FALL 2025 READING CHALLENGE

[Rachel]

Please post all questions/comments/updates about the Fall 2025 Challenge in this thread. :)

The Fall 2025 Reading Challenge will begin September 2nd and end November 30th.

Rules of the challenge:

Complete 3 books (or more)
Complete 3 prompts (or more)
All genres okay
Rereads okay

So this fall, complete 3 (or more) of the following:

1. Several talented authors have birthdays this season.

So this fall,

READ A BOOK FROM ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

Nat Cassidy
Kazuo Ishiguro
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Charlotte McConaghy
Kate Quinn

2. Slow Horses is a British spy thriller television series based on the Slough House series of novels by Mick Herron. A dysfunctional team of M15 agents and their obnoxious boss navigate the espionage world’s smoke and mirrors to defend England from sinister forces. Season 5 premieres on September 24th on Apple TV.

So this fall,

READ A SPY NOVEL.

OR

READ A BRITISH NOVEL

3. October is Bat Appreciation Month.

So this fall,

READ A BOOK WITH THE LETTERS B-A-T IN THE TITLE/SUBTITLE.

4. Season 5 of Ghosts is set to premiere on October 16th on CBS. Samantha and Jay throw both caution and money to the wind when they decide to convert a huge run down estate they inherited into a bed and breakfast-only to find it’s inhabited by the many spirits of deceased residents. The ghosts soon realize that Samantha is the first live person who can see and hear them.

So this fall,

READ A BOOK WITH THE WORD “GHOST” IN THE TITLE/SUBTITLE.

OR

READ A BOOK IN WHICH AN INHERITANCE IS PART OF THE STORY.

5. The National Book Award is a prestigious annual U.S. literary award presented by the National Book Foundation to celebrate the best literature published in the United States. The 2025 ceremony will be held on November 19th.

So this fall,

READ ANY BOOK CONSIDERED FOR A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD (ANY YEAR).

6. King Sorrow by Joe Hill will be published October 21st. It’s the group read.

Bonus Group Reads:

Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher (available now)
The Once and Future Me by Melissa Pace (available now)

So this fall,

READ ONE (OR MORE) AND DISCUSS IT WITH THE GROUP.

7. Random- This counts towards the challenge but isn’t inspired by the season. There have been many random tasks/prompts over the years.

So this fall,

COMPLETE A PRIOR FALL RANDOM TASK/PROMPT (ANY YEAR).

WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY & HEALTHY AUTUMN! :D

[Danell]

I have the excitement of a child who has just woke up on their birthday and are eagerly awaiting their friends for a birthday bash! Another animal using the letters of the title! Lol! Rachel you always make the challenges fun and exciting and I appreciate the time and effort. Looking forward to seeing what everyone is going to read. I love our group!
Happy reading friends!

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

BAT will be an easy one - only three letters.
I will start with two bats that I was already planning on reading, and I know I will find more bats later.
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
A House with Good Bones

[Rachel]

Danell wrote: "I have the excitement of a child who has just woke up on their birthday and are eagerly awaiting their friends for a birthday bash! Another animal using the letters of the title! Lol! Rachel you al..."

Thank you for the kind words, Danell! :)
I love our group too. Happy Reading! :D

[Rachel]

Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl wrote: "BAT will be an easy one - only three letters.
I will start with two bats that I was already planning on reading, and I know I will find more bats later.
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
[..."
Glad you have titles that work for it. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them. :)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Two GHOST titles that I intend to read:
The Ghost in Love (re-read)
The Ghost in the Electric Blue Suit

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

It's time to travel to the past through Random Fall Tasks
Previous Fall Random Tasks (lots to choose from here):
2024 - I CHOOSE YOUR BOOK FROM YOUR BOOKSHELVES.

I will look at your shelves and post 5 titles and then you choose which one to read.

2023 - READ A BOOK WITH BLACK MIRROR VIBES.

2022 - READ A BOOK WITH A NAME IN THE TITLE.

2021 - READ A POLARIZING BOOK. (A BOOK PEOPLE EITHER LOVE OR HATE)

2020 - READ A BOOK BY AN AUTHOR YOU’VE ONLY READ ONCE BEFORE

2019 - READ A BOOK BY AN AUTHOR WHO WRITES (OR HAS WRITTEN) UNDER MORE THAN ONE NAME.

2018 - Three movies are being released in theaters in the next few months that deal with individuals finding their voice. Two of the movies actually come out in the fall but the third will be released in theaters on Christmas.

The Hate U Give -(October 19th) based on the book

Boy Erased (November 2nd) based on the book

On the basis of sex (December 25th) not based on a book but it’s inspired by the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

So this fall,

CHECK OUT THE TRAILERS, READ THE BOOKS, READ ABOUT RBG.
or
READ ANY BOOK THAT FEATURES AN INDIVIDUAL FINDING HIS/HER VOICE.

2017 - READ A WESTERN

2016 - PICK 5

Look at your gr tbr and pick 5 titles
Then email me or just post the titles in the challenge discussion thread and I will choose (based on these 5) which book you read for the challenge :)

2015 - this season the task is to read a "last"

So this fall:

READ THE LAST BOOK IN A SERIES

OR

READ A BOOK FROM THE LAST PAGE OF YOUR GOODREADS TBR

2014 - READ A DOORSTOPPER (opinions on this vary but for me a doorstopper, aka a long book, is anything OVER 500 PAGES)

2013 - READ A BOOK LESS THAN 200 PAGES

or

READ A BOOK OF SHORT STORIES

2012 - read a book by an AUTHOR that you have NEVER READ BEFORE.

[Rachel]

Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Two GHOST titles that I intend to read:
The Ghost in Love (re-read)
The Ghost in the Electric Blue Suit
[bookc..."

Thanks for the update, Dustin! :D

[Rachel]

Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl wrote: "It's time to travel to the past through Random Fall Tasks
Previous Fall Random Tasks (lots to choose from here):
2024 - I CHOOSE YOUR BOOK FROM YOUR BOOKSHELVES.

I will look at your shelves and po..."

Which if any are you planning to revisit?

[Danell]

I read my first book for the challenge, Ghosts of Michigans Upper Peninsula by Jennifer Billock. I am a transplant “Yooper”, person living in the Upper Peninsula, or U.P. I enjoyed the stories and the history and learned many things about the place I call home. I really do need to get out and explore.

[Rachel]

Danell wrote: "I read my first book for the challenge, Ghosts of Michigans Upper Peninsula by Jennifer Billock. I am a transplant “Yooper”, person living in the Upper Peninsula, or U.P. I enjoyed the stories and ..."

Thanks for the update, Danell! :)

[Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado]

Previous Random Fall Tasks that I currently plan to use for the challenge:
LAST book in a series - Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
Book under 200 pages - The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Book of Short Stories - Strange Weather and Full Throttle by Joe Hill
Doorstopper over 500 pages - The Fireman by Joe Hill

[Rachel]

Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Previous Random Fall Tasks that I currently plan to use for the challenge:
LAST book in a series - Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
Book under 200 pages - The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Bo..."

Thanks for the update, Dustin! :D
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them.