I did manage to read The Secret History (what tripe) and finally finished Backlash. Also, I started re-listening to my Game of Thrones audiobooks, and rereading a book is one of the 2017 Read Harder Challenges. So I can feel pretty smug about knocking a big three books off my Mental Development Reading List.
This is what I have left over, as well as the stuff I've added to the list to get my total to 75 books. (I didn't actually reach 75, first because I've already read a boatload of mysteries this year, but also because I double-dip whenever possible with my challenging books, as in, if a book is on the Rory list and the Read Harder list, it's a twofer.)
Old stuff from the Rory list, which I've been planning to read since 2015
1] Allende, Isabelle: Daughter of Fortune
2] Cook, Blanch: Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol 1, 1884-1933
3] des Barres, Pamela: I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie
4] Mailer, Norman: The Naked and the Dead
5] Kagan, Donald: The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition
6] McKean, James: Quattrocento (currently reading)
7] The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age
8] Tolstoy, Leo: War and Peace
from the BBC list
9] Tolkein, J. R. R.: The Return of the King
10] Faulks, Sebastian: Birdsong
11] Niffenegger, Audrey: The Time Traveler's Wife,
12] Steinbeck, John: The Grapes of Wrath
13] de Bernières, Louis: Captain Corelli's Mandolin
14] Martel, Yann: Life of Pi
15] Seth, Vikram: A Suitable Boy
16] Ruiz, Carlos: The Shadow of the Wind
17] Marquez, Gabriel Garcia: Love in the Time of Cholera
18] Sebold, Alice: The Lovely Bones
The 2015 Read Harder Challenge
19] Stolze, Greg: SwitchFlipped (Read a book from an independent press)
20] Goldman, William: The Princess Bride (Read a romance novel)
21] Elliott, J. H.: Imperial Spain, 1469-1716, (Read a book recommended by someone)
22] Levy, Robert Joseph: Go Ask Malice: A Slayer's Diary (Read a guilty pleasure)
23] Sedaris, Amy: I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence (Read a self-help book)
I also decided to read
24] Walker, Alice: The Color Purple
just because. Then there's the leftover
2016 Read Harder Challenge
Task 3: A collection of essays
25] McCarthy, Mary: A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays (also on RG list)
Task 4: read a book out loud to someone else
TBD
Task 6: Read a biography
Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette (Rory)
or
2] Eleanor Roosevelt Volume 1 1884-1933 (Rory)
Task 8: Read a book originally published in the decade you were born
9] The Return of the King (BBC)
Task 10: Read a book over 500 pages long
15] A Suitable Boy (BBC list)
Task 11: Read a book under 100 pages
26] Didion, Joan: The Year of Magical Thinking: A Play (Rory)
or
Tzu, Sun: The Art of War (Rory)
or
de St.-Exupery, Antoine: The Little Prince (BBC)
Task 13: Read a book that is set in the Middle East
27] Mahfouz, Naguib: Palace Walk: The Cairo Trilogy, Volume 1
Task 15: Read a book of historical fiction set before 1900
12] War and Peace (Rory)
Task 16: Read the first book in a series by a person of color
29] Lewis, John: March
Task 17: Read a non-superhero comic that debuted in the past three years
29] Lewis, John: March
Task 20: Read a book about religion
30] Pagels, Elaine: The Gnostic Gospels (Rory)
Now for the new stuff, for which, in reaction to Gay Talese, I decided to feature female authors:
New titles from the Rory Gilmore list
31] Grealy, Lucy: The Autobiography of a Face
32] Chopin, Kate: The Awakening
33] Patchett, Ann: Bel Canto
34] Morrison, Toni: Beloved
35] Wurtzel, Elizabeth: Bitch
36] Ali, Monica: Brick Lane
37] Powell, Dawn: Complete Novels
38] Rodgers, Mary: Freaky Friday
39] Butler, Judith: Gender Trouble
40] Roy, Arundhati: The God of Small Things
41] Allende, Isabel: The House of the Spirits
42] Hathaway, Katharine: The Little Locksmith
43] de Beauvoir, Simone: Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter
44] Lakiri, Jhumpa: The Namesake
45] Tan, Amy: The Opposite of Fate
46] Metalious, Grace: Peyton Place
47] Hall, Rachel Howell: A Quiet Storm
New titles from the BBC list
48] Fielding, Helen: Bridget Jones' Diary
49] Byatt, A.S. Possession: A Romance
50] Blyton, Enid: The Faraway Tree Collection
51] The Bible yeah, I doubt this will happen
52] The Complete Works of Shakespeare or this
53] Ransome, Arthur: Swallows and Amazons
54] Zola, Emile: Germinal
55] Mitchell, David: Cloud Atlas
56] Robinson, Mistry: A Fine Balance
57] Albom, Mitch: The Five People You Meet in Heaven
58] Banks, Iain: The Wasp Factory
59] Shute, Nevil: A Town Like Alice
60] Hugo, Victor: Les Miserables
And finally, Brand! New! Titles! from the 2017 Read Harder Challenge
Challenge 1: Read a book about sports
61] Wade, Becky: Running the World
Challenge 6 and 18: Read an all-ages comic; read a superhero book with a female lead
Ms. Marvel
Challenge 8: Read a travel book
62] Post, Emily: By Motor to the Golden Gate
Challenge 10: Read a book set 100 miles or less from your location
63] Doyle, Brian: Chicago
Challenge 13: Read a non-fiction book about technology
64] Heffernan, Virginia: Magic and Loss: The Internet as Art
Challenge 15 and 20: Read a YA or middle-grades book by an author who identifies as LGBTQ; read an LGBTQ romance
65] Lo, Malinda: Ash
Challenge 22: Read a book of short stories by a woman
66] Welty, Eudora: Complete Short Stories
Challenge 23: Read a collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love.
67] TBD
wow so many good ones 10 12 and 24 are all faves xxxx
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