For the past several years, I have not only set a reading goal for myself, but a challenge as well. The bulk of my reading is romance novels (that’s what I like). But the yearly challenge ensures that I read other types of books as well. Each year, I choose a book in one of the following categories: popular (in the past 2 years), non-fiction, sports, classic.

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

First up was Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl as my popular choice for 2013.  It’s rare that I have trouble describing a book or movie, but this seems to be one of those times.  I don’t want to give anything away, so trying to explain what I liked about it is difficult for me.  Overall, this book is crazy.  I mean, it’s insane.  It was very easy for me to see why this book was so popular. Gone Girl is unlike anything I’ve read in a really long time. I couldn’t stop reading it, because I had to know how it ended. It was full of a feeling of suspense that not a lot of authors can’t convey this successfully. Honestly, I wondered about the author’s mind that she could even come up with this bizarre story and its looney characters.

Read if you like: Mysteries, thrillers, suspense, and crazy folks.

The Art of Fielding was last year’s popular pick (it also doubled as the sports book).