The Next Best Book Club discussion

Parachute (1995)

“Fall in Two” – Read a book with a number in the title BOOK #27
“Mona Lisa” – Read a book about art or that features art BOOK #33 ("body art" counts right? Because the scars on the body of Samuel Hawley, which he was proud of, told the story of his life)
“Love for Me” – Read a love story BOOK #18
“Window” – Read a book with an inanimate object in the title BOOK #28
“Eden” – Read a book about temptation BOOK #31
“Scars & Stitches” – Read a used book, the more banged up the better BOOK #9
“The Prize” – Read a book about someone who’s lost themselves BOOK #27
“Dissolve” – Read a book and take credit here if it didn’t leave a lasting impression BOOK #16
“Cocoon” – Read a book while you’re wrapped up in a blanket, or under the sheets in bed BOOK #7
“Happy Frappy” – Read a book that takes place near or on a river BOOK #34
“Parachute” – Take the plunge and read a book in a genre you don’t normally read BOOK#6



Goldfly (1997)

“Great Escape” – Read a book while you’re on a road trip, or in which a portion of the book takes place in a car BOOK #21
“Demons” – Read a book that features an evil entity or someone with evil intent BOOK #4
“Perfect” – Read a book about drugs and drug use BOOK #21
“Airport Song” – Read a book that you picked up at an airport, or that features an airplane/airport BOOK #19
“Medicine” – Take a sick day and read a book BOOK #20 - Not sick, per se, but on medical leave due to surgery so since it was "sick leave", I'm counting it.
“X-Ray Eyes” – Read a song about a superhero or someone with strange powers BOOK #1
“Grin” – Read a book that makes you feel good BOOK #4 (Not because it was a happy story, but because I figured out the mystery early in the book and I was proud of myslef)
“Getting Even” – Read a book about revenge BOOK #3
“Bury Me” – Read a book in which a character dies BOOK #3
“Rocketship” – Read a book that takes place in outer space BOOK #8


Lost and Gone Forever (1999)

“What You Wish For” – Read a book that was on your wishlist BOOK #25
“Barrel of a Gun” – Read a book written by or featuring a movie star BOOK #37
“Either Way” – Read a book you’ve been on the fence about BOOK #29
“Fa Fa” – Read a book that features a made – up language or dialect BOOK #36
“I Spy” – Read a book from your TBR pile that is on one of your friend’s bookshelves BOOK #32
“Center of Attention” – Read a book written in first person BOOK #27
“All the Way Up to Heaven” – Read a book in your coziest, most favorite reading spot BOOK #19
“Happier” – Read whatever the fuck you want and take credit for it here BOOK #20
“So Long” – Read a book with more than 400 pages BOOK #24
“Two Points for Honesty” – Read a book that someone recommends to you and then tell them what you honestly thought of it BOOK #12
“Rainy Day” – Read a book on a rainy day BOOK #28


Keep It Together (2003)

“Diane” – Read a book with a female protag BOOK #5
“Careful” – Read a book that you borrowed from someone (and had to return in pristine condition) BOOK #34
“Amsterdam” – Read a book set in a different country BOOK #26
“Backyard” – Read a book written by an author from your hometown/city/state BOOK #32
“Homecoming King” – Read a book about high school or a book that features teenagers BOOK #7
“Ramona” – Read a book written by someone who identifies as female BOOK #14
“Jesus on the Radio” – Listen to a bookish podcast or an audiobook BOOK #23
“Keep it Together” – Read a book that keeps freaking you right the fuck out BOOK #36
“Come Downstairs and Say Hello” – Read a book while at, or hiding from, a family gathering BOOK #20
“Red Oyster Cult” – Read a book that features a mother or focuses on the character’s relationship with their mother BOOK #14
“Long Way Down” – Read a book written in third person BOOK #22
“I Hope Tomorrow is Like Today” – Read a book that takes place in the future BOOK #35
“Untitled Hidden Track” – Read a book that you uncovered accidentally BOOK #29
“Two at a Time” – Read a book written by two authors BOOK #40
“Say That to My Face” – Read a book someone would classify as a “guilty pleasure” BOOK #16
“Starless Heaven” – Read a book at the beach BOOK #9
“Days” – Read a book that takes place over the span of just a few days BOOK #2


Ganging Up on the Sun (2006)

