A Reading Vocation

At last, my 2015 reading challenges are concluded. I admit that the last two months were somewhat lackluster, as I began eying the finish line and became more interested in what I would read in 2016 than what I had left to read in 2015. Since my 2016 reading challenges do not relate to specific months, my wrap-up posts will be less tied to specific time periods.

November - Swapping Sites

My memberships at Paperbackswap and Bookmooch are largely to blame for my unwieldy bookshelves. So my November theme was to choose books that had come to me through swapping sites. I read:

1. The Motherless Oven by Rob Davis - This is an incredibly odd little graphic novel, but was an enjoyable enough reading experience that I spent most of Veteran's Day (a holiday at my work) reading it rather than being "productive." I read an interview that hinted at a sequel, which I hope will materialize, because a lot of questions about the world are left unanswered. Procured from Paperbackswap.
2. The Journal of Best Practices by David Finch - A marriage memoir from a husband with Asperger's that highlights how we all, to a certain extent, need to learn to speak a different language to communicate with our spouses. Procured from Bookmooch.

December - Get Thee To a Library

My intention was to spend most of the year "reading down" the massive TBR pile of books I actually OWN and then to indulge in some library selections for the last month of the year. As always, I did not read as many of my owned books as I hoped, nor get through as many library books as I wanted to. Here are the library books I DID manage to finish.

1. Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge - Yes, this was the ONLY library book I managed to read in December! (not counting audiobooks, because I always get those from the library, so I didn't need a special time to focus on them.)

As for my other challenges:

From my Into the Forest Reading Challenge, I read

1. A critical study or history of fairy tales - Here All Dwell Free: Stories to Heal the Wounded Feminine by Gertrude Mueller Nelson
2. A novel or collection from a country you've never read from before - Call Me Ixchel: Mayan Goddess of the Moon by Janie Havemeyer (Mexico)

For the Popsugar 2015 Reading Challenge I read ...

1. A book from the bottom of your to-read list: Here All Dwell Free: Stories to Heal the Wounded Feminine by Gertrude Mueller Nelson - I wasn't particularly in the mood to read this book, but settled in with it anyway because it fit the challenge above.
2. A Graphic Novel - The Motherless Oven by Rob Davis

I left 11 items "unchecked" from the PopSugar challenge, which isn't bad for a challenge I wasn't really "trying" to complete. They were: A classic romance, a book with a number in the title, a book your mom loves, a book you were supposed to read in school but didn't (what!? I read EVERY book I was supposed to read in school, except an Abraham Lincoln book I did a report on in 5th grade, and I don't know how I would track that one down again), a book with antonyms in the title, a book that came out the year I was born, a book from my childhood, a book with a color in the title, a book that was originally written in a different language, a book written by an author with my same initials (I have no idea -- my initials are LL, LLV, or LV), and a play.

Disney Source Materials for A Year in Disney Movies:

I read A Day with Wilbur Robinson by William Joyce, which was the source material for Meet the Robinsons. 

 And that's it, folks! Of course, I'm already off and running on my 2016 reading challenges - wahoo!!