2025 Reading Challenge discussion
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Find Your Flight - 2020
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 9/60
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 3: BRANCHING OUT (2/5)
Updated msg 14Started my second flight to Mexico - Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I really enjoyed this book! I loved her characters, and the writing was clear. I always love learning new things in books, and I knew almost nothing about Mayan culture and faith. I love that she highlighted the folklore from that area. My only slight critique was that I wish she had an explanation at the back of the book for more of the historical basis. Definitely worth reading! 4.5 stars
2/12 books
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 10/60
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 4: CHARTER FLIGHTS: ISLANDS
1. Channel Islands: Jersey Night Of The Fox
A historical thriller with spies and secret agents in the previous days to the Operation Overlord in the picturesque setting of Jersey (Channel Islands.) Very enterteining, I had a very good time reading it!
message 18 updated! 2/50 NYC books read!
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 12/60
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 3: BRANCHING OUT (4/5)
Update msg #5
Progress: 6/40
Flight 1: Phrasebook—In Translation
✅Medea—German
✅A Midsummer's Equation—Japanese
✅ The Aosawa Murders--Japanese
Flight 2: City Guide—London
✅The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London
Flight 3: Connecting Flights—Empire and Immigration
✅A Passage to India
✅They Called Us Enemy
Progress: 6/40
Flight 1: Phrasebook—In Translation
✅Medea—German
✅A Midsummer's Equation—Japanese
✅ The Aosawa Murders--Japanese
Flight 2: City Guide—London
✅The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London
Flight 3: Connecting Flights—Empire and Immigration
✅A Passage to India
✅They Called Us Enemy
Updated message 16I aim to complete 3 flights, 11 books
So far, I have completed 1/11 books
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 13/60
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 1: PHRASEBOOKS: IN TRANSLATION (4/20)
3. English-Spanish:
I'd like to join with 4 flights. Flight names TBD Flight 1: Mental Health (topic)
✔️1. The Story of Beautiful Girl
✔️2. Flowers for Algernon
3. The Yellow Wall-Paper
4. Where'd You Go, Bernadette
5. Girl, Interrupted
Flight 2: Retellings
1. Cruel Beauty
2. Crimson Bound
3. This Monstrous Thing
4. Loki: Where Mischief Lies
5. Stepsister
Flight 3: Authors of Asian Descent
1. Dragon Springs Road by Janie Chang (Taiwanese)
2. The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu (Chinese)
3. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (Vietnamese)
4. Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan (Malasyan)
5. Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan (Malasyan)
Flight 4: LGBTQ Friendly
1. They Both Die at the End
2. Red, White & Royal Blue
3. Once Ghosted, Twice Shy
4. The Song of Achilles
5. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
6. Carry On
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 14/60
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 1: PHRASEBOOKS: IN TRANSLATION (5/20)
4. Danish-Spanish:
1 Flight: United States (50 Books) Alabama-
Alaska-
Arizona-Gone Missing-Finished 3/8
Arkansas-
California-The 19th Christmas-Finished 3/3
Colorado-
Connecticut-A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Delaware-
Florida-Their Eyes Were Watching God-Finished 3/8
Georgia-
Hawaii-
Idaho-
Illinois-Al Capone: His Life, Legacy, and Legend-Finished 05/20
Indiana-
Iowa-
Kansas-
Kentucky-
Louisiana-
Maine-
Maryland-
Massachusetts-
Michigan-
Minnesota-
Mississippi-
Missouri-Silent Witness-Finished 1/23
Montana-
Nebraska-
Nevada-
New Hampshire-
New Jersey-
New Mexico-
New York-The River Murders-Finished 3/31
North Dakota-
North Carolina-On the Lookout-Finished 1/30
Ohio-
Oklahoma-Her Baby's Protector-Finished 1/19
Oregon-
Pennsylvania-
Rhode Island-
South Dakota-
South Carolina-Vow of Justice-Finished 1/12
Tennessee-Classified Christmas Mission-Finished 2/20
Texas-
Utah-
Vermont-
Virginia-Key Witness
Washington-
West Virginia-
Wisconsin-Lawman-in-Charge-Finished 6/16
Wyoming-
2 Flight-Around the World (6 Continents)
North America-Native American Myths and Legends-Finished 5/30
South America-Bel Canto
Europe-Macbeth
Asia-Shantaram
Africa-Cry, the Beloved Country
Oceania-
12/56
January update for msg #9I will be updating once a month.
