In December of 2015, a friend of mine sent a link to a reading challenge for 2016, asking if I thought I could do it. It listed 104 categories of books, with the challenge to read as many books as you could, choosing your books by category on the list. The most books I've ever read in a year was around 50, so I thought, "I'll probably make it halfway." But I liked the idea of being challenged to read outside of my box, and the categories would help do that.
Well, I made it to 98 books read! The month of October, with being back in the US, traveling a lot and spending so much time with friends, got me behind schedule by 8 books, and I just never could catch all the way up. Oh well. 98 books is nothing to be disappointed about!
I didn't read something from every category, as I knew I just would not be interested at all in a few of the categories, and there were some other things I wanted to read. If you want to see the full list of what I read, you can click HERE.
All year, people kept asking me about it, so I thought, I'll put my answers here.
What's the best book I read?
Having read so many, I can't narrow it down to just one book. There were probably 10 that were excellent, and on the flip side there were probably 5-10 that I just hated.
Best Fiction (in no particular order):
1. What Alice Forgot
2. The Storyteller
3. The Swan House
4. Petra, City of Stone
Best Autobiographies/Memoirs:
1. Infidel and Nomad by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
2. Leap of Faith by Queen Noor
Best Christian Growth:
1. The Insanity of Obedience
2. Simply Jesus
3. Valley of Vision
4. Everyday Grace: Infusing All Your Relationships with the Love of Jesus
5. Questioning Evangelism
Best Self-Improvement/Personal Growth:
1. How to Win Friends and Influence People
2. Notes from a Blue Bike: The Art of Living Intentionally
3. Expectations and Burnout: Women Surviving the Great Commission
4. Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Several of those I will read again. Several books made me want to read more by those authors. Several books were so bad I wish I could get those hours/days of my life back. But it sure was fun to read that much this year. I look forward to what I'll read this year, even if it won't be 98 books! :)
