2017 Reading Challenge (and Happy New Year!)

I thought I'd check in with a reading post to kick off the New Year. (And a very Happy New Year to you all!)

I tried.  I really tried to finish A Cornish Maid for week #4.  I just couldn't.  It wasn't a bad book, per se, but man-o-man it was S.L.O.W.  I was halfway thru it and there was virtually no plot advancement.  So I ditched it.  I'll pick something else for that week.

In the meantime, however, I read The Secrets of Wishtide, which is a new-to-me author (for week #22), by Kate Saunders.  A fun, entertaining read - a mid-19th century historical mystery.  I enjoyed this one and was suitably impressed the author actually did a lot of research (the suet pudding receipt is worth the price of admission by itself), and didn't just toss the characters into corsets and called it "historical".  An engaging heroine and supporting cast of characters, reminiscent of a bit of Jane Austen vibe.  If you are in the market for a lite read, and enjoy that sort of book, you'll likely enjoy this one.

Next up, is Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier.  This is a retelling of the Six Swans fairy tale and I am REALLY enjoying this book. I'm using this for week #11 - a category from another challenge (last year's challenge had us reading a retelling of a fairy tale so this fits that perfectly).  I'm about halfway through it, and reading it in bits and pieces as it's so good I don't want it to end!


The 2017 List
1. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2016
2. A book with at least 2 perspectives (multiple points of view)
3. A book you meant to read in 2016
4. A title that doesn't contain the letter "E":  
5. A historical fiction
6. A book being released as a movie in 2017 
7. A book with an animal on the cover or in the title
8. A book written by a person of color
9. A book in the middle of your To Be Read list
10. A dual-timeline novel
11. A category from another challenge: Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier.
12. A book based on a myth
13. A book recommended by one of your favorite authors
14. A book with a strong female character
15. A book written or set in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland)
16. A mystery
17. A book with illustrations
18. A really long book (600+ pages)
19. A New York Times best-seller
20. A book that you've owned for a while but haven't gotten around to reading
21. A book that is a continuation of a book you've already read
22. A book by an author you haven't read before:  The Secrets of Wishtide, by Kate Saunders.
23. A book from the BBC "The Big Read" list (link)
24. A book written by at least two authors
25. A book about a famous historical figure
26. An adventure book
27. A book by one of your favorite authors
28. A non-fiction
29. A book published outside the 4 major publishing houses (Simon & Schuster; HarperCollins; Penguin Random House; Hachette Livre) - check all the editions
30. A book from Goodreads Top 100 YA Books (link)
31. A book from a sub-genre of your favorite genre
32. A book with a long title (5+ words, excluding subtitle)
33. A magical realism novel
34. A book set in or by an author from the Southern Hemisphere
35. A book where one of the main characters is royalty
36. A Hugo Award winner or nominee (link)
37. A book you choose randomly
38. A novel inspired by a work of classic literature
39. An epistolary fiction
40. A book published in 2017
41. A book with an unreliable narrator
42. A best book of the 21st century (so far)
43. A book with a chilling atmosphere (scary, unsettling, cold):  Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase.
44. A recommendation from "What Should I Read Next" (link)
45. A book with a one-word title
46. A time travel novel
47. A past suggestion that didn't win (link)
48. A banned book
49. A book from someone else's bookshelf
50. A Penguin Modern Classic - any edition
51. A collection (e.g. essays, short stories, poetry, plays) 
52. A book set in a fictional location