Chelsey's First Reading Challenge

[Chelsey]

I have always wanted to participate in a reading group or a reading challenge. I loved this group after exploring around for a while. This challenge is creative, the members all seem so nice, and everything is laid out in an easy to navigate manner.

I do my best to read books from the library, so I’ll be trying to find books from there that I can use. I’m really aiming for all 52 to be a different book, but I will go out of order. I’ll probably list a couple of options for each week because I’m so indecisive and it depends on what is available at the library. I'll list my options in the comment below. I may leave a few categories blank, such as first person, because sometimes my boyfriend picks books for me from the library and these broad categories can be used as fillers for books he picks. I’ll put a ✔ by the challenge prompt when I finish and I’ll leave a small, spoiler free summary of what I thought. I’m really excited to chat about books and read everyone else’s lists. I’ve already been adding more books to my to read list after exploring the discussions.

12/52 completed


✔1. A book with the letters A, T & Y in the title
A Journey To Waco by Clive Doyle 8/5/18
The content was intriguing, but I hated the writing style.

✔2. A book from the first 10 books added to your To Be Read list
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton 6/27/18
I loved it. I'm so glad I finally read this.

3. A book from the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards (link)

✔4. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #1 Earth (in title, cover, content, setting, author...)
Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston. 8/19/18
This is such a good book! I loved the uniqueness of the dinosaur fossil as the center of the events of the book. I will definitely be reading more in the series.

5. A book about or inspired by real events

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

✔7. A gothic novel
Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice 7/12/18
I really liked this except for the creepy pedo vibes.

8. An "own voices" book*

✔ 9. A book with a body part in the title (heart, bones, teeth, skin, blood, etc)
Carved In Bone by Jefferson Bass 1/16/18
This was so cliché, but I still liked it. This novel was set where I grew up. There is something special about a book that references a place you live.

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

✔ 11. A literary fiction
A Man In Full by Tom Wolfe 1/14/18
This one was good. There were a lot of details that really bored me and felt unnecessary. However, the plot was interesting and the characters were very well written.


12. A book set in Africa or South America

✔13. A book with a plot centered around a secret (forbidden love, spies, secret societies, etc)
Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Not so great. It really just ticked me off.

14. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #2 Fire

15. A book with an unique format/writing structure

16. A narrative nonfiction

17. A book you expect to make you laugh

18. A book with a location in the title

✔19. A book nominated for the Edgar Award or by a Grand master author (books & authors)
Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin 2/11/18
This one was pretty good. I hadn't seen the movie so I was surprised at how the events unfolded. Definitely a good starter horror novel.

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

21. A book written in first person perspective

22. A book you have high expectations or hope for

23. A medical or legal thriller

24. A book with a map

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

26. A book with a text only cover

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

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

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

30. A short book

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

32. An alternate history book

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

34. A suggestion from the AtY 2018 polls, that didn't win but was polarizing or a close-call (link)

35. A book featuring a murder

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

37. A Women's Prize for Fiction winner or nominee (link1, link2)

✔38. A science book or a science fiction book
The Lost World by Michael Crichton 7/3/18
This one was disappointing. Not enough dinosaurs.

✔39. A book with a form of punctuation in the title
Professional Idiot: A Memoir 8/26/18
Hilarious, as expected. Unexpectedly insightful & honest.

✔40. A book from Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime list (link)
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
This was interesting. I liked it, but I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it in a class or with a group.

41. A book by an author with the same first and last initials

42. A book that takes place on, in, or underwater

43. A book with a title that is a whole sentence

✔ 44. A ghost story
The Shining by Stephen King 1/23/18
I really liked this. I saw the movie first and I love that the book and movie both offer the same story with different scary moments.

45. A book that intimidates/ scares you

46. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #4 Air

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

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

49. A book from one of the Goodreads Best Books of the Month lists (link)

50. A book with a warm atmosphere (centered on family, friendship, love or summer)

51. An award-winning short story or short story collection

52. A book published in 2018

[Chelsey]

1. A book with the letters A, T & Y in the title
The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir
The Invisible Library

2. A book from the first 10 books added to your To Be Read list
Jurassic Park

3. A book from the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards (link)
Strange the Dreamer
One of Us Is Lying
Eliza and Her Monsters
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Young Jane Young

4. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #1 Earth (in title, cover, content, setting, author...)
Grass
The Clan of the Cave Bear

5. A book about or inspired by real events
Columbine
Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Next Door
The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder

6. A book originally written in a language other than English
The Little Prince
Blindness
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

7. A gothic novel
The Phantom of the Opera
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Dracula
The Picture of Dorian Gray

8. An "own voices" book*
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today
El Deafo

9. A book with a body part in the title (heart, bones, teeth, skin, blood, etc)
Carved in Bone

10. An author's debut book (their first book to be published)
Graceling
House of Leaves
Tell the Wolves I'm Home
The Snow Child
Homegoing

11. A literary fiction
A Man in Full

12. A book set in Africa or South America
Half of a Yellow Sun
The Poisonwood Bible
The Heretic Queen

13. A book with a plot centered around a secret (forbidden love, spies, secret societies, etc)
The Husband's Secret
Dark Places
Hold Tight
Secret Society Girl

14. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #2 Fire
The Fireman
A Clockwork Orange

