2025 TBR Cleanup Challenge

[Ketutar]

Interesting... one could make it all about looks and pick a book by covers...

1. Welcome to the Red Carpet
- a book that has been made into a movie

2. Suit Up
- putting on a uniform or special suit or just a suit... a book about a team of people, hazardous job, business world

3. All That Glitters
- either a shiny book or a book about a liar, cheater, conman, deception

4. Let Your Hair Down
- either anything that happens to please me at the moment, or a book about a character who leaves the world of rules, like Blue Castle, or takes a walkabout

5. Special Effects
- maybe an ergodic book, or a book with a hologram cover...

6. Six of One … Half a Dozen of the Other
- maybe two books, very similar, or one with two MCs "equally responsible for something"

7. Strike a Pose
- either there is a person striking a pose on the cover, or there is a flamboyant character in the book

8. Bohemian
- unconventional, artistic book, or a book about Travelers, or a book by a Bohemian author (Czech)

9. Global Inspiration

10. Dime a Dozen
pulpfiction :-D

11. Slay
should be about making an impression... but could be actually slaying.

12. Twelfth
I wonder if I have 12th book in a series TBR without needing to read 11 books before that... Could also be inspired by Shakespeare's 12th night. Or be that. :-D

13. Cottagecore
is apparently a literary genre :-D

14. Oh! the Horrors

15. Punk vs Prep

16. Organic vs Synthetic

17. Modern vs Traditional

18. Avant-garde

19. Bold Look

20. Loungewear

[Economondos]

As part of my Dresden Files reread I found a few that work for this challenge:

2. Suit Up - Fool Moon - Dresden gets an upgrade to a leather duster!

10. Dime a Dozen - Summer Knight - There are 12 minor character werewolves who get 155 stitches after the final battle.

19. Bold Look - Grave Peril - Harry shows up to a vampire court function dressed as a cheesy 70s vampire in a blue tux – that’s bold (and nearly gets him killed).

[Kaia]

I've managed two so far:

13. Cottagecore: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst (description calls it a cottagecore cozy fantasy)

16. Organic vs Synthetic: City by Clifford Simak (characters include robots & humans & dogs)

[CBRetriever]

finished

18. Avant-garde = Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson which was Replaced by ✔️The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

[Meredith]

Finally finished my first book for this challenge,

7. Strike a Pose - Dragonshadow, absolutely a pose on the cover,

[Netanella]

✔ Organic vs Synthetic - The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard - 02.10.2025 [shipminds have a synthetic body and organic elements in their heart room]

[Tamara]

Finished a few in January:


6. Six of One … Half a Dozen of the Other
☑ Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
➡ Would it be worse to die in this reality show/arena, or to survive it?

9. Global Inspiration
☑ Throwing Sparks by igsygrace
➡ Katniss and Peeta inspired a country-wide revolution

11. Slay
☑ The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman
➡ So much monster slaying

12. Twelfth
☑ Peeta's Games by igsygrace
➡ Main characters are the tributes from District 12

18. Avant-garde
☑ Black No More by George S. Schuyler
➡ Was considered avant-garde at the time it was published

19. Bold Look
☑ Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman
➡ Carl runs around wearing a t-shirt, a leather jacket, and boxers with a heart pattern, with no shoes and a toe ring.

[Beth]

Yayy first book for this challenge finished!

15. Punk vs. prep

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

It was really hard to find matches for some of these prompts so I might be stretching the definition a bit, but I think Strange and Norrell's different approaches to magic might be made to fit.

[CBRetriever]

finished my third book for this challenge

13. Cottagecore = ✔️The Green Man's War by Juliet E. McKenna
Reason = Main character is a proponent of cottagecore

[Tina Reads]

Organic vs Synthetic – Emergent Properties by Aimee Ogden. Reason: AI reporter must go against humans to uncover a story.

[Stephen]

7 so far:

✔️*** 7. Strike a Pose - Skinflick
✔️ *** 10. Dime a Dozen - In Milton Lumky Territory - protagonist is a salesman
✔️ ***** 13. Cottagecore - This Census-Taker. Protagonist lives in an isolated house
✔️ *** 14. Oh! the Horrors - The Long Loud Silence. unpleasant scenes in post-disaster USA
✔️*** 15. Punk vs Prep - The Magic Walking Stick. Privileged kid home from boarding school acquires magical object.
✔️ **** 18. Avant-garde - Divine Invasions: A Life of Philip K. Dick . Was Dick an “avant-garde” writer?
✔️ *** 20. Loungewear - Scales of Justice. An old fashioned cozy English village mystery.

