The other day I shared
this reading challenge on our Facebook page and said I was doing it. I later commented on the share about how I've already raided my shelves to find books that fit each of the different categories, and while my list isn't complete yet, it is over halfway full. I also currently have two stacks of books sitting next to my desk calling my name, begging me to read them now, just to get a head start you know, but if I do that, then those books won't count because this list is for 2015, and it's not 2015 yet! I'm just going to go down the list as it prints off, filling in the titles of books that I already have picked out, and probably talking about them some.
The List
A book with more than 500 pages: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. My copy has 850 pages, and I've owned it since before the t.v. show, just haven't gotten around to reading it yet.
A classic romance: Sea Jewel by Penelope Neri. I found this book at the thrift store at some point. It has a classic bodice ripper cover. It also has 492 pages, so it would almost fit the first category as well.
A book that became a movie: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I bought this book for Kindle last year before Christmas when it was on sale. I also found a copy at my thrift store recently and picked it up. I will get this book read this year.
A book published this year: I clearly couldn't have pulled a book for this category yet, but I have some ideas for books to read to fit it.
A book with a number in the title:
A book written by someone under 30: Death Before Daylight by Shannon A. Thompson. I don't have a copy of this book yet, but it is the third book in Thompson's Timely Death Trilogy and I HAVE to read it.
A book with non-human characters: I'm not sure about this category. Is the book allowed to have human characters as long as it has non-humans too? And do werewolves and vampires count as non-human characters?
A funny book: Uganda be Kidding Me by Chelsea Handler. I love Handler's humor and really enjoyed Are You there Vodka, It's me Chelsea and Chelsea Chelsea, Bang Bang, so I have every reason to believe I'll find this book funny too.
A book by a female author: I haven't selected this book yet, but it won't be hard. Most of the books I read are by female authors, even before I started reading indie.
A mystery or thriller: The Counterfeit Lady by Kate Parker. I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
A book with a one-word title: Aflame by Penelope Douglas. This book is not published yet, but it will be in 2015 and I know I'm going to be reading it because I love all things P-Doug.
A book of short stories: Everything's Eventual by Stephen King. I'm a huge King fan, and yet I haven't read everything he's written yet, even though I own most of the books except for his most recent ones. This collection of stories contains the store 1408 which was turned into a movie in the past five years (I think).
A book set in a different country: I haven't selected this book yet, but it should be easy. I have to wonder though, different from what? Different from my home country, or the country in which I live? If it's the later, basically every book on this list will also qualify for this category already.
A nonfiction book: The Good Soldiers by David Finkel. This book is about my husband's unit during his first deployment in Iraq. I have not been able to bring myself to read it to date, but my husband is out of the military now, so I think I should be able to finally handle it.
A popular author's first book: Honestly, I don't even know what popular author I want to use. Also, does it have to be a popular traditionally published author, or could it just be a very popular indie author?
A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet: Dr. Sleep by Stephen King. I own two copies of this book now because I got a copy for Christmas last year while I was in the states and was unable to get it back to Germany, and a couple months ago bought a mass market paperback copy too. With blogging, I have not yet found the time to read it. 2015 will be the year.
A book a friend recommended: I need a friend to recommend a book to me so I can complete this category.
A Pulitzer Prize-winning book: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. Picked up my copy of that at my local thrift store for a whopping ten cents over a year ago.
A book based on a true story: No, Daddy, Don't by Irene Pence. This is a true crime book that I picked up at my thrift store a while ago.
A book at the bottom of your to-read list: This is a tough one to decide because I really have more of a to-read pile than a to-read list. I also never really pay attention to the "list" when choosing my next book (unless I'm on a deadline for the blog and then I don't really have a choice anyway).
A book your mom loves: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I asked, she answered. I know I've seen the movie, I'm not sure if I've ever actually read the book though.
A book that scares you: This might be a tough one because I'm a huge Stephen King fan and don't scare easily. Although an author I follow on Facebook recently received a two start review for one of his books because it was horrifying. It's in the horror genre. I don't understand the reviewers justification on that one.
A book more than 100 years old: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. It was originally published in 1905, so it only just barely fits, but that's okay.
A book based entirely on it's cover: I haven't selected this book yet. I may be asking for assistance on that one on Facebook in the near future though.
A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. The only reason I have a book for this category is because Wuthering Heights was on our syllabus for reading my senior year of high school but we never got to it. I only remember this because I was actually looking forward to reading it, and yet haven't managed to read it in the 12 years since graduation.
A memoir: The Woman I was Born to Be by Susan Boyle. I bought this book really cheap at the Frankfurt Book Fair a couple years ago.
A book you can finish in a day: This book has also not been selected, for one thing I have to actually finish whatever book I choose for it in a day for it to count. It may take a couple tries to achieve.
A book with antonyms in the title: Hot Tea...Cold Case by D.G. Stern. I actually had to search Amazon to find a book for this category by typing in a pair of antonyms in the search bar. It wasn't a fun exercise.
A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit: I just need to find a book set in England to meet this requirement, which should be pretty easy.
A book that came out the year you were born: Christine by Stephen King. According to the copy I have, the first Signet printing of it was in December of 1983, which even puts it in the same month as my birthday.
A book with bad reviews: I'm not sure about this category. Is it supposed to be a book with predominantly bad reviews, or just a book that has them? If it's the later, it will be easy to fulfill because almost every book ends up with some bad reviews.
A trilogy: Not sure what trilogy I'm going to read for this. I am open to suggestions.
A book from your childhood: A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter. This book has the added benefit of being free on Kindle.
A book with a love triangle: I also have not selected this book yet, but am open to any suggestions.
A book set in the future: 3001: The Final Odyssey by Aruther C. Clarke. I should probably read the other books in the series first, but this is the one I have, so it's the one I'm using.
A book set in high school: Suggestions?
A book with a color in the title: Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. This is a book by one of my brother's favorite authors, which means it's going to be a bit of a difficult read, because those are the kinds of books he enjoys. It's also almost 1,000 pages long, so it's going to take a while.
A book that made you cry: Like the scary book, this is going to take some trial and error.
A book with magic: This book has not been selected but I'm open to suggestions.
A graphic novel: I have two of these on my bookshelves downstairs. I have not decided which one I want to read yet.
A book by an author you've never read before: This book has not been selected, but will be an easy category to complete.
A book you own but have never read: Aside from A Girl of the Limberlost, Aflame, and Death Before Daylight, all of the books listed so far fit this category. I will also just be picking up a random book from my bookshelves to meet this requirement sometime later.
A book that takes place in your hometown: PrairyErth by William Least Heat-Moon. This category inspired some discussion on my person share of this challenge with another friend who is thinking about doing the challenge. What constitutes a hometown? I'm using the town where I grew up because I lived there the longest and it comes the closest to being what I consider my hometown. Even then, the book I'm using is set in the county, not just the town.
A book that was originally written in a different language: The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas. I don't know what language Dumas wrote in, but it wasn't English because the book has been translated.
A book set during Christmas: Christmas in Paradise by Kathi Daley. This is another book that I won in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. This was also a category I wasn't too worried about to begin with, considering my current personal reading challenge for December.
A book written by an author with your same initials: Eternal Island by K.S. Haigwood. This category could have potentially been really tricky. When I married my husband I hyphenated my last name, so I consider my initials to include both my maiden and my married name. I'm also fudging a little with this one because the order of my initials is KHS, but I don't care. To be fair, if my name was being alphabetized, the H would determine where it falls anyway.
A play: I have a copy of the collected works of Shakespeare. I'll pick one of them later.
A banned book: The Decameron by Giavonni Boccaccio. From what I found on the internet this book was banned by the U.S. Postal service because it violated a rule against shipping lewd materials, or something like that. I don't really remember now.
A book based on or turned into a t.v. show: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. Please save your outrage. I have not only never read these books, but I've also never seen True Blood. But that's a good thing because it means I have a book to fill this category!
A book you started but never finished: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. This is the only book that fits this category (sort of.) I actually have like 10 books unfinished on my Goodreads shelves, but I've read on all of them within this past year, so I don't really count those. I've tried to read The Hobbit twice without being able to finish though, so it is the obvious choice for this category. Also, I may use the Lord of the Rings Trilogy for my trilogy.
And that's my list so far. I'm sure you probably didn't read this whole thing, but if you did, please feel free to make some suggestions for the categories that I don't have assigned yet. It would really help me out. - Katie
