Pop Sugar Reading Challenge Update 2015

Pop Sugar Reading Challenge - 2015

I took the challenge.... http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2015-36071458

So what did I read? 

Challenge	Title	Author	Thoughts
more than 500 pages	Feed	Mira Grant	I could NOT put this book down. Only sad that I lost my favorite character.... definitely want to read the rest of this series.
Classic romance	Rebecca	Daphne du Maurier	audiobook -- It's so funny what you remember as you reread a book after a few *cough* decades. I remember adoring this book in high school. I still adored it. As I listened, though, I felt way more anxiety for the main character than I did when I read it in high school. I KNEW what was coming... though sometimes it took until the events were almost upon her before I really knew what was about to happen. I also have an older perspective. She's in her early 20s. As a late teen, I didn't really SEE how immature she was. Now I kept thinking, "oh, you poor little lamb".
Became movie	The Martian	Andy Weir	There's a TON of science in this book. I'm glad I read it before I saw it (though I do think the movie did an excellent job. Let's science the SHIT out of this!
Published this year	Winter	Marissa Meyer	Oh how I love this series! Taking fairy tales into space? That rocks.
With number in title	Period.8	Chris Crutcher	I'm not a huge sports person, but this story had enough other storylines that I was able to enjoy it. There was even some cool mystery! (This book was also on my Book Gap 2013 list and Must Read 2014 list. Glad I got to it.)
By someone under 30	Vicious	V.E. Schwab	audiobook EOs.... those with extraordinary talents. What make some heroes and some villains? Didn't really love the narrator but I did LOVE the book.
With nonhuman characters	Stone in the Sky	Cecil Castellucci	Science fiction with aliens counts as "non human", right? This was the second in the Tin Star series. (Cecil also wrote my favorite of the "Journey to the Force Awakens" series - Moving Target about Leia!)
Funny book	Better Nate than Ever	Tim Federle	audiobook - I'm so glad the author narrated this one. He was great!
By female author	My Final Tally:	Women: 24 Men: 11 Mixed: 3
Mystery or Thriller	Jackaby	William Ritter	Described as "Doctor Who meets Sherlock" - this was a creepy paranormal mystery read (YA)
Book with one word title	Midwinterblood	Marcus Sedgwick	Quirky, VERY odd..... thought provoking. There were so many threads that wove through this tale. (Printz winner)

Book of short stories	Diverse Energies (mixed)	mixed authors	Usually a book of short stories ends up having some real "bleh" tales. I enjoyed them all - and some were really great!
Book set in another country	Rose Under Fire	Elizabeth Wein	audiobook - I liked this one even more than Code Name Verity)
Nonfiction book	Strange Fruit (GN)	Joel Christian Gill	I know a lot of people REALLY liked this one... but I only thought it was okay.
A popular author's first book	Soulless	Gail Carriger	Steam punk romance (a bit steamier than most YA tends to be). I definitely enjoyed this one and picked up the others in the series.
Book from an author you love that you haven't read yet			I didn't really have one to put here. I had a TON of books I read by authors I love... but nothing I had really "missed" along the way.
Book a friend recommended	Handbook for Dragon Slayers (AlyB)	Merrie Haskell	I LOVED this story! It won a Schneider (for positive portrayal of disability) and it was a fabulous fantasy tale.
Pulitzer Prize Winning Book	Maus	Art Spiegelman	Whoa. This was a seriously dark and painful read.
Book based on true story	Courage Has No Color	Tanya Lee Stone	Maybe it's cheating a bit - since this is NF and not really "Based on a True Story"
Book at the bottom of TBR list			Never gonna happen. My TBR pile isn't really that organized.
Book your mom loves	Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell	Susanna Clarke	Started (but haven't yet finished - the audiobook is really long!)
Book that scares you	Lockwood & Co Whispering Skull	Jonathan Stroud	I love this series. SO CREEPY! And this one ended on a serious cliff hanger
Book more than 100 years old	Pride and Prejudice	Jane Austen	Well. I read this one because everyone said I should. I actually enjoyed it after I viewed the miniseries version (so I could picture everyone). I also read this so I will enjoy the ZOMBIE version more. That's on my 2016 list.

