2019 Reading Challenge

I just posted yesterday about favorite and notable reads of 2019, but I realized that all of what I wanted to fit into one post about my reading in 2019 just wouldn’t work. I wanted to share what I read for each of the categories in the Modern Mrs. Darcy (MMD) 2019 Reading Challenge.

Here’s what I read for the MMD 2019 Reading Challenge.

1. A book you’ve been meaning to read: The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron
2. A book about a topic that fascinates you: Tattoos on the Heart* by Gregory Boyle
3. A book in the backlist of a favorite author: The Dead Don’t Dance by Charles Martin. Again, I read a bunch of heart-wrenching books and watched a bunch of heart-wrenching movies. I was drawn to them because it helped foster my own catharsis. This is another of those.
4. A book recommended by someone with great taste: It’s Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too) ** by Nora McInerny Purmort. The language can be crude at time, but it did help me be okay crying again, which is fitting given the title.
5. Three books by the same author: Books 1, 2, and 3 of the Laramie series by Karen J. Hasley (I read the whole series, though). A different kind of series than the usual: it spans a few generations, but the characters in subsequent books in the series are typically only tangentially related/mentioned in previous books. I kind of like it that way because then, after getting attached to the characters, you’re not too disappointed when they only make cameo appearances in later books.
6. A book you chose for the cover: My Dear Hamilton* by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
7. A book by an author who is new to you: Indian Givers* by Jack Weatherford
8. A book in translation: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Was kind of a meh book for me. Had some pithy statements, and then some blatant sermonizing. Seemed more like a fable than anything, but was still thought-provoking.
9. A book outside your (genre) comfort zone: Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli. I think my brother-in-law would be proud of me for this one. Physics can be hard to wrap your head around, but the author does a good job of describing concepts in terms laypeople can understand.
10. A book published before you were born: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. I do not have enough maritime background knowledge to be able to visualize all of the organisms described. However, it was an imaginative story

*listed as a favorite/notable in yesterday’s post and described there.

**not so much a favorite, wouldn’t necessarily recommend

So there you have it!

If any of these spark your interest, happy reading! And Happy New Year!