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Sam With a Plan - 2017
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I love finding other people who take solace in reading. :) I read an awful lot in 2015, which was a nightmare year for me, but it really helped. I hope everything gets better for you both. xo
Marina H wrote: "I wish I could read as fast as you. Then I would have War and Peace done by no time :-)It's great to hear how books helped you find yourself again this month. 2016 wasn't really my year either and..."
Vacation is such a good jump start for reading! And is so critical for refresh and renewal: hope you have a wonderful time off.
For 2017, I am just trying to go with whatever comes. So if I'm frenziedly reading everything in sight, then great; if I'm not interested in reading and want to binge watch something, I'll let that happen. I just want to try to always enjoy what I'm doing, so even with the "pressure" of a challenge, I'll let pleasure and equilibrium dictate how much I'm reading and not be concerned if I'm reading more or less than I should.
And yes, I absolutely recommend The Women in the Castle: very different WWII perspective than the usual, nice use of changing perspectives and timeframes. Hope you like it, Marina!
Jody wrote: "I love finding other people who take solace in reading. :) I read an awful lot in 2015, which was a nightmare year for me, but it really helped. I hope everything gets better for you both. xo"
Thank you so much, Jody: even if things aren't better, my outlook and approach is better and healthier, doing my best to move forward rather than dwell on past pain, so overall there's a lot of improvement. And books are so key for me to touch larger elements of the human experience, and experience other lives, emotions, ideas outside of myself, so I find them invaluable. Glad to know you are also one of those people :-)
You had a great month in January Sam! Reading + vacation sounds really good. :)
Katie wrote: "Sam, I am so impressed by your tally this month, and by the fact that you can read a book in two to three hours. It's even more impressive that you're able to retain it. I'm rather envious of that!..."Thanks, Katie! I'll caveat by saying if I really dislike a book, my retaining abilities weaken on fast reads, but I'd guess that probably normal. And thanks for your kind words, and I love being able to escape into a book! Probably the best possible vice/crutch to have :-)
So excited for A Monster Calls: planning to get my copy this week!!
Anna wrote: "You had a great month in January Sam! Reading + vacation sounds really good. :)"
It was PERFECT, thanks, Anna!,
For February, I've finished four reads so far (American Gods, Life After Life, Quiet Until the Thaw: A Novel, and Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance).I hit a bit of a wall while starting 4321 - having just come off the high of reading Life After Life, Paul Auster's novel isn't immediately grabbing me the same way with characters or plot.
Decided to change gears entirely and yesterday moved to some YA/children's picks on my plan (A Monster Calls, The Witches, Daughter of Smoke & Bone) instead, so hoping for some entertaining and enjoyable (and for A Monster Calls, emotional) reading to help restart my reading momentum.
FEBRUARY WRAP UPTotal Reads: 18
ATY Titles Read: 13
ATY Categories Completed: 7
Nonfiction Challenge Reads: 3
February Completed Categories: 8, 10, 12, 14, 17, 22, 51
February Partially Completed Categories: 18, 38, 40
February Reads & Ratings:
The Underground Railroad - ★★★☆☆
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance - ★★★★☆
Life After Life - ★★★★★
American Gods - ★★★☆☆
Daughter of Smoke & Bone - ★★★★☆
A Monster Calls - ★★★★★
The Witches - ★★★★☆
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - ★★★★★
4321 - ★★★★☆
New Boy - ★★★★☆
Quiet Until the Thaw: A Novel - ★★★★☆
Americanah - ★★★☆☆
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments - ★★★★☆
Favorite ATY Feb Fiction: Life After Life, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and A Monster Calls
Favorite ATY Feb Nonfiction: Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance and A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments
Favorite Side Read Feb Fiction: Days of Blood & Starlight
Favorite Side Read Feb Nonfiction: N/A (side read in nonfiction I didn't care for as much as my ATY nonfiction selections)
I read far fewer books in February than in January, but I knew my pace would slow and planned accordingly. I did just exceed my ATY goal of 10 titles for the month though, with 13 titles read! On the whole, February was a strange reading month, and it was hard, with a few exceptions, to focus on any one book at a time. I also really intended to do the All the Light We Cannot See group read, but couldn’t locate my copy and then was too lazy to get a new one. I also did manage to read 3 nonfiction titles, more than my goal of 1 per month, which felt good. I’ve extended my challenge to hit 75 books for ATY, and 200 for the Goodreads annual challenge. Even though I’ve slowed down, my prior numbers seemed too easily attainable to make it a true challenge.
