You might remember from a few years ago that my Eighteen-Book Challenge began as a Twenty-Book Challenge. I had to revise this in 2017 when it became apparent that reading twenty books was not in my future. This year, I set my goal at eighteen to begin with, and I felt much less like a failure.
I did set my goal at twenty for 2020. I mean, who can resist the idea of twenty books in 2020? I had better get strategic in my reading next year!
Becky's 2019 Eighteen-Book Challenge
JANUARY
Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Notes and Favorites: Reading this as an adult, I enjoy the political allegory in the Oz books. Nice work, L. Frank Baum . . .
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Notes and Favorites: This was such a good read. Eleanor is a quirky and endearing protagonist. I was sorry to say goodbye to her.
FEBRUARY
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Notes and Favorites: This story has a little bit of everything, sci-fi, apocalypse, comic books, human connection stories, a love for theater and music. If you enjoy TV shows like Lost or longed for The Walking Dead minus the zombie shit, this book is for you!
MARCH
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
Notes and Favorites: I think I may have liked this book better than Girl on a Train. The assortment of quirky characters made it read like classic Agatha Christie but with modern twists and turns until the very last page.
APRIL
The month in which I am a slacker . . .
MAY
Don Quixote (abridged) by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Notes and Favorites: I had recently attended a recital where I heard a set of art songs about Don Quixote, and I decided to listen to an abridged version of his adventures. #Spontaneous!
JUNE
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
Notes and Favorites: I especially liked the passages about Portland and the Columbia Gorge. I was a little less fond of how emasculated the male characters were by all of the women in the story.
Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris
Notes and Favorites: Sedaris' hilarious account of his colonoscopy actually made me enjoy bathroom humor for the first time in my life.
The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn
Notes and Favorites: Oh so much Hitchcock, and I loved it! It was the perfect read for my long plane rides to and from Europe this summer.
JULY
Calypso by David Sedaris
Notes and Favorites: I liked Sedaris' vulnerability in this book as he comes to terms with the deaths of family members and aging parents. He also writes about the way his relationship with his father evolved. Don't worry. It's not all sentimental. He is still the same irreverent author, just a little more grown up.
Educated by Tara Westover
Notes and Favorites: This book was offered at one of the local universities as a book study. What's better than getting to read a good book and receiving professional development credit for it? Plus, this book is partially about that isolated culture of survivalists that we Idahoans all wonder about from time to time . . . (every time I go east or north).
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
Notes and Favorites: I like to catch up on my children’s classics over the summer. I liked the first volume so much that I also decided to read the other three stories in the series.
AUGUST
The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
Notes and Favorites: Revisiting the friends in the Hundred Acre Wood was like cozying up with a blanket and a cup of coffee on a cold, rainy day. Beware of this one. It's the original Toy Story. I may have teared up at the end.
When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne
Notes and Favorites: Charming collection of poetry related to the world of Winnie the Pooh
SEPTEMBER
Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne
Notes and Favorites: Again, a charming collection of poetry, with a few fun references to Pooh and his friends
OCTOBER
The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
Notes and Favorites: All three of Donna Tartt’s novels have completely different premises. The writing in all three books is Dickensian, but the characters and plot lines are nothing alike. This book had a very Flannery O’Connor, Southern Gothic feel. The Secret History is still my favorite Tartt though.
NOVEMBER
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Notes and Favorites: I saw the musical this summer, loved it, and realized I hadn't ever read the book. I loved this one, especially the teacher student relationship between Miss Honey and Matilda.
DECEMBER
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
Notes and Favorites: I wanted a nice, quick Christmas read to end the season. I am a sucker for this one, the mother who believes in the "bad" kids and introduces them to "theater" (ha ha!), and everyone's lives are changed. Sounds like my type of book!
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
Notes and Favorites: This is not the type of book I would normally read, but I spent my elementary school years in Middletown, Ohio (where the book is set), and Ron Howard is making a movie of this book, some of it shot in my hometown.
I was a little reluctant to read it because Vance’s Middletown is not the one I remember, nor is it the one my husband and I experienced when we went back to visit.
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| A few pictures from my 2007 visit to Middletown: My hometown church, one of the houses I grew up in, the school I went to (under construction), and the tree I planted at the Arboretum. I was chosen to plant the tree because I had read the most Beverly Cleary books in my school. |
But his book is an interesting look at a specific culture, and Vance is a little more open minded and empathetic than I expected a conservative investor to be.
In his new afterword, he admits he didn’t vote for Trump, which earned an instant bump in respect from me. It was also fun to recognize some of the schools, places, and surrounding towns he mentions.
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