Book based on cover	Cure for Dreaming	Cat Winters	SO GOOD! I loved all the suffrage movement historical pieces. I'm also now fascinated by the history of hypnotism.
Book you were supposed to read in school but didn't			Yeah.... nothing in here. I honestly read everything I was told to. I do still want to read a few I wasn't instructed to read (like The Bell Jar)
Memoir	Wishful Drinking	Carrie Fisher	audiobook (read by the author) I adore Carrie Fisher. I am a HUGE Star Wars fan. I knew she'd had major struggles with mental illness, but she was so honest and open in this memoir. The non-Star Wars portions weren't as interesting to me as the Star Wars parts were, though.
Book you finished in a day	Tuck Everlasting	Natalie Babbitt	I've read this one before (a few times)... but gave it a re-read. I read it first as an adult, and didn't like it that much. On repeated readings, though, I found the imagery and ideas much more appealing.
Book with antonyms in title	Glory O'Brien's History of the Future	A.S. King	audiobook - This is the first book I read by this author - but it certainly won't be the last.
Book set somewhere you want to visit	The Name of the Star -- London	Maureen Johnson	A bit of a slow start - but then I really enjoyed it.
Book from birth year (1972)			Didn't get to this one.
Book with bad reviews			Heck - don't ALL books get some bad reviews?
Trilogy	Birthmarked Prized Promised	Caragh M. O'Brien	I got to listen to this author while I was at a conference in CT in 2014. She is so fascinating! I plan to read her new series in 2016 (Vault of Dreamers is the first book and the second comes out in 2016)
Love triangle	Prized	Caragh M. O'Brien	Not a huge fan of the love triangle - but I did like the trilogy (though the first book is my favorite)
Set in future	Alienated	Melissa Landers	Cool premise but the romance line started to overpower the science and aliens by about midway through. Some may love that, but it slowed the pace of the story for me.
Set in high school	Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe	Benjamin Alire Sáenz	audiobook - beautiful and heartbreaking.
Color in title	Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out	Susan Kuklin	Interesting for me - since I have almost no knowledge or experience with this topic. Many reviewers pointed out the glaring lack of diversity within these tales, though.

Made you cry	I'll Give You The Sun	Jandy Nelson	audiobook - beautiful and heartbreaking. I found the narrative style intriguing as well. The story is told in two voices - by twins. One twin tells the pieces of the story that are in the past, and the other tells the current parts. We alternate between the two as we start to piece things together.
With magic	The Witch's Boy	Kelly Barnhill	audiobook - I definitely liked this, though parts dragged a bit.
Graphic Novel	In Real Life	Cory Doctorow, Jen Wang (Illustrations)	One of my favorite graphic novels of the year. I love this look at gaming (and especially women in gaming!)
By author you've never read	Finding Serendipity	Angelica Banks	LOVED IT! I loved that Tuesday's mom is an author and she has to follow her into the world of writerly creations. I loved how this book encourages creativity and imagination.
You own but haven't read	Ten	Gretchen McNeil	It would be interesting to hear what those with no Agatha Christie background think on this book. I had some inklings/clues about what was happening because I know Ten Little Indians. I purchased this ebook when it was on sale. I'm glad I got to it!
Takes place in hometown			Nope. Never did.
Originally in another language			Another one I didn't get to.
Set during Christmas	A Shiloh Christmas	by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor	Sweet story - a wonderful 4th book in this series.
Author has my initials (MS)	Blue Lily, Lily Blue	Maggie Stiefvater	Maggie rocks. I love so many of her books, and I love to follow her posts online as well. She's an author, a car racer, and an artist (and I'm sure a lot more!) Anyway - I adore this series and I have the last book (The Raven King) on my list for 2016
A Play			Nope
A Banned Book	Miseducation of Cameron Post	Emily M. Danforth	Beautiful but painful read about acceptance. Beautiful because Danforth is nuanced and gentle, even when describing those who made horrific choices that damaged Cam. I loved that she was able to show that flawed humans aren't inherently evil. So often we forget that people need to LEARN better before they can make better, more generous choices.
Based on or turned into TV show	Phoenix Island	John Dixon	Local author - Lots of action! I promptly handed the book off to my 13 YO son. His response was, "This looks like my kind of book!"
Book started but not finished before	House of Hades	Rick Riordan	Read this with my son. He adores this series. I love the characters, the mythological tie-ins, and the action.

Did you take the challenge? I'm definitely doing this again for 2016!

http://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2016-39126431