Progress: 12/60
message 18 updated! 3/50 NYC books read!
Welcome to our new participants! All caught up!
Hello, I really like this idea, I would like to sign up for 6 flightsProgress: 2 flights/31 books
✔️1. How to survive in a relationship
✔️ Osudy a běsy (Fates and Furies) by Lauren Groff
✔️ Na konci samoty by Benedict Wells
✔️ Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny
✔️ Intimita by Hanif Kureishi ✔️ The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness
✔️ Podivné počasí v Tokiu by Hiromi Kawakami
✔️ The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
2. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Príbeh ozajského človeka by Vilikovský, Pavel
✔️ Chlapec na vrchole hory (The Boy at the Top of the Mountain) by John Boyne
✔️ Munich by Robert Harris
✔️ The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Judt, Tony
✔️ Čo to má spoločné so mnou? by Sacha Batthyany
✔️ Mojich 7 životov (Agneša Kalinová v rozhovore s Janou Juráňovou) by Agneša Kalinová
✔️ Oblak a veľryba (Cloud and Wallfish) by Anne Nesbet
3. In their own words
✔️ Antiturista by Are Kalvø
✔️ Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson
✔️ Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb
✔️ Baghdad Without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia by Tony Horwitz
The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama XIV
Man's Search for Meaning by Frankl, Viktor E.
✔️ 4. Otherworlds & escape to fantasy
✔️ The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
✔️ Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
✔️ The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
✔️ The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
✔️ Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
5. For the love of books
✔️ The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
✔️ Confessions of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
84, Charing Cross Road by Hanff, Helene
✔️ The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
✔️ The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
✔️ The Burning Page by Genevieve Cogman
6. Family pictures, family stories
✔️ Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo
Hotýlek by Mornštajnová, Alena
✔️ Pod sněhem (Under the Snow) by Petra Soukupová
✔️ The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
✔️ Večne spievajú lesy (Beyond Sing the Woods) by Trygve Gulbranssen
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
✔️ Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
Finished one flight to AfricaWhatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide by Peter Allison
I'm in!Find Your Flight - 2020
Duration: January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020
Progress: 1 / 3 flights 36 / 9 books
Just like a good winery or brewery can create a flight of beverages that complement each other, we are going to explore flights, literary that is, of fantasy, spirits, or whatever gets you interested. There are several ways to create your literary flight:
To participate, simply decide how many flights that you want to accomplish this year and let us know. Each flight must consist of at least 3 books. You can also add in how many total books that you intend to read for the challenge. However you choose to connect the dots or curate your list is entirely up to you.
Happy Reading!
Option 1 - Choose a location:
Want to explore a specific location? Great, find books related to that place to create your flight. Example - I'm traveling to Paris, so I want to delve into books that explore the city. So I could read My Life in France by Julia Child, The Paris Wife by Paula McLean, and How Paris Became Paris by John deJean = 1 Flight
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Option 2-Choose a Starter Book:
Ever read a book that sends you spiraling down a rabbit hole exploring the author, subject matter, or other books? Great, then this flight is for you! Example - I want to finally tackle Beloved by Toni Morrison. So, I would read that book, then also could read Toni Morrison: a Biography by Stephanie Li, Sula by Toni Morrison, and Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates = 1 flight
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2)
3)
Option 3 - Choose a subject:
Want to learn a bit more about a time period or a specific person? Great, choose your subject matter, then curate your flight to learn about that subject matter. Example - I want to learn more about hurricanes. So I would curate my list to include The Great Hurricane: 1938 by Cherie Burns, Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward, and The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger.
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2)
3)
Flight 1 - Scottish Highlanders - 31 stops to date
There are lots of historical novels written about the last millenium in Scotland... many with delectable highlanders. Some (like Outlander I've read (and loved) in the past. This is a long flight with lots of stops! (Numbers refer to the order I've read books in this year.)
