Reading Challenges 2015: January Update

1. Goodreads Reading Challenge

Towards my goal of reading 200 books this year, in January I read...11 books. It's a pretty abysmal start, especially since, according to Goodreads, I am already 6 books behind schedule. But my goal for February is to at least get back on schedule, if not get a little bit ahead. I'm not giving up!

2. POPSUGAR 2015 Reading Challenge

Of the 50 reading tasks on the POPSUGAR reading challenge checklist, I managed to complete 8 of them in the month of January. Here are the tasks I completed along with the books I read:

A book with magic

A book set in a different country:

(I live in Canada and the Peter Grant novels are set in England)

A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit

(This book is set in London, a place I've wanted to visit for a long time)

A book by a female author

A nonfiction book

A book published this year

A mystery or thriller

A book set in high school

Eight tasks down, forty-two more to go!

3. The Book Riot 2015 Reading Challenge

Of the 24 tasks in the Book Riot challenge I managed to complete one task. But I am on track to complete at least a few more in February. 

A book by a person whose gender is different from your own:

4. The Gothic Challenge

This challenge, hosted by Books Under the Bed challenges readers to read Gothic fiction. I pledged to read 10 books and unfortunately I didn't read any in January but I'm hoping to read at least one in February.

5. Fairytale Challenge

This challenge, hosted by The Daily Prophecy, challenges readers to read Fairytale retellings. I challenged myself to read at least 9 books for this challenge. I didn't read any in January but I am planning to read Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles in February so that's going to be at least 4 books right there. (I'm not sure if I should include short stories or not.)

6. Books to Screen Challenge

Okay, a minor update for this challenge. I originally pledged to try to read all of the books being turned into movies this year. But there were seven movies based on books coming out in January alone. So I am going to modify this challenge a little bit. I'm going to read as many as I can but I won't be reading as many as I originally planned. I haven't read any in January but a certain romance novel is being brought to the big screen in February so I might have to revisit the source material. (Is anyone else fifty shades of excited?)

Reading Wish List: January 2015

 January 6

Firefight (Reckoners #2) by Brandon Sanderson

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction

What It's About: The second installment in Sanderson's series featuring ordinary teens battling pouwerful supervillains.

Ensnared (Splintered #3) by A.G. Howard

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

What It's About: The third and final book in this series that puts a new twist on Alice in Wonderland.

Golden Son (Red Rising Trilogy #2) by Pierce Brown

Genre: Science Fiction-Dystopian

What It's About: The sequel to Red Rising, one of the most critically-acclaimed Sci-Fi books of 2014.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

What It's About: A girl falls in love with a boy who is fascinated by death and has suicidal tendencies.

Foxglove Summer (Peter Grant #5) by Ben Aaronovitch

Genre: Urban Fantasy

What It's About: I have raved about the Peter Grant series on this blog before and, finally, the fifth book is coming out this month! I cannot wait to read this book. 

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust (Flavia de Luce #7) by Alan Bradley

Genre: Mystery

What It's About: The seventh book in the popular cozy-mystery series starring eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce.

Descent by Tim Johnston


Genre: Thriller
What It's About: A teenage girl goes missing in the Rocky Mountains during a family camping trip.

Never Never (Never Never #1) by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher


Genre: New Adult
What It's About: The Goodreads description is a little vague so all I can really gather is that it's about two best friends who fall in love and then something bad happens between them. Right now, you can only get an ebook version but I assume a physical copy will be published in a few months.

January 13

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

What It's About: Humans and fae live peacefully side by side in the town of Fairfold. However, one girl knows that fairies are more dangerous than they appear.

The Providence of Fire (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne #2) by Brian Staveley

Genre: Fantasy

What It's About: The sequel to The Emperor's Blades. The first book was on quite a few Best of Fantasy 2014 lists. I can't wait to dive into this epic fantasy series.

The Just City (Thessaly #1) by Jo Walton

Genre: Fantasy

What It's About: A time-traveling goddess creates a perfect city where people from all different eras can come and learn from the greatest minds in all of human history - with some help from a few robots from the far future.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

Genre: Mystery

What It's About: A woman witnesses a shocking incident from the window of her commuter train.

Near Enemy (Spademan #2) by Adam Sternbergh

Genre: Science Fiction

What It's About: The former garbage man turned hitman Spademan returns in this sequel to last year's Shovel Ready.

Held Against You by Season Vining

Genre: New Adult Romance

What It's About: A bounty hunter falls for the woman he has been hired to capture.

January 20

Polaris (Avalon #2) by Mindee Arnett

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction

What It's About: The follow-up to one of the most acclaimed YA sci-fi novels of 2014.

Frog by Mo Yan

Genre: Literary Fiction

What It's About: China's most revered and controversial novelist chronicles the making of modern China through the lens of the country's one-child policy.

Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper by Charles Perrault, illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia

Genre: Fairy Tale

What It's About: Camille Rose Garcia has illustrated beautiful editions of Snow White and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I can't wait to see her creepy drawings for Cinderella.

Mort(e) by Robert Repino

Genre: Science Fiction

What It's About: A cat named Mort works as an assassin for a race of super-intelligent ants that are bent on destroying the human race. Needless to say, this book is pretty high up on my TBR list.

January 27

Fairest (The Lunar Chronicles #3.5) by Marissa Meyer 

Genre: Young Adult Science Fiction

What It's About: Serving as a bridge book between Cress and the upcoming final installment, Winter, this short novel tells the story of Queen Levana, the main villain in the Lunar Chronicles.

I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

What It's About: Cody and Meg are two best friends, practically inseperable - until Meg's tragic death leaves Cody reeling with a desperate sense of loss and confusion.

A Cold Legacy (The Madman's Daughter #3) by Megan Shepherd

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

What It's About: The final installment in this YA retelling of H.G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Beautiful Redemption (The Maddox Brothers #2) by Jamie McGuire

Genre: New Adult Romance

What It's About: The second book in Jamie McGuire's Maddox Brothers series. I just love these covers!

The Mime Order (The Bone Season #2) by Samantha Shannon

Genre: Fantasy

What It's About: The anticipated follow-up to The Bone Season.

The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly

Genre: Thriller

What It's About: The Chinese government discovers a species of animals that no one believed existed.

Ghettoside: A Story of Murder in America by Jill Leovy

Genre: Non Fiction- True Crime

What It's About: Ever since I finished listening to the Serial podcast, I have become obsessed with reading True Crime books. This story, about the murder of a young black man in Los Angeles, should keep me occupied until season two.

Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

What It's About: A dark retelling of Snow White.

*Release dates and cover art are subject to change.