Hi Y’all! Lissa Matthews here! I’ll be holding things together for Hour 23… We’re in the home stretch!
Does the title make you curious? Make you a little anxious? Make you want to wring my neck for planting the mere idea in your head of not reading for a year? I get it… But… What if TODAY was your last day to read a book for a year? That starting after you turn the final page today you’re not allowed to read another book for 365 days… What book would you choose to be the last one? What book would so capture your mind and imagination that you believe it would have the power to hold you over until one year is over? Inquiring minds want to know.
Me? I’m still struggling with this answer, but ever since I came up with this question, the one book that’s been sticking in my head is Caraval by Stephanie Garber. Of all the books I’ve read this year, this is the one that my brain keeps going back to…
Hopefully you’re still here, pushing through to the very last word on the pages. Maybe you’re even looking forward to a nice long nap and some eye drops. I know I am. But honestly, this has been great and I’m so thrilled to be part of it and hosting one of the mini-challenges!
So, please, leave a comment here with your choice of book that would be your last one if you couldn’t read for a year. I’m very curious at what people choose.
If you choose to answer on social media, don’t forget to use the #readathon and specifically for this mini-challenge #lastbookforayear And if you’d like to tag me as well, I’m on Twitter and Instagram as @lissamatthews
I will also be offering up a prize for this challenge… A $20 gift card to In The Wick of Time or up to $20 for a book of your choice from BookDepository.com
~lissa
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
When I first read this book, I didn’t want to pick up another. I wanted to savor the emotions I felt. Hold onto the peace and contentment the book had given me. I still think about it a lot.
Right now I’m reading Cat Daddy by Jackson Galaxy, and I would choose this one. It’s a moving story (autobiography) and has good cat advice in it that I’m sure will stay with me ling term!
I only had to think for a moment and knew without a doubt: Lord of the Rings. There’s just so much detail, such rich storytelling, and some of my most beloved characters. This choice is easy! 🙂
Harry Potter 7 – some books just give you a hangover to last for a year
Gotta go with Pride and Prejudice for this. It’s my all-time favorite book, and if I knew I couldn’t read anything for a year, that’s the story that I would want freshest in my mind to get me through.
I would choose to reread Turtles All the Way Down, because I loved it so much and would want to remember it well.
If, horror of horrors, this were the last day I could read this year, I would read The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. I took my son to meet him at our local bookstore last Sunday to get his latest Alex Rider novel signed, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn how much he has written for adults as well.
I think I’d go for The Night Circus, I’ve wanted to reread that for a while, since I thought it was magical. I’d have gone for Harry Potter, but I just reread those, so The Night Circus it is!
This is good to hear as that is what I am reading now!
Well that’s a terrible question. Just really cruel. lol. I mean, do I pick a reread do do I venture into the unknown for one last time?! I can’t even this early in the morning with only 4 hours of sleep! Umm…I think I would pick a big MFer…you didn’t say if had to be published yet so I’m going with Winds of Winter by GRRM. lol. Even though it’s not the last Ice & Fire book.
Honestly this question kinda freaks me out. I was going to say Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo because after reading that duology this year, the characters and their stories are constantly in my mind. But I think The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern would easily keep my mind preoccupied for a long time – although definitely not for a year though *shudders* I’d rather not think about not reading for that long.
I have no doubts at all that I would (re)read House of Leaves by Mark Z Danieleweski. It’s just so… it’s such a punch in the stomach, I could really satisfy myself forever with it!
The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
I love this book! I haven’t read it for a couple of years and if I had to stop reading for a tear, I’d want to read this last.
I haven’t read it yet, but I imagine Danielewski’s “House of Leaves” would be my choice.
This is a hard one and requires some thought!
The answer is not Harry Potter because I remember the books so well I don’t need to refresh my mind!
Maybe..Hmm.. I’m going to go with the first book that popped into my mind – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline! It has been a while since I read it and it is one of my favourite books of all time. Plus it motivates me to play pc games so then I would have something to do during the year I’m not allowed to read anything!
I’d choose The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. The way this book handles different human experiences (whether they happen to humans per se or other sentient species) speaks to my heart, and I could easily spend the next year thinking and talking about every culture described in it.
Jonathan Strange andMr. Norrell, its long and I hear amazing, so,at least it’d keep me busy for a week! 😉
My last book would have to be Harry Potter book one. It would help remind me throughout the year the magic of books and why I long so much to return to them after the year has passed. And also, it’s the magic month of scary wizardry, October!
