Johanna’s 2018 ROOTS

I am back for another year of ROOTing, and even though I didn’t quite meet my goal for 2017 (I was 2 books short), I am going to keep the same goal for 2018. I’m trying for 25 books from my kindle and paper shelves that I owned previous to 2018.

I am also participating in an A to Z challenge on Litsy using exclusively books I already own, so that should help keep me motivated.




2018 ROOTS
1. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things - Bryn Greenwood
2. Lair of Dreams - Libba Bray
3. Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
4. An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir
5. Midnight Pearls - Debbie Viguie
6. The Fifth Season - NK Jemisin
7. Instant Attraction - Jill Shalvis
8. The Goose Girl - Shannon Hale
9. Moxie - Jennifer Mathieu
10. A Thousand Pieces of You - Claudia Gray
11. ‘Salem’s Lot - Stephen King
12. An Enchantment of Ravens - Margaret Rogerson
13. Daughter of the Pirate King - Tricia Levenseller
14. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
15. Unraveled - Courtney Milan
16. Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
17. The Serpent King - Jeff Zentner
18. Sweet Tooth: Out of the Deep Woods - Jeff Lemire
19. Bloodlines - Richelle Mead
20. I’ll Give You the Sun - Jandy Nelson
21. Nevernight - Jay Kristoff
22. Strange the Dreamer - Laini Taylor
23. Scarlet - A. C. Gaughen
24. Ink & Bone - Rachel Caine
25. The Paper Magician - Charlie L Holmberg
26. Bellamy and the Brute - Alicia Michaels
27. Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys
28. Vampires in the Lemon Grove - Karen Russell
29. Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi

Currently Reading:
A Conjuring of Light - V.E. Schwab

Good luck with rooting in 2018!

2018 Goals

-The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison****
-A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
-Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher
-Bloodlines by Richelle Mead****
-Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
-Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier
-The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
-Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine*****
-Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen****

Non-ROOTS for 2018
January
1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles - Agatha Christie
2. Sputnik's Guide to Life on Earth - Frank Cottrell Boyce
3. Murder on the Orient Express - Agatha Christie
4. Refugee - Alan Gratz
5. Marriage of a Thousand Lies - SJ Sindu
6. Long Way Down - Jason Reynolds
7. Pashmina - Nidhi Chanani
8. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus - Dusti Bowling
9. Roller Girl - Victoria Jamieson

February
10. Dreams of Gods and Monsters - Laini TAylor
11. The First Part Last - Angela Johnson
12. Runaways Vol. 1 - Brian K. Vaughan
13. The Cruel Prince - Holly Black
14. Illegal - Eoin Colfer
15. Night of Cake and Puppets - Laini Taylor
16. Ross Poldark - Winston Graham

March
17. Lake Silence - Anne Bishop
18. Notorious RBG - Irin Carmen
19. American Street - Ibi Zoboi

April
20. The Love LetteRs of Abelard and Lily - Laura Creedle
21. The Strays - Emily Bitto
22. Lab Girl - Hope Jahren
23. Starfish - Akemi Dawn Bowman
24. The Last Summer of The Garrett Girls - Jessica Spotswood
25. That Inevitable Victorian Thing - E.K. Johnston

May
26. After the Wedding - Courtney Milan
27. Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant
28. The Hazel Wood - Melissa Albert
29. A Court of Frost and Starlight - Sarah J. Maas
30. Blanca & Roja - Anna-Marie McLemore
31. Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World - Ashley Herring Blake
32. Beastly Bones - William Ritter
33. See You in the Cosmos - Jack Cheng
34. All's Faire in Middle School - Victoria Jamieson
35. Strange Star - Emma Carroll
36. The City on the Other Side - Mairghread Scott

June
37. The Prince and the Dressmaker - Jen Wang
38. This Would Make a Good Story Someday - Jane Alison Levy
39. People Like Us - Dana Mele
40. The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade - Jordan Sonnenblick
41. Scythe - Neal Shusterman
42. I'll Give You the Sun - Jandy Nelson
43. My Life Next Door - Huntley Fitzpatrick

