Tafadhali's 2016 Challenge

Hey everyone! Back again, with a bunch of favorite categories and a couple of new ones. Setting myself a goal of 4 books per category worked pretty well for me last year, so I think I'll stick with that. Last year, I took my category names from some of my favorite songs from the '80s, so I've turned back the dial this year to highlight some hits of the 1970s!

I. STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS - Novels from before WWII
II. TIME IN A BOTTLE - Historical fiction
III. PREAMBLE - Books about U.S. History
IV. RAINBOW TOUR - Books by authors from outside the U.S. and U.K.
V. GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD - Fantasy
VI. LIFE ON MARS? - Science fiction
VII. WATCHING THE DETECTIVES - Mysteries and suspense novels
XIII. PSYCHO KILLER - Horror
IX. MAGNETO AND TITANIUM MAN - Graphic novels
X. LOLA - LGBTQ fiction and non-fiction
XI. WHAT'S GOING ON - Books by and about POC
XII. VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR - Books about film and TV (and possibly theatre)
XIII. NINE TO FIVE - Books read for work (popular titles, prepubs, professional development, etc.)
XIV. TAKE A CHANCE ON ME - Gifts and recommendations
XV. THE LOGICAL SONG - Other non-fiction
XVI. DON'T STOP TILL YOU GET ENOUGH - Other fiction

I. STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS by Paul Simon (1975)
Novels from before WWII

1. Have His Carcase by Dorothy Sayers DONE, 11/15/16
2. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
3. Persuasion by Jane Austen (re-read) DONE, 12/15/16
4. Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh

II. TIME IN A BOTTLE by Jim Croce (1972)
Historical fiction

1. The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley DONE, 1/12/15
2. A Constant Love by Sophie Turner DONE, 4/17/16
3. Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer DONE, 6/4/16
4. Frederica by Georgette Heyer DONE, 7/11/16

BONUS
5. April Lady by Georgette Heyer DONE, 8/13/16
6. Cotillion by Georgette Heyer DONE, 8/27/16

III. PREAMBLE from Schoolhouse Rock! (1975)
Books about U.S. history

1. Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson DONE, 6/4/16
2. Dead Presidents by Brady Carlson DONE, 5/31/16
3. Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda DONE, 5/13/16
4.

Possibilities: Camelot's Court by Robert Dallek, 1776 by David McCullough, Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, Chariots for Apollo by Joshua Stoff, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown, A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre, The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin

IV. RAINBOW TOUR from Evita (1978)
Books by authors from outside the U.S. or U.K.

Except then most of the books I read were by Norwegians. Too bad Rubber Soul came out in '65...

1. The Snowman by Jo Nesbo DONE, 8/10/16 (Norway)
2. A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen DONE, 8/24/16 (Norway)
3. Before I Burn by Gaute Heivoll DONE, 8/24/16 (Norway)
4. Golden Boys by Sonya Hartnett DONE, 10/14/16 (Australia)

V. GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD by Elton John (1973)
Fantasy

1. The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater DONE, 5/1/16
2. The Cracks in the Kingdom by Jaclyn Moriarty DONE, 5/11/16
3. A Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn Moriarty DONE, 5/12/16
4. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire DONE, 10/21/16

VI. LIFE ON MARS? by David Bowie (1971)
Science fiction

1. Star Wars: Before the Awakening by Greg Rucka DONE, 1/13/16
2. Games Wizards Play by Diane Duane DONE, 2/19/16
3. Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers DONE, 9/24/16
4. Once Was a Time by Leila Sales DONE, 9/27/16

VII. WATCHING THE DETECTIVES by Elvis Costello (1977)
Mystery and suspense

1. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith DONE, 1/5/16
2. As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley DONE, 5/15/16
3. The Lost Women of Lost Lake by Ellen Hart DONE, 6/10/16
4. The Torment of Others by Val McDermid DONE, 6/21/16

BONUS
5. Towards Zero by Agatha Christie DONE, 9/24/16

VIII. PSYCHO KILLER by The Talking Heads (1977)
Horror

1. Tales of Terror and Detection by Edgar Allan Poe
2. Vision Vol. 1: Little Worse Than a Man by Tom King DONE, 7/12/16
3. The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson DONE, 10/13/16
4. It by Stephen King DONE, 12/1/16

IX. MAGNETO AND TITANIUM MAN by Wings (1976)
Graphic novels

1. Nimona by Noelle Stevenson DONE, 1/20/16
2. SuperMutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki DONE, 1/26/16
3. The Wicked + The Divine, vol. 3 by Kieron Gillen DONE, 3/9/16
4. Lumberjanes, Vol. 3 by Noelle Stevenson DONE, 4/19/16

Bonus

5. Steven Universe: Too Cool for School by Jeremy Sorese DONE, 7/12/16
6. Lumberjanes, Vol. 4 by Shannon Watters DONE, 9/18/16
7. Ms. Marvel, Vol. 5 by G. Willow Wilson DONE, 9/18/16
8. The Wicked + Divine, Vol. 4 by Kieron Gillen DONE, ?

