Saturday, December 31, 2016

37 Books in 2016!

It is so lame that I have only blogged once from Mexico City! Honestly, I'm too busy eating tacos. I plan to update the blog this weekend but wanted to quickly post about my reading challenge.

This year, I set a more modest goal of 35 books, and I met it easily (2 books over!), mostly because I was paying attention and was more accustomed to seeking out and reading quality books.

However, I have to say sadly that I did not read that many REALLY good ones. I read a lot of ok books, but few that really grabbed my mind or heart. Here are those few:

Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (I still think about this book, whereas I've forgotten most of the others I've read this year)

The Valley of Amazement, by Amy Tan

Hillbilly Elegy, by J.D. Vance (while this wasn't the most well written or riveting book, it made me think and taught me about a community I don't know a lot of about, and I'm glad I read it)

My Name is Resolute, by Nancy Turner (I loved her other books, especially These is My Words, even more)

The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck (a classic, for good reason)

You have read 37 of 35 books in 2016.
  • Your 2016 Challenge Books
  • The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez
  • Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
  • Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
  • The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
  • Bitter in the Mouth by Monique Truong
  • Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
  • Landline by Rainbow Rowell
  • Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
  • Blue Asylum by Kathy Hepinstall
  • Girl on a Plane by Miriam Moss
  • Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
  • Sully by Chelsea B. Sullenberger
  • Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova
  • The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan
  • Larger Than Life by Jodi Picoult
  • The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
  • Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi
  • Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
  • The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
  • The Restaurant Critic's Wife by Elizabeth LaBan
  • Under the Same Sky by Joseph Kim
  • Deliver Her by Patricia Perry Donovan
  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
  • Unbroken by Carolynn Amara
  • At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen
  • My Name Is Resolute by Nancy E. Turner
  • Trail of Broken Wings by Sejal Badani
  • When I Found You by Catherine Ryan Hyde
  • Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim
  • Elizabeth Street by Laurie Fabiano
  • In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord
  • Life and Other Near-Death Experiences by Camille Pagán
  • Palisades Park by Alan Brennert
  • The Midwife's Revolt by Jodi Daynard

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