2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This year I'm going to lower my expectations a wee bit, so my goal is to read 105 books!

Reading Stats

Author Gender
Male: 75
Female: 27
Team: 4

Owned?
Owned - physical: 57
Owned - Kindle: 44
Owned - audiobooks:
Library:
Borrowed:
Bookcrossing: 5

Language
Italian: 32
English: 64
German: 4
French: 6

Genre
Fiction: 80
Non-fiction: 7
Plays: 7
Poetry: 2
Other: 10

Length
Very short (<150 pages): 12
Short (150-250 pages): 35
Medium (251-500 pages): 47
Long (501-800 pages): 9
Very Long (>800 pages): 3

New to Me or Repeat Author?
New to Me: 60
Repeat: 46

Author's Area of Origin
Europe: 60
North America: 32
South and Central America: 1
Middle East: 1
Asia: 8
Africa: 3
Oceania:
Mixed: 1

Total Number of Pages: 32,519

Good luck Marina

Thanks Zara!

I could follow you in this little adorable madness... ^^

Hey Rowi, hi! Nice to see you around in this group, too :-)

I noticed you read an impressive amount of languages! I'm learning polish now, but it will take a long time to actually read it.
Good luck with your challenge :)

Oh, Winter, thank you, though I wouldn't say so! I would like to know more languages :-)
Great that you're learning Polish, I find it a fascinating language!

Marina wrote: "Oh, Winter, thank you, though I wouldn't say so! I would like to know more languages :-)
Great that you're learning Polish, I find it a fascinating language!"

Languages are fun!

I love Polish. It's not easy though, it's a new way of thinking. But it is just for fun, so if I take years learning it, it's no problem :)

Winter wrote: "Languages are fun!

I love Polish. It's not easy though, it's a new way of thinking. But it is just for fun, so if I take years learning it, it's no problem :) "

That's the right approach, in my opinion. I bet it is difficult, though! I tried learning Russian on my first year at Uni, but I had to give up after the one year, it was too difficult for me... shame!

Marina wrote: "Winter wrote: "Languages are fun!

I love Polish. It's not easy though, it's a new way of thinking. But it is just for fun, so if I take years learning it, it's no problem :) "

That's the right ap..."

Russian is my second choice. I think they are hard maybe because languages is grouped in a way and for me as Norwegian the way they are built up is totally different while English, German etc is more similar :)

I guess you're right, Winter. English and German are very different for me as an Italian, too, but the thing is, I started learning English when I was 11, so it sort of comes natural now. That's why I didn't have many difficulties with German later on. But Russian, oh, that's a different story!

Marina wrote: "I guess you're right, Winter. English and German are very different for me as an Italian, too, but the thing is, I started learning English when I was 11, so it sort of comes natural now. That's wh..."

I don't know Italien, but is it something similar to Spanish?

I had German at school, but not enough interest, so I know more Polish now. Shame, I should have been able to talk more German after five years.

Well, yes, I guess you can say Italian is not very different from Spanish.
What you say about German is true for me about French. I studied it for 5 years, but I hated it, so I couldn't speak very much of it. Then I went and lived in Luxembourg for a couple of years, and there I had to speak it for survival!

Marina wrote: "Well, yes, I guess you can say Italian is not very different from Spanish.
What you say about German is true for me about French. I studied it for 5 years, but I hated it, so I couldn't speak very..."

Living a place really helps push it ^^ My uncle has built a company in Poland, and he has recruited the wife of one of the workers in Poland. So I'm gonna learn Polish from her and she Norwegian from me, that will help a lot :)

That's cool, Winter!

Good luck with your challenge, Marina!

How often do you use Bookcrossing? Do you like it?

Thanks, Cassandra!

I'm a bookcrosser since 2009, almost 7 years now. I'm not so active anymore but I still use it and enjoy it very much, especially because it gave me the opportunity to get to know many wonderful "real life" friends :-)

Huh-- I cannot believe I hadn't heard of BookCrossing until today! I will definitely get invested in that. I live in Madison, WI, USA-- and we have a community program called Free Little Library where people errect tiny libraries in their yards or on community properties. It's like the penny cup-- Give a book, take a book.

I am definitely going to start using this service and see where my books end up. What a great new way to make connections!

I love the idea of the little library. We have a couple of huge library systems where I live, and they have bookmobiles that go around to people who can't get to a library, but we don't have anything like that.

I'm german and I actually speak the same languages as you Marina, but instead of Italian I can only speak Spanish and a Little bit of Japanese ;)

@Jackie, I know the Little Free Library system, I think it's wonderful! We have a very small one here in my current city, but it's really tiny and the books are uninteresting, unfortunately.

@Ceira, that's so cool! I think it's absolutely great you can speak a little Japanese, kudoz to you! I would never be able to learn such a difficult language...

The Little Free Library system originated in Wisconsin, USA (at least, the version I linked to) so we have a ton of them. I've already printed off some book crossing labels. I can't wait to see where my books travel. Maybe one of them will even make it towards you, Marina!

Good luck with your challenge, Marina! :)

@Jackie: who knows! I'm glad you're so excited about Bookcrossing, I love it :-)

@Councillor: thanks!

1 - Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Finished: 3 January

Rating: 4/5

This book is irritating, it certainly is. The double standards of the time are what make the novel irritating, and I couldn't help but feel strongly for Tess, while at the same time be extremely irritated with her. She is so passive! But I guess that was natural at the time, in the 19th century.

So yes, I did like the novel, and that precisely because it is so infuriating. Hardy is a real master in depicting rural life, characters, the morality of the time. He does indeed love Tess, and the whole book wouldn't have been so infuriating if it weren't so. Its purpose was probably that of irritating the readers and make them see that double standards were not as good as they appeared to be at the time. And Hardy does this perfectly. So yes, a very good book indeed.

Categories: male, owned - physical, English, fiction, long (508 pages), new to me, Europe.

Congrats on finishing your first book in 2016! Loved your review!

Thanks Megan :-)

I second Megan. I found Tess an infuriating character as well, but I don't think I go that much about of my reading since I was so frustrated with her. You've inspired me to add this back to my TBR. Re-reads are always educational.

They are, Jackie! Sometimes I've discovered lots of new things I hadn't seen the first time I'd read a book.

2 - Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore

Finished: 4 January

Rating: 2/5

By Christopher Moore I read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, which was OK, and A Dirty Job, which was hilarious. So I decided to try and read something else by the same author.
Well, you can feel that this was his debut novel. It's not bad, the idea behind it is nice indeed, but I didn't find it fun at all, except maybe for some points - not enough to make it a witty and fun book, I'm afraid.
However, I will continue my exploration of the books written by this author.

Categories: male, owned - physical, English, fiction, medium (280 pages), repeat, North America.

3 - Stazione undici by Emily St. John Mandel (English: Station Eleven)

Finished: 6 January

Rating: 3/5

A nice book, although no masterpiece. The idea draws heavily from The Stand, although in this case the virus was not man-made but a lethal mutation of the flu. However, in this case the post-apocalyptic setting is not so important, what is important is the stress on love, life in general, friendship, art, etc. So this was supposed to be very interesting, and it is in a way. Unfortunately this is not original at all and I didn't like the writing, either, although I believe this is a problem with the Italian translation. I would still recommend it in case you have some time to spare, though.

Categories: female, owned - physical, Italian, fiction, medium (412 pages), new to me, North America.

4 - La festa del ritorno by Carmine Abate (English: The Homecoming Party)

Finished: 7 January

Rating: 3/5

A good book about emigration and the bonds within a family in an arbëresh small town in Southern Italy. Not a masterpiece, but good nonetheless. It made me want to read more by this author.

Categories: male, bookcrossing, Italian, fiction, short (161 pages), new to me, Europe.

5 - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Finished: 9 January

Rating: 3/5

After reading and thoroughly disliking Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park, I thought I would never read another book by Jane Austen. But some time ago I found myself downloading the free Kindle version of this novel, since it was supposed to be so different from her other books, more ironic and fun. And it certainly is, although I have to say, Jane Austen is not and will never be one of my favorite authors. And I won't read her other books.

The heroine, Catherine Morland, is pretty unpleasant, especially while she is looking for gothic, horrid romance at Northanger Abbey. But I guess this was Austen's intention, to let the reader see how foolish too deep an interest in gothic romance might be. So the author succeeds really well in her intention.

I wouldn't say the novel is particularly fun, but it is ironic and that's enough to make me like it. It would have been even better, I guess, if I had read Ann Radcliffe's novels before getting to this one, but I did read some gothic novels, though not (yet) any by Radcliffe, and I can see the humor in this book.

Categories: female, owned - Kindle, English, fiction, short (176 pages), repeat, Europe.

Hi Marina *waves* good luck with your challenge!

Thanks Kiwi!

