2017 Reading Challenges

GOODREADS 2017 READING CHALLENGE

COMPLETE! My goal is to read 260 books in 2017.

Agatha Christie Read Alongs

I’ll be doing some Agatha Christie Read Alongs with some of my #bookstagram pals.

• The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie Completed 1/10/17
• Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie Completed 2/16/17
• At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie Completed 3/26/17
• They Do It with Mirrors by Agatha Christie Completed 9/2/17
• Endless Night by Agatha Christie Completed 10/14/17
• Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie Completed 11/24/17
• 4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie Completed 12/13/17

#shakeit2017

I’ll be doing some Shakespeare Read Alongs with some of my #bookstagram pals.

• The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare Completed 4/24/17
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare Completed 5/29/17
• Othello by William Shakespeare Completed 6/28/17
• Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare Completed 7/22/17
• The Tempest by William Shakespeare Completed 8/18/17
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare Completed 9/8/17
• King Lear by William Shakespeare Completed 11/17/17
• Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare Completed 12/29/17

CLASSICS CHALLENGE

My challenge to myself is to read (or re-read) classics that I currently own. For this personal challenge I am including books that are at least as old as I am. 😉 I’m giving myself 3-1/2 years, from 7/1/14 to 12/31/17. For 2017 I want to read at least 12 titles.

1. The Mysterious Shrinking House  by Jane Louise Curry Completed 1/10/17
2. The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie Completed 1/10/17
3. Beauty by Robin McKinley Completed 3/12/17
4. At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie Completed 3/26/17
5. The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare Completed 4/24/17
6. The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne Completed 5/1/17
7. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster Completed 5/24/17
8. A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare Completed 5/29/17
9. Othello by William Shakespeare Completed 6/28/17
10. Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery Completed 7/7/17
11. Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery Completed 7/17/17
12. Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare Completed 7/22/17
13. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff Completed 7/24/17
14. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen Completed 8/12/17
15. The Tempest by William Shakespeare Completed 8/18/17
16. Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery Completed 9/4/17
17. Hamlet by William Shakespeare Completed 9/8/17
18. Further Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery Completed 9/10/17
19. The Tuesday Club Murders by Agatha Christie Completed 9/18/17
20. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Completed 9/24/17
21. Endless Night by Agatha Christie Completed 10/14/17
22. Dracula by Bram Stoker Completed 10/24/17
23. They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie Completed 11/1/17
24. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Completed 11/4/17
25. The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene Completed 11/4/17
26. Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie Completed 11/6/17
27. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Completed 11/14/17
28. Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie Completed 11/15/17
29. King Lear by William Shakespeare Completed 11/17/17
30. Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie Completed 11/24/17
31. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith Completed 11/30/17
32. The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells That Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year in by Charles Dickens Completed 12/2/17
33. The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens Completed 12/5/17
34. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne Completed 12/11/17
35. Paddington Helps Out by Michael Bond Completed 12/18/17
36. Paddington Abroad by Michael Bond Completed 12/20/17
37. Paddington At Large by Michael Bond Completed 12/22/17
38. Paddington Marches On by Michael Bond Completed 12/23/17
39. Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare Completed 12/29/17

BACKLIST READER CHALLENGE 2017

COMPLETE! Hosted by Lark @ The Bookwyrm’s Hoard this challenge encourages me to read the older titles I’ve been meaning to get to.

• The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
• After Alice by Gregory Maguire
• The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
• At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie
• Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
• The Circle by Dave Eggers
• Death Comes to London by Catherine Lloyd
• Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay & Diaries: Bringing Jane Austen’s Novel to Film by Emma Thompson
• Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes
• Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn

2017 Popsugar Reading Challenge

COMPLETE!

• A book recommended by a librarian – Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick
• A book that’s been on your TBR list for way too long – The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
• A book of letters – 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
• An audiobook – After Alice by Gregory Maguire
• A book by a person of color – Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
• A book with one of the four seasons in the title – Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell, Black Spring by Alison Croggon, Coronation Summer by Angela Thirkell, Almost Autumn by Marianne Kaurin
• A book that is a story within a story –  Peacebound Trains by Haemi Balgassi, illustrated by Chris K Soentpiet
• A book with multiple authors – Other People’s Baggage by Diane Vallere, Kendel Lynn, and  Gigi Pandian
  
• An espionage thriller – In Farleigh Field: A Novel of World War II by Rhys Bowen
• A book with a cat on the cover – Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery
• A book by an author who uses a pseudonym – The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries by Emily Brightwell
• A bestseller from a genre you don’t normally read – Jaws by Peter Benchley
• A book by or about a person who has a disability – Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay
• A book involving travel – Frogkisser! by Garth Nix
• A book with a subtitle – Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
  
