Posted in book, books, life

I finished the Challenge

This is the third year I have participated in my library’s 50 books in 50 weeks in 50 categories challenge. The first two years it took me all 50 weeks to finish. This year I finished early. The library gives the categories and the reader is free to choose any book which fulfills the category.

I started this challenge because I had gotten in a rut and reading only a few genres. This has opened me up to so many good books I would have never considered reading. So step out of your comfort zone and pick up a new genre. If you haven’t read in a long time, don’t be overwhelmed. Find a title or cover that appeals to you and get started. You won’t regret it.

Here is the list of 50 books I read:

Stephen King: On Writing

Kent Haruf: Plainsong

Asphyxia: The Words in my Hands

Maxie McCoy: You’re not Lost

Katherine Arden: The Bear and The Nightingale

Rita Mae Brown: Claws for Alarm

Amanda Gorman: Call us What They Carry

Zane Grey: Desert Gold

Erik Larson: The Devil in the White City, murder, magic and madness

Camille DiMaio: The First Emma

Marina Elena Sandovici: Storms of Malhado

Jo Walton: Farthing

James Runcie: Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death

Stephen Crane: The Red badge of Courage

Taylor Jenkins Reid: Atmosphere

Lucy Foley: The Guest List

David Sedaris: Me talk Pretty One day

Banu Mishtaq: Heart lamp selected stories

Axie Oh: The Girl who fell beneath the Sea

Katherine Reay: Dear Mr. Knightley

Philip Deck: The Man in the High Castle

Walter Wangerin Jr: The Book of God

Claire Keegan: Small Things Like These

Shirley Wachtel: The Baker of Lost Memories

Kristina McMorris: Sold on a Monday

Madeline Miller: The Song of Achilles

Edmond Rostand: Cyrano de Bergerac

Vyvyan Evan’s: The Babel Apocalypse

Elly Griffiths: The Last Word

Ina Caro: Paris to the Past: Traveling through History by Train

Claire Swinarski: The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County

Claire Leslie Hall: Broken Country

Carsten Henn: The Door to door Bookstore

Shonda Rhimes: Year of Yes

Beth O’Leary: The No Show

Neil Hayward: Lost Among the Birds: Accidentally Finding Myself in one Very Big Year

Wendy Corsi Staub: The Fourth Girl

Loretta Ellsworth: Stars over Clear Lake

Rachel Joyce: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Shawntelle Madison: The Fallen Fruit

Diana Gabaldon: Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone

Jojo Moyes: We All Live Here

Kathleen Grissom: The Kitchen House

Hilary Leichter: Terrace Story

Lauren Roberts: Reckless

Julie Hatcher: Not Quite by the Book

Matthew Inman: How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you

Percival Everett: James

Louise Penny: The Hangman

Margaret Craven: I Heard the Owl call my Name

Reading will change your life.

Posted in life

Hate it and love it

What’s the trait you value most about yourself?

The trait I like best about myself is also the trait the hate most about myself. I am a talker. Moving around a lot as a kid, I learned quickly no one is looking for a new friend. Therefore I ended up talking my way to a friendship.

Now as an adult, I can speak to just about anyone and make them feel welcomed and included. I like this about myself.

I also hate that I am a talker because so many times I needed to be a listener. Many times talking is a screen for my fear of being excluded-left out.

While I’m busy making people feel included and welcomed, I’m not listening to what they say.