2016 reading challenge: 22/24.

Another year, another Goodreads challenge complete. Last year I surpassed my goal by eight. This year I was under by two. Ya win some, ya lose some.

Here are my 2016 results... A "*" means you should TOTALLY read this book.

Literally literature

• * Neither Wolf Nor Dog (Kent Nerburn) - hands down, the best book I've read in a long time. Lyrical, enlightening, thought-provoking, sad, engaging. I plan to read it once a year to remind myself not to forget.

• * Mink River (Brian Doyle) - November's book group choice that I was super excited about once I saw David James Duncan's endorsement on the back cover. It's heavy and deep and dark. It cycles between skipping around a lot and going in circles - kinda like life. It took me quite a while to get into it, but once I did, I was totally hooked.

Beach chair books

• * Mr. Bones (Paul Theroux) - holy crap, were these creepy! I wasn't expecting that from my beloved travel author, but I inhaled them all.

• Steadfast (Nikos Kopsidas) - this novel was self-published by my former coworker. I enjoyed it and I also learned a lot about recent Greek history. It's based on his life and should probably go under the "Sorta true stories" category, but I think it's best enjoyed while sitting on a beach.

• Doctor Sleep (Stephen King) - I still avoid King when the main character is female, because omg women don't talk/act/think like that ever. But I devoured this one, about little Danny Torrance all growed up, shortly after I inherited it. Fans will love it... And I'll never look at a trail of RVs the same way.

True stories

• Joss Whedon - the Biography (Amy Pascale) - a sanctioned look into the mind of the man behind all those strong women characters. Definitely a good read for fans. It was also the necessary kick in the pants for me to finally watch his version of Much Ado About Nothing, which left me speechless.

• Yes Please (Amy Poehler) - Eh. More from Bossypants please.

• * Not My Father's Son (Alan Cumming) - I've sorta followed his career since The Anniversary Party and was curious to see more of his backstory. I ended up reading this in one sitting, staying up waaaaaay past my bedtime to finish it, because it was completely gripping. It's awfully sad but well written. Later, I watched his episode of Who Do You Think You Are and was amazed that he held himself together as well as he did throughout the filming of that episode.

• Night of the Grizzlies (Jack Olsen) - ENRAGED BEARS! Now how much would you pay?

• Black Man in a White Coat (Damon Tweedy) - written by a high school classmate, this was a pretty educational look into racial issues in the professional world, and quite timely as we all sit here wondering how the hell our country "got to be this way." The book wraps up without sage wisdom or recommended actions, which bugged me until I remembered it's up to me to decide what actions to take.

• * Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Dee Brown) - why was this not required reading in high school? Why??

• Night Train to Turkistan (Stuart Stevens) - an entertaining true story of a guy who retraces Peter Fleming and Ella Maillart's epic 1935 journey through Turkistan into India. Reviewers are quite critical of the author's constant whining, but he's a writer, not an explorer. I thought it was a fun read and I related to many of his travel stories.

• Think Like a Freak (Steven Levitt) - nothing I haven't already heard from working in corporate life. I haven't read the other Freak books but I have a feeling that the ideas here were regurgitated from those books so that the authors could cash in even more.

• The Wild Trees (Richard Preston) - dear lord, the damn treehuggers throughout the book are irritating, but the story and the history of these beautiful trees was pretty compelling. We signed up for the Avenue of the Giants half marathon partly as a result of reading this.

• * Cash (Johnny Cash) - I don't agree with his politics or religion, but still I just {heart} him. I should've expected that he'd be an amazing storyteller. At one point he talks about meeting various presidents and says something about them all having tremendous character. Wonder what he'd think of Trump?

• * The New Jim Crow (Michelle Alexander) - supplemented 13th by reading this. I continue to be shocked at how little I know about this stuff. Like Damon's book, this left me wishing there were clear instructions on how to fix it... It's up to me. Us.

• Rules for Radicals (Saul Alinsky) - my new organizing mentor recommended this. After reading it I realized I am not an organizer.

• Pre: the Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine (Tom Jordan) - ironically, the shortest book I read last year had the longest title. I needed a light read after three heavy books. Nothing like a local sports legend who tragically dies at age 24 to lift your spirits, eh? I do understand Coos Bay a little better now. 

Sorta true stories

• The Very Thought of You (Rosie Alison) - another one of those fiction-based-on-historical-events tales. The backstory was interesting but I wasn't a huge fan of her writing style, and she didn't do much to make me like any of the characters.

• Euphoria (Lily King) - another book group choice. Inspired by Margaret Mead's life, we accompany three crabby anthropologists on their studies of tribal villages deep in New Guinea. I finished it in three days, so I didn't dislike it, exactly. I appreciated the way the story was told, where the focus was on the western characters and descriptions of the tribal villages only reiterated how ridiculous the westerners were. But it did remind me why I dislike this type of intrusive, selfish anthropology, and it also reminded me that people who go into "people sciences" are usually just trying to fix themselves. 

Our next life

• A Farm Dies Once A Year (Arlo Crawford) - a bit whiny, a bit obnoxious, a bit informative... Kind of like our farm internship hosts, so it was fitting that I read it on their farm.

• * Wisdom of the Last Farmer (David Mas Masumoto) - a poetic and passionate read. No whining whatsoever. Highly recommend to anyone interested in the local food movement.

I learned a lot of important history from the books I read last year. (And speaking of learning, I did read most of a very large book about Quickbooks, and a dozen or so cheese- and breadmaking cookbooks - really read them, word for word, and for the record, The Complete Guide to Making Cheese, Butter, and Yogurt at Home by Richard Helweg was the most helpful. So I guess I did surpass my reading goal after all.)

I also learned that it's incredibly difficult for me to get lost in a book when I'm angry and/or depressed (which I was most of the time, for so many different reasons). Here's hoping for a little more laughter and optimism in 2017. And more Literally Literature, too...

Happy reading! What's on your 2017 list?