Booking books by a booker

In March, I saw on the Snapchat of my younger daughter a checklist for 36 books to read this year, It's does not contain titles, but subjects, such as "Book set in Summer," "NYT bestseller from 1990s," "Play or novella," or "book with blue cover." Seeking to expand my reading among other genres (I tend towards YA dystopian, sci-fi, or thrillers) I have set this list as one of my 2018 goals. I came upon this list in March, so I've lost 2 months, but I feel fairly confident that I can catch up. I've already read 5 from the list.

So far:
Self Help book: Declutter Your Mind  Meh. But I did like the encouragement to be more "in the moment" rather than always planning ahead and fretting about stuff that hasn't come up yet. It was also a reminder to pause and take deep breaths once in a while. I don't much care for self-help books, so I buzzed through this as fast as I could, just to check it off the list.

Childhood favorite: The Trumpet of the Swan  Read this many times as a kid. I've always liked tales of perserverance. Plus, I can still hear my mom singing "Beautiful Dreamer" when I read the song passages. Mom was a good book reader for kids.

Book set in Summer: Dandelion Wine  Despite being written by Ray Bradbury, this is not a sci-fi book. I think I tried to read it when I was a teenager, and was disappointed by the non-sci-fi-ness. The whole book was a reminiscence of summer time and he creates a loose narrative of the perfect summer (complete with bad things that happen). Bradbury is a poetic writer.

First book in a series: The Naturalist  I just finished reading this one yesterday. It's a thriller, so the kind of book I am used to reading. Good guy with a niche specialty gets the serial killer, in spite of the police suspecting/not believing said good guy.

Pioneer customer pick (Pioneer is the name of the bookstore from whence this list came): Black Elk Speaks  This book is going to stay with me awhile. It's the narrative of a Native American healer who grew up in the time of Custer and white Europeans taking over the continent at the expense of Native Americans. I needed to hear his perspective since it was not taught in my history classes.

Next up from the list: Man Booker prize winner: I have chosen to read The Sense of an Ending.

Next several subjects: Book by a Nobel Prize winner, NYT bestseller from 1960s, Book about an artist or musician, Pulitzer Prize winner, Book set outside the US, Tearjerker.

I'm trying to do this whole list without spending any money on books. I've challenged myself to utilize the library or my Kindle Unlimited account to get all books I read for this list.

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