“Lightning Rod” – Read a Cli-Fi book (a book that features climate change or strange weather) BOOK #35
“Satellite” – Read a book that takes place primarily at night BOOK #3
“Manifest Destiny” – Read a book that someone randomly selects for you off your bookshelf BOOK #10
“One Man Wrecking Machine” – Read a Sci-Fi book (extra points if it features time travel) BOOK #13
“The Captain” – Read a book that takes place on the ocean or on a ship/boat BOOK #32
“The New Underground” – Read a book that takes place in a dystopian setting/time, or features a cult BOOK#15
“Ruby Falls” – Read a book with a color in the title BOOK #24
“C’mon” – Read a book that didn’t sit well with you BOOK #39
“Empire State” – Read a book that takes place in NYC or is written by an author who calls NYC home BOOK #4
“Dear Valentine” – Read a book that takes place on or around a holiday BOOK #1:
“The Beginning of the End” – Read a book about the end of the world BOOK #8 (a stretch - but it's the end of HIS world on MARS if he's not rescued....so....I'm taking credit for it)
“Hang On” – Read a book that’s about another book, or is written as a book in a book BOOK #12 (another stretch, but the main character is a portrayal of Jesus, so, in theory, it's almost like a telling of the Bible within this book)


Satellite EP (2007)

“G Major” – Read a book about music or that features a band or musician BOOK #18
“Rise & Shine” – Spend the morning reading a book and take credit here BOOK #38
“Timothy Leary” – Read a book with a man’s name in the title BOOK #33
“I’m Through” – If you’re reading a book that you’re just not into, DNF it and take credit here BOOK #1: Was written for Middle Schoolers. Just couldn't finish it.

Easy Wonderful (2010)

“Architects & Engineers” – Read a book that takes place in a city BOOK #16
“Do You Love Me” – Read a book by your favorite author BOOK #2: LOVE Harlan Coban. Check him out!
“On the Ocean” – Read a book that is dark and foreshadowing BOOK #33
“This Could All Be Yours” – Read a self-help or motivational book BOOK #40
“Stay with Me Jesus” – Read a book that features religion or is about a religious conspiracy BOOK #26
“Bad Bad World” – Read a book in which the title contains the same word twice BOOK #38
“This is How it Feels to Have a Broken Heart” – Read a book that takes place during a war or features a character who has served in a war BOOK #10
“What You Call Love” – Read a book in your favorite genre BOOK #5
“That’s No Way to Get into Heaven” – Read a book in which the main character(s) does something wicked BOOK #22
“Jesus and Mary” – Read a book that features angels or a rapture/biblical end times BOOK #15
“Hercules” – Read a book about a mythological character BOOK #35
“Do What You Want” – Read whatever floats your boat and take credit for it here BOOK #17
“Well” – Read a book that takes you down a weird, trippy rabbit hole BOOK #26
“Jonah” – Read a book that features a giant fish or whale BOOK #17 (I know - ti's a little bit of a stretch, but I'm giving it to myself...)
“Lost at Sea” – Read a book and if it made it absolutely no sense to you, take credit here BOOK #39


On the Ocean EP (2011)

“Big White Bed” – Read a book in bed, and only in bed BOOK #25
“Every Moment” – Read a book that you just can’t put down/stop thinking about BOOK #23


Evermotion (2015)

“Long Night” – Read a book that kept you up all night BOOK #13
“Endlessly” – Read a book and take credit for it here if it felt like it was never going to end BOOK #29
“Doin’ it By Myself” – Read a book in which the protag is a hermit/antisocial/lonely BOOK #8
“Lazy Love” – Read a book instead of doing anything else and take credit for your procrastination here BOOK #31
“Simple Machine” – Read a digital book BOOK #2: Most will be digital, but this was the first of many
“Expectation” – Read a book and if it didn’t meet your expectations, take credit here BOOK #12
“Gangway” – Read a book with just one word in the title BOOK #13
“Kid Dreams” – Read a book that features a child protagonist BOOK #15
“Never Coming Down” – Read a book that’s set in the 70’s BOOK #18
“It is Just What it is” – Read a book that’s pretty straightforward BOOK #11
“Farewell” – Read the last book written by an author BOOK #10

Look Alive (2019)

“Look Alive” – Read a book about zombies or dead people BOOK #30
“Don’t Go” – Read a book and if it made you wish it had never ended, take credit for it here BOOK #36
“Hard Times” – Read a book you borrowed from the library BOOK#6
“Hello Mr Sun” – Go outside, sit in the sun, and read a book, then take credit for it here BOOK #9
“Overexcited” – Read a book you could not wait to get your hands on BOOK #34
“Summertime” – Read a book that takes place in the summer BOOK #37
“Terrified” – Read a horror book BOOK #30
“Mind Kontrol” – Give into the hype and read a book that everyone else is talking about BOOK #11
“Not for Nothing” – Read a book that you know is going to piss you off BOOK #6
“When You Go Quiet” – Read a book that you get totally, 100% absorbed in and take credit for it here BOOK #23

