My Reading Year..So Far

Well it certainly was a cold winter and spring is taking its sweet time getting here. Which means I have been reading a lot. So far this year I have read 50 books. I am 33% towards my Goodreads goal of 150 books read in 2016. I have read some good books and also some not so good books. I have read a lot of four star books this year which makes me happy. My favorite books of the year so far have been Illuminae by Amie Kaufman, The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer, Here's My Heart: A Legacy and Love and War by Leigh W. Callan, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, and the Legend series by Marie Lu.

I have also been excited to discover author Rosamund Du Jardin. She wrote young adult novels in the 1950s. They are just delightful. They remind me of Beverly Cleary's books for older kids or a later Maud Hart Lovelace. They are just simple, happy books. I wish I could have read these when I was younger. I am still working through all her books the library has.

I have also been on a Laura Ingalls Wilder kick after finally reading Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography. I adored Pioneer Girl. It was absolutely amazing for a LIW enthusiast. There were pages and pages of anointed notes. My nerd heart sang for joy. I am in the middle of The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson. I love how the letters give a peek inside Laura's writing process. I read a fictionalized account of Rose Wilder Lane, A Wilder Rose by Susan Witting Albert. I also have two more books West From Home and On the Way Home, which are letters and diaries from Laura's trips. I can't wait to read those!

Yesterday was Beverly Cleary's 100th birthday! How amazing is that! I love, love all of her books. The Ramona books were some of my favorites as a kid. I always felt I had so much in common with her. I also loved Dear. Mr. Henshaw and Ellen Tibbetts. But Fifteen is my favorite book of hers. I just love Jane Purdy and I appreciate how confident she becomes by the end of the book and doesn't care if people make fun of the flowers she is carrying. Yesterday I decided to read the first two Ramona books again. And wow they really hold up. They are delightful!

As far as book challenges this year I cut way down. The only one I am really participating in is Read Your Own Damn Books. I have such high TBR pile (and two bookcases). Hopefully this challenge will help me clear some of them out and stop me from buying more books.  I am putting myself on book buying hold. I can only read books I already have or library books. So far I have read 17 books that qualify for this challenge. I also am still doing the Century in Books challenge. I am also going to participate in the Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon. I won't do all 24 hours because I have an MS Walk that morning but I will try to participate as much as possible. I just put a bunch of books on hold at the library so I will have a big pile and variety to choose from.

So that's what's going on here in my reading adventure. What has your reading year looked like so far? What is the best book you have read this year?