2025 Reading Challenge discussion

KINDNESS COUNTS
Duration: December 1 - December 31, 2024

Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver. -- Barbara De Angelis

Many worldwide holidays, both religious and secular, are observed during December. What a perfect time to share all types of kindness! For this open challenge, inspired by a printable at happierhuman.com, choose books that relate to one or more of these types of kindness.

▪ Kindness to Self
▪ Kindness to Family
▪ Kindness to Others
▪ Kindness to Planet

To join, post a message telling the challenge leader how many books you plan to read. If you are new to our group and/or our group challenges, you can learn more about how they work in this thread.

Diane has kindly offered to lead this challenge. Thank you!

🌸🌺🌼 KINDNESS COUNTS!🌼🌺🌸

Welcome to the December Monthly Challenge, Kindness Counts! I am so glad to be spending the last month of the year with you all -reading and thinking about Kindness. Just posting this makes me feel happy. 🥰 I am glad you are here.



How To Participate

🔹 To join the challenge, post a comment below with your goal.
🔹 You may choose your books in advance, or add them as you go.
🔹 You may join late if the challenge hasn't ended, and may count any relevant books completed during the challenge dates.
🔹 As you read, edit your original message, then post a new comment in this format:
** "Update to message #xx: Books read/book goal"
** Example: "Update to message #3: 3/30"
🔹 If you decide to leave the challenge, please don't delete your original post. Just let me know. You can mark your original post {redacted}.
🔹 If you are new to our group and/or our group challenges, check the Yearly, Quarterly, Monthly Challenges - Start Here thread for more information on how our challenges are run.

Participants

Diane (# 4) - 0/3
Sarah (# 5) - 8/8 Completed!
Beth (# 6) - 4/4 Completed!
TerryJane (# 7) - 12/12 Completed!
Ciara (# 8) - 4/4 Completed!
Carmen (# 9) - 3/4
Whitney (# 10) - 4/4 Completed!
Lina (# 11) - 5/2 Completed!
Carrie (# 13) - 6/4 Completed!
Amy (# 14) - 5/4 Completed!

Stats
Participants: 10
Books Read: 51
Book Goal: 49
Started: 9
Completed: 8

Updated on January 7, 2025.

I am going to try for 3.

Goal: 0/3

1.
2.
3.

Sign me up for 8 books

8/8-COMPLETED

▪ Kindness to Self
✅1. Listening With My Heart: A Story of Kindness and Self-Compassion (25/12/24)
✅2. My New Best Friend (26/12/24)

▪ Kindness to Family
✅3. A Hat for Grandma: A Knitting Story (28/12/24)
✅4. Stellaluna (29/12/24)

▪ Kindness to Others
✅5. The Kindness of Children (24/12/24)
✅6. A Terrible Kindness (15/12/24)

▪ Kindness to Planet
✅7. Miss Rumphius (27/12/24)
✅8. Humankind: Changing the World One Small Act At a Time (17/12/24)

Joining for 4 books.
Challenge completed 23 Dec 2024

Kindness to self - The Jackass by Thomas Stimson
Kindness to family - Finn by Jon Clinch
Kindness to others - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oz, #1) by L. Frank Baum
Kindness to planet - Bibi Saves the Honey Bees (Preserve the Planet Book, #1) by Judith A. Ewa

💗 KINDNESS COUNTS - Monthly Challenge
Duration: December 1 - December 31, 2024
Progress: 12/12 -- COMPLETE

▪ Kindness to Self
💗 The Wish
💗The Christmas Orphans Club

▪ Kindness to Family
💗 A Quilt for Christmas
💗 The Christmas Tree Farm
💗 The Immortal Nicholas

▪ Kindness to Others
💗 The Little Lost Library
💗 The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone
💗 Christmas at Carnton
💗 The Christmas Stories of Louisa May Alcott
💗 Juniper’s Christmas

▪ Kindness to Planet
💗 A Cat Café Christmas
💗 How To Be Kind: Tales of Inspiration and Lessons in Kindness

I will be modest & go for 4, one from each category. Thanks!

▪ Kindness to Self
How We Named the Stars - Andrés N. Ordorica

▪ Kindness to Family
Rental House - Weike Wang

▪ Kindness to Others
Season of the Swamp - Yuri Herrera

▪ Kindness to Planet
Orbital - Samantha Harvey

Hola!
Count me in, please 😉

PROGRESS: 3/4

▪ Kindness to Self
☑️Mujercitas
▪ Kindness to Family
☑️Aquellas mujercitas
▪ Kindness to Others
☑️Matar a un ruiseñor
▪ Kindness to Planet
La tierra herida

I'm in for 4!

