I love to read. You know how you secretly take those Buzz Feed quizzes whenever they pop up on your Facebook feed? Yeah, me neither. J/K. I take them ALL (and then the subsequent ones that pop up as well). And there is always some question about what you like to do in your spare time. You know the one I'm talking about. Anyway, I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS put down reading. That's what I would rather be doing, at any hour of any day.
I have the good fortune to work some other bookworms. And they recommended some great books to me this past year, which included The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes, by Dianne Chamberlain, and Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen (thanks Kelly and Kiki!). Loved them and read more by those authors. But that's kind of the problem. I find an author and stick with them. And while there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, I feel like I'm missing out on a whole lot of other books out there. So this year, I found a reading challenge to do. It's put out by PopSugar and it's basically a list of 52 different types of books to read throughout the year. Here it is:
Obviously some of these categories are going to be a lot easier to check off than others. And it got me to thinking. So in order to keep track of all the books and categories, I designed a spread sheet and I check off whatever category that book happens to cover, whether it is one or ten. That way, as the year progresses, I will be able to see which categories I still need to tackle.
I have made some progress so far. I have read The Red Pyramid by Rick Riorden (a book with more than 500 pages/a book with a color in the title), Love Story by Erich Segal (a classic romance/a book that came out the year I was born), Panic by Lauren Oliver (a book with a one-word title), and I am currently reading Bossy Pants by Tina Fey (a funny book/a book by a female author). See how that all works out?
And there are some books on the back burner. Anything by Joseph Ellis, who not only has the same initials as me, but also taught at my Alma Mater - Mount Holyoke College! I'm finally going to tackle Fifty Shades of Gray since it's probably one of the few trilogies that I haven't yet read. And maybe I'll try one of my boys' graphic novels and we'll find something new to talk about.
For ideas, I always look to Goodreads. They have lists of books that can help you find something in one of those obscure categories.
So what are you going to read this year?
From my board "I cannot live without books."
