Play Book Tag discussion
2025 Activities and Challenges
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Trim 2025- Planning and Organizing Thread
How Do I Join? How to Construct A List Some of us have 12 (or more) books left over from last year’s challenge when there were 24 books. Some of us have buddy reads left over from last year (having the same book on the same number.). For those who want to keep these books on their list, here’s the suggested structure. Replacing in order the remaining numbers from 13-24, in the spaces used
#1 and 2 remain the same
#15 becomes number 3
#4 remains the same
#16 becomes number 5
#6 remains the same
#19 becomes number 7
#21 becomes #8
#9 and 10 remain the same
#22 becomes number 11
#24 becomes #12
In this thread, that is our organization and planning one, members will post their lists of 12, 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 2025, there will be a 2025 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 2025 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.
Evolving Buddy Reads Previous Buddy Reads List from 2024 - As they evolve will be posted here:
*** Please note for anyone new joining us, the list of buddy reads are from the Trim 2024 list. People may want to no longer participate in these, they are meant only as a guide, and we shall see if they still hold. Its quite possible new matches may emerge as you look at each others lists and we can rearrange our lists to make sure we each share the same book on the same number.
1.
2. The Two Lives of Sara (BnB, Amy, HayJay)
2. The Invention of Wings (Melanie Joy, Sue)
3. There are Rivers in the Sky (Amy, Sally, HayJay)
4. The House of Doors - (Amy, BnB, JenK)
5. Greenlanders (JoyD, OliverM)
5. Tender at the Bone (Theresa, BnB)
5. The Last Equation of Issac Severy (JenK, HayJay, Melanie Joy)
5. The Last Days of Barcelona (Amy, HayJay?)
5. The Art of Racing in the Rain (Diana, Jen M)
6. The Bastard of Instanbul (JoyD, Theresa, Amy, Hannah, JenK)
7. Open Water (JenK, BnB)
7. The Garden of Evening Mists (OliverM, Diana)
8. The Storyteller of Casablanca (Amy, HayJay)
9. Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl (HayJay, Kelly)
9. River Sing Me Home (BnB, Hannah, Diana)
10. Valley Forge (KTLoves, Joanne, JoyD, BnB?)
10. The Secret Healer (Amy, Jen M)
10. Tom Lake (Sally, Kelly, Diana)
10. The Night Travelers (Amy, Hannah)
10. The Bird and the Sword (Amy, Melanie Joy)
11. Enter Ghost (Sally, OliverM, Heather)
11. Eventide (JenK, Kelly)
11. Precipice (Joanne, JoyD)
11. Red thread of Fate (Amy, HayJay)
12. The Engineer's Wife (Amy, BnB, HayJay, Hannah)
12. We All Want Impossible Things (Sue, Sally, Kelly)
12. His Majesty's Royal Coven (JenK, Amy)
12. Wintering (HayJay, JoyD)
Participating Members and Trim Picker List As people post their lists, I will add them to our list of participants. If there is space in 2025, Jason and Melanie Joy will get to be the next Trim Pickers as they were the first to sign up.
Amy
Jason
Melanie Joy
Sue
HayJay
LibraryCin
OliverMagnus
Theresa
Jen K
Book Concierge
Diana
Joanne
JoyD.
Booknblues
Hannah
Purple Jen
Pam
Linda C
Jen Mays
Kelly
Heather Reads Books
Sally
Trim Pickers (If they stay with the challenge)
January: Purple Jen
February 2025 Sally
March 2025 Linda C
April 2025. Joanne
May 2025 Diana
June 2025 Joy D
July 2025. OliverM
August 2025. LibraryCin
September 2025 Jason
October 2025 Kelly
November 2025 Annaressa
Amy’s 2024 Trim List. (*** Denotes a Buddy Read) 1 – Little Faith
2 - The Two lives of Sara***/The Scenic Route
3 – The Book of Doors
4 – The House of Doors***/This House is on Fire
5 – Jaqueline in Paris/Last Days of Barcelona
6 – The Bastard of Istanbul***
7 – A Beautiful Rival/Beautiful People
8 – Husbands and Lovers/Storyteller of Casablanca
9 – The Midwives Confession/Anna's Dance
10 – The Secret Healer***/The Night Travelers***/The Bird and the Sword******
11 – Code Name Sapphire/Red Thread of Fate
12 – The Engineer’s Wife***/His Majesty’s Royal Coven***
Sue's 2025 Trim List1. The Silence of the Girls
2. The Invention of Wings
3. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
4. Sugar
5. The Office of Historical Corrections
6. What We Fed to the Manticore
7. How to Say Babylon
8. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
9. Tell Me Everything
10. The Brick Murder: A Tragedy and Other Stories
11. Wandering Stars
12. We All Want Impossible Things (Buddy Read)
I'm in and am planning to keep all three of my current Buddy Read books. I'll start my list with these and fill the rest in as I figure out what I want to prioritize for my 2025 reads.1. A Short Walk Through a Wide World- Douglas Westerbeke
*2. The Two Lives of Sara- Catherine Adel West
*3. There Are Rivers in the Sky- Elif Shafak
4. Girl in Hyacinth Blue- Susan Vreeland
*5. The Last Equation of Isaac Severy- Nova Jacobs/ *Our Last Days in Barcelona- Chanel Cleeton
6. All We Were Promised- Ashton Lattimore
7. Persuasion- Jane Austen
*8. The Storyteller of Casablanca- Fiona Valpy
*9. Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl- Renée Rosen
10. What the Dead Leave Behind- Rosemary Simpson
11. To Sir, with Love- Lauren Layne/ * Red Thread of Fate- Lyn Liao Butler
*12. The Engineer's Wife- Tracey Enerson Wood/ *Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times- Katherine May
* Indicates a Buddy Read
I'm in! 2025 Unofficial Trim
5 of 12 Complete
🔹️1. Three Sisters, Three Queens - Philippa Gregory- 4 Stars - 4/7/25
2. The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court - Michelle Moran
🔹️3. If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood - Gregg Olsen - 4 Stars - 2/12/25
4. The Mirror & the Light - Hilary Mantel
5. The Greenlanders - Jane Smiley
6. Bloodline - Conn Iggulden
7. The Garden of Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng
8. The Stolen Queen - Fiona Davis
9. The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
🔹️10. Katherine Parr, The Sixth Wife - Alison Weir - 5 Stars - 5/6/25
🔹️11. The Executioner's Song - Norman Mailer - 4 Stars - 3/13/25
🔹️12. The Evening and the Morning - Ken Follett - 5 Stars - 1/14/25
Thanks for organizing again, Amy! I will plunk my list in soon. It will just be the remainder of the numbers that weren't done this. I don't think I'll need to switch anything out, but we'll see. 1. Sea of Slaughter / Farley Mowat
2. Still Life / Joy Fielding
3. Everything She Ever Wanted / Ann Rule
4. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox / Maggie O’Farrell
5. Tiger / Tash Aw
6. Born Bad / Heather Burnside
7. We Bought a Zoo / Benjamin Mee
8. A Newfoundlander in Canada / Alan Doyle
9. Seal Wars / Paul Watson
10. Anne Neville: Queen to Richard III / Michael Hicks
11. Nobody's Mother: Life Without Kids / Lynne van Luven
12. The Autobiography of an Execution / David R. Dow
Theresa's Unofficial Trim 2025 1. Dear Money or One Summer in Paris
2. Buried in a Book
3. Death of an Avid Reader
4. Dreamland or The Courtyard
5. The Lady in the Attic
6. The Bastard of Istanbul * with Joy, Amy etc.
7. The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
8. Night Boat to Tangier or In at the Death
9. Forever or Paris for One and Other Stories
10. A Scream in Soho
11. The Ghosts of Belfast or Razor Girl
12. Cake on a Hot Tin Roof - January
All books on nightstand.
* = buddy read
Honorable Mentions:
Kinsey and Me
The French Executioner
The Last Days of Night
A Strangeness in My Mind
George Sand
Killed by Clutter
Nothing
Just received the sweetest note from KateNZ, who is not going to do Trim this year - and offered her Trim Picker Spot to Jason. Sue - that is exactly where your Buddy read lands! Number 12. We are off to a great spot.
Thanks Amy!! Also apologize for reading our BR at number 12. It was interesting and I hope you do still pick it up to discuss!1. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World
2. The Blacktongue Thief
3. The Book of Etta
4. The House of Doors **
5. The Last Equation of Isaac Severy**
6. The Bastard of Istanbul**
7. Snow-Storm in August: Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the Forgotten Race Riot of 1835
8. The Night Watchman
9. There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job
10. Peril at the Exposition
11. Eventide**
12. Family Lore
Tessa's 2025 List:1. Driving Miss Norma / Tim Bauerschmidt ✔ – 18Apr25
2. Death by Hollywood / Steven Bochco
3. Somewhere in France / Jennifer Robson
4. The Last Days of Dogtown / Anita Diamant
5. Lady in the Lake / Laura Lippman
6. I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive / Steve Earle
7. The Friend / Sigrid Nunez
8. Above the Waterfall / Ron Rash
9. Love Anthony / Lisa Genova ✔ – 19June25
10. The Daisy Children / Sofia Grant ✔ – 22June25
11. A Certain Age / Beatriz Williams ✔ – 27Mar25
12. On the Wrong Track / Steve Hockensmith ✔ – 23Jan25
Jason's 2025 List1) Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident - Donnie Eichar
2) Child of Love and Water - D.K. Marley
3) The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google - Scott Galloway
4) Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball - Keith Law
5) Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation - Joseph T. Hallinan
6) Shikar - Jack Warner
7) Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything - Philip Ball
8) Pay It Forward - Catherine Ryan Hyde
9) The Pitch That Killed - Mike Sowell
10) Rules for a Knight - Ethan Hawke
11) War Hospital: A True Story of Surgery and Survival - Sheri Fink
12) The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life - Steven Pressfield
Diana's 2025 Trim List1. The Touch / Green Light
2. Deadly Safari / Don't Go Near the Water
3. My Name Is Venus Black / The Unlikely Master Genius
4. By Love Possessed / To Sleep with the Angels: The Story of a Fire
5. The Art of Racing in the Rain / Orchestrated Death
6. The Garden of Evening Mists / Where the Dead Sit Talking
7. Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King / Not As a Stranger
8. One Deadly Summer / The River's Song
9. River Sing Me Home / The Color of Ice
10. Tom Lake / The Diana Chronicles
11. Black Oxen / Жорстоке небо
12. If Winter Comes / Playground
titles in bold denote buddy reads
Joanne's 2025 Trim List-Series to be continued1. The Masterharper of Pern (or the next book)
2. Sharpe's Havoc (or the next book)
3. An Impossible Impostor (or the next book)
4. Boundary Waters (or the next book)
5. The Hallowed Hunt (or the next book)
6. The Armor of Light
7, Another Time, Another Place (or the next book)
8, Call of the Bone Ships (or the next book)
9. Where the Light Enters (or the next book)
10. The Royal Succession (or the next book)
11. Precipice
12. Heir to Sevenwaters (or the next book)
My PBT Trim List - 2025✅1. Qualityland by Marc-Uwe Kling - 4/10/25 - 4.5 - My Review - selected for April
2a Jungle of Stone William Carlsen
2b Dictator Robert Harris - added to replace The Catcher was a Spy
✅3a. Stranger in the Shogun's City: A Japanese Woman and Her World by Amy Stanley - 2/25/25 - 4* - My Review - selected for February
4 The Smartest Guys in the Room Bethany McLean
4a Sharpe's Triumph Bernard Cornwell
5 The Greenlanders Jane Smiley *
5a A Light Through the Cracks Beth Rodden #5 selected for September
6 The Bastard of Istanbul Elif Shafak *
6a Midnight in Broad Daylight Pamela Rotner Sakamoto
✅7. Trail of Broken Wings by Sejal Badani - 8/22/25 - 4* - My Review - selected for August
✅8. Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip - 7/4/25 - 4* - My Review - selected for July
✅9. Bruno's Dream: A Novel by Iris Murdoch - 6/14/25 - 4* - My Review - selected for June
✅10a. The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris - 5/14/25 - 4+* - My Review
11a The Hakawati Rabih Alameddine
✅11b. Precipice by Robert Harris - 3/23/25 - 4.5* - My Review 11, 11a, or 11b - selected for March*
✅12a. Miracle Country by Kendra Atleework - 1/15/25 - 4* - My Review - selected for January
* = buddy read
** = buddy read (if available from the library)
Hannah’s 2025 Trim List1. Sadness Is a White Bird
2. That Kind of Mother
3. The Girls in the Picture
4. Fault Lines
5. I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home
6. Lucky Boy / The Bastard of Istanbul
7. Berlin
8. The Queen of Dirt Island
9. River Sing Me Home
10. Difficult Women / The Night Travellers
11. The Wren, the Wren
12. The Engineer's Wife
@Joy - love having you and @Hannah join in the Buddy Read of The Bastard of Istanbul! Also loved seeing The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron on your list - there is a superb documentary of the book, the authors were heavily involved and it was produced by clients of mine, a H&W who are indie film producers. It was nominated for a lot of awards, including the Oscar, but lost out to 'The Penguin Movie'. As my client said - everyone knew 'The Penguin Movie' was going to sweep the documentary awards that year. The producers of 'The Penguin Movie' even brought large stuffed penguins along to bring on stage to accept their awards. But my clients still got to dress up and attend the show and the after parties.
Fran's 2025 Trim List1. Night Kill– Ann Littlewood
2. The Two Lives of Sara -Catherine Adel West
3. Chasing the Sun – Natalia Sylvester
4. The House of Doors – Tan Twan Eng (Amy)*
5. Straw Dogs of the Universe
6. The Age of Light[- Whitney Scharer
7. [book:The Book of Goose|59808607]
8. Under a Pole Star
9. Friends in Napa
10. The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience
11. Joan - Katherine J Chen
12. The Engineer's Wife – Tracey Emerson Wood
I'm in. Failed dismally at all my challenges this year (reading and otherwise) so hopefully 2025 is a fresh start and a better year all round.....Yes I've hoping for that for years.I'll keep my list as is, just shunt them up closer to the time since I'm still hoping to finish Trim.
Welcome Purple Jen! You are also the Trim Picker for January! Meaning that when the December tag comes out, you can feel free to pick the first number from 1-12 to match your list if you like. Why don't you announce it here, as we won't post the Community and Announcement Thread until January 1st-ish.
Just plugged four more books into my Trim List if anyone is interested....Red Thread of Fate (HayJay?)
Anna's Dance
Storyteller of Casablanca
The Last Days of Barcelona
Amy wrote: "Just plugged four more books into my Trim List if anyone is interested....Red Thread of Fate (HayJay?)
Anna's Dance
Storyteller of Casablanca
The Last Days of Barcelona"
I'm in for Red Thread of Fate and Storyteller of Casablanca! If I can get caught up on the Perez family books in time I'll also join for Last Days of Barcelona.
I think I just looked and that I have three buddy reads with Hannah as well!!! Yay!!! I’m all caught up on the Perez family except for the last two. Our last days in Barcelona and the Cuban Heiress. I decided Hell or Highwater that 2025, I’m gonna knock them both off.
Pam's 2025 Trim list✔️ 1. Provenance by Ann Leckie
2. Life Underwater by Matthew J. Metzger
3. Hester by Mrs. Oliphant
4. The Craft of Love by E.E. Ottoman
5. Elysium by Jennifer Marie Brissett /
6. Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night by Katherine Fabian and Iona Datt Sharma
7. Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi
8. The Blue, Beautiful World by Karen Lord
✔️ 9. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
✔️ 10. Petty Treasons by Victoria Goddard
11. Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling
✔️12. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
MelanieJoy's 2025 TRIM List:*** denotes buddy read
1: The Great Alone;
2: The Invention of Wings ***
3:
4: A Gentleman in Moscow; Caught in Time
5: The Last Equation of Isaac Severy***
6: 'Round Midnight
7: When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight For Joy
8:
review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
8: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
9: The Violin Conspiracy; Six of Crows
10:
review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
11:
12:
MelanieJoy wrote: "MelanieJoy's 2025 Trim List*** denotes buddy read
1: The Great Alone
2: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
3: The Unbound Empire
4..."
The Shergill Sisters was delightful! Read it last year I think.
Pam wrote: "Pam's 2025 Trim list1. Elysium by Jennifer Marie Brissett / Provenance by Ann Leckie
2. A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
3. [book:Middle..."
Middlemarch is a great classic. If however you find yourself bogging down, I recommend watching the BBC adaptation from some years ago - it actually helped me over a hump when I read it.
Linda C's Trim list1. The Outlander – Gil Adamson - K
2. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore – Matthew Sullivan - B
3. The Garden of Small Beginnings – Abbi Waxman - B
4. The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers (and their muses) – Terri-Lynne DeFino - B
5. The Patchwork Bride – Sandra Dallas - B
6. The Blind Contessa's New Machine – Carey Wallace - B
7. Raven's Strike - Patricia Briggs - B
8. Rise & Shine Benedict Stone – Phaedra Patrick - K
9. Lady Luck's Map of Vegas - Barbara Samuel - B
10. Kitchens of the Great Midwest – J. Ryan Stradal - B
11. The Survivors – Dinah McCall - B
12. Truck: a love story – Michael Perry - B
B-book
K-kindle
MelanieJoy wrote: "MelanieJoy's 2025 Trim List*** denotes buddy read
1: The Great Alone
2: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
3: The Unbound Empire
4..."
Excited to have you join the buddy read!
I still need to catch up with my Nov and dec Trim reads, but this was a really great challenge for me this past year so I'm definitely on board for the 2025 edition! I had thought about doing a switch out of titles but decided to just make things easier on myself by just sliding the remaining list into the new numbers, so my 2025 list is:1. Revenge of the Witch - Joseph Delaney
2. We Set the Dark on Fire - Tehlor Kay Mejia
3. Watch Us Rise - Renee Watson
4. The Host - Stephanie Meyer
5. The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
6. The Secret Healer - Ellin Carsta
7. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
8. The Walk on Cabaret - Andrea Sneed
9. Interrupt - Jeff Carlson
10. Night Bird - Brian Freeman
11. The Last Woman Standing - Thelma Adams
12. 11/22/63 - Stephen King
Theresa wrote: "Middlemarch is a great classic. If however you find yourself bogging down, I recommend watching the BBC adaptation from some years ago - it actually helped me over a hump when I read it."oh thanks, Theresa! I'll keep that in mind in case I need the push
Jen K wrote: "MelanieJoy wrote: "MelanieJoy's 2025 Trim List*** denotes buddy read
1: The Great Alone
2: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
3: [book:The Unbound..."
I've started this like 5 times and keep discarding it!
Melanie Joy, I just added you to the #5 Buddy read and then created one for you and me for #10 - the Bird and the Sword. Nancy may want to join us for that because she loves Amy Harmon.I noticed your number three was Unbound. One of my favorite trilogies ever - and that comes from a non-fantasy lover. But I love Melissa Caruso. Just wondering if you've read the first two.... because if you haven't yet, I would change your number three to the Tethered Mage.
We already have 20 people signed up for Trim for 2025 and its only early December.... Love it.
Kelly's 2025 TRIM List1. Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
2. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
3. The Next Mrs. Parish by Liv Constantine
4. The People We Keep by Allison Larkin
5. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
6. Four Seasons In Rome by Anthony Doerr
7. None of This is True by Lisa Jewell
8. The Rosie Result by Graem Simsion
9. Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl by Renee Rosen
10. Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
11. Eventide by Kent Haruf
12. We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman
Amy wrote: "Melanie Joy, I just added you to the #5 Buddy read and then created one for you and me for #10 - the Bird and the Sword. Nancy may want to join us for that because she loves Amy Harmon.I noticed ..."
I love the playful language in that book. I wish I thought of it when I got Covid. It’s just a fairy tale, but it always makes me feel better.
Amy wrote: "Melanie Joy, I just added you to the #5 Buddy read and then created one for you and me for #10 - the Bird and the Sword. Nancy may want to join us for that because she loves Amy Harmon.I noticed ..."
I read the earlier two in the series this year so I'm trying to finish it. They were good!
Wait - its a series? I should look this up......
I'm in! I'm still trying to finalize my list, so TBD on that... Re: buddy reads, I've taken Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow off my list but have kept Enter Ghost at #11!
Amy wrote: "Wait - its a series? I should look this up......"Wait which book are you referring to_ I was talking about the Unbound Empire trilogy is more accurate not series, sorry.
I added Heather Reads Books, and made the changes. Maybe Erin will join us?Melanie, perhaps Unbound Empire is the name of the series (by Melissa Caruso). I just didn't know if you knew that title was the third and not the first. I really think you would LOVE that series. I sure did, and as I've said, I'm not a fantasy girl. The Tethered Mage is number one.
Amy wrote: "I added Heather Reads Books, and made the changes. Maybe Erin will join us?Melanie, perhaps Unbound Empire is the name of the series (by Melissa Caruso). I just didn't know if you knew that title..."
Ok yeah we're talking about the same series. I read The Tethered Mage in 2024 as well as the Defiant Heir (#2) so now I still need to read The Unbound Empire. I've checked it out once from the library but I didn't finish it and I want to.
Sue wrote: "Sue's 2025 Trim List1. The Silence of the Girls
2. The Invention of Wings
3. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
4. Sugar
5. [boo..."
I've been trying to read [book:The Invention of Wings|18079776]! I can BR this with you!
1. Snow Flower and The Secret Fan'2. The Island of Sea Women
3.The Vulnerables
4The Fox Wife
5 The Briar Club/The Office of Historical Corrections
6There Are Rivers in the Sky
7. The God of the Woods/Persuasion
8The Life of Anna K
9.the Japanese Lover
10. The Lion Women of Tehran
11.The Friend
12.The Bar Harbor Retirement Home for Famous Writers and Their Muses/We All Want Impossible Things
I've finally posted my Trim list in message 16. I plan to take part in 4 buddy reads: #5 - The Art of Racing in the Rain with Kelly (and Jen?)
#6 - The Garden of Evening Mists with Olivermagnus (Lynda)
#9 - River Sing Me Home with Hannah
#10 - Tom Lake with Sally and Kelly
Jen wrote: "I still need to catch up with my Nov and dec Trim reads, but this was a really great challenge for me this past year so I'm definitely on board for the 2025 edition! I had thought about doing a swi..."Jen, if you don't mind moving The Art of Racing in the Rain to #5, we could read it together:)
ALL RIGHT this is my Trim List 2025. As you can see, I'm being extremely indecisive this year with many possibilities for each and an Honorable Mention List, in case I still don't like my options. XDI don't think I have any existing buddy reads aside from Enter Ghost; lemme know if there are more potential matches and I can swap some things around.
1. The Sleeping Dragon by Joel Rosenberg; Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis; The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
2. Blood of Elves by Andrej Sapkowski; Antarctica by Claire Keegan; The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates
3. Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis; Invisible Things by Mat Johnson; Private Rites by Julia Armfield
4. Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb; The Children of Men by P.D. James; The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins
5. Shadows Linger by Glen Cook; The Unraveling by Vi Keeland; The Wager by David Gran
6. Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher; Biography of X by Catherine Lacey; The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
7. Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny; We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer; I Will Show You How It Was: The Story of Wartime Kyiv by Illia Ponomarenko
8. Patriot by Alexei Navalny; Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver; Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid
9. Elric of Melniborne by Michael Moorcock; That’s Not My Name by Megan Lally; Normal People by Sally Rooney
10. Bewilderment by Richard Powers; Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal; I Who Have Never Known Men by Jaqueline Hartman
11. The Elusive Shift by Jon Peterson; Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad; Hard by a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili
12. Joyful Recollections of Trauma by Paul Scheer; The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton; Orbital by Samantha Harvey
Honorable Mention:
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobson
The Ministry of Time by Kaliene Bradley
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Redden Keefe
AnnieBot by Sierra Greer
The Chaos Machine by Max Fisher
Spells For Forgetting by Adrienne Young
Play Book Tag
Books mentioned in this topic
Trail of Broken Wings (other topics)Ombria in Shadow (other topics)
Luck in the Shadows (other topics)
Bruno's Dream: A Novel (other topics)
The Keeper of Lost Things (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Sejal Badani (other topics)Patricia A. McKillip (other topics)
Iris Murdoch (other topics)
Eve Harris (other topics)
Michelle Moran (other topics)
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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 12 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 1-12, 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.