Jacqueline's What the Hell Was I Thinking Challenge

[Jacqueline]

1. A book with the letters A, T & Y in the title
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells

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


3. A book from the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards (link)
Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King

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

5. A book about or inspired by real events
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

6. A book originally written in a language other than English
The Bat by Jo Nesbo (for some reason it won't let me add The Bat...)

7. A gothic novel
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

8. An "own voices" book*
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

9. A book with a body part in the title (heart, bones, teeth, skin, blood, etc)
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

10. An author's debut book (their first book to be published)
The Dry by Jane Harper

11. A literary fiction
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

12. A book set in Africa or South America
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

13. A book with a plot centered around a secret (forbidden love, spies, secret societies, etc)
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

14. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #2 Fire
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland

15. A book with an unique format/writing structure
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

16. A narrative nonfiction
Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

17. A book you expect to make you laugh
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

18. A book with a location in the title
The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer

19. A book nominated for the Edgar Award or by a Grand master author (books & authors)
B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton

20. A book rated 5 stars by at least one of your friends
The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

21. A book written in first person perspective
Why Mummy Drinks by Gill Sims

22. A book you have high expectations or hope for
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

23. A medical or legal thriller


24. A book with a map
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

25. A book with an antagonist/villain point of view
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

26. A book with a text only cover
Caraval by Stephanie Garber

[Jacqueline]

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

28. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #3 Water
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

29. A book with a "Clue" weapon on the cover or title (lead pipe, revolver, rope, candlestick, dagger, wrench)
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

30. A short book
The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman

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

32. An alternate history book
The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal

33. A book connected (title, cover, content) to a word "born" in the same year as you (1963....mind game)
Never Never by James Patterson and Candice Fox

34. A suggestion from the AtY 2018 polls, that didn't win but was polarizing or a close-call
Elderly person main character - My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

35. A book featuring a murder
A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

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

37. A Women's Prize for Fiction winner or nominee
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

38. A science book or a science fiction book
Armada by Ernest Cline

39. A book with a form of punctuation in the title
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World by Shannon Hale

40. A book from Amazon's 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime list
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

41. A book by an author with the same first and last initials
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

42. A book that takes place on, in, or underwater
Breath by Tim Winton

43. A book with a title that is a whole sentence
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal (it's the one I'm using and I don't care)

44. A ghost story
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

45. A book that intimidates/ scares you
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

46. 4 books linked by the 4 elements: Book #4 Air
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (winged thing on cover)

47. A book where the main character (or author) is of a different ethnic origin, religion, or sexual identity than your own
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

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
The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

50. A book with a warm atmosphere (centered on family, friendship, love or summer)
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

51. An award-winning short story or short story collection
A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman

52. A book published in 2018
Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding

[Jacqueline]

Nearly there. 4 to go. Not that I feel like reading anything that fits them.

[Pam]

So close to finishing! For #48, I recommend Dune! It definitely works for greed & gluttony. Hope you find some good books! I usually luck into these ones that I’m not that interested in. I’m curious what you thought of the Tim Winton book Breathe. I’ve been meaning to read one of his books for a few years now.

[Jacqueline]

Hey Pam :) I listened to the audiobook of Breath and it was excellent. I’ve heard some people have trouble with Winton but the audiobook was great.

I’m currently reading Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and thinking about it that might fit into 48. There seems to be a lot of lust and overindulgence so far lol

[Jacqueline]

Yeah Alex I was trying to get around to Kindred because it also fits the time travel prompt for Popsugar and I could slot it into here too. I have physical copies of most of the books you suggested here (except Kindred which I have on my iPad and therein is the problem because the iPad is exhausting me lately when I read from the screen). I’ve just got to feel like reading them. I’m funny like that. I can’t just pick up any book and read it anymore. I’ve got to be in the mood for it.

I actually picked up the Pelican Brief for a few dollars in paperback for the medical and legal one. I used to be into those sorts of books years ago but now not so much. Hubby picked it up and is reading it at the moment (I wish I could use his books in my list as he’s read a few that I could use in this and Popsugar that I don’t feel like reading).

Actually one of the lists had The Belles as an own voices book. I read it months ago. Don’t think it’s own voices really.

[Jacqueline]

Yeah the main character in Belles is black. Most of the people are grey except for the Belles and the people who they do their work on. She wrote it as a comment on the beauty industry.

[Jacqueline]

Finished The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee today and slotted it into 47 and moved Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli to own voices.

[Jacqueline]

48. 7 deadly sins. Decided on Beartown. Lust.