Non-ROOTS for 2018 cont.
July
44. The Power - Naomi Alderman
45. Lucky in Love - Kasie West
46. The Song From Somewhere Else - AF Harrold
47. The Wicked Deep - Shea Earnshaw
48. You Go First - Erin Entrada Kelly
49. Sky in the Deep - Adrienne Young
50. Words in Deep Blue - Cath Crowley
51. Real Friends - Shannon Hale & LeUyen Pham

August
52. The Parker Inheritance - Varian Johnson
53. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend
54. Bittersweet - Sarina Bowen
55. Amal Unbound - Aisha Saeed
56. Crazy Rich Asians - Kevin Kwan
57. Save Me a Seat - Sarah Weeks & Gita Varadarajan
58. Spill Zone: The Broken Vow - Scott Westerfeld
59. Friends Without Benefits - Penny Reid
60. This Monstrous Thing - Mackenzi Lee
61. Hell On Wheels - Julie Ann Walker

September
62. Thunderhead - Neal Shusterman
63. Leah on the Offbeat - Becky Albertalli
64. Sourdough - Robin Sloan
65. A List of Cages - Robin Roe
66. Future Home of the Living God - Louise Erdrich
67. China Rich Girlfriend - Kevin Kwan
68. Check Please! - Ngozi Ukazu
69. Dear Ijeawele: or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
70. All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook - Leslie Connor

October
71. The Likeness - Tana French
72. Mary Shelley: The Strange True Tale of Frankenstein's Creator - Catherine Reef
73. We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson
74. This Darkness Mine - Mindy McGinnis
75. Two Backpacks: Learning Their Story and Building Relationships with a Trauma Informed Perspective - Dr. Adolph Brown
76. California Dreamin': Cass Elliot Before the Mamas and the Papas - Penelope Bagieu
77. The Kitchen House - Kathleen Grissom
78. Tower of Dawn - Sarah J. Maas

November
79. The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza - Shaun David Hutchinson
80. A Torch Against the Night - Sabaa Tahir

December
81. A Room Away From the Wolves - Nova Ren Suma
82. Alexander Hamilton, Revolutionary - Martha Brockenbrough
83. The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
84. A Christmas Bride - Susan Mallery
85. The Women in the Castle - Jessica Shattuck

Enjoy your ROOTing through 2018, Johanna!

Welcome back and have a great reading year!

You're on Litsy? I am too -- same username as here! :)

Welcome back, Johanna! Happy ROOTing

glad you're back!

Happy reading in 2018, Johanna!

Great to see you're back, Johanna. Happy reading!

Good luck with your ROOTing this year!

My username is the same as well- I just followed you!

Thanks everyone! I’ve already finished two ROOTS and started my 3rd. I’ve been borrowing audiobooks of titles I already own and listening to them while working on jigsaw puzzles. Then I can go back and forth between the audio and paper books.

We’ve had a couple of unexpected snow days this week because of frigid temperatures, so I’ve been all about the cozy activities!

>14 johanna414: I'm working on a jigsaw too. Love to do that in these colder days. It's a big one of 2000 pieces.

>13 johanna414: Yay! Followed you back! :)

I finished Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel last night and it was sooooo good! I'm hoping to read more by that author. It was a hardcover that I purchased at a library book sale for $1, so I will happily pass it along to my mother and that's one book out of the house!

>17 johanna414: LT says I 'probably will like' this book so onto the wishlist it goes! Thanks!

I started The Fifth Season by NK Jemison tonight and It was a little confusing at first, but I’m sucked in after 75 pages. Not only is this a ROOT, but it also counts for my personal goal of reading some of the longer books I’ve been avoiding in my house!

I spent my entire day proctoring state tests, and since I only had one student for each test (I was an “alternate location” for a couple students with testing accommodations), I managed to get a lot of reading done! I finished An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir which I’ve had laying around the house for almost 3 years

I feel like I'm losing my mind... We aren't even through January and already I've forgotten my ticker password! I made a new one, updated the ticker thread and actually remembered to write the password down this time!

>21 johanna414: O my! Good for you to write it down!

I finished Midnight Pearls by Debbie Viguie, which was part of the Once Upon a Time series I was obsessed with as a young teen. It did not hold up well to rereading as an adult, so I don't think I'll be revisiting any others in the series. I'd like to keep the fond memories that I have of them!

>23 johanna414: Oh I know what you mean! I started A Little Princess last year and I really wish I hadn't! I loved it as a child, but 30+ years later it's just a slog!

>23 johanna414: >24 Jackie_K: the suckfearie strikes again.

I just finished The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin and it was phenomenal- unlike any fantasy I’ve read before. Absolutely beautiful writing. Of course, now I need to get books 2 and 3 ASAP, so that might slow my ROOT progress down a bit...

>26 johanna414: I keep hearing good things about this. Taking a note...

I'd definitely recommend it!

My 7th ROOT, and 1st for February was a romance I've had sitting on my kindle for years. I've enjoyed Jill Shalvis in the past, but Instant Attraction fell sort of flat for me. I don't know if it was the book itself or if it was just because being 8 months pregnant has me feeling a little grumpy...

I'm trying really hard to get a head start on my ROOTs before the baby is here, since I know my reading is going to drop off quite a bit when I go from one child to two... So now I have to decide which ROOT to start next! And I should probably finish the three library books I'm currently reading...

>29 johanna414: I love your pragmatism! :)

Ooh, good luck for the impending family expansion, johanna414! I originally started with this group when I was on maternity leave, my daughter was just over a month old then. I still don't know how I did it! I certainly didn't feel like I could string a sentence together verbally very often, maybe reading was my substitute!

Baby Nina is here! I’ll try to post a picture of her soon - I’m not sure how to do that on my iPad rather than a computer at work. I finished my first ROOT of my maternity leave, and hoping I can get through one of two more.
Moxie was a really fun YA novel which featured strong, supportive female friendships, feminism and young girls finding their voices in a community that wanted to silence them. I really enjoyed it!

Congratulations on your little one! I hope both you and the little princess are fine!

Congratulations Johanna, what lovely news! Welcome to the world, baby Nina!

Congratulations Johanna! That's lovely news :))

Hurray for Nina! :)

Congratulations with baby Nina. Love the name!

Thank you for the well wishes everyone!
I finished A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray this morning. I’ve had it on my audible account for a couple years now. I might look into borrowing audiobooks of some ROOTS I’ve been wanting to get to since that’s a nice option to go back and forth while I’m breastfeeding.

I finished ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King tonight. My 11th ROOT!
I may never sleep without nightmares again...

Great progress in your ROOTing! Not so good about the nightmares...

How is baby Nina doing?

Nina is wonderful! She’s the happiest baby ever, and growing so fast!
I still havent figured out if there’s a way to add pictures to my post from a mobile device...

This week I finished An Enchantment of Ravens which I enjoyed, but didn’t love as much as I had anticipated.

>43 johanna414: I don't know how to do that either. When I make a picture with my mobile I just mail it to myself and open it on the laptop. That's where I collect all my pics and from there you can upload them.

I'm back to work and, while I would much rather be home with my babies, at least I am able to upload pictures from my computer here!

Here is Nina as a newborn:



And at 2 months old:


She is going to be 3 months on June 14th - I can't believe how fast it is going!

And here's my buddy Lane and I! He is getting so big- almost 2 and a half already!

In book news:
I've been trying to read a lot of middle grade books at work this month, so I only finished one ROOT. I really didn't love Neverwhere like everyone else seems to, but I got through it because Neil Gaiman is such a great audiobook narrator. Not sure what ROOT I will attempt to tackle next!

Hello to you and your babies! Nina certainly knows how to pose!

You have really beautiful children!

What a lovely family! And I do admire your ability to keep up your reading when you obviously have your hands full :)

How cute! Really lovely pics of Nina and Lane (love those names too)

I did it!!! Just finished my 25th ROOT of the year with The Paper Magician!

I plan to keep going, so the rest will just go to the group total.

It's a wonder I get any reading done at all with these two goofballs around!

Woo hoo! Congrats on meeting your goal!

Congrats on reaching your goal, Johanna! And thanks for the pic, they look like they're quite a handful!

Congrats, Johanna.

I love the picture. You have beautiful kids!

>52 johanna414: Oh my word they're so gorgeous! (I bet they know it too!)