Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Happy New Year!!  That's a wrap on 2024!!!

My sleep schedule is all messed up after staying up so late for NYE, sorry this check-in is being posted so late!!!

I hope everyone had a pleasant New Year's Day.  We had a white Christmas last week, but then we had an early January thaw, so all that snow is gone.  But now we are getting fresh snow, with flurries now and a big lake effect storm coming on Saturday!

My new dishwasher is installed!! (It's running RIGHT NOW!! It's so quiet!!)  I have never been so excited to empty a dishwasher as I was on Tuesday morning LOL.  It feels like it's been over a year without a dishwasher, but apparently it's only been six months.   Now we just need to get the garbage disposal installed so I can use both sides of my kitchen sink again ...  




Admin stuff
The final poll for February's group read, that could fulfill "non-traditional education" is LIVE.  Go vote here! 
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...

The nomination poll for our March group read, which could fill "a book where music plays a part in the storyline" will run for two weeks, and is live here: 
 https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3... write in your favorites!  Remember that books used as monthly group reads in the last two years are not eligible.

January's group read of Out of My Mind is happening here:   https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... you to Jennifer for leading the discussion!!



This week I finished 2 books, nothing for the Challenge yet so I'm at ZERO across the board.

Mockingbird, Vol. 2: My Feminist Agenda written by Chelsea Cain - this was my Christmas comic read - it started out strong, I really love Cain's writing in this collection, but Marvel pulled the rug out from under her and cancelled the series, so she was forced to wrap it up quickly, therefore it had an unsatisfying ending.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones - this was a xmas gift several years ago, and this year I put it on my "Must Reads" list to force myself to read it.  I'm so glad I did!  I forgot how much I love SGJ.  I need to read all of his stuff.  I was shocked at the number of reviews that said they hated the writing style or they found the style confusing - I LOVE his writing style!!  It is so comfortable, I sink right into it and I feel like Jones is right next to me at a bar telling me the story.  (And wouldn't THAT be an experience!) I think this was his breakout book and attracted a lot of new readers, so I guess that's why so many people didn't know what to expect from him.



Question of the Week
Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year?  What are your reading goals for this upcoming year?  Have you made any changes or adjustments?

I finished ALL of my 2024 reading challenges EXCEPT for the mini-challenge I set for myself, to read a list of ten books.  I read nine of them, the tenth is being read now (but it's long so it's going to take a while).  

I'm happy with how I tackled Popsugar last year, but I let my own little reading challenge languish, so I ended up not finishing it by the end of the year.  For this upcoming year, I'm going to stick with my strategy of last year, which was to stay laser focused on this challenge, but I'm going to laser focus on both Popsugar and my own challenge simultaneously.  Those two lists, plus my NetGalley obsession, will be my top priorities.

I'm still up in the air about whether I'm officially doing AtY or BookRiot in 2025.  I usually end up sort of completing AtY almost by accident, so that will probably happen again.  And I'll see how I do with their bonus categories this year. I haven't done BookRiot in years, because I found it was too stressful to try to complete THREE outside challenges in one year plus all my own little goals.  I WANT to do it this year, but I know if I commit, and then don't finish it, I'll feel down in the dumps about that.  For now, I'm going to check off categories as I fill them, just to see how I do.

Regarding my personal goals: I am planning to drop my daily poetry reading, and I'm planning to drop my cultural appreciation month reads.  When February comes along, I might change my mind on that, we'll see.

Nadine in NY wrote: "My new dishwasher is installed!! (It's running RIGHT NOW!! It's so quiet!!) I have never been so excited to empty a dishwasher as I was on Tuesday morning LOL."

I completely understand your excitement! I just got a new range... It has double ovens and a built-in air fryer. I love being able to cook at two different temperatures, and the air fryer function is fabulous! I never thought I could be so thrilled about an appliance.

Happy Thursday, and happy new year, everyone!

Finished:
Rough Around the Hedges by Lish McBride - 4 stars - no prompt. A fun, fluffy paranormal romance set in a world where the supernatural exists as part of everyday life. I just love the friend group of the main characters and I wish they were my friends.

