[2025] Completion Thread

[Martha☀]

This has been my first year with ATY and I loved the challenge! Thank you to all who organize the prompts and polls. I can't wait to get started on next year's list!

⭐ 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge ~
I am usually super stingy with awarding 5 stars. This year I've surprised myself with 18 so far (out of 80):



⭐ Any twists on the challenge? ~
Nope, no twists. I simply tried to remove as many books as possible off my TBR

⭐ My most creative twist on a prompt ~
#3 A book connected to the Do Re Mi song.
My thinking was Fa = Far = run a long way = Pharr
The Pursuit of Endurance: Harnessing the Record-Breaking Power of Strength and Resilience by Jennifer Pharr Davis

⭐ The prompt I "cheated" on ~
#26 Author with a Common Noun in their Name: Killing Floor by Lee Child
I read this one last December and finished on Dec 30 2024 but counted it anyways. Since then I've read books authored by Woolf, Fox, Herron, Sands, and House so I think I corrected my evil-doing.

⭐ My favorite prompt ~
#21 Collective Noun for Animals. A friend and I are always trying to stump each other with collective noun words.

⭐ My least favorite prompt ~
I can't stand the prompts that force you to choose from some other 'best of' list - in this case both prompts #35 NPR 'Books We Love' and #50 ATY Best Book of the Month. Thank gawd we didn’t have to read a GR award winner🫩.

⭐ A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!) ~
The Bone Clocks and The Enchanted were both on my TBR for years and this challenge brought them forward. Both excellent and I wonder what made me put them off for so long.

⭐ A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
#46 Full Moon Names - I read the abysmal Wordhunter which I would have abandoned had it not bee for this challenge. It was truly an awful book.

I review every book I read. Here's the link to my reviews (so far) for 2025:
Martha's Reads and Reviews for 2025

[Wendi]

- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge

- My favorite prompt
A science fiction or fantasy novel written by a woman
- My least favorite prompt
A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld

A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)

A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)

[Alicia]

- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge The Long Run Ander & Santi Were Here Malum Discordiae The Lilac People Death in the Spires Promises of Forever A Spooky Legacy Lavender House Rules for Ghosting Kings Rising

- My most creative twist on a prompt "Involves art, music, dancing or acting" and I used a fantasy book that I didn't know would work for this prompt until I read it. The character sings to create magic. Sorcery and Small Magics

- My favorite prompt "Image on cover that starts with A, T or Y" I still laugh about this prompt. Wasn't a favorite read though. MateHub: Legend

- My least favorite prompt "Collection of short stories, novellas, essays, poetry, brief writings" I just do not like short stories or novellas, they feel unfinished to me.

- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!) Us Against You; I read Beartown so long ago.

- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!) Butcher & Blackbird

[D.L.]

I am super excited. I finished!! I have tried the challenge several times in the past and never completed it until now. Wootttt. I can't wait to start again with a new set of prompts in 2026. Thanks for hosting:)

- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge
The Christmas Spirit
Girls Like Me

- Any twists on the challenge? Not really.

- My most creative twist on a prompt
Hmm, I don't know. Maybe reading a non-fiction book on how to podcast (something I long to do one day) and a fictional one where there's a teen podcaster, for the connection between two different genres, double prompt.

- The prompt I "cheated" on
I had to wildcard a couple of prompts. *blushes*

- My favorite prompt
Perhaps 'A translated novel from Asia' because it got me to read another Keigo Higashino novel, and even if I didn't totally love the book this time around, I still think he's a brilliant mystery writer who creates such intricate plots & has a finite attention to detail.

- My least favorite prompt:
A book set underground, under sea or in an underworld (not my type of book) & A book that has been long-listed for the Tournament of Books in any year. Also, NPR (I don't like being 'required' - so to speak - to read from any list. It feels too limiting)

- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)
Small Things Like These
Promises to the Dead
(I recommend both)

- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!)
A Begonia for Miss Applebaum

[Sibylle]

Looking back....


- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge

There were a few. Out of 92 books I read in 2025 I had 23 5* books so far, so that is pretty great.
Some of my favorites:


- Any twists on the challenge?
Not really. I try to include some new countries for the "Read around the world" challenge, for example I read Bothayna Al-Essa and Lea Ypi this year, for Kuwait and Albania.

- My most creative twist on a prompt - I liked the creativity of both multiweek prompts this time!

- The prompt I "cheated" on - 33: A book by an author you enjoyed but haven't gotten around to reading again for some time
Nothing really felt right, so I used a re-read in the end

- My favorite prompt:
Pair of Opposites

Two books with a connection from different genres:


- My least favorite prompt:
The country song.

- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!)


It was fun - I'm looking forward to 2026!

[Carol]

I finished the anniversary list. This is about those 10 books only. (I finished the first 52 and posted earlier about them. Here is my list for both. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...).

- 5 Star books that I read for the ATY Challenge:
Bait
Because of Winn-Dixie
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness
The God Box
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
The Future

- Any twists on the challenge? (ie in order, all nonfiction, all picture books, etc) N/A

- My most creative twist on a prompt
For the prompt, "2025: A book involving a 'group' with at least 4 members that's not a family", I used The Future by Naomi Alderman. In it, there are several groups of 3 and 4 characters and they unwind and re-intertwine in interesting ways, so there are multiple groups of at least 4 members that are not family.

- The prompt I "cheated" on
I used The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt for the 2020 prompt, a book with an emotion in the title. Even though this title was in the listopia list, I'm not sure that "anxious" counts as an emotion per se.

- My favorite prompt: A book involving a "group" with at least 4 members that's not a family (Found family is one of my favorite tropes!)

- My least favorite prompt: A book with an emotion in the title

- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (but I’m so glad I did!): The Echo Wife for 2021: A book related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

- A book I might not have read if not for the ATY Challenge (and I wish I hadn’t!): Arsenic and Adobo for 2019: A book related to one of the elements on the periodic table of elements