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Sounds like you've had a great first half of the year, Jody! Good luck to you on completing all of your challenges.So far this year, I have read 52 books. I've completed the ATY challenge, the Cover Color Challenge (from the GR 2018 Reading Challenge Group), and two challenges at Worlds Without End.
I am 62% done with my goal of 75 books this year and have read 17,775 pages of a planned 28,000.
I have rated seven books 5 Stars, twenty-three books 4 Stars, fourteen books 3 Stars, seven books 2 Stars, and one book 1 Star. My average book rating was 3.5 Stars.
My Top Three books so far this year were:
The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
One of the books I liked least was
Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
The ending is the big marketing hype (#wtfthatending) but when it was finally revealed I was just like, "Are you freakin' kidding me?" So. Stupid.
I have lots of great books on the TBR pile for the second half of the year. I look forward to completing my challenges and seeing how far I can get in a second go-round of the ATY challenge.
I remain on target to finish 52 by the end of the year. Am close to finishing book 26 and hope to complete it today. I have read some fantastic reads so far, including books I would not have chosen if it wasn’t for this challenge.
Favourites so far:
Buriel Rites
The boy in the striped pyjamas
No1 Ladies Detective agency series (books 1 and 2 read so far as part of the challenge)
Neverwhere
Books I struggled through:
Six of crows
The bear and the nightingale
Captain Scott
I am really enjoying this challenge and how it is making me read a wide selection of books and genres.
Good luck for the rest of the year everyone :)
I'm 3 ahead with this Challenge. I've been striving to stay 3 ahead. I've had to read several short books this month to keep up with that pace. I want to be further ahead but work is keeping me busier than I want to be. I'm at 28/52 and will finish the one today to make me 29/52.I do the Goodreads Choice Awards Challenge. I picked a lower number than last year because I didn't finish it last year. I'm at 10/12 with that one so I should finish it no problem. Last year I was 17/20. There doesn't seem to be as many that I want to read from that pool this year anyway.
My Goodreads overall challenge I'm at 40/75. Last year I read 78. I picked a lower number of books this year because I didn't want it to be about the number of books I read. I feel like I can make 75 but didn't want to push myself to read books just for the number. I just wanted some sort of gauge.
I try to read 1 classic a month and I've fallen behind with that. Counting the one I'm going to finish today I've only read 4 classics so far this year. I need to pick my pace up on that.
I also try to read 1 business book a month and I've only read 3 so far. We get paid $100 a book up to 12 a year so it's stupid for me not to read these.
Favorites so far this year:
Ready Player One
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Hate U Give
Ashley's War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield
Caraval
Thirteen Reasons Why
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Beartown
I struggled with Middlesex. It wasn't because I didn't like it. It was just because that isn't a book that you can read fast so it took me awhile to get through but I did enjoy it. Six of Crows it took me awhile to get into. I liked the ending though. I struggled with books 1 and 3 of His Dark Materials series. I liked the 2nd book though.
My worst book was The Chemist.
The last half of the year I'm hoping to finish up the Harry Potter series. I need to catch up with my classics and business books. I'm looking forward to reading some psychological thrillers. I'm also hoping to find a good love book. I feel like I haven't read one in awhile.
I'm 8 books ahead of schedule for the ATY challenge, but I've read 93 books in total so far in 2018. How that happened I have no idea. My goal for the year was 100 books, so I feel pretty confident I'll make it 🤣As always I've sort of lost interest in the books I had planned for the ATY challenge. That's probably why I haven't finished the challenge already.
Favourite book so far: Beartown.
I'm a big fan of Fredrik Backman and this one didn't disappoint me.
There's been two 1-star books for me:
Ugly Love and Behind Closed Doors.
Ohh I really didn't enjoy any of those. Poorly written, annoying characters and women who let men walk all over them.
I hope I'll be able to concentrate a little on the ATY challenge from now on. Maybe try and find some replacements for books I don't really feel like reading anymore.
I'm 9 books ahead and have read 5 towards my 2nd challenge. My favorites this year:
The Sparrow
The Heart's Invisible Furies
We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler
Shadow on the Mountain
Least favorite (1 star):Bring Me Back
I am reading (or plan on reading) the following books from the PBS Great American Read List: Americanah, Lonesome Dove, Ghost, and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I hope I can fit them into the challenge. But if not, I am reading them any way! I still have all 3 of the elements task (earth, water, air, fire) left, even though I have the books. Those will be the next tasks for me to tackle!