For me in February, some books more than lived up to and even exceeded the hype (A Monster Calls), while some were mildly disappointing relative to their hype (The Underground Railroad, Americanah). But I had three five star reads, and the crop of four star reads were overall quite compelling even if flawed and I'd recommend them to various readers. And I liked Daughter of Smoke & Bone enough to jump immediately to its sequel Days of Blood & Starlight, which I liked even more, though I'm finding the final volume Dreams of Gods & Monsters a bit less interesting and my momentum is slowing at the end of the series. So even if February had a mixed bag of reads overall, I had solid progress on the ATY front and did find new favorite titles to love and champion.
MARCH GOALSTotal Books to Read: 28
ATY Titles to Read: 15
ATY Categories to Complete: 9
Nonfiction Challenge Goal: 3
Most Looking Forward To / March Priority ATY Reads: Alexander Hamilton, A God in Ruins, The Good People, A Darker Shade of Magic, A Tale for the Time Being, Snow Crash
I'm going to make an effort to push myself in March. I have a few key side reads I'll be prioritizing, but also a bunch of things on my challenge I'm keen to get started on. And I have a work trip to London in the middle of the month, so while I won't be able to read daily in the same way, I can make it up a bit on the flights. And besides going to London, a city I really love, I can pick up Hannah Kent's new novel The Good People, which is out there but not out in the US until September, and is on my challenge as a book by a favorite author (I LOVED her debut Burial Rites).
I am looking for a new title for challenge #40 "A book published in 2017", since Iron Gold has been moved back to 2018 (and DAMN I wanted this yesterday). I also think I want to swap out my pick for challenge #15 "A book written or set in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland)"... I can't explain why, but I am less interested in my initial pick The Ice Princess now than I was when I selected it. I'm going to troll other plans to get some options to fill in here.
I'm really pleased to read that you felt the same way that I did about Americanah - I had such high hopes for it, and I found it quite disappointing. So far I've felt like I was the only one who didn't absolutely love it!
Jody wrote: "I'm really pleased to read that you felt the same way that I did about Americanah - I had such high hopes for it, and I found it quite disappointing. So far I've felt like I was the..."I need to get that review written, but I was waiting for the shoe to drop and me to fall in love with it or at least really like it. My main issue seemed to be that though the ideas were fascinating and there was a great discussion of and exploration of the way different people in different places confront and identify and interact with regards to race, especially from an African diaspora and immigrant perspective, the narrative itself was weak. I felt like Obinze and most definitely Ifemelu were created solely to get into situations where these myriad ideas could be talked about, and their "love story" I never bought or cared about. This definitely felt like a novel of ideas, and I thought the plot and characterization suffered for it. And that's not to take away from the intelligence of Adichie's prose, but I was disappointed in the literary parts of it.
Glad to know I'm not alone in feeling disappointed/underwhelmed, Jody!
Congratulations Sam, that was a great month of reading. A Monster Calls is on my list too, and so many of you have rated it high, I'm looking forward to it.For the Scandinavian prompt I would suggest A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, if you haven't read it yet.
I agree, I didn't buy their love story, and I really disliked Ifemelu as a character. I read a review which called it "a 477-page opinion essay with some characters thrown in", and I think that's spot on.
Anna wrote: "Congratulations Sam, that was a great month of reading. A Monster Calls is on my list too, and so many of you have rated it high, I'm looking forward to it.For the Scandinavian prom..."
Anna, thanks for that! I hope you like A Monster Calls: I was both excited and nervous that everyone had rated it so high, but it overdelivered for me, and even with the hype I was really taken by it.
And thanks for recommending the Backman! I haven't read it or any of his titles yet mainly because I'm not drawn to the cute curmudgeon concept, but they are on my radar and especially his newest book Beartown which is of a different variety. In fact, that might be what I go with, so thank you for the inspiration!!!
Jody wrote: "I agree, I didn't buy their love story, and I really disliked Ifemelu as a character. I read a review which called it "a 477-page opinion essay with some characters thrown in", and I think that's s..."100% agree with that review, Jody!
Sam wrote: "Anna wrote: "Congratulations Sam, that was a great month of reading. A Monster Calls is on my list too, and so many of you have rated it high, I'm looking forward to it.For the Scan..."
You are welcome :)
Katie wrote: "Another great month, Sam! I'm glad you liked A Monster Calls: that was so good, and that you had fun with your old friends Strange & Norrell too :) I know you have The Lades of Grace Adieu on your ..."KATIE, YOU HAVE MADE MY DAY! I plan to re-read all of His Dark Materials in my ATY plan, and now knowing the Book of Dust is real? And is pubbing this year? I am so filled with joy! That is definitely going to be my pick for book published in 2017!
