2025 Reading Challenge discussion
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ARCHIVE: Yearly Challenges
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#OwnVoices - 2019
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Message #155 updated PROGRESS: 54/60 (books) 16/16 (tasks)
I've changed my goal to 60, let's see if I can reach it 🤔
Completed #11 (Hindu) - Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. I absolutely love this collection of short stories! Her writing is so clear and beautiful, each story a little vignette into another's reality. Definitely worth reading! 5 stars16/20
Just completed #2 (atheist) - Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry. Obviously the author has spent time around teens - she captured all of their heightened emotions combined with their impulsivity and their incredible need for fairness. I loved her characters! Writing and plot were good too! Definitely worth reading! 4.5 stars17/20
Message #155 updated PROGRESS: 55/60 (books) 16/16 (tasks)
Message #155 updated PROGRESS: 56/60 (books) 16/16 (tasks)
Message #155 updated PROGRESS: 57/60 (books) 16/16 (tasks)
Edited post #47.Challenged completed 13/13.
Updated msg #77. Buddhist: The Pillow Book (Sei Shonagon)
Progress: 24/24 tasks (51/30 books)
Challenge completed!
Update to message 19: I have completed the challenge with the book that most blew me away this year: There There by Tommy Orange. And that is saying something. I hope to read a few more from the list before year end.
Update msg #51. Progress 7/26. Thank you!
Message #155 updated PROGRESS: 58/60 (books) 16/16 (tasks)
Just completed #3 (asexual/aromantic) - City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault. I really wanted to like this book, and there were many things I appreciated about it. I appreciate that the author sought to represent people of different sexual orientations and identities in a complex world. They were not stereotypes and their orientations or identities were not the only interesting or distinguishing characteristic about them. However, there were so many people in the novel that none of the characters was highlighted or on the page long enough for me to cheer for them. The world created was complex but not really explained enough, so the beginning in particular, was slow and confusing. Worth reading, however, and I will continue to the next book. 3.5 stars18/20
Updating Msg. 5617. Living with a Mental Disability- The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays
23. Oceanic- The Uncle's Story
16/26 Read
Message #155 updated PROGRESS: 59/60 (books) 16/16 (tasks)
Just completed #17 (mental health - eating disorder) - The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray. What an incredibly powerful read! Speaking from a place of knowledge, the author writes a story of three different sisters, each dealing with their own demons, but all connected. I really appreciated that each sister had her own voice and was a fully constructed character. And the writing was fantastic! The jail, prison, and courtroom information was accurate as well. Definitely worth reading! 5 stars19/20
Message #155 updated PROGRESS: 63/60 (books) 16/16 (tasks)
CHALLENGE COMPLETED!
Challenge complete! I have updated message # 84. Finished a total of 29 books to fulfill all 26 categories.
I loved this challenge. I hope to do it again next year. I especially liked focusing on YA titles as there are so many being published from diverse authors right now.
A couple recent 5 star titles that I just completed are : Lincoln in the Bardo, Angela's Ashes.
Message #155 updated PROGRESS: 64/60 (books) 16/16 (tasks)
CHALLENGE COMPLETED!
Message 67 Updated20/20-Challenge Completed
Message #155 updated PROGRESS: 65/60 (books) 16/16 (tasks)
CHALLENGE COMPLETED!
Updated message 41-- nonbinary or transgender-- She Wants It: Desire, Power, and Toppling the Patriarchy14/13
Updated msg 7I went back through the books I've read this year and discovered a few more qualify. And I'm hoping to read a few more by the end of this month.
Progress: 58/30 books (24/24 tasks)
Updated to msg 7Progress: 60/30 books (24/24 tasks)
Thanks for a great reading challenge, Kristin!
Update msg 53Sorry I didn't keep up with the postings, but I'm done: 11/10
2. Agnostic, Athiest, or Humanist The Little Prince
4 - East Asia: Confessions
4 - SE Asia: The Bone Witch
5. Bisexual or Pansexual They Both Die at the End
7. Buddhist Lincoln in the Bardo
11. Hindu Evil Eye
13. Incarcerated or Institutionalized One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
15. Jewish The Seven Good Years
21. Muslim Internment
Not sure where to put Sikh - Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Message #155 updated PROGRESS: 66/60 (books) 16/16 (tasks)
Just completed #7 (Buddhist) - The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama XIV and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. I'm really glad that I read this book. Part of me wishes that I had my own copy so that I could reference the recommended meditation practices in the future. I most enjoyed the descriptions of the interaction between the two holy men and their relationship of love and respect. Worth reading! 4 stars20/20 - challenge completed!
Message #155 updated PROGRESS: 68/60 (books) 16/16 (tasks)
Completed #8 (Christian minority) - Dangerous Territory: My Misguided Quest to Save the World by Amy Peterson. I felt very seen by this author as she described her struggles with the American version of Christianity and missions. I feel like she could have gone much further in her analysis, but overall, a really interesting memoir. Should be required reading for all teens in youth group and stupid college kids with starry-eyed gospel idealism (speaking from experience!). 3.5 stars21/20
Message #155 updated PROGRESS: 69/60 (books) 16/16 (tasks)
Just completed #14 (indigenous) - LaRose by Louise Erdrich. This was my first book by Erdrich but will not be my last - loved her writing! I really appreciated the perspective she brought to all of her characters. And I came away wanting to know more, which is always a hallmark of a great read for me. Definitely worth reading! 5 stars22/20
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2025 Reading Challenge
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