Mod
I'm at 30/52 in my Read In Order Challenge and 33/52 in my Reading Out of Order Challenge.Favorites so far (books I'd want to read again):
Burial Rites
A Visit from the Goon Squad
Justine
I set a goal of 25 classics (books over 50 years old) and I've gone past that goal. Just finished Villette by Charlotte Brontë which was long but satisfying.
I'm at 9/10 on my books published in 2018. I've been drawn to new books this year.
My Agatha Christie challenge is at 3/5. Love Dame Agatha!
1001 Books to Read Before You Die - 7/10 (Easy prompt for me next year)
3/10 from these lists:
102 of the Greatest Books by Female Authors http://www.listchallenges.com/102grea... or
90 Works of Fiction Every Woman Should Read: http://www.listchallenges.com/90-
I've already read 66 books this year so I might up my goal of 75. Or just ignore that goal.
I'd a pretty busy first half of the year with outdoor time, but succeeded to keep most of my reading on tracks, which is very surprising as I'm also reading tones of manga and graphic novels.Regarding my challenges, I'm at 27/52 for AtY and 30/52 for the kid edition. I didn't decide to do many challenges this year but I finished my r/fantasy bingo on time (which goes from April to April) even if I struggled with motivation, I'm almost on tracks for the Science Fiction vs Fantasy Bingo and quite late for the 18 books released in 2018 (only 7 books read, but I've some short ones scheduled with AtYRC!).
My goals for the 2nd half is continuing like this, but I'd like to find more books I really enjoyed. The year isn't bad so far, but there were lots of 3-4 stars and few 5 stars, so it's difficult to find "favorites".
The 5 stars were: The Green Futures of Tycho, The Shadow of the Wind, Raising Stony Mayhall, Wonder, The Hollow Boy (I'm very pleased with the evolution of the series), A House at the Bottom of a Lake, Alex, Approximately and Starry Eyes (both by the same author). The rest was manga/graphic novels or re-reads.
I'd some disappointing reads: The God of Small Things & Stunned (I DNFed them), The Gauntlet (quite boring with bad characterization), Afirik (badly written overall).
I'm doing pretty good on the AtY challenge 45/52 and I have 3 books currently counting towards those goals. On some side challenges, I'm at 9/20 nonfiction books. I'm also trying to finish 50 books set in each US state which I started around 2 years ago. I'm almost down to 10 states left so in trying to complete that challenge some of my reads have been pretty blah.
23. A medical or legal thriller-
The Appeal/John Grisham 6/10/18 ★★ but it worked this task and Mississippi.I agree with Jody, Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood/Trevor Noah
3/28/18 ★★★★★ was a really good read (I'd recommend the audio book).I have had 4 ★★ reads and 7 ★★★★★ out of the 75 books.
I'm at 75% completed, and expect to finish in the next few months. Last year I completed early as well, and that allowed me to mop up with books I wanted to read for the year that didn't fit into the challenge. This year I'm being more flexible in allowing for book I happen to read to "count" for a challenge, as opposed to the books I was planning to read.My favorites for each month were: The Child Finder, Martin Marten, The Supernatural Enhancements, State of Wonder, A Gentleman in Moscow, and We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance (the only NF)
My lowest and two star ratings were: The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir, The Killer Inside Me and The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair
Read ON! :)
Mod
I'm at 37/52 for ATY and 11/15 for my mini-PopSugar challenge.
I'm actually on track, ahead, or have completed my diversity goals (nonfiction, POC, and LGBTQ+), so I also feel really good about that.
My favorites for the year so far were The Night Circus, An American Marriage, and The Hate U Give.
Least favorites were Life of Pi, The Rules of Magic, and The Music Shop. All of these were a surprise -- I really expected to enjoy them!
Mod
I am currently at 46/52 for my AtY Challenge with 63 books read in total. I'm also at 39/50 for PopSugar and there is quite a bit of overlap between the two. My favorites have been Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, The Bell Jar, The Great Alone and An American Marriage.
I'm slacking a bit with my page turning challenge with 20,645 of my 40,000 goal but fortunately I'm reading a doorstop right now with a few more queued up.
I am ahead on my GR challenge 75 of 120. All but one of those books has been applied to one or more of the challenges I am doing. If I complete all the challenges, I will blow past this total.Read Harder Challenge stands at 22/24 (92%) with a couple of easy prompts left to go.
ATY Challegne is at 38 of 52 -(73%). One of my current reads will add to that total.
Popsugar Challenge is at 30 of 50 (60%) and in progress reading another book for this challenge.
