2017 Get Into the New Year Challenge

[Lucy]

I finished Illuminae the other night. Holy. Crap. I was totally not prepared. Definitely one of the best books I've ever read.

5 stars!

[Lily]

I finished reading Slasher Girls & Monster Boys by April Genevieve Tucholke
Here is the cover :

Why is the cover important? Because it's a really pretty cover. Also, if you look closely, you can see a lot of tiny names written around the main drawing: because this is a collection of short stories and each one of them is written by a different author. If I'm not mistaken, there are 12 stories in total, which means that this is a very special book to rate. Some stories' strength was the writing style; some had a great atmosphere; others had an interesting plot, etc etc. They all had their little something special... and their little weaknesses.

I did really enjoy reading it, because I like spooky things, and I love controversial or morally ambiguous characters, and this is what some authors delivered. However, by the eighth or ninth story.. it kind of loses a bit of its magic. And I think that's pretty sad, because some stories would've made amazingly suspenseful stories had they been published on their own, but because they were part of a collection of /dark/ stories, you just knew. You knew were it was going and how it would end.

I'd say this a bit like a YA Stephen King novel overall, so if you're into that kind of thing, ghosts, paranormal occurrences, dead people, murder, dark magic... You'll probably like this one. Plus, each story is inspired by one or multiple movie(s)/book(s)/legend(s), which is quite nice! A good 3.5/5 for me!

[Tessa]

Hey :) (another one late to the party *waves*)

I'm going to read:

A book with more than 500 pages (currently reading):Purity

A book by a female author: The Female of the Species

A book that intimidates you/based on the cover: Brutal Youth

[Nerdy Panda]

I finished Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and I really enjoyed it. It gave me so many feelings!
Rating: 4/5

[Lenn ♡ | anatomyofabooknerd (IG)]

Hi, I just joined the group yesterday! :)

Here are my chosen topics for this challenge:

* Read a book by a female author
* Read a comic book
* Read a graphic novel

[Victor]

I finished reading Gilead and I give 4 out of 5 stars.

I really did enjoy reading this book, even though some parts did feel a bit slow. The narrator of the book is the main character, Reverend John Ames, who is writing a letter to his son, so that he can read after he passes. John started his family late. He married in his 60s, had a son soon after that, and is now writing the letter in his 70s. John is ill and knows he will be passing away soon, so he wants to leave a record of his life for his son to read when he gets older.

John reflects on his past and present in this book. He talks about his relationship with his father and grandfather (who are also Reverends, but with different ideas on important issues), his brother, friends, and wife and son. The main conflict in the book comes from the return of John's Godson, who stirs up some emotions.

Two of the main themes of the book are regret and loneliness, and not just through the narrator. However, the author takes these hardships and helps find the beauty in life, with a few exceptions.

Thankfully, I felt that the ending did a good job at wrapping up the book without feeling rushed. I didn’t feel that anything was left unaddressed in the end, but it does leave enough openness so that you can wonder how some of the characters continued on after the book ends.

[Andie]

I'm in! I'm going to read a book by an author I love that I haven't read yet (Wind/Pinball by Haruki Murakami) and I'm going to read a classic (The Handmaiden's Tale by Margaret Atwood). I'm new here, on Tumblr I'm cityoftheword

[Tanya]

I'm in! I'm gonna try and read almost every category on here haha

[Alissa]

Late to the party but whatever

Read a book from a author you love that you haven't read yet: The Summer Palace by C.S. Pacat --> 5 stars, SO MUCH FLUFF!!!
Read a book with more than 500 pages: The Marvels by Brian Selznick --> 3 stars, idk I couldn't really connect with it
Read a book based off a fairy tale: Winter by Marissa Meyer
Read a book that became a movie: The Center of the World by Andreas Steinhöfel --> 4 stars, recommended for everyone tbh
Read a book by a female author: Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter
Read a classic: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (I'm late I know lmao) --> 2.5 stars, i like the story but the writing is tough to get through

Let's hope I get to all of these!