Jan 2, 2018: First two books.
#1: "Silent (but Deadly) Night" by Jo Nesbo was a gag book that my mother bought for me for Xmas. Tried to read it anyway but it was definitely written for 9 year olds. Would have been good for them but was too much for me. Three stars - mostly b/c I can see how it's a good book for the right audience.
#2: "Seconds Away (Mickey Bolitar, #2)" by Harlan Coben. My favorite current author. It's great that he's a prolific writer. It's bad that I've now almost finished all his books.
Silent (but Deadly) Night
Seconds Away

Nice start, even if you weren't really into the first book.

Jan 3-7, 2019
Book #3: "Found (Mickey Bolitar, #3)" by Harlan Coben. I love me some Harlan Coben. This was the 3rd of 3 in the series - hopefully he writes more about Mickey. Four stars.
Book #4: "The Woman in the Window" by A.J. Finn. WOW - this book was amazing. Even though I had figured out part of the plot by the end of chapter 3, it was still a suspenseful read. Definitely a page turner. Five stars.


Found
The Woman in the Window

Jan 8 -20, 2019
Book #5: "Missing You" by Harlan Coben. Told you I loved Harlan Coben's books. This was a different one as Myron and Mickey Bolitar were not the main characters. Still enjoyed it. Four stars.
Book #6: "An American Marriage" by Tayari Jones. Story about a wrongly imprisoned man and the ramifications this had on his life. Enjoyable. Three stars.
Book #7: "Cracked Up To Be" by Courtney Summers. An easy read - I'm assuming it was a YA book as it dealt with kids at high school. Nice mindless book to read on a snowy cold day. Three stars.

Missing You
An American Marriage
Cracked Up to Be

Jan 26-Feb 1, 2019
Book #8: “The Martian” by Andy Weir. I thought finding a book set in outer space was going to be boring because it’s not really my genre, but this was a very good read. When the first sentence had the word “fuck” in it, I knew I was going to love it. I gave it four stars.

The Martian

I loved this! I listened on audio and I remember thinking, wow, letting it fly with Fuck right off the bat... my kinda book : )

Feb 9 - 16, 2019: Spent a week at the beach and was able to get through five books.
Book #9: "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath. My son read this in school last year and enjoyed it so I thought I'd borrow from him. It was a really well written, poignant book - I can tell why it won lots of awards. 5 stars.
Book #10: "The Almond Tree" by Michelle Cohen Corasanti. I just couldn't get into this book even though my husband loved it. I don't get politics in the Middle East and that just kept getting me hung up in the storyline. It was well written, though, so I gave it 3 stars based upon that (even though it probably would have been 1 or 2 based upon my interest)
Book #11: "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas. I can see why this was made into a movie - very well written, easy to read, modern time language, relatable. I really enjoyed it. 4 stars
Book #12: "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I love GGM as an author...usually. I didn't love this story though. It was just ok compared to his other works. 3 stars.
Book #13: "Elevation" by Steven King. I was disappointed that this wasn't a horror book because now I have to find something else to fit that category. With that being said, it was a short book (116 pages on my iPad), interesting sci-fi story, and way different from his other books. I can imagine he came up with this story in a dream somehow.

The Bell Jar
The Almond Tree
The Hate U Give
Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Elevation

The Bell Jar is going to be a movie directed by Kirsten Dunst starring Patricia Arquette and Dakota Fanning. No release date yet but definitely keep an eye out for it.

First half of March
Book #14: "Pieces of Her" by Karin Slaughter. Interesting mystery / suspense book. Kept my interest.
Book #15: "Educated" by Tara Westover. I really wanted to like this book. It was rated so highly, that I think I went in with too high of expectations. It was ok, but it was no "The Glass Castle" which, in my opinion, was far superior.