Anna wrote: "Sam wrote: "Anna wrote: "Congratulations Sam, that was a great month of reading. A Monster Calls is on my list too, and so many of you have rated it high, I'm looking forward to it...."
Finished Beartown, Anna, and absolutely LOVED this book. I can't contain my enthusiasm for it. Even though many Goodreads friends had rated it highly, I was still able to be stunned by how good it was, how talented Backman was at weaving his tale together. I now might need to read A Man Called Ove!
MARCH WRAP UPTotal Reads: 14
ATY Titles Read: 6
ATY Categories Completed: 3
Nonfiction Challenge Reads: 2
March Completed Categories: 14, 15, 29
March Partially Completed Categories: 18, 27, 50
March Reads & Ratings:
Jane Eyre - ★★★★★
Beartown - ★★★★★
Alexander Hamilton - ★★★★★
The Good People - ★★★★☆
A Darker Shade of Magic - ★★★☆☆
The Waves - ★★★★☆
Favorite ATY March Fiction: Beartown and Jane Eyre
Favorite ATY March Nonfiction: Alexander Hamilton
Favorite Side Read March Fiction: Sing, Unburied, Sing and The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea
Favorite Side Read March Nonfiction: N/A (side read in nonfiction I didn't care for as much as my ATY nonfiction selections)
March was a true case of quality over quality: my reading pace slowed and there were whole weeks where I just didn't have interest in reading, but from the ATY 6 titles I read, 3 were five star reads, 2 were 4 stars, and only 1 did I rate 3 stars. I absolutely LOVED Beartown and enthusiastically recommend it to everyone, re-reading Jane Eyre gave me new appreciation for it and raised to a five star level and probably among my favorite classics, and finally finishing Alexander Hamilton was a nice way to cap things off and that was truly a comprehensive and wonderfully readable portrait of one of America's most important and fascinating Founding Fathers.
I'm going to keep in mind my March pace when looking at April (and May and June): I have a very aggressive work and study schedule coming up over the next few months, so will deliberately keep my book goals a bit lower and more in line with the March trend. I'm really behind in writing reviews also, so I'm hoping to clean up and catch up this weekend, and then be on track to be on top of things in April.
APRIL GOALSTotal Books to Read: 14
ATY Titles to Read: 7
ATY Categories to Complete: 3
Nonfiction Challenge Goal: 2
Most Looking Forward To / April Priority ATY Reads: A God in Ruins, A Tale for the Time Being, Watership Down
I've started A God in Ruins and I am finally going to get to A Tale for the Time Being directly after finishing that. There a number of ATY challenge titles I'm really interested in reading at the moment (among them The Book of Strange New Things, Kindred, The Luminaries, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian) but I'll keep it open ended and let myself just pick up what I feel like rather than prescribing which to read in April.
And since I know I can read it in a day, I will hope to participate in the A Wrinkle in Time read for the April group read: it's a re-read for me and on my challenge, and I probably haven't read this since my late teens so will be intrigued to see how it holds up for me at this point in my life.
Oh, I hope you love Kindred. I thought it was incredible. Even though has two of my least favourite things in it (slavery & time travel) it's absolutely a new favourite of mine. I actually never would have picked it up if it wasn't for all of the glowing reviews from people here!
I'm reading A Tale for the Time Being now. I thought it was a but strange at first, but last night it got really interesting, so I'm looking forward to continue it. I'll be curious to hear what you think.
Jody wrote: "Oh, I hope you love Kindred. I thought it was incredible. Even though has two of my least favourite things in it (slavery & time travel) it's absolutely a new favourite of mine. I actu..."Your review of Kindred really made me want to read it, Jody! Especially knowing we were both similarly disappointed by The Underground Railroad, hearing your really positive reaction to Kindred definitely solidified that pick for me.
Marina H wrote: "I'm reading A Tale for the Time Being now. I thought it was a but strange at first, but last night it got really interesting, so I'm looking forward to continue it. I'll be curious ..."That makes me even more eager to start, Marina! Will be fun to compare notes!
APRIL WRAP UPTotal Reads: 8
ATY Titles Read: 5
ATY Categories Completed: 2
Nonfiction Challenge Reads: 1
April Completed Categories: 38, 39
April Partially Completed Categories: 31, 44, 46
April Reads & Ratings:
A Tale for the Time Being - ★★★★★
The Namesake - ★★★★★
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - ★★★★☆
The Wrath & the Dawn - ★★★☆☆
A Wrinkle in Time - ★★★★☆
Favorite ATY April Fiction: A Tale for the Time Being and The Namesake
Favorite ATY April Nonfiction: N/A (no nonfiction ATY reads this month)
Favorite Side Read April Fiction: Little Fires Everywhere
Favorite Side Read April Nonfiction: Down City: A Daughter's Story of Love, Memory, and Murder
April was the first full month in which it wasn't just lack of interest that slowed my pace, but studying multiple hours a day plus a full-time job means that reading (and reviewing) has taken a backseat. The time crunch and other prioritization should continue until mid June, when hopefully I'll get a chance to get back into reading. I definitely miss reading multiple books, and miss taking part in the great discussions on Goodreads, but right now with the limited time I have, I'm choosing to spend it elsewhere strategically.
I will say less time means I feel pressure to pick the right books for me, for the challenge and in general. Normally, as a volume reader, I'll pick up anything since I'll usually end up with more books I like than don't like so the bad ones or ones I don't respond to just sort of blend in. When I'm only reading 5-8 books a month, each one seems to assume a greater level of importance and meaning. To that end, I'm continuing to tweak the selection in my plan, and be a bit more choosy with what I plan on reading. It does mean I probably won't read as outside of my comfort zone as I'd like to (i.e. I may end up removing Six of Crows since I've had an uneven run of YA fantasy of late), but hopefully it means I'll have an enjoyable and satisfying experience when I get to read.
MAY GOALSTotal Books to Read: 8
ATY Titles to Read: 5
ATY Categories to Complete: 2
Nonfiction Challenge Goal: 1
Most Looking Forward To / May Priority ATY Reads: finish Anna Karenina, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Right now, I can't get into A God in Ruins even though I loved Life After Life. I'll probably press pause on it and revisit it later, it might just be demanding more attention than I can give it at the moment.
I think I might reasonably be able to finish Anna Karenina, if not by May 31 by early June, since I got through about 50% of it in April and it's working for me.
I'd like to re-read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao this month, a book I ADORED when it came out and re-read it often, but on my last re-read found my love for it had weakened, and that either it hadn't held up as well or my perspective had changed by life experiences or other things I've read since or both.
I'll leave the other picks a bit more open ended, see what I fall into. But I am going to take another look at my plan, see what titles are outliers in terms of thinking they are likely hits for me, and make changes accordingly. Right now, reading itself is a challenge, and where I pushed myself to read differently in the first quarter, I need a small retrench back to categories I know I love into early summer.
"studying multiple hours a day plus a full-time job means that reading (and reviewing) has taken a backseat"I did that some time ago (+ had two small kids at the time) and I can tell you I didn't read anything for a couple of years. I hope you have time to sleep! That's important too.
Anna wrote: ""studying multiple hours a day plus a full-time job means that reading (and reviewing) has taken a backseat"I did that some time ago (+ had two small kids at the time) and I can tell you I didn't..."
Thanks, Anna. I can't imagine doing this and raising children!! The thought makes my brain explode. More power to you!! And sleep so far hasn't been too bad: if I don't sleep enough I'm a mess, so I let myself sleep instead of pushing to study more (or read). So far it's working.
MID AUGUST UPDATEI haven't been as active as I had been in the past, not just with this group but my reading became more sporadic during the spring. I'm in more of a groove recently, reading and reviewing and participating, so thought it would be good for a mini update.
I dove in headfirst at the start of the challenge. It was my first reading challenge ever, and it was perfectly timed for me as I had just had a major bump in my personal life, and reading was the only thing to cure the pain. I had mapped out each week in advance, and tore through the early prompts. As circumstances changed and I had less time for reading, I perhaps felt less inclined to take risks and get something I wouldn't like to read as much.
I streamlined my challenge a bit for the last 4.5 months of reading: I've read 52 books to date (it says 53 on my tracker, but I read The Bear and the Nightingale again recently to be fresh ahead of reading an ARC of the sequel), and have 26 still left on my plan, I'd guess I'll read 20-23 more from this group.
