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2025 Independent Challenge
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**Michelle’s Any Way You Want It That’s The Way You Read It Independent Reading

-S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes
105 books
9132 pages
83 audiobooks
22 print
#102

#103

#104

#105

Current:
Oona Out of Order Setting up for a nice time travel tale.
The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey I didn't imagine I could like this one as much as I do.
“Life is crazy and maddening and often makes no sense.”
― David Baldacci, One Summer
“To be a woman was to watch yourself not just through your own eyes, but through the eyes of others.”
― Laila Lalami, The Dream Hotel
“Even he, with all his life experience and his training, saw loveliness in these surroundings. Everything logical in him was unnerved; everything else swooned.”
― Maggie Stiefvater, The Listeners

"Current:
Oona Out of Order Setting up for a nice time travel tale."
I hope you continue enjoying it! I found it to be a much better time travel story than the one I read for book club this month, The Day Tripper
Michelle wrote: ""The morning sun baptizes both sinner and saint alike."
-S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes
105 books
9132 pages
83 audiobooks
22 print
#102
[book:The Dream Hotel|218..."
I've only read The Scorpio Races by Stiefvater so far and thought it was great. I do have a couple of her books on my bookshelf. I need to try them.
-S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes
105 books
9132 pages
83 audiobooks
22 print
#102

I've only read The Scorpio Races by Stiefvater so far and thought it was great. I do have a couple of her books on my bookshelf. I need to try them.

"Current:
Oona Out of Order Setting up for a nice time travel tale."
I hope you continue enjoying it! I found it to be a much better time travel story than the one I read for book..."
I haven't read The Daytripper but so far this is the best time travel tale I have read in a while. So good! I read Wrong Place Wrong Time a while back. Not bad but this one is so much better.

-S.A. Cosby, King of Ashes
You should pick up The Listeners Bill. I think you would like it. Her Raven King trilogy is also good but I flaked out on the follow up series for that one.


I hated that. I really do like Baldacci normally. I'm also glad to hear it made Hallmark. Maybe this was just bad timing for me. Also, I listened to the audiobook which was clearly one of the early audiobook productions. It was a VERY dramatic reading especially the letters. Complete with heartfelt background music. That didn't help.

Yikes! Thankfully, I read the hardcover book versus the audio. It was a good escape read while I was on vacation, but it wasn't more than that. I did like the symbolism of the light house, but it bugged me that we didn't get to know what Jack's illness was. I do think he's better writing thrillers. I also think I'll skip the Hallmark movie though, as I've gotten enough out of the story. :-)

― Margarita Montimore, Oona Out of Order
109 books
9464 pages
86 audiobooks
23 print
I seem to be on a 4 star streak.
#106

#107

#108

#109

Current:
Big Dumb Eyes: Stories from a Simpler Mind so funny
The Phoenix Pencil Company I can't wait to see where this one goes
“I do not believe in organized religion, herbal remedies, yoga, Reiki, kabbalah, deep massage, slow food, or chicken soup for the soul. The nostrums of Deepak Chopra and Barbara De Angelis cannot rescue people like me. I believe in crazyass passion.”
― Rinker Buck, The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey
“I am not responsible for the fake version of me you created in your head.”
― Amy Tintera, Listen for the Lie
“Roosevelt had never allowed himself to fear death, famously writing, “Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die.” From a very young age, he had been prepared to die in order to live the life he wanted.
― Candice Millard, The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
Great updates, Michelle.
King of Ashes is already on the list. I have Razorblade Tears on my list for this year; so, I want to get that under my belt first.
They are making All the Sinners Bleed into a series on Netflix!! I can't wait!!
King of Ashes is already on the list. I have Razorblade Tears on my list for this year; so, I want to get that under my belt first.
They are making All the Sinners Bleed into a series on Netflix!! I can't wait!!

King of Ashes is already on the list. I have Razorblade Tears on my list for this year; so, I want to get that under my belt first.
They are making [book:All the Sinners ..."
I'm right there with you Alondra. Something about S.A. Cosby and his gritty reads, I always go back for more. I'm looking forward to the Netflix series. I hope they don't mess it up.

― Margarita Montimore, Oona Out of Order"
Yay! Happy to hear that you enjoyed Oona Out of Order. Read it about 5 years ago and I still remember it. May need to pick it up again.
About SA Cosby, when I see both you and Alondra raving about his books, I know I really need to buckle down start reading them. Just need to be in that dark and gritty mood. I've been reading a lot of popcorn reads this year (cozy mysteries).

Michelle wrote: "I'm right there with you Alondra. Something about S.A. Cosby and his gritty reads, I always go back for more. I'm looking forward to the Netflix series. I hope they don't mess it up...."
The author seems excited about it; so, I am hoping they treat it with the care that it deserves.
The author seems excited about it; so, I am hoping they treat it with the care that it deserves.

