Whew, 11 months down, 1 to go, so how is my goal of 300 books in a year going? Well, it is extremely unlikely that I will hit that goal. My current book count is 158, unless I read 142 short books, I won’t hit it. But, my realistic goal of 175 this year should be achievable.

Here’s a breakdown of my last month of reading and my thoughts. There are a few affiliate links in here, marked with this -> * because I did read some great books. This means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I’ll get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to you. It’s a way you can say “thanks” for the recommendation:

Book #149 – Murder on the Orient Express – this fulfilled a book by Agatha Christie in the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge. This was my very first Agatha Christie book. I wasn’t wowed or disappointed, just, “eh, ok, I can mark that off list.” I did enjoy watching the new movie afterwards.
Book #150 – Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – this fulfilled a book you’ve heard nothing about in the BCPL reading challenge. Ok, I fudged this one a little bit because I had heard about it before, but the whole motorcycle maintenance, nope, didn’t know much there. This one was recommended a bunch in Tim Ferris’s books, and by his podcast guests. I was very, very underwhelmed. I rarely finish books that I won’t rate 4 or 5 stars, this one ended up being a 3. I only finished it because it was long (~18 hours of an audiobook), and I had already put in so much time. Oy, happy to have that one done.
Book #151 – Do Purpose: Why brands with a purpose do better and matter more. – this fulfilled none of my challenges.
Book #152 – I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life* – this fulfilled none of my challenges. What’s really funny is that this was written by Anne Bogel of The Modern Mrs. Darcy, and this didn’t fulfill anything in her reading challenge. This book, oh this book, was SO delightful and a MUST read for any book lover. It would make a great gift for one as well, so if you’re wondering what to get the reader on your list who has read everything, I’d recommend this.
Book #153 – Death of a Salesman – this fulfilled a book that has won a Pulitzer Prize – any year in the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge. Oh man, this was a HARD read, mostly because I have taken GREAT steps to NOT live a life like this. Oy, hard hard hard.
Book #154 – Ink and Bone – this fulfilled a book with a mystery in the Reading Bingo challenge.
Book #155 – EC Stories: Flood, Recovery, Community* – this fulfilled a microhistory in the Popsugar challenge. I have known the author, Kat Forder, for years and when I heard she was writing a book about the 2018 flood in Ellicott City, I knew I had to read it. This was by no means an easy book, but it truly does help to answer the question “why rebuild after ANOTHER flood?”
Book #156 – The Little Prince – this fulfilled a foreign book translated into English in the Mommy Mannegren 52 books challenge.
Book #157 – Vox – this fulfilled a book nominated for an award in 2018 in the Modern Mrs. Darcy challenge.
Book #158 – The Mountain Between Us – this fulfilled a best-selling book in the Reading Bingo challenge. I have to say, this was one of the better books I’ve read in a long time. I absolutely adored how the author talked about marriage. I will say, the movie was much like how Ready Player One was, in that you need to see both things as their own things. I only watched about 15 minutes all told of the movie, because they changed the characters SO much.

Current counts on each challenge:

The 2018 Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge – read 10 out of 12, 2 to go.
The 2018 #BWELLREAD Reading Challenge – read 11 out of 12, 1 to go.
The 2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge – read 31 out of 50, 19 to go.
The 2018 Read Harder Challenge – read 14 out of 24, 10 to go.
The Mommy Mannegren 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge – read 48, 4 to go.
Reading Bingo – this was one I got from my local library. It’s from Penguin Random house, but I can’t find a link to it. – read 15, 9 to go.

Original goal of 300 – read 158, 142 to go.

I plan on finishing The Modern Mrs. Darcy challenge, The BWELLREAD challenge, and the Mommy Mannegren 52 books in a year challenge. That will give me 7 more books and I’ll only need 10 more to hit my goal. In a lot of ways, I’m looking forward to reading those last 10 just for fun and whatever I want, without trying to fit them into a challenge.

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