14. The Dark Highlander - Karen Marie Moning
15. Beyond the Highland Mist - Karen Marie Moning
16. My Notorious Highlander - Vonda Sinclair
17. Spell of the Highlander - Karen Marie Moning
18. The Highlander's Touch - Karen Marie Moning
19. The Immortal Highlander - Karen Marie Moning
20. Into the Dreaming - Karen Marie Moning
21. Arsenic And Old Armor - May McGoldrick
22. Much Ado About Highlanders - May McGoldrick
23. Taming the Highlander - May McGoldrick
24. Tempest in the Highlands - May McGoldrick
25. Taken by the Highlander - Eliza Knight
26. A Love Through Time - Terri Brisbin
27. Taming the Wild Highlander - Terry Spear
28. Kilts and Kisses - Victoria Roberts
29. Tartans and Trysts - Victoria Roberts
30. Beneath A Highland Moon - Gwyn Brodie
31. To Conquer a Scot - Tamara Gill
33. A Midsummer Wedding - May McGoldrick
34. To Kiss in the Shadows (novella) by Lynn Kurland
35. My Fierce Highlander - Vonda Sinclair
36. Deep Into Darkness - Kathryn Le Veque
37. An Interrupted Tapestry - Madeline Hunter
38. My Wild Highlander - Vonda Sinclair
39. My Brave Highlander - Vonda Sinclair
40. My Daring Highlander - Vonda Sinclair
41. My Rebel Highlander - Vonda Sinclair
42. My Captive Highlander - Vonda Sinclair
43. Highlander Unbroken - Vonda Sinclair
44. Highlander Entangled - Vonda Sinclair
45. Highlander Besieged - Vonda Sinclair
55. A Knight to Remember - Cynthia Luhrs
56. Knight Moves - Cynthia Luhrs
57. Lonely is the Knight - Cynthia Luhrs
Subject: Difficult Psychological Conditions
47.The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain - James Fallon
51. Understanding Pathological Demand Avoidance Syndrome in Children: A Guide for Parents, Teachers and Other Professionals(JKP Essentials) - by Phil Christie, Margo Duncan, Ruth Fidler, Zara Healy
reply | flag *
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 15/60
FLIGHTS: 1/5
FLIGHT 3: BRANCHING OUT (5/5)
I've just completed my first flight, I tried to learn a little more about the colonialism from the point of view of the colonizer and the colonized, I've visited Dominican Republic, Nigeria, New Zealand, and US (Arizona and Utah). A very interesting subject.
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 16/60
FLIGHTS: 1/5
FLIGHT 2: GRAND TOUR: UNITED KINGDOM (5/20)
I am joining this Challenge!Find Your Flight Challenge
(40 books in 7 Flights)
Flight 1: Microhistories
1. Salt: A World History
2. The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge
3. The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found
4. The Library Book
5. Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
6. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
Flight 2: American Problems
1. The War on Normal People: The Truth About America's Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future✔️
2. Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore
3. The Devil's Highway: A True Story
4. The Line Becomes A River: Dispatches from the Border✔️
5.Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted Americaa
6. Parkland: Birth of a Movement
7. The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race✔️
Flight 3: Past/Present Stories
1. People of the Book✔️
2. The Weight of Ink
3. Next Year in Havana✔️
4. The Storyteller's Secret
5. Those Who Save Us
Flight 4: Refugee Stories
1. They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan
2. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
3. Let's Go Swimming on Doomsday
4. The Boat People
5. A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story✔️
6. The Red Pencil✔️
Flight 5: Graphic Novels
1. Palestine✔️
2. March✔️
3. Daytripper✔️
4. Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations✔️
Flight 6: The Trees Know
1. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
2. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World✔️
3. The Overstory✔️
4. Wishtree✔️
Flight 7: Mind Expansion and the Meaning of Life
1. At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
2. The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness✔️
3. Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst
4. Notes on a Nervous Planet✔️
5. When Breath Becomes Air✔️
6. The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World✔️
7. Living an Examined Life: Wisdom for the Second Half of the Journey✔️
8. The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World✔️
Total Completed: 20/40
Updating message 5
8/40 books completed
8/40 books completed
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 17/60
FLIGHTS: 1/5
FLIGHT 5: TERRA INCOGNITA: GREAT EXPLORERS, ADVENTURERS, AND PIONEERS (1/5)
message 18 updated! 4/50 NYC books read!