• A book that’s published in 2017 – Banana Cream Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke
• A book involving a mythical creature – Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
• A book you’ve read before that never fails to make you smile – Starflight by Melissa Landers
• A book about food – Sprinkle with Murder by Jenn McKinlay
• A book with career advice – The Happy Kid Handbook: How to Raise Joyful Children in a Stressful World by Katie Hurley
• A book from a nonhuman perspective – Nine Lives to Murder by Marian Babson
• A steampunk novel – Ash and Quill by Rachel Caine
• A book with a red spine – Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
• A book set in the wilderness – Hunted by Meagan Spooner
• A book you loved as a child – The Mysterious Shrinking House by Jane Louise Curry
• A book by an author from a country you’ve never visited – Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
• A book with a title that’s a character’s name – Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
• A novel set during wartime – A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen
• A book with an unreliable narrator – The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie
• A book with pictures – Big Mushy Happy Lump by Sarah Andersen
• A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you – Artifact by Gigi Pandian
• A book about an interesting woman – Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham
• A book set in two different time periods – Sapphire Blue by Kerstin Gier
• A book with a month or day of the week in the title – The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
• A book set in a hotel – At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie
• A book written by someone you admire – A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like by Ashley Graham
• A book that’s becoming a movie in 2017 – The Circle by Dave Eggers
• A book set around a holiday other than Christmas – Buttercream Bump Off by Jenn McKinlay
• The first book in a series you haven’t read before – Murder with a Twist by Tracy Kiely
• A book you bought on a trip – The Fearsome Foursome by Amicus Arcane
• A book recommended by an author you love – Klickitat by Peter Rock
• A bestseller from 2016 – Heartless by Marissa Meyer
• A book with a family member term in the title – The Dead Fathers Club by Matt Haig
• A book that takes place over a character’s lifespan – Five by Fitzgerald: Classic Stories of the Jazz Age by F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
• A book about an immigrant or refugee – In the Year of The Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord
• A book from a genre/subgenre that you’ve never heard of – The Singing Bone by R. Austin Freeman
• A book with an eccentric character – Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
• A book that’s more than 800 pages – The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
• A book you got from a used booksale – Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes
• A book that’s been mentioned in another book – The Curse of the Pharaohs  by Elizabeth Peters (Amelia Peabody series mentioned in Murder at Longbourn by Tracy Kiely)
• A book about a difficult topic – Afterward by Jennifer Mathieu
• A book based on mythology – Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

CRUISIN’ THRU THE COZIES READING CHALLENGE 2017

COMPLETE! This challenge is hosted by Yvonne at Socrates’ Book Reviews. I entered at at Level 1 – Snoop, which includes one cozy from each of these 10 categories:

Culinary (anything dealing with food: restaurants, baked goods, etc.) – Sprinkle with Murder by Jenn McKinlay
Animal related (cats, dogs, birds, etc.) – Nine Lives to Murder by Marian Babson
Craft related (any kind of hobbies – knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking, etc.) – Last Wool and Testament by Molly MacRae
Paranormal (witches, vampires, etc.) – The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman
British cozy mysteries (example: Belinda Lawrence series) – The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries by Emily Brightwell
Career-based cozy mystery (housekeeping, wedding planner, etc.) – Pillow Stalk by Diane Vallere
Holiday based (set during any holiday – Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentines, etc.) – Murder with a Twist by Tracy Kiely
Travel mystery (character could be on a cruise, touring another area, etc.) – The Curse of the Pharaohs  by Elizabeth Peters
Historical mystery (any mystery not set in the present) – Death Comes to London by Catherine Lloyd
Your choice! (freebie!) – Banana Cream Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke

ALPHABET CHALLENGE 2017

Almost Autumn by Marianne Kaurin
Black Spring by Alison Croggon
The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters
Death by the Dozen by Jenn McKinlay
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Frogkisser! by Garth Nix
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Jaws by Peter Benchley
Killer Cocktail by Tracy Kiely
Last Wool and Testament by Molly MacRae
Murder with a Twist by Tracy Kiely
A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Octopussy and the Living Daylights by Ian Fleming
Pillow Stalk by Diane Vallere
Q‘s Legacy by Helene Hanff
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Sprinkle with Murder by Jenn McKinlay
Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham
Untimely Death by Elizabeth J. Duncan
Very Good, Jeeves! by P.G. Wodehouse
Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
Ajax Penumbra 1969 by Robin Sloan
Yarn to Go by Betty Hechtman
Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts