 Icelandic cafe decor. These are color coordinated books that look cool, but the books have been cut away about 3 inches from the spine so that they can be displayed. The bookshelves don't need to be full sized this way, but the books are unreadable.
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1. Big Little Lies (Amanda)
* 8. The Girls from Corona Del Mar (Ryan) 9. Promise Me Dad (Julie) 13. The Tour (Erin) 15. The Hate U Give (Diane) 16. Beyond Belief (Shelby) 17. The Rules of Magic (Theresa) 18. Altered Carbon (Gabriel) 23. Little Fires Everywhere (Beth) 27. Call the Midwife (Becca) 31. Origin (Stephanie) 34. Beneath the Scarlet Sky (Beth) 35. The Girl from Atomic City (Wendy) 36. Wild Seed (Christina) 38. Sapiens (Bruce) 40. Fall On Your Knees (Nadine) 41. The Black Echo (Mina) 42. Crossing to Safety (Lisa) 43. Ancillary Justice (Michael) 50. Earth Abides (Christian) Jodi: And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your idea (1/1/17)
*** El: Btw, this is fun. I'm going to put these books on my list. But I don't read anywhere near as voraciously as you. And, I actually took 2 months off from reading novels this year. First time since I was a child that I didn't have a novel by my bedside. Filled the time with meditation instead. Me: I generally alternate between fiction and non-fiction, but took about ten years off reading after I finished with school. *** Jodi: Yay. It would be really great if you each week reported on this thread what you thought of each book and how your journey is going. Me: I was think the same thing. It’s not exactly a book a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. Let’s see if I can do it. Jodi: One of the things I do is run a book club on memoirs and we just read a book called Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch in which she read a book a day for a year and blogged about it on a website called readallday.org . My suggestion to you, is don't worry so much about the timeline, just focus on your quest to read 50 books by 50 friends in whatever time line it takes you and just a simple response back to each person who sent you a title that we can all see on the link so others that suggested a book to you can be inspired to read the book that you just read. Me: I’m definitely not a consistent reader. I’ll read a ton one week & none the next, but have averaged about 50 a year the last few years (probably more like 65 last year). So, 50 books recommended by 50 friends seems like a fun goal. *** Natalie: Are you going to come back and tell us what you think of our suggestions? Me: I'm going to try. *** Andy: You got 269 comments for a reading list! There is a story to go along with this my friend. Me: Tells you something about my friend circle, doesn’t it? Jacqueline: It’s awesome! Totally stealing this idea! *** Kim: Lorena, can you provide a tabulation the 50 books that made your 2018 list? Me: Scroll up for the list. I included it in an edited post towards the top of the list. Shasta: I would love to see a new post with the list, and then a short book report on each one as you read it. What a cool record that would be! *** Tiffany: Thanks for posting your reviews. A service to us all *** Julie: I am keeping track of this list, as well as trying to find a book to recommend to you next year. It's kind of stressing me out Me: It is supposed to be fun, not stressful!! *** Suz: When the heck are you going to write a book? Me: What would I even write about? Suz: Hmmm, that sounds like a good title (and subject) if a book ... *** A short detour next for the monthly Soroptimist book club book. This month it is Miss Spitfire. I’m thinking Ancillary Justice is up after that. I wasn’t convinced I was going to make it through the list this year, but I seem to be back on track. If I just didn’t get distracted by ones not on the list, I’d be sure to get them all done. *** Ann:I would be interested in knowing what your top reads of the year are. So when I have time to read for pleasure after I defend Me: The recommended ones have a star next to them. But if you give me three books you loved that are similar to what you'd like to read next, I will give you three personalized recommendations. Me: 21/44 recommendations is way higher than my normal rate, so I think this book list method has been a success. Even if the last 6 don't make the list, I would still be at 42%, which is much higher than my normal rate of 1/3. Cat: When do you read?! How late do you stay up? Me: I read almost exclusive audio books. I listen in the car, the bath/shower, while doing laundry/cooking, & walking/gym. I almost never have time to read a paper book. Cat: Travis has been doing this. He always had in earbuds. Travis: I'm at about 50 books over the last 3 months since I started audio books. I’m addicted! Do they have support groups for this? Me: Some vices are worth keeping! *** Me: Up next: Homegoing! Julie: Reading/listening now because of this post Me: We should go to lunch to discuss these! Julie: yes. !!!!! Me: It will be like a mini book club of 2. Julie: I am reviewing your list for my next choice Me: Okay. I’m reading Rules of Magic. Then I need a non-fiction next. *** Me: Coming into the middle of month 10 and I have three books to go. Driving to Portland and back today, I got started on Cloud Atlas. Then The God of Small Things and Earth Abides. The big question is whether I am going to do another 50 books recommended by 50 friends list or whether I go back to a more traditional book challenge for 2019. Debate. Katrina: I have thoroughly enjoyed your list from friends and synopsis updates. I think it’s amazing you have stuck with the list even if the book was not your usual style. With that being said, doing it this way two years in a row would be hard. Me: I'm fine with a short book that I'm not enthralled with, but slogging through a 1,000 page history text is something else entirely!! Katrina: I am not like that. I can’t even make it through an US Weekly if it doesn’t hold my interest Me: Lol! I can hardly think of more than 2 or 3 books I have ever started and not finished! Robin: It’s amazing to me how many good books are available. I am a steady reader and haven’t read ANY of the books in your list. Me: keep in mind that part of the criteria was that I couldn’t have read it already, so obviously this is a list of books I hadn’t read before, either. One great thing is that this allowed for a list very different than what I typically would have read. Robin: Hmmm.... Carla: Your list and analysis is wonderful! I will be getting some of your recommendations for my hour commute to work. Me: I actually feel bad saying I didn’t love a book a friend recommended. Nevertheless, I’ve stayed the course. I’ve finished every book, even though a couple of them really, really not for me. And so I have reached the end of the 2018 reading challenge list just days before Thanksgiving. What a year of reading it has been. I really like 22/50 books, which is higher than my typical rate of liking books. I would say I typically like about 1/3 of the books I read, so 44% is pretty good.
