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ARCHIVE 2021 > Martha's 80 Books in 2021 challenge

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message 1: by Martha (new)
Dec 01, 2020 10:32AM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments I'm hoping to read quality over quantity next year, but I've been reading over 80 books a year since retirement, so that's the number of books I'll start with.


message 2: by Lisa (new)
Dec 03, 2020 07:14AM

Lisa Grønsund | 6163 comments Good luck!


message 3: by Martha (last edited Jan 31, 2021 07:39PM) (new)
Dec 05, 2020 01:41PM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments January

Book Covers Read
A Knock at Midnight A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom by Brittany K. Barnett The Circle of Ceridwen (Circle of Ceridwen Saga, #1) by Octavia Randolph The Nakano Thrift Shop by Hiromi Kawakami Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley See No Stranger A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love by Valarie Kaur Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo Tokyo Ueno Station by Miri Yū The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

January Comments
I had a good month of reading. I completed 8 books which is more than I expected given the events during the first few weeks of January. Favorite books were A Knock at Midnight, Perestroika in Paris, and The Garden of Evening Mists.


message 4: by Martha (last edited Mar 01, 2021 03:33PM) (new)
Dec 05, 2020 01:42PM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments February

Book Covers Read
Magic Lessons (Practical Magic, #0.1) by Alice Hoffman The Midnight Library by Matt Haig Thick And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom Weather by Jenny Offill Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Logans, #4) by Mildred D. Taylor Infinite Country by Patricia Engel A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald

February Comments
I finished 8 books for February. I had planned to read at least 10 but again I'm reading for quality and not quantity this year so I'll ease up on my expectations. Favorite books were A Thousand Ships, Infinite Country and Magic Lessons. I have a goal to finish Middlemarch in March - a book I've been reading since the first of September 2020 - and I'm hoping for a 10-book month. Taking Middlemarch out of the equation will help me achieve that goal.


message 5: by Martha (last edited Apr 02, 2021 04:10PM) (new)
Dec 05, 2020 01:42PM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments March

Book Covers Read
The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson Middlemarch by George Eliot The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah Straight from the Horse's Mouth by Meryem Alaoui Long Bright River by Liz Moore Heavy An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon Caste The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson


March Comments I had hoped to read 12 books during this long month, but I managed to read 7. My biggest accomplishment was that I finished Middlemarch! It took me 6 months to read. I'm glad I finally read it and I will read it again, I hope. I didn't have any losers in this batch of read books. It was a good month.


message 6: by Blagica , Challenges (new)
Jan 03, 2021 12:13PM

Blagica | 12942 comments I hope you go beyond your 80 book resolution! Best of Luck!



message 7: by Martha (last edited Apr 27, 2021 11:08PM) (new)
Apr 02, 2021 04:12PM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments April

Book Covers of Read Books
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw Greenglass House by Kate Milford The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh Reading Women A Book Club Guide for Women's Fiction by Nanci Hill The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo Sitting Pretty The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig


April Comments


message 8: by Martha (last edited May 31, 2021 12:00AM) (new)
Apr 02, 2021 04:14PM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments May

Book Covers of Read Books
Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia Together Why Social Connection Holds the Key to Better Health, Higher Performance, and Greater Happiness by Vivek H. Murthy Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley Norwegian by Night (Sigrid Ødegård #1) by Derek B. Miller Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro World of Wonders In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil Beach Read by Emily Henry Painting Time by Maylis de Kerangal


May Comments


message 9: by Martha (last edited Jun 26, 2021 02:09AM) (new)
Apr 02, 2021 04:15PM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments June

Book Covers of Read Books
Robert E. Lee and Me A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause by Ty Seidule Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams Ophie's Ghosts by Justina Ireland People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffney Life on the Line Young Doctors Come of Age in a Pandemic by Emma Goldberg


June Comments


message 10: by Martha (new)
Apr 02, 2021 04:36PM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments I will need to pick up the pace if I want to get 80+ books read this year. I need to start choosing some books with a faster pace. Some projects I'd like to do are to read more books suitable for my almost 8-year-old grandson so we can read to him. COVID isolation has dampened his enthusiasm for reading and I'm hoping to make a reader of him yet.

The second project is that I'll be participating in a month-long readathon of books published between 1900-1950. I will be preparing a reading list during April.