[Lana]

Are we allowed to change the books for certain topics? Most of them are still not available in library in my town :/

[Kaitlyn]

Yeah you can change the books! The challenge is just for January so I don't want you to have to wait to read those books. I might switch one of mine out as well lol

[Lana]

Great! In that case, I'm choosing the next books:

Non human characters: Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
one word title: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
Manga: Madoka (I've read the 1st volume, but still have to write the review)
Book I know nothing about: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

[Amanda]

I finished No One Belongs Here More Than You earlier today. It was a goodbye gift from my boss when I left the store I had been working at. She said it meant a lot to her in her early 20s, and hoped it would impact my life as well.

Miranda July is a weird lady and these stories are just as weird, but I still related to most of the characters in these short stories. There was one story about fantasizing and letting fantasies take over your reality to the detriment of establishing real relationships... that was a good one. I got a lot of little things out of these stories. The characters are a little too strange to 100% relate to.

[Shelby]

I finished Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger.

I have to say, this book took longer to read than I expected. When I read the description - mystery, paranormal - I was all for it. However, it was not as good as I thought it would be and it makes me sad because I had such high hopes. The main character, Finley, was very stereotypical to me... Looks, attitude, etc. I was hoping for a book that was focused on the paranormal aspect of solving cold cases but instead got a book that focused on how Finley did not want her powers and fought it until the near end of the book.

Another thing about the book that bothered me was the confusion of characters, specifically the Pennys. I guess that was what Unger was going for but the way she did it wasn't utilized very well, in my opinion.

I feel bad with my criticism because it wasn't a bad book, I just feel like it could have been better. The overall plot was stellar and I enjoyed the characters that Finley say via her powers. The characters should have been utilized more rather than just thrown in for effect. I wish the paranormal aspect was played out differently... if it had, I feel like this book would have been better.

I still recommend this book.

I gave it three (3) stars out of five (5).

[S. B.]

I'm in! I will see if I can do more of these but to start:

Read a funny book, read a book by a female author:
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl by Issa Rae

Read a book with more than 500 pages (and I think also magic):
StreetSlam: Wishes of A Broken Time by Leonard Langford - 846 pages

[Young At Heart Reader]

For this challenge I will do

A comic book- Sandman Dream Country

and

A book with a one word title- Antigoddess.

[Travis]

I just finished Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith and gave it a 2 out of 5 stars! I had high hopes for this book because I'm a huge fan of books about killer insects/animals/horror/supernatural and this book really didn't deliver! Only reasons I gave it a 2 stars is because I appreciated the LGBQT characters and "when" we did get some giant insect killing action it was pretty good. I am very picky about my killer insect books and there just wasn't enough of it for me, and when I did get some of it, it was taken away to fast. Plus the author really knows how to go from super interesting to omg I can't get through these pages fast enough because it's so boring. There was just a bunch of unnecessary parts of the plot that, if taken out, would of made this book in my opinion a whole lot better!

[Rebecca ☆]

I'm going to add to this as I read the books!
1. Read a book based entirely on it's cover The Summer Palace 4/5 stars
2. Read a book that became a movie Howl's Moving Castle 4/5 stars
3. Read a comic book Nimona 4/5 stars & In Real Life 5/5 stars
4. Read a play The Tragedy of Mister Morn 3/5 stars
6. A book based on a fairy tale (Hopefully finish Heartless)

[anna ✨]

I am definitely in! (Need to decrease the amount of books on my TBR)
Read a classic - Twee Koffers Vol by Carl Friedman (Dutch author)
Read a book with magic - (hope this counts) The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
Read a book of poetry - Ik had als kind een huis en haard by Willem Wilmink
Read a book that intimidates you - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

[Lucy]

So I finished The Black Gryphon. It's always been one of my favorite books to read and I highly recommend it. Lackey is a master at creating characters that break the mold without making it seem forced. 4 out of 5 stars. It's a slow read but I've always enjoyed it.

