Reading Challenges 2012-2017
I started doing a yearly reading challenge in 2012 with 100 books and have varied the number since then. I don't always make it (mostly because I read so many articles for school that it's hard to read whole books too). Below, you will find the results of all my reading challenges to date.
2017
2016
This year, I wanted to read 20 books and I made it!
Read in 2016:
1. Caballero by Jovita Gonzales (included in PhD Reading list)
2. Accidental Saints by Nadia Bolz Webber
3. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
5. Who Would Have Thought It? by Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton
6. Mother, Can You NOT? by Kate Siegel
7. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
8. Storm Front by Jim Butcher
9. Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
10. Breaking Point by Kristen Simmons
11. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher
12. Three by Kristen Simmons
13. Boderlands: La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua
14. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
15. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
16. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
17. Now in November by Josephine Johnson
18. Madd Adam by Margaret Atwood
19. Ruth Hall by Fanny Fern
20. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
21. To a God Unknown by John Steinbeck
2015
This year, I am trying to read 50 books (less than before because of my PhD program). I also want to complete the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge (see below).
Books of 2015:
1. The Giver by Lois Lowry
2. It Starts with Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig
3. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
4. Storytelling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall
5. A Commonplace Book Primer by Richard Katzev
6. Simplify by Joshua Becker
7. God's Hotel by Victoria Sweet
8. Under the Empyrean Sky by Chuck Wendig
9. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JKR
10. They Say, I Say
11. Stylish Academic Writing by Helen Sword
12. Coming Clean by Kimberly Ray Miller
13. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
14. Sandstorm by James Rollins
15. Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
16. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
17. It was Me All Along by Andie Mitchell
18. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson (Read in bookclub)
19. Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas
20. One Lonely Night by Mickey Spillane
21. Hyperion by Dan Simmons (Read in bookclub)
22. Rethinking Cold War Culture by Peter Kuznick (read in Cold War Literature)
23. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (A gift from a student)
24. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
25. Hispanic Women: Prophetic Voice in the Church by Yolanda Turango
26. Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (read in Cold War Literature)
27. Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban (read in Cold War Literature)
28. Borderlands: La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua
Categories for the Modern Mrs. Darcy 2015 Reading Challenge:
A book you’ve been meaning to read Borderlands
A book published this yearIt Was Me All Along
A book in a genre you don’t typically read Rethinking Cold War Culture
A book from your childhoodHarry Potter
A book your mom loves
A book that was originally written in a different language
A book “everyone” has read but you
A book you chose because of the cover Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
A book by a favorite authorSandstorm
A book recommended to you by someone with great taste Red Mars
A book you should have read in high school The Giver by Lois Lowry
A book that’s currently on the bestseller listWild by Cheryl Strayed
2014
My goal for 2014 (75 books) was not met, but I got close. I consider my PhD work to be more important and that's why I didn't quite make it. As it is, I read some great books this year!
1. The Light in the Cellar by Sarah Masters Buckey
2. Brave Emily by Valerie Tripp
3. That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
4. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
5. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
6. Saige by Jessie Haas
7. Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde
8. The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo
9. The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
10. Three by Kristen Simmons
11. A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
12. The Judas Strain by James Rollins
13. The Lost Princess by George MacDonald
14. Girl at the End of the World by Elizabeth Esther
15. The Doomsday Key by James Rollins
16. Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
17. When We Were On Fire by Addie Zierman
18. The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis
19. Molly's Surprise by Valerie Tripp
20. Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry
21. The Last Oracle by James Rollins
22. Water Wishes by Mallory Loehr
23. Earth Magic by Mallory Loehr
24. Wind Spell by Mallory Loehr
25. Fire Dream by Mallory Loehr
26. The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
27. The Feast of the Drowned by Stephen Cole
28. Backwater by Joan Bauer
29. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
30. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
31. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
32. Sensible Shoes by Sharon Garlough Brown
33. The Devil Colony by James Rollins
34. The House of Hades by Rick Riordan
35. The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
36. Witch Child by Celia Reese
37. Sorceress by Celia Reese
38. I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
39. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
40. The Lion in the Lei Shop by Kaye Starbird
41. The Recipe Club by Andrea Israel and Nancy Garfield
42. A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont
43. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
44. English Composition as a Happening by Geoffrey Sirc
45. Portuguese Irregular Verbs by Alexander McCall Smith
46. Environmental Ethics by Holmes Rolston
47. The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs by Alexander McCall Smith
48. Writing at the End of the World by Richard E. Miller
49. Respect for Nature by Paul Taylor
50. At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances by Alexander McCall Smith
51. Bloodline by James Rollins
52. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
53. Flirting with Monasticism by Karen Sloan
54. The Agrarian Vision by Pal Thompson
55. In the Hand of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce
56. The Woman who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce
57. Lionness Rampant by Tamora Pierce
2013
You might note that there was no challenge in 2013. I was taking my comprehensive exams for my Master's degree and did not want too much stress put on the idea of reading a certain amount.