I would definitely choose Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. I read this book nearly exactly a year ago and I still think about it quite regularly. It is safe to say I absolutely adored it and I would love to reread it this year (will probably do that) and seeing as the story and the writing have stayed with me for this whole entire year I would think this more than possible to happen a second time. That being said, everyone please go read Burial Rites:p
This is such a tough question… I’m not even sure if I can properly answer it! But I’m going to say I’d try to read through the first two books in The Penderwicks series by Jeanne Birdsall. It’s a middle grade series that I try to read every year because I just adore the characters so much.
Pff what a difficult question..
I think I will go with dream thieves, it was definitely one of my favourite reads this year and would love to reread it!
Our Chemical Hearts have been on my tbr for sooo long, and I would hate myself if I’d had to wait another year to read it, so I better chose it as my last one.
I’d have trouble choosing between ‘Outlander’ by Diana Gabaldon or ‘The Name of the Wind’ by Patrick Rothfuss
At the moment I’m reading Fahrenheit 451. If it turned out that this was the last book I could read for 365 days, then I wouldn’t be okay (that’s a looooong time without a book) but I’d survive. It’s an old favorite.
Most likely any Colleen Hoover book, might have to go with Maybe Someday 🙂
Here’s my choice! https://instagram.com/p/Bai_8MtnBe8/
I would choose 1Q84 by Murakami. I’ve been saving it for the “right time and mood”. If I had to stop reading for a year, I would not postpone it any longer.
Man… I was pulling my hair out with this one! How to choose the last book I get to read for a year?? It was between Return of the King, by JRR Tolkien, or Leviathan Wakes, by James S.A. Corey. I went with Leviathan Wakes because I’ve only read it once so I think I would find more surprises so maybe I could savor it longer… but what a tough choice!
Talk about hard. And horrific. Aaah! o_0
The only book I can think of is maybe Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but the story is still with me.
I would re-read “The Night Circus”
I think I’d choose to return to my childhood and read something comforting and familiar. I’d choose Anne of Green Gables.
A really really hard question (and terrifying!). But one book that has been stuck in my mind since I read it in january is The long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers. So if I reread that one, maybe it will stuck with me for another year. And I wanna be left with so many feelings as possible, that will last for a good while.
I’d choose either The Hate U Give or the seventh Harry Potter. This is a nightmare of a question though!
And since I’m currently reading The Night Circus for the first time, I’m happy to see many people choosing that one.
Too difficult to contemplate! I’d probably go with Pride and Prejudice. Then I could spend the year imagining what else transpires with Elizabeth and her Mr. Darcy.
I’ve been talking so much about my favourite book during this readathon but it’s been a long time since I’ve read it. So I’d go with The Dark Garden by Margaret Buffie. It’s such a magical book and I remember being so engaged by it that it’d be great to experience that again!
I would have to say Ready Player One. It was such a great experience for me. I haven’t had as much fun reading a book in a long time!
Right now I think I would go with Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor. I’ve been hearing amazing things about the book almost all year and I think it would definitely be worth being the last book I was able to read of the year.
Since I couldn’t read the entire Harry Potter Series in one day I would probably read Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern because the world she creates is so rich and memorable.
Probably Difficult Women by Roxane Gay because it is a short story collection and my favorite this year so far.
I think The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It’s just so magical and unforgettable and so captivating. I still wish the night circus is real…
I’d pick a book of poetry. My favorite is probably the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry (just because it’s long and varied).
Something by Haruki Murakami that I have not already read because i have read all the David Mitchell novels
Anything by Shakespeare.
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I keep seeing references to this book more and more so cannot go another year without reading it.
I think I’d choose a big fat short story collection rather than a novel. Chekhov’s anthology would be ideal. Love how he creates “atmosphere” in such short texts!
Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
Station Eleven! That would
Really help you appreciate the experience and all you have to give up. What a sad question!
I think I would pick Panchinko by Min Jin Lee. It is one of the best books I have read this year, and I still think about it from time to time. Although, I would hate not being able to read books for a year!
A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Bachman because it was so beautifully written, it spurred so much emotion and made my heart and soul smile. That would last for a while. (But I’d still go batty if I couldn’t read for that long.
Many people have said what I’ve been thinking: I know the Harry Potter series so well that I don’t need to re-read it. I, like many others, immediately thought of The Night Circus. I don’t re-read many books, but that is one that I plan to.
Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix. It is one of my Top 3 all-time favorites and God knows I can use the year to cry my heart out all over again.
Thanks for hosting the mini-challenge 🙂