1. A book with at least 500 pages. I remember that I first chose a book that for some reason did not finish. I can't even remember it's name. I ended up reading Outlander again, prompted by all the hullabaloo about the Showtime series. It was good, but I still am bogged down in the 3rd or maybe 4th book of the 7 book series. Whether I ever finish remains to be seen
2. A classic romance. That was an easy choice - Much Ado About Nothing. That's such an easy choice with all the barbs sent back and forth between Beatrice and Benedick. And then there is Dogberry....when it comes to the movies, I can't decide if I adored Michael Keaton or Nathan Fillion declaring themselves to be an ass. Timeless and fun classic.
3. A book made into a movie. Hmmmmm When the kid was stove up after his knee operation, we watched The Hobbit, which made me search for the original trilogy that I bought on Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey, California around 1970. At this point (12:14pm), I could use first breakfast, let alone second.
4. A book published in 2015. Here I could list dozens, but will pick one of my favorites, Wait for Signs by Craig Johnson. I am an avowed Walt Longmire junkie and have been since I read the very first book in 2004. The television show (now on NetFlix) is just as wonderful as the books. I insist you real all the books and then binge on all four years of the show. There will be a test.
5. A book with a number in the title. Three Moons Over Sedona by Sherry Hartzler. After her husband dies in the arms of his mistress, a woman of a certain age runs away from the life she thought she knew, ending up in Sedona, Arizona. Not to be trite, there she finds herself....not the wife, the mother, the business owner..herself. The cast of characters is a fun one.
6. A book written by someone under age 30. As far as I know, I failed on this account. Googling books that meet the criteria,I have read a number of them, just not this year, and was never inclined to pick one up for a re-read.
7. A book with non-human characters. No contest here. A favorite re-read of mine, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, by Edwin Abbott Abbott. Besides, it's a book about one of Sheldon Cooper's favorite places to visit. I have read it several times over the years.
8. A funny book. Here I must give props to my friend Andrea for suggesting R.L. Mathewson's Neighbor From Hell series of books. I laugh through every damned one of them, eat up the author's blog where she publishes shorts about the families, and do everything but stalk the woman. Books about men (and the women who love them)who have such voracious appetites, they get banned from buffets. Great, shorter funny reads, but definitely for the over 18 crowd.
9. A book by a female author. This year I got sucked into Ava Miles books. I think I read every Dare River and Dare Valley book she wrote.
10. A mystery or thriller. I read several Tony Dunbar books about his P.I. Tubby Dubonnet. There is a series of 8 and I have 6 of them, not all read yet.
11. Book with a One word title. Here I must go back to a re-read, simply because I re-read it I think twice this year....Wallbanger by Alice Clayton One of the freshest, funniest chick-lit books I have ever encountered. Highly recommended if you like the genre. Highly.
12. A book of short stories. This is tougher. I occasionally pick up The Stories of John Cheever, but have never read it all the way through. I did read One Page Love Stories: Share the Love by multiple authors. Picked it up because an author I follow had a story in it ans all proceeds went towards getting youth into books and reading. It was a mixed bag. Or you could look back on #4.
13. A book set in a Foreign Country. This was easy because I am one of the author's first readers, and the book is English Ivy by Betsy Talbot. Takes place in London, Germany, and Spain. I am in love with Ruben.
14. A non-fiction book. My Cross To Bear by Gregg Allman. Interesting look into everything Allman Brothers, by the man himself. A must for his fans.
15. A popular author's first book. Had to do some digging here, and I chose Christopher Moore and Practical Demonkeeping. It's a re-read because the first time, years ago, I had no idea it was his first. I love his irreverence in all that he writes. Pick up a book (or five) of his. You won't be sorry.
16. A book from an author I love, but haven't yet read. R.L. Mathewson again, and Christmas From Hell. Came out yesterday and plan on finishing it today. I love the Bradford and James clans. They are a hoot.
17. Book recommended by a friend. Another fail. Jenn recommended Sputnik Sweetheart to get started on the books of Haruki Murakami. I keep starting then putting it down. Sorry, Jenn.
18. A Pulitzer Prize Winner. I re-read To Kill A Mockingbird when the other Harper Lee book came out this past summer. No, I don't plan on reading the sequel. Saw enough reviews and want to keep my Atticus in a protected part of my brain.
19. Based on a true story. Bianca's Vineyard by Teresa Neuman. A beautifully written novel of an Italian family and the consequences of WWII and choices made. Beautiful prose throughout.
20. From the bottom of my TBR (to be read) pile. Ordained Irreverence by McMillan Moody. This is a book I've had for several years, would pick up, read a chapter, then put it back down. Neither good nor bad, just nothing to keep me interested. I did finish it and took it off the bottom of the pile.
21. A book my mom loves. N/A. She died in 2001 and I don't think she ever read anything except Photoplay magazine.
22. A book that scared me. Anything I read this year by J.A.Konrath, which could be anyone of his books. I have them all and re-read them all often. Two particular favorites are Origin, and The List. I promise you'll never have a more fun time while being scared enough to not move from your chair because of what might be waiting around the corner or under the bed.
