I found a list of 50 criteria designed to expand your “reading comfort zone” – genres and authors I wouldn’t otherwise pick up, different formats like plays and graphic novels, and old books that might have been forgotten. I decided to turn this reading list into my 2015 “To Do” list, and I’ve been working my way through it since January 1st. Here are some select reviews from the books I read during January and February.

One of the perks at working at a bookstore is that there are hundreds and hundreds of galleys – manuscripts from the publishers that haven’t reached the final round of editing. The story is complete and only a few formatting errors remain, so galleys are sent out to bookstores so that they can determine which books they want to stock when it becomes available to the public. It’s pretty much a VIP book club. I can’t quote the books that aren’t published yet without express permission, so I will review the books in haiku form.

A book your mom loves: A House in the Sky, by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett.

Amanda travels

To escape her small town past

With world adventures.

In Somalia,

Writing war, nothing prepares

For being taken.

Ransomed by Muslims,

Held four hundred sixty days.

Movie coming soon.

A book based on a true story: The Accidental Empress, by Allison Pataki.

Austro-Hungary,

Mid-seventeenth century,

Franz Josef must wed.

His betrothed is meek,

Her sister, captivating.

Chooses with his heart.

Tradition defied,

Elisabeth is beloved.

Book is kind of bland.

A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit: Madam, by Cari Lynn and Kellie Martin.

Nawlins Tenderloin,

All sin sequestered away,

Drink, jazz, voodoo, cash.

If you’re business smart,

You can play politicians

And capitalize.

Based on real people,

E. J. Bellocq, Jelly Roll.

Vice in Big Easy.

A memoir: Another Side of Bob Dylan, by Victor and Jacob Maymudes.

A son discovers

A box of his father’s tapes,

His recorded thoughts.

From the nineteen-sixties,

Victor was Bob’s companion

And tour manager.

Jacob reconciles

His image of his father

And accepts his death.