**fingers crossed**

- Nate Bargatze, Big Dumb Eyes
112 books
9493 pages
89 audiobooks
23 print
#110

#111

#112

Current:
The Phoenix Pencil Company Still plugging away at this one but enjoying it.
Monday's Not Coming Working to finish my banned books challenge.
“It taught me that if you’re in conversation with the self, you can be in conversation with the world.”
― Suleika Jaouad, The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life

― Allison King, The Phoenix Pencil Company
116 books
10217 pages
92 audiobooks
24 print
#113

#114

#115

#116

Current
The Enchanted Greenhouse Loving this one, my second by this author.
Going Home If you clicked the link. I know, I know but I just have a weakness for survivalist apocalypse stuff. Can't help it.
“Mondays are the best days! Like, aren’t you excited about the start of a new week? It’s like a new chapter in a book.”
― Tiffany D. Jackson, Monday's Not Coming
“How can you know when you’re young and sad and vulnerable how to choose someone to share your life with? And how can you know when you’re old and weak and vulnerable that someone will be kind to your granddaughter, long after you are gone?”
― Allison King, The Phoenix Pencil Company
“French philosopher Paul Virilio has a quote I think about a lot: “When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck; when you invent the plane, you also invent the plane crash; and when you invent electricity, you invent electrocution…. Every technology carries its own negativity, which is invented at the same time as technical progress.”
― Kara Swisher, Burn Book: A Tech Love Story

I was interested throughout Bill. She was astringent yet inciteful.

Oh! This looks so good. Adding it to my list. Do you think it would be a good book club book? Starting to compile a list to share with book club for when we pick books for next year.


― Sarah Beth Durst, The Enchanted Greenhouse
119 books
10601 pages
94 audiobooks
25 print
#117

#118

#119

Current:
Silver Elite Just started but I'm intrigued.
Flowers in the Attic Almost done and I'm a bit nauseous.
“She felt like she fit within his arms, like a book properly shelved.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, The Enchanted Greenhouse
“You risked so much... And you barely know me."
"I did what I believed was right," Rijes said. "It's my duty--- in fact, I believe it's every person's duty, especially those in power--- to reject unjust laws. To choose kindness and empathy, whenever we can.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, The Enchanted Greenhouse


Michelle wrote: "“Words matter.” The right words could heal shattered glass. And hearts. And families. And lives.”
― Sarah Beth Durst, The Enchanted Greenhouse
119 books
10601 pages
94 audiobooks
25 print
#117 [..."
I have to get back to Maisie. I've been neglecting her stories.
― Sarah Beth Durst, The Enchanted Greenhouse
119 books
10601 pages
94 audiobooks
25 print
#117 [..."
I have to get back to Maisie. I've been neglecting her stories.


― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
122 books
10629 pages
97 audiobooks
25 print
#120

#121

#122

Currently:
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism So much toxic stuff going on here.
Silver Elite Romantasy with no excuses.
“There is no hate such as that born out of love betrayed- and my brain screamed out for revenge.”
― V.C. Andrews, Flowers in the Attic
“I knew you wouldn’t believe it. Just because you have a heart filled with the dust of a thousand library stacks does not mean everybody does.”
― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

This was my dilemma as well. Loved the first one but as I went on in the series, I started getting less and less interested. Ended up taking a 7 year break between book 9, Elegy for Eddie and book 10, Leaving Everything Most Loved. Glad I went back.


― Sarah Wynn-Williams, Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
126 books
11167 pages
100 audiobooks
26 print
#123

#124

#125

#126

Currently:
Moon Tiger Slogging along with this one at the moment.
The Marlow Murder Club This one has potential.
Water for Elephants I should have read this one sooner.
“Silicon Valley is awash in wooden Montessori toys and shrouded in total screen bans. Parents at work talk about how they don't allow their teens to have mobile phones, which only underscores how well these executives understand the real damage their product inflicts on young minds.”
― Sarah Wynn-Williams, Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
Michelle wrote: "“My mind involuntarily keeps repeating the John Updike quote “Celebrity is a mask that eats into the face.”
― Sarah Wynn-Williams, Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Ideal..."
Have you watched the Marlow Murder Club TV series? We've been enjoying a lot.
― Sarah Wynn-Williams, Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Ideal..."
Have you watched the Marlow Murder Club TV series? We've been enjoying a lot.


Michelle wrote: "No I'm holding off until I finish the book but as soon as I'm done that will be our next binge watch."
Ha! Came on to ask the same, lol. It's been a fun show, the actresses are great.
I've been on hold for Murder on the Marlow Belle, the fourth book. 2 more weeks 🤞🏼
Michelle wrote: "“One doesn’t need magic if one knows enough stories.”
― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
122 books
10629 pages
97 audiobooks
25 print
#120 [bookcover:Flowers in the Attic|..."
I should not have read this book as a teen, but here we are. LOL
― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
122 books
10629 pages
97 audiobooks
25 print
#120 [bookcover:Flowers in the Attic|..."
I should not have read this book as a teen, but here we are. LOL

― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
122 books
10629 pages
97 audiobooks
25 print
#120 [bookcover:Flow..."
I actually think there might have been less of an ick factor and more of a horror vibe if I had read it as a teen. Reading it now for the first time the scary parts weren't really too scary and the gross parts (of which there were many) were extra gross. It made me sick to my stomach more than anything else.