Carmen wrote: "Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 15/60
FLIGHTS: 1/5
FLIGHT 3: BRANCHING OUT (5/5)
[bookcover:Th..."Congrats on completing your first flight!
Welcome to our new participants! Updated to here.
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 18/60
FLIGHTS: 1/5
FLIGHT 5: TERRA INCOGNITA: GREAT EXPLORERS, ADVENTURERS, AND PIONEERS (2/5)
Megan wrote: "Congrats on completing your first flight! ..."
Thanks, Megan!
I think I'm going to increase my goal for this flight, 5 more books maybe, ;-D
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 19/65
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 3: BRANCHING OUT (6/10)
I've just read Raza de bronce written in 1919 by Bolivian writer Alcides Arguedas, where he exposes the creole-mestizo oppression against indigenous peoples and their capacity to rise in the face of these abuses.
Megan, I've increased my goal for this flight up to 10 books and my total to 65
Message 32 UpdatedFlights: 0/3
Books: 3/70
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 20/65
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 2: GRAND TOUR: UNITED KINGDOM (6/20)
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 21/65
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 2: GRAND TOUR: UNITED KINGDOM (7/20)
Message 32 UpdatedFlights: 0/3
Books: 4/70
Just completed my 2nd book for my Mexico flight, and it was rather disappointing - American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. Nope, just no. Full of stereotypes, inaccuracies, cultural misappropriation. The criticisms of this book are valid. And the author's response to that criticism, all while getting barbed wire painted onto her manicure, shows exactly why #ownvoices writing is so critically important. Not worth reading. 2 stars3/12
Find Your Flight ChallengeDuration: January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020
This sounds like fun! Please sign me up for 1 flight (4 books) and I will see where I go from there.
Goal: 4 books; 1 flight , Progress: 0/4 books; 0/1 flight
Flight 1: Maeve Binchy 0/4
1. Starter book: Light a Penny Candle
2.
3.
4.
Message 27 updated.Progress: 7/40 Books | 0/4 Flights
Carmen wrote: "Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 19/65
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 3: BRANCHING OUT (6/10)
[bookcover:T..."Got it!
Anissa wrote: " Find Your Flight ChallengeDuration: January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020
This sounds like fun! Please sign me up for 1 flight (4 books) and I will see where I go from there.
Goal: 4 books; 1 fl..."
Welcome, Anissa!
Keep on flying (and reading)! Updated to here
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 23/65
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 1: PHRASEBOOKS: IN TRANSLATION (6/20)
FLIGHT 1: PHRASEBOOKS: IN TRANSLATION
✔1. French-Spanish (1 book)
✔2. French-English (2 books)
✔3. English-Spanish (1 book)
✔4. Danish-Spanish (1 book)
✔5. Bengali-English (1 book)
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 24/65
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 2: GRAND TOUR: UNITED KINGDOM (8/20)
Update to message #42PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 25/65
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 1: PHRASEBOOKS: IN TRANSLATION (7/20)
FLIGHT 1: PHRASEBOOKS: IN TRANSLATION
✔1. French-Spanish (1 book)
✔2. French-English (2 books)
✔3. English-Spanish (1 book)
✔4. Danish-Spanish (1 book)
✔5. Bengali-English (1 book)
✔6. German-Spanish (1 book)
Message 32 UpdatedFlights: 0/3
Books: 5/70
2025 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Pandemic (other topics)Blue Exorcist, Vol. 10 (other topics)
World Trigger, Vol. 1 (other topics)
My Hero Academia, Vol. 17 (other topics)
The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Patrisse Khan-Cullors (other topics)Jennifer Ashley (other topics)
Raymond Briggs (other topics)
Susan Elizabeth Phillips (other topics)
Brian Fies (other topics)
More...
PROGRESS:
BOOKS: 8/60
FLIGHTS: 0/5
FLIGHT 1: PHRASEBOOKS: IN TRANSLATION (3/20)
2. French-English
I just love this series!