Tag: 50 book challenge

2016 Book Challenge Results

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2016 Book Challenge ResultsHappy New Year!

I hope each of you had a wonderful night, ringing in 2017 with the ones you love. I love beginning the year anew, writing down resolutions and planning all of the exciting adventures ahead!

Every year, I aim to read as many books as possible to de-stress and to spark creativity in my own life. Now that I’ve started graduate school, my reading for pleasure has tapered off somewhat, but I always like to share what I’ve read each year and look for new suggestions in the year ahead.

Below are the books I read in 2016. (Click for recaps from 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.) You can keep up with the current list for 2017 by visiting the Book Challenge page at the top menu or by clicking here.

Books I’ve Read in 2016:

  1. The Mayo Clinic Handbook for Happiness by Amit Sood (1/6/2016)
  2. How To Talk To Girls At Parties by Neil Gaiman (1/14/2016)
  3. The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson (1/18/2016)
  4. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (1/23/2016)
  5. Room by Emma Donoghue (1/31/2016)
  6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald (2/24/2016)
  7. Looking For Alaska by John Green (3/1/2016)
  8. Psychopath Free by Jackson MacKenzie (3/19/2016)
  9. Slumber Party by Christopher Pike (3/21/2016)
  10. The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve (3/30/2016)
  11. So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson (4/13/2016)
  12. American Housewife: Stories by Helen Ellis (4/17/2016)
  13. This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper (5/7/2016)
  14. Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham (5/18/2016)
  15. Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes (5/22/2016) – 25 at 25 Bucket List: My Year of Yes
  16. The Giver by Lois Lowry (5/23/2016)
  17. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (6/3/2016)
  18. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (6/27/2016)
  19. You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero (7/30/2016) – All Or Nothing Day: Creating A Life You Love
  20. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling (8/31/2016)
  21. All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker (10/5/2016)
  22. The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer (10/24/2016)

Any suggestions for 2017? Share in the comments section below!

2015 Book Challenge Results

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keep-calm-and-love-reading-64Happy New Year, friends! I hope everyone has had a wonderful first few days of 2016 and that you are keeping on track with your New Year’s Resolutions. I have a few health and wellness goals this year (don’t we all?), but one of my annual goals is to make time for reading. 🙂

Reading a variety of genres and authors exposes you to new perspectives and can make you a better writer! Every year, I share my recap of what I read the year prior, as well as links to the blog posts that some of these books inspired.

Below are the books I read in 2015. (Click for recaps from 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.) You can keep up with the current list for 2016 by visiting the Book Challenge page at the top menu or by clicking here.

Books I Read in 2015:

1. The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero (1/12/2015)
2. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (1/29/2015)
3. How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (2/3/2015)
4. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (2/9/2015)
5. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (3/21/2015)
6. The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom (3/22/2015)
7. Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth (5/18/2015)
8. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (5/22/2015)
9. The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan (5/24/2015)
10. Why Men Love Bitches by Sherry Argov (6/4/2015)
11. Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell (6/6/2015)
12. Winkie by Clifford Chase (6/11/2015)
13. I’m Only Here For The WiFi by Chelsea Fagan (6/18/2015)
14. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (6/23/2015)
15. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (7/6/2015)
16. Dating Up by J. Courtney Sullivan (7/24/2015)
17. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling (9/23/2015)
18. The Mathematics of Love by Hannah Fry (10/1/2015) — Unique Holiday Gift Guide for All Friends
19. When The Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka (11/12/2015) — Adventures in Florida: Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens
20. Many Waters by Madeleine L’Engle (12/11/2015)
21. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (12/13/2015)
22. Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich (12/29/2015)

Have you read any of these books? Any suggestions for 2016?

Share your thoughts and recommendations in the comments section below!

2014 Book Challenge Results

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tumblr_static_bibliophileHappy New Year, and thank you for stopping by! 🙂 2015 is an exciting time for me at So It Must Be True, with health and wellness becoming one of the blog’s added focuses, as well as some brand new content. As a writer, I love to read in my spare time, and occasionally the books I read will inspire my blog posts!

Every year, I aim to read as much as I can, and I create annual recaps to share my book lists with readers!

While adjusting to full-time employment and a busy schedule, I haven’t had a ton of time to read for pleasure this year, but I am still happy to have enjoyed some great books! (Yes, I know I fell way short of my 50 book challenge, but hey – I really liked the books I did get to read!)

