I occasionally have commitment issues and this was one of them. Looking at old tweets, I see I managed up to Day 16 and then must've forgot about it. Or got lazy. Or both.
In the spirit of semi-productive procrastination, I thought it would be fun to answer this again in 2021 and see if any of my answers changed.
This is the Challenge I got off Twitter. I unfortunately couldn't find who originally created it, so I can't credit them.
Day 01: Best book you read last year
2017: Best overall: Pelican Brief - John Grisham. Best emotional grip: Me Before You - Jojo Moyes.
2021: Look, I have pandemic brain and cannot remember past the last few months and you ask for last year's best book when I was at the height of anxiety?? 2021 is ending so I'll just think of this question as "the past year."
Best over all: And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie. Riveting from start to finish and excellently narrated by Dan Stevens in the audiobook I listened to.
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| I had a paperback copy of this in my possession years ago but lost it when I moved. This cover what finally pushed me to give it a try. I was in a noir/murder mystery mood and this fit the bill precisely. |
Honorable mention: The first three books in the Anne of Green Gables series. It's a heartwarming story of chosen family. I finally see what the fuss is about. It is also excellently narrated by Karen Savage for LibriVox audiobooks. It's available free on YouTube!
Day 02: A book that you've read more than 3 times
2017: Harry Potter 1-7 (annual tradition), Stoker's Dracula, Hunger Games 1, My Imaginary Ex, Charlie All Night, Remember When
2021: That Harry Potter annual tradition has long been broken and replaced with Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson. Adding to this list: Ascending, Do Not Disturb - Yue Xia Die Ying, World of Cultivation - Fang Xiang, A Slight Smile Is Devastating - Gu Man. I'm sure there's more but those are the ones that easily come to mind.
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| ADND is a fluffy, feel good read about chosen family and a slow burn friends to lovers romance. |
Day 03: Your favorite series
2017: Nancy Drew series, Harry Potter Series, Millennium Trilogy
2021: My answer hasn't really changed much except HP has since been tainted by the author's TERF-y ways coming to the fore. It will always be a favorite. It's too closely tied with my childhood not to be, but it's now viewed through a... I don't know how to verbalize my complex feelings about it.
Anyway, I digress. I will just add World of Cultivation by Fang Xiang to this list because it is several books long and held up well with each reread, ie it still makes me cackle.
Day 04: Favorite book of your favorite series
2017: Nancy Drew#32 - The Scarlet Slipper Mystery, HP#4 - Goblet of Fire, Millennium#2 - The Girl Who Played With Fire.
2021: Same as above. For World of Cultivation, I forgot which book it is, but it's the one with the Sword Conference. It is HILARIOUS.
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| It starts slow but once it gets going, the dry comedy is note perfect. The lead is a stubborn, money-grubbing, zombie-faced amnesiac who turns out to be kind of a genius at formations. Plenty of hijinks ensue. |
Day 05: A book that makes you happy
2017: A Slight Smile Is Devastating by Gu Man, World Of Cultivation by Fang Xiang, Harry Potter 3 and 4
2021: Ascending, Do Not Disturb - Yue Xia Die Ying, World Of Cultivation by Fang Xiang
Day 06: A book that makes you sad
2017: People I like die, I cry buckets. Harry Potter 6 and 7, Hunger Games 1, Me Before You
2021: Probably the same? It's been a while since I cried reading a book. Thanks to my goldfish memory, I don't recall if I cried while reading a book since 2017. Oh! Maybe when Matthew died in Anne of Green Gables. That was sad.
Day 07: A book that makes you laugh
2017: Still makes me laugh on subsequent rereads: World of Cultivation - Fang Xiang, A Slight Smile is Devastating - Gu Man.
2021: Ascending, Do Not Disturb - Yue Xia Die Ying, World Of Cultivation by Fang Xiang, Mo Dao Zu Shi - Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. The Gu Man novel too but its place in my heart has been supplanted by ADND. You must've noticed by now how certain titles are mentioned frequently. These books are near and dear to my heart and have made the pandemic just a tiny bit more bearable.
Day 08: Most overrated book
2017: The Fault in Our Stars - John Green Most overrated book I read in recent memory. "Most overhyped" work too.
2021: I can't think of any right now, so I guess my answer remains the same.
Day 09: A book you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving
2017: I can't recall any. My dislikes tend to stick.
2021: Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery. I ended up binging the audiobooks. That's how much I liked it.
Honorable Mention: Mo Dao Zu Shi - Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. It's not that I thought I would dislike it, I just did not expect how much I would enjoy it. It's danmei (BL), which I had not read a lot of so that may have factored into my expectations going in. MDZS is excellently written and paced, the characters are memorable, the romance believable, the sex - well, the sex is soooo spicy I blushed. Erotica writers take note!
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| The translations are very well done too. Kudos to Exiled Rebels Scanlantions. Read the novel summary and chapter transations here. |
Day 10: A book that reminds you of home
2017: None? Probably because books take me out of my home and brings me to other places. I've yet to experience the opposite.
2021: Same sentiment.
Day 11: A book you hated
2017: Mortal Instruments book 2. It was SO frustratingly BAD. And Clary was infuriatingly stupid, impulsive, and stubborn.
2021: That and I should really add Something Borrowed. It was also adapted into a film, which I couldn't finish no matter how much I liked the actresses. It's a story about terrible people making terrible decisions. I hated every character in this book except the one character, who I later found out will go on to marry one of the terrible characters in the novel sequel. Ugh.
Day 12: A book you love but hate at the same time
2017: HP6. Harry was an insufferable angsty teen for a considerable chunk of the book but I still love the book overall.
2021: Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. IYKYK.
Day 13: Your favorite writer
2017: Anne Rice and J.K. Rowling. Honorable mentions: Stoker, Dumas, Gu Man.
2021: Stieg Larsson, Gu Man, Anne Rice. For reasons already mentioned previously, Miss Rowling is no longer a favorite.
Day 14: Book turned into a movie and completely desecrated
2017: One Day (2011) - I enjoyed the book, didn't like the film. Anne Hathaway's fake British accent was distracting.
2021: I don't know. It's been a while since I watched a movie that completely botched the source material.
Day 15: Favorite male character
2017: Edmond Dantes, John Ambrose, McLaren, Cinna, Van Helsing, Snape, Dumbledore, Hannibal.
2021: Zuo Mo aka Zombie Face in World of Cultivation, Edmond Dantes, Cinna, Van Helsing, Dumbledore.
Day 16: Favorite female character
2017: Lisbeth Salander, Daenerys Targaryen, Mina Parker, Lizzie Bennet, Jane Eyre, Hermione Granger.
2021: Kong Hou in ADND, Lisbeth Salander, Daenerys Targaryen, Arya Stark, Mina Parker.
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