Medici Heist by Caitlin Schneiderhan - 4 stars - no prompt. My final book of 2024 was a historical heist novel set in 1500s Italy. Suspension of belief required but I had so much fun reading this. Michelangelo is a side character.

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren - 3.5 stars - a book set at a luxury resort. Family drama, fake marriage, and rich people problems.

The Garden by Tomi Adeyemi - 2 stars - a book rated less than three stars on Goodreads. If I'm going to read a low-rated book, I'm not going to waste my time on something long. So I read this Amazon original short. It was awful, but I'm glad to be done with this prompt.

I am currently at 2/50 for Popsugar (2/40 and 0/10).

Currently reading:
How to Steal a Galaxy by Beth Revis - for a book under 250 pages.

Upcoming/Planned:
Lady Eve's Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow - for a book centering LGBTQ+ characters that isn't about coming out (or potentially space tourism)

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao - for a book that features a character with chronic pain (the main character had her feet bound when she was young, which makes walking without aid painful for her, at least in the first book)

Swordcrossed by Freya Marske - this may go into the LGBTQ+ characters prompt instead, or if it doesn't fit, a book I got for free since it's a library book

QOTW:
I was pretty happy with how my 2024 reading challenges went, but I think I took on too much with two full challenges (three if you count ATY, which, like Nadine, I always seem to finish incidentally).

This year, I'm only doing Popsugar officially. Halfway through the year, I'll probably take a look at ATY and see where I am. (I'm not in the ATY Goodreads group because it's way too busy for me, but I see a lot of the prompts through people posting here.)

As far as personal challenges, I don't really have any, aside from some books and series I would really like to finally read or get caught up on in 2025. I always start out with 50 books as my personal goal, but usually blow past that pretty quickly.

Happy Thursday and Happy New Year! We've all been staying up waaaaaay too late. It's going to tough next week to get back to normal life.

2025 Reading Challenges:

52 Book Club: 0/52
ATY: 0/52 (ATY Winter Challenge: 5/15)
The Book Girls’ Guide: 0/74
Booklist Queen: 0/52
Popsugar: 0/50

My Ever-Growing TBR: 1/203 - 0.5% (I hope to read at least a third of my TBR this year.)

Recently Completed:

Cahokia Jazz: 2024 NPR Books We Love. ★★★★
Read Between the Lines ★★★
Fifteen Cents on the Dollar: How Americans Made the Black-White Wealth Gap ★★★★
Grimm Curiosities ★★★★
Business or Pleasure ★★★★
The Fortune Seller ★★★
Lovely One: A Memoir: Reasonable Doubt Book Club. ★★★★★
Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam ★★★★
Our Infinite Fates: I am not the intended audience for this book, but I enjoyed it anyway (even when a bit overwrought - both emotionally and linguistically). I can certainly see the allure for romantasy enthusiasts, and I think it’ll do well when it’s published in March. Goodreads Giveaway. ★★★★



Currently Reading:

The Cure for Women: Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi and the Challenge to Victorian Medicine That Changed Women's Lives Forever (ATY Winter #8 – a nonfiction book)
Darkly (ATY #45 – author’s career spans 10+ years)
Starter Villain: Adventures Underground Book Club, 2023 NPR Books We Love. (ATY Anniversary #8 – author has published 7+ books)
A Painted House (BGG Lifetime of Reading #1 – a child protagonist)
The Trolls of Wall Street: How the Outcasts and Insurgents Are Hacking the Markets
A Slow, Calculated Lynching: The Story of Clyde Kennard: 2023 NPR Books We Love.
Other People's Houses (ATY Winter #6 – an author you’ve read before/Popsugar #37 – two books with the same title: Book 1)
The Phoenix Bride (ATY Winter #9 – author’s first or last initial found in WINTER: Natasha Siegel)
Audacity (52 Books #17 – told in verse/Popsugar #32 – an overlooked woman in history: Clara Lemlich)
The Ghostkeeper: A Graphic Novel



QOTW: I'm happy with my 2024 challenges, but I think I'm going to cut back a little bit this year. Last year I was a "super-completer"... If a challenge could be made more difficult, then I made it more difficult. If a prompt had options, then I did all the options. For example, in one challenge I was supposed to read a book related to one of Snow White's dwarfs. I couldn't let it go without reading a book for each one! I am not going to do that this year.

