#courtney.reads

[courtney-reads-books]

Here's what's up for the rest of my year for the 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - give or take a few books from my kindle. Let's do it!

[courtney-reads-books]

2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

1. A book recommended by a librarian // Lord of the Flies by William Golding 2. A book that’s been on your TBR list for way too long // The White Queen by Philippa Gregory 3. A book of letters // The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis 4. An audiobook // Into the Water by Paula Hawkins 5. A book by a person of color // Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson 6. A book with one of the four seasons in the title // Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell 7. A book that is a story within a story // Commonwealth by Ann Patchett 8. A book with multiple authors // Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King & Richard T. Chizmar  9. An espionage thriller // The Night Manager by John le Carré 10. A book with a cat on the cover // The Life of Pi by Yann Martel 11. A book by an author who uses a pseudonym // The Girl Before by JP Delaney 12. A bestseller from a genre you don’t normally read (humor non-fiction) // Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari & Eric Klinenberg 13. A book by or about a person who has a disability // Me Before You by Jojo Moyes 14. A book involving travel // American Gods by Neil Gaiman 15. A book with a subtitle // In The Garden of the Beasts by Erik Larson 16. A book that’s published in 2017 // Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders 17. A book involving a mythical creature // Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas 18. A book you’ve read before that never fails to make you smile // The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 19. A book about food // Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert 20. A book with career advice // Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly 21. A book from a nonhuman perspective // Elephants and Corpses by Kameron Hurley (Tor short story) 22. A steampunk novel // The Time Machine by H.G. Wells 23. A book with a red spine // Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 24. A book set in the wilderness // Wintering by Peter Geye 25. A book you loved as a child // The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman 26. A book by an author from a country you’ve never visited // The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman 27. A book with a title that’s a character’s name // Carrie by Stephen King 28. A novel set during wartime // Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly 29. A book with an unreliable narrator // His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet 30. A book with pictures // 31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you // The Most Beautiful: My Life with Prince by Mayte Garcia 32. A book about an interesting woman // Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst 33. A book set in two different time periods // The Hike by Drew Magary 34. A book with a month or day of the week in the title // The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim 35. A book set in a hotel // Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier 36. A book written by someone you admire // 33 Days to Morning Glory: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat In Preparation for Marian Consecration by Michael Gaitley 37. A book that’s becoming a movie in 2017 // The Shack by Wm. Paul Young 38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas // Husband’s Secret by Laine Moriarty   39. The first book in a series you haven’t read before // The Gunslinger by Stephen King 40. A book you bought or rented for a trip // The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

41. A book recommended by an author you love // Red Moon by Benjamin Percy (Recommended by Stephen King) 42. A bestseller from 2016 // Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance 43. A book with a family-member term in the title // My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier 44. A book that takes place over a character’s life span // A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman 45. A book about an immigrant or refugee // Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 46. A book from a genre/subgenre that you’ve never heard of (chick-lit) // The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid 47. A book with an eccentric character // The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls 48. A book that’s more than 800 pages // 11/22/63 by Stephen King 49. A book that you got from a used book sale // 50. A book that mentions another book // The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware (mentions The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath) 51. A book about a difficult topic // The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell 52. A book based on mythology // Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

To find the challenge: https://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading-Challenge-2017-42561300

Left to finish: A book of letters // The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis A book with a cat on the cover // The Life of Pi by Yann Martel A book about food // Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert A book you loved as a child // The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman A book with pictures // A book with a month or day of the week in the title // The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim A book set in a hotel // Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier A book set around a holiday other than Christmas // Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty The first book in a series you haven’t read before // The Gunslinger by Stephen King A book recommended by an author you love // Red Moon by Benjamin Percy (Recommended by Stephen King) A book about an immigrant or refugee // Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides A book with an eccentric character // The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls A book that’s more than 800 pages // 11/22/63 by Stephen King A book that you got from a used book sale // A book based on mythology // Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

[courtney-reads-books]

THE BOYS OF WINTER • by: Wayne Coffey

“Hockey is a club that holds its members tightly, the bond forged by shared hardship and mutual passion, by every trip to the pond, where your feet hurt and your face is cold and you might get a stick in the ribs or a puck in the mouth, and you still can’t wait to get back out there because you are smitten with the sound of blades scraping against ice and pucks clacking off sticks, and with the game’s speed and ever-changing geometry. It has a way of becoming the center of your life even when you’re not on the ice.”

I am really glad that I gave this book a shot. I like hockey as much as the next Minnesotan but I really don't know A LOT, like the above average Minnesotan. Especially some of its most important historical moments. The 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team is always a memory that pops up, especially with the number of boys on the team from Minnesota, and more specifically, my hometown area on the Iron Range. It was fun to read along with the minute to minute action, read more in depth summaries of the lives of not only Herb Brooks but each of the players themselves. I enjoyed this book immensely.

Read from September 7-24, 2016

[courtney-reads-books]

A MONSTER CALLS • by: Patrick Ness

“Your mind will believe comforting lies while also knowing the painful truths that make those lies necessary. And your mind will punish you for believing both."

I don't know where to begin in rating/reviewing this book. If there were more stars to rate, I would do it. There aren't many books that really, truly blow me away and impress me - honestly I oftentimes find myself disappointed when reading and forget the plot lines of books two weeks later. This one though, wow. This one chewed me up, swished me around for a bit and spit me out - it left me raw, vulnerable, red-eyed and runny nosed in bed feeling so empty yet full at the same time. I had this same feeling when I not too long ago read, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.

I read this book in about a two hour time span - it began in my bed on my Kindle, only to transfer to my phone in a booth at a sushi restaurant waiting for my good friend, to back in bed with a box of Kleenex, sobbing uncontrollably. This books builds you up and tears you down. It tests what you believe to be true and what you believe are fabrications of your own imagination. It pushes you back to your childhood and forces you to remember what it was like to be innocent, young and afraid. Hell, the fear exists no matter what the age and this book brings it all to the surface, but in the most exquisite way. While reflecting on this book, I needed to give myself a day or two. The emotions I felt when finished were heavy. They were as real as the crumpled up, used Kleenex I had on my nightstand from sobbing for the last 20% of the journey. Still, I wanted to go back a day or two later and ask myself if I loved this book as much as I felt I did - I didn't want to be caught up in the drama of it all and rate this incorrectly. I rented it from the library thinking I would save money - I ended up purchasing it in hardcover from Amazon ten minute after finishing it.

Read on September 24, 2016

[courtney-reads-books]

The art of expanding my library is a never ending process- whether it's physical books on my shelves or virtual shelves in my Kindle. After an afternoon with friends and family at a bridal shower my aunt let me raid her bookshelves - you can see that I only grabbed a few.