“We read to know we're not alone.”
My one resolution this year is to read more books (instead of just fic). I was given a load of books for Christmas, and I've bought myself a bunch so I have no excuse not to. Other than the shit-load of work I have to do for uni...
I'm going to try keeping my Goodreads account more up to date, but as extra encouragement I'm going to do a reading bingo and keep track of it and what I read on here. I'm starting with the YA one below, since that's mostly what I read, but I'll see how I get on and may try other ones later on. ETA: Decided to include the non-YA one as well, since not ALL the books I read are YA.
I'm going to pick just one square that the book fits into, even when there could be more (the first one fits five!).
Books Read 2015
1. Something Like Summer by Jay Bell - rating: 2/5 - square filled: a book with a break up (YA)
2. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell - rating: 4.5/5 - square filled: the first book by a favourite author
3. The View on the Way Down by Rebecca Wait - rating: 4.5/5 - square filled: a book that made you cry (YA)
4. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book set in the summer (YA)
5. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - rating: 4/5 - square filled: the first book in a series (YA)
6. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz - rating: 4.5/5 - square filled: a book set in the past (YA)
7. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - rating: 4/5 - square filled: a book with magic (YA)
8. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli - rating: 4.5/5 - square filled: a book set in high school (YA)
9. Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Magige Stiefvater - rating: 4/5 - square filled: a book with a colour in the title (YA)
10. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson - rating: 3.5/5 - square filled: a book with music (YA)
11. Proxy by Alex London¹ - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book set in the future (YA)
12. The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book by a female author
13. This is Not a Love Story by Keren David - rating: 2.5/5 - square filled: a book you heard about online (YA)
14. The Magicians by Lev Grossman - rating: 1.5/5 - square filled: a book with a blue cover
15. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E Lockhart - rating: 3.5/5 - square filled: a "classic" YA book³ (YA)
16. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan - rating: 3.5/5 - square filled: a book without a love triangle (YA)
17. Cop Town by Karin Slaughter - rating: 4/5 - square filled: a book with a mystery
18. Landline by Rainbow Rowell² - rating:3.5/5 - square filled: a book with a one-word title
19. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book set in Paris (YA)
20. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book with a female heroine (YA)
21. Isla and the Happy Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - rating: 2.5/5 - square filled: the last book of a trilogy (YA)
22. Never Saw it Coming by Linwood Barclay - rating: 2/5 - square filled: a book set on a different continent
23. More Than This by Patrick Ness - rating: 4/5 - square filled: a book set in another world4 (YA)
24. The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen - rating: 3/5 - RE-READ
25. The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen - rating: 3/5 - RE-READ
26. The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen - rating: 3.5/5 - RE-READ
27. The Shameless Hour by Sarina Bowen - rating 3/5 - square filled: Free Square (YA)
28. Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe (YA)
29. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson - rating 4.5/5 - square filled: a book with an epic love story (YA)
30. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter - rating: 4/5 - square filled: a book published this year
31. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han - rating: 2.5/5
32. Lies We Told Ourselves by Robin Talley - rating: 4/5
33. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book with an incredible fight scene (YA)
34. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell - rating: 4.5/5 - square filled: a book with a dragon (YA)
35. Night Owls by Jenn Bennett - rating: 3.5/5
36: Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway: - rating 3/5
37: The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew: - rating 3/5
38: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - rating 5/5 - square filled: a book that became a movie (YA)
39: Young Avengers: Vol 1 Sidekicks by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung - square filled: a graphic novel (YA)
Bingo progress - 17/04 - so far all the squares I've filled are on different rows and different columns. Impressive!
05/05 - I can have a complete row, IF I read a book with a dragon...
31/12 - finishing the year with one space left on the YA square. Had a book for it, but ran out of time.
Footnotes
¹ This book could have gotten a higher score, but once the three main characters meet it switches POVs back and forth between them constantly throughout almost every scene. Reading fanfic has made me so much more picky about these things!
² To copy my comment from Goodreads: My feelings about this book are not unbiased. I love Rainbow's previous three books so much, and this definitely didn't have the same magic. But it was a sweet story. I don't know if I'm biased against it because it's not as good as her others, or biased in favour because I like her as an author so much.
³ I don't really know how you define a 'classic' YA book - I'm guessing it means one that's not that recent, but I'm going with the definition of 'mentioned a lot in must-read YA book lists'. There's a couple I could have done that for, and a couple that I think will become classics, but I went with this one as I often see other authors recommend it as a fave YA book.
4 Not sure what they mean by another world, but this is set in *possible spoilers* kind of a dystopian world.
I'm going to try keeping my Goodreads account more up to date, but as extra encouragement I'm going to do a reading bingo and keep track of it and what I read on here. I'm starting with the YA one below, since that's mostly what I read, but I'll see how I get on and may try other ones later on. ETA: Decided to include the non-YA one as well, since not ALL the books I read are YA.
I'm going to pick just one square that the book fits into, even when there could be more (the first one fits five!).
Books Read 2015
1. Something Like Summer by Jay Bell - rating: 2/5 - square filled: a book with a break up (YA)
2. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell - rating: 4.5/5 - square filled: the first book by a favourite author
3. The View on the Way Down by Rebecca Wait - rating: 4.5/5 - square filled: a book that made you cry (YA)
4. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book set in the summer (YA)
5. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - rating: 4/5 - square filled: the first book in a series (YA)
6. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz - rating: 4.5/5 - square filled: a book set in the past (YA)
7. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater - rating: 4/5 - square filled: a book with magic (YA)
8. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli - rating: 4.5/5 - square filled: a book set in high school (YA)
9. Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Magige Stiefvater - rating: 4/5 - square filled: a book with a colour in the title (YA)
10. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson - rating: 3.5/5 - square filled: a book with music (YA)
11. Proxy by Alex London¹ - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book set in the future (YA)
12. The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book by a female author
13. This is Not a Love Story by Keren David - rating: 2.5/5 - square filled: a book you heard about online (YA)
14. The Magicians by Lev Grossman - rating: 1.5/5 - square filled: a book with a blue cover
15. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E Lockhart - rating: 3.5/5 - square filled: a "classic" YA book³ (YA)
16. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan - rating: 3.5/5 - square filled: a book without a love triangle (YA)
17. Cop Town by Karin Slaughter - rating: 4/5 - square filled: a book with a mystery
18. Landline by Rainbow Rowell² - rating:3.5/5 - square filled: a book with a one-word title
19. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book set in Paris (YA)
20. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book with a female heroine (YA)
21. Isla and the Happy Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - rating: 2.5/5 - square filled: the last book of a trilogy (YA)
22. Never Saw it Coming by Linwood Barclay - rating: 2/5 - square filled: a book set on a different continent
23. More Than This by Patrick Ness - rating: 4/5 - square filled: a book set in another world4 (YA)
24. The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen - rating: 3/5 - RE-READ
25. The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen - rating: 3/5 - RE-READ
26. The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen - rating: 3.5/5 - RE-READ
27. The Shameless Hour by Sarina Bowen - rating 3/5 - square filled: Free Square (YA)
28. Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book with a lion, a witch, or a wardrobe (YA)
29. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson - rating 4.5/5 - square filled: a book with an epic love story (YA)
30. Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter - rating: 4/5 - square filled: a book published this year
31. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han - rating: 2.5/5
32. Lies We Told Ourselves by Robin Talley - rating: 4/5
33. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo - rating: 3/5 - square filled: a book with an incredible fight scene (YA)
34. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell - rating: 4.5/5 - square filled: a book with a dragon (YA)
35. Night Owls by Jenn Bennett - rating: 3.5/5
36: Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway: - rating 3/5
37: The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew: - rating 3/5
38: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness - rating 5/5 - square filled: a book that became a movie (YA)
39: Young Avengers: Vol 1 Sidekicks by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung - square filled: a graphic novel (YA)
Bingo progress - 17/04 - so far all the squares I've filled are on different rows and different columns. Impressive!
05/05 - I can have a complete row, IF I read a book with a dragon...
31/12 - finishing the year with one space left on the YA square. Had a book for it, but ran out of time.
Footnotes
¹ This book could have gotten a higher score, but once the three main characters meet it switches POVs back and forth between them constantly throughout almost every scene. Reading fanfic has made me so much more picky about these things!
² To copy my comment from Goodreads: My feelings about this book are not unbiased. I love Rainbow's previous three books so much, and this definitely didn't have the same magic. But it was a sweet story. I don't know if I'm biased against it because it's not as good as her others, or biased in favour because I like her as an author so much.
³ I don't really know how you define a 'classic' YA book - I'm guessing it means one that's not that recent, but I'm going with the definition of 'mentioned a lot in must-read YA book lists'. There's a couple I could have done that for, and a couple that I think will become classics, but I went with this one as I often see other authors recommend it as a fave YA book.
4 Not sure what they mean by another world, but this is set in *possible spoilers* kind of a dystopian world.