#100HappyBookDays - Days 1-10

Nafiza started this fun hashtag/challenge on Instagram to post a photo of a book we love for 100 days. I've had so much fun picking books to spotlight, so I thought I'd share my picks so far.

You can follow along at the #100HappyBookDays hashtag to see what everyone is sharing. 

Counting Coup by Larry Colton - This is one of the best pieces of narrative nonfiction I've read, telling a story about community, rural America, Native American life through the lens of a girls basketball team. This will fill that FNL-shaped hole in your heart, I promise. #100happybookdays #day1 #reading #bookstagram #basketball

sarahbethmoon's photo on Instagram

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#100happybookdays - Freefall by Mindi Scott. This is one of my favorite young adult novels and one of my favorite books in general. Mindi writes with such a real, affecting voice that deserves far more attention. True story: I was so aggressively enthusiastic about this book when it came out in 2010 that Mindi found me on the Internet and we have since become real life friends. True story #2: This book is one of the big reasons my friend Laura and I became real life friends. Freefall: The book that brings people together. #reading #bookstagram #day2 (This Instagram challenge was started by @nafizaaz, you should join in!)

sarahbethmoon's photo on Instagram

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#100happybookdays #day3 Nowhere But Home by @lizapalmer, who seems to write books just for me. This is another one that is guaranteed to fill that #fnl-shaped hole in your heart. It's a book about coming home and finding yourself. And food, of course. #reading #bookstagram

sarahbethmoon's photo on Instagram

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#100happybookdays #day4 City Primeval by Elmore Leonard - This isn't even in my top five favorite Leonard books (I've read them all except the collection of western stories; my faves are probably Touch, Pagan Babies, Tishmingo Blues and Cuba Libre), but this edition of this book has one of my favorite covers. Leonard's novels are an American treasure, a master course on dialogue and tightly developed plots and characters. The brilliant TV show Justified is based on a Leonard short story and you can see his touch all over it. #reading #bookstagram

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#100happybookdays A Northern Light (US) / A Gathering Light (UK) by Jennifer Donnelly. This is another one of my favorite novels, and it's probably my favorite historical novel. Set in rural New York in the early 1990s, it intermingles the story of a teen girl who dreams of attending college and the narrative of a real crime that happened in that region at that time. It's simply perfect. This lovely UK edition was given to me by my dear friend Laura for my birthday last year. #reading #day5, #bookstagram

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#100happybookdays Unsticky by Sarra Manning. Sarra Manning takes well-worn tropes and spins them into something fresh and smart. Unsticky is memorable to me because on paper it seems like the sort of book is hate. Instead, it challenged my assumptions and was tough to put down, despite being nearly 600 pages long. #reading #bookstagram #day6

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#100happybookdays - The Bridge from Me to You by Lisa Schroeder, which is out today. This one really reminded me of growing up in Canby, Oregon, both the good and bad. #day7 #reading #bookstagram

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#100happybookdays This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers. This is not a happy book, but it's absolutely brilliant. Courtney explores trauma and survival in her books, and this one does that in such a unique way. How do you survive a zombie apocalypse when you don't have an interest on survival to begin with? #reading #bookstagram #zombies

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#100happybookdays - Please Ignore Vera Dietz by the brilliant A.S. King. This is the YA book I recommend to adults who have big misconceptions about what YA is and who think it's not for them. It's an unusual book, with multiple points of view, including a pagoda, and flow charts. #reading #bookstagram

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#100happybookdays Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan - SRB enjoys destroying the souls of her readers--if you're into pain and misery, you should totally read this series. (I'm sad this cover treatment didn't continue--I love this papercut design.) #reading #bookstagram #day9

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