Lantz's 20 Book Challenge

[FancyLantzy]

I challenged myself to read 20 books this year and have already read 13, which is a lot more than I can usually manage during the school year. With school letting out for summer and no essays to grade, I'm sure I can beat 20.

Finished 1/5--Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell. I finished this book in two sittings. It's not the kind of thing I typically read, but it was engrossing and so, so good.

Finished 1/14--S. by JJ Abrams and Doug Dorst. This book requires much of the reader, but I loved every minute of it. Took me back to college.

Finished 1/22-- Montmorency Returns by Eleanor Updale. I only bothered finishing this one because it was the last in a series I had enjoyed up until this point. Here is my review.

Finished 1/31-- Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. This was one of the books I read for my school's CYRM program so I would know what the kids were reading. Loved it and discovered a new author that I'm enjoying.

Finished 2/8--Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (sounds like a Harry Potter name). Another CYRM read. I was impressed by the world building in this book.

Finished 2/13--The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Not my favorite Gaiman, but I still enjoyed it.

Finished 2/18--Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I loved this one and have recommended it to several students. It was nostalgic without being predictable.

Finished 2/27--Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. Being a huge Potter fan, of course I loved this, perhaps more than it deserves.

Finished 3/3--Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. Not quite as good as her others, but still a solid read.

Finished 3/7--The Wild Truth by Carine McCandless. Read this while I was teaching Krakauer's Into the Wild. It's not particularly well-written but does provide some insight into McCandless. I think some of my students would be interested in it.

Finished 3/13--Hollow City by Ransom Riggs. This one was somewhat disappointing compared to the first. Not sure I will finish the series.

Finished 3/25--Cinder by Marissa Meyer. This is the CYRM book I was least looking forward to reading, but I ended up liking it enough to continue with the series.

Finished 4/22--Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. Very much enjoyed this one. This series is very well done so far, and she uses the fairy tales in unexpected, clever ways.

[FancyLantzy]

Finished 6/7--Cress by Marissa Meyer. This one had more plot and action than Scarlet, but I enjoyed the characters of Scarlet and Wolf more than Cress and Thorne. Cinder's part of the story was much more interesting in this book, and I'm intrigued to find out about Winter in the next one.

[FancyLantzy]

Finished 6/15--Fairest by Marissa Meyer. This felt like a short story more than a book, but I guess at over 200 pages, it's a book. Completely told from Levana's view point, it gives a lot of insight into her actions in the rest of the series. She really is insane but of course thinks she's perfectly justified. I enjoyed it as far as it informs the rest of the series, but I wouldn't read it again.

[FancyLantzy]

Finished 6/29--Winter by Marissa Meyer. It took me a long time to read this one. I noticed that when books switch perspectives and follow a different character every few chapters, it's harder for me to stay immersed in them. But I finished it, and I liked it. A quality YA series, for once, that kept getting better with every book.

Finished 6/30--Landline by Rainbow Rowell. Stayed up all night to finish this in one sitting. Seriously, if I ever met Rainbow Rowell, we would be besties; she just gets me. We're close in age, so I connect with all her references, but that's just the surface. The characters she creates feel like real people, and she desribes their experiences and emotions in ways that hit me right in the heart. I just identify with her books, even if I haven't been through the exact same things. Loved this book; love this author.

[FancyLantzy]

Finished 7/4--Replay by Ken Grimwood. It's been a little over a week since I finished this book, and it's starting to fade in my memory already. I was so, so engrossed in this as I read it, but it didn't have the emotional impact to stay with me. It was an interesting, intellectual pursuit. It's not as impactful as others have said, but still worth the read.

Finished 7/9--A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. This book was highly recommended by several friends, and if it wasn't for that, I probably would have abandoned it early on. But, I'm glad I stayed with it because it turned out to be a beautiful little book. I did not care for the way Backman began the book. In the first few chapters, he often switched between past and present tense within the space of just a few sentences. As the book progressed, he began to use the tenses more purposefully, but it was distracting and annoying at first. He also made Ove so unlikable at the beginning, it was a bit over the top. But as Backman moved further into Ove's backstory, I started to feel for him and became more and more engrossed in this book. The ending was sad but beautiful. I'd recommend it.

Finished 7/14--The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. This is not typically the type of book I would choose. But someone gave me this book, so I read it, and I'm glad I did. It was beautiful and horrible; there were some twists I didn't see coming, and I cried so much at the end. Highly recommend.

And with that, I have met my challenge of 20 books in 2016. Will, of course, read others, though.

[Hannah]

Good luck on your reading challenge! You have read a lot of interesting books! I'm hoping I can read Carry On soon, it's been on my TBR list for quite some time!

[FancyLantzy]

Finished 7/27--My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman. This book was so charming. Some recommender on the cover compared it to a Roald Dahl book, and I can totally see that. This is one that I think I'll be rereading in the future, even though I cried so much at the end.

[FancyLantzy]

Finished 7/31--Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah. I enjoyed The Nightingale so much that I went looking for another book by the same author, but this book was mediocre at best. When I first started reading it, it felt like a practice run for The Nightingale, examining the relationship of two women over the years and their ups and downs. But this was so flat and predictable and cliche. It actually makes me question whether I was right in liking the other book, or if it was just the historical setting that intrigued me.

[patricia]

The Nightingale was two sisters who chose two different paths in wartime France. They were so different to start with. It is a picture of how two different people handled the savagery of the occupation and what they saw as their role in this time. It is inspiring. Try The Winter Garden as two daughters learn why their mother is the way she is, a moving story. Homefront was about a female who lost her leg while flying a mission and her recovery and relationships. It is a tearjerker but the end was well worth it. Hannah seems to write at times about how secrets kept can rebound and cause harm in the long run.