Trim 2024 - Welcome and Challenge Planning

[Amy]

Trim Challenge 2024 – Community Introduction and Planning Thread

The Tradition of Fun and Community Continues!
This is the planning thread for the Unofficial Trim Challenge 2024-2025

PBT is continuing to hold an unofficial challenge for the community, meant for old and new members both. This challenge emerged from one of the yearlong challenges in 2019, and we liked it so much, that we are still continuing it. It’s meant to be something that new or old members can join in, and join in at any time. My role in this, is to make sure it gets a good strong organized dynamic kickoff, and then just to keep up excitement and morale.

This is not an official PBT challenge, and is meant to be secondary to the yearlong challenges. You do not have to participate, you can drop or enter participation at any time. You can switch your books, you can read them earlier or later than you were “supposed” to, or not at all. You can substitute, change your list completely, throw it out and start over. There is complete flexibility. This is the ultimate easy extra. You will not receive any extra points for books that you read, but you should put them in the monthly or other folders to get points, as well as if they fit into particular challenges. It is for fun. And for some, the fun is creating Buddy Reads that we can read something together.

This is how it works. You create (or recreate) a list of 24 books that are on your TBR and that you would like to get to. Each month, a participating member will randomly pick (or we’d never know if you picked decisively) a remaining number from 1-24, and we all read the number on our list, thus ensuring that this book comes off your TBR. And for some, creating the opportunity to do a Buddy Read together. And no pressure with the Buddy Reads either. Just because you signed up to read something does not commit you in any way to do so. In the past, some people have put more than one book choice on their list – feel free. The reason some people choose to have more books added to their lists is because they either want to have choices, or participate in more than one buddy read. Or folks will talk together and switch a number, so they can do more than one without it being the same month. Again, totally flexible, and I will continue to add and help arrange the Buddy Reads as they evolve.

How this works – How to construct a list

In this thread, that is our organization and planning one, members will post their list of 24, and we can move them around as needed if you want to put the same book on the same number to read them together. I will move the buddy reads as necessary into new slots so that they may stay together on the same number. This does not mean you have to continue to participate in them, it’s merely offered as a guide as old and new participants are together constructing lists. But I will post the list of existing buddy reads as they emerge, so folks can see them, and will add to them as new ones arise. As we post our lists, I will help us arrange them on the same numbers and repost the emerging buddy reads.



Moving Forward

As the challenge begins in 2024, there will be a 2024 Community and Announcement Thread. The Trim Picker for the month will announce the number to read after the monthly tag or challenge is announced, what the number of the month will be. Again, there is no pressure to read or finish your book, or to do so on time. I envision the ongoing 2024 thread as one where we can announce the number, chat and connect, but not really for reviews. We can always refer back to this thread if new members join the challenge midway or we want to go back to one another’s lists.

Here is our list of Trim Pickers. Each month, a participating member will get to randomly (or directly) choose the number. I will help make sure folks know when their time is up, but in general, we have such a dynamic and invested group that I am really not worried about it. Once the monthly tag has been announced, you post the number, so folks can plan their reading month. Emerging Buddy Reads as they arise will be posted here, as well as lists of participants as they sign on.

Have Fun Everyone – We are off to a great start!

[Amy]

Who is Joining Us? Post your interest and list and I will add you - from there we will create our Trim Picker list.

1. Amy
2. KTLoves
3. Joanne
4. Sally
5. Theresa
6. Linda C.
7. BooknBlues
8. OliverMagnus
9. LibraryCin
10. Jen M
11. Jen K
12. Sue
13. JoyD.
14. KateNZ
15. Hannah
16. Diana
17. Pam
18. Book Concierge
19. HayJay
20. Kelly
21. Heather
22. Meli
23. Purple Jen

*** More people are welcomed to join and we hope you do. However, this is the list that was Randomized to pick our 23 Trim Pickers for 2024 and 2025. I randomized 22 of them, so the next person to sign up is the Trim Picker for November 2025.