Pieces of Her
Educated

Wow - I've kept up with reading, but have fallen behind in posting. This update takes me from first half of March thorough first half of June.
Book #16: "The Proposal" by Jasmine Guillory". Very bland. Easy read so good for the beach, but everything could be anticipated.
Book #17: "Turtles All The Way Down" by John Green. My 13-year old daughter read it and loved it. I just liked it ok. Maybe because "Fault in our Stars" was so good.
Book #18: "Daisy Jones and the Six" by Taylor Jenkins Reid. When I realized what this book was about, I thought I was going to hate it. But I truly truly loved it. It was so engaging and I loved how it was written almost like a script. The ending was totally unexpected. Gave it a rare 5-stars (although my kids would have rated 1-star b/c I didn't want to do anything on vacation except finish this book)
Book #19: "Miracle Cure" by Harlan Coben. Coben is one of my favorite authors, I'm sure you can tell. Always a good read.
Book #20: "The Woods" by Harlan Coben. Ditto.
Book #21: "The Midnight Line" by Lee Child. Same as Harlan Coben - I had religiously read his books until I got to the end of the series. A few years later, I've come back to finish his new books.
Book #22: "Past Tense" by Lee Child. Ditto.
Book #23: "My Sister, the Serial Killer" by Oyinkan Braithwaite. Very interesting story. First ever attempt at a "book on tape" - listened to it to/from work and it worked well - the voice talent was amazing. It took me a while to get into the story, but I'm actually glad I listened rather than tried to read because the names would have been tough to follow (the book being set in Nigeria)
Book #24: "Red Notice" by Bill Browder. A book about navigating the business politics of the financial system in Russia. It didn't capture my interest but if you like historical books or how to stick it "to the man" then this book may be good for you.
Book #25: "If Beale Street Could Talk" by James Baldwin. Wanted to read the book before I saw the movie. This was totally not what I expected the book to be about. I loved the writing style, it was vivid without being overly vivid (I like to make it my own image in my head - I don't want the author to paint such a clear picture that I can't imagine it). The story was engaging. I HATED the ending - but I've heard the movie ending was better.
Book #26: "Nine Perfect Strangers" by Liane Moriarty. Unlike any of her other books, nothing like what I expected. It wasn't to the caliber of Big Little Lies but it was still unique and fun to read.
Book #27: "Five Presidents" by Clint Hill. It was interesting to see the presidents (Eisenhower through Ford) through the eyes of a secret service man. The writing left some open questions about Clint Hill's life, but I guess the book was supposed to be more about the presidents and not him, so that's probably why. If you like historical novels, or like American politics, this would be a good read for you.
Book #28: "More Than Words" by Jill Santopolo. A generic girl-dating-boy, girl-meets-other-boy, girl-in-torment sort of book, but interesting enough in itself to still recommend.

The Proposal
Turtles All the Way Down
Daisy Jones & The Six
Miracle Cure
The Woods
The Midnight Line
Past Tense
My Sister, the Serial Killer
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice
If Beale Street Could Talk
Nine Perfect Strangers
Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford
More Than Words

Book #29: "When We Were Orphans" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Book #30: "Luckiest Girl Alive" by Jessica Knoll
Book #31: "Every Dead Thing (Charlie Parker #1)" by John Connolly
Book #32: "Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng
Book #33: "Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley" by Hannah Tinty
Book #34: "Where The Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens
Book #35: "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline
Book #36: "Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness" by Susannah Cahalan
Book #37: "Ordinary Grace" by William Kent Krueger
Book #38: "You Think It, I'll Say It" by Curtis Sittenfeld
Book #39: "When The Lights Go Out" by Mary Kubica
Book #40: SAFe Lean Performance Management principles by multiple authors

When We Were Orphans
Luckiest Girl Alive
Every Dead Thing
Everything I Never Told You
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley
Where the Crawdads Sing
Ready Player One
Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
Ordinary Grace
You Think It, I'll Say It
When the Lights Go Out

My original goal at the beginning of this reading challenge was to not allow a book to count towards more than two categories. Unfortunately, life "gets in the way" and I was only able to knock out 40 books. So - while I am very disappointed that 23 of the books had to be used for a 3rd category, I am proud of myself for multiple reasons:

1) 40 books is way more than my normal amount of reading (my goal was 26 - two per month plus two). While I did also read 40 books in 2017, I only read 26 in 2018 and 28 in 2016.
2) I am NOT good about reading self-help or other work books, yet I read one this year AND I was able to take and pass the test afterward which gives me some technology certification accreditations so...yay me!
3) I read some books that were WAY outside my comfort zone...and I found out that I liked them. So, I will continue to explore other genres to see what is out there.
4) I finished several series of books by my favorite authors - so while good, was also bad...I need to wait for them to write more books!
5) I started listening to books-on-tape, which gives me more opportunities to do things on my drive to/from work instead of just listening to the regular top-10 pop hit songs.