Rachel's first AtY challenge plan

[Rachelnyc]

This is my first ever reading challenge other than just keeping track of number of books read and I'm really looking forward to it.

I plan to keep this list updated regularly and do a monthly update with thoughts on what I read for that month.

2018 Plan
52/52 Completed!

1. A book with the letters A, T & Y in the title Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

2. A book from the first 10 books added to your To Be Read list The Museum of Innocence

3. A book from the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards Sing, Unburied, Sing

4. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #1 Earth (in title, cover, content, setting, author...) - Unaccustomed Earth

5. A book about or inspired by real events - Night 1/29

6. A book originally written in a language other than English Three Floors Up

7. A gothic novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle

8. An "own voices" book* If I Was Your Girl

9. A book with a body part in the title (heart, bones, teeth, skin, blood, etc) Cat's Eye

10. An author's debut book (their first book to be published) The House Girl

11. A literary fiction The Music Shop

12. A book set in Africa or South America Homegoing

13. A book with a plot centered around a secret (forbidden love, spies, secret societies, etc) Winter Garden

14. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #2 Fire Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House

15. A book with an unique format/writing structure Maybe in Another Life

16. A narrative nonfiction - The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir 1/30

17. A book you expect to make you laugh A Man Called Ove

18. A book with a location in the title Paris by the Book

19. A book nominated for the Edgar Award or by a Grand master author (books & authors) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

20. A book rated 5 stars by at least one of your friends The Giver

21. A book written in first person perspective Never Let Me Go

22. A book you have high expectations or hope for The Great Alone

23. A medical or legal thriller The Alienist

24. A book with a map Manhattan Beach

25. A book with an antagonist/villain point of view You

26. A book with a text only cover We Should All Be Feminists

27. A book about surviving a hardship (war, famine, major disasters, serious illness, etc) Lilac Girls

28. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #3 Water The German Girl

29. A book with a "Clue" weapon on the cover or title (lead pipe, revolver, rope, candlestick, dagger, wrench) Grist Mill Road

30. A short book Animal Farm

31. A book set in a country you'd like to visit but have never been to Pachinko

32. An alternate history book The Yiddish Policemen's Union

33. A book connected (title, cover, content) to a word "born" in the same year as you Ready Player One

34. A suggestion from the AtY 2018 polls, that didn't win but was polarizing or a close-call In the Midst of Winter

35. A book featuring a murder The Body in the Library

36. A book published in the last 3 years (2016, 2017, 2018) by an author you haven't read before Little Fires Everywhere

37. A Women's Prize for Fiction winner or nominee - The Power

38. A science book or a science fiction book - Slaughterhouse-Five

39. A book with a form of punctuation in the title Educated: A Memoir

40. A book from Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime list Fahrenheit 451

41. A book by an author with the same first and last initials - The Secret Life of Mrs. London

42. A book that takes place on, in, or underwater The Woman in Cabin 10

43. A book with a title that is a whole sentence Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

44. A ghost story The Broken Girls

45. A book that intimidates/ scares you Middlemarch

46. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #4 Air Beneath a Scarlet Sky

47. A book where the main character (or author) is of a different ethnic origin, religion, or sexual identity than your own Brown Girl Dreaming

48. A book related to one of the 7 deadly sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth) The Picture of Dorian Gray

49. A book from one of the Goodreads Best Books of the Month lists The Night Circus

50. A book with a warm atmosphere (centered on family, friendship, love or summer) The Vacationers 2/4

51. An award-winning short story or short story collection Interpreter of Maladies

52. A book published in 2018 The Immortalists

[Tracy]

Looks like you're off to a good start! Enjoy your challenge :-)

[Rachelnyc]

Tracy wrote: "Looks like you're off to a good start! Enjoy your challenge :-)"

Thanks Tracy! I'm looking forward to it!

[Michelle]

Happy first year! I hope you have fun with your challenge! :D

[Rachelnyc]

Emm wrote: "Happy first year! I hope you have fun with your challenge! :D"

Thanks! Looking forward to it and being part of the group!

[Rachelnyc]

Monthly Update

13 books down in month one, largely helped by the read-a-thon!

I'm really glad to be ahead early on because it gives me wiggle room to read some non-challenge books and extra time for some longer books I have in mind.

No total duds but of course, some were better than others. Favorites were probably Homegoing and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine which were both incredible debut novels by authors I will certainly be following in the future.

I also really loved Never Let Me Go which raised some fascinating and disturbing questions about where we are going with science and technology.

[Anna]

I read Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine as the first book for the challenge this year, and I loved it too!
13 books is amazing, congratulations!

[Rachelnyc]

Thanks! I can't speak highly enough about that novel. I just found Eleanor such a unique and compelling character.

[Rachelnyc]

I read a couple of duds and just 'meh' books in February but they were balanced out by some great reads like Three Floors Up, We Should All Be Feminists and The Picture of Dorian Gray which had been on my tbr FOREVER!

13 books total for the month and 9 of them met the challenge so I'm currently at 22/52.

[Rachelnyc]

I hope everyone had a great reading month in March! I read 14 books, 12 of which counted toward the challenge so I'm feeling good about where I am and will hopefully be able to read a few of the doorstops on my TBR list without worrying too much about falling behind on my reading goals.

The Great Alone was my favorite of the month. Kristin Hannah does such a great job of writing complicated relationships and her descriptive language of the Alaskan wild really put me there. This book involves domestic abuse and is very disturbing at times but also very realistic and at times uplifting.

