2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Total Books Read (32/20) - Complete


2019 U.S. Presidential Biographies (3/5)

Total:U.S. Presidents Challenge (3/45) ( started in 2018)

I've been thinking about what goals I wanted to set for my 2019 reading challenge and went with a more conservative figure this year. For the last several years I've set a goal of 50 books, and I never make it. As much as I'd love to, it's just not in line with my reading pace and I end up stressing more about trying to finish books than just enjoy them. So my goal this year will be a more modest 20 books, knowing several will bet 700+ pages, and at least one that is 1000+.

In 2019, I have several lengthy reads lined up as I plan to make progress on the US Presidents challenge I've set for myself, which I am really looking forward too. This is a challenge that will carryover and take me several years to complete. I am hoping to read at least 5 presidential biographies in 2019.

20 is a great goal! As you said, quality is more important than quantity :) Good luck and happy reading!

Ilona wrote: "20 is a great goal! As you said, quality is more important than quantity :) Good luck and happy reading!"

Thanks!

1. - Fear:Trump in the White House- Bob Woodward

This was ok. I think maybe the large amount of dialogue, well, makes me take the book with a grain of salt. Time will definitely tell how accurate it ends up being, and reading this even just a few months after it was published, most of the players in the book have been fired or resigned. It's an interesting look into a chaotic White House administration, albeit on a brief period of time.

2. - Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup- John Carreyrou

Talk about a Scam with a capital S! The author is an investigative journalist, and this book looks at Elizabeth Holmes and her startup Theranos which was suppose to revolutionize blood testing. Holmes swindled major donors and companies into believing she had developed a groundbreaking device. It's astounding how she was able to scam her way as far as she did. It's a fast and interesting read.

3. - The Book Thief- Markus Zusak

4. -Hunger- Roxane Gay


I read this for my non-fiction book club.

5. - Alexander Hamilton- Ron Chernow

This was the first book by Chernow that I have read and I enjoyed his writing style. I was really looking forward to reading Hamilton (I am a bit sad I've finished!), and have 2 other Chernow books on my TBR list (Washington and Grant) that I'm excited to get to.

6. - Witness to the Revolution: Radicals, Resisters, Vets, Hippies, and the Year America Lost Its Mind and Found Its Soul- Clara Bingham

Looks like your challenge is going well! What did you think of The Book Thief? - It's one of my favourites :)

7. - What the Eyes Don't See- Mona Hanna-Attisha

Ilona wrote: "Looks like your challenge is going well! What did you think of The Book Thief? - It's one of my favourites :)"

I liked it a lot! It was very moving, and I thought it was told from an interesting perspective

8. - Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers- Mary Roach

9. FDR- Jean Edward Smith

10. The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty- Susan Page

11. Under Fire: An American Story- Oliver North

12. - Bush- Jean Edward Smith

13. Becoming- Michelle Obama

14. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession- Allison Hoover Bartlett

15. - The Hill To Die On: The Battle for Congress and the Future of Trump's America- Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer

Halfway through the year! I'm surprisingly ahead of where I need to be to reach my goal. I think every year to date I've been behind . One of my goals for the second half of the year is to not buy any new books and to read whats on my physical TBR shelf. I have wayyyy to many and need to work my way through them.

16. There There- Tommy Orange

17. - The Fifth Risk- Michael Lewis

18. - Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness: Modern History from the ESPN.com Sports Desk- Hunter S. Thompson

This was a fairly short/easy read, but easily will rank as one of my least favorite HST books I've read.

Casey wrote: "Halfway through the year! I'm surprisingly ahead of where I need to be to reach my goal. I think every year to date I've been behind . One of my goals for the second half of the year is to not buy ..."

Congrats on your progress!

19. Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919- Stephen Puleo

20. - Wishful Drinking- Carrie Fisher

This competes my initial challenge of 20 books! So now I'll just see how many I get through in the next few months.

21. -Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10,2001- Steve Coll

22. - Shockaholic- Carrie Fisher

23. - The Road to Character- David Brooks

24. Lady First: The World of First Lady Sarah Polk- Amy S. Greenberg

25. - The 18th Abduction- James Patterson

26. -Benjamin Franklin: An American Life- Walter Isaacson

27. - Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness- Susannah Cahalan

28. - Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan- Steve Coll

29. - Stevie Nicks: Visions, Dreams & Rumors- Zoe Howe

A bit late, but congrats on reaching your goal this year :)

30. - The Girl Who Lived Twice- David Lagercrantz

31. - Lincoln- David Herbert Donald

32. - Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education- Noliwe Rooks

This will be my last book of 2019! I surpassed by goal of 20 and finished with 32. Only read 3 of the 5 presidential bios I was hoping to get to but I'm really happy with what I read overall!