This has been a great learning experience for me, and I really appreciate the community in this group, and the readers and mods that I now follow and interact with and get and give recs with. I think, for me at least, next year's challenge I will:
-be more free form with my plan, gather titles and possible placement, but not slot in anything definitively, more flexibility for me means a bit more fun and a bit more challenging
-emulate Anna's dual choice plan to an extent - I'll finish all of the tasks first, and then I can apply books as second or third reads to any one task. Right now I still have a bunch of prompts to finish because I read books that applied to tasks I'd already completed
MAY - EARLY AUGUST: RECOMMENDED READS
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body - one of the toughest reads of my life, but mesmerizing, powerful, raw truth on a page. Roxane Gay takes on being black, fat, female and her specific story is sharp and poignant, while also having so many universal connections. This was one of the best reads of 2017 for me
The Secret History - flawed but so much fun, I loved Donna Tartt's debut about nastily damaged and privileged college students descending into brutality
Atonement - the writing here is just wonderful for the setting of scene. I perhaps admired this more than loved it, but McEwan's story of Briony, Robbie and Celia did work for me
The Lord of the Rings - a re-read of this venerable series for me. While I appreciate modern fantasy epics with quicker paces and less songs, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings always works for me, and even after years of reading it I feel familiar pangs of sadness and moments of happy contentment reading it, but can understand things in new ways
The Woman in the Window - Not quite sure if this will be the 2018 version of a breakout like The Girl on the Train, but A.J. Finn's Rear Window-esque tale of an agoraphobic psychologist who may or may not have witnessed a crime and can't quite trust her own mind was fun, well-written, and different, even if the ending was a bit lackluster IMO
Anna Karenina - whereas the rest of ATY was reading War and Peace this year, I chose the other long Tolstoy novel to re-read. I hadn't read this since 2004, and I found I did not love it quite as much as I had in the past, but this is a masterful novel, of relationships and domestic drama and society but also how those little stories reflect the vast social and political and economic changes of Russia at the time
The Girl in the Tower - If you read and liked or loved The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden's Vasya returns in the sequel. I loved this just as much as the first book, though it is less enchanting, more adventurous and much darker
The House of the Spirits - Marina, thanks for continuing to recommend this! Isabel Allende's debut novel following the Trueba family over generations in Chile is a lovely read: her powers of description are first-rate, I could picture everything perfectly and felt immersed in this not so ordinary family. The magical realism was just right: enough to add to the characters and plot and enchant me, but not irritating or cloying or uninteresting. My only complaint was the lack of dialogue, which sometimes made for long passages of description that I loved but could occasionally act as a soporific
I'm so glad to hear you liked The House of the Spirits. I can see what you mean about the lack of dialogue but I was just blown away by her writing so it wasn't an issue for me.I started The Secret History not long ago, but I found it really difficult to get into. I want to give it a go again at some point I think, but it seems to be quite heavy reading.
Quicker paces and less songs ... LOVE IT! I'm halfway through the third book, first time, and doing the audio version. I'm finally starting to connect, they are definitely amazing, but it's taken me a while to truly enjoy them.
AUGUST WRAP UPTotal Reads: 17
ATY Titles Read: 9
ATY Categories Completed: 5
Nonfiction Challenge Reads: 3
August ATY Reads & Ratings:
Anna Karenina - ★★★★☆
The Immortalists - ★★★★☆
The Girl in the Tower - ★★★★★
The House of the Spirits - ★★★★☆
Child 44 - ★★★☆☆
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - ★★★★☆
Elizabeth I - ★★★★☆
Watership Down - ★★★★★
A God in Ruins - ★★★★★
Favorite ATY Aug Fiction: A God in Ruins and The Girl in the Tower
Favorite ATY Aug Nonfiction: Elizabeth I
Favorite Side Read Aug Fiction: And I Darken and The Age of Innocence
Favorite Side Read Aug Nonfiction: Educated
I had a solid August for overall reading, definitely getting back into a reading groove and approaching the end of the challenge for me. With 20 books and challenges to complete, and four full months to do so, I should hopefully finish by (American) Thanksgiving! I've read 58 books (the official tally counts 59 since I re-read The Bear and the Nightingale ahead of reading an ARC of the sequel), so I definitely love that this challenge has pushed me to read more and read outside of my comfort zone!
SEPTEMBER PRIORITIES
Some beloved re-reads (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and The Brothers Karamazov), some reads I perceive to be fun (11/22/63 and City of Thieves), and some mildly daunting tomes (The Luminaries and A Gentleman in Moscow). Add to that a fun side read slate for pleasure and other challenges (Six of Crows, The Sellout, The Dry, A Gathering of Shadows, The Hate U Give, Northanger Abbey) means I'm all set up to kick off the fall in a great way!