To see the list of my books from 2013, visit my goodreads page.
2012
In 2012, I did my first book challenge, planning to read 100 books. I made the deal that if I read The Silmarillion (a lifelong dream), it would count for 20 books. Hence, there are only the 81 listed.
1. The Invisible Man by HG Wells
2. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
3. Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis
4. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
5. Joshua by Joseph Girzone
6. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
7. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
8. Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis
9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
10. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
11. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
12. The Way of Ignorance by Wendell Berry
13. Living Your Strengths by Albert Winseman
14. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
15. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
16. Farming: A Handbook by Wendell Berry
17. Welcome to the Arc by Stephanie Tolan
18. The Flight of the Raven by Stephanie Tolan
19. Dairy Free and Gluten Free Kitchen by Denise Jardine
20. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
21. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
22. The Suicide Club by Robert Louis Stevenson
23. One by Dan Zadra
24. The Shadow Thieves by Ann Ursu
25. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
26. Five by Dan Zadra
27. Gluten-Free Desserts by Leslie Hammond and Betsy Laakso
28. The Rule of Won by Stefan Petrucha
29. The Patron Saint of Butterflies by Cecelia Galante
30. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery
31. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
32. In Wisdom's Path by Jan Richardson
33. On Job by Gustavo Gutierrez
34. Once Upon a More Enlightened Time by James Finn Garner
35. Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
36. Praying the Psalms by Thomas Merton
37. Emma by Jane Austen
38. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
39. The Singer by Calvin Miller
40. The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald
41. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
42. The Fall by Garth Nix
43. The Siren Song by Anne Ursu
44. The Five Fakirs of Faizabad by P.B. Kerr
45. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
46. The Epic Tale of Bartkowiak
47. The Light Princess by George MacDonald
48. Castle by Garth Nix
49. Aenir by Garth Nix
50. Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
51. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
52. The Grave Robbers of Genghis Khan by P.B. Kerr
53. Above the Veil by Garth Nix
54. Into Battle by Garth Nix
55. The Violet Keystone by Garth Nix
56. Tattoos on the Heart by Fr. Greg Boyle
57. Here by Wislawa Szymborska
58. Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball
59. A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz
60. Five Practices of Fruitful Living by Richard Schnase
61. Five Practices of Fruitful Living: A Leader Guide by Richard Schnase
62. Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo
63. Immortal Fire by Anne Ursu
64. Perelandra by C. S. Lewis
65. Charlie Bone and the Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo
66. Leavings by Wendell Berry
67. Politically Correct Holiday Stories by Finn Garner
68. Small Plates and Sweet Treats by Aran Goyoaga
69. Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy by Jenny Nimmo
70. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
71. Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo
72. Crystal Line by Anne McCaffrey
73. Charlie Bone and the Hidden King by Jenny Nimmo
74. Charlie Bone and the Beast by Jenny Nimmo
75. Charlie Bone and the Shadow by Jenny Nimmo
76. The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis
77. The Hobbit by J.R.R.T.
78. My Sisters, The Sanints by Colleen Carroll Campbell
79. Charlie Bone and the Red Knight by Jenny Nimmo
80. That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
81. The Silmarillion by JRRT