Progress: 4/4

▪ Kindness to Others
1. The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir by Griffin Dunne (Completed 12/9/24)
(view spoiler)["Griffin Dunne recounts an act of kindness when Sean Connery saved him from drowning at the age of eight." (hide spoiler)]

2. Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us by Rachel Aviv (Completed 12/15/24)
(view spoiler)["the most prominent act of kindness comes from a bystander, "Carl," who jumps into the Mississippi River to save Naomi and one of her twin sons after she throws them off a bridge" (hide spoiler)]

3.Riverbend Gap by Denise Hunter (Completed 12/22/24)
(view spoiler)["When Katelyn Loveland’s car veered off a winding Appalachian Mountain road, she thought she was done for. That is until Cooper Robinson, local sheriff’s deputy, came to her rescue." (hide spoiler)]

4. Unraveled by Lauren Dane (Completed 12/24/24)
(view spoiler)["The characters in Unraveled—especially the protagonists—often show kindness to each other through emotional support and understanding. In particular, the way they listen to each other's fears and desires, and how they show patience and compassion in difficult moments, demonstrates the importance of kindness in fostering healthy relationships." (hide spoiler)]

I am in for 2 for now, thanks!

🤗 Kindness Counts - Monthly Challenge 🤗
Duration: December 1 - December 31, 2024

🤗 Progress 5/2 🤗 - COMPLETED!

KINDNESS COUNTS
Duration: December 1 - December 31, 2024

Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver. -- Barbara De Angelis

▪ Kindness to Self
▪ Kindness to Family
▪ Kindness to Others
▪ Kindness to Planet

Tracking the books I read for this challenge in my corner

🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

Hello All! Happy December. This year felt like it went by so fast, and it feels strange to be thinking about my reading plans for next year already. But, before that, one last challenge in 2024...

Welcome, and thank you all for joining me in celebrating Kindness! I look forward to seeing what you read, and I wish you a month of very happy reading.

Count me in for 4! I will do at least one for each category - I need to keep December's short because I am still trying to complete all of my Q4 challenges so I am loving how open this one feels.

💗 KINDNESS COUNTS - Monthly Challenge
Duration: December 1 - December 31, 2024
Progress: 6/4

▪ Kindness to Self
1. Weyward COMPLETED 12/26/24


▪ Kindness to Family
1. The Apple Orchard COMPLETED 12/15/2024

2. Winter Garden COMPLETED 12/28/24

3. Come Sundown COMPLETED 12/31/24


▪ Kindness to Others
1. The Storyteller COMPLETED 12/6/24


▪ Kindness to Planet
1. The Good Earth COMPLETED 12/30/24

I will do at least 4!
5/4-- Challenge Complete!

▪ Kindness to Self
1. Split Decision: Life Stories

▪ Kindness to Family

▪ Kindness to Others
1. It's A Wonderful Midlife Crisis
2. Whose Midlife Crisis Is It Anyway?
3. A Most Excellent Midlife Crisis
4. The Paper Daughters of Chinatown

▪ Kindness to Planet

Updated message 14-- 3/4

Welcome to anyone who has joined in the last week!

Amy... 3 out of 4 books already, wow. Way to get it done!

update message 13: 1/4

Update to message #10: 1/4

Updated message 14-- 4/4-- Challenge Complete

Update to message #10: 2/4

Update to message #13: 2/4

Congratulations on finishing the Challenge Amy!

Updated message 14-- 5/4

Update to message #10: 3/4

Update to message 6: 4/4

Challenge completed. Thank you, Diane!

Update to message #10: 4/4

Challenge Completed! :)

Update to Message #7 : 12/12
Complete!

Diane, thank you so much for leading this challenge! 💐

Update to message #9

PROGRESS: 3/4

Thanks, and a very happy 2025! 🤗

Congratulations Beth, TerryJane, and Carrie for finishing the challenge.

I hope everyone has had/is having a wonderful holiday season... and that you are being as kind to yourself as you are to others. Happy, Happy New Year to you.

UPDATE to post #8: challenge completed!

▪ Kindness to Self
How We Named the Stars - Andrés N. Ordorica

▪ Kindness to Family
Rental House - Weike Wang

▪ Kindness to Others
Season of the Swamp - Yuri Herrera

▪ Kindness to Planet
Orbital - Samantha Harvey

Update to message #13: 6/4

Finished the challenge late last night just in time. Thank you for this challenge! Happy New Year!

Message 5 Updated

8/8

CHALLENGE COMPLETED

Sorry for the late update, message #11:
🤗 Progress 5/2 🤗 - COMPLETED!

Thanks Diane!

Hi all! Late for my last update... but Lina got to squeak her's in! :D

Congrats to everyone who finished. So many of you completed the challenge! I hope that you enjoyed it.

Happy Reading in 2025!