[Amy]

Emerging Buddy Reads List - As they evolve will be posted here:

*** Please note for anyone new joining us, the list of buddy reads are far more expanded, and it is found on the Trim 2024 Community Announcement Thread. That will remain true as long as this note stands. When I erase this note, this planning thread will also have the identical Emerging Buddy Reads List. So if its up, you should assume you are missing some and check the other list first before composing your own. Feel free however to go through the lists and look for matches. You may find either the missing ones or the new ones.

1. Museum of Failures - Thrity Umigar (Amy, Sally, Hannah)
2. The Phoenix Crown (HayJay, Amy)
2. The Two Lives of Sara (BnB, Amy)
3. Mansfield Park (Diana, Pam, Sally)
3. Lady Tan's Circle of Women (Amy, JoyD).
3. Above the Bay of Angels (Hannah; Linda C.)
4. The House of Doors - (Amy, BnB)
5. The Naked Sun (JoyD, Sue)
6. Looking for Jane - (Amy, Sally, Hannah)
6. The Bastard of Instanbul (JoyD, Theresa, Amy, Hannah)
8. One for the Money (Diana, KTLoves)
8. Women Talking (Theresa, Linda C., Meli)
8. Watership Down (Sally, Pam)
9. Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl (Amy, HayJay, Kelly)
9. River Sing Me Home (BnB, Hannah)
10. Valley Forge (KTLoves, Joanne, JoyD, BnB?)
10. The Secret Healer (Amy, Jen M)
10. Tom Lake (Sally and Kelly)
10. The Night Travellers (Amy, Hannah)
11. A Dress of Violet Taffeta (HayJay, BnB, Amy)
11. Code Name Sapphire (Amy, Hannah)
12. American Gods - Neil Gaiman (KTLoves, BnB, Jen M, Sally)
13. Heaven and Earth Grocery Store (Amy, Sally, Diana, Hannah, Meli)
14. A Town Called Solace - (Amy, BnB, Diana, Kelly)
15. Hamnet (Diana, Sally)
16. Art of Racing in the Rain (Diana, Jennifer, Kelly)
16. Greenlanders (JoyD, OliverM)
16. Tender at the Bone (Theresa, BnB)
17. The Accidental Empress (OliverM, Amy)
17. Jaqueline in Paris (Amy, BC)
18. Silence of the Girls (Theresa, Heather)
21. Endeavor Pete Moore (JoyD, Joanne)
22. Enter Ghost (Amy Sally, OliverM, Heather?)
23 Lock In (Diana, KTLoves)
23. Unlikely Animals (JoyD, BnB)
24. The Engineer's Wife (Amy, BnB, HayJay, Hannah)
24. We All Want Impossible Things (Sue, Sally, Kelly)

[Amy]

Amy's Trim 2024 list:

1. Museum of Failures
2. Phoenix Crown/The Beautiful Ones
3. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
4. The House of Doors
5. A Girl Called Samson/The Lost Ticket
6. Looking for Jane/The Bastard of Istanbul
7. The River We Remember - William Kent Krueger
8. The Secret Book of Flora Lea/The Golem of Brooklyn
9. Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl/The Scenic Route
10. The Night Travelers/The Secret Healer
11. Code Name Sapphire/A Dress of Violet Taffeta
12. This House is on Fire
13. Heaven and Earth Grocery Store
14. A Town Called Solace
15. Ink Blood Sister Scribe
16. A Bakery in Paris/Twisted Love Story
17. Jaqueline in Paris/The Accidental Empress
18. Murder in the Marais/The Roaring Days of Zora Lily
19. The Rachel Incident/Storm of Infinite Beauty
20. The Light of the Midnight Stars/The Dressmakers Gift
21. A Beautiful Rival/Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice
22. Kissing Kosher/Enter Ghost
23. The Fiction Writer/Well Ness
24. The Engineer's Wife/His Majesty's Royal Coven

[Joanne]

