1/9 First Week

[Ann]

We are done with a whole week of our challenge! This means, to stay on track, we should have already finished one book by now. Have you finished a book yet? More than one? Don't worry if you haven't! We've got all year to catch up. I know many of you are knocking out your long book first so that may take more than a week. As for me, I've finished two. I finished White Bird in a Blizzard for my book with a color in the title and Habibi for my graphic novel. I'm trying to get a bit ahead in case I can't keep up the 1 book per week pace later in the year.

A few house keeping points this week: If you have a question for me directly about the group please feel free to messgae me. I read every comment but with over 400 members I might miss one here and there. I'm also going to make my sister, Hailey, a moderator because I will be having a series of surgeries this year starting in February and may not be able to check in daily - although I will try.

I added a new poll that is at the very bottom of the group home page. Don't forget to leave your answer!

Have you seen our "book discussions" section? Feel free to add a thread for any book you'd like to discuss with others. You're welcome to add a thread for any book, even one you read previously and would like to talk about! Read the topic "book discussions" for more information.

Happy reading!

[Nada]

Thank you Ann.

This week:
#16 A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet Everything I Never Told You
#4 A book published this yearThe Secret Wisdom of the Earth
#26 A memoirHospice Voices: Lessons for Living at the End of Life

[Nikki]

I've read Gone Girl, Wild (loved it), Wuthering Heights (wanted to dig my eyes out with a spoon), The Housewife Assassins Handbook (was listed as funny, and was free on kindle, but I read it in one afternoon and found out its a series of like 10.. dammit!), JUST finished 11/22/63 (WOW.. like the most interesting history lesson ever, and I may be biased because Stephen King is one of my favorites, but I loved it) and just started Feed.. which is the first of a trilogy.. but Ann also recommended it, and its set in the future, with non-human charactars.. so I might shift books in categories later on, because I've been recommended several trilogies. Trying to front load my year, because when my college classes start again, I'll be pressed for time.. and summer vacation with 3 kids, short of locking myself in the bathroom and letting them think I'm very sick, not likely to get much reading done LOL

[Julia]

So far I've read:
✔️1) A book with more than 500 pages: "A Feast for Crows" by George R R Martin
(Loved it, as with the rest of the series)
✔️8) A funny book: "The Rosie Effect" by Graeme Simsion
(First book better and funnier, but still good book)
✔️28) A book with antonyms in the title: "Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty
(Highly recommend, couldn't put it down)
I've started:
32) A trilogy:
✔️"Undine" by Penni Russon
(I like different and strange and it delivered, looking forward to the next two)

Loving the challenge and group, it's making me look at books I normally wouldn't.

[Ann]

Nikki wrote: "I've read Gone Girl, Wild (loved it), Wuthering Heights (wanted to dig my eyes out with a spoon), The Housewife Assassins Handbook (was listed as funny, and was free on kindle, but I read it in one..."

Yay you're reading Feed! Now that I've hyped it I sure hope you like it. You've gotten a great head start. I know how dang busy you are a lot of times, though, so that's probably a good strategy!

[Ann]

Julia wrote: "So far I've read:
✔️1) A book with more than 500 pages: "A Feast for Crows" by George R R Martin
(Loved it, as with the rest of the series)
✔️8) A funny book: "The Rosie Effect" by Graeme Simsion
(..."

Great first week!

[Ann]

Nada wrote: "Thank you Ann.

This week:
#16 A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet Everything I Never Told You
#4 A book published this year[book:The Secret Wisdom of the Earth..."

Nice! You've got a great start, too!

[Jennifer]

I'm a slacker and have only read half my 800 page book. But hope to get in some reading time this weekend. Thank goodness for time off:)

[Sally]

I also have only knocked out one book - #20 at the bottom of the to-do list -- Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson. I'm a little OCD, so I have spent a lot of time working through which books could/should be on my list. I like the idea of reading at 1 book per category, but I like having options to be able to shift books around as I read them in order to fill int he categories.

[Heidi]

I have finished:

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (Book with a name in the title) - A re-read, and I enjoyed it again

The Liar's Chair by Rebecca Whitney (Book published in 2015) - A tough book to read (the main character is in an abusive relationship), but it is an interesting read

And I've now started: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. (Non-human characters) I'm loving it so far!

[Mpc]

I read "the silkworm" and I'm reading "Rebecca".

[Jennifer]

This week I finished:

Brown Girl Dreaming for my book that made you cry

American Gods that I think I will count as a book with non-human characters

[Ryan]

I read Station Eleven for "41) A book by an author you've never read before" and I loved it!

I'm just about done Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption for "19) A book based on a true story"

[Chantelle]

First week done! 5) Book with a number in the title: Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich. Love this series! It's a mindless read but so fun to follow her bumbling adventures!

[Angie]

I've read three books- Eight Cousins for my book with a number in the title, Rose in Bloom for my book by a female author, and Summer of Promise my trilogy (so I'm a third through that- working on the second one right now).

[Brooke]

I've read three books so far, also. "Orange is the New Black" for a book made into a TV series, "Wuthering Heights" for a book with a love triangle, and "Room" for a book with a one word title.

[Sally]

Brooke wrote: "I've read three books so far, also. "Orange is the New Black" for a book made into a TV series, "Wuthering Heights" for a book with a love triangle, and "Room" for a book with a one word title."

I recently bought "Room" for the same reason. Am I going to be disappointed?

[Vickie]

I read Divergent and just picked up the second book, Insurgent. Also started on a graphic novel Batman '66 Vol.1 Loved the old Batman TV show so this is hitting all the right nostalgia points for me.

[Hilary]

I'm reading The Golem and the Jinni (non human characters) and also Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (graphic novel). I'm not even a little close to being done with either of them. I'm not too worried yet, my reading speed ebbs and flows throughout the year.

[Hailey Magstadt]

I read Pretty Little liars for my book that was turned into a t.v. series. I have started the Cuckoo's Calling but I'm having a hard time getting in to it.

[Tris]

I just finished A Tale of Two Cities for my "book more than 100 years old" prompt. It was, for lack of a better word, okay. I think I set my hopes too high since I like Dickens' other works. I also read Black Lies this week. I was initially going to use it for my "book you can finish in one day" but I think I might use it instead for a "book with a color in the title".

I'm going to start Landline for a "book with a one word title" today.

[Mindy]

First week (and a half) I finished Gone Girl (first day actually!) I'm filing it as "Book turned into a movie" for now. Also finished Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened for my author under 30 and started Big Little Lies which I am loving and is my "antonyms in the title book". I had those last two out at the library anyway but then found out Big Little Lies was way cheap for its Kindle version on Amazon. Also read It Happened One Wedding which could be done in less than a day but I'm counting it as author I've never read. (If you're into contemporary romance it was a great one) I also took a whole lot of books out of the library. I figured I'd better start off with a bang for when my reading drags later in the year!

[Sara]

I managed to get in a few this week. The Cape, by Joe Hill for graphic novel, Revival by Stephen King for book by a favorite author you haven't read yet, and After The People Light Have Gone Off by Stephen Graham Jones for short stories. All three very dark but very good, so I totally recommend them all. Can't wait to pick up Solaris tomorrow!

[Kristen]

I finished

Through the Woods (Book that scares you)

Lexicon (One Word Title)

And I'm SO CLOSE to finishing The Book Thief...but I haven't decided which category I'll put it in as it fits a lot of them.

Everyone is doing so well it seems! Yay! Read on!

[Ann]

Hailey wrote: "I read Pretty Little liars for my book that was turned into a t.v. series. I have started the Cuckoo's Calling but I'm having a hard time getting in to it."

Oh sister, give Cukoo's Calling a chance. It grows on you!! She is very discriptive so it does get a bit long winded. I'm having a hard time reading Haunted. I can't get into it either. Keep on it, I know you'll like it. I stayed up until 5am one morning finishing it.

[Ann]

Jennifer wrote: "I'm a slacker and have only read half my 800 page book. But hope to get in some reading time this weekend. Thank goodness for time off:)"

Getting your long book out of the way will help the rest of the year go by quickly hopefully. Half way through seems reasonable to me! What 800 page book are you reading? I'm so glad you joined the group :) It's really fun for me to have so many people from around the globe, plus some that are practically family :)