The hardest things about this were 1. Not liking or recommending a book recommended by someone I really like & 2. Reading books I never would have picked about topics I’m not interested in & not liking the book at all the whole time. The best thing about this project was 1. seeing who recommended what when I created the list & 2. Reading things I was sure I wasn’t going to like & unexpectedly finding I loved the story. With the next six weeks, I have some other books I’ve put on hold that I was to read, plus the book for my book club. I’m going to wait until after Christmas to decide what I’m going to do for next year for a reading challenge. So, stay tuned for that. From the 2018 List, the following recommendations got lost in the shuffle...
Recommended by Chris, I someone meant to add this one to the list, but it didn't make it. "How bout Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. A gripping historical novel about Vietnam. Highly recommended." Kim recommended Knocking On Heaven's Door, but this also got lost in the shuffle. *** Me: I noticed I actually had two hidden number 3's so I had to renumber everything. Exit West was the other one that got buried. In the process of doing that, I discovered there were books I said made the list when they were posted, but actually didn't get on there for some reason. So, below is an updated list! 1. Sister Outsider (Rhonda) 23* 2. Whipping Girl (Lisa) 21 3. Trauma & Memory (Renee) 11 4. The Magicians (Quinn) 20 5. Big Little Lies (Amanda) 1* 6. The God of Small Things (Shasta) 7. The Rules of Magic (Theresa) 17* 8. A Street Cat Named Bob (Kat) 7 9. Small Gods (Judah) 12 10. Fall On Your Knees (Nadine) 11. Cloud Atlas (Raul) 12. The Hate U Give (Diane) 15* 13. Team of Rivals (Charissa) 14. Earth Abides (Christian) 15. Mink River (Catsi) 16. Manhattan Beach (Gretchen) 27* 17. Ancillary Justice (Michael) 18. Morrigan's Cross (Tashia) 19. Exit West (Gretchen) 4 20. Origin (Stephanie) 21. The Girl Who Drank The Moon (Andrea) 22. Homegoing (Sybil) 2 23. Beneath the Scarlet Sky (Beth) 24. Last Call (Lisa) 25. The Tour (Erin) 13* 26. The Dress Lodger (Jodi) 27. Little Fires Everywhere (Beth) 22* 28. Beyond Belief (Shelby) 16* 29. Straight Man (Natalie) 26 30. When I’m Gone (Palmer) 10 31. Neverwhere (Leah) 32. Stiff (Kelly) 19 33. The Antelope Wife (Nora) 34. Call the Midwife (Becca) 26* 35. The Black Dahlia (Katrina) 36. The School of Essential Ingredients (Karey) 6 37. Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself (Jennifer) 38. The Language of Emotion (Wendy) 14 39. Crossing to Safety (Lisa) 40. Angle of Repose (Tiffany) 41. Lust for Life (Michele) 24 42. Sapiens (Bruce) 43. Altered Carbon (Gabriel) 18* 44. The Painted Girls (Lora) 24 45. Promise Me Dad (Julie) 9* 46. The Return of the Native (Sandra) 47. Wild Seed (Christina) 48. The Girls from Corona Del Mar (Katie) 8* 49. The Black Echo (Mina) 50. The Girl from Atomic City (Wendy) These are ones I said I was adding even though I was over my 50: 51. A Mother’s Reckoning. (Lucy) 5 52. Fire & Fury (Amy) 3 53. Matterhorn (Chris) 54. Touch (John) 55. A Study in Scarlett (Mina) 56. Sweet Grass Talking (Renee) 57. The Life She Was Given (Tanya) These are ones recommended after I had already closed the list: 58. No Name on The Street (Leonora) 59. Knocking on Heaven's Door (Kim) 60. The Medical Medium (Lisa) 61. Breakfast with Buddha (Mary) 62. A Fighting Chance (Dodie) 63. Before We Were Yours (Melissa) 64. The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns (Heather) 65. The Signature of All Things (Leah) 66. The Long Earth (Michele) 67. Living Forward (Eric) 68. In Vino Duplicates(Dan) 69. Shanghai Girls (Kathy) 70. The Maddadadm (David) Christian: Objection! My recommendation made the original list at 14 (see your previous posts) but somehow I have been bumped to the later list. Me: Overruled. Me, later: I have reversed my previously ruling and put this back on the list because I discovered one of the remaining ones is a duplicate author. *** Michele: oh if there’s a waiting list i’ll also suggest Shantaram if u havent read it yet Me: You already have The Long Earth on the wait list and you already want to add a second one? Michele: .... there are really so few books that i have read and you have not .. Me: what are you reading now? Michele: uhhhh re-reading the deborah harkness trilogy 😍 Me: I love that series! *** |
AuthorI'll read anything a friend recommends & I love telling people what I think about it. Every year, I read 50 books recommended by 50 different friends. Welcome to My 50 Bookish Friends Blog. SearchCategories
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