Tafadhali's 2015 75 Book Challenge

Nothing to report so far this year, but I wanted to get my thread started!

Welcome to the group! Here's hoping you have a great reading year in 2015!

Welcome back!

MASTERLIST

January
1. A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
2. The Realms of the Gods by Tamora Pierce
3. Alice and Freda Forever by Alexis Coe
4. Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
5. A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer
6. Above the Dreamless Dead by Chris Duffy

February
7. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
8. Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
9. I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie by Roger Ebert (re-read)
10. The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research by Stephen D. Krashen

March
11. I Am Not a Slut: Slut-Shaming in the Age of the Internet by Leora Tanenbaum
12. The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (re-read)
13. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
14. The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall
15. Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley

April
16. Emma by Jane Austen (re-read)
17. Clariel by Garth Nix
18. Lumberjanes, Vol. 1 by Noelle Stevenson

May
19. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol. 2 by Brian Michael Bendis
20. Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman
21. Sybil by Flora Rheta Schreiber (re-read)
22. Le dernier jour d'un condamne by Victor Hugo
23. Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan
24. Love is the Drug by Alaya Dawn Johnson
25. Without You, There Is No Us by Suki Kim

June
26. Les Miserables, tome 1 by Victor Hugo (re-read)
27. Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia
28. Counting by 7s by Holly Sloan
29. The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry
30. El Deafo by Cece Bell

July
31. The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett
32. The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman by Meg Wolitzer
33. Uprooted by Naomi Novik

August
34. Hawkeye vs. Deadpool by Gerry Duggan
35. Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell by Paul Dini
36. The Wicked + the Divine: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen
37. The Wicked + the Divine: Fandemonium by Kieron Gillen
38. East, West by Salman Rushdie
39. Labyrinth by Lois McMaster Bujold (re-read)
40. Tomboy by Liz Prince
41. The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett

September
42. Why Does He Do That? by Lundy Bancroft
43. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
44. George by Alex Gino
45. Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead
46. Fourth Grade Rats by Jerry Spinelli
47. Mississippi Bridge by Mildred D. Taylor
48. The Well by Mildred D. Taylor

October
49. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone by J.K. Rowling (re-read)
50. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold
51. We Don't Need Roads by Caseen Gaines
52. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

November
53. The First Bite is the Deepest by Elisa Catrina
54. The Martian by Andy Weir
55. The Alienist by Machado de Assis
56. Ms. Marvel, Vol. 4 by G. Willow Wilson
57. Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue Deconnick
58. Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man by Wendelin Van Draanen (re-read)

December
59. Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
60. First Test by Tamora Pierce
61. Entre les murs by Francois Begaudeau
62. Page by Tamora Pierce
63. Squire by Tamora Pierce
64. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
65. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
66. Vanished by Sheela Chari
67. Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut
68. Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce
69. Think on My Words by David Crystal
70. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
71. Assassins by Stephen Sondheim
72. Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks
73. Vampires and Violets by Andrea Weiss
74. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
75. The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

1. A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley (1/5/15)

The Flavia de Luce mysteries continue to be delightful, though slightly slight reads. Flavia is a fantastic character, and I love her brilliance and arrogance combined with an 11-year-old's awkwardness and desire to be liked.

*** 1/2 (out of *****)

2. The Realms of the Gods by Tamora Pierce (1/21/15)

I've been loving finally reading Tamora Pierce's books, and I've enjoyed the Immortals series even more than The Song of the Lioness, especially the last two books. This one wasn't quite as thrilling as Emperor Mage (which had dinosaurs) but it was still very enjoyable and expanded the mythology of the Tortall universe in interesting ways.

****

3. Alice and Freda Forever by Alexis Coe (1/24/15)

A brief but fascinating window into a unique corner of LGBT history, touching on race, class, and gender issues in late 19th century Memphis. The illustrations and excerpts from personal letters, newspaper articles, and court documents added a great deal to the story.

