Marie's "If it's mostly done, can I call it a plan?" plan

[Marie]

I intended on reading 52 books for 2016, but didn't discover this group until halfway through. Luckily (and kind of surprisingly) I've been able to fit most of what I'd read to that point into the plan, although unsurprisingly they weren't read in order!

1. A book you meant to read in 2015, but didn't - We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

2. A book set in a different continent - Angel of Death

3. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2015 (winner or nominated) - Mr. Kiss and Tell

4. A book by an author you discovered in 2015 - The Twelve

5. A book with a title beginning with the 1st letter of your name - Malice

6. The highest rated on your TBR - The Help

7. A book about books - The Polysyllabic Spree

8. A classic book with less than 200 pages - The Call of the Wild

9. A book that was mentioned in another book (mentioned in The Polysyllabic Spree) - Case Histories

10. A book by an author you feel you should have read by now - Murder at the Vicarage

11. A book from the Rory Gilmore challenge - The Perks of Being a Wallflower

12. A childhood classic - The Witches

13. Reader’s Choice - Stone Cold

14. A book with one of the five W’s -or H in the title (Who/What/Where/When/Why/How) - When God was a Rabbit

15. A book set in the past (more than 100 years ago) - The Yard

16. A book from the top 100 mystery novels - The Lovely Bones

17. A book with a beautiful cover - Pretty Dead

18. A book on a summer/beach reading list - Undead and Unwed

19. A non-fiction book - Shakespeare: The World as Stage

20. A book with a first name in the title - Vernon God Little

21. A book from the Goodreads Recommendations page - Red-Headed Stepchild

22. The first book in a new to you series - Play Dead

23. The next book in a series you are reading - Wicked Charms

24. A "between the numbers" book of a series (0.5, 1,5, 2.5, etc.) - The Home Crowd Advantage

25. A book whose main character is in a profession that interests you - Basket Case

26. A book everyone is talking about - I'm not decided on this one yet - Never Go Back
The movie's out next week, so I'm guessing people will be talking about this.
27. A book with a beautiful title (in your own opinion) - Snow Falling on Cedars

28. A biography, autobiography, or memoir - Journeyman: One man's odyssey through the lower leagues of English football

29. A book by an author who writes under more than one name - Stay Dead

30. A fairytale from a culture other than your own - Momotaro: Peach Boy

31. A work of young adult fiction - Glass Houses

32. A historical fiction book - The Killer Angels

33. The 16th book on your TBR - I'm going to find out what this one is when it's time to read it Skin Tight
16th, just now, with the list set on random.
34. A book about mental illness - The Bell Jar

35. An award winning book - The Shipping News

36. An identity book - a book about a different culture, religion or sexual orientation - The Color Purple

37. A book that you've seen the movie of but haven't read - Sworn to Silence

38. A book about an anti hero - Darkly Dreaming Dexter

39. A previous suggestion that did not make it into the list (A book with a fictional Trickster) - The Grimrose Path

40. A novella from your favorite genre - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

41. A book about a major world event (fiction or non-fiction) - The Book Thief

42. A top 100 fantasy novel - The Dragonbone Chair

43. A book about a thing that goes bump in the night - The Dirty Streets of Heaven

44. A book you're embarrassed to read in public - The Notebook

45. A book related to a hobby or passion you have - Knit One, Kill Two

46. A crime story - Justice for the Damned

47. A book with a type of food/drink in the title - Tea With Tracey: The Woman's Survival Guide To Bermuda

48. A dystopia - Divergent

49. A book with a great opening line - Downfall

50. A book originally written in a language other than English - Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

51. A short story from a well-known author - The Snows of Kilimanjaro

52. A book published in 2016 - I've not got this one yet - I usually read secondhand paperbacks, so it's going to be interesting to see what I can find The Eagle Tree
Given in on the search for a secondhand paperback, this is on the kindle.

[Sophie]

Wow, you already read a lot, that's great!

[Zaz]

Yes, it's a plan :D
It's nice that you already had varied reads, even without the challenge, it helps to check categories.

[Marie]

Started really well in January, with seven read (numbers 22, 29, 17, 1, 28, 2 & 43 in the challenge)



and one started (number 11)

[Marie]

February did not go so well



(numbers 48 & 46)

[Marie]

March was even worse, with just one book read (number 5 on the challenge)



and one started (number 39)

[Marie]

Then lightning struck the local TV station's antenna, so with nothing else to do in April I finished this one



Read these four (numbers 3, 13, 49 & 31)



and started two more


(numbers 19 & 4)

[Marie]

In May I finished these



and read numbers 42, 38, 25 & 37 on the challenge



(still no TV!)

[Marie]

Then in June I discovered this group, and looking back it seems like I went a bit reading crazy



(numbers 23, 7, 47, 9, 18, 8, 10, 15, 12, 40 & 51, for the record)

There were quite a few short ones, so it's not quite as intense as it looks, honestly!

I also started these two (numbers 14 & 30)

[Marie]

July was a bit slower, but I finished this at long last



and these two



and read these four (numbers 16, 20, 21 & 24)



and got started on a couple more (numbers 41 & 32)

[Marie]

Argh, forgot to update for August!

Finished number 41:


Read 45 and 44:



And started number 34:

[Marie]

September

Finished this one:



Read numbers 27 and 6



and started number 35

[Marie]

On 1st October I finished these two



which means I'm on the final countdown - only five to go.

[Marie]

Number 36 finished



Four left.

[Marie]

Number 50 done



Guess I'd better decide what the final three will be.

[Marie]

Number 26 done, a whole lot faster than expected, unfortunately because that means people probably aren't talking about it yet!



Only two more left

[Stacey]

I still have 11 to go...after getting stuck on for 3 months and adding in two non-challenge novels that I just had to read. Hope I can make it to the end!

[Marie]

11 is perfectly on schedule, I think?

It took me six months to read Perks of Being a Wallflower, which is probably one of the shortest books on my list! When I get stuck, I just have to start something else and read the one I'm not getting on with in little bits, even if it's just a page a day.

Number 33 finished



On the last one now.

[Marie]

All done :)



52nd of the challenge, as well as being number 52 on the list, and the 52nd full length book I've read this year.

Now what do I read? What's to stop me going on a two month Jack Reacher binge while I wait for next year's challenge?!

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

Congrats on finishing the challenge! You could fill the time with some reject prompts if you're a challenge addict ;)

[Zaz]

Marie, how did you like The Eagle Tree? It's on my TBR and I enjoyed the excerpt, so I'd like your opinion :)

Congrats in finishing the challenge and now... you have to tell us which books were your favorites!
Have fun with your free reads :)

[Marie]

I enjoyed The Eagle Tree by the end, but it took a little bit of getting into because of the unusual narrator, but I guess that's the point - seeing the world from the point of view of someone so different. It made me cry, which I usually take as a sign of really good writing!

When God was a Rabbit was definitely my favourite, laughter and tears with that one, and still thinking about it months later. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is probably the other stand-out, although there were plenty of good books in there.