Fun 2015 Reading Challenge that I’m going to do. Just look at how cool this one is!

I’m doing my first challenge this year too. With Eleanor & Park I was able to check YA off. Yay!
So for a book over 500 I’ll throw Heart of the West by Penelope Williamson into the suggestions. I want to re read it so of course want everyone else to read it too, lol.
My fave classic romance is Jane Eyre, but think I might rec Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.
I try and stay away from too scary of books but for my challenge I’m using Birdbox by Josh Malerman. I might not read it otherwise. One I read that I found scary is The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston. True crime scares me most of all so am not ssure why I read it.
I’m tackling The Goldfinch too for an award winner category.

I like this challenge list! I may just try it myself. Oh YAY! You added Rosie Project back in, I just adored that book! (another super funny one was Fate Book)… and Goldfinch…. I want to read that too. I am afraid I will be bored and then it will prove I have no taste! LOL! That’s why I haven’t read it.

Bev & I already discussed Goldfinch lol, it’s looooong but you’ll learn all about restoring antiques, I’d love to hear how you guys like it though, Boris was quite a character. I’m going to read Middlesex this year, that won a Pulitzer, it’s by the guy who wrote the Virgin Suicides. i loved P&P and Wuthering heights, but probably Rebecca the best

Wow, this challenge overwhelms me. Lots to think about…

Hi Maryse! Firt off i LOVE your blog….it gives me so many new reads i just wanted to recommend JJ Mcavoy’s “Ruthless People” as a potential read for a book written by someone under 30.

I like how you have done your research and totally planned everything out ahead of time. You have given me inspiration.

Pulitzer Prize – God of Small Things. Still get goosebumps.

Oh will have to check out Rebecca (P & P/ Wuthering Heights alternative).

I’m getting lots of ideas!

Oh for goodness sake, antonym is the opposite of synonim. “Oppossite” get it? Easy to remember.

Daaaaannnnnnggggg! That list is epic. My hat is off to those that can complete this challenge.

Bev – hahaha – you know me so well….. do I make it THAT obvious that Adam Black is the ultimate make-no-apologies hot fae alpha dude? Even hotter than Ryder and Rain. Who didn’t shed a tear at the end of his book, huh? He melted me….

I’m in Texas, where it is supposed to be all sleety and cold and gross this weekend, so it’s going to be the PERFECT reading weekend!! Can’t wait. What I wouldn’t give for a 5 star read… you know, that After Hours surprise, or Golden Dynasty wowza!

I started reading Gone With The Wind in October. And I’ve barely made a dent. LOL
(But, to be fair, it’s in hard copy which means I’m not carrying it everywhere and reading a minute here and there all day like I do with all my Kindle books.)

I love this reading challenge…

I’m obsessed! Just printed the list and laminated it (hey it has to last the year right?) A couple that will be hard for me, classic romance…. Pulitzer prize winner…not sure…. 100 year old book…. Book from school….. A book the year I was born ugh….book turned TV show… A graphic novel (what is that?)…. Book originally written in different language.

I will be looking and depending on recommendations from you guys!!

OMG, how fun!! I’m in.

I didn’t know Taylor Jenkins Reid had another one coming out…YAY!! *skipping around*

Kay, TMNT?? Really? Bev, I’ll have to check Saga out too. So graphic novel is like a comic book?? I feel stupid!

Amy!!! Is that you?? Missed ya! Wait, did I miss a comment about Taylor Jenkins Reid book?

Tracy I have read it and loved it….. much better than the movie!

Oh yes TMNT. The original graphic novels are nothing like what TMNT is now. The original story is very dark and quite violent and brooding. That’s how I remember them, at least. My 25-year-old hard copies are packed away with all my cherished old books: original Vampire Diaries, Scarlett, A Wrinkle in Time… I need to dig them out and reread them!

C’mon Jean they’re heroes in a half shell.
. Never read the comics but man the toys, movie, etc so popular when I was a kid.

