2014 Book Challenge

I am a part of a Facebook group that challenges you to read 50 books in an year. I seem to be a little behind but should be able to catch up still. Here is what I have read so far in 2014:

1/50 Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir by Eddie Huang. A pretty entertaining read about the life of a Chinese hip-hop loving son of immigrant parents trying to find his own way. (Disclaimer: A fair amount of swearing.)


2/50: The Circle by Dave Eggers. Ok and light read. Eggers portrays the life of Mae, a young twenty something who gets a job at a google-like mega tech company called the Circle. Looks at (not very thoughtfully) the implications of technology's pervasiveness in our society.

3/50: The Faithful Scribe: A Story of Islam, Pakistan, Family, and War. A great book if you are looking for an accessible history of Pakistan. It is in memoir form but with chapters dedicated to the history of partition, the 1971 war and even details contemporary problems in the country. A bit dense at times but good overall.


3/50: The Faithful Scribe: A Story of Islam, Pakistan, Family, and War. A great book if you are looking for an accessible history of Pakistan. It is in memoir form but with chapters dedicated to the history of partition, the 1971 war and even details contemporary problems in the country. A bit dense at times but good overall.


4/50: Heaven is Real. Someone left this book in our storage unit. It is the allegedly true story about a boy who has appendicitis and while he is being operated on, he is taken to heaven where he meets Jesus, God and many others. I really liked the book but did have some trouble believing everything in there. It is a quick and easy read.


5/50: Miracles of Life: Shanghai to Shepperton, An Autobiography by J. G. Ballard. This was ok. Ballard had an intersting life for sure but his story telling is a bit poor and with all the great autobiographies out there, I would give this one a pass.


6/50: The Humanity Project by Jean Thompson. The book follows the life of a group of characters who all turn out to be connected to each other through the central character, Linnea- a girl who survives a school shooting and is coming to terms with her life after that. I didn't care much for the writing early on but do think the author did a good job with the character development. I kept reading because I cared about several of the main characters and wanted to see how they would end up.

7/50: The Outcast by Sadie Jones. I picked this book up at our library book sale this past weekend and read it in just a couple of days. The story draws you in and I found myself picking the book right back up every time I set it down. It is a dark book and has some heavy topics. Definitely not a pick me up but gives a glimpse into the complex secret lives of people.

 8/50 - Snow Falling on Cedars. This was an excellent read. The story follows the murder trial of a fisherman in a tight knit community on a small island. The suspect is a Japanese American and the story unfolds revealing the pasts of many people on the island. REALLY engrossing read- definitely recommend it!

9/50 - The Lowland by Jhuma Lahiri. I loved Interpreter of Maladies but haven't cared as much for her other work. This novel was a good read though. One of the few books I've read where a love story isn't one of the main story arcs. Definitely recommend. Its a good book club read.

10/50: Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin: A great guilty pleasure read. Pretty fluffy and easy to get through.

11/50: Not All Apples are Tarts by Pip Granger: A cute story about a young girl who is a part of a loving found family and works to solve a mystery.

12/50: Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi: Kind of a sad (in more ways than one) story about a man who is unhappy and wants to leave his family.

13/50: The Tenant of Wildfel Hall by Anne Bronte: EXCELLENT book. Hadn't read it in ten years so had a lot of feelings of nostalgia as I was taken into this old time. So many themes are still completely relevant today.

14/50: Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth: Excellent book, although graphic at times, that makes me feel excited and empowered about being pregnant and childbirth. 

15/50:Drown by Juno Diaz: Finally got to reading Diaz's debut collection of short stories. The short story is a great art form. Especially good to read for aspiring writers. 

16/50: Flash Boys by Michael Lewis: Excellent expose of high frequency traders and their impact on the financial markets. Would definitely recommend. Accessible to anyone.

17/50:The Fault in Our Stars by Josh Green: A nice easy read about two star crossed teenagers. Yes, I cried.

18/50: Atonement by Ian McEwan: Slow start but good development. Was interesting to see how different people's lives become than what they had imagined they would be.

19/50: Until I Say Goodbye by Susan Spencer-Wendel: Picked this up because I have an aunt who has ASL. Was hoping there would be more about the disease and how to help family members but that was not the point of the book. I liked it ok, would have liked it to have some more depth, even as a personal story.

20/50: Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald: Tried reading this two years ago and couldn't get through it. Was better this time. Interesting how a book can be more readable in a different time and space.

21/50: The Moviegoer by Walker Percy: Reading this right by Tender is the Night made me feel a bit tired of bored, unfulfilled privileged men.

22/50: Diaper Free Baby by Christine Gross-Loh: Excellent book which helps parents prepare for less diaper reliance in their infants, or even older kids. Resonates a lot with how I was 'trained' as a baby and hope to do it for our baby too.