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:
My 2019 Attempt – 20/52
Currently Listening: All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda
Currently Reading:
- Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
- 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)
- Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff (audiobook)
- Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (audiobook)
- China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan (audiobook)
- To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han (audiobook)
- Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris (audiobook)
- Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (CRC Book Club) (audiobook)
- Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (Teele Mamas Book Club)
- All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Nicole Chung
- P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
- Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
- Sunburn by Laura Lippman (audiobook)
- The Rooster Bar by John Grisham (audiobook)
- The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware (audiobook)
- The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti (audiobook)
- The Broken Girls by Simone St. James (audiobook)
- The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life: Before 8AM by Hal Elrod
- A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn
- Becoming by Michelle Obama (audiobook)
My 2018 Attempt – 44/52
- The Singles by Meredith Goldstein
- Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
- Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan
- First Ladies of Running: 22 Inspiring Profiles of the Rebels, Rule Breakers, and Visionaries Who Changed the Sport Forever (CRC Book Club)
- The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney
- Assessment in Perspective: Focusing on the Reader Behind the Numbers by Clare Landrigan, Tammy Mulligan
- Marathon Man: My 26.2 Mile Journey from Unknown Grad Student to the Top of the Running World by Bill Rodgers
- Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
- Shucked: Life on a New England Oyster Farm by Erin Byers Murray
- Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline Without Shame by Janet Lansbury
- The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll
- Circle by Madeline Miller
- The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
- Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure by Amy Kaufman
- Matchmaking for Beginners by Maddie Dawson (Kindle)
- Paris Time Capsule by Ella Carey (Kindle)
- The Last Mrs. Parrish by Live Constantine
- Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
- The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
- The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks
- The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer (audiobook)
- Bring Me Back by B.A. Paris
- The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty (audiobook)
- The Hellfire Club by Jake Tapper
- I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara (Teele Mamas Book Club)
- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (audiobook)
- Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
- Mathematical Mindsets by Jo Boaler
- Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (audiobook)
- A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn (Teele Mamas Book Club)
- Unqualified by Anna Faris (audiobook)
- The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton
- Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! Famous People Who Returned My Calls by Peter Sagal (audiobook)
- The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
- A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn
- Wildflower by Drew Barrymore (audiobook)
- A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn
- A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell
- How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell
- Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster
- The Ex by Alafair Burke (audiobook)
My 2017 Attempt – 23/52
- My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman (CRC Book Club)
- The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee by Sarah Silverman
- Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill (Teele Mamas Book Club)
- It’s In His Heart by Shelly Alexander (Kindle)
- The Science of Mom: A Research-Based Guide to Your Baby’s First Year by Alice Callahan
- Cravings; Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat by Chrissy Teigen
- Let it Snow by John Green
- Baggage Check by M.J. Pullen
- The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich (Teele Mamas Book Club)
- The Signal Flame by Andrew Krivak (CRC Book Club, Teele Mamas Book Club)
- The Paris Deadline by Max Byrd
- The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams
- Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson
- The Classroom Chef: Sharpen Your Lessons, Season Your Classes, Make Math Meaningful by John Stevens and Matt Vaudrey
- Yes Please by Amy Poehler (audiobook)
- The Hopefuls by Jennifer Close (audiobook)
- The Assistants by Camille Perri (audiobook)
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (Teele Mamas Book Club)
- The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate–Discoveries from a Secret World (Teele Mamas Book Club)
- VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health…For Good by Mark Bittman
- Duel in the Sun: Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America’s Greatest Marathon by John Brant
- Maestra by L.S. Hilton
- The Wright Brothers by David McCullough (CRC Book Club)
My 2016 Attempt – 9/52
- The Romanov Conspiracy by Glenn Meade
- The Moonlit Garden by Corinna Bomann
- The Travelers by Chris Pavone
- Dear Emma by Katie Heaney
- Hidden by Karen E. Olson
- The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
- Don’t You Cry by Mary Kubica
- Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner
- American Babe by Babe Walker
My 2015 Attempt: 22/52
- The Vacationers
- What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast
- Inamorata
- The Underwriting
- The Bling Ring
- The Secret Life of Violet Grant
- Spoiled
- And When She Was Good
- Beautiful Day
- Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper
- Jennifer, Gwyneth, & Me: The Pursuit of Happiness, One Celebrity at a Time
- Down the Rabbit Hole
- Mrs. Sinclair’s Suitcase
- Bringing up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting
- China Rich Girlfriend
- The Royal We
- Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
- Ghosts of Cambridge: Haunts of Harvard Square and Beyond
- Ghosts of Boston: Haunts of the Hub
- I’ll Have What She’s Having: Adventures in Celebrity Dieting
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
- Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari