2025 Reading Challenge discussion

My main goal for this year is to read as many books off my TBR shelf that are available at my local libraries. My owned TBR books are at a nice manageable amount, so I really want to read the books I don't own while they are still available. I'm setting it at only 60 because there will be a waiting period for them to become available. The + will be whatever books I own and reread.

LIBRARY BOOKS: 60/60

The Door in the Hedge
The Snowman
The Bone Witch
The Secret Book of Kings: A Novel
Throne of the Crescent Moon
Homecoming
The Fox Wife
Green Rider
A Face Like Glass
The Goblin Emperor
Lone Women
The Spellshop
Under the Oak Tree, Vol. 1--ABANDONED
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Emperor of the Eight Islands
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Murder in the Crypt
The Princess Curse
The Outlaws of Sherwood
Bryony and Roses
A Monster Calls
Jim Henson's Labyrinth: The Novelization
Return to Labyrinth, Vol. 1
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Piranesi
Suitor Armor, Vol. 1
An Enchantment of Ravens
The Dreaming, Vol. 1
The Dreaming, Vol. 2
The Dreaming, Vol. 3
The Half-Drowned King
Silver in the Blood
Britt-Marie Was Here
The Gilded Wolves
Blood of Ambrose
Curious Tides
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns
The Rainfall Market
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
In the Shadow of the Gods
The Shadow of the Gods
My Contract With the Apothecary Monster, Volume 1
The Forest of Stolen Girls
My Contract With the Apothecary Monster, Volume 2
Travelers Along the Way: A Robin Hood Remix
Truthwitch
Favorite
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer
The Hunchback Assignments
Witch King--ABANDONED
Fortress of Eagles
Emma (manga adaption)
City of Lies
A Drop of Corruption
Riverkeep
A Cat from Our World and the Forgotten Witch Vol. 1
The Last Murder at the End of the World
Three Kinds of Lucky
Penric’s Demon
I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons
The Lake House

OWNED BOOKS: 32/77

One-Punch Man, Vol. 28: Into the Abyss
One-Punch Man, Vol. 29
In the Forests of Serre
Skip Beat! (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 16: Includes vols. 46, 47 & 48
Spy x Family, Vol. 11
Spy x Family, Vol. 12
Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 12
The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 12
Spy x Family, Vol. 13
Sourcery
White Sand Omnibus
The Sunlit Man
The Magick of Merlin
Dombey and Son
Eric
Witches Abroad
The Legend of the Seventh Virgin
Agatha Christie: Six Mary Westmacott Novels: Giants' Bread / Absent in the Spring / Unfinished Portrait / The Rose and the Yew Tree / A Daughter's a Daughter / The Burden
Moving Pictures
Dancing and Disaster
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands
The Pickwick Papers
Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 13
The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 13
One-Punch Man, Vol. 30
Pyramids
The Complete Poems
The Fate of Farringale
Skip・Beat!, Vol. 49
Skip・Beat!, Vol. 50
Beren and Lúthien
The Professor
Small Gods

EBOOKS: 5/56

Marking Time
Escape -- this one wasn't read but abandoned. I didn't count it towards my reads but it is marked off here since it is no longer on my TBR shelf.
Elfhame
Who Am I?: Solving the Identity Puzzle
The Poppy War (audiobook)

That is an awesome goal, Keri! Do you have anything lined up that you already know you'll be reading in the coming year?

Wishing you the very best reaching and surpassing your plans in 2025. 😊
Happy reading!

Lisa wrote: "That is an awesome goal, Keri! Do you have anything lined up that you already know you'll be reading in the coming year?

Wishing you the very best reaching and surpassing your plans in 2025. 😊
Hap..."


Thank you!! I wish the same for you too!

I do not, actually. I've been waiting for the new year to browse my shelf for something to capture my interest. Although, library aside, I'm seriously eying up my copy of The Count of Monte Cristo.

One Punch Man vol 28-29

Hard to rate manga book by book when there can be over a year of waiting between reading. Volume 28 barely got back into the story when it ended. Volume 29 made me cringe and almost sick to my stomach. Still one of my favorite mangas but I'm going to have to do another reread through the whole series to get the storyline to flow more smoothly.

Good grief, I had put two library books on hold thinking one of them would have come in by now, and here I am still waiting. Going on day three of the new year, and I haven't even started in on my actual goal.

On the bright side, this was a fantastic read. It is getting harder and harder for me to decide which one of Mckillip's books I love the most.
Four stars.

Four short stories collected in this one book. Two are retellings of common fairytales (The Princess and the Frog and The Twelve Dancing Princesses), and two are McKinley's original works. I couldn't tell the difference story format-wise, and I am impressed by it. They all felt like the old familiar stories one would read in a Grimm's or Anderson's collection.

Three stars

I'm counting this as a library read, even though it wasn't on my want-to-read shelf, because it belongs even less in my other two groups.
Conclusion: I did not like it. At all. Wasn't even interested in the murder plot.
One star

This was actually very good writing which makes me feel guilty for only giving it two stars. But I didn't enjoy it, and that's what ratings are to reflect so two stars.

I realize this is fiction, but it irks me to no end when the author doesn't stay true to the actual events. Granted, I think some of the twisted falsehoods were deliberate because of whose eyes we were viewing through, but it was hard to tell, and I came to the point of not caring.
Anyway, that point aside, this book has a lot of build up with little actual happening. It started off very interesting but then two hundred pages in, I felt like it was dragging. Also, did we really need the entire play of Michal scene by scene? Couldn't she have just summarized her story to a chapter? It felt so unnecessary.
Two stars

Oh goodness. This is like the only "romance" I can't get enough of. I told myself I was done collecting these. I am so not done.
Five stars and still buying XD

vol 11-13

This is such a great series It is a beautiful blend of family, intrigue, humor, and little children's school drama. It blows me away how cleverly the author mixed such different, in my mind, genres into this hilarious, sweet, and suspenseful story.
I do have a bad feeling this is going to be one of those series that never ends though, and my pocketbook and lack of bookcase space is not looking forward to it
Four stars

Oofta, far gorier than what I was expecting based on the cover. Not entirely sure why I thought the cover meant a less dark story, but I did think that so there you have it.
That isn't to say I didn't like it. It was interesting and fairly well written with a good plot. The characters didn't blow me away but I liked them well enough.
Three stars

Wow, I could not get into this one at all. Not entirely sure what the problem was. The writing seemed smooth, mature, and clean enough, and yet I dragged my feet so bad trying to motivate myself to read it.
I'm going to chalk it up to it just not being my kind of story.
Two stars

I like her kind of stories, but had frustrations with this one. I still plan to read her other novels. I am just preparing myself to needing to skim a bunch of bloated viewpoints.
Three stars

This one was quite the end-of-the-world adventure. I like Luggage. I wish I had luggage like Luggage.

Three stars

What a delightful story! I am so glad I picked this book up. It was a captivating (but not what I would call action packed) story that I enjoyed from beginning to end.
Four stars

Not sure about this one. I didn't enjoy it as much as I usually do for Sanderson's books. I kind of feel like part of my lack of enjoyment was because of the format as a comic vs a novel. I wasn't a big fan of the changes in the artists throughout the book either. The story was interesting but it all wrapped up a little too nicely at the end. It felt like it was missing the big twist or plot reveal or the suspense or something vital that should have involved more of an emotional response from me than the simple, "Oh, that's a nice end," that I had.
Three stars

I really enjoyed this super short story. I believe it would be considered a novelette. For the kind of story this is, it definitely needed a whole lot more fleshing out. It moved far too quickly which gave the whole situation a sense of ridiculousness. I wanted to give it four stars but because of the lack of length (thus the lack of buildup, tension, and proper character development) I couldn't justify it. I found myself rolling my eyes at parts that should have been sweet or serious or moving simply because there wasn't enough time to develop the feelings the characters had which gave it all the sense of childish immaturity.
I settled on three stars. I did really like this novelette, the characters, the plot, and the writing. It just shouldn't have been written as a short.

Very in depth plot. I enjoyed how it just kept going. Feeling nervous about the future books. I'm afraid for King Zachary who I think I unintentionally fell in love with.*sighs*
May or may not read the next one in the series. I'm on the fence about it yet.
Four stars

Very clever. Absolutely packed full with twists and turns and plot after plot. Also.... I liked the Kleptomancer, particularly at the end. Not a hilarious story, but had its moments of humor. It is also a very strange and weird kind of story, which I sort of got used to but never did quite like.
Three stars

This had such a simple plot feel to it. Essentially, it was about a boy learning to be an emperor. It seemed slow-paced, but in actuality was very engaging. It subtly reminded me of Megan Whalen Turner's style of writing for The King of Attolia. It had its delightful moments of intrigue nicely balanced with the realistic and simple scenes of people just being people and struggling to get through the day without feeling completely alone.
Four stars

This is.... No good. I thought I had picked up a historical fiction. Not some sappy, everything's-better-when-your-monster-murders, not-even-accurate-to-the-times fictionalized crackpot of a story.
But I'm not surprised. I was just trying to get the Essential Reader Badge and Lone Women was the only book in the collection that even remotely interested me, otherwise I never would have picked it up. The only reason I did was because, as previously stated, I thought it was an actual, true to the times, historical fiction.
One star

I almost gave this four stars, but too many little irritations riddled the book. It was quite the cozy, feel-good read which is partly why I dropped the star. As much as I liked the easy, sweet reading, it was a little too sweet, a bit sickly sweet, and among other things, I didn't enjoy it as much as a four star should be. Thus, three stars. And the likelihood that I will NOT be reading the sort-of sequal. This is more enjoyed as a single standalone novel with nothing more added or expanded.

The cover book is GORGEOUS! The story, not so much. I dnf it 7 pages in. It isn't going to my reads but it got taken off my goal since that is one less book to read.

This is another great book of Sanderson's. Unfortunately, I only have three more of his left to read and then my Sanderson days are over.

Four stars

I'm torn on this one. It was very interesting and held my attention for almost the entirety of it, but I was rather disappointed in the general, overall plot, I guess I will call it. It had a lot to do with sexual desire, so much so that that was the leading factor in nearly all the gods' actions. It just seemed so base. But I imagine it is hard to write about gods when we can only think of human desires and whims.
Three stars

Wow, I almost started tearing up on this one. It took an unexpectedly somber turn at the end. I think I see something foreshadowing for the next two books--I hope so! I want it to happen. Lol

I'm not really sure how I feel about this story. I gave it three stars, and it left on a cliffhanger that definitely makes me want to read the second book, and yet a part of me isn't really sure I do want to read it.

Oofta, this one blew me away. Not by the murder twist. Or the ending. But overall. The entirety of the complexity of this story. It was so captiviating.
Five stars

This was nothing to rave home about. Although the writing was decent, it lacked character and liveliness. The characters, despite appearing to have emotions, felt flat and basic. The plot was all right. Overall, It was just okay.
Two stars

This was really cute and good, also humorous. I thought the MC was just the right mix of spunk, youth, and wise. I haven't looked, but I'm hoping there is a sequal that delves into the mystery of Dragos.
Four stars.

I completely expected a far more tragic ending than what I got. I had no idea how she was going to end the tale of Robin Hood. I don't know if I've ever heard the "official" ending, but I was very much expecting Robin to be killed, and Marian to die, and for the band of outlaws to have succeeded in freeing their little town but to end up dispersing after the death of their hero. That did not happen. I am so glad.

Four stars

Why do ppl think a human girl marrying a straight-up BEAST is ever romantic??? YUCK!

Four stars because the rest of the story was delightful and the characters were fun and witty and charming.

Overall tragic story of selfish humanity but with a bit surprisingly sweet and happy ending.

Four stars

Good grief, this was so well-written. I tried so hard not to cry in front of my mom as I read this (she was sitting beside me playing a game). This story portrays grief so vividly.
Five stars

A short, entertaining, fun read.
Four stars

A quick and entertaining read. I appreciate it fleshing out the subtleties of the movie.
Three stars

Eh, it was okay.
Two stars

Written in a way that is reminiscient of ye old classics, which I quite enjoyed. This is a well-written book on two magicians and all the trouble they caused and perhaps fixed too. It was quite in depth with a fair amount of plots entwining together. Very enjoyable.
Three stars (almost four but it started to drag from 550 to about... Well 700 when I really got interested again).

I enjoyed this story of imagery, mystery, and beauty. But it felt awfully sad. I'm not sure why, but it all just seemed sad and lonely. Now I feel sad.... kind of nostalgic even.
Three stars

Meh meh

Two stars

I'm astonished how little I liked this book. Perhaps I shouldn't have listened to the audiobook (no fault on the voice actor) instead of reading it. Audiobooks bore me for the most part.

Two stars

I really liked this take on the Fair Ones and magic and the "Good Rules". The characters were well written and lively and diverse. I suppose I shouldn't like Gadfly the most out of the whole cast. I thought Rook and (how.... Did I just completely forget the MC's name????) MC were fun together and I liked that they were the romantic interest, but I personally liked Gadfly best and never hated him at all through the whole thing despite all his "meddling". Also his "niece" was such a loveable character as well. I definitely enjoyed her part in the novel.

Three stars

I wasn't all that impressed by this but the mystery is interesting and since I discovered it was only 3 books long, I think I shall finish it.

Three stars

I liked the story of this one more than his usual. It was a lot of fun.

Four stars

This is a very well-written, too-real depiction of vikings and their lifestyles. I guess I'm more of the romantic type and would rather not hear how often women were raped and children brutalized. Nevertheless, it was an interesting story and I am happy to see that brother and sister essentially got the "happy" ending they wanted.
Three stars

I think I read another of this author's books but I don't recall liking it much. This one, on the other hand, was fun and delightful. Not super big on the paranormal/ish genre but it didn't get cultic and dark like most do.

Three stars