50/50 Challenge Tracker: Full List of Finished Books
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
This year I am taking on the 50/50 challenge!
I will be reading 50 Fiction books and 50 Non-fiction books in 2015.
Check back to this post to see an overview of how I’m doing. I will only add books to the list when they are finished!
Have a book you think I’d like??? I’d love help on creating my list to read this year.
Leave me a comment below to let me know your favorite fiction and non-fiction books!
Progress: Non-Fiction: 7/50 Fiction: 12/50
Non-Fiction Books
(Click the titles to see full blog post about each book, why I read it, what I learned, etc)
1. Autopilot: The Art and Science of Doing Nothing by Andrew Smart (audiobook version)
A book on how the brain works while thinking and while resting, covers complexity theory and ideas about what the productivity driven world is doing to our brains. Click above for my full review.
2. Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy F Baumeister and John Tierney
A powerful book on self-control and how to make decisions in your day to day life that line up with what you want to have and who you want to be. I HIGHLY recommend this.
3. Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell (and Live) the Best Stories Will Rule the Future by Jonah Sachs
This should be required reading for EVERY marketer. Not only will it help you market in a powerful way, it will make you proud to be one of the people who is shaping society and our future! 🙂
4. COMPLEXITY: THE EMERGING SCIENCE AT THE EDGE OF ORDER AND CHAOS by Mitch Waldrop
5. The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica
6. Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner
7. The Happiness of Pursuit: Finding the Quest That Will Bring Purpose to Your Life by Chris Guillebeau
Fiction Books
(Note: I don’t exactly have a typical taste in books… I love young adult books as they are fast paced and deal with figuring out who you are. I like supernatural, urban fantasy, dystopian future, and even the odd bit of chick lit and occasional best seller. Rather than writing full posts on books that may or may not be your taste, I’ll leave a few thoughts on each book I finish here. Click the titles to see more about the books on Amazon.)
1. The Selection by Kiera Cass
Kind of The Princess Diaries meets Hunger Games meets The Bachelor. Very light for a dystopian teen drama, but a bit of fun. Not the best book I’ve read and only barely touches on real issues… but still sucked me in.
2. The Elite (The Selection Book 2) by Kiera Cass
More of the same. Wish the author wouldn’t draw out the process quite so much!
3. The One (The Selection Book 3) by Kiera Cass
The final to the series was a little flat. Honestly, I think the concept of this series was cool… a dystopian world with a caste system where common girls compete in fancy dresses for the heart of the prince. But the writing didn’t really deliver. That being said, it must have been interesting because I read the whole series in 4 days 🙂
4. The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, Book 1) by James Dashner
This is kinda like Hunger Games meets Lord of the Flies. I almost always read fiction with female protagonists, so this was a fun departure for me. While there were a couple holes I spent the entire book in a state of suspense, sometimes shock and definitely moments of terror. This book definitely scared me.
5. The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner, Book 2) by James Dashner
Usually middle books in a trilogy feel like bridges between the suspenseful opening and the revealing third book. This one was a great book on its own. New characters introduced, more suspense, and great moments of genuine horror. I read it in about a day and found myself having heart palpitations on occasion and needing to go do something normal so I wouldn’t get too freaked out. Definitely a great sequel full of answers and more questions!
6. The Death Cure (The Maze Runner, Book 3) by James Dashner
I almost always find third books in a trilogy a bit of a letdown. It was ok, but I don’t think I’ll be picking up the prequel any time soon. Honestly, this whole trilogy was more post-apocalyptic/horror than dystopian… glad I read it, but glad it’s done!
7. The Mediator #1: Shadowland by Meg Cabot
This was a suuuuuper light book about a girl who helps ghosts move on. A mix between The Princess Diaries and Ghost Whisperer. I enjoyed it, but it also put me in the mood to start reading adult books again! 🙂
8. Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga Book 2) by Lois McMaster Bujold
A really odd book, everytime I thought I knew what way the book was going it would veer off in a different direction. It kept me hooked and interested throughout, and mixed both a futuristic universe with basic questions of the heart, of honor, etc. Read if you enjoy fantasy, and in particular space epics! Amazon lists this as book two of the Vorkosigan saga, but it is the first book the author wrote in the series, so it’s a great introduction to the world of this series.
9. The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes
I totally used to love Marian Keyes, and I probably still would. But somehow I feel that Chick Lit tends to focus on solving all your problems by meeting a man and falling in love. It also tends to glorify being average and painting people who go after success or dreams as having something wrong with them. I feel like this book wasn’t an exception. I found the story interesting and engaging, but I felt that the lessons simply weren’t there, or were dangerously close to saying “just stay as average as possible and everything will be ok”. I might end my foray into chick lit there!
10. Matched by Allie Condie
This was yet another dystopian teen book… but FAR better than the others I’ve read recently. Not only was it well written, the author slowed the pace of story and really focused on the internal thoughts and development of her character. It felt much more like a chance to really think about the choices we make and the safety we tend to lean towards. Instead of painting the society in “horror”, the author created a society that made some sense. Overall, I just loved that it was well written and made me think about the value of words. We have such a gift in being able to use words as art as well as for meaning. Amazing stuff. I wish the premise (the basic story unfolds from the character finding out who her romantic match is, as chosen by the society), didn’t make it sound like a fluffy romantic book. It’s somewhat false advertising, and I think more people should get a chance to read such a well written young adult book!
11. Crossed (Matched, Book 2) by Ally Condie
12. Reached (Matched, Book 3) by Ally Condie
Have a suggestion of a book you think I should read??? Comment below and let me know!
Niamh