2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion
ARCHIVE 2023
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Gina wants to read 100 books in 2023
Book 64Kakegurui 3: Das Leben ist ein Spiel by Homura Kawamuto ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It entertained me just as much as the other parts. I still think it's very cool! And I'd love to read the other parts too, so I'll keep an eye out for those.
Book 65Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was just so looking forward to the book and was then somewhat disappointed. Here Laini Taylor should have taken the motto "less is more" to heart. It was then but a bit exaggerated and devalues for me also the other books. I probably still love the first volume and that is also my favorite volume of the trilogy.
Book 66The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wow. I'm a little speechless. It was as good as the first volume, but in a different way. If it keeps going like this, it could be my favorite trilogy! For me it was just perfect.
Book 67The Twelfth Day of July by Joan Lingard ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
That was a really sweet book! I liked it better than I expected. And so I will read the second book as well, although I hadn‘t planned to. And yeah, I finished the book on the twelfth day of July.
Book 68The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The author has a beautiful writing style and I like the subject very much, but this book is more for a "beginner". He uses almost only techniques from meditation and yoga. For me there was nothing really new in it, because I have experience in both areas.
Book 69Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson ⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was an exciting story with a good pirat adventure in between. The narrator from Apple Books was very, very good. I want to hear more from him! He dubbed all the characters uniquely. Sometimes I could hardly believe that he dit it all by himself!
Book 70Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo Del Toro & Cornelia Funke ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Such a beautiful, magical story. This is going to be my feel good book! This was a really unique story, even if I missed a bit of the fantasy part at the end.
Book 71Princess Ai: Destitution by D.J. Milky ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was surprisingly really good. I didn't really have high expectations for this manga, but I really liked it. It has a cool idea with a good story that is really told at a faster pace than other manga.
MANGA GOAL COMPLETEDAnd now I have really reached my manga goal with 22 out of 22 books. I finished my manga goal with a very good manga! Now I am satisfied and happy!
But maybe ... just maybe, I will read another manga someday, if I want to. I mean, there are still five months left in the year. Let's see.
Book 72Ring by Kōji Suzuki ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A really good book with one of the best plots I have ever read.
Book 73CyberWorld 5.0: Burning London by Nadine Erdmann ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I just love this series! So far it has never disappointed me.
Book 74World After by Susan Ee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The first volume was a little better, but I love this book too! This time the narrative was a bit more chaotic, and I liked that.
Book 75Daheim by Judith Hermann ⭐️⭐️
The only good thing was that I listen to this as an audiobook. ... And I liked the cover.
Book 76The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was good. But if you've seen the series first, it's not as good as the series. I missed some points and I don't know what to make of the ending.
Book 77Götterdämmerung by Laura Kneidl ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was the best book of the trilogy, but not so good like other books from the author.
Book 79Dilaras Wegträumgeschichten: Anthologie gegen Mobbing by Katharina Gerlach, Yule Forrest, Patrizia Rodacki ⭐️⭐️
The most short stories weren't good. There was only one that I really enjoyed.
Book 80Pawn by Karen Lynch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I never expected that I liked it so much! For me, a really good book, which I enjoyed reading.
Book 81Skylark by Meagan Spooner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed reading this book (again) and it was very emotional at the end. This book is such a special book. No stupid teen dramas; No annoying communication problems; And a really authentic protagonist that you just have to love. For me the best young adult book!
REREAD GOAL COMPLETED!I've read 12 out of 12 planned rereads. Most of the rereads have been worthwhile and I feel good.
Book 82Lady Molly Of Scotland Yard by Baroness Orczy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was very fun to listen to the audiobook. Good job to the author and to the narrator! My favourite Character is by the way Mary. She is so a funny woman.
AUDIOBOOK GOAL COMPLETEDI've listened to 16 of 16 planned audiobooks, but I'll be listening to more audiobooks this year, so I'm raising my goal to 20 audiobooks!
New Goal: 16 -> 20
Book 83CyberWorld 7.0: Bunker 7 by Nadine Erdmann ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was the perfect finale for this very cool series. The first part was just beautiful nostalgia from the first volumes and then the second part picked up the story from the last volumes. Superbly done!
Book 84Japanische Märchen by Karl Alberti ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
That is a book about Japanese fair tales. I found all the fairy tales entertaining and also quite educational. Only the author mentioned that he adapted the fairy tales for young people and I keep wondering what the fairy tales would be like if they weren't censored. It could also be written as a title or subtitle that the book is aimed at young people.
Book 85Meditieren für Anfänger: Gesund durch Meditation by Neele Blumenberg ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book is about meditations for beginners. It is really good for beginners because it is more about practical tips that are really helpful and you can apply them immediately. The book is also highly recommended for returners!
Book 86Das Lied von Eis und Feuer 1 by George R.R. Martin ⭐️⭐️
Game of Thrones - Book 1 (part 1 of 4)
I like the story. I like the characters and I hate a lot of characters. But I really didn't enjoy the book and the German narrator didn't really help me either.