52 in 52 weeks challenge is at 24 of 52 (24%) For this, I am using the prompts, but ignoring the books the group has picked for them.. some I had already read, some I don't care to read. That said, there are some unique prompts here that will push me to read more widely.
On the pages read challenge, I set my goal at 36,000-42,000. I'm currently on track with 23,500 read.
Books I have loved:
The Hate U Give
Small Great Things
Killers of the Flower Moon
Before We Were Yours
The Second Mrs. Hockaday
Serena
Little Fires Everywhere
And some non-favorites
Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust a classic read for a book club.
American Drifter
I'm at 54% (28 books), so according to GR I'm 3 ahead of schedule. I am getting a little distracted with new self-published authors so getting off the ATY track! My 5 star reads for the challenge so far have been:
Ship of Destiny
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
The Earth Dwellers and
Daughter of Smoke & Bone
Any some popular ones that I didn't love...
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
I love reading all of these halfway updates and I'll certainly be looking at some of the books selected as favorites in the near future! I am chugging right along with my reading challenges. I finished my goodreads 2018 challenge of 130 books and have bumped it up to 180. I've read 143 books as of today (about 41K pages). I've already surpassed what I read in 2017 and I thought I was crushing it last year. Goes to show that setting goals works!ATY: I'm doing 3 laps around the year. I've completed 136 out of 156 books (87% of my challenge). I am not reading in order, so I've finished 1 lap, am 3 books shy of closing out my 2nd lap, and 17 books away from my third time through the topics.
A few favorites so far:
The Complete Stories (Flannery O'Connor)
Battle Royale
1Q84
Siddhartha
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
Some duds:
Mrs. Fletcher
Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002
Slide, a Modern Satire on the Excess of Greed
White Nights
Frankenstein
Other Challenges:
A-Z Author Challenge: 26/26 (100% Complete)
A-Z Title Challenge: 25/26 with only my V Title left to go
Classic Bingo: 25/25 (100% Complete)
Crazy 88: 52/88...This is going to be tough. I have some pretty heavy duty reading on this one and I feel like I've been picking the low hanging fruit first.
You guys are all doing awesome!!! Im cheering you on. I wish I could say Im on track but health issues are holding me back and Im not planning on finishing my challenges this year, although I did finally pick up a few books from the library to read towards ATY, Popsugar, my mid grade and children ATY challenges. I haven't been on in awhile to update that. I'll try to spend some time doing that this week. I gave up on rating and writing in the threads. Im feeling a little overwhelmed, its just been easier to rest and watch netflix. In any event whatever I do manage to finish will be an accomplishment this year. My brain is a little fuzzy right now so I can't think of favorites off the top of my head but I am currently enjoying two books for ATY: This House is Haunted
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital
I have been in such a reading funk for the whole month of June! I finished 7 books, which is my lowest month total so far this year.Goodreads Reading Challenge
71/150 = 47%
Just 4 books behind on this one, so not so concerned as long as I don't have any more months like June.
ATY Reading Challenge
20/52 = 38%
Way behind here. This is the first year I planned all of my books ahead of time. I had a feeling this would be my downfall. For fun, I looked at the books I've read so far, and if I hadn't insisted on preplanning and just filled the prompts as they came along, I'd have 34 books read for the challenge. I'm looking forward to next year when I'll go back to supporting my mood reading habit.
PopSugar Reading Challenge
24/50 = 48%
I have a lot of the hard ones left, so I'm not much looking forward to a Nordic Noir, an allegory or a book set on Halloween.
Personal ATY Challenge
18/33 = 55%
Wahoo, a challenge I'm more than half completed! This is made up of the topics I voted for that didn't make the 2018 list.
A-Z Titles
20/26 = 77%
J, K, Q, U, V, X left, so you know, just the easy letters.
A-Z Authors
22/26 = 85%
I, N, Q, X left.
18 in 18
15/18 = 83%
I love reading new releases, so I plan to breeze past this one.
17 in 17
19/17 - COMPLETED
Because I also like to make up for all the new releases I didn't get to last year.
A Long Classic a Month
6/12 (so far) = 50%
On track on this one, by the skin of my teeth. The last 2 months I finished my classic on the last day of the month.
Obama Recommends 2017 Challenge
3/10 = 30%
This is the personal challenge I set to read all 10 of Obama's top books from last year. I have 2 more checked out from the library, so I feel like I'm in pretty good shape here. (Let's ignore the fact that Grant is 1000+ pages.)
Books read that don't support any of my main challenges: 9
I'm sure I'm the only one who cares about my stats, but this was very fun (and eye opening) to compile. Need to get back to my list.
Tracy wrote: "You guys are all doing awesome!!! Im cheering you on. I wish I could say Im on track but health issues are holding me back and Im not planning on finishing my challenges this year, although I did f..."I've been missing your wonderful comments... so hope you will be feeling better in the not too distant future. I did notice a review of a book that I thought you might like: THE LANGUAGE OF KINDNESS A Nurse’s Story By Christie Watson . Thinking of you and your two little ones.
Katie wrote: "I have been in such a reading funk for the whole month of June! I finished 7 books, which is my lowest month total so far this year.Goodreads Reading Challenge
71/150 = 47%
Just 4 books behind on..."
You're very strict with yourself on the AtY challenge! I plan out options for each week but if I read something else that fits, I have no qualms about replacing them!
I got the allegory out of the way early but I too am not looking forward to the Halloween and Nordic noir prompts for PopSugar. Also not looking forward to the heist book.
I'm at 49% for the ATY challenge, so just under halfway! I'm at 23/52 for PopSugar (44%), 9/24 (38%) for Book Riot, 11/26 (42%) for Modern Mrs. Darcy, and 11/25 (44%) for my ATY Top Picks challenge. Overall for the year, according to Goodreads, I'm 8 books behind where I should be, which is a little scary but not too bad.Favourites so far:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Heartless
Beartown
Eliza and Her Monsters
Crosstalk
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Gemina and Obsidio
Our Dark Duet
Least favourites:
Immaculate
Little House on the Prairie ( I find this series so boring!)
Crossed and Reached
In terms of goals for the rest of the year, I'd love to finish off the rest of my list of 12 series that I prioritized. I've finished 6 already, and I've intentionally left many of the series I'm most excited for until I can devote the time to them since the books are a bit longer. I'm not entirely sure when that will be, but I really want to get to those (ACOTAR, Raven Cycle, etc.)
Rachelnyc, I'm a stringent rule follower, which can be difficult sometimes. But I've been doing the challenges since 2015, so I like to add a new element to them each year. Last year I read in order but read whatever suited my fancy at the time, so this year I decided to do the opposite by reading a set group of books in whatever order I choose.Ultimately I don't think I prefer either way, so next year I have something different planned for my extra personal "rule" for the challenge. I'm going to focus on reading diversely for the challenge, and I'm so excited to have that for my goal.
Good for you, Katie. Now I feel like I've been cheating! ;) It is my first year though so I'm still feeling out what works best.I am always looking for ways to incorporate diversity into my reading so I'll be interested to see what you have in mind for next year!
Rachelnyc wrote: "Good for you, Katie. Now I feel like I've been cheating! ;) It is my first year though so I'm still feeling out what works best.I am always looking for ways to incorporate diversity into my readi..."
I do the same as you. I kind of have a plan for the year (although I still have some prompts that I haven't got anything penciled in for). But if I read something else that fits the prompt I will use that instead, unless the book I have penciled in is one I really want to read and need that push to do so, then I leave that one. So for example I read a book with a unique writing style as part of a reading marathon and thought about including it, but I really wanted to read If on a winter's night a traveler, and thought without the push of the prompt I wouldn't get to it. So I didn't count the first book I read. I've since read If on a winter's night and didn't love it so kinda wishing i just counted the first book I read haha.
I'm ahead of schedule for all of my reading challenges so I'm hoping that it will allow me to read some things that have been on my TBR instead of just books that fit prompts. I do like having the prompts though, because some of my favorite books this year I would not have picked up otherwise.Goodreads Reading Challenge: 61/10 (61%)
ATY Challenge: 41/52 (78%)
PopSugar Reading Challenge: 36/50 (72%)
BookRiot: 18/24 (75%)
Some of my favorite books so far this year have been A Madness So Discreet and Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood. I was surprised with how much I enjoyed Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.
My least favorite reads have been More than Survival and Besties
I am having a great reading year... if there were stats for Netflix I would not be doing as well this year. LOL but that is fine by me it ebbs and flows. I am 14 books ahead of my ATY challenge. Of course, that means I left some of my lease intriguing books for the end. Oh well, I will get thru them a little worried about my one book not becoming available within the year even tho i have had the library hold in effect since DEC!!! CRAZY TOWN!! I have read 70 books of my 100 GR goal for the year so that is well with in my grasp as well! :)Favorite books so far this year....
1)Little Fires Everywhere
2) The Heart's Invisible Furies
3)Us Against You
4) Census
5) The Great Alone
Least Favorites...
1) My So-Called Bollywood Life
2) Dinner at the Center of the Earth
3) Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
Hope the rest of the year goes as well as the first!
This is my first year doing any reading challenge at all. I am at 27/52 for ATY, 55 total books read so far. My 5 star reads so far this year:
Beartown
The Bear and the Nightingale
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Great Alone
Murder on the Orient Express
I only rated one book 2 stars, and no books 1 star. The 2 star book was:
The Cuban Affair
Thank you for doing a halfway check in! It really makes me feel like I am accomplishing something.
Milena wrote: "This is my first year doing any reading challenge at all. I am at 27/52 for ATY, 55 total books read so far. My 5 star reads so far this year:
Beartown
[book:The Bear and the Nigh..."
Welcome to the challege! Sounds like you are right on track and hopefully enjoying yourself.
Mod
ATY Challenge:
I'm managing to stay on track while doing the prompts in order. I don't pre-plan more than about 3-4 prompts in advance which is working well as far as giving me enough leeway. This month is going to be super busy so we'll see how much I manage to read.
Other:
I'm doing my usual fill in as I go along for Popsugar, Bookriot, and the Modern Mrs. Darcy, and now I'm to the point where I need to be more selective about what I read. I've done basically all the easy ones for me and now I'm left with all the things I don't naturally read.
Best book so far: My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 1
Worst book so far: Partners
So interesting to see everyone's progress!
Erin wrote: "Can't believe we're halfway done!Not to brag (totally bragging), but I'm kinda kicking ass. I've read 77 books this year (my total GR goal is 100), and I have 1 (ONE) book left to read for AtY! I..."
Well done!
I didn't much like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks either. I've put it in my bottom for the year so far too.
things so far have been good, did make some changes to my books but so far i'm right on track , i only got 14 challenges left to read then I'm done.
I'm at 58% for the challenge - read 30 out of 52. That's pretty much where I want to be, I like a little buffer but I don't want to get too far ahead and finish early. I have one giant book coming up soon (11/22/63) but after that everything's a manageable length, so I might slide in a few more side reads to keep me at the right pace for the challenge.
I'm really happy with how balanced my plan is this year, I've been going along really nicely. 2017 sometimes felt like a bit of a slog - I think I went for too many "should reads" and whereas this year they're almost all "want to reads".
My best books so far are The Martian and The Hanging Tree. Least favourite by a mile was Everything Is Illuminated. Everything else has been a happy medium.
I love seeing all the different ways everyone has to track their reading. I've completed 41 books, given up on 27, and read 13,626 pages. I don't set a book count goal because then I'll tend to stay away from longer books. I've been trying to read 100 pages per day, but so far I've been averaging 75. I want half of my pages to be women-authored, and I'm currently beating that with 56%.
Almost all of my 11 remaining planned books for ATY are fairly long, so I imagine I'll finish in September. Then I'll see what rejected prompts I can fill with the rest of my year's reading. I had originally picked out every book to read in 2018, but eventually I had to give myself permission to go off-plan because it started to feel too constrained.
Here are my five-star reads. I recommend them to fans of classics and translated literature.
I, Claudius by Robert Graves
Immensely entertaining, betrayal-filled look at the lives of Roman emperors, Julius Caesar through Caligula. My new gold standard for historical fiction.
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg
I was worried that I wouldn't be able to follow a satire of Calvinism published in 1824, but the book explains all the basics you need to know. The prose style feels modern, the plot is a lot of fun, and the insights into fanaticism are sadly still relevant.
The Bridge of Beyond by Simone Schwartz-Bart
Beautifully written (and beautifully translated) story of hardship and perseverance that follows generations of women and is set in post-slavery Guadeloupe.
Chronicle of the Murdered House by Lucio Cardoso
Forgotten Brazilian classic only recently translated into English. Multiple points of view slowly unveil the tragic story of the end of a once-great family and their estate. I loved the atmosphere of gothic doom and the achronological structure.
I am behind on my Goodreads reading challenge and the AtY Challenge. I went through a huge reading slump in April and I am just getting out of it. In addition to that I started at a new job and I haven't had the energy to read. I have started 7 books in that period and now I am struggling to finish. I just couldn't finish anything. I am still possitive that this year I will finish the AtY challenge. I have finished 17/52.I am also doing The Popsugar challenge the Read Harder Challenge but I am not very strict with them. I just read books and see where they fit. The AtY Challenge is the only one that has a set TBR.
