Ellen's Challenge Tracker *2017*

[Ellen]

Step 1: Canadian
Book 1: Etta and Otto and Russell and James - Emma Hooper

Step 2: England
Book 1: The Bookshop on the Corner - Jenny Colgan
Book 2: A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London's Flower Sellers - Hazel Gaynor

Step 3: Non-Fiction
Book 1: Born a Crime - Trevor Noah
Book 2: On Thin Ice: An Epic Final Quest Into the Melting Arctic - Eric Larsen
Book 3: Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War - Mary Roach

Step 4: Series
Book 1: A Lesson in Secrets - Jacqueline Winspear
Book 2: Alanna: The First Adventure - Tamora Pierce
Book 3: The Secrets of Wishtide - Kate Saunders
Book 4: Elegy for Eddie - Jacqueline Winspear

Step 5: Mystery
Book 1: Before the Fall - Noah Hawley
Book 2: The Twenty-Three - Linwood Barclay
Book 3: Leaving Everything Most Loved - Jacqueline Winspear
Book 4: A Deeper Darkness - J.T. Ellison
Book 5: Turbo Twenty-Three - Janet Evanovich

[Ellen]

Hitting the PBT High Notes:

2008: 1000 white women 1/25/17
2009: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle -Haruki Murakami 7/23/17
2010: Remarkable Creatures 2/27/17
2011: Kindred 4/27/27
2012: Rules of Civility 9/8/17
2013: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena 5/18/17
2014: The Snow Child 8/18/17
2015: Epitaph 8/30/17
2016: The Nightingale 5/28/17

[Ellen]

PBT Monthly Read:

January: (foreign literature) - The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
February: (quirky) - The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson
March: (Ireland) - Brooklyn - Colm Toibin
April: (bestseller) - The Kite Runner
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story - Diane Ackerman
May: (2004) - Trophy Hunt - C.J. Box
June: (coming of age) - The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
July: (award winners) - Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures - Kate DiCamillo
August: (space opera) - Imzadi - Peter David
September: (American) - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
Rules of Civility - Amor Towles
The Stars Are Fire - Anita Shreve
October: (society) - Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America - Linda Tirado
November: (African American) - The Supremes Sing the Happy Heartache Blues - Edward Kelsey Moore
Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers - Tanya Lee Stone
December: (social issues) - House Rules - Jodi Picoult

[Ellen]

Read 100 Books in 2017
1. A Lesson in Secrets - Jacqueline Winspear
2. The Shack - Wm. Paul Young
3. Alanna: The First Adventure - Tamora Pierce
4. The Secrets of Wishtide - Kate Saunders
5. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
6. Dark Matter - Blake Crouch
7. One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd - Jim Fergus
8. Before the Fall - Noah Hawley
9. Crenshaw - Katherine Applegate
10. Elegy for Eddie - Jacqueline Winspear
11. Sad Animal Facts - Brooke Barker
12. The Twenty-Three - Linwood Barclay
13. Big Little Lies - Lianne Moriarty
14. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson
15. The Bookshop on the Corner - Jenny Colgan
16. Born a Crime - Trevor Noah
17. Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier
18. Homegoing -Yaa Gyasi
19. Etta and Otto and Russell and James - Emma Hooper
20. Brooklyn - Colm Toibin
21. On Thin Ice: An Epic Final Quest Into the Melting Arctic - Eric Larsen
22. Small Great Things - Jodi Picoult
23. A Memory of Violets: A Novel of London's Flower Sellers- Hazel Gaynor
24. Leaving Everything Most Loved - Jacqueline Winspear
25. The Fifth Letter - Nicola Moriarty
26. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
27. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
28. A Deeper Darkness - J.T. Ellison
29. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk - Kathleen Rooney
30. The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story - Diane Ackerman
31. The Keeper of Lost Things - Ruth Hogan
32. Turbo Twenty-Three - Janet Evanovich
33. Kindred - Octavia Butler
34. Trophy Hunt - C.J. Box
35. Beartown - Fredrik Backman
36. The Witching Hour - Anne Rice
37. The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
38. Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd - Alan Bradley
39. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - Anthony Marra
40. Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War - Mary Roach
41. The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah
42. The Sleepwalker - Chris Bohjalian
43. A House for Happy Mothers - Amulya Malladi
44. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
45. I See You - Clare Mackintosh
46. Never Saw it Coming - Linwood Barclay
47. Final Approach - John J. Nance
48. Love and Houses - Marti Leimbach
49. Damage - John Lescroart
50. The Girl Before - J. P. Delaney
51. Love and Other Impossible Pursuits - Ayelet Waldman
52. Bloodsucking Fiends - Christopher Moore
53. Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures - Kate DiCamillo
54. Gwendy's Button Box - Stephen King
55. Finding Jake - Bryan Reardon
56. Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love - James Runcie
57. For the Love of Ethan - Marjorie Reynolds
58. The List - J.A. Konrath
59. Love What Matters: Real People. Real Stories. Real Heart.
60. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murikami
61. A Dangerous Place - Jacqueline Winspear
62. The Chilbury Ladies' Choir - Jennifer Ryan
63. Imzadi - Peter David
64. The Queen's Accomplice - Susan Elia MacNeal
65. The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey
66. Chestnut Street - Maeve Binchy
67. Epitaph - Mary Doria Russell
68. Out of My Mind - Sharon M. Draper
69. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
70. Rules of Civility - Amor Towles
71. Driving Miss Norma: One Family's Journey Saying "Yes" to Living - Tim Bauerschmidt and Ramie Liddle
72. The Black Box - Michael Connelly
73. Camino Island - John Grisham
74. Elizabeth Is Missing - Emma Healey
75. The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship - Andrea Israel
76. Y is for Yesterday - Sue Grafton
77. The Skeleton's Knee - Archer Mayor
78. The Stars Are Fire - Anita Shreve
79. Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America - Linda Tirado
80. 20th Century Ghosts - Joe Hill
81. The Windfall - Diksha Basu
82. BraveTart – Iconic American Desserts - Stella Parks
83. Pogingen iets van het leven te maken: Het geheime dagboek van Hendrik Groen, 83¼ jaar - Hendrik Groen
84. In The Company Of Liars - David Ellis
85. Into the Water - Paula Hawkins
86. The Late Show- Michael Connelly
87. The Supremes Sing the Happy Heartache Blues - Edward Kelsey Moore
88. The Keeper - John Lescroart
89. Watch Me Disappear - Janelle Brown
90. Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers - Tanya Lee Stone
91. Dear Fahrenheit 451: A Librarian's Love Letters and Break-Up Notes to the Books in Her Life - Annie Spence
92. War Brides - Helen Bryan
93. Our Short History - Lauren Grodstein
94. Saints for All Occasions - J. Courtney Sullivan
95. The Midnight Before Christmas - William Bernhardt
96. House Rules - Jodi Picoult
97. Fruits of the Poisonous Tree - Archer Mayor
98. The Deal of a Lifetime - Fredrik Backman
99. The Whistler - John Grisham
100. The Blue Hour - T. Jefferson Parker
101. Don't Let Go - Harlan Coben
102. The Story of Arthur Truluv - Elizabeth Berg
103. Hardcore Twenty-Four - Janet Evanovich

