This is the third year in a row I'm setting up a reading challenge for myself and anyone who wants to join in. It all started back in 2014 with this post. Then in 2015, I renamed the group and upped the ante. I also reported on all the books I read in 2014 in this post.
This year I read 35 books. My total actually went up 8 books from 2014, so bully for me. Here are my titles in the order I read them:
#1 Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
#2 The Vikings by Robert Wernick
#3 Revival by Stephen King
#4 The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap by Wendy Welch
#5 Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
#6 Wild by Cheryl Strayed
#7 Small Victories by Anne LaMott
#8 Defending Jacob by William Landay
#9 Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty
#10 Raylan by Elmore Leonard
#11 Schooled by Dalton Jackson
#12 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
#13 Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin
#14 People of the Darkness by Tony Hillerman
#15 Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
#16 The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
#17 Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shankle
#18 Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
#19 The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
#20 The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
#21 The Antelope in the Living Room by Melanie Shankle
#22 Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
#23 The Silent Wife by A.S.A. Harrison
#24 The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
#25 The Martian by Andy Weir
#26 Somebody I Used to Know by David Bell
#27 X by Sue Grafton
#28 Zoo by James Patterson
#29 Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
#30 Nobody's Cuter Than You by Melanie Shankle
#31 The Prize by Dale Russakoff
#32 The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick
#33 The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty
#34 Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
#35 The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty
Now time to break it down...
35 books = 1.4857142 books read per week. Let's round that off to 1.5 books per week.
10 Non-Fiction, 25 Fiction
3 Recurring Authors for 2015: Liane Moriarty, Robert Galbraith, and Melanie Shankle
14 (15?) Never Before Read Authors: (I'm not sure if I should include Robert Galbraith or not here. He's really J.K. Rowling writing under a pseudonym. I've read all the Harry Potter books, but Rowling does really seem to be writing as another person here. She even cops to that when she talks about writing under a pseudonym.) Anywho, the others are Robert Wernick, Wendy Welch, Celeste Ng, Cheryl Strayed, William Landay, Dalton Jackson, Rebecca Skloot, Tony Hillerman, Susan Crandall, Melanie Shankle, Kimberly McCreight, Paula Hawkins, A.S.A. Harrision, Louise Penny, Andy Weir, David Bell, Dale Russakoff, Phillip K. Dick, and Emily St. John Mandel.
5 Books That Were (or are going to be) Interpreted Into Movies or a Television Series:
Wild, Raylan, The Girl on the Train, The Martian, and The Man in the High Castle
I've seen Justified (loosely based on the characters from Raylan), The Martian, and Wild. I just read yesterday that The Girl on the Train has been made into a movie. I'll probably see that too, if I get the chance. The Man in the High Castle was made into a series by Amazon. I've only watched the first episode but plan to watch the rest.
And now what you've been waiting for, the awards...
For Non-Fiction That is Stranger than Fiction Award...The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Hard to believe, but at the same time, totally believable, because well, it's true.
Best New Author Find...Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
The Rotten Tomatoes Award...Zoo by Robert Patterson
Really, just really? I was prepared for a far-fetched concept on this one, but ugh. Trite characters, lecture-y tone, implausible ending. I think this might have been made into a t.v. series too, now that I think about it. The book was so bad, I don't even want to Google it to find out. I'm sure he doesn't give two figs about my opinion. He can laugh all the way to the bank.
Lived Up to the Hype Award...Go Set a Watchman
The Page Turner Award...The Martian and everything I read by Liane Moriarty
A repeat award from last year! The "The "Stayed With Me For The Longest in an Unsettling but Fascinating Way" Award goes to...The Man in the High Castle
One more repeat award, "Made Me Cry Award"...Wild
It was the part when they shot the horse that did me in. Cried as I was reading it and sobbed when I went to bed that night thinking about it because it brought back memories of putting my pug down a few years ago. I did cry a little during some other books, but nothing like this.
Best Discovery of a New Fictional Recurring Detective Award... Cormoran Strike in The Cuckoo's Calling, The Silkworm, and Career of Evil
So there you have it. I'd love to hear about your favorites or not-so favorites or your own personal awards for the year. Hope you'll join me for 2016. Here we go...
Kim
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