*** 1/2

4. Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit (1/26/15)

I've read the title essay by Rebecca Solnit many times (and invoked it in conversation many, many more), but it was nice to read more widely by her. She has a lucid, sometimes lyrical writing style, and even if most of what she had to say wasn't new to me, she articulated it beautifully -- especially on points about power dynamics and bodily autonomy.

****

5. A Civil Contract by Georgette Heyer (1/27/15)

A fun read, as always. I wish I felt more convinced of Adam's feelings for Jenny, but they were both likable characters and it was an interesting take on the marriage of convenience plot.

***

6. Above the Dreamless Dead, ed. Chris Duffy (1/28/15)

This is a brilliant collection of graphic novel interpretations of WWI poetry. There isn't a miss in the collection, and there is a good mix of very familiar poems (Dulce et Decorum Est) and more obscure ones. I won't lie...I cried several times.

*****

7. The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (2/13/15)

I love Sarah Waters, and I've been particularly interested in WWI/post-Great War-era stories recently, so I was glad to finally get the chance to read her latest. That said, this one didn't grab me as much as most of her previous ones have. The writing was excellent, with vivid descriptions and a healthy dose of romance and eroticism, but I found the plot less gripping than her more twisting and turning novels (Affinity, Fingersmith, The Little Stranger). A worthwhile read, but, for a story involving crime and passion, a little mundane.

***

8. Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (2/15/15)

Confession: I've never read any Christopher Paul Curtis before! Not even Bud, Not Buddy! So I decided it was time to finally rectify that, and I'm glad I did. This book was funny and charming, with an incredibly likable narrator. That said, it didn't shy away from sensitively portraying the real horrors of slavery and the toll that it takes on the human spirit, building up to a heartbreaking but uplifting conclusion.

I also loved the setting -- a 19th century freed slaves colony in Canada -- which was new to me and well-portrayed.

**** 1/2

@ 5:
All I can say is, I remember in the mid 70's when a saint of a buyer decided to begin stocking Heyer's novels in the limited space at my grocery store. I have read them all so many times--they are like old friends!
Sue

11. I Am Not a Slut by Leora Tanenbaum (3/15/15)

I read and learned a lot from Slut! when it first came out (covertly, in my middle school library, of course), and so I was excited to see Tanenbaum's follow up book about slut-bashing and -shaming in the internet age. While I'm not sure I agree with all of Tanenbaum's conclusions, I think this is a fine, empathetic book that will be a valuable resource to parents, educators, and teens.

****

13. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple (3/23/15)

I'll admit, I sometimes found the humor in this book a bit grating (so many self-absorbed white people, oh my god), but I was won over by its format (I'm a sucker for a story told in documents or letters) and by the ultimate warmth and hopefulness of the story.

*** 1/2

OKAY, I have been busier than ever before this year and am falling way short of my goal! I'm seeing if I can't make it through 11 more books by the end of the year -- that leaves me 10 to finish up my 1515 Categories Challenge plus one bonus!

Here is what I'm thinking to get me through the end of the year:

1. The Awakening by Kate Chopin ("Books Written Before WWII")
2. Vanished by Sheela Chari ("Books Set In and Around Boston")
3. The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl ("Books Set In and Around Boston")
4. Gross Indecency by Moises Kaufman ("Theatre")
5. West Side Story: Cultural Perspectives on an American Musical by Elizabeth A. Wells ("Theatre")
6. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson ("LGBT")
7. Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut ("Film") (CR)
8. Vampires and Violets by Andrea Weiss ("Film")
9. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness ("Books for Work")
10. Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks ("Other Non-Fiction") (CR)
11. Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce (Bonus!)

I may or may not make it (and there could definitely be some substitutions), but I'll give it a shot.

And I managed 75 right on the last day of the year, as well as completing my 1515 challenge with the same book. (Usually I go well over 75 and fall well under my categories challenge goal, but this year I just managed both.)

Congrats on 75!