{"id":5897,"date":"2018-01-03T09:49:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T14:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=5897"},"modified":"2025-03-06T09:03:09","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T14:03:09","slug":"my-book-challenge-for-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=5897","title":{"rendered":"My Book Challenge for 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’d never done a book challenge before, but decided to try one last year. And in the process, I discovered something about myself- I don’t like reading from someone else’s list. I take a more fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants approach to reading, apparently. But nevertheless, it was a good challenge to do, because I read a few things I wouldn’t have otherwise.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I didn’t quite finish the challenge, which I like to blame entirely on having to plow through one of the longest and dullest books I’ve ever read. (cough*War and Peace*cough) Also, my personal rule was that if a book fit more than one category, I could count it for both. But let me show you what I did read…<\/p>\n

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  1. The Owl in the Attic and Other Perplexities-\u00a0<\/em>James Thurber (short stories)<\/li>\n
  2. Anne of the Island-\u00a0<\/em>L.M. Montgomery (young adult novel)<\/li>\n
  3. The Scarlet Pimpernel-<\/em> Baroness Emmuska Orczy (color in its title)<\/li>\n
  4. Pudd’nhead Wilson-\u00a0<\/em>Mark Twain (more than 100 years old, about immigrants, sort of)<\/li>\n
  5. Do Over-\u00a0<\/em>Jon Acuff (picked based on its cover)<\/li>\n
  6. Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris-\u00a0<\/em>Paul Gallico (set in a place I want to visit)<\/li>\n
  7. Till We Have Faces-\u00a0<\/em>C.S. Lewis (based on a fairy tale)<\/li>\n
  8. Oh, Boy! Babies!-\u00a0<\/em>Alison Herzig and Jane Mali (national book award winner)<\/li>\n
  9. Mrs Mike-\u00a0<\/em>Benedict and Nancy Freedman (set in a forest, sort of)<\/li>\n
  10. On Writing Well-\u00a0<\/em>William Zinsser (under 200 pages)<\/li>\n
  11. War and Peace-\u00a0<\/em>Leo Tolstoy (over 400 pages, translated, adapted to a movie)<\/li>\n
  12. A Swiftly Tilting Planet-\u00a0<\/em>Madeleine L’Engle (fantasy novel)<\/li>\n
  13. Their Eyes Were Watching God-\u00a0<\/em>Zora Neale Hurston (author of color)<\/li>\n
  14. Cooking for Mr Latte-\u00a0<\/em>Amanda Hesser (female author)<\/li>\n
  15. Versus-\u00a0<\/em>Ogden Nash (poetry)<\/li>\n
  16. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society-\u00a0<\/em>Mary Ann Shaffer (about a historical event)<\/li>\n
  17. The Secret Garden-\u00a0<\/em>Frances H Burnett (child narrator)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    There you have it. I missed four categories, but maybe I’ll read those this year just so I can see all the little boxes neatly checked off. (Yes, I’m a list freak.) In total, I read 39 books last year, so I did do a fair amount of reading, if not exactly for the challenge.<\/p>\n

    Oh, you say you want to know which of my reads you should read too? I’m so glad you asked!<\/p>\n