I signed up for too many groups and have reached an understanding with myself that I am more relaxed and happy when I read something I want to read, not something I have to fit in a box. I'll be filling in my prompts from time to time, but the challenges aren't going to drive my reading choices this quarter.


message 11: by Martha (last edited Jul 31, 2021 11:33PM) (new)
Jul 03, 2021 02:35PM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments July

Book Covers of Read Books
A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark In Bibi's Kitchen The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries That Touch the Indian Ocean by Hawa Hassan The Whispering House by Elizabeth Brooks We Are Each Other's Harvest Celebrating African American Farmers, Land, and Legacy by Natalie Baszile This Is What America Looks Like My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman by Ilhan Omar Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls A Handbook for Unapologetic Living by Jes Baker Every Body Yoga Let Go of Fear. Get On the Mat. Love Your Body by Jessamyn Stanley For the Wolf (Wilderwood, #1) by Hannah F. Whitten The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris Revival Season by Monica West Dear Church A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the US by Lenny Duncan Ariadne by Jennifer Saint Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Love and Fury A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft by Samantha Silva

July Comments


message 12: by Martha (last edited Aug 31, 2021 08:14PM) (new)
Jul 30, 2021 01:40PM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments August

Book Covers of Read Books
While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams The Cubans Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times by Anthony DePalma How to Save a Life by Eva Carter Persuasion by Jane Austen Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy Seek You A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian The Boys in the Boat Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

August Comments


message 13: by Martha (last edited Sep 30, 2021 03:48PM) (new)
Aug 31, 2021 12:01AM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments September

Book Covers of Read Books
The Bear by Andrew Krivak The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak The Guide by Peter Heller Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce Across That Bridge A Vision for Change and the Future of America by John Lewis

Comments I've now read 80 books so my challenge is technically complete; however, I'll keep counting and likely will reach 100 books, but I'm going to give some doorstoppers a chance.


message 14: by Martha (last edited Oct 31, 2021 11:17AM) (new)
Sep 22, 2021 05:40PM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments October

Book Covers of Read Books

Bewilderment by Richard Powers The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili Pet by Akwaeke Emezi The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab Gothic Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell

Comments I read 7 books in October and found this to be a satisfying reading month. I read seasonally and this month I concentrated on books for Victober as well as some atmospheric books. I love long books and The Eighth Life was one of my favorites.

Now I'm preparing for November and I'll be participating in Nonfiction November . In addition, I'll be reading books related to Native American Heritage Month. Library book holds coming in my derail my plans, but I did a pretty good job of keeping these under control in October.


message 15: by Martha (last edited Nov 30, 2021 09:11PM) (new)
Oct 29, 2021 02:08AM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments November

Book Covers of Read Books:
Dune (Dune, #1) by Frank Herbert The Sentence by Louise Erdrich A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fables, #1) by Alix E. Harrow The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer Smoke Gets in Your Eyes And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty Hope in the Dark Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities by Rebecca Solnit

Comments


message 16: by Martha (last edited Dec 24, 2021 12:26PM) (new)
Oct 29, 2021 02:08AM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments December

Book Covers of Read Books
Between Two Kingdoms A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich The Particulars of Peter Dance Lessons, DNA Tests, and Other Excuses to Hang Out with My Perfect Dog by Kelly Conaboy Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, #1) by Leigh Bardugo Black Boy Joy by Kwame Mbalia I Am the Rage by Martina McGowan

Comments


message 17: by Martha (new)
Dec 31, 2021 01:13PM

Martha (marthag503) | 323 comments I'm done with the 2021 reading challenge. I believe I was done two weeks ago as I haven't been able to complete any books. I believe I'm trying to mentally make a distinction between 2021 and 2022 books so I don't confuse what I read.

I have 11 fiction favorites and 5 nonfiction favorites of the 102 books I read in 2021.

Fiction favorites:
1. Infinite Country
2. Long Bright River
3. The Dictionary of Lost Words
4. The Sweetness of Water
5. The Island of Missing Trees
6. The Eighth Life
7. The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
8. Klara and the Sun
9. Middlemarch
10. The Forty Rules of Love
11. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Nonfiction Favorites:
1. Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted
2. Hope in the Dark
3. Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness
4. A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom
5. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics


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Books mentioned in this topic

The Island of Missing Trees (other topics)
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (other topics)
The Dictionary of Lost Words (other topics)
Long Bright River (other topics)
The Sweetness of Water (other topics)
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