2015 Reading Challenge Review

Posted January 19, 2016 by Holly in Discussions | 2 Comments

Rowena and I both signed up to do the 26 Books in 2015 reading challenge. Sadly, I didn’t get all 26 books marked off my list. I cheated a little to get some of these.

The two I didn’t get to? A Book You Learned About Because of This Challenge and A Book Based on a True Story. I have several books marked TBR from this challenge, but I didn’t get to them. Same with a book based on a true story. Let’s hope 2016 is a better reading year for me.

1) ~~A Book you own but haven’t read~~ | Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini Singh – I had this book in my TBR pile for years. I’m so glad I caught up on the series in 2015.
2) ~~A Book that was made into a movie~~ | Beastly by Alex Flinn – I still haven’t seen the movie, but, hey, I read the book!
3) ~~A Book you picked solely because of the cover~~ | The Friend Zone by Kristen Callihan – Yum.
4) ~~A Book your friend loves~~ | Honor’s Splendour by Julie Garwood – Rowena loves this book. I’ve read it before, but it’s worth listing here since I know she adores it.
5) ~~A Book published this year~~ | Midnight’s Kiss by Thea Harrison – Is it cheating if it’s a series I’m already invested in? Eh…I’m counting it.
6) ~~A Book by an author you’ve never read before~~ | Black Wolf’s Revenge by Tera Shanley – I didn’t love the book, but I may try the author again.
7) ~~A Book by an author you love~~ | Archangel’s Enigma by Nalini Singh – Seriously, does the woman write anything that isn’t amazing?
8) ~~A Book at the bottom of your “to be read” pile~~ | Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews – I bought this book ages ago but didn’t read it. I’m glad I finally dug into the series.
9) ~~A Book with a color in the title~~ | White Out by Linda Howard – An old Howard favorite.
10) ~~A Book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit~~ | Heart Legacy by Robin D. Owens – The Planet of Celta is one of my favorite fictional places. I would love to visit it.
11) ~~A Book you started but never finished~~ | Undressed by Shannon Richard – I started this one several times and just couldn’t get into it. I’m glad I stuck with it, though, since it turned out to be a cute read.
12) ~~A Book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe~~ | Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews – Curran, Kate’s leading man, is a Lion.
13) ~~A Book with a female heroine~~ | Magic Rises by Ilona Andrews – The books are all about Kate and her personal journey. This is one of my favorites of the series.
14) ~~A Book set in the summer~~ | Suddenly One Summer by Julie James – And it has Summer in the title. Bonus!
15) ~~A Book of poems~~ | The Complete Works of Emily Dickinson – I loved revisiting some of my favorite poems. Full disclosure: I didn’t read the entire book. Only my favorites.
16) A Book you learned about because of this challenge
17) ~~A Book that will make you smarter~~ | Saving Grace by Julie Garwood – I know this seems like a strange choice for this category, but Johanna’s personal journey, and her struggle with her place as a woman in the church, really spoke to me.
18) ~~A Book with a blue cover~~ | Soaring by Kristen Ashley
19) ~~A Book you were supposed to read in school, but didn’t~~ | The Awakening by Kate Chopin – I don’t know how I missed reading this in school. It was wonderful.
20) ~~A Book “EVERYONE” but you has read~~ | Branded by Fire by Nalini Singh – I’m not sure that this specific book is one everyone but me has read, but I finally read the entire series this year, and I feel like I’m the last one, so I’m counting it.
21) ~~A Book with a great first line~~ | Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – This was hard for me, because I don’t really pay attention to first lines, until I remembered I re-read P&P over the summer. Love.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

22) ~~A Book with pictures~~ | Go The F*ck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach – This is a hilarious book given to me by a friend just after my youngest was born. Every parent knows the struggle. For real.
23) ~~A Book from the library~~ | The Foot Book by Dr. Suess – My daughter and I visit the library once a week and we always get several books, but most of them are children’s books for her. I love this book, so I decided to list it rather than one of the adult books I picked up for myself.
24) ~~A Book you loved….read it again~~ | Fall Into Me by Linda Winfree – I adore this book. I read it at least once a year. I recently learned Winfree is writing again and plans to release a book this year. So.Effing.Excited.
25) ~~A Book that is more than 10 years old~~ Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase – This might be cheating a bit since it’s a re-read, but it was published 20 years ago (1995!) so it counts.
26) A Book based on a true story