2025 Reading Challenge discussion
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Katie's getting back in the swing of things! (35 books)
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TOTAL BOOKS READ: 28/35January:
February:
March:
April:
May:
June:
July:
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:
Katie wrote: "My goals for the year:1. Read!!! I haven't been good about reading for fun since undergrad. It's been a long time!
2. Complete at least one challenge of the three I have joined outside of this gr..."
Welcome Katie!! Wishing you the best of luck with all your goals and above all a very happy reading year!
Katie wrote: "CURRENTLY READING...."I see you’re off to a good start Katie!
Two of these are on my TBR as well :)
Thank you so much, Susy!! It's helping to pass the time in this crazy winter weather we've had where I live and I'm excited to read for fun again.
You’re already 20% done and it’s not even February! Congrats (:
Thanks Kaylee!! I really wanted to do something attainable that I can manage if I lose steam.
Just finished Alias Grace! I read it 13 years ago and this was my first time rereading it, after watching the Netflix special. I am surprised at how closely the special followed the book! I don't feel like anything major was changed or missing. I am not sure I loved the book nearly as much as I did when I was a teenager and was totally enthralled by it, but I really enjoyed it.
Hi Katie I wish you the best of luck this year! Almost 25% done will you be increasing your goal once you are done or just to see how many extra you can read.
Katie wrote: "Just finished Alias Grace!..."Wow, looks like you're already "back in the swing of things"! ;-)
Don't feel I need to say good luck with your goal, since you're off to a rolling start!What did you think of Annihilation? Plan on reading the other two?
Blagica wrote: "Hi Katie I wish you the best of luck this year! Almost 25% done will you be increasing your goal once you are done or just to see how many extra you can read."Thank you Blagica!!! I think I will either increase my goal or change the requirements to exclude graphic novels because they are most of what I've read so far.
Susy wrote: Wow, looks like you're already "back in the swing of things"! ;-)"
Hoping to keep it up! That is the real challenge.
Jakob wrote: "Don't feel I need to say good luck with your goal, since you're off to a rolling start!
What did you think of Annihilation? Plan on reading the other two?"
Thank you, Jakob! Just have to keep the momentum going. I really enjoyed the atmosphere in Annihilation but I wasn't thrilled with how it ended. I haven't decided whether or not I plan to continue yet.
Keeping with my comic theme so far (as everything else I own is packed in boxes from moving), I just finished Step Aside, Pops by Kate Beaton. I've been meaning to read this for ages. I looove her humor. Some of the references went over my head and I didn't think it was as chuckle-out-loud funny as Hark! A Vagrant. Still, I enjoyed the heck out of it.
Katie wrote: Thank you, Jakob! Just have to keep the momentum going. I really enjoyed the atmosphere in Annihilation but I wasn't thrilled with how it ended. I haven't decided whether or not I plan to continue yet.Yeah. I bought all three of them on sale last year (mostly because the covers are A++) and then I was quite disappointed with Annihilation. I was pretty much just confused the entire book. So I've really been dragging my feet on starting Authority.
Jakob wrote: "Katie wrote: Thank you, Jakob! Just have to keep the momentum going. I really enjoyed the atmosphere in Annihilation but I wasn't thrilled with how it ended. I haven't decided whether or not I plan..."You inspired me to look up reviews of Authority last night... and after reading them I'm glad I only picked up the e-book of Annihilation. I can see why you'd feel like you have to get around to the other two since you have physical copies, but I think I'm okay leaving my questions unanswered.
A Wrinkle in Time was such a strange little book!! It really threw me off. I am not sure what was weirdest, the fact that it turned into a Communism Is Bad plot, or the (view spoiler) I'm not even sure if that counts as a spoiler. So much of trying to reconcile scientific advancement of the space race with religion without explaining any of it just didn't work for me. What a read.
Just finished The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black by E.B. Hudspeth. This was tooooootally not what I expected! I thought it would be a fun art book with the anatomy of different mythical creatures, instead it had a pretty disturbing story attached to it. Definitely would not recommend for anyone with an overactive imagination.
Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant was such a fun little comic! Lots of action, a little bit of banter, really great art. I'm working through my comics very quickly and need to work harder on longer books!! I guess I'll have no choice once I run out of comics as long as I don't immediately buy more... Updated my goal to 35 books!
Way to go Katie 11/35 books is great! When you are done what will you increase your goal too?
Blagica wrote: "Way to go Katie 11/35 books is great! When you are done what will you increase your goal too?"I just bumped up to 35 from 25 so I'm hanging out here at the moment. I have a feeling my pace is going to slow down when I get a job (which hopefully will be soon). Maybe I'll make it to 50 though!
Katie wrote: "Blagica wrote: "Way to go Katie 11/35 books is great! When you are done what will you increase your goal too?"I just bumped up to 35 from 25 so I'm hanging out here at the moment. I have a feelin..."
As long as you enjoy it that is what matters!
Katie wrote: "I just bumped up to 35 from 25 so I'm hanging out here at the moment. I have a feeling my pace is going to slow down when I get a job (which hopefully will be soon). Maybe I'll make it to 50 though!."An impressive increase already Katie!
So you're looking for a job? What is it that you do if I may ask? (just curious lol)
Susy wrote: "Katie wrote: "I just bumped up to 35 from 25 so I'm hanging out here at the moment. I have a feeling my pace is going to slow down when I get a job (which hopefully will be soon). Maybe I'll make i..."I just finished my masters in public administration. I'm hoping to do something with early childhood education/child care policy, because being a toddler teacher was what inspired me to get my masters. There aren't a ton of policy-related jobs though, so I'll take what I can get!
Cool Katie! I’m a child psychologist so very much interested in child care myself.Good luck!!