Happy new year! I'm back at work today and it was so hard getting out of bed after nearly two weeks of laziness. At least it was a work from home day, especially as it's turned cold.

I only finished one book this week but managed to wedge it into multiple challenges:

The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon. I enjoyed this a bit more than the previous instalment but I think she's starting to reach the limits of a single first person narrator. I know she can write complex worlds, but there was a lot of conveying stuff that happened elsewhere in dialogue.
PS: dystopia with happy(enough) ending
ATY: buildings on cover
Cover Lover: light or dark in title

Currently reading Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales and listening to The History of Sound.

QOTW:
Last year was the lowest books read since I started tracking such things. I completed ATY but none of my other challenges, but that's OK. My head just wasn't in the right space for reading for much of the year. Hopefully once I'm settled at work, I'll get my mojo back.

I've set my goal to 100 books and will adjust it later in the year if I think I'm going to be way off again. ATY will be my main challenge, but I'll have a reasonable go at Popsugar. I'm also tracking Cover Lover (I just love a cover based prompt and this has almost 50!) and Read Harder but not with any expectation of finishing.

Nadine in NY wrote: "I WANT to do it this year, but I know if I commit, and then don't finish it, I'll feel down in the dumps about that. For now, I'm going to check off categories as I fill them, just to see how I do...."

I'm just setting out with the idea that I'll see how far I get without trying. I've not completed Popsugar the last two years either, so I'm getting a bit better at accepting partially done challenges.

Happy Thursday

I’ve been a little out of touch. Real life was busy both at work and at home. So I backed off on a lot things including social media.

I had a good Christmas week with my family. My sister and I went shopping on the 23rd. Got Chinese food an and then I spent way too much on mochi at the Asian market.

Not a fan of midweek holidays though. Had the 1st off. But now I have a cough and sore throat. The cough started yesterday but I thought it was from the dry air. Nope.

So the auspicious start to the year clearly hasn’t happened yet.

Other than that things are good.

Happy New Year PS group! Day 2 of January. Crazy.

Christmas was crazy. Ended up having 3 Christmas's since family members arrived in town on different days.

Got some cool book stuff for Christmas, but my favorite is the personalized embosser. That is awesome! LOL I felt guilty with the pages being creased a bit though, so I went ahead and ordered stickers that you can emboss and then I'll add those to my books.

*****

Book News:

I'm a mood reader, but I've had fun making TBR lists so I'm gonna stick to them. I've added 8 books for each month from January through May.

Finished:

Myths and Legends of the Sioux - My first read of 2025! It was a short read. Only 118 pages so it was fairly easy. Loved the fables in it.

Currently Reading:

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - A group I'm in is reading this one. I'm about to start chapter 4. It's amazing so far and I'm glad I'm reading it. It's very fascinating. I love the way the author personifies their experience and the ship.

Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire - Got this book for Christmas. Barely about to start chapter 2, but I feel like I've been reading it forever. There's so much great information in it. It's like reading a history book in the Star Wars universe.

The Day After Tomorrow - This is an unexpected read. Just discovered it in 2024 and I made sure to make it a priority for 2025. The movie is one of my favorite natural disaster films of all time so the book is definitely interesting. Stays pretty much on point of the movie with some differences but I'm having fun with it.

*****

Question of the Week

Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year? What are your reading goals for this upcoming year? Have you made any changes or adjustments?

I am. I kept it small at 25 books. I like to keep a small number because I don't know how time/life will turn out. I ended up reading 107 books in 2024 which was awesome. Normally I average between 70 and 90.

This year while I've set a number goal for the heck of it (30), I'm not as concerned if I meet it or not. I'm normally a mood reader, but I had so much fun creating TBR lists for 2025 so I made several from January through May. It's broken up into 2 sections: Priority reads and everything else.

