2016 Book Challenge - Week 1

Whoosh!  That was the sound of yesterday zipping by, when I had planned to write this blog post about week 1 of the 2016 Reading Challenge.  Better a day late than never tho, eh?

I kicked off my reading for 2016 with The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.  This is for week 8's theme of "A classic book with less than 200 pages."  I had seen the movie with Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder eons ago - mostly to drool over the costumes in it - but had not ever read the book.

No real surprises about the ending if you've seen the movie already, but I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would.  It wasn't quite as.....slow going? I suppose?..... as I thought it might be.  Wharton was a member of this upper social class in turn-of-the-century New York and knows whereof she was writing, but the era is far far removed from where we are today in terms of social norms and societal pressures.  (Or at least from where I'm sitting.)

This was a nice starter read to kick off the year and I zipped through it while I was doing some mindless knitting and then while spinning this past weekend.

Next week, I'm going to skip out of order to the final week's read, as I've already started "The Summer House" by Tove Jannson which is for week 50's topic.  This one is a quick read as well - I'll probably have it finished by tomorrow!

The 2016 List
1. A book you meant to read in 2015, but didn't
2. A book set in a different continent
3. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2015 (winner or nominated)
4. A book by an author you discovered in 2015
5. A book with a title beginning with the 1st letter of your name
6. The highest rated on your TBR
7. A book about books
8. A classic book with less than 200 pages:  Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence - DONE
9. A book that was mentioned in another book
10. A book by an author you feel you should have read by now
11. A book from the Rory Gilmore challenge
12. A childhood classic
13. Reader’s Choice
14. A book with one of the five W’s -or H in the title (Who/What/Where/When/Why/How)
15. A book set in the past (more than 100 years ago)
16. A book from the top 100 mystery novels
17. A book with a beautiful cover
18. A book on a summer/beach reading list
19. A non-fiction book
20. A book with a first name in the title
21. A book from the Goodreads Recommendations page
22. The first book in a new to you series
23. The next book in a series you are reading
24. A "between the numbers" book of a series (0.5, 1,5, 2.5, etc.)
25. A book whose main character is in a profession that interests you
26. A book everyone is talking about
27. A book with a beautiful title (in your own opinion)
28. A biography, autobiography, or memoir
29. A book by an author who writes under more than one name
30. A fairytale from a culture other than your own
31. A work of young adult fiction
32. A historical fiction book
33. The 16th book on your TBR
34. A book about mental illness
35. An award winning book
36. An identity book - a book about a different culture, religion or sexual orientation
37. A book that you've seen the movie of but haven't read
38. A book about an anti hero
39. A previous suggestion that did not make it into the list
40. A novella from your favorite genre
41. A book about a major world event (fiction or non-fiction)
42. A top 100 fantasy novel
43. A book about a thing that goes bump in the night
44. A book you're embarrassed to read in public
45. A book related to a hobby or passion you have
46. A crime story
47. A book with a type of food/drink in the title
48. A dystopia
49. A book with a great opening line
50. A book originally written in a language other than English
51. A short story from a well-known author
52. A book published in 2016