23. A book more than 100 years old. Memories of An English Governess at the Siamese Court by Anna Harriet Leonowens. You might remember the movie - The King and I.
24. A book based solely on a cover. Fail. I don't look at covers when buying Kindle books, because all too often the cover has nothing to do with the story/people/events inside. It's a particular pet peeve of mine.
25. A book I cheated and didn't read in school. I confess, Miss Mauldin, I only read the cliff notes for The Inferno. Purchased it last year and forced myself to read it....much of it out loud when I was home alone, just to keep me from falling asleep.
26. A Memoir. My favorite baseball announcer, Denny Mathews and his book Tales From the Royals Dugout.
27. A one day read. Uhm, pretty much anything I read this year, unless it was one of those books like #25. On a good day I can chew off two or three.
28. One with an antonym in the title. Cheating here, because last year I re-read Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil. Can't come up with a title for this year.
29. A book that takes place in a setting where I would like to visit. This one is easy. Betsy Talbot's Wild Rose. Most of it takes place in a town on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy. I'll never visit, but it would be the first place I went to if Beam Me Up Scottie ever came to fruition.
30. A book written in the year I was born. Fail, but I have actually read a number of them. Several each by Isaac Asimov, Agatha Christie, and Rex Stout a Ray Bradbury, and a few others.
31. A book that got bad reviews. I finished a re-read that I started in 2014....Wuthering Heights. I hate the book (but from time to time feel the need to punish myself with a classic I dislike), and was delighted to read the following review published in 1848 in Graham's Lady Magazine. "How a human being could have attempted such a book as the present without committing suicide before he had finished a dozen chapters is a mystery." Yup. Pretty sums up my view of Heathcliff and Cathy.
32. A trilogy. Finally decided (somewhat against my own good sense) to read a Nora Roberts set, the Boonsboro Inn Trilogy. May I say it's nothing but three books advertising her own danged inn, her son's pizza joint and her husband's (I think) bookstore. Trite and b-o-r-i-n-g.
33. A book from my childhood. What else but Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz?
34. A book about a love triangle. Actually it was a three book series by Violet Duke, about a woman, two brothers, the young daughter of one of them, a disease that took the daughter's mother's life which is also present in the woman love interest, and might be showing up in the daughter. It's the Resisting series. Better than I make it sound.
35. A book taking place in the future. I think this is a fail. Can't remember any.
36. A book about high school. Jillian Dodd's That Boy, That Wedding, That Baby. I must have used an entire box of tissues wailing at something in each book. It follows three best friends thru school, college, and into their adult lives. This is also going to count as my #38.
37. A book with a color in the title. The Black Stiletto by Raymond Benson. A great thriller. Go for it! Was mom really a successful and much feared assassin?
38. A book that made me cry. See #36.
39. A book about magic. Again with the re-reads, this time a couple of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books. Always winners, and I don't even go for fantasy type books, but Harry...well...Harry is a grown up Harry Potter, living in Chicago and fighting demons from other worlds, all while making me laugh. There are 16 books and I am a few behind. (makes note for 2016 purchases)
40. A graphic novel. I must confess, I have never read a comic book novel for adults. Wouldn't even know where to start, since I even had to look up the definition to make sure it wasn't talking about porn.
41. Book by new author. Betsy Talbot ventured into fiction last year with Wild Rose and English Ivy, the first two of five books about The Late Bloomers - friends of a certain age, all named after flowers and who had hippie mothers . The fact I did a first read on both of them before they were published make them even better, because seeing the writing process from draft to published project is fun. Lily's book is next and I can't wait to get my hands on it.
42. A book I owned for a wile but never read. I have a few Lee Child books about Jack Reacher that I am waiting to read, since I do them in order. I'm sure I read at least one of them this year.
43. A book that takes place in my hometown. I was born in Kansas City, Kansas and one of our claims to infamy was William Radkay, whose life was chronicled in The Devil Incarnate: From Altar Boy to Alcratraz. It was a fascinating, if somewhat amateurish read about the underbelly of both Kansas Cities, crime, and the mob in the days of Machine Gun Kelly and Pretty Boy Floyd.
44. A book originally written in another language. Fail. A number of them from previous years come to mind, but none read in 2015, Don Quixote, Les Miserables are the first two that I can think of.
45. A book about Christmas. Hello? I have an entire subset devoted to Christmas books on my Kindle. One of my favorites that I read every year is The Christmas Train by David Baldacci. I am in love with the book.
46. A book by an author with my initials. Shirley Jump, The Beauty Charmed Santa. As bad as it sounds, but it was a free Kindle book about Christmas, so I bit.
48. A banned book. To Kill A Mockingbird still remains one of the most challenged books to date.
49. A book based on or turned into a TV show. Craig Johnson's series of books about Walt Longmire, the modern day sheriff of Absaroka County, Wy. See #4 for more information. (Yes. I am relentless about the books and television show. They. are. just. that. good.)
50. A book I started and never finished. Back to #17.