My bff in 6th grade (so we were 11?) read this series. I was horrified and never read it after the gory details she shared.

Yeah, maybe I'm wrong about reading it as a kid. It was just an icky book I guess no matter how old you are. It was well written and I can see why it has held up over the years. I'm not sorry I finally read it just ... ick.

― Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants
130 books
11,190 pages
104 audiobooks
26 print
#127

#128

#129

#130

Current:
A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck Just started but I can't wait to see where it's going.
The Marlow Murder Club Still enjoying this one. I just need time to read.
Moon Tiger Hoping to wind this one up soon.
“Without you, there would be no poetry.”
― Laura Steven, Our Infinite Fates
“I'd follow a clown into a storm drain if he had a baby goat in pajamas.”
― Abby Jimenez, Part of Your World
“Life is the most spectacular show on earth”
― Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants
Michelle wrote: "I actually think there might have been less of an ick factor and more of a horror vibe if I had read it as a teen. Reading it now for the first time the scary parts weren't really too scary and the gross parts (of which there were many) were extra gross. It made me sick to my stomach more than anything else..."
Exactly. I was so intrigued as a kid. Now, it is just ick.
Exactly. I was so intrigued as a kid. Now, it is just ick.

― Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger
133 books
11,423 pages
106 audiobooks
27 print
#131

#132

#133

Currently:
Orbital Just getting started.
The Marlow Murder Club Trying to wind this one up.
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Fascinating.
“Misfortune can seem abstract in the midst of celebration. At the beginning, we imagine the bad weather might pass us by. It’s only natural, part of the long business of self-preservation, because how impossible it would be to go through life in full awareness of all that will befall us. Somewhere, deep within, unspoken, we must know, we do know, that we’ll all have our time adrift. For what else is a marriage, really, if not being stuck on a small raft with someone and trying to survive?”
― Sophie Elmhirst, A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck
“None of these things are efficient or logical. I wish to report an error in the way that everything works.”
― Adrian Tchaikovsky, Service Model

― Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend
136 books
11435 pages
109 audiobooks
27 print
#134

#135

#136

Current:
The Sweetness of Water Still not sure about this one.
The Marlow Murder Club Only a few more pages to go. I just need reading time.
Orbital I'm taking this one in small bits but I like it.
“There was something unbearable in the things, in the people, in the buildings, in the streets that, only if you reinvented it all, as in a game, became acceptable. The essential, however, was to know how to play, and she and I, only she and I, knew how to do it.”
― Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend
“What you've done is you've baptized your worldview and called it Christian.”
― Tim Alberta, The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism

I really enjoyed this series, with the last book being my favorite. Will you continue the series?

― Nathan Harris, The Sweetness of Water
140 Books
12,017 Pages
111 Audiobooks
29 Print
#137

#138

#139

#140

Current:
Orbital Enjoying this one slowly.
Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero Interesting, more than just another 9/11 book.
“she lived knowing, quite well, that such things were not promised to her. She might hope for more but had long ago learned to live with whatever came to pass. Yet sometimes—just sometimes—hope was enough.”
― Nathan Harris, The Sweetness of Water
“Becks’s eyes widened in amazement. “That’s not possible, she does yoga!” Judith wasn’t sure she’d heard correctly. “Are you saying people who do yoga can’t commit murder?” she asked. “Yes!”
― Robert Thorogood, The Marlow Murder Club


― Samantha Harvey, Orbital
145 books
12,251 pages
115 audiobooks
30 print
#141

#142

#143

#144

#145

Current:
The Impossible Fortune Thursday Murder Club is back in session.
Heart Strings Second chance romance.
“After being married for nearly thirty years and observing my friends’ experiences with separations, reconciliations, and divorces, I’ve learned that marriage, with all its magic and misery, its contentments and disappointments, remains a mystery, not easy for those in it to understand and largely inaccessible to outsiders.”
― Bill Clinton, My Life
“A man with high testosterone, it was understood, was virile, a warrior, a stud. A woman with too much estrogen, on the other hand, was just crazy.”
― Elizabeth Comen, All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women's Bodies and Why It Matters Today


Books mentioned in this topic
Tokyo Dreaming (other topics)Yours Truly (other topics)
The Impossible Fortune (other topics)
The Law (other topics)
Alchemised (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Abby Jimenez (other topics)Jennifer Weiner (other topics)
Sarah Beth Durst (other topics)
Kara Swisher (other topics)
Nate Bargatze (other topics)
More...
"Current:
The Dream Hotel More oppression by the patriarchy but this time in the future."
Looking forward to what you think about this book. I have it on my list ..."
I did enjoy it Lillie. I'll write more later but it was frighteningly close to current reality. I can see us getting there if we aren't careful.