[Lucy]

I guess I'm doing so much better than I planned for the start of the new year. I'm going to scratch 3 more books off my TBR list this month by adding:

Book from an author you love but haven't read yet - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay
Book that became a movie - American Psycho
Book that you know nothing about - The Bone Season

That should be enough for January. :)

[Patricia]

I'm in!

A book by a female author - A Study in Charlotte
A classic - Frankenstein

Lets' see how this goes because I've been in a reading slump!

[Gianna]

i'm in!!
challenges:
1. read a book published in 2016 >> Away We Go by Emil Ostrovski
2. read a book by a female author >> Of Fire & Stars by Audrey Coulthurst

i'm very excited!

[kelsie]

Okay! So I finished my first book of the year. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson was my intimidating book. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. It was a really amazing book, and I can totally see why it's such a lauded novel by sci-fi readers everywhere. My main problem was how overwhelming it was. I felt like I needed to take some speed just to keep up with everything going on. I think I'll have to reread this book to enjoy it as much as I know I could, but for now, it's going away so I can enjoy something a little less exhausting.

[Crimson]

So far this month I have read
•Read a book by a female author: Everything I never told you by Celeste Ng
I have mixed feeling about this book ....
•Read a book with magic: A gathering of shadows by V.E. Schwab
The stake in this book is absolutely nuts
•Read a book you previously abandoned: How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman
I skimmed through many things, but I finished it regardless.
•Read a comic book: Adulthood is a myth by Sarah Andersen
Everything is absolutely hilarious and relatable

[[deleted user]]

I'm in! I have six books:

A Testament of Hope (The essential writings and speeches of Martin Luther King Jr)**5/5 Reading this book has changed me profoundly. I also got a direct view of the civil rights movement from one of the main leaders. I am so glad to have experienced this book.
-Over 500 pages
-Nonfiction
The Watchmaker of Filigree St by Natasha Pulley* 5/5 Wonderful story. Great interesting characters whom I loved all of them. Atmospheric, Victorian mystery setting with clockwork. The book itself is beautiful! The cover has a cut out to show the pocketwatch.
-A mystery
-A book based solely on it's cover
The Portrait of Lady by Henry James (struggling to get to this book!)
-Read a Classic
-Based on a movie 1996 (Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich)
+watching this as soon as I am done reading!
Casino Royale 007 **3/5 I completed this book in a couple of days. I'm happy to have read it. It was interesting for a glimpse into culture of the 50's, spies and James Bond. I didn't like how James Bond views women though. I know it was the 50's but it takes all the attractiveness away for me. I don't think I'm going to read any more of this series.
-Based on a movie
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them by JK Rowling**- 5/5 I really loved this movie and loved reading the screen play. I saw the movie perfectly in my head as I read. the only thing I didn't care for was the term they called non magick folk. I thought it was clumsy and could have been more inventive.
-Based on a Movie
A Highlander's Touch Karen Marie Moning** 3/5 It was a classic cheesy romance. Of which I need to have in my life!
-Written by a Female Author

[Lucy]

Man, I am burning through my books. I finished Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay. I had already seen the movie a couple of times but reading the screenplay was a good consolation. The descriptions were amazing and you can definitely tell that Rowling wrote this. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars!

[Victoria]

I'm doing the "read a book that became a movie" challenge. I saw that challenge and picked up "half of a yellow sun" by adichie. I didn't even know it was a movie until recently but I started the book last night and I'm already loving it. I plan on watching the movie after I'm done

[Natalie]

I'm totally in! I already read "The Wrath and the Dawn" by Renee Ahdieh this month (female author/ set in another country) and I might try to reread Crooked Kingdom which I previously abandoned!!