[CBRetriever]

finished another one

20. Loungewear = ✔️Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
Reason = suggestion was made to go for a cozy book here and this looks to be one

cozy = maybe but I'm still counting it especially since on of the reviews said: "A heartwarming, different fairy tale that I couldn't put down."

finished 4, 13, 18 and 20 so far

[Beth]

My second one for this challenge finished!

8. Bohemian
To the Lighthouse

Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group in general are pretty much synonymous with 'bohemian'.

[Olga]

Beth wrote: "My second one for this challenge finished!

8. Bohemian
To the Lighthouse

Virginia Woolf and the Bloomsbury Group in general are pretty much synonymous with 'bohemian'."

Oh! I’ve been struggling with this prompt and To the Lighthouse has been bugging me from my “Not started” shelf for ages! I’ll steal this one)))

[Economondos]

Haven't updated in a while. The Dresden Files series reread has a few to match the prompts:

4. Let Your Hair Down
Skin Game Dierdre’s demonic power is based on her long, razor sharp hair.

8. Bohemian
Small Favor Sanya, the atheist knight of the cross, lives a vagabond lifestyle and is about as bohemian as it is possible to be.

11. Slay
Battle Ground The whole book is a battle with many slain.

17. Modern vs Traditional
Peace Talks Part of the plot involves the ‘modern’ medieval demigods and one from the dawn of time that calls them all upstarts and wants to bring back the traditional (bloody) past.

[Beth]

Olga wrote: "Oh! I’ve been struggling with this prompt and To the Lighthouse has been bugging me from my “Not started” shelf for ages! I’ll steal this one)))"

*bows* Glad I could help! I'd be super interested to know what you think of it :)

[Beth]

Another one for the list :)


19. Bold look

Somewhat tangential but in the oldest legends you could tell a dragon because its gaze had the power to mesmerise - perhaps not the sort of "bold look" the prompt had in mind but I'm going with it!

(3/20)

[Stephen]

✔️ **** 4. Let Your Hair Down - Pity About Earth/Space Chantey. (The Space Chantey half of the Ace Double.) loosely based on the Odyssey, but Lafferty was pretty informal

Very enjoyable.

[Economondos]

7. Strike a Pose
Brief Cases Three protagonists pose as guests in Charlie’s Angels fashion to infiltrate an enemy political function.

[CBRetriever]

finished

10. Dime a Dozen = ✔️Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Reason = disposable convicts are a dime a dozen

so far I've completed

4, 10, 13, 18, 20

[Tina Reads]

Suit Up – The Martian Contingency by Mary Robinette Kowal. Reason: Spacesuits on cover.

This series continues to be amazing! Five stars.

[Stephen]

For that prompt I went with Have Space Suit—Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein. My first reread in many years of this classic 1950s “juvenile” science fiction novel. Very enjoyable, and 5 stars for me.

[Beth]

Woohoo another one to add to the list!

4. Let your hair down
Tress of the Emerald Sea

Tress is literally named for her hair. And she literally as well as figuratively does let her her hair down over the course of the book.

(4/20)

[Beth]

Two more :)

5. Special effects
Neuromancer
All the body modifications, hallucinations, magic chameleon suits, AI interferences in reality and general technological weirdness definitely counts as special effects.

2. Suit up
Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse
Ada has special noisy boots that she has to wear, and a special outfit for every day. Plus there's a three-piece suit... of armour.

[Meredith]

Since my last update, I've read 4 more, total of 5 prompts completed.

5. Special Effects - Cold Days, Harry Dresden always gets up to some special effects
8. Bohemian - switched my original pick to A Cat By Any Other Name, MC is an actress and there's other arty people
13. Cottagecore - Game of Scones, next in a cozy series set in the English country side with plenty of cottages.
15. Punk vs Prep - Fiddlehead, steam punk

[Economondos]

Finished two more as the month ended:

5. Special Effects
Island in the Sea of Time by SM Stirling
A glowing dome that covers the whole island of Nantucket? That’s special.

15. Punk vs Prep
Neuromancer by William Gibson
The dichotomy between Case/Molly’s Punk and Armitage/3Jane’s upper-class Prep appearance.

[Netanella]

✔ Twelfth- Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill - 04.04.2025 [Book is published on 12th of September, 2017]

[Beth]

I'm taking Magical House Protection: The Archaeology of Counter-Witchcraft to answer the prompt of 13. Cottagecore

A non-fiction but a lot about how people tried to protect their homes from perceived malevolent forces through history. Felt pretty cottagecore as a concept.