15. A book with an unique format/writing structure
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Book Thief
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

16. A narrative nonfiction
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures
Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

17. A book you expect to make you laugh
Yes Please
Why Not Me?
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

18. A book with a location in the title
The Monster of Florence
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The Amityville Horror
The Library at Mount Char

19. A book nominated for the Edgar Award or by a Grand master author (books & authors)
Rosemary's Baby (Grand Master Author)

20. A book rated 5 stars by at least one of your friends
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
May We Be Forgiven

21. A book written in first person perspective

22. A book you have high expectations or hope for

23. A medical or legal thriller
A Time to Kill
Defending Jacob
The Ex
Handle with Care

24. A book with a map
Finnikin of the Rock

25. A book with an antagonist/villain point of view
Vicious
Prince of Thorns
Lolita
American Psycho
You

26. A book with a text only cover
Ready Player One
LaRose
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales
Obedience to Authority
Asking for It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture and What We Can Do about It
Crank
Geek Love

27. A book about surviving a hardship (war, famine, major disasters, serious illness, etc)
Ashfall
Running with Scissors

28. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #3 Water
Stillhouse Lake
Challenger Deep
The River at Night

29. A book with a "Clue" weapon on the cover or title (lead pipe, revolver, rope, candlestick, dagger, wrench)
The Knife of Never Letting Go
This House is Haunted

30. A short book
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Coraline
For One More Day

31. A book set in a country you'd like to visit but have never been to
In the Miso Soup (Japan)
Ring (Japan)

32. An alternate history book
Fatherland
Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Boneshaker
When She Woke

33. A book connected (title, cover, content) to a word "born" in the same year as you (link)
I really need some suggestions for this one. The 1994 words are not great. I may use my wild card here.

34. A suggestion from the AtY 2018 polls, that didn't win but was polarizing or a close-call (link)
Suttree (Prompt: A book picked off your TBR by a family member or a friend)

35. A book featuring a murder
Murder on the Orient Express

36. A book published in the last 3 years (2016, 2017, 2018) by an author you haven't read before
Behind Closed Doors
Tuesday Nights in 1980
The Girls
Unhooked

37. A Women's Prize for Fiction winner or nominee (link1, link2)
Gone Girl
The Song of Achilles

38. A science book or a science fiction book
All Our Yesterdays
Cryptonomicon
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
The God Delusion
The Day of the Triffids

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

40. A book from Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime list (link)
Slaughterhouse-Five

41. A book by an author with the same first and last initials
The Ruins
Uprooted
Everything You Want Me to Be
Draw the Line
Princess for Hire
Skin

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

43. A book with a title that is a whole sentence
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Let the Right One In
By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead
It's Kind of a Funny Story

44. A ghost story
The Shining

45. A book that intimidates/ scares you
The Brothers Karamazov

46. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #4 Air


47. A book where the main character (or author) is of a different ethnic origin, religion, or sexual identity than your own
Crazy Rich Asians
Dear Martin
The Ghost Bride
Allegedly

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

49. A book from one of the Goodreads Best Books of the Month lists (link)
Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History
Try Not to Breathe
The Girl with Ghost Eyes
A Head Full of Ghosts
All the Bright Places
Scythe

50. A book with a warm atmosphere (centered on family, friendship, love or summer)
The Wednesday Sisters

51. An award-winning short story or short story collection
The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere (Hugo Award Short Story 2014)
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams ( Shirley Jackson Award for Single Author Collection (2015)

52. A book published in 2018
To be determined. I’ll see what comes out throughout the year. I don’t buy new books, I usually get books used or from the library.

[Sophie]

Hi Chelsey and welcome among us, I hope you'll love the group as much after a whole year of reading!

Just a quick tip: the comments are limited in character numbers and 2 years ago I ended up not having space left for all my books and commentaries. If you want, as soon as you commented after me, I can delete this comment so you'll have the first two to yourself to record your progress!

[Chelsey]

Extra Comment Space

[Chelsey]

Sophie wrote: "Hi Chelsey and welcome among us, I hope you'll love the group as much after a whole year of reading!

Just a quick tip: the comments are limited in character numbers and 2 years ago I ended up not ..."

Thanks for the tip! :)

[Bryony]

Welcome Chelsey, I hope you enjoy being part of the group. You have some great books on your shortlist, I’m going to be adding some of your ideas to my own list.

For the debut novel, I read Homegoing last year and it was one of my favourite books of the year. I really recommend it.

[Tracy]

Nice List!!! for #12 , Poisonwood Bible is a great book,

#13,I literally just finished Dark Places and I thought it was really good, definitely kept me guessing until the end, I had no idea what was going on and didn't (mostly) figure it out until the big reveal. It was definitely my favorite Gillian Flynn book.

#16, I highly recommend The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. Such a great book and I know some people here stumbled across it and ended up loving it.

#41, Loved Uprooted last year, it was one of my favorites for the challenge.

Just my thoughts :-)

And 1994......I took a look to see if anything jumped out at me. Ugh! I'd be tempted to pull a wildcard too lol. What a bad year for book ideas.....Something technology related? (boring). One of my words was date rape so I have two books for that The Tenth Circle and Rape Girl but I have no idea if either of those involve roofies, I'm pretty sure the first one doesn't.

Enjoy your challenge and welcome😊📚