[Ellen]

I decided that it might be fun to ask my co-workers what their favorite books might be and read those for another challenge.

Jennifer:
The Shack
completed 1/5/17

Lynn:
The Red Tent
completed 5/12/17

Natalie:
Jane Eyre
completed 4/4/17

Joni:
Big Little Lies
completed 2/9/17

Pam:
anything by Christopher Moore
Bloodsucking Fiends
completed 7/2/17

Katrina:
Alanna: The First Adventure
completed 1/9/17

Melissa:
The Shadow of the Wind
completed 1/16/17

Courtney:
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
completed 7/23/17

April:
Dark Matter
completed 1/18/17

Regina:
The Witching Hour
completed 5/2/17

Lizzie:
Small Great Things
completed 3/18/17

Michelle:
A House for Happy Mothers
completed 6/2/17

[Anita]

Ellen wrote: "I decided that it might be fun to ask my co-workers what their favorite books might be and read those for another challenge.

Jennifer:
The Shack

Lynn:
The Red Tent

Nat..."

That's so nice! It will give you something, other than work, to discuss with your colleagues!!

[Regina Lindsey]

Ellen wrote: "I decided that it might be fun to ask my co-workers what their favorite books might be and read those for another challenge.

Jennifer:
The Shack

Lynn:
The Red Tent

Nat..."

Really cool idea!

[Ellen]

Some of these are really out of my comfort zone but I promised I would give it my all. There are still about 10 more people who haven't decided on their book as of yet.

[[deleted user]]

Ellen wrote: "Some of these are really out of my comfort zone but I promised I would give it my all. There are still about 10 more people who haven't decided on their book as of yet."

Good luck and hoping it turns out to be a fun challenge for you. Maybe the books outside of your comfort zone will end up being your favorites!

[Elise]

I love the idea for books recommended by your coworkers! I'd steal it from you, but I work in a sad little office where nobody reads XD I have a reputation because I always have a book with me in the kitchen when I have lunch. My boss and I were talking about a library and she said "I brought my sons there once" and it made me so sad!

I might just ask for recs from friends on Facebook/LiveJournal, if you'll allow me to steal your idea?

[Ladyslott]

Ellen wrote: "I decided that it might be fun to ask my co-workers what their favorite books might be and read those for another challenge."

What a clever idea.

I've read:

The Red Tent
Jane Eyre
Big Little Lies
The Shadow of the Wind
Dark Matter

I liked all of them, you have some good reading ahead.

[Ellen]

Of course you can use the idea, Ellie. I fortunately work in a library so I am surrounded by avid readers. I hope you get some great recommendations too!

[Joi]

Love the asking coworkers idea for a challenge!

I recently asked on a vague facebook message for book suggestions for 2017. Got a few great suggestions, but quite a few duds. Somehow the majority of suggestions were all book with 500-1000 pages. Definitely showed who are the big readers on my friend list though!

[Amy]

I loved like three of those choices.... Possibly five. Red Tent, Shadow of the Wind, and Big Little Lies. I'm also reading Constellation for 2013 High Notes. We can enjoy it together.

[Joni]

Ellen, I need help. I am lost about what to do. Maybe I can sit with you and you can help me out. I want to read more in 2017. :)

[Ellen]

I got you, Joni. I'm so glad that you've joined us!

[Anita]

Joni wrote: "Ellen, I need help. I am lost about what to do. Maybe I can sit with you and you can help me out. I want to read more in 2017. :)"

Welcome, Joni! I'm an administrator here and am also happy to assist!! Feel free to reach out anytime . . .

[Ladyslott]

Welcome Joni - another administrator reaching out to welcome you. Also available to help with any questions you may have.

[Amy]

Joni, as a recently described PBT devotee, (how I love that term,) our whole community says welcome!

[Ellen]

Fall Flurry of Holidays Challenge:

October - 20th Century Ghosts - Joe Hill
November -
December -