I also have a goal of finishing 5 series and catching up with 5 series. I have too many started series that I need to finish.I am happy with how this is going. I am 2 book away from catching up with the Dresden Files. I have finished 1/5 book series but I have a couple that I am one book away from finishing and I have caught up with 3/5.
Other than that I try to read more award winning books and more classics.
I try to diversify my reading by reading books from 10 different counties and 10 different genres. I have till now covered 5 countries an 6 genres so there I am doing great.
I also wanted to read more plays but I haven't read any yet. I guess I wasn't very inspired and did't know what to pick up next. Feel free to recommend good plays to me.
Most books I have read till now have been kind of in the middle.
I really enjoy the Dresden files and gave those books 5 stars, but I think this is due to the attachment I have to the characters by book 12. The same goes forThe Burning Maze. On the other hand I haven't given any one or two stars either. Most my books fall under 3 or 4 stars which is positive.
When I see how successful everyone is, I feel kind of like a failure, but I guess that is life.
Ira, I wouldn't worry. I went on an eight year reading slump. Sometimes life gets in the way. Just be sure to enjoy the time you spend reading. You still have plenty of time left to get your reading mojo back!
Work has been getting in the way the last few weeks and has caused me to slow my reading down a lot. Unfortunately I am going to be super busy until September. I think I will be OK with the challenges but I may have to rethink reading War and Peace for a book that intimidates/scares you. I will have to see where I am at when I get to that prompt since I am reading in order.ATY: 24 of 52 - I am waiting for You to be available at the library which should be in the next few days and then it will be go, go, go to catch up and get ahead on this challenge. I have using the waiting time to work on my other challenges.
Popsugar: 27 of 50
Book Riot: 15 of 24
Modern Mrs. Darcy: 8 of 12
Goodreads: 64 out of 128
I have read some great books so far this year. Some of my favorites have been:
The Great Alone
Burial Rites
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder
America's First Daughter
Lincoln in the Bardo
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
This year has been a hit and miss with books so far. I am 4 ahead with AtYB and have read 90 of 100 for my Goodreads challenge. I am going to leave it 100 since my focus is on reading more widely than reading more.Best novels of the first half are
The Housekeeper and the Professor-how to show compassion without degrading the other person.
Binti- Showing how different cultures can bring peace not war.
Old Man's War - for being a fun twist on an old theme.
The Sparrow - for being an all encompassing book that was beautiful written.
Best Non-fiction
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII
Both good humoured books that are not about bashing others for the bad parts in their lives. They both tell it like it is.
I have doubled my AtYB challenge to include French Children's books. This has not gone well so far. Happily one of the libraries has children's ebooks in French. They also include audio. :)
I've read 28/52 for AtY, which I'm happy with as I've had two pretty big reading slumps this year. I'm at 50/52 for my Goodreads challenge. I originally set a goal of 100, which is still my ambitious target, but I reduced it as I have a lot less reading time this year than I did in 2017 so it felt a bit unrealistic. I think I'm going to leave the official goal at 52, but I'll still aim for 100 if I possibly can.
Some of my favourite books have been:
News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel García Márquez
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
The Day of the Owl by Leonardo Sciascia
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
My least favourites were:
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (I was excited to read this but it felt like the author was trying so hard to be clever that he forgot a book needs such basics as a decent plot and characters the reader will care about)
Sugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke (this series was one of my guilty pleasures but this one was so awful I haven't been able to bring myself to read anymore since)
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (other topics)The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (other topics)
Sugar Cookie Murder (other topics)
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (other topics)
News of a Kidnapping (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Agatha Christie (other topics)John Le Carré (other topics)
Gabriel García Márquez (other topics)
Leonardo Sciascia (other topics)
Stephen King (other topics)
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I'm right on track with my AtY challenge, although I seem to be constantly dancing on either side of it - reading in order has been a bit of a challenge with regards to keeping ahead as I'm not always enthused about my options for the current week.
I'm about 2/3 of the way through both my GR yearly challenge (62/100) and my personal page total challenge (20,988/30,000). I really need to push both my reading in translation and non-UK/US authors more in Part II of the year though.
My favourite book of the year so far would definitely be Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood - I've recommended this to so many people. Least favourite would be Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? - vacuous drivel. Funnily enough, I didn't know either of these two before I listened to their memoirs, and it's amazing how different my experiences with them were. I hadn't even heard of Trevor Noah, and I'd never seen Mindy Kaling in anything (nor do I want to after this!).