SEPTEMBER WRAP UPTotal Reads: 11
ATY Titles Read: 5
ATY Categories Completed: 5
Nonfiction Challenge Reads: 1
Septembr ATY Reads & Ratings:
Death on the Nile - ★★★☆☆
City of Thieves - ★★★★★
11/22/63 - ★★★☆☆
S.P.Q.R: A History of Ancient Rome - ★★★★☆
Libra - ★★★☆☆
Favorite ATY September Fiction:City of Thieves
Favorite ATY September Nonfiction: S.P.Q.R: A History of Ancient Rome
Favorite Side Read September Fiction: The Dry, Force of Nature and Six of Crows
Favorite Side Read Aug Nonfiction: n/a
A slightly slower month of reading, but made progress by finishing 5 ATY books and completing those challenges. I was thinking I might finish by Thanksgiving, but I have to get things in gear in October and I'm feeling too light and happy to pick up some of the heavier reading I've outlined for myself that's outstanding. I may need to make some swaps if I want to finish before December.
In general, I'm not a huge fan of thrillers, but for some reason all I want to read are white-knuckled spy or murder thrillers at the moment. I think it's because I had such a solid experience with Jane Harper's new Aaron Falk series, reading The Dry and getting an ARC of the sequel Force of Nature. My ATY list next year might reflect this newfound genre appreciation.
OCTOBER PRIORITIES
I'm going to go a little lighter on my priorities for this month, and delve into a month of YA reading. I hope in the first two weeks to tackle at least two titles between Fangirl,
My Lady Jane, I Capture the Castle and Uprooted. The back half of the month I'm reserving for my re-read of His Dark Materials and Pullman's newest novel, La Belle Sauvage.
It's funny you say that about thrillers - I just read Shutter Island, which is about as far out of my comfort zone as it gets (unless you count books on submarines), and I really enjoyed it. I now really want to read more along the same lines, as it was such a fun, easy read, and I think I'm a bit burnt out on a lot of the literature and literary fiction I've read this year.
Jody wrote: "It's funny you say that about thrillers - I just read Shutter Island, which is about as far out of my comfort zone as it gets (unless you count books on submarines), and I really enjoy..."Jody, I very much hear you on literary fiction/literature burnout! I definitely want to take a more balanced approach to the challenge next year, and try to mix in more fun reads.
I've never read any Dennis Lehane, so I'll have to add Shutter Island to my TBR: thanks for the rec!
I hope you will have as much fun reading My Lady Jane as I had. I liked Uprooted too, I read both last year, as well as Fangirl. I'm looking forward to La Belle Sauvage, I loved Pullman's books.
I think I've been too focused over the past couple of years of catching up on all of the classics I feel that I need to read, and the "list" books that I also feel I need to read. I've forgotten that reading doesn't always have to be meaningful! I went into Shutter Island with no expectations and I think that helped. It was total popcorn fun. I need more of that.
Harlan Coben is my go-to author for suspenseful thrillers. Also the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child is totally addictive!
Jody wrote: "I think I've been too focused over the past couple of years of catching up on all of the classics I feel that I need to read, and the "list" books that I also feel I need to read. I've forgotten th..."Totally agree, Jody! Reading is and should be fun. It's great to read classics or books that make you think, but it's ok just to immerse yourself in a great story that entertains you. I have to remind myself of that more next year as I build my plan. I think Zaz called her plan "Zaz's Fun Plan", I might use that as inspiration.
Anna wrote: "I hope you will have as much fun reading My Lady Jane as I had. I liked Uprooted too, I read both last year, as well as Fangirl.
I'm looking forward to La Belle Sauvage, I loved Pullman's books."
I love all things Tudor, Anna, so I'm hoping for a fun and spirited take on a familiar topic! And I need to re-read His Dark Materials now so I am ready... must get on that.
Perri wrote: "Harlan Coben is my go-to author for suspenseful thrillers. Also the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child is totally addictive!"
Thanks for more suggestiong, Perri! Will have to check these authors out: always heard their names, but never read anything by them.
Around the Year in 52 Books
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It's great to hear how books helped you find yourself again this month. 2016 wasn't really my year either and I started out really well in January when it came to reading, but the last two weeks haven't been great, and I just don't feel like I'm all there and focused when I read these days. But it'll change at some point!
I'm having a weeks vacation next week, so I'm hoping to get back on track.
I've just added The Women in the Castle to my TBR. I saw you recommend it somewhere if you like The Nightingale and All the light we cannot see and those two are some of my favorites from last years.