Ok, I must begin with a sheepish confession: I didn’t officially win the challenge. Sad, right? But, well it can be argued that I did actually read 50 books! My mistake was being sucked into This New Ocean: The story of the first Space Age, by William E. Burrows. It’s a good one, which you’ll see later, but it’s like a thousand pages! Anyway I’m reading it and the one on Charleston, so those make 49 and 50 respectively. And I’ve read half of it, making probably near 2 regular books. Can that be accepted as finishing? Weigh in.
So without further delay, I give you the second 25 books I read in 2015. There may be diamonds, and there may be duds. Only you can decide that.
RELATED: First 25
| Title/Author | Genre/rating | App/File format | My 20-word summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean Streak, Sandra Brown | Crime Fiction, 4/5 | BARD Audio | Action-packed especially at end, woman kidnapped in NC mountains; does rely too heavily on Southern stereotypes |
| A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson | Nonfiction Memoir, 4.5/5 | BARD Braille | Man attempts walking Appalachian Trail, sprinkled with amusing anecdotes, adventurous, pretty funny |
| Impasse, Royce Buckingham | Crime Fiction, 4/5 | BARD Audio | Boston-area lawyer sent by friend to wilds of Alaska for birthday trip, not superb writing but craz |
| The Deepest Secret, Carla Buckley | Crime Fiction, 5/5 | BARD Audio | Mother of son with rare condition commits accident, runs away, causes suffering to all, more than I can summarize! |
| This New Ocean: The story of the first Space Age, William E. Burrows | Historical Nonfiction, 3.5/5 | BARD Braille | In-depth telling, from ancients to US/Soviet Space race to Shuttle development, very political and can drag for long swaths |
| The Forgotten Room, Lincoln Child | Sci-Fi/Fantasy, 4.5/5 | BARD Audio | Story of sonic machine in old secluded lab that could produce horrifying effects, breaking up friendships and lives. Page-turner |
| Ready Player One, Ernest Cline | Sci-fi/Fantasy, 5/5 | Audible Audio | 80’s meets 2045, contestants compete in computer game to unlock billions by referencing old movies, also warring with big business |
| The Fold, Peter Clines | Sci-fi/Fantasy, 4.5/5 | Audible Audio | Essentially 2nd in series, California company opens “door” shrinking distance, with unforeseen consequences |
| Missing You, Harlan Cohben | Crime Fiction, 4/5 | Audible Audio | People inexplicably disappear, discovered that it is due to online dating scam |
| The Secret of Fair Hill, Faith Cummings | Religious Fiction, 3.5/5 | Kindle Text | Woman grows up in 18th-Century Vermont, grapples with feelings on God, marriage, and family |
| The Solomon Curse (Fargo Series Book 7), Clive Cussler | Adventure Fiction, 4/5 | BARD Audio | Couple seeks to unearth treasure on Solomon Islands, must survive deceit from those known and unknown, and uprisings |
| What Is Visible, Kimberly Elkins | Historical Fiction, 4.5/5 | BARD Braille | Fictionalized telling of the story of Laura Bridgman, deafblind woman educated at Perkins in 1800s |
| Sycamore Row, John Grisham | Legal Fiction, 4/5 | BARD Audio | Black housekeeper is willed inheritance from white man, children try to fight it |
| The Art of Forgetting:Rider, Joanne Hall | Sci-fi/Fantasy, 4/5 | iBooks Text | Boy separated from family in faraway land, taught to fight for army, primarily on horseback. Deals with adolescence, sexuality |
| Locke and Key, Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez | Sci-fi/Fantasy, 4.5/5 | Audible Audio | Amazing multi-narrated story about ghosts, a magic residence, and a New England town. Hard to follow at times, though |
| Charleston: A Novel, John Jakes | Historical Fiction, 5/5 | BARD Audio | Fictional family that follows the arc of real Charleston SC history, from late 1770’s to middle 1800’s |
| Middle Passage, Charles Johnson | Historical Fiction, 3/5 | BARD Audio | story about a freed black man on slave ship in mid 1800s, slaves revolt then must survive return to New Orleans |
| Descent, Tim Johnston | Crime Fiction, 4/5 | Audible Audio | Girl is kidnapped while hiking trail in Rockes, family spends 2 years living in region to try and find her |
| The Bullet, Mary Louise Kelly | Crime Fiction, 4.5/5 | BARD Audio | |
| Darkness, Take My Hand, Dennis Lehane | Crime Fiction, 4/5 | BARD Braille | Story about organized crime in 1990s Boston, couple of detectives battle to solve case that has links to their childhood |
| The Wright Brothers, David McCullough | Historical Nonfictional, 5/5 | Audible Audio | Tells great and fairly simplified story of the famous aviators’ track to the air |
| Liars and Saints, Maile Meloy | Family Fiction, 4.5/5 | BARD Braille | Sex, between family members and adult-teenage, results in many and varied consequences |
| Leaving Time, Jodi Picoult | Sci-fi/Fantasy, 5/5 | BARD Braille | New Hampshire girl searches for her mother, a prominent elephant researcher in Africa, enlists psychic for help |
| The Transcriptionist, Amy Rowland | Psychological Fiction, 4/5 | BARD Braille | Transcriptionist at New York paper becomes fascinated by encounter with blind woman, finds ways to work through issues |
| Shadows Over Paradise, Isabel Wolff | War Fiction, 5/5 | BARD Audio | Englishwoman ghostwrites story about another’s experiences on Java during World War 2 |
Observations
Whew! That record-shattering challenge took a lot to pull off, at least to the extent that I did. No question, I won’t be able to try it again for the next couple of years at least. Let’s take a look at the trends.
Most of the books I read this time were via BARD, not surprising as I don’t have to pay for that ha ha. Eight were audio, and 5 in Braille. I did also enjoy the Joe Hill book that came free from Audible around Halloween.
< p>I also didn’t stick as closely to half and half men and women as I had last time, with only 10 being by women during this 25. I suppose that’s still a fairly decent number. The most important thing was to hear from a number of voices and backgrounds. Probably my favorite thing was taking in work from authors whom I’ve known, at least online, for a long time: Faith Cummings and Joanne Hall.
I don’t know what kind of challenge I could come up with for 2016, but think it’ll mostly be trying to survive grad school! Stay tuned, and thanks for your support.