Missy’s 2020 challenge!

[Melissa]

So excited to start a new year of reading. Last year I completed 27 titles and almost 9,000 pages.

Here’s my 2019 completed list from Most Liked to Least Liked:

1. Becoming
2. Where the Crawdads Sing
3. The Island of Sea Women
4. The Silent Patient
5. The Book Thief
6. Tattooist of Auschwitz
7. The Art of Racing in the Rain
8. The Wife
9. Charlotte’s Web
10. There There
11. Learning to See
12. The Last Romantics
13. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
14. Heart Berries
15. Where’d You Go, Bernadette?
16. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
17. Lost Roses
18. Before We Were Yours
19. The Wife Between Us
20. The Only Woman in the Room
21. Daisy Jones and the Six
22. The Art of Writing Non-Fiction
23. The Lost Girls of Paris
24. A Discovery of Witches
25. The Woman in the Window
26. My Lovely Wife
27. The Self-Care Solution


I’m attempting to read 18 books this year from a variety of genres.

Any must read book recommendations are welcome!

[Ilona]

I also enjoyed Becoming a lotl :) Best of luck with your reading challenge!

[Lisa]

Oooh you have some books that are definitely on my list for this year.
One of my favorites last year was without a doubt "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo". Totally recommend that one!

Good luck with your reading goals in 2020 :)

[Melissa]

Thanks Lisa! I LOVED The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Happy Reading to you.

[Melissa]

1. Christmas in London by Anita Hughes

This one was a bad Hallmark movie. Very little romance with unlikable characters and cringeworthy dialogue.

[Melissa]

2. Educated by Tara Westover

This was a deeply enthralling one. I couldn’t put it down. The overall theme of the importance of education and soul-searching made this book a 5 star for me.

[Melissa]

3. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Loved this story. It was gut-wrenching at times and I was left emotionally moved throughout the story. There were some powerful images in the novel that will stick with me. I’m glad I picked this one up.

[Melissa]

4. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Although a mystery, it took me weeks to finish this one. It in fact sucked up all of February reading for me. I found it confusing and lacking in suspense. Suspense is a craft and this book didn’t have it. It lacked good writing and instead read like a descriptive writing assignment. Jewell’s superficial characterization made me dislike every character in this book.

[Melissa]

5. Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris
I liked this one, but not as much as The Tattooist of Auschwitz. The latter was more compelling and better written. Perhaps the difference is that Tattooist is based on a firsthand account of a story, whereas Cilka’s Journey was written based on secondhand interviews and research.

[Adrienne]

You really should read AMERICAN DIRT this year. It is a great book!

[Blagica , Challenges]

I am all about magic this year. I hope that your reading goal is your little touch of magic.

[Melissa]

6. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

This one took me a month to get through. I found it confusing, but suspenseful enough to keep me reading. Having finished it, I don’t think I’d pick up another of his works. The story lacked character development and the plot structure was incredibly confusing and hard to follow.

[Melissa]

7. Stuart Little by E.B. White

Read this with 5 and 7 year olds. We laughed quite a bit. White has a knack for witty description. I liked it, but it’s not as great as Charlotte’s Web. I didn’t care for it’s rushed ending.

[Melissa]

8. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I’m not sure if it’s because fantasy just isn’t my cup of tea or this was just a really bad story. The writing was sophisticated, but the actual story was boring and sluggish. There was so much happening, yet nothing was going on. So glad to finally be done with this one.

[Melissa]

9. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

I liked this one. It was what I needed to get out of my reading slump. It was light-hearted and humorous. If kept me interested and I was entertained by Don’s narration.

[Melissa]

10. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

After 4 long years, I finally finished this one! It wasn’t as good as the original, but I enjoyed it. I love Jamie and Claire and can’t watch to finally watch Season 2 😊.

[Melissa]

11. Fair Play by Eve Rodsky

I liked her plan for helping to alleviate women’s mental workload, but this book has a very specific audience: couples who are married with kids.

[Melissa]

12. Little Fires Everywhere By Celeste Ng

Loved this one! Great characters and a story that had me really thinking about privilege, and class and ethnicity. It was also nostalgic to read as I was in high school at the same time the story is set.

I can’t wait to watch the series and I also will be picking up her first novel because she’s a good writer.

[Melissa]

13. Beloved by Toni Morrison

This was perhaps one of the most heartbreaking stories I have ever read, yet at the same time, beautiful. Morrison artfully describes the trauma of slavery and racism in a range of beautiful descriptions and metaphors with imagery that connects so well to the struggles and feelings of the main characters. I loved it!

[Melissa]

14. Wilder Girls by Rory Power
This story seems so promising...an island of girls quarantined with a mysterious illness. I loved Lord of the Flies and this sounded like the perfect companion. It falls short of a poorly executed story idea. The characters weren’t developed and Power misses an opportunity to really delve into the social aggression of young women. It was an ok read.

[Melissa]

15. The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

This was a well- researched and well- written gem of a piece of feminist non-fiction. I will be reading her other works because this was a fantastic read.

[Melissa]

16. Mexican Gothic

I Loved how this book started. It had all the elements of Gothic literature. It was well-written and had an element of mystery that unfortunately dissipated after 3/4 of the way through. I liked this one, but she lost me at the end.

[Melissa]

17. All Rise: Audio Perambulation by Nick Offerman

This was an audiobook, but I’m still counting it towards my challenge. It was funny, not roaringly funny, but pretty funny at parts. It was short and entertaining nonetheless.

[Melissa]

18. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary

Loved this one. Cleary does a great job capturing the emotions of being a kid. Ramona is a beloved character we can all relate to.

[Melissa]

19. The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue

This was a relevant story about the 1918 flu pandemic. It takes place over just a few days and Donoghue kept it interesting. I enjoyed the ending.

[Melissa]

20. Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome


This was a great read. I was engrossed in the story with my 8 year old. We’ve already ordered the next one in the series.

[Melissa]

21. The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel

I just didn’t like this one. I don’t understand why people loved this story. It had such potential at the beginning, but just dragged on to a very predictable, implausible, and convenient to make it a love story.

[Ilona]

Congratulations on surpassing your goal, Missy!

[Melissa]

Thank you!

[Melissa]

22. Mr. Dickens and his Carol by Samantha Silva

This was the perfect holiday book. I loved Silva’s writing style and it’s style was outright Dickensian. I felt as if I were enjoying the Christmas season in Victorian London.