The others that led the pack this month were The Alienist, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, You and A Man Called Ove

[Rachelnyc]

April was a great reading month in both quantity and quality. It was difficult to pick favorites but I'll say my faves were The Broken Girls, Sing, Unburied, Sing, The Bell Jar and Educated: A Memoir

I have officially surpassed my total number of books read last year and it's only May! I'm also 42/52 for this challenge so I'm taking this opportunity to read some doorstops over the next month or two.

Hope everyone is having a great reading month/year!

[Rachelnyc]

May was a slow reading month for me, mostly due to work but I liked everything I read so that's always a good thing!

There were 2 standouts. The first was Middlesex which was a re-read for a book club and it felt like I was reading for the first time since it's been over 15 years. Great book and it brought up some interesting discussion.

The 2nd was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo which I originally didn't want to read because I thought it was going to be a silly fictional Hollywood tell-all, not that there is anything wrong with that but I have to be in the right mood. There was so much more to it and I found it very engaging. I figured out the "twist" fairly early on which is always disappointing but other than that, I really enjoyed it.

[Kathy]

I'll have to try The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo because I've avoided it because of the cover. I really enjoyed Winter Garden and Middlesex also.

[Rachelnyc]

I hope you like it. It was not at all what I expected, in a good way.

[Rachelnyc]

Nothing below 3 stars in June which is always a good thing! I read six books total with three for the challenge and I'm now at 47/52.

Like last month, there were 2 standouts in June. My one 5 star read was An American Marriage. Nothing against Oprah since I am a big fan but I am often turned off by any celebrity recommendations or "bestsellers" because they often end up being fluff but this was poignant and very timely. The characters all felt very real and even though I couldn't stand some of them, I was invested in the story from the beginning. The writing was also excellent and I will definitely be following what Tayari Jones does next.

I was surprised at how much I loved Middlemarch which I read for the "intimidating" prompt! The characters were so well developed and even though there were times I wanted a little less meandering and to get to the point, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Here are all the books I read in June.

[Kathy]

Congrats on getting through Middlemarch. I've just started it and am enjoying the characters also.

[Pam]

I got a couple of ideas (and they are books I own) from your list for my remaining categories! Thanks! Glad to hear you liked Middlemarch. My husband has been encouraging me to read it. It’s hard for me to start really long books!

[Rachelnyc]

I hope you love it Kathy!

Pam, I love when I hear good things about books I already own. Middlemarch had been on my tbr for ages and it took the intimidation prompt to get me to finally read it. So glad I did.

[Rachelnyc]

July was a bit of a mixed bag reading wise both in quality and quantity since I didn't get as much reading in as I'd hoped. It looks like I'll be making up for that in August though since work is slow and I'll hopefully have a couple of 3 day weekends.

My favorite this month was definitely My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton: Wife, Widow, and Warrior in Alexander Hamilton’s Quest for a More Perfect Union Like many others, I have been on a Hamilton and American Revolutionary period kick thanks to Lin Manuel Miranda and his phenomenal Broadway show. This book was everything I love about Historical fiction. While there was certainly plenty of speculation, it was very well researched and so engaging.

I don't generally love reading short story collections but I also really enjoyed Interpreter of Maladies. Lahiri's writing is wonderful.

I was extremely disappointed in Artemis. I thought the concept of a city on the moon was very cool but the plot was half-assed and I couldn't stand the protagonist who seemed more of a caricature than a character to me. Lots of sexist and homophobic "jokes" that I felt were in poor taste and borderline offensive, and I am not a person who is easily offended.

I'm now at 49/52 for the challenge! I am reading the 50th now but then have a few other books on my list that don't fit here. I expect to have it completed in September and then can focus on finishing Popsugar and a few side challenges as well as planning for 2019!

[Rachelnyc]

Last update for the year for me since I completed to challenge!!

I am so glad that I started doing reading challenges aside from just the number of books read because it has definitely helped keep me in a reading groove.

I also ended on a great note with three books I really enjoyed!

Leading the way was The Night Circus which I absolutely loved. The author did an incredible job of making you feel like you were right there with the characters and for anyone who hasn't read it, it is a great option for "sense of place" next year or "circus/carnival setting" if you're using that for your reject challenge.

Here are all books I read this month for this and other challenges.

[Katie]

Way to go, Rachel!

[Hilde]

Yay, congrats on finishing!!

[Rachelnyc]

Thanks Katie and Hilde!

[Pam]

Congrats! Yay. I’m glad you found the group and enjoyed the challenge. 😀

[Rachelnyc]

Thanks so much Pam! I think I'm officially addicted to challenges now!

I have a few left to complete Popsugar and then will spend the rest of the year trying to make some headway on my 50 Before 50 and Around the World challenges...

[Joan]

Awesome job finishing up. Today Amazon has Beneath a Scarlet Sky for 2.99 on Kindle. I'm debating getting it. Would you recommend it?

[Rachelnyc]

Thanks Joan and yes, I definitely recommend Beneath a Scarlet Sky. I downloaded it as one of the free Prime reading books and it's the first of those that I actually enjoyed!

While based on a real person, there are a few passages that strain credulity (based on timing, I'm not questioning the atrocities that occurred during the war) but if you can get past that, it is very compelling. It's kind of amazing that Pino Lella's story hasn't been told before since his life even after the war seems like it was quite interesting.

[Kathy]

Congratulations, Rachel!

[Rachelnyc]

Kathy wrote: "Congratulations, Rachel!"

Thanks Kathy!

[Jody]

Congratulations on finishing! With plenty of time to spare too. Hooray! 🎉🥂😁

[Rachelnyc]

Thanks Jody! Just in time to start planning for next year!