A Year of Books - 52 Week Reading Challenge

I began the 52 books reading challenge in 2015, based on PopSugar’s suggested list. I don’t remember how I found it, just that I jumped at such an awesome idea. I’m a pretty avid reader anyway, but without something to focus on I tend to get stuck in a black hole of regency romance novels (don’t get me wrong, they’re awesome! But not exactly intellectually stimulating…).

I got my love of reading from my father; growing up there were literally hundreds of books around the house, and I’ve been reading as long as I can remember. So I figured, who better to do a reading challenge with than my dad?? He tried to be on board, but… he failed. Since around February of that first year I’ve been asking anyone who will listen to do this 52 book challenge with me, because, let’s face it, it’s a pretty awesome accomplishment. Unfortunately, I’ve had no luck, and, as it turns out, the accomplishment is less impressive the more you talk about it… oooh well!

So now I figure, who better to do a reading challenge with than strangers on the internet?? It’s not quite the same as a beloved family member, but it’s pretty close, right? And so, here we are.

At week 13, we’re a little late getting started, but I’ll try and cover the first 12 books of 2017 in my downtime – there were some good ones I want to share!

A couple things moving forward:

I’m very sarcastic. Sarcasm doesn’t often translate well on the internet. When in doubt, I’m being sarcastic. Probably.
I’m not intending to present formal book reviews, and there is a good chance I’ll jump between topics. A lot. Please be patient, I promise it’ll be worth it. (…maybe)
The first reading challenge outlined specific book categories for each week (i.e. a book of short stories; a play; a book that scares you). After that first challenge though, I decided to focus on just getting to the 52 books, and being accountable to myself to not choose the same genre/author/etc. all the time.
As a rule, I try to only include one or two regency romance novels on the list. This does not mean I am only reading one or two. I am reading a lot of them. And I love to talk about them, so if you’re interested, let me know!
I really struggle with ratings, so I’m not going to use them. Instead I’ll stick with: Loved it! It was OK; Take it or leave it; Ugh that was hard to get through; or whatever else comes to mind as I’m reading/writing.

In case you’re wondering, the first 12 books of 2017 were: