{"id":738,"date":"2017-01-12T20:58:23","date_gmt":"2017-01-12T20:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/?p=738"},"modified":"2017-01-12T21:16:11","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T21:16:11","slug":"2016-reading-challenge-final-round-up-and-2017-challenge-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/01\/12\/2016-reading-challenge-final-round-up-and-2017-challenge-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"2016 Reading Challenge final round-up and 2017 challenge launch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Towards the end of the year,\u00a0 I stopped checking the challenge list for things to read, so I wasn&#8217;t sure how many of these I would have managed. I&#8217;ve relaxed my rule on not including re-reads and I&#8217;m allowing books to appear in more than one category.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>a book published this year.<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch<br \/>\nPoison or Protect, by Gail Carriger<br \/>\nAngel of Storms, by Trudi Canavan (paperback published this year)<br \/>\nImprudence, by Gail Carriger<br \/>\nVirgins: An Outlander short story, by Diana Gabaldon<\/li>\n<li><strong>a book you can finish in a day.<\/strong><br \/>\nAccording to Yes by Dawn French<\/li>\n<li><strong>a book you\u2019ve been meaning to read.<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Hunger Games Trilogy<br \/>\nTo Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee<\/li>\n<li><strong>a book recommended by your local librarian or bookseller.<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Versions of Us by Laura Barnett. Recommended by\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whiterosebooks.com\/\">White Rose Books<\/a> in Thirsk.<\/li>\n<li><strong>a book you should have read in school.<\/strong><br \/>\nTo Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.<\/li>\n<li><strong>a book chosen for you by your spouse, partner, sibling, child, or BFF.<\/strong><br \/>\nRecommended by my son:<br \/>\nPercy Jackson and the Lightning Thief<br \/>\nPercy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters<br \/>\nPercy Jackson and the Titan\u2019s Curse<br \/>\nPercy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth<br \/>\nPercy Jackson and the Last Olympian<\/li>\n<li><strong>a book published before you were born.<\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ve had to go to the re-reads for this category.<br \/>\nThe Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers<\/li>\n<li><strong>a book that was banned at some point.<\/strong><br \/>\nThird entry for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee<\/li>\n<li><strong>a book you previously abandoned.<\/strong><br \/>\nI don&#8217;t think I ever managed this category. I did try Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell again, but stalled at about the same place as before.<\/li>\n<li><strong>a book you own but have never read.<\/strong><br \/>\nhaving wandered round the house looking at bookshelves, I&#8217;m not sure I finished any books in this category. I&#8217;ve picked up various work books that I have for reference and read the odd chapter.<\/li>\n<li><strong>a book that intimidates you. <\/strong><br \/>\nI really don&#8217;t think any book intimidates me, but these are the closest I can come to this category<br \/>\nGirl Up, by Laura Bates. More stridently feminist than I am comfortable with, but I found this a really interesting read. Given that I&#8217;m going to be the mother of teenagers before too long, this is a good thing to read and understand the world they are growing up in.<br \/>\nJerusalem: The Biography, by Simon Sebag Montefiore. I don&#8217;t always manage to get to the end of historical books, but I enjoyed this one.<\/li>\n<li><strong>a book you\u2019ve already read at least once.<\/strong><br \/>\nSee <a href=\"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/2016\/07\/06\/as-i-was-saying-before-i-was-so-rudely-interrupted\/\">here<\/a> for quite a long list. Towards the end of the year, I&#8217;ve also re-read<br \/>\nThe Island, by Victoria Hislop<br \/>\nThe Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexander Dumas<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>New books read that don&#8217;t quite fit any of these categories.<br \/>\nThe Pact, by Jodi Picoult<br \/>\nThe Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin<br \/>\nHappier at Home, by Gretchen Rubin<br \/>\nBetter than before, by Gretchen Rubin<br \/>\n<em>I really enjoyed these three books. Gretchen has spent a lot of time figuring out what makes her happier and trying different methods of improving her life and her habits. While we are quite different personality types, there was plenty of food for thought there. <\/em><br \/>\nFast Exercise, by Michael Mosley<br \/>\nVulcan 607, by Rowland White<br \/>\nPrudence,\u00a0 by Gail Carriger<br \/>\nThe Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins<br \/>\nThe Road to Little Dribbling, by Bill Bryson<\/p>\n<p>Over-all, the reading challenge did make me read some books I would never have picked up. The recommendation from your local bookshop category was particularly good. I&#8217;ve got into the habit of popping in there and picking up something every two to three months or so.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the 2017 reading challenges from the same person (<a href=\"http:\/\/modernmrsdarcy.com\/reading-challenge-2017\/\">Modern Mrs Darcy<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-740 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Reading-Challenge-04-345x1024.png\" width=\"345\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Reading-Challenge-04-345x1024.png 345w, https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Reading-Challenge-04-101x300.png 101w, https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Reading-Challenge-04.png 729w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 345px) 100vw, 345px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not particularly taken with either of them, so here is my own list, taking inspiration from both of them (and last year too).<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ll include re-reads unless the category particularly excludes them and also allow books to appear in multiple categories.<\/p>\n<p>First, looking at how I spend money on books:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A book borrowed from the library<\/li>\n<li>A book on Kindle Unlimited<\/li>\n<li>A book that has been waiting on your bedside table for a long time<\/li>\n<li>A book you own but have never read<\/li>\n<li>A book from a second-hand bookshop<\/li>\n<li>A book bought in 2017 from an independent bookshop<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Second, considering reading that will stretch my mind<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A book published before 1900<\/li>\n<li>A book from a Booker prize shortlist (any year)<\/li>\n<li>A book recommended by a friend or family member<\/li>\n<li>A historical book (can include biography\/autobiography)<\/li>\n<li>An academic theological book<\/li>\n<li>A book by an #ownvoices or #diversebooks author<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Third, including reading that will relax and restore me<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A Discworld book (re-read)<\/li>\n<li>A new book by a favourite author<\/li>\n<li>A book I have wanted to read for a while<\/li>\n<li>A book that inspires personal growth<\/li>\n<li>A spiritual classic<\/li>\n<li>Whatever I want to read<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Towards the end of the year,\u00a0 I stopped checking the challenge list for things to read, so I wasn&#8217;t sure how many of these I would have managed. I&#8217;ve relaxed my rule on not including re-reads and I&#8217;m allowing books to appear in more than one category. a book published this year. The Hanging Tree [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,41,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-reading-challenge","category-2017-reading-challenge","category-library"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":743,"href":"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738\/revisions\/743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trundlebug.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}