Book 87Starlight in Our Dreams by Andreas Dutter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Definitely not a perfect book, but it sucked me into its world so well that I couldn't get out. I also love the two protagonists and their relationship. I'm really looking forward to the second volume!
Book 88Shadowlark by Meagan Spooner ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The beginning and the end were great! But unfortunately the middle part was not my thing, although I like the story of the book series.
Book 89Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was one of the best books of the year! This book was better than the first volume and I love everything about it. There was nothing I didn’t like.
Book 90His Pain by Wrath James White ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was my first extreme horror and yeah, it was really extreme. But I liked it anyway. And I love this cover!
Book 91Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was a really unique story and narration. I loved the atmosphere of the book and the narrator helped a lot with that too.But there was only one thing that didn't convince me. She's also a unique protagonist, but it wasn't really believable that she was 30 years old and it wasn't really necessary to mention the age at all.
Book 92The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
There were some really good stories and King showed a different side of himself for once. But I was clearly expecting more horror stories with this title and unfortunately only a few of the stories were really horror. But the few that were were really good.
Book 93The ABC's of LGBT+ by Ash Hardell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I learnt a lot and it really helped me to learn more about my sexual and romantic orientations. That was a really good book!
Book 95Doctor Sleep by Stephen King ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Unfortunately one of Stephen King's worse books. It didn't really entertain me and seemed relatively flatly written. I know he can actually do better than that.
SERIES BOOK GOAL COMPLETEDOut of 30 books, I've read 30, but I still want to finish two series and start one, so I'm raising my goal to 33.
New Goal: 30 -> 33
Book 96End of Days by Susan Ee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The book was a perfect finale to the trilogy! I had a lot of fun reading this book and it was a very strong ending to the book.
Gina wrote: "Book 40Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
It seems that I always have a dnf in the month. But this time on 70%. In general, I can say that the atmosphere was charming, but th..."
I read that book too!! (Not this year)
Sorry you couldn't finish it. I really liked it! But I do remember it kind of dragging....or ... Well, not the best written, I guess. I offered it to my sister to read and she handed it back shortly later and was like, "No." So I realized it's not for everyone.
I also say that I really liked it, but, to be frank, I don't remember much of it. I can't even remember how it ended. All I know is that it revolved around a girl who was pretty much nothing remarkable and yet everyone was claiming she was theirs and then their dark secrets came out and....I don't remember how it ended. Kind of embarrassing.
..... Well, so....I had read it. Lol. I guess that's all I was getting at. Just noticed you had DNF it.
Gina wrote: "Book 51Realm of Dragons by Morgan Rice ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The book was good, but the narrator (in German) was really bad.
"I read this too!! Ebook version. Funny, you liked it. I DNF this one. Heh.
Keri wrote: "I read this too!! Ebook version. Funny, you liked it. I DNF this one. Heh."Yes, I liked it, but not so much that I will continue the series. 😅
Keri wrote: "..... Well, so....I had read it. Lol. I guess that's all I was getting at. Just noticed you had DNF it."I have to say that I read your comment when I was feeling down, and your comment made me laugh. Thanks for that! 😂
And I forget a lot of books too .... And usually the endings of books. So it happens to me too. So don't be embarrassed. 😅
Book 97 Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong
DNF
I didn't read the whole book because I'm going to focus on other subjects and marketing was just a subject I had to do for my degree, but it's not important to me and in general I'm not really interested in this topic. But it's a good book for marketing!
Book 98The Nutcracker and the Mouse King ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I fell in love with this story from the first two lines! Hoffmann's writing style is really beautiful and he immediately captured me in his world, which I didn't want to leave. It was all just so sweet and magical.
AUDIOBOOK GOAL COMPLETED ... AGAIN!I've listened to 20 of 20 planned audiobooks. I will finish more audio books 😅 but I don't increase my goal again. I'm glad that I've been able to listen to so many audiobooks and that I'm enjoying them again.
Book 99Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelly ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Best classic I've ever read, with very cool extras to understand more of the story and also to understand how important the book was. Mary Shelly has a beautiful writing style and I had such a strong emotional attachment to this book and just love it. No classic book has evoked such feelings in me!
I REACHED MY BOOK GOAL!And the 100th book is the worst. That's funny. But I'm glad I reached my book goal!
Book 101Hinter verzauberten Fenstern by Cornelia Funke ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really enjoyed the presentation of the audiobook. However, I found the story rather mediocre overall. It was good, but it didn't really enchant me.
Book 102Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Technically, it was a really good book. The writing was really good - very atmospheric and the world building was quite interesting, but the problem was that I didn't really feel the book. I can't say what the reason for that is. Anyway, I really enjoyed reading the book and I was always looking forward to it!
2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Lark Ascending (other topics)I Was Here (other topics)
The Ice Twins (other topics)
Luck in the Shadows (other topics)
Hinter verzauberten Fenstern (other topics)
More...
Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler, Vol. 02 by Homura Kawamuto ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In terms of style, as good as the 1st volume! The only difference is that it was only about one game. The 1st volume showed several games, but it was again very entertaining.