6 - Il deserto dei Tartari by Dino Buzzati (English: The Tartar Steppe)

Finished: 10 January

Rating: 4/5

This is more like 4.5 stars, really. I'm wondering why I haven't read it earlier, since I had it at home and I love Buzzati as an author. I think I would have appreciated much more, some years ago. However, it is a really beautiful book - on desperation, on habit, on surviving instead of living. I hear echoes of Beckett and Kafka. It should be a must-read book at school, in my opinion.

Categories: male, owned - physical, Italian, fiction, short (202 pages), repeat, Europe.

7 - Stoner by John Williams

Finished: 13 January

Rating: 2/5

The writing was very good, but I found the story as flat as its main character. I don't mind novels without a main story, but in this case I just couldn't care less for Stoner and the people around him. Not for me, definitely.

Categories: male, owned - physical, Italian, fiction, medium (332 pages), new to me, North America.

8 - The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

Finished: 18 January

Rating: 4/5

I didn't expect much of this book, as I only decided to read it because it was on the 1001 list and I've often been disappointed by that list. But instead I ended up loving it! I love the writing style and I love the story, I love the characterization of the characters made through their different narratives of the story. In short, I love everything of this book. Collins doesn't write like a 19th century author at all, the feel of the book is very modern. I certainly want to read something else by him.

Categories: male, owned - Kindle, English, fiction, long (528 pages), new to me, Europe.

9 - Povera gente by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (English: Poor Folk)

Finished: 20 January

Rating: 3/5

Not as refined as other works by Dostoyevsky, this novella is however interesting enough if you want to read the debut of the great author, and discover some of his favorite themes in the process. The descriptions of poverty are really great and made me feel all the suffering and the hardships of the people in the novella (not just the two main characters, also minor characters).

Categories: male, owned - physical, Italian, fiction, short (157 pages), repeat, Europe.

10 - Villette by Charlotte Brontë

Finished: 1 February

Rating: 3/5

Perfectly charming at the beginning (I especially liked the character of little Polly), quite boring for the rest, but I cannot deny it was a nice book. I still prefer Emily Brontë, though.

Categories: female, owned - Kindle, English, fiction, long (573 pages), repeat, Europe.

11 - Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton

Finished: 2 February

Rating: 3/5

A bit slow at the beginning, I found it perfectly charming at the end. There are certainly better books than this one, but it was a very nice read anyway. I might want to continue with the series, in time.

Categories: female, owned - physical, English, fiction, medium (287 pages), new to me, Europe.

Marina wrote: "11 - Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death by M.C. Beaton"

I just love this title!!

It's a good one, Jackie :-)

Hi Marina! I took the "Reading Stats" from Rowi and she told me you were the genius behind them so.. Thank you! hope you don't mind me borrowing them! :D

Haha, Serena, no actually it was Cassandra who came up with them a couple of years ago, I think. She's one of the mods of this group :-)

:D I will thank her, then! Sorry! :*

Serena.. Sery-ously? wrote: ":D I will thank her, then! Sorry! :*"

Hey, no problem! :-)

12 - Contes du jour et de la nuit by Guy de Maupassant

Finished: 12 February

Rating: 3/5

These short stories were more night than day, actually, as there was a core of fright in all of them, although they were not really frightening at all. Some of them were quite gory, usually in the end, so this was not so bad. But most of them were disturbing. A good book, although not exceptional, I would say.

Categories: male, owned - Kindle, French, fiction, short (186 pages), repeat, Europe.

13 - A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Finished: 12 February

Rating: 4/5

I never thought I would read this book, but in the end I decided to listen to my friends' recommendations, and it's good that I did. I loved this book, even though it is so truculent, much more so than I usually like. Martin is a great writer, the characters seem to come to life. Many of them are absolutely detestable, but that's what makes them so good to read: they're dreadful in a real way, and you come to love or hate them, depending, just as you would a real person. I will certainly continue with the series.

Categories: male, owned - Kindle, English, fiction, very long (819 pages), new to me, North America.

14 - Franny e Zooey by J.D. Salinger (English: Franny and Zooey)

Finished: 13 February

Rating: 2/5

Salinger was definitely a good writer, exceptionally good when writing dialogs, but this book is simply not for me. I didn't like all those oral expressions (italics to underline what the characters underline in speech, slang, etc.) and I didn't understand the meaning of the story. Definitely not my thing.

Categories: male, bookcrossing, Italian, fiction, short (155 pages), repeat, North America.