52 Books in 52 Weeks

Updated 6/28/2019

I used to play games like Candy Crush or Trivia Crack during idle times (e.g., on the T, in line, before going to sleep, and right after waking up). This made my brain feel like it was ingesting the mental equivalent of Starbucks frappuccinos along with my usual Facebook and Instagram feeds. I kept spotting the hashtag #52booksin52weeks on my friend @JosieGL‘s Instagram with lovely pictures like this, and I got intrigued.

I realized that I missed reading for fun–the single-tasking nature of it, the freedom from digital distractions, and the complex stories that inspire one’s imagination more than 140-character tweets or clickbait listicles. So 52 books in 52 weeks will be my adult version of the Pizza Hut Book-It Challenge!

Thoughts on the challenge:

• • LifeHack
  • Huffington Post
  • Becoming Minimalist
  • Happy Herbivore

My 2019 Attempt – 20/52

Currently Listening: All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

Currently Reading: 

1. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
2. I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai (audiobook) (Teele Mamas Book Club)
3. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff (audiobook)
4. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (audiobook)
5. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan (audiobook)
6. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han (audiobook)
7. Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris (audiobook)
8. Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (CRC Book Club) (audiobook)
9. Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (Teele Mamas Book Club)
10. All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Nicole Chung
11. P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
12. Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
13. Sunburn by Laura Lippman (audiobook)
14. The Rooster Bar by John Grisham (audiobook)
15. The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware (audiobook)
16. The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti (audiobook)
17. The Broken Girls by Simone St. James (audiobook)
18. The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life: Before 8AM by Hal Elrod
19. A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn
20. Becoming by Michelle Obama (audiobook)

My 2018 Attempt – 44/52

1. The Singles by Meredith Goldstein
2. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
3. Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan
4. First Ladies of Running: 22 Inspiring Profiles of the Rebels, Rule Breakers, and Visionaries Who Changed the Sport Forever (CRC Book Club)
5. The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney
6. Assessment in Perspective: Focusing on the Reader Behind the Numbers by Clare Landrigan, Tammy Mulligan
7. Marathon Man: My 26.2 Mile Journey from Unknown Grad Student to the Top of the Running World by Bill Rodgers
8. Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
9. Shucked: Life on a New England Oyster Farm by Erin Byers Murray
10. Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
11. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
12. No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline Without Shame by Janet Lansbury
13. The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll
14. Circle by Madeline Miller
15. The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
16. Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure by Amy Kaufman
17. Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson (Kindle)
18. Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey (Kindle)
19. The Last Mrs. Parrish by Live Constantine
20. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
21. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
22. The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
23. The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks
24. The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer (audiobook)
25. Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris
26. The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty (audiobook)
27. The Hellfire Club by Jake Tapper
28. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (Teele Mamas Book Club)
29. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (audiobook)
30. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
31. Mathematical Mindsets by Jo Boaler
32. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (audiobook)
33. A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn (Teele Mamas Book Club)
34. Unqualified by Anna Faris (audiobook)
35. The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton
36. Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! Famous People Who Returned My Calls by Peter Sagal (audiobook)
37. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
38. A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn
39. Wildflower by Drew Barrymore (audiobook)
40. A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn
41. A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell
42. How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell
43. Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster
44. The Ex by Alafair Burke (audiobook)

My 2017 Attempt – 23/52

1. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman (CRC Book Club)
2. The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee by Sarah Silverman
3. Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill (Teele Mamas Book Club)
4. It’s In His Heart by Shelly Alexander (Kindle)
5. The Science of Mom: A Research-Based Guide to Your Baby’s First Year by Alice Callahan
6. Cravings; Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat by Chrissy Teigen
7. Let it Snow by John Green
8. Baggage Check by M.J. Pullen
9. The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich (Teele Mamas Book Club)
10. The Signal Flame by Andrew Krivak (CRC Book Club, Teele Mamas Book Club)
11. The Paris Deadline by Max Byrd
12. The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams
13. Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson
14. The Classroom Chef: Sharpen Your Lessons, Season Your Classes, Make Math Meaningful by John Stevens and Matt Vaudrey
15. Yes Please by Amy Poehler (audiobook)
16. The Hopefuls by Jennifer Close (audiobook)
17. The Assistants by Camille Perri (audiobook)
18. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (Teele Mamas Book Club)
19. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate–Discoveries from a Secret World (Teele Mamas Book Club)
20. VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health…For Good by Mark Bittman
21. Duel in the Sun: Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America’s Greatest Marathon by John Brant
22. Maestra by L.S. Hilton
23. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough (CRC Book Club)

My 2016 Attempt – 9/52

1. The Romanov Conspiracy by Glenn Meade
2. The Moonlit Garden by Corinna Bomann
3. The Travelers by Chris Pavone
4. Dear Emma by Katie Heaney
5. Hidden by Karen E. Olson
6. The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
7. Don’t You Cry by Mary Kubica
8. Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner
9. American Babe by Babe Walker

My 2015 Attempt: 22/52

1. The Vacationers
2. What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast
3. Inamorata
4. The Underwriting
5. The Bling Ring
6. The Secret Life of Violet Grant
7. Spoiled
8. And When She Was Good
9. Beautiful Day
10. Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper
11. Jennifer, Gwyneth, & Me: The Pursuit of Happiness, One Celebrity at a Time
12. Down the Rabbit Hole
13. Mrs. Sinclair’s Suitcase
14. Bringing up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting
15. China Rich Girlfriend
16. The Royal We
17. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
18. Ghosts of Cambridge: Haunts of Harvard Square and Beyond
19. Ghosts of Boston: Haunts of the Hub
20. I’ll Have What She’s Having: Adventures in Celebrity Dieting
21. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
22. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari