My hope for this challenge was that I would more than surpass the twenty books, but I didn't. I got a little too distracted with the internet and hulu, but I hope to be better about reading in the future. I have always enjoyed reading, but it seems harder now to know what books to read!
{With the exception of number five, all titles are linked to where you can read more about/purchase the books online.}
1. A Beautiful Mess by Elsie Larson & Emma Chapman
This book is full of ninety-five photography ideas. I thought that there were lots of great and inspiring tips inside. It made me want to go and take pictures right away!
2. Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns by Lauren Weisberger
I really enjoyed this sequel to The Devil Wears Prada. It was a little confusing at times when one chapter would all of the sudden be a flashback, or months further in the future, but all in all, I thought it was a good book.
3. The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
This book was definitely weird with all of the Shakespearean references, and the first-person-plural narrative, but it was really good and I kept reading because I wanted to know what was going to happen with the three sisters!
4. I Am Ozzy by Ozzy Osbourne
I originally read this book my senior year of high school during British Literature, when I was writing a paper on Black Sabbath & Ozzy Osbourne. Yes, I love them and I may have freaked out when I saw Ozzy's star on the Hollywood Boulevard during spring break that year. Anyway, I think this is a really good book if you like rock 'n roll history!
5. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
I bought this book at Target, from the dollar spot when it was on clearance for fifty cents. I was so excited, because I have only watched the movie once, and I wanted to read the book. Well, when I went to read it, I found out that the copy that I bought is a condensed version. It was a quick read, but a good story. Maybe someday I will read the full version.
6. Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath by Tony Iommi
I really enjoyed this book! The only Black Sabbath stuff that I listen to is the stuff with Ozzy, so I didn't really know who Tony was talking about for about half of the book. It was cool to see an overlap with Ozzy's book and seeing both sides for a few stories. My favorite part about this book though, was that in the 369 pages, there were 90 chapters, so they were all relatively short.
7. Eight Girls Taking Pictures by Whitney Otto
I can't remember if I first saw this on Kelle Hampton's blog, or if I saw it before then, and decided to read it after she talked about it. There are eight sections/chapters in this book, each about a different woman in a different place and time in history, and each chapter somehow comes back to the main character of the first section. It was about more than just taking pictures, it was about love and struggle and it was beautiful.
8. Space Kitty Blues by pat mAcdonald
I received this book last year from pat, and I wanted to wait a long time to read it. This book is semi-autobiographical, and I thought that it would be pretty weird to read this since I see pat so often. I was packing to leave for an overnight trip, and I wanted a book to read in the jacuzzi, so I grabbed this one, and I am so glad that I did. I didn't want to put it down. It's a great story and a quick read, with some beautiful quotes. Am I allowed to call this book cute?
"They were both just too beautiful for the worlds they were cast down into."
9. White Whine: A Study of First-World Problems by Streeter Seidell
I forgot where I first heard about this book, but I had to put it on hold at the library right away. This wasn't a novel or novella, every one to four pages would just talk about complaints made on social media from people who seem to have their lives pretty well off, with screenshot examples. The author has a website called White Whine, which is where the book is based off of.
10. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
This book is really good! There were a lot of other people in northeastern Wisconsin who wanted to read this book as well, because I was on the hold list for a month to get it! I was a little confused about why one of the three main characters was involved, but I really liked the way the book was written. There was a totally unexpected twist towards the end, and then the epilogue! The epilogue was probably my favorite part of the book, but it was all so, so good.
"This was how it could be done. This was how your lived with a terrible secret. You just did it. You pretended everything was fine. You ignored the deep, cramplike pain in your stomach. You anesthetized yourself so that nothing felt bad, but nothing felt good either."
11. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
I think I might have actually heard about this book before I heard about The Husband's Secret, but after I read The Husband's Secret, I knew that I had to read What Alice Forgot as well. The books aren't tied in with each other in any way, but I really like Liane's style of writing, and they were both such good books that I didn't want to put them down. The simple premise of this book is that Alice loses ten years of her memories, and it helps her see her life in a different perspective.
12. Finding Betty Crocker by Susan Marks
I picked this book up in the gift shop at the Mill City Museum when I was in Minneapolis. I thought that it was really cool to learn the history of Betty Crocker. There are even a few recipes in here, and it kind of makes me want to dress up as Betty for Halloween!
13. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
It took me a long time to get through this one, but I finally made it through! This book wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I don't really know what I was expecting, but I didn't think that it was going to be a month-by-month look at someone's year. I am glad that I read it; it was a great insight on things that could help make all of us a little bit happier.
14. Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison
I wandered into the library one day to find a book to read (and to get some books for one of my classes at the Y). I think I had heard about some of Beth's books before, and I decided to read this one first, since it seemed as though this was the first one of the three on the shelf. I devoured this book. If I didn't have to work, I would have finished this in less than a day. This is a great story about the lives of four women and how they are brought together by shoes.
15. Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger by Beth Harbison
I didn't like this one as much as I liked Shoe Addicts Anonymous. This one was a little weird because the main character, Quinn, was living a little bit in her past and was torn between two brothers while helping their grandmother get ready for her wedding. Oh, and Quinn almost married one of the brothers ten years before... Talk about small town life and drama.
16. Roomies by Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando
I'm slightly embarrassed to say that this book made me almost cry a couple times. I guess I just wasn't expecting to read a book about two recent high school graduates and have it apply so much (at times) to my life. The story here is that the girls are given their rooming assignments for their freshman year of college, and they start by talking about a couple things for their room, but they go back and forth all summer telling each other about what's going on in their lives. Two girls in different situations on different coasts, but they share their secrets before they even meet. It was a pretty quick read, and I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next!
17. Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
The first thing that you need to know about this book is that it has nothing to do with that place you go for hot dogs and ice cream. I was browsing the YA section at the library, and I was reading a few of the inside covers, and I thought that I would read this one because it's about a girl who lives in Wisconsin. This book is centered around farming and football, two things that I don't really know a whole lot about, but there were enough moments that I could relate with DJ, the main character.
18. The Museum of Intangible Things by Wendy Wunder
The story of a great adventure; an escape for two teenage girls. My very favorite part was when they spent the night at IKEA, which I would
19. The Encyclopedia of Me by Karen Rivers
If I would have known that this was a book about twelve year olds, I wouldn't have picked it up. It was cute, but I think I am very much beyond that stage of my life. I did enjoy the way that the book was laid out. The main character (Tink) was writing an encyclopedia about her life, so there were alphabetical headings, which was nice because I like to have plenty of places where I can stop reading if I don't have a whole lot of time.
20. Violet on the Runway by Melissa Walker
Which girl doesn't have dreams of a career in fashion? I know that I was once planning on going to college for fashion merchandising or fashion marketing, but after I had my senior portrait session, a tiny part of me also wanted to model, even though I knew that that was never going to happen. Violet is a shy high school senior who gets discovered and ends up being a model. This book was a story of chasing your dreams and knowing when to stop chasing them.
21. Water Balloon by Audrey Vernick
I actually haven't finished this one, but I started this book before my birthday, so I thought I would include it as a bonus one. This is another book that ended up being about twelve year olds. Honestly, I judge books by their covers. I don't have a lot to say about this one yet, since I'm only about halfway done.
xoxo.