Official 2024 Trim


1 The Wicked Day/Perilous Seas
2 Templer/The Candle and the Flame
3 Wild Salvation/The Last Dive
4 An Ember in Ashes/Sharpe's Fortress
5 Queen By Right/The Pale Horseman
6 Fatal Crossroads/Call of the Wild
8 The Woman Who Smashed The codes/Northeaster
9 Heartstone/The Third Pole
10 Valley Forge/The Right Stuff
11 The Whitefire Crossing/The Amber Room
12 The Jewel of Medina/The Luncheon of the Boating Party
13 The Thief Who Pulled on Troubles Braids/Lisette's List
14 Forest of A Thousand Lanterns/The Sweetness of Water
15 I Always Loved You/The Blood of Flowers
16 A Different Kind of Fire/The Brideship Wife
17 A Kingdom's Cost/The Finish
18 Lord of The Changing Winds/The Indifferent Stars Above
19 The Whale Road/Dodge City
20 Raven Blood/The Spymaster of Baghdad
21 Endeavour:/Maiden Voyages
22 Druids/The Red Widow
23 Impossible Saints/People Who Eat Darkness
24 The Devil's Highway/Five Days in London

[Sallys]

2024 Trim
1)The Art of Political Murder
2)The Home at the End of the World
3)Scarlett Epstein Hates it Here
4)It’s What I Do. A Photographers Life of Love and War
5)Chronicle of a Death Foretold
6) What Are You Going Through
7) Hum If You Don’t Know the Words
8) Watership Down
9) The Professors House
10) Ghana Must Go
11) A Good Hard Look
12) A House for Alice
13) The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store
14)Tom Lake
15)Hamnet
16)Henry and Clara
17)Apeirogon
18)The Overstory
19) Demon Copperhead
20)The Nursery
21)Trust
22) Enter Ghost
23) The Museum of Failures
24) We All Want Impossible Things

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[Amy]

Sally, I will put Enter Ghost as my number 22. I have Museum of Failures at #1.

[Sallys]

Great!! Looking forward to reading with you!

[Sallys]

I'm going to add Looking for Jane. It's sitting on my bookshelf.

[Theresa]

Unofficial Trim 2024

1. Dear Money
2. Buried in a Book
3. One Summer in Paris
4. Dreamland
5. Night Boat to Tangier
6. The Bastard of Istanbul *
7. Nothing
8. Women Talking *
9. The Lady in the Attic
10. The Day of the Owl
11. A Strangeness in My Mind
12. The Ghosts of Belfast
13. The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World.
14. Flâneuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London
15. The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
16. Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table *
17. George Sand
18. The Silence of the Girls*
19. Timekeeper
20. The Secrets We Kept
21. Stoner
22. A Scream in Soho
23. Killed by Clutter
24. Hollywood's Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A.

*buddy reads
All books on nightstand TBR Towers.

[Linda C]

2024 Unofficial Trim

1. The Outlander – Gil Adamson
2. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore – Matthew J. Sullivan
3. Above the Bay of Angels – Rhys Bowen *
4. The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers – Terri-Lynne DeFino
5. Welcome to the Pine Away Motel and Cabins – Katarina Bivald
6. The Blind Contessa's New Machine – Carey Wallace
7. The Way Life Should Be – Christina Baker Kline
8. Women Talkingg – Miriam Toews *
9. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows – Balli Kaur Jaswal
10. Kitchens of the Great Midwest – J. Ryan Stradal
11. Flight of Dreams – Ariel Lawhon
12. Rise & Shine, Benedict Stone – Phaedra Patrick
13. My Italian Bulldozer – Alexander McCall Smith
14. A Store at War – Joanna Toye
15. The Garden of Small Beginnings – Abbi Waxman
16. The Patchwork Bride – Sandra Dallas
17. Littered with Trouble – Eryn Scott
18. Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey from Down Under to All Over– Geraldine Brooks
19. Educating Alice: Adventures of a Curious Woman – Alice Steinbach
20. A Good Yarn – Debbie Macomber
21. Women of the Silk – Gail Tsukiyama
22. The Survivors – Dinah McCall
23. The Salt Maiden – Colleen Thompson
24. Truck: A Love Story – Michael Perry

* Buddy Reads

[Olivermagnus]

2024 Unofficial Trim

1. Last Call at the Nightingale - Katharine Schellman
2. The Mirror & the Light - Hilary Mantel
📖 3. September - The Simple Wild - K.A. Tucker - 4 Stars - 9/6/24
4. The Secret Keeper of Jaipur - Alka Joshi
📖 5. July - Behind Closed Doors - B.A. Paris - 4.5 Stars - 7/26/24
6. A Feather on the Water - Lindsay Jayne Ashford
📖 7. May - Rich Blood - Robert Bailey - 3.5 Stars - 5/18/24
📖 8. October - Life After Life - Kate Atkinson - 4 Stars - 10/11/24
9. The Onion Field - Joseph Wambaugh
10. Bloodline - Conn Iggulden
📖 11. August - The Cartographers - Peng Shepherd - 4 Stars - 8/25/24
12. Three Sisters, Three Queens - Philippa Gregory
📖 13. January - The Coffee Trader - David Liss - 4 Stars - 1/7/24
📖 14. February - The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane - Lisa See - 5 Stars - 2/11/24
15. The Moon in the Palace - Weina Dai Randel
16. The Greenlanders - Jane Smiley
📖 17. June - The Accidental Empress - Allison Pataki - 3 Stars - 6/20/24
📖 18. March - Celine - Peter Heller - 4.5 Stars - 3/30/24
19. Blood Sisters: The Women Behind The Wars Of The Roses - Sarah Gristwood
📖 20. November - Fox Creek - William Kent Krueger - 4.5 Stars - 11/20/24
📖 21. April - Poison Study - Maria V. Snyder - 4 Stars - 4/18/24
22. The Garden of Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng
📖 23. December - The Dark Lake - Sarah Bailey - 3 Stars - 12/11/24
24. The Glass Palace - Amitav Ghosh

[Booknblues]

Tentative list, Marked Buddy Reads with* and hoping for more. Let me know if you want to do buddy read with any of these:

1. Night Kill – Ann Littlewood
2. The Two Lives of Sara -Catherine Adel West
3. Clark And Division – Naomi Hirahara
4. The House of Doors – Tan Twan Eng (Amy)*
5. A Land More Kind Than Home – Wiley Cash
6. The Fountain Overflows -Rebecca West
7. The Girl in the Lifeboat – Eliza Graham
8. The Paris Bookseller –Kerri Maher
9. River Sing Me Home -Eleanor Shearer
10. Valley Forge -Bob Drury & Tom Clavin * buddy read with Joy D and Joanne
11. Golden Girl – Elin Hildebrand/A Dress of Violet Taffeta- Tessa Arlen*
12. American Gods –Neil Gaiman (Jennifer)*
13. The Chinese Groove – Kathryn Ma
14. A Town Called Solace – Mary Lawson (Amy)*
15. Chasing the Sun – Natalia Sylvester
16. Tender at the Bone- Ruth Reichl * (Buddy read with Theresa)
17. The Naked Don't Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees(immigrants)
18. Things We Lost in the Water – Eric Nguyen
19. Open Water -- Caleb Azumah Nelson
20. Flight Behavior – Barbara Kingsolver
21. Grizzly Years: In Search of the American Wilderness – Doug Peacock
22. Joan – Catherine J. Chen
23. Unlikely Animals – Annie Hartnett * (Buddy read Joy D)
24. The Engineer’s Wife – Tracey Emerson Wood

Hanging Chads
Thunder dog – Michael Hingson
Artful – Peter David

[Jen K]

I'm in and looking forward to it but may be slow on posting my list. Thanks for organizing again!!

Finally posting:

1. Black Cake
2. The Cartographers
3. Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
4. The House of Doors *BR
5. Other People's Clothes
6. The Bastard of Istanbul *BR
7. When We Were Birds
8. Women Talking *BR
9. Either/Or
10. Take My Hand
11. A Magic Steeped in Poison
12. Dele Weds Destiny
13. The Chinese Groove *BR BNB
14. A Town Called Solace *
15. Search
16. The Last Equation of Isaac Severy *BR Hayjay
17. I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself *BR Sue
18. Things We Lost to the Water *BR BNB
19. Open Water *BR BNB
20. The Left Hand of Darkness
21. All the Lovers in the Night
22. Eventide *BR Kelly
23. Loot *BR Hayjay
24. Her Majesty's Royal Coven

[LibraryCin]

I'll be playing, but it will be a while before I get my list set up.

[Sue]

I'm playing - still need to work on my list.


1. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
2. The Golem and the Jinni
3. A Bad Day for Sunshine
4. Sugar
5. The Naked Sun
6. The Scorpion's Tail
7. Wayward
8. Take It Back
9. Ring
10. The Office of Historical Corrections
11. Ringworld
12. Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks
13. The Colony
14. All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir
15. What We Fed to the Manticore
16. A Good Name
17. I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself
18. Long Gone, Come Home
19. How to Say Babylon: A Memoir
20. Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other
21. All the Light We Cannot See
22. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
23. A Man Called Ove
24. We All Want Impossible Things *(Buddy Read with SallyS)

[KateNZ]

Picking up from Subdue:
1. Billie's Kiss
2. The History of Love
3. The Wall
4. Small Island
5. Tamar
6. Swallowing Grandma
7. Lost Children Archive
8. Apeirogon
9. The Scrivener's Tale
10. That Part Was True
11. Dunedin
12. Auē
13. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
14. Wild Grapes
15. Son of the Shadows
16. Daughters of Jerusalem
17. Pure
18. The Clockmaker's Daughter
19. What Alice Forgot
20. Season of the Witch
21. An Evening of Long Goodbyes
22. The Jukebox Queen of Malta
23. The Lincoln Highway
24. The Black House

[Joy D]

1 The Smartest Guys in the Room Bethany McLean or So Close to Home Michael J. Tougias
2 The Catcher was a Spy Nicholas Dawidoff or Jungle of Stone William Carlsen
✅3a. Death Of A River Guide by Richard Flanagan - 9/14/24 - 4* - My Review - selected for September
✅3b. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See - 9/16/24 - 4* - My Review - selected for September
4 The Whale at the End of the World John Ironmonger or Greenwood Michael Christie
✅5. Winter Loon by Susan Bernhard - 7/13/24 - 2* - My Review - selected for July
*6 The Bastard of Istanbul Elif Shafak *buddy read w/ Theresa or Birds Without Wings Louis de Bernieres
✅7. Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption by Benjamin Rachlin - 5/3/24 - 4* - My Review - selected for May
✅8. Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World by Simon Winchester - 10/6/24 - 4* - My Review - selected for October
9 Mr. Vertigo Paul Auster or The Bonanza King Gregory Crouch
*10 Valley Forge Bob Drury *possible buddy read with JoAnne if I can find a copy or The Marrying of Chani Kaufman Eve Harris
✅11. Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro - 8/14/24 - 4* - My Review - selected for August
12 Ombria in Shadow Patricia A. McKillip or Wild Swans Jung Chang
✅13. The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict - 1/7/23 - 4* - My Review - selected for January
✅14. The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor - 2/23/24 - 4* - My Review - selected for February
15 Serious Sweet A.L. Kennedy or Stranger in the Shogun's City Amy Stanley
*16 The Greenlanders Jane Smiley buddy read w/ Olivermagnus or Buried in the Sky Peter Zuckerman
✅17. The Last of the Doughboys: The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten World War by Richard Rubin - 6/14/24 - 5* - My Review - selected for June
✅18. Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days to the Attack by Steve Twomey - 3/25/24 - 4* - My Review - selected for March
19 Trail of Broken Wings Sejal Badani or Daily Rituals Mason Currey
✅20. Spies by Michael Frayn - 11/19/24 - 5* - My Review - selected for November
✅21. Stephen Florida by Gabe Habash - 4/26/24 - 3* - My Review - selected for April - * also a buddy read for: Endeavour: The Ship and the Attitude that Changed the World by Peter Moore - 5/1/24 - 3.5* - My Review - with JoAnne - selected for April
22 When the Nightingale Sings Suzanne Kelman or The Hakawati Rabih Alameddine
✅23. Faith by Jennifer Haigh - 12/26/25 - 3.5* - My Review - selected for December
24 Word Child Iris Murdoch or Miracle Country Kendra Atleework

Challenge completed 12/26/24

* = buddy read
updated 8/13 to remove books already read and add new choices

[Hannah]

1. The Museum of Failures: A Novel* (Amy, Sally) / The Fortune Men
2. That Kind of Mother
3. Above the Bay of Angels* (Linda C)
4. Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers
5. The Vibrant Years
6. Looking for Jane* (Amy, Sally) / The Bastard of Istanbul* (Joy, Theresa, Amy)
7. Sister Stardust
8. The Last Rose of Shanghai
9. River Sing Me Home* (BnB) / The Magnolia Palace
10. The Night Travellers* (Amy) / The Girls in the Picture
11. Code Name Sapphire* (Amy)
12. The Silver Music Box
13. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store* (Amy, Sally, Diana, Kelly)
14. A Bend in the Stars
15. The Patriots
16. Pond Weed
17. Mistress of the Ritz
18. The Cactus
19. Paris Time Capsule
20. The Chelsea Girls
21. The Yellow Bird Sings
22. The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post
23. The Storyteller of Casablanca
24. The Engineer's Wife* (Amy, BnB, HayJay) / Sadness Is a White Bird

* = Possible Buddy Read

[Jen]

I wasn't going to do any of the challenges other than Racetrack for now, but this seems like an easy one to either follow, or don't, so I'm in!

My starter list:

1. Revenge of the Witch - Joseph Delaney
2. We Set the Dark on Fire - Tehlor Kay Mejia
3. Apocalypse Z - Manel Loureiro
4. Watch Us Rise - Renee Watson
5. Sugar Crash - Elena Aitken
6. The Host - Stephanie Meyer
7. Only the Innocent - Rachel Abbott
8. The Rule of One - Ashley Saunders
9. Interrupt - Jeff Carlson
10. The Secret Healer - Ellin Carsta (Amy)
11. Lights Out - Elise Hart Kipness
12. American Gods - Neil Gaiman (the whole clan!)
13. The Accounting - William Lasher
14. What Never Happened - Rachel Howzell Hall
15. The Walk on Cabaret - Andrea Sneed
16. The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein (Diana, Kelly)
17. Emotional Rescue - Ben Greenman
18. Giving Up the Ghost - Melissa Ecker
19. Night Bird - Brian Freeman
20. Divergent - Veronica Roth
21. Only the Rain - Randall Silvis
22. The Last Woman Standing - Thelma Adams
23. Rosemary's Baby - Ira Levin
24. 11/22/63 - Stephen King

[Amy]

Welcome Jennifer!!! I will catch up with this thread and add all of our new people in when I get home later today!

[Diana]

Diana's Trim List 2024

1. Gemina / Parable of the Sower
2. Pandemonium / The Impossible Fortress
3. Mansfield Park* (buddy read with Pam, KTloves2listen)
4. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan / The Flatshare
5. Career of Evil / The Wife Upstairs
6. The Lady of the Rivers / A Long Petal of the Sea
7. Dragonfly in Amber / The Long Earth
8. Payment in Blood / Double Whammy
9. Манюня пишет фантастичЫскЫй роман / The Kindest Lie
10. After You / The Man of the Forest
11. A Fatal Grace / Good Neighbors
12. Night of Miracles / The Girl with the Louding Voice
13. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store* (buddy read with Amy, Sallys)
14. A Town Called Solace* (buddy read with Amy and Booknblues)
15. Hamnet* (buddy read with Sallys)
16. The Art of Racing in the Rain* (buddy read with Jennifer)
17. Partners in Crime / Arsenic and Adobo
18. Point of Retreat / What Happened to Goodbye
19. Good Girl, Bad Blood / Panic
20. The Heir Affair / The Problem with Forever
21. The Bride Test / Life Flight
22. Us Against You / Main Street
23. Shift / The Inverted World
24. Dark Matter

[Booknblues]

Amy and all I have posted my list - message14.

[Jen]

Booknblues wrote: "Tentative list, Marked Buddy Reads with* and hoping for more. Let me know if you want to do buddy read with any of these:

1. Night Kill – Ann Littlewood
2. The Two Lives of Sara -Catherine Adel W..."

Yay for shared title number 12! Fun!

[Booknblues]

Jennifer wrote:Yay for shared title number 12! ..."

It has been on my TBR for a very long time so I will be grateful for the push to read it and enjoy it with a friend.

[Amy]

I am almost about to get on. I kind of rather think I could be moved to join the engineers wife on number 24. And thank you for the catch of American Gods. If you guys find one with each other, that doesn’t include me, make sure that you pointed out so that other people might join you. As you guys run through these lists, see what you can find or create.

[Amy]

This is how it works. I am adding people and buddy reads right now. Thanks for letting me know.

[Amy]

OK friends. We have about 10 Buddy Reads Posted, and 16 people already signed up to play. Once we get to 24, those will be the Trim Pickers, and the rest will be our substitutes if needed.

I have already shifted up my list a fair amount to match with BnB and Sally... But BnB can you make a shift for me? It would otherwise be too complicated for me. Can you put A Town Called Solace as your number 15 instead of 14? Nice emerging Buddy Read for American Gods with two of our newer members plus BnB.

[Amy]

Got Valley Forge in there. Keep Em' Coming.... Off to review The Women in Black.

[Amy]

Jen M. The Secret Healer has actually been on my list since I joined in 2016. I am going to join you.

[Joanne]

KTloves2listen wrote: "Joanne, I changed my #10 to Valley Forge so we can have a buddy read. 🥳"

😊

[Sallys]

I am thinking about adding American Gods as well.

[Pam]

My placeholder! I'm going to try this out this year since I'm only doing one of the annual challenges

Read: 5/12

1. Maurice by E.M. Forster/Civil Wars by Steve Milton
2. The Belton Estate by Anthony Trollope
✅ 3. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen* (with Diana, Sally)
4. Wonder by Christina C. Jones
✅ 5. The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
6. Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
✅ 7. Love Beyond Body, Space & Time: An Indigenous LGBT Sci-Fi Anthology
8. Watership Down by Richard Adams*
9. The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
10. Baker Thief by Claudie Arseneault
11. Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi
12. Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
✅ 13. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
14. The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull
15. Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
16. Normal People by Sally Rooney
17. Documenting Light by E.E. Ottoman
✅ 18. Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
19. Tikka Chance on Me by Suleikha Snyder
20. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
21. Everfair by Nisi Shawl
22. Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
23. Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre
24. Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

[Diana]

Amy wrote: "OK friends. We have about 10 Buddy Reads Posted, and 16 people already signed up to play. Once we get to 24, those will be the Trim Pickers, and the rest will be our substitutes if needed.

I have..."

I'd also like to join A Town Called Solace buddy read. Would you mind having it at #14, Amy? I also have another buddy read at #15.

[Diana]

And I finally added my list in message #23.

[Amy]

Diana, And that is how it is done. Now we have like 15 buddy reads! I think I caught them all.

BnB. We are back on #14 for A Town Called Solace......

[Diana]

Amy wrote: "Diana, And that is how it is done. Now we have like 15 buddy reads! I think I caught them all.

BnB. We are back on #14 for A Town Called Solace......"