Susy wrote: "Cool Katie! I’m a child psychologist so very much interested in child care myself.Good luck!!"
Oh awesome! It's always cool to share what I want to do and have people respond that they understand the importance of it. Thanks!!
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay has some really excellent art. It's such an aesthetically pleasing book. As I read it I was reminded how much I love Newt. I haven't seen the movie since it came out and I really appreciate how different he is from most male fantasy protagonists. JK Rowling and I are not on good terms right now to say the least, and I won't be seeing the next movies in the series, but I'm glad I have this book.
Because I am a monster with no sense of self-discipline I read two more comic volumes instead of finishing something else:Saga, Vol. 1 was amazing, so fun. I can't wait to read more.
Pretty Deadly, Vol. 1: The Shrike had some of my favorite comic art I've seen, but I hated that I had no idea what was going on for several issues.
Katie wrote: "[JK Rowling and I are not on good terms right now to say the least, and I won't be seeing the next movies in the series,"Really? How come?
Katie wrote: "Because I am a monster with no sense of self-discipline I read two more comic volumes instead of finishing something else:..."Lol 😂
I’m doing quite nice if I say so myself. Keeping nicely to my TBR (don’t know for how long though lol)
Susy wrote: Really? How come?"Her standing up for Johnny Depp's casting, blocking her fans who criticize her, then alluding to the fact that she knew what both sides felt when Amber Heard says otherwise was really upsetting. I've always looked up to her. There is video evidence of him being abusive, so her continuing to stand by him as the lead in her movies and tell other people they are wrong is really devastating.
Susy wrote: "Katie wrote: "Because I am a monster with no sense of self-discipline I read two more comic volumes instead of finishing something else:..."
Lol 😂
I’m doing quite nice if I say so myself. Keeping..."
Welllllll technically these are TBR comics at least??? I'm not buying new ones. But I'm gravitating towards things I know will be quick and easy instead of more challenging stuff.
Finally finished Beauty Queens last night. I'm super glad to be done with it. The satire was not well executed, the book wanted so many "woke points" but fed into a lot of misogynistic and racist tropes in trying to subvert them. I can't think of a single thing I liked about it.
1808 was a really fun history book on a subject I knew absolutely nothing about. It tells the story of the Portuguese court fleeing from Napoleon and transferring to Brazil. My favorite part about this book was that neither historical accuracy and narrative interest were sacrificed. The author tells an incredibly well-sourced and well-researched story, full of primary as well as scholarly sources. The tone of the book is not academic, and I just found it to be really fun read.
Turns out you read more when you don't force yourself to read only literature from 200+ years ago and depressing nonfiction. I started and finished The Handmaid's Tale all in one day today. It was an amazing book, but I was disappointed by the ending.
Katie wrote: "Turns out you read more when you don't force yourself to read only literature from 200+ years ago and depressing nonfiction...."Lol, Yep!
Two recent finishes:Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House finally!! My review is here. The gist of it is that the book had entertainment value, seemed embellished, but was nevertheless hard to pick up because America is a dumpster fire and it's hard to read about last year when this year's nonsense wears you down.
Last week I read Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. I really had fun with it, read it in one sitting, and look forward to reading the rest of the series!
You are doing great! Hoping March is a great month for you.
February wrap-up!I finished out the month with two books. Wonder Woman, Volume 5: Flesh was an alright continuation of the series I've been reading on and off for ages.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates was really outstanding. The way he chooses his words is really profound and I appreciated his perspective so much. Not a lot to say about this book that hasn't already been said.
So that is:
21/35 books for the year
13/98 unread books that I own
For March, I'm planning to read at least:
Blagica wrote: "You are doing great! Hoping March is a great month for you."Thank you so much, Blagica!!
Read a couple of things since my last update here! I've had quite the busy start to the month:Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur was overall not for me, but I can see why it resonates so much with other young women. I really like her work I read on the internet prior to getting published, so I will definitely read her other book as well.
Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal was cute! Don't have a ton to say about it really. I'll definitely read the next few volumes.
I need to get working on Wuthering Heights if I want to complete the challenges I signed up for this month.
Finished Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men today. True crime is not my genre, but I needed to read it for two book challenges. So I'm counting this for both. I read it as an Amazong prime first read. I didn't really like it for reasons stated in my review. It's like the interesting part of the story was the prelude for all of the stuff that happened after it was over. I wasn't a fan but I'm glad I don't have to pick up any more true crime for the foreseeable future.
Twoish years after putting it down 60 pages in to a 200 page comic, I finally finished X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga. I didn't appreciate the build-up to the climax, then felt Jean's time as the Phoenix was far too short. I loved issue #136, though. It had some great character moments despite being very much of its time. My longer review is here
A book is a dream that you hold in your hand. I hope that April brings you many more five star reads.
“Reading brings us unknown friends” While the warm weather is coming I hope you make some new friends in May!
“I have always imagined paradise will be a kind of library.” I hope you find a corner in Paradise with some great books!!
2025 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Louise in Love (other topics)More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (other topics)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (other topics)
Four and Twenty Blackbirds (other topics)
More Tales to Chill Your Bones (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Rupi Kaur (other topics)Ta-Nehisi Coates (other topics)
Nnedi Okorafor (other topics)
E.B. Hudspeth (other topics)
Kate Beaton (other topics)
1. Read!!! I haven't been good about reading for fun since undergrad. It's been a long time!
2. Complete at least one challenge of the three I have joined outside of this group.
3. Reread some old favorites.
4. Considerably decrease the amount of books I've owned and never read.
5. Donate any books I don't see myself reading again to the local library.
I'm going to work on cataloging my TBR books over the next few weeks (there are many) so I can push myself to work through the older stuff rather than books I've recently received or ebooks.
I will be counting graphic novels and audio books for my books read.