2015 Reading Recap

Last year I took upon myself the challenge of reading 52 books (one a week) for Popsugar’s 2015 Reading Challenge. How did I do? Well, I didn’t finish the challenge, but I accomplished a great deal of what I set out to do.

Overall I read 48 books, in more genres than I normally do. Sci-fi and YA are my personal favorites, and while a good deal of the books that I read fell into those categories, I found myself genuinely enjoying many books in other genres. A nonfiction book that I chose for the humor category A Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs stands out as one of my favorites. It not only made me laugh, but made me really think about how we pick and choose what rules to follow when it comes to religion, and what that says about who we are, and what kind of world we want to live in. This is not a book I would have picked up previously, but I’m so glad I did.

Being married to an English teacher, I’ve always felt pressure to read the classics. Don’t get me wrong- I love me some Shakespeare, and I’ve really enjoyed other classics like Dante’s Inferno, Jane Eyre, and The Great Gatsby, but I do find most of the classics really hard to get through. However, for the challenge I stepped up and finally read Frankenstein, and added Wuthering Heights to the list as well. Frankenstein was okay, but took me a real long time to get through. Wuthering Heights on the other hand bored me greatly. I started and finished three other books while trying to get interested in it. I find that the Victorian style of writing about someone’s life from start to finish is taxing on the reader. I’m much more used to (and fond of) the later point of attack that modern books tend to take. Not to mention that Wuthering Heights had multiple characters with the same name- I can’t stand that!

Overall, I’m really happy with what I have accomplished. You can check out all the books I read and my ratings over on Goodreads.

I’m also excited to announce that this year I’m going to be attempting this again, along with starting an online book club with some friends. Popsugar’s list this year is only 40 books, but adding in the book club selections I’m up to 46. That gives me a totally achievable goal for this year.

I’ve already checked one off the list- A book recommended to me by a family member: After the Cure by Deirdra Gould. I really enjoyed it, and it’s free for the Kindle!

Are you participating in a reading challenge this year? Have any suggestions for books I should check out? Let me know in the comments!