[Economondos]

3. All That Glitters
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Locke glitters his way through a series of cons against the nobility, his main prop being very classy clothes.

[Tina Reads]

Slay – Walking Practiceby Dolki Min. Reason: Stranded alien has to kill to survive on Earth.

[Tina Reads]

7. Strike a Pose – The Unbroken by CL Clark. Reason: The character on the cover looks like he’s posing for a photo.

[Kaia]

Finally finished two more, so I'm up to five overall now. I am making my way through this challenge more slowly this year.

10. Dime a Dozen - Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire. Reason: this is the 10th book in the Wayward Children series.

2. Suit up - Spear by Nicola Griffith. Reason: the main character learns how to be a knight of sorts and goes on a quest (and even finds / acquires her own armor)

[Kaia]

Tina Reads wrote: "7. Strike a Pose – The Unbroken by CL Clark. Reason: The character on the cover looks like he’s posing for a photo."

This is a great choice for Strike a Pose! I put this one on my TBR list a while back for the cover alone.

[Brianna]

Love this challenge! Starting a little late but I'll try and match what I've read so far :)

1. Welcome to the Red Carpet - Shadow and Bone - FMC is dressed up and put on display for the world to see after coming into her power

2. Suit Up - The Unhoneymooners - dressed up for a wedding

3. All That Glitters - Spinning Silver - silver and gold definitely glitters

4. Let Your Hair Down - The Honey Witch - FMC feels trapped in the life she lives and sneaks out at night to run barefoot in the meadow

5. Special Effects - The Love Haters - book about making a movie/video

6. Six of One … Half a Dozen of the Other - The Starlight Heir - just another romantasy to add to the pile

7. Strike a Pose

8. Bohemian

9. Global Inspiration - A Language of Dragons - book about so many languages and cultures

10. Dime a Dozen - Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear - book #10 in the series

11. Slay -The Tenant - Murder

12. Twelfth - Sunrise on the Reaping - MC living in district 12

13. Cottagecore - The Vanishing Bookstore - literally about a cottage

14. Oh! the Horrors - Hell Followed With Us - religious cult in the apocalypse

15. Punk vs Prep - The Sirens - MC is prep, sister is Punk

16. Organic vs Synthetic

17. Modern vs Traditional - The Honeymoon Crashers - re; Weddings - a destination wedding more modern vs traditional

18. Avant-garde

19. Bold Look - Heartless Hunter - pretty bold for the FMC to turn her own grandmother in.

20. Loungewear - Meet Me at the Lake - who doesnt wear loungewear at the cottage?

[CBRetriever]

added another:

8. Bohemian = ✔️Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow
Reason = the main character is a middle-aged entrepreneur who moves to a bohemian neighborhood of Toronto.

4, 8, 10, 13, 18, 20

I need to get in gear on this one

[Stephen]

✔️** 11. Slay - Deathworld

Didn’t like this one.

[CBRetriever]

finished

2. Suit Up = ✔️Saturation Point by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Reason = special suits required to survive in the Zone

2, 4, 8, 10, 13, 18, 20

[Kaia]

I made a dent in this challenge over the past month:

1. Welcome to the Red Carpet: The Nightward by RSA Garcia - child character is unexpectedly thrust into role of Queen

3. All That Glitters: The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton - main character causes water creatures to light up and glitter (I originally had We Speak Through the Mountain for this one.)

5. Special Effects: A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett - antagonist has impossible powers

19. Bold Look: Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky - character must boldly look in unspace for the solution

Now up to 9/20 - almost halfway!

[Beth]

Forgot to update this thread with a few recent ones:

7. Strike a pose
Ithaca
Because of all the posing and pretending Penelope has to do to be a woman of power in a man's world.

9. Global inspiration
All the Seas of the World
For the title mostly, but like all of Kay's more recent books it contains events in one place having effects that ripple out across the world.

11. Slay
The Illearth War
Lots of war, lots of slaying in the original sense.

12. Twelfth
Gardens of the Moon
A bit of a liberal interpretation of the prompt but Darujhistan, where much of the book takes place, is the twelfth city on Genabackis threatened by the Malazan Empire. Wasn't sure what else to do for this one.

[Meredith]

I am up to 7, with two more read:

17. Modern vs Traditional - Moonshine, there's a modern girl and traditional magics.
18. Avant-garde - The Girl in the Road, Byrne's style and story structure is definitely avant-garde.

[Stephen]

✔️*****17. Modern vs Traditional - Last Men in London Human descendant from the far future critiques humanity in 1932

[CBRetriever]

Stephen wrote: "✔️*****17. Modern vs Traditional - Last Men in London Human descendant from the far future critiques humanity in 1932"

thank you - you gave me an idea. I'm currently reading The Shape of Things to Come by H.G. Wells where, in 1930, he's publishing a history of the world in 2105. Definitely traditional view version a supposed modern view.

[CBRetriever]

finished

6. Six of One … Half a Dozen of the Other = Finder Replaced by ✔️ Bone Dance by Emma Bull
Reason =main character is male or female depending on the people interacting with them

completed: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 18, & 20
working on: 14

[CBRetriever]

finished

14. Oh! the Horrors = ✔️Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes
Reason = If you're Clayton, and you fail with manipulating people who are alive you turn to killing them and manipulating their bodies

completed: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 18, & 20 = 9 out of 20

[CBRetriever]

and another one

16. Organic vs Synthetic = ✔️Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Reason = Organic (human) vs Synthetic (robot or robots)

completed: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 18, & 20 = 10 out of 20

[Stephen]

✔️****16. Organic vs Synthetic - The Simulacra . Humans and fake humans.

Not one of PKD’s most famous novels, but I enjoyed it.

13/20

[Meredith]

Two more, and I'm up to 9/20

2. Suit Up - The Unkindest Tide, because selkies wear a suit, of sorts.
12. Twelfth - Grave Goods, mystery set in the 12th century.

[CBRetriever]

finished

1. Welcome to the Red Carpet = ✔️The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis
Reason =stars of the TV series made from this book walked the red carpet for the Emmys (won 6)

and it was excellent

completed: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 18, & 20 = 11 out of 20

[Kaia]

Since I last posted, I have finished four more, bringing my total up to 13/20.

7. Strike a Pose: Downbelow Station by CJ Cherryh (characters have to take a stance in fight for independence)

14. Oh! the Horrors: The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope (people are taken over by spirits from beyond) - changed from A Morbid Taste for Bones

15. Punk vs Prep: Death in Delft by Graham Brack (university cleric tries to solve murder of missing town girls)

17. Modern vs Traditional: The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher by EM Anderson (chosen one is a woman in her 80s) - changed from The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

[April]

Reserved

Ok, I was trying this on StoryGraph, but since I only joined there in like May or June of this year, i dont have much of a tbr list. I have many, however, on Goodreads, so going to do it here too.
P.s. I LOVE reading everyone's selections and descriptions! The challenge actually made a lot more sense when i found it over here. 😅👍

Completed: 17 (18?)/20
✔1. Welcome to the Red Carpet (I dont exactly understand the Queen reference, folks. Not what i thought of for this one 😅🤷‍♀️)
-The Maid (because the cover is red)
✔2. Suit Up -Childhood's End (Jan suits up to travel through space to the Overlords planet)
✔3. All That Glitters -Where the Library Hides (there are some glittering enchanted artifacts)
✔4. Let Your Hair Down -Long Live Evil (MC has long black hair)
✔5. Special Effects -The Book of Doors (a magical collection of books, each of which have a unique special power)
✔6. Six of One … Half a Dozen of the Other -The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Can I just say Six PLUS One?
7. Strike a Pose (tbr fin don knocks em dead)
✔8. Bohemian -To the Lighthouse (...)
✔9. Global Inspiration -A Wizard of Earthsea (...), also 1984
✔10. Dime a Dozen -The Phantom of the Opera (publishing date is 19ten, like a dime is ten cent. lol)
✔11. Slay -Godkiller (in the name)
12. Twelfth (tbr Midnight Library)
✔13. Cottagecore -Rock, Paper, Scissors (there is a cottage in most of the story) also, Emily Wilde...
✔14. Oh! the Horrors -Misery (by the King of horror)
✔15. Punk vs Prep -Fahrenheit 182 (Mark Hoppus memoir. He is so punk, but also loves books 😁👍)
✔16. Organic vs Synthetic -Poet Anderson?
✔17. Modern vs Traditional -Not Another Love Song (the main characters are orchestral musicians who play both classical staples as well as contemporary compositions, most self-made)
✔18. Avant-garde -The Time Traveler's Wife (...)
19. Bold Look (tbr A Gathering of Shadows- or did i read something else?)
✔20. Loungewear -The Seven Year Slip (a cozy romance) also Book Lovers