X. LOLA by The Kinks (1970)
LGBTQ fiction and non-fiction

1. The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson DONE, 1/14/16
2. The Imitation Game by Jim Ottaviani DONE, 3/6/16
3. The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson DONE, 6/28/16
4. Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller DONE, 6/29/16

BONUS
5. Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart DONE, 10/20/16

XI. WHAT'S GOING ON by Marvin Gaye (1971)
Books by and about POC

1. Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Pena DONE, 3/12/16
2. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander DONE, 4/16/16
3. Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier DONE, 9/18/16
4. Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan DONE, 11/3/16

XII. VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR by The Buggles (1979)
Books about film, TV, and theatre

1. As If: The Oral History of Clueless by Jen Chaney DONE, 3/27/16
2. Steven Universe, Vol. 1 by Jeremy Sorese DONE, 5/3/16
3. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne DONE, 7/31/16
4. A Bright Room Called Day by Tony Kushner DONE, 7/21/16

XIII. NINE TO FIVE by Dolly Parton (1980)
Books read for work

I had this movie coming out a few months earlier in my head -- oops!

1. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein DONE, 3/3/16
2. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson DONE, 10/10/16
3. Helping Children Succeed by Paul Tough DONE, 9/15/16
4. Whistling Vivaldi by Claude M. Steele

XIV. TAKE A CHANCE ON ME by ABBA (1977)
Gifts and recommendations

1. Lumberjanes, Vol. 2 by Noelle Stevenson (xmas gift from my sister) DONE, 1/22/16
2. A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty (freebie from a friend at Scholastic) DONE, 4/29/16
3. Queens' Play by Dorothy Dunnett (xmas gift from my aunt) DONE, 7/31/16
4. The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart (xmas gift from my sister) DONE, 12/27/16

XV. THE LOGICAL SONG by Supertramp (1979)
Other non-fiction

1. At Large and At Small by Anne Fadiman 8/20/16
2. Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World by Jennifer Armstrong DONE, 6/6/16
3. Grunt by Mary Roach DONE, 7/6/16
4. The Last Place on Earth by Roland Huntford DONE, 8/22/16

BONUS
5. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls DONE, 9/24/16
6. The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery DONE, 12/13/16

XVI. DON'T STOP TIL YOU GET ENOUGH by Michael Jackson (1979)
Other fiction

1. The Unlikely Hero of 13B by Teresa Toten DONE, 5/3/16
2. All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor DONE, 8/6/16
3. The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan DONE, 9/2/16
4. The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin DONE, 11/11/16

Great songs and I like your category matching! And, I've been having a Supertramp day today, so I especially support your choice to include "The Logical Song!"

Great setup! I especially like your Life on Mars? and Watching the Detectives categories :)

Going through your list got a couple of tunes stuck in my head. Have a fun year!

Yay, another music thread! Great choices!

Great choices!

Looking forward to another year following your category reading!

>-Eva-: I'm always having a Supertramp day, so I had to work them in somehow. :)

I loved checking out your pictures, they remind me of the music I grew up with. Your categories look interesting too. Nice set up.

Great categories! Love the album covers. You had me puzzled by POC in post 12 but I got it eventually!

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to seeing what you read this year, too.

Lots of familiar songs from my youth. Some interesting books on your possibilities list.

Love it. Life on Mars is great, I love the tv series as well. Good luck with your challenge.

>avatiakh: I've only watched the first couple episodes of the series so far! I'm hoping to find time to actually get through some more of it this year.

Scrolling through your categories was like re-visiting my old record collection. Looks like you are all set for a great reading year!

>30 Tafadhali: The soundtracks for both the 70s and the 80s seasons are great, I made myself a playlist on Spotify. My daughter and I watched through all the series a couple of years ago. Do not approach the US version, it was BAD.

Looks like some great categories and some great reading!

I've been pretty bad about doing monthly or quarterly updates this year (i.e. I did not do so), but as we're coming into the last few weeks of the year, I thought I'd take stock of where I am right now:

I. STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS: 0% (better get a move on!)
II. TIME IN A BOTTLE: 100%
III. PREAMBLE: 50%
IV. RAINBOW TOUR: 100%
V. GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD: 100%
VI. LIFE ON MARS?: 100%
VII. WATCHING THE DETECTIVES: 100%
VIII. PSYCHO KILLER: 75%
IX. MAGNETO AND TITANIUM MAN: 100%
X. LOLA: 100%
XI. WHAT'S GOING ON: 100%
XII. VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR: 100%
XIII. NINE TO FIVE: 75%
XIV. TAKE A CHANCE ON ME: 75%
XV. THE LOGICAL SONG: 100%
XVI. DON'T STOP TILL YOU GET ENOUGH: 100%

TOTAL: 86%

You've had a successful reading year!

Very successful :)

Great work!

Thanks, everyone! It's been a relief since I finally gave up on the 999 idea of NINE books in NINE categories, etc., after I decided in 2014 that there was no way I'd make it through 196 books. 64 is super achievable.