Hello, and happy new year, folks! As we finish off the last year of this decade, I wanted to support you with any of your 2019 book reading goals. This said, I will be sharing book recommendations and reading challenges. There are several reading challenges that kicked off at the start of the year, and maybe you can add some of these books to your list of reads for 2019.
1. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
In the most unique and unexpected of settings, Arundhati Roy uses vivid literary imagery to connect you to the characters in this novel.
2. The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
See my book review here: https://anitakharbanda.com/2018/12/28/the-palace-of-illusions-book-review/
3. Before We Visit the Goddess by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
See my book review here: https://anitakharbanda.com/2018/10/03/before-we-visit-the-goddess-book-review/
4. Her Name is Kaur by Meeta Kaur
In this riveting collection of short stories, Sikh American women share their dramatic and humorous experiences with love, spirituality, community and family.
5. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
You cannot help the empathy and connection you can feel to the author in this memoir about her personal journey through a life altering event.
6. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
A perfectly tailored, and award-winning expression of the Indian immigrant experience.
Currently, I am reading a literary work by the up and coming author Balli Kaur Jaswal, entitled Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows. It was on Reese Witherspoon’s book club list, and already I cannot put it down. Once I finish this novel, I will be moving onto Balli Kaur’s new release 2019 novel: The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters.
I am currently enrolled in two goodreads reading challenges. If you do not have a goodreads account you will need to set one up, which is relatively easy. There are several reading challenges on goodreads, and other websites, but I am highlighting the two I joined. The links to these are below.
The first reading challenge is a personal goal for the number of books you would like to read this year. The second challenge is a goal to read 300 books this year. Yikes! Did I scare ya? You are not alone. It is a virtual certainty that I will not read 300 novels this year, BUT I will be voraciously consuming any ‘goodreads’ possible. Pun intended.
There are several links in the 300 books club group to support the ambitious goal. Firstly, some Goodreads members of the 300 books group have recommended reading graphic novels, shorter novels, and poetry to facilitate the hefty goal. Secondly, there are several tools within this challenge to help you keep track of your novels, and follow the calendar, which runs for the entire year of 2019. Thirdly, there are reading binge book days where you try to read as much as possible in a given day, usually a Saturday. Fourthly, a monthly book recommendation is also part of the challenge (certainly helpful when you are running out of suggestions and ‘want to reads’). Lasly, there is a link to a substantial list of book recommendations once you join the group. A few that piqued my interest on this list are: Becoming by Michelle Obama, Educated by Tara Westover, and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Below are the challenge links:
1. Goodreads challenge personal book reading goal:
https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/8863-2019-reading-challenge
2. Goodreads 300 book reading challenge link:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/757578-2019-reading-challenge
Hope this helps with any reading goals you may have for 2019. Do you have any book recommendations? Please comment and share. I would love to know. Have a wonderful, and book-ish weekend!