2016 Reading Challenge

Last year, I took PopSugar’s reading challenge.  Didn’t finish.  Didn’t care.  It wasn’t really about trying to fill in each of the categories as much as it was about seeing how much what I was reading was or wasn’t particularly varied.  PopSugar came back with a reading challenge vengeance in 2016, and I am, of course, along for the ride.  We’re just over halfway through the year, and I know I promised you a summer reading post, and I really will get that to you, but first, here is how I’m doing.  I’ll be back at the end of the year with a final update on this list.

(source)

And as always, you can keep up with my reading as it happens on Instagram.

1. A book based on a fairy tale
2. A National Book Award winner
3. A YA Bestseller
4. A book you haven’t read since high school
5. A book set in your home state
6. A book translated to English
7. A romance set in the future – Happily Ever After, by Kiera Cass
8. A book set in Europe – Echo, by Pam Muñoz Ryan
9. A book that’s under 150 pages
10. A New York Times bestseller – The Gift of Failure, by Jessica Lahey
11. A book that’s becoming a movie this year
12. A book recommended by someone you just met – The Gift of Failure, by Jessica Lahey
13. A self-improvement book –Year of Yes, by Shonda Rhimes
14. A book you can finish in a day – Tales from the Back Row, by Amy Odell
15. A book written by a celebrity – I Feel Bad About my Neck, by Nora Ephron
16. A political memoir
17. A book at least 100 years older than you
18. A book that’s more than 600 pages
19. A book from Oprah’s Book Club
20. A science-fiction novel
21. A book recommended by a family member – Accidental Saints, by Nadia Bolz Weber (recommended by my Pops)
22. A graphic novel
23. A book that is published in 2016 – When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalinithi
24. A book with a protagonist who has your occupation – American Housewife, by Helen Ellis
25. A book that takes place during summer – Summerlost, by Allie Condie
26. A book and its prequel
27. A murder mystery – Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty
28. A book written by a comedian –
29. A dystopian novel
30. A book with a blue cover – After I Do, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
31. A book of poetry – Booked, by Kwame Alexander
32. The first book you see in a bookstore
33. A classic from the 20th century
34. A book from the library – My Year of Running Dangerously, by Tom Foreman
35. An autobiography – Life in Motion, by Misty Copeland
36. A book about a road trip
37. A book about a culture you’re unfamiliar with – A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park
38. A satirical book – A Window Opens, by Susan Egan (not true satire, but it pokes some fun at suburban life in all the right places)
39. A book that takes place on an island – The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin
40. A book that’s guaranteed to bring you joy

And the stuff I’ve read that doesn’t fit these categories:

Eight Hundred Grapes, by Laura Dave; Peace, Locomotion, by Jacqueline Woodson; Stella by Starlight, by Sharon Draper; Swimming Studies, by Leanne Shapton; Small Victories, by Anne Lamott; George, by Alex Gino; I Remember Nothing, by Nora Ephron; Sparkly Green Earrings, by Melanie Shankle; Little Victories, by Jason Gay; Maybe in Another Life, by Taylor Jenkins Reid