2017 Reading List

It's New Year's Eve again, time to share everything I've read this past year.

Starting in 2015, in addition to logging all the books and plays that I read, I also challenged myself to PopSugar's Reading Challenge. I liked the challenge, so I did it again in 2016, and again this year with the 2017 version.

This year, I also set a goal to read one Shakespeare play each month. These are all included on this list under the "plays" heading. I didn't quite make it, but I'm still pretty pleased!

As always, only books that were finished made the list; anything partially read or unfinished is not listed here.

Here's what I read in 2017:

Fiction

• The Tropic of Serpents by -a book involving a mythical creature

Plays

• Richard III by William Shakespeare -- a book by or about a person who has a disability
• The Addams Family Musical book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa -- a book with multiple authors
• Henry VI Part 2 by William Shakespeare -- a book with a title that's a character's name
• Honeymoon in Vegas book by Andrew Bergman, music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown -- a book involving travel
• Henry VI Part 1 by William Shakespeare
• Ordinary Days music and lyrics by Adam Gwon
• Henry V by William Shakespeare
• Red by John Logan -- a book with a red spine
• Henry IV Part 2 by William Shakespeare
• The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane -- a book set in a hotel
• Henry IV Part 1 by William Shakespeare
• It's Only a Play by Terrence McNally
• Richard II by William Shakespeare -- a book written by someone you admire
• The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare -- a book that's been on your TBR list for way too long
• You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown music and lyrics by Clark Gesner -- a book with a nonhuman perspective
• The Nance by Douglas Carter Beane -- a book with an eccentric character

Unused Categories:

-a book recommended by a librarian

-a book of letters

-an audiobook

-a book by a person of color

-a book with one of the four seasons in the title

-a book that is a story within a story

-an espionage thriller

-a book with a cat on the cover

-a book by an author who uses a pseudonym

-a bestseller from a genre you don't normally read

-a book with a subtitle

-a book that's published in 2017

-a book you've read before that never fails to make you smile

-a book about food

-a book with career advice

-a steampunk novel

-a book set in the wilderness

-a book you loved as a child

-a book by an author from a country you've never visited

-a novel set during wartime

-a book with an unreliable narrator

-a book with pictures

-a book where the main character is a different ethnicity that you

-a book about an interesting woman

-a book set in two different time periods

-a book with a month or day of the week in the title

-a book that's becoming a movie in 2017

-a book set around a holiday other than Christmas

-the first book in a series you haven't read before

-a book you bought on a trip

-a book recommended by an author you love

-a bestseller from 2016

-a book with a family-member term in the title

-a book that takes place over a character's life span

-a book about an immigrant or refugee

-a book from a genre/subgenre that you've never heard of

-a book that's more than 800 pages

-a book you got from a used book sale

-a book that's been mentioned in another book

-a book about a difficult topic

-a book based on mythology

Plans for 2017

I'm not big on making resolutions. It's never been a real tradition for me, and I much prefer setting goals that are achievable to making lofty resolutions. But, I've made a few plans/goals for 2017, so I thought I'd share them.

1) Read a Shakespeare play each month. I'd like to eventually work myself through the complete works, and I figure setting a goal of one per month is achievable, even with all the other plays I'll be reading for work. If I happen to read a Shakespeare play for work, it counts towards that month.

2) Start baking my own bread again. We've fallen out of the habit of baking since moving to CO, and I'd like to start up again.

3) Go camping this summer. Camping was something Sean and I each did a ton growing up, since we were both in scouts, but oddly enough have never really done together. School and work always seemed to get in the way. But we both love the outdoors, so now that neither of us is in school anymore, we must get outside again!

2016 Reading List

It's New Year's Eve again, time to share everything I've read this past year.

In 2015, in addition to logging all the books and plays that I read, I also challenged myself to PopSugar's Reading Challenge. I liked the challenge to branch out my reading genres, so I did it again with their 2016 version.

As always, only books that were finished made the list; anything partially read or unfinished is not listed here.

Here's what I read in 2016:

Fiction

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold -- a romance set in the future
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan -- the first book you see in a bookstore
Wool by Hugh Howey -- a dystopian novel
Neuromancer by William Gibson -- a book with a blue cover
Proxima by Stephan Baxter -- a science-fiction novel

Plays

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw -- a book set in Europe
The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow by Rolin Jones
Tiny Tim's Christmas Carol by Ken Ludwig
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean by Ed Graczyk
James and the Giant Peach words and music by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, based on the book by Roald Dahl -- a book that's under 150 pages
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne -- a book that is published in 2016
Full Code by David Valdes Greenwood
Rapunzel by Karen Boettcher-Tate -- a book based on a fairy tale
Sunset Boulevard by Don Black and Christopher Hampton (music by Andrew Lloyd Webber)
Casa Valentina by Harvey Fierstein -- a book you can finish in a day

Unused Categories:
--a National Book Award winner
--a YA bestseller
--a book you haven't read since high school
--a book set in your home state
--a book translated to English
--a New York Times bestseller
--a book that's becoming a movie this year
--a book recommended by someone you just met
--a self-improvement book
--a book written by a celebrity
--a political memoir
--a book at least 100 years older than you
--a book that's more than 600 pages
--a book from Oprah's Book Club
--a book recommended by a family member
--a graphic novel
--a book with a protagonist who has your occupation
--a book that takes place during summer
--a book and its prequel
--a murder mystery
--a book written by a comedian
--a book of poetry
--a classic from the 20th century
--a book from the library
--an autobiography
--a book about a road trip
--a book about a culture you're unfamiliar with
--a satire
--a book that takes place on an island
--a book that's guaranteed to bring you joy