Below is a list of books I read this year, as well as any blog posts inspired by them. (Click for recaps from 2011, 2012 and 2013.) Let me know what great books you’ve enjoyed this year!

Books I’ve Read in 2014:

1. The Godfather by Mario Puzo (1/18/14)
2. Silent Dancing by Judith Ortiz Cofer (1/21/14) – The Stories We Tell Ourselves
3. I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts On Being A Woman by Nora Ephron (1/28/14)
4. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (2/20/14)
5. It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig (2/25/14)
6. Divergent by Veronica Roth (3/30/14)
7. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult (4/30/14)
8. Dirty Love by Andre Dubus III (5/22/14)
9. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg (7/10/14)
10. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (8/2/14) – How I Met Your Mother, Toltec Wisdom and Letting Go
11. Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding (9/3/14)
12. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (12/25/14)

Have you read any of these books? What are some of your favorite books you’ve read this year? What do you suggest for 2015?

2013 Book Challenge Results

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tumblr_m7qyzcQjmC1r0tmr2o1_500Happy New Year, my dear readers!

For me, 2013 was a year of transition and change. I graduated from college, my home away from home, and took my first bold steps into the corporate world as a full-time marketing professional. In 2013, I began to take control of my own finances, moved into my first non-college-affiliated apartment, mastered the art of making delicious smoothies and even learned the basic fundamentals of football! It was a year of both opportunity and nostalgia, of love and loss, of letting go of the past and discovering new horizons.

What 2013 was not, however, was a year of abundant reading. Every year, I aim to read as many books as possible in order to de-stress and gain a little inspiration in the process. In 2013, the number of books I read dwindled from the previous years, although many were fantastic reads! (I even reviewed Jen Glantz’s book, All My Friends Are Engaged, on my blog!)

Below is a list of the books I read this year. (Click for recaps from 2011 and 2012.)

1. The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1/15/13)
2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2/5/13)
3. It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (3/1/13)
4. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory (3/11/13)
5. Going Bovine by Libba Bray (3/21/13)
6. Summer Rush by Gabrielle Upshur (4/3/13)
7. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (6/7/13)
8. Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James (7/18/13)
9. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (8/26/13)
10. The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen (12/5/13)
11. All My Friends Are Engaged by Jen Glantz (12/19/13) – Book Review: All My Friends Are Engaged

Hoping for more wonderful books in 2014! Any suggestions in the new year?

2012 Book Challenge Recap

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Beauty%26BeastReadingLowNow that 2012 is a thing of the past, I would like to share the results of my 50 Book Challenge. For those of you who are newer readers of my blog or unfamiliar with this challenge, I started keeping track of the books I read in 2011 in the hope of reading 50 books. (See 2011 recap here!) Although I fell short of my goal that year, my commitment to reading for my own personal enrichment ultimately enhanced my creativity and allowed me to make my hobby a priority.

2012 was a bit more of a struggle, with multiple responsibilities preventing me from reading as much as I preferred. I had trouble finding the time to finish a book this past year, but I still wound up reading a few great ones. I discovered the Library at my school (a little late in the game) and would recommend this hidden gem to any college students who haven’t visited theirs already. I juggled classics, such as The Importance of Being Earnest and Lolita, with not-so-remarkable pieces of “literature,” such as Fifty Shades of Grey. This year, in 2013, I hope to make reading more of a priority again. Below are the books and plays I picked up in 2012. (Any links will direct you to blogs I wrote that were inspired by these books.)

50 Book Challenge of 2012

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling (1/8/12) – Commitment: It’s Not Just About Settling Down
2. Shut Out by Kody Keplinger (1/13/12)
3. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (3/3/12)
4. To Wed A Wicked Earl by Olivia Parker (3/10/12)
5. Me: Stories Of My Life by Katharine Hepburn (3/18/12)
6. Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde (3/27/12)
7. Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman (4/1/12)
8. Salomé by Oscar Wilde (4/8/12)
9. A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde (4/20/12)
10. At The Threshold of Memory by Marjorie Agosin (4/20/12)
11. Meetings, Expositions, Events and Conventions by George Fenich (4/22/12)
12. An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde (5/17/12)
13. Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes (5/27/12)
14. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (6/11/12)
15. Sabrina Fair by Samuel Taylor (6/12/12)
16. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger (7/1/12)
17. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (7/5/12)
18. Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James (9/20/12)

Have you read any of these books? What were your thoughts? What books do you recommend, and what books do you hope to read in 2013?