There are so many good books I'm excited for that are going to be released this coming year so I'm stoked for my reading journey.

Happy New Year!

I finished my 2024 books. No more prompts for them.

I am pleased with my reading time while on vacation. I've been reading Inheritance since Sunday and Such Charming Liars since Monday. It's hard to feel like you're making progress in a 850 page book.

Finished - no prompts:
As Young As We Feel
Find You First
Dream Factory

Series - 0/10
Reading Across Canada - 0/10
Nobel laureates - 0/5

PS - 0/40
Regular ATY - 0/40
Anniversary ATY - 0/10

Currently reading:
Inheritance -17%
Such Charming Liars -55%

Buddy Reads:
none at present

QOTW: Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year? What are your reading goals for this upcoming year? Have you made any changes or adjustments?

I am. I accidentally completed ATY, and I read 5 more PS books than I thought I could. (I found 2024 very restrictive).

I signed up for 40 PS and 40 ATY books because I have my own challenges.
10 series books
10 ATY anniversary prompts
and the one my friends think is the most interesting, 10 books set in each of the 10 provinces.

Unfortunately, I have not started my BC book or anniversary prompt books yet. On the upside interlibrary loans restart January 6 at my library. (Canada had a 4 week postal strike and it's going to take a while to get the mail moving again.

Happy New Year! Still totally off on what day it is. Kiddo went back to school today, so in my brain, it's Monday! I've had a mild to moderate migraine since yesterday, not bad enough that I can't do anything, but bad enough that I'm trying not to. Having a quiet house today is helping.
Oh! My house got a new roof this week. I had contracted with a local Amish company to do it. They said they would call before they came, but the other day, they were just out there! It took an afternoon to do the house and the next morning to do the garage! It looks nice.

Haven't done much reading this week. I listened to a couple of chapters in Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City, but I'm doubtful I'll finish it before my Audible subscription ends. Read a couple of chapters in A Quilt for Christmas. The book has already moved past Christmas and won't get back to it until the end, so I don't feel weird reading it now that the holidays are over. Going to start Out of My Mind for the group read just as soon as my headache will allow.

QOTW: I mean, I don't think I'll ever be totally happy with my reading- I want to read ALL the things!!! but I did exceed my goal of 30 books last year. This year, I've upped it to 35. As usual, I'll probably spend more time reading the news than reading books... I work on PS and ATY challenges, but I'm very comfortable with not completing either one. I would kind of like to get back to reading more classics this year, I didn't read many last year. I'm glad there's a prompt specifically for that.

Apparently, if I press a little side button on my mouse, it takes me back to a previous screen. This was not a welcome discovery, since I was partway through updating my weekly reading! :(

Dec. Purchased TBR: 3/7
Gifted: 1/6
Checked out: 6/9
Library Challenge: 30/30 COMPLETE!
November Nonfiction: 17/22
PS 2025: 18/50

Finished:
Trust for prompt overlooked woman in history. Also kind of a stretch.
The Vegetarian
DIY Solo Retreats: A Handbook for Creating Your Space, Setting an Intention, and Getting the Self-Care You Deserve
I Cheerfully Refuse for prompt takes place in water
From Chaos to Creativity for prompt adult who changes careers. Kind of a stretch, but my challenge, my way! :)
Behind the Attic Wall for prompt book from y childhood. So good! Even better than I remembered.

Started: The Diary of Anais Nin Volume 1 1931-1934
Creative Journal Writing: The Art and Heart of Reflection
Spiritual House Cleaning: Protect Your Home and Family from Spiritual Pollution

QotW: I didn't have many specific reading goals this past year except that I got more books than I intended and I am also reading more books at the same time than I intended. (I am currently reading 6.) One change is that it usually takes me three days to read a book. There were several books this year that I gave a long commitment to. (Currently on day 40 for one of them.) So that was a challenge. I couldn't just cross it off as soon as I'm used to doing!

Happy New Year all! May we all have a marvelous year of reading!

I'm keeping my office closed until Monday, using it to manage client expectations as I get caught up on some administrative stuff. Finding time for fun as well - reading, a jigsaw puzzle, lunch with friends, checking out NY at Christmas.

I did finish 2 more books in 2024, but nothing yet in 2025.

Finished:
The Lost Summers of Newport
The Mirror Cracked from Side to Side

Currently - as always my year strats with a SFF chunkster for my IRL Feminerdy Book Club so that's all I'm reading right now:
Labyrinth's Heart

QOTW: I had a really good reading year, and while I did not read 4 of the 12 books from a Trim the TBR challenge, and I still have 2 Agatha Christie mysteries from that challenge lingering, considering my hectic work life and other demands, and that I read 185 books when my goal was 160 .... I'm very pleased. Lots of really fantastic reads, and a book that I rank as the best I've read this century = James by Percival Everett. I also read more NF this year than usual - mostly because on the Trim the TBR challenge I participated in, the randomly drawn monthly number mostly seemed to hit the handful of NF I had scattered through that list!

I'm doing the usual compliment of challenges: 3 prompt based, 2 are Trim the TBR read from list by fandom number draw each month, and a couple more original and less restricted games in GR groups that involve geography - as in books set around the world.

One thing I did differently is make all my goals such that any where there is a list of books, those are all light and relatively short genre reading -continuing lots of mystery series, for example. The first half of 2025 will be very demanding in my practice and I will need that level of light reading. I made very sure that the NF - which are slower reads for me - is limited to only a couple of books with flexible timing!

I am also keeping my total book reading goal at 160.

Jen W. wrote: "The Garden by Tomi Adeyemi - 2 stars - a book rated less than three stars on Goodreads. If I'm going to read a low-rated book, I'm not going to waste my time on something long. So I read this Amazon original short. It was awful, but I'm glad to be done with this prompt...."



Reading a short story is a brilliant idea for this category!!!

I know many of you like receiving notifications. Someone in another group posted this. I don't bother with notifications (I just constantly hit refresh ;), but for those of you who like them, you can give this a try. No promises it works....

Goodreads has made some changes to their Notifications and Emails. It is now Account & Notifications; emails with Notification summaries will no longer be sent. In the transition, some members have noticed that their Notification Preferences have been completely deleted. To insure that you receive Notifications, check your Preferences (Click on your Profile picture, select Account Settings, select Account & Notifications, under Notifications select “Choose which notifications you want to receive from Goodreads,” and then make sure the Groups you want to hear from are checked. Also, on Discussion Topics, if you want to be notified when others comment, make sure you check the box “Notify me when people comment” right above the Comment box to make sure you are notified.

If yo8u aren't receiving notifications at all, you should sign out of GR completely and sign back in. That promptly solved the problem. I still need to finish updating what I want notificiations on but that's fine with me.

Think of it as the same thing as restarting your computer after a software update because that's basically what happened.

Laura Z wrote: "Happy Thursday and Happy New Year! We've all been staying up waaaaaay too late. It's going to tough next week to get back to normal life.

2025 Reading Challenges:

52 Book Club: 0/52
ATY: 0/52 (A...

Popsugar: 50/50

My Ever-Growing TBR: 1/203 - 0.5% (I hope to read at least a third of my TBR this year.)

Recently Completed:

Cahokia Jazz: 2024 NPR Books We Love. ★★★★"



Is that a typo or did you really finish already???


How was Cahokia Jazz? it looks really interesting! would it work for our music prompt this year?

Happy 2025! I'm on the committee for a local book award, so most of my reading this year will be for that, but I'll still manage to sneak in a few reads just for me ^_~
With the holidays and everything, I missed the past couple check-ins, so this is three weeks of reading:

Finished:
The Monkey's Wrench - (A book by a formerly incarcerated person) I chose this book because I thought it would be a quick read, but that turned out not to be the case. It was still an interesting book, and would work for this year's prompt of interconnected short stories, but it just took me longer to get through than I thought it would.
I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times - I read this one because it claimed to be inspired by The Wiz, but other than the cover, title, and section headings, it really wasn't.
Brightly Shining, The Christmas Appeal, A Booze & Vinyl Christmas: Merry Music-and-Drink Pairings to Celebrate the Season - My Christmas reads for this season, and all enjoyable.
Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution - My first committee read and last official read of the year. I enjoyed this one, and felt some big emotions, but it definitely needed some more editing.