[Kaitlyn]

So I'm switching my book over 500 pages to "All The Light We Cannot See" because I just finished it and not sure if I'll get to my other book. I can't even begin to describe how haunting yet beautiful this book is. 5/5 stars, I have absolutely no complaints for this book. Some say it's slow but Anthony Doerrs way of turning his words into poetry more than made up for the fact that the story is a slower one. Everything blended together perfectly. If you're a fan of historical fiction, especially WW2, you should read this. I saw comparisons of this book to "The Book Thief" and since I just read that book less than a month ago I can safely tell you that they are vastly different from one another. I love them both in different ways. Definitely a book I will tell all of my friends to read.

[Evelina]

Just finished Cress by Marissa Meyer.
I really enjoyed this one, it's my favorite out of the three so far
and the last 200 pages were amazing!
Cinder and Kai were great as usual and I really started to like Thorne in this book...he showed another side of himself.... that he is'nt only this careless, arrogant guy ... Cress was ok, not my fave... she annoyed me too many times.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars....go read the series it's great.

[Destany]

I'm in, for this challenge I will be doing the following two: a book by a female author titled These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly, and a book with only one word for a title called Passion by Lauren Kate

[Simona]

Hi! For the challenge I choose:
• Read a book with more than 500 pages
Queen of Shadows - Sarah J. Maas
•Read a book with magic
Empire of Storms - Sarah J. Maas
•Read a book based entirely on its cover
Barefoot on the Wind - Zoe Marriott (I bought this spontaneously because the cover was cute and never read the blurb so I guess it's perfect xD)

[Savannah]

I'm in!
Read a book that a friend recommends - A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Read a book you previously abandoned - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Update: A Court of Thorns was absolutely amazing, and easily gets 4.5/5 stars.
Beautiful Creatures was much better than expected once I powered through the beginning and forgot the movie. The details they included were incredible, and I give it a 4/5.

[Nat]

I'm switching my one word titled book from Hallowed to Burned because I doubt I'll get to it now (plus Burned is over 500 pages, around twice that actually and it a book of poetry, considering it's a novel in verse). I liked Burned, I could tell it wouldn't have a happy ending, but that didn't make it any less sad. This was my 2nd book by Ellen Hopkins, and I really like her writing, it's not happy, but it's real and relate-able and most of all, good.

[Victor]

Kaitlyn (thebookisdead) wrote: "So I'm switching my book over 500 pages to "All The Light We Cannot See" because I just finished it and not sure if I'll get to my other book. I can't even begin to describe how haunting yet beauti..."

Hey, Kaitlyn, I'm glad you liked All the Light We Cannot See! I really don't remember the book being slow. I felt like I got wrapped in the story pretty quickly. I think it's both because of Anthony Doerr's writing style and because it was the first book I read that switched perspectives between characters (which I thought was cool).

I have a hard time deciding over my favorite book between All the Light We Cannot See and The Nightingale.

[Kaitlyn]

Victor wrote: "Kaitlyn (thebookisdead) wrote: "So I'm switching my book over 500 pages to "All The Light We Cannot See" because I just finished it and not sure if I'll get to my other book. I can't even begin to ..."

The book wasn't that slow, you're right. I fell in love with Anthony Doerr's writing style and can't wait to read "The Shell Collector" since I own it and it's written by him as well. I don't think I've read a book that had such beautiful and vivid imagery like "All the Light We Cannot See".

"The Nightingale" is one of my favorite books! I read it exactly a year ago and it sort of got me back into reading since I hadn't read all that much since I was in middle school. I don't think I can choose between these two books, they are both such passionate stories with perspectives I haven't read about in other historical novels.

[S. B.]

I finished the first book, both funny and by a female author, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

I gave it five stars because there isn't really anything I would change about it. I don't think it's the best book I've read, even the best memoir, but it's funny and relateable even though the author's life was very different from my own.

