2015 Reading Challenge [Closed] discussion

I'll be conquering the list with my 27 year old daughter. I'm 45 (in case it matters when viewing this list.) I tried to chose titles I know I will enjoy discussing with my daughter. I'm a huge Neil Gaiman fan as you'll discover. I started reading out of order with week 6(Under 30 author)and am still reading that one (and LOVE it!) I will read week 1 over the course of a few weeks, threaded between other novels and may not start it immediately. I'll go back to find a romance at some point as well.

You will see several Harry Potter slots. I've never read them but have seen every movie many times over. My daughter insists I read them and I think I have fit each of the 7 into a category below but I will have my daughter choose which book in the series belongs where. She claims one made her cry. I can't imagine I'll feel the same but I'll keep an open mind. I do love the movies but I tried to read the first book years ago and never quite got into it.

Here is our list, almost filled with our choices and some with a couple options to choose from when the time comes...


1. a book with more than 500 pages
Harry Potter, Goblet of Fire (will read this after I read the first 4 books, see choices below)

2. a romance ???

3. a book that became a movie
Still Alice: Lisa Genova

4. a book published this year
The Girl on the Train: Paula Hawkins
Golden Son: Pierce Brown (Jan. 2015)

5. a book with a number in the title
Four: Veronica Roth

6. a book written by someone under 30
Red Rising: Pierce Brown

7. a book with nonhuman characters
The One and Only Ivan: Katherine Applegate

8. a funny book
Gils All Fright Diner: A Lee Martinez

9. a book by a female author
The Night Circus: Erin Morgenstern

10. a mystery or thriller
Dark Places: Gillian Flynn
Stephen King: Revival
A Picture of Dorian Gray: Wilde

11. a book with a one-word title
Neverwhere: Neil Gaiman
Lolita: Nobokov

12. a book of short stories
Meet Me in the Moon Room: Ray Vukcevich

13. a book set in a different country
I Am the Messenger: MarKus Zusak (Australia)

14. a nonfiction book
Food, a Love Story: Jim Gaffigan

15. a popular author's first book
Doctor Zhivago: Boris Pasternak (or for love triangle)
In the Woods: Tana French (or for thriller)
Good Omens: Gaimen and Pratchet

16. a book from your favorite author that you haven't read yet
Anansi Boys: Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book: Gaiman
Neverwhere: Neil Gaiman
Trigger Warning: Gaiman

17. a book a friend recommended
Harry Potter, Sorcerer's Stone

18. a Pulitzer-prize winning book
The Road: Cormac McCarthy
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: Junot Diaz
The Goldfinch: Donna Tartt
Empire Falls: Richard Russo

19. a book based on a true story
In Cold Blood: Truman Capote
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail: Cheryl Strayed

20. a book at the bottom of your to read list
Harry Potter, Chamber of Secrets

21. a book your mom/daughter loves
For Heather to read: The Ocean at the End of the Lane: Gaiman
or Rump: The true Story of Rumplestiltskin: Liesl Shurtliff
For me to read: Harry Potter, Prisoner of Azkaban

22. a book that scares you

23. a book more than 100 years old
Moby Dick: Melville
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Doyle
The Picture of Dorian Gray: Wilde

24. a book based entirely on its cover
The Alchemy of Stone: Ekaterina Sedia

25. a book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
The Lottery: Shirley Jackson
White Oleander: Janet Fitch

26. a memoir
Bossypants: Tina Fey

27. a book you can finish in a day
Anthem: Ayn Rand

28. a book with antonyms in the title
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom: Cory Doctoro

29. a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
Memoirs of a Geisha: Arthur Golden (Japan)
or First Light: Carol O'Biso

30. a book that came out the year you were born
For me: The Edible Woman: Margaret Atwood (1969)
For Heather: Bloodthirst, a Star Trek novel: JM Dillard (1987)
Or The Bonfire of the Vanities: Wolfe (1987)

31. a book with bad reviews
Palo Alto: James Franco
The Flame Alphabet: Ben Marcus
Tell-All: Chuck Palahniuk

32. a trilogy (the first)
33. a trilogy (the second)
34. a trilogy (the third)
The Orphan Trilogy: James Morcan (Books 1, 2, 3)

35. a book from your childhood
The Phantom Tollbooth: Norton Juster
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass: Lewis Carroll

36. a book with a love triangle
Oryx and Crake: Margaret Atwood

37. a book set in the future
The Color of Magic: Terry Pratchett (Discworld #1)

38. a book set in high school
Harry Potter, Order of the Phoenix

39. a book with a color in the title
The Grays: Whitley Strieber

40. a book that made/makes you cry
Harry Potter, Half Blood Prince

41. a book with magic
Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows

42. a graphic novel
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: The Graphic Novel: Ransom Riggs

43. a book by an author you've never read before
Kafka on the Shore: Haruki Murakami

44. a book you own but have never read
Delirium: Lauren Oliver

45. a book that takes place in your hometown
Jernigan: David Gates
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: Junot Diaz
Nemesis: Philip Roth

46. a book that was originally written in another language
Pinocchio: Carlo Collodi (from Italian)

47. a book set during Christmas (or similar holiday)
The Stupidest Angel: Christopher Moore

48. a book written by an author with your same initials
For me: Lincoln’s Bodyguard: TJ Turner
For Heather: HP Lovecraft Collection of Stories

49. a play
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf: Edward Albee
Dinner with Friends: Donald Margulies

50. a banned book
The Metamorphosis: Kafka

51. a book based on OR turned into a TV show
The Leftovers: Tom Perrotta

52. a book you started but never finished
Around the World in 80 Days: Jules Verne

yes, let me know when you start Ivan, the One and Only. I agree with your daughter, please read the Harry Potter series. So good. I have several Neil Gaiman titles so I might try to sneak in The Graveyard Book as a bonus. Good list.

"The Lottery"'s really good, and quite disturbing. I'm not sure about the other stories in the collection, though.
I third the motion that you should read the Harry Potter books!
Also, it's really sweet you're doing this with your daughter. I hope to do something like this in the future when I have a child. :)
Good luck to you both on your list!

Thanks Katie and Ana! I'm excited to do this! I haven't been this pumped about reading in ages. I read to relax and be educated and for an outlet. But this challenge makes me feel passionate about reading which I can't say I ever really was until now.

Katie I will let you know when I begin Ivan.

I'd like to friend you girls if that's okay.

Thanks, TJ!