Tessa I know everyone says it but To Kill a Mockingbird is my very very favorite book.

Jean! *hugs* The book by TJR is Maybe in Another Life. Maryse linked it above and OMG does it sound good!!

Mindi and Jean, any particular genre for a popular author’s first book?

I’m loving all of these suggestions from you ladies!

Amy, preferably “our” kinda genre! Lol! I was hoping there was some hidden gem out there by one of our popular authors that I just didn’t know about!

Hmmm…okay, so are we looking for angsty, emotional, make-us-cry books? I need to do a little digging, but off the top of my head I can think of Pulled. It’s not crazy angsty, but there were a couple of parts that made me cry. I am pretty sure it was A.L. Jackson’s first book. Not sure if she’s considered a “popular” author, but I’ve liked her books. Which should be reason enough, right? *snort*

Great list… I love your blog Maryse….. Thanks for all the great recommendations…..

OK Amy I have to check out Pulled. Don’t think I’ve read anything by that author but I could potentially have downloaded some of her books! Haha! Oh I do have Come to Me Quietly and the Regret series, neither of which I’ve read. Let me look at Pulled.

Loved, loved, loved Sea of Tranquillity…. Well never forget it!

Thanks Amy & Tessa–Night Owl is going to my top spot for author’s 1st book!

Thanks for that link Tessa! I’m thinking Gabriel’s Inferno, Beautiful Bastard or Consequences. The only one I don’t have downloaded already is Gabriel’s Inferno. Which one would you guys pick?

Tracy, I hid Flowers in the Attic from my ultra-conservative mom. *giggle*

Beautiful Bastard was good. Very alpha romantic. Consequences… Mind messery for sure. I kept reading it, asking myself, why am I reading this? I swear, it was great, and horrible at the same time (definitely dark). I still cant believe people thought Anthony was bbf worthy, but it was one of those books that was good enough to stay with you. Gabriel’s Inferno… Blah. Lots of people liked it, but I thought the heroine was snooty and acted way too much like she was better than everyone else.

Amy Sea of Tranquility. I was being a lazy typist.

I love a good book list! A couple titles that have romance elements that would fit in different categories…

Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert Massie – It’s nonfiction, the story of Czar Nicholas and his wife Alexandra (though you probably already guessed that). Even knowing what was going to happen, it was really very engrossing. At its heart, it is a great, if tragic, love story.

Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie – It won the Pulitzer in 1985 and is a pretty short (about 300 pages), easy, witty read.

I already know which book I’ll be reading for “A book that scares me.” I’ve read it before. Back in high school I think and it horrified me. It’s the only book I still remember as truly terrifying me. It’s The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum.

I mean, how do you know the book scares you unless you’ve already read it?

A book you started but didn’t finish….. Does this mean I’m going to have to finish Forbidden?? No, I can’t do it! Lol.

Harry Potter, yes yay you. Great book great series that just gets better and better.
So, the book that makes you cry, is it suppose to be a re read or just take chances on books you think has the potential to make you cry?
So, the home town I’d think some of you would have to stretch that to State or another close town or city?

Oohh I read the strain a while back. It was wicked.

As for funny, anything by N.m. Silber rocks. She writes the Lawyers in Love series.

Again, High School… Fallen Crest High.

On a more serious note, I’ve been wanting to read Vampire Knight. It’s a graphic novel that sounds right up my alley, but just hearing graphic novel just makes me anxious. This is the perfect reason to read it.

I would suggest reading The Last of the Mochicans followed by Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati. There are six books in this series and it is set after the time of Last of the Mochicans. I loved the movie so much I was hungry for this series set in this time. It could fit into a couple categories on your list. I think I might try this challenge too. My book club read Before I Go to Sleep and it was good.

Color in title….have to say it, Written in Red.
Highschool ( feel like I need to duck from Tessa) Eleanor & Park.

Eleanor and Park?? That one was good! I felt so bad for Eleanor with her situation, but it was so sweet. I was a kid in the eighties, and all of those things like mix tapes and Walkmans and the clothes (oh lord *shaking head*) felt like a flashback.

I spent the good part of a working day today with my colleague deciding which books will fit each catagory. We’re so excited to be doing this and I’m starting with my first book tonight, a book that was published the year I was born. Lucky me that was Roald Dahl’s Boy. Thanks so much for sharing this challenge. I’m going to post it far and wide.

Maryse, I love your blog and I hold you personally responsible for increasing my reading pleasure for the last three years. This challenge is wicked. I’m in too. I’m only starting in February, but I discovered I’ve already ticked some of the boxes in January. You are right that it is fun planning what to read too. I had a day off today and worked on my list. I’m still struggling with some categories.
I’ve been very scared with Mud Vein in January, I gave it 5 stars, but since I read it before finding the challenge, I’m going to be brave and choose another one. Can please someone recommend a 5 star horror or dark-scary theme which you would say is a 4.5 or 5 star read, preferably with some romance in it? I would recomend Love Remains by Glen Duncan. It is not horror, just shocking to the bone. It left me psychologically numb and horrified. I think the end was controversial and not so great, but the subject matter was and it gave me one of the first book hangovers I’ve ever had. I was devastated and enraged about it. I could not stop thinking about it for weeks, and I came to it time and time again in my head for years to come, especially in the context of my work as a Psychotherapist. I even discussed with a friend things about one of the characters, like: “could you remain non-judgemental about what this guy did, if you were his therapist?” A difficult one. So please people, suggest a good book to be scared about (better psychologically than dismemberment, please)

Thank you guys, you are great and I took copious notes about recommendations already

Hi Teresa! I don’t read a lot of “scary” or suspenseful books (I prefer to get turned inside out with angst ), but there are some great ladies on here who could probably give you some good recommendations in that category. And, of course, Maryse always has an abundance of info available. Right now there is a lot of chatter on the bargain post from last Friday, so I would try posting this question over there.

Oh, and Love Remains sounds like it’s right up my alley but I don’t see it on Amazon.

Amy, I only have Love Remains on paperback. Not sure if it’s ever been on digital. I have a well thumbed copy I could definitely send it by post if you want.

Yeah, I prefer angst too. I’m addicted to it actually. In January. It seems that I won a jackpot already: Mud Vein, The Opportunist, Dirty Red and the thief!!!! I’m ticking a lot of boxes with those 4. And something never before experienced. Four books with a perfect 5-star score for me. And all by Tarryn Fisher. I’m in awe of her talent!

How sweet of you to offer that, Teresa! The Opportunist series, Mud Vein (I equally loved and hated that book…definitely a 5-star) and AL Jackson??? Oh, you are a kindred spirit!! I *love* both of those authors. I read Pulled and liked it so much that I tried her Regret series and When We Collide (it was actually when they had the old cover pictures), and they didn’t disappoint.

The only banned book I can think of that *I* have read is Her Master’s Courtesan by Lily White, but that was just banned from Amazon so I’m not sure if it counts. But it traumatized me. Seriously. And I like dark reads. I’m pretty sure Maryse read and reviewed it but can’t remember for sure.

Hang out some more and you’ll see that the lovely ladies here get excited like that about what we read…you’re in good company.

Gah! How could I forget my fav fav?!?! Put this somewhere, anywhere, on this list!

The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicle) By Patrick Rothfuss

How about #41?! Unless you’ve read this book, you haven’t read this author! Or technically it fits in #36 as well. Or boot Harry and put this at #39…its so much better!!!

Short Stories – I read True: 3 Short Stories by Barbara Cutrera. Having problems finding a Play as well as written in a different language.

Going to read Harry Potter for my banned book.

PS – Kim Jones is under 30 so read Red for that one though it could have gone under several others.

I am so on board with this.. Hopefully it will broaden my horizons, I feel like I’m in a book funk