May

✓ 40. A novella from your favorite genre
The Witch of Duva | The Assassin's Blade
Read: 23 April

✓41. A book about a major world event (fiction or non-fiction)
Between Shades of Gray
Read: 3 October

✓42. A top 100 fantasy novel
The Name of the Wind | Dragonfly in Amber
Read: 23 February

✓43. A book about a thing that goes bump in the night
Something Strange and Deadly | Vassa in the Night Tales of the Peculiar
Read: 11 December

✓44. A book you're embarrassed to read in public
Beauty Queens - because of the cover, haha
Read: 3 November

✓45. A book related to a hobby or passion you have
Kitchens of the Great Midwest
Read: 11 February

✓46. A crime story Wild card: A children's book with a character's name in the title
The Westing Game | De kleine kapitein
Using a wild card for this! Crime is just really not my thing and I couldn't get my hands on The Westing Game unfortunately. 'De kleine kapitein' (The Little Captain) is one of my childhood favorites.
Read: 9 November

✓47. A book with a type of food/drink in the title
James and the Giant Peach Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Read: 28 October

✓ 48. A dystopia
Angelfall | The Giver
Read: 23 April

✓ 49. A book with a great opening line
The Scorpio Races - "It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die."
Read: 23 February

✓50. A book originally written in a language other than English
The Shadow of the Wind (re-read) | A Man Called Ove
Read: 26 October

✓ 51. A short story from a well-known author
The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Read: 31 December

✓52. A book published in 2016
Rebel of the Sands
Read: 20 April

[Zaz]

I like your plan :D
I'll read The Book of Lost Things (and I love Matilda!), A Darker Shade, Anne of Green and The Name of the Wind. I just finished Cinder and liked it a lot!

Uprooted and The Giver are among my favorites and I really liked To Kill a Mockingbird too. The Witch of Duva is very similar in the atmosphere to Uprooted, so if you like one, you'll probably enjoy the other. Ava Lavender was peculiar, but what a beautiful writing :)

As you rated the Legend series exactly like me, I'm very curious to hear your opinion on The Young Elites!

For the mystery/crime, maybe it could be a good idea to look at the middle-grade novels. I suppose there are nicer to read. For #46 my choice is The Westing Game. No idea if it's creepy or not but it's for kids :p

[Marleen]

Thank you so much for your reply, Zaz! Great to hear your opinion. The books I can't wait to read are pretty much the ones you mentioned in your comment.

I was hesitant to start The Lunar Chronicles, which I see you were too. But this will be the year I'll read at least Cinder, and hopefully will enjoy it as much as you did :)

The Westing Game is a great suggestion! Looks like something I can handle, haha. Adding it to my plan right away.

[Zaz]

I'll support you if it's too much creepy :D
I don't know where your compass is on the creepy side but Uprooted as a pretty heavy atmosphere with the wood. I hope you'll survive as it's only parts of the book :)

[Marleen]

Pfhew! I'm trying to catch up and still have the hope of finishing this challenge in time. I fell behind during summer, when I started rereading the Throne of Glass series. I also had a bit of a reading slump when I tried to read outside my YA comfort zone and had to drag myself through a book (and ultimately marked it as did not finish).

With the help of some audio books, my last reads were all for this challenge and they've all been really enjoyable. So I'm back on track :) I might adjust my original plan a bit to fit in some smaller/faster reads because the perfectionist in me just reeeeeally wants to complete all 52 categories.. but preferably without burning myself out on books, thank you very much, haha.

[Marleen]

With a few hours of 2016 to go, I finished my reading plan! :) I got myself back on track and it feels so good to have accomplished the ATY 52 challenge - it was my first time participating in a challenge and it really motivated me to read more. Now I'm off to celebrate 2017 and tomorrow, I will think about my 2017 plan.. haha.

[DeeAnna]

Congrats!

[Zaz]

Congrats Marleen! I'm looking forward to your 2017 plan :)

[Marleen]

Thank you DeeAnna & Zaz :D I'm excited for the new challenge!