Thank you, Amy! Looking forward to all those buddy reads

[Diana]

KTloves2listen wrote: "Diana wrote: "And I finally added my list in message #23."

Yeah! Two more buddy reads with you. 🥳"

Yay! It would be fun to read together:)

[Sue]

I posted my list.

I have one overlap for a buddy read: #24 We All Want Impossible Things.

SallyS has this book at #24 as well.

[Amy]

I will add it! I also think that when people post their lists in the placeholder, they should let us all know when they updated it, like Diana did.

[Pam]

Diana wrote: "And I finally added my list in message #23."

Oh yay for the Mansfield Park buddy read!! Looking forward to it

[Book Concierge]

Reserving my spot!

1. Driving Miss Norma / Tim Bauerschmidt
2. Death by Hollywood / Steven Bochco
3. The Sleepwalker / Chris Bohjalian
4. Last Days of Dogtown / Anita Diamant
5. Raymie Nightingale / Kate DiCamillo
6. I'll Never Get Out Of this World Alive / Steve Earle
7. The Paris Apartment / Lucy Foley
8. Whiskers of the Lion / P L Gaus
9. Love, Anthony / Lisa Genova
10. The Daisy Children / Sofia Grant
11. A Slow Fire Burning / Paula Hawkins
12. On the Wrong Track / Steven Hockensmith
13. Flying Solo / Linda Holmes
14. The Fortunes of Jaded Women / Carolyn Huynh
15. Somewhere in France / Jennifer Robson
16. Lady In the Lake / Laura Lippman
17. Jacqueline in Paris / Ann Mah
18. The Oracle of Stamboul / Michael David Lukas
29. Deacon King Kong / James McBride
20. Second Chance Grill / Christine Nolfi
21. Yours Cheerfully / A J Pearce
22. Above the Waterfall / Ron Rash
23. See What I Have Done / Sarah Schmidt
24. A Certain Age / Beatriz Williams

deadline for the game. So I'm leaving it here ...for now.

[Jen]

I had the art of racing in the rain as number 16 not 22 on my list but I can certainly switch it if that's easier for Diana's list to do the Buddy read.

[Diana]

Jennifer wrote: "I had the art of racing in the rain as number 16 not 22 on my list but I can certainly switch it if that's easier for Diana's list to do the Buddy read."

Oh, I'm so sorry, Jennifer. Now that I look at my list of potential buddy reads, I see it should've been #16. It's good for me, so no need for you to change anything:)

[Jen]

Diana wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "I had the art of racing in the rain as number 16 not 22 on my list but I can certainly switch it if that's easier for Diana's list to do the Buddy read."

Oh, I'm so sorry, Jennife..."

Awesome, yay! Looking forward to sobbing through it with you!

[Sallys]

I changed my #8 to Mansfield Park. It's been sitting on my physical TBR shelf for ages!

[Joy D]

Amy, I just added my 2024 Trim List to message 19.

I have included the following buddy reads:

*3 Lady Tan's Circle of Women Lisa See - *buddy read w/ Amy

*5 The Naked Sun Isaac Asimov - *buddy w/ Sue

*6 The Bastard of Istanbul Elif Shafak - *buddy read w/ Theresa

*10 Valley Forge Bob Drury - *possible buddy read with JoAnne and KTloves2listen [or will read The Marrying of Chani Kaufman Eve Harris - if I cannot find Valley Forge]

*16 The Greenlanders Jane Smiley - *buddy read w/ Olivermagnus

*21 Endeavour Peter Moore - *buddy read with JoAnne

*23 Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett - *buddy read with Booknblues

[Amy]

Joy, I will get to these soon. I wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed the marrying of chani Kaufman. And I am excited you’re gonna join me or us for lady tan.

[Sue]

Can you add:
#24 We All Want Impossible Things.

Sue and SallyS so far.

[Amy]

I didn't already do it? I thought I had. I will make sure it is in there right now, as I just got in to get Joy's Buddy Reads in there....