I give her a lot of credit for soul-searching after the time she accidentally insulted a sex worker by playing into respectability politics, and the whole chapter is about her explaining why that woman's criticisms of her were valid. (This was a very pleasant surprise, as at first it sounded like it would be yet another writer/comedian going on a defensive rant on their own platform. Not at all!)

The book was quite short but I don't think it should have been longer. Issa Rae is relatively young, and I would rather read a short memoir full of worthwhile stories than a bloated one. Very enjoyable all around.

[Katylin]

I'm in! I've chosen:
Read a book more than 500 pages:
Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Read a funny book:
It's Kinda A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

[Nat]

I finished reading my book by a female author, Dark Mountains. I gave this book 5 stars. really wouldn't change anything about the book, but I got it in the "teen and young adult" section in Amazon and there are two very graphic sex scenes and some scenes that involve abuse, which might not be appropriate for all of the audience that "teen and young adult" books are aimed for. Overall, I loved the story and the characters and the ending was beautiful if not a bit bittersweet.

[Andie]

Finished reading Wind/Pinball: Two Novels and The Handmaid's Tale. The first was a book by a favourite author that I haven't read yet and I gave it 3.5/5. It was great to see Haruki Murakami's classic style developing over the course of the two books but the plot just wasn't as engaging as other ones of his I've read. I gave the classic The Handmaiden's Tale 4/5, really enjoyed it and the warning it sent. This was my first Atwood novel and I think I might be hooked!

[Karrie]

I'm in! :)

- Read a book with more than 500 pages
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

- Read a book set in a different country from your own
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

[Camille]

Read a book with one word title:
Platonic

Read A book you previously abandoned:
Heroine Complex

Read a book based off a fairy tale:
Ash

These have been sitting on my tbr list for far too long, I'm in!

[Tessa]

I finished my more than 500 pages book Purity and gave it two stars.
I literally just finished writing the review and I still don't know what to write about this book.

I really liked the writing, I think Franzen is very, very talented, but this book just really wasn't for me.
The way he wrote almost all his female characters to be psychologically ill and therefore "damaging" to their children and partners really put me off. The relationships were terrifying and toxic. It also wasn't very interesting.
I could go on about my issues with authors who think the most human and most important desire is to have sex but I'll spare you.

Anyway, looking forward to my next book.

[Kaitlyn]

I finished my "book of magic" - The Night Circus

I was pleasantly surprised at how this book turned out and gave it 5/5 stars. I honestly think it's best going into this book without knowing much about it. For one, it's not a real circus. And two, it's not a love story. This is all you need to know for it to wrap you up and take you away into a world you won't want to leave.

[Travis]

I finished The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger and I gave it a 5 out of 5 stars! This book was so different from the movie but in a great way! I enjoyed the characters more than I do in the movie but I will say I love both book and movie the same! I also like the fact that miranda is a bigger bitch (excuse my language) in the book than the movie! Great read!

[Samantha]

I finished The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley for the book by a woman category. I gave it 4 stars - it was a solid novel that I enjoyed. (definitely brought some tears at points).

I've just started The Golem and the Jinni which will be my book over 500 pages :) I have a couple friends who are also reading it for our own small book of the month group. It's intriguing thus far!

[Cait]

I'm in!
Read a book set in high school- Anna and the French Kiss
Read a book with 500 pages or more-Gemini

[Evelina]

Finished Passenger by Alexandra Bracken and gave it 4/5 stars.
I really enjoyed it, really liked the whole time traveling aspect, the writing was amazing and the characters were great.
Really recommend reading this one.

[Kaitlyn]

I finished my third book for the graphic novel book, " The Undertaking of Lily Chen" and boy did I hate this book. The ONLY reason I gave it two stars was for some of the artwork. The story itself was messy, rushed, and unappealing in so many ways. I don't want to vent too much in case someone does want to read it, however I don't recommend it, I did go into a little detail in my official review of it.