2019 Reading Challenge

Every year, our little Facebook book club does a reading challenge.  Below is the list for 2019.  I’ve already finished 3 categories due to a little unexpected time on my hands, though I don’t expect to keep up the pace.

I often do internet searches to find my next read.  My first completed book of 2019 was found during such a search on a list of “books you cannot put down”.  I knew nothing about it other than the title and that it was fiction.  The book is called All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood.  And, it absolutely belonged on that list.  I almost didn’t use it for our reading challenge, though, because how do you explain how good a book is that is about an 8-year-old and a 19-year-old falling in love and not sound like a total creeper?  And, to make matters worse, I put it in category #8 A Romance Novel……yeah….here is my book club submission:

8. A Romance Novel: Okay. This may be a stretch. I found this title on a list called “Books You Cannot Put Down”. And, they were right. I read it in three days, and for me, that is saying something. I almost exclusively do audiobooks because it takes me forever to get through an actual book book. ANYWAY. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood is the story of 8-year-old Wavy, whose mother is a drug addict that usually can’t be bothered to take care of her, whose father cooks meth, and who is raising her little brother. One night, her presence on the road causes 19-year-old Kellan, an associate of her father’s, to wreck his motorcycle. This is the beginning of a long and complicated relationship that nobody truly understands but the two of them. If I had known the subject matter of this book beforehand, I probably would not have read it. BUT, it really is very well written and hard to put down and maybe not quite as creepy as it sounds…..I dunno….. 5 stars on Goodreads.

I know that all sounds horrible.  But, it’s a good book.  It just is.

The second book I finished this year was I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios, which fulfilled category #2 A YA Fiction Novel.

2. A YA Fiction Book: I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios is about Skylar Evans’s attempt to escape tiny Creek View, California, and the life she’s living in abject poverty with her recovering addict mother. Only months away heading off to college, Josh Mitchell returns from Afghanistan with one leg missing, and all of her plans begin to slip through her fingers. 4 stars on Goodreads.

And, my third of the year is The Rooster Bar by John Grisham.  I usually enjoy his novels, but this one wasn’t my favorite.  I can’t even say why exactly.  Probably I wasn’t in the mood for it.  That may have something to do with the way my new year started off (by getting fired from my job of 16+ years).  I put that book in category #13.

13.) A book by someone named John/Johnson or variant: The Rooster Bar by John Grisham is about four 3rd-year law school students who are drowning in debt and are facing the very real probability of unemployment after graduating from the third-tier law school, Foggy Bottom. Gordy can’t take the pressure and leaps off of the Arlington Memorial Bridge. But, before he does so, he lays out the details of a complex and wide-spread law school and student loan scheme that he has uncovered. The remaining three friends must decide what they’ll do with the information and how they are going to face their bleak futures. 3 stars on Goodreads.

If you’re a reader, please join our group!  The more the merrier!

On a totally random and completely unrelated note, I saw that they’re coming out with Jalapeno M&Ms?!?!  Sign me up!  **drool**

2019 Reading List

Level 1:
1.) A book with a red cover
2.) A YA fiction novel
3.) A book under 300 pages
4.) A book in a genre you normally wouldn’t choose
5.) A first book of a series
6.) A book that takes place during the summer
7.) A book whose title starts with the letter M
8.) A romance novel
9.) A book that has been turned into a TV Show or Movie
10.) A book with a title done in alliteration (example: Pride and Prejudice)
11.) A New York Time's Best Seller (Past or Present)
12.) Free Space- Pick any book!

Level 2:
13.) A book by someone named John/Johnson or variant
14.) A Fantasy novel
15.) A book with a color in the title
16.) A book recommended to you by someone else
17.) A detective novel
18.) A book with a number in the title
19.) A book about dragons
20.) A book published by Penguin Random House
21.) A book found on Project Gutenberg
22.) A book about an artist (fictional or real)
23.) A book that was published in 1999
24.) Free Space- Pick any book!

Level 3:
25.) Book 1 in a trilogy
26.) Book 2 in the same trilogy
27.) Book 3 in the same trilogy
28.) A book recommended by a friend on Social Media
29.) A book about a librarian/library
30.) A book about breaking a code or a treasure hunt
31.) A book by a Brandon/Branden or variant
32.) A book that takes place in a large city
33.) A book suggested by What Should I Read Next?
34.) A book that someone else doing this challenge is reading
35.) A book with exactly three words in the title
36.) Free Space- Pick any book!

Level 4:
37.) A book over 500 pages
38.) A book about time travel
39.) A book with a form of weather in the title
40.) A book published in 1969
41.) A book authored by a Catherine/Katherine or variant
42.) A book by an Anne/Ann/Annie or variant
43.) A book from Time's All-time top 100 book list
44.) A coming of age novel
45.) A book involving mythology
46.) A self-published book
47.) A book with the word dream in the title
48.) Free Space- Pick any book!

Level 5:
49.) A book on a banned book list
50.) The most recent book in a series you haven't finished
51.) A book that you judged by its cover (either positively or negatively)
52.) A book that takes place in your home state
53.) A book that takes place before 1965
54.) A biography
55.) A book you've previously abandoned
56.) A book about a real or fictional politician
57.) A book set in Asia
58.) A book with a tree or forest on the cover
59.) A book with the letter Z in the title 
60.) Free Space- Pick any book!