Currently reading:
The Mythic Dream
The Extinction of Irena Rey
The Grace of Wild Things
Leeva at Last

QOTW: I'm pretty satisfied with my reading goals this past year. I was one book short for Pop Sugar, but I completed the Read Harder challenge a month early, a first for me. I also read all the books for the Tournament of Books for the first time, which I hope to do again, though not this year, due to my committee reading. I'm not going to stress about finishing any other challenges this year for the same reason, but I'll definitely be seeing which books I can slot in as I go along.

Ellie wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "I WANT to do it this year, but I know if I commit, and then don't finish it, I'll feel down in the dumps about that. For now, I'm going to check off categories as I fill them, ...


I'm just setting out with the idea that I'll see how far I get without trying. "



I WANT to do that, but I'm not sure if I can get in the right mindset. I've set up my spreadsheet to check off categories for all the challenges, it's a bit intimidating right now because my total columns for everything go out past "GJ," with 142 columns dedicated just to checking off various categories and adding the totals, that's a lot of scrolling ... I'll see how I'm feeling next month.

Ellie wrote: "I'm also tracking Cover Lover (I just love a cover based prompt and this has almost 50!)..."




Ooooh!!! Not that I need more challenges, but now I want to look at this one!! I am SO influenced by a book's cover, I will read a book just for the cover, and I will avoid a book because of an unappealing cover.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Is that a typo or did you really finish already???

Oh my gosh, that was totally a typo! I haven't finished anything yet... Not one single prompt.

How was Cahokia Jazz? it looks really interesting! would it work for our music prompt this year?"

It was really interesting once you get into the 1920s rhythm of the story. Alternate history in which St. Louis is just a little outpost, but Cahokia is a thriving Indigenous city. As far as prompts go, I think the music one could be used or the one about a main character changing careers, but there are books that would be a better match. It's not really the focus of the novel. It's a crime story.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Jen W. wrote: "The Garden by Tomi Adeyemi - 2 stars - a book rated less than three stars on Goodreads. If I'm going to read a low-rated book, I'm not going to waste my time on something long. So I read this Amazon original short. It was awful, but I'm glad to be done with this prompt...."

Reading a short story is a brilliant idea for this category!!!"

Thanks! It was only about 30 pages, much of which was taken up by poetry, so it only took me about half an hour or so to get through it. It feels a little like cheating, but Amazon put it out as a standalone, so to me, that counts.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Happy New Year!!  That's a wrap on 2024!!!

My sleep schedule is all messed up after staying up so late for NYE, sorry this check-in is being posted so late!!!

I hope everyone had a pleasant New Y..."

Yay, congrats on the new dishwasher! We don't often realize how important our appliances are to us until we lose access to them...

Mandy wrote: "Happy Thursday

I’ve been a little out of touch. Real life was busy both at work and at home. So I backed off on a lot things including social media.

I had a good Christmas week with my family. M..."

Oh dear... hope you feel better soon!

Happy Thursday, everyone! And a very Happy New Year!

For most of the past week, I’ve been spending my time creating a master list of all the books in my house. I’m currently down to the final four bookcases, and feeling really good about what I’ve managed to accomplish. But if a library is supposedly 1000+ books, I’ve officially passed that point and moved on to the inventory of your average independent bookstore… Fortunately, it appears that I’ve already read around three-quarters of the books I own, which is encouraging for this year’s TBR challenge.

Here are my current challenge and TBR totals…

Goodreads Challenge: 008/250
Mount TBR Challenge: 008/150

📚Physical TBR: 8
📱Ebook TBR: 0
🎧Audiobook TBR: 0
TBR Checklist Total: 008/exact total currently unknown

I have not purchased any new books since the beginning of the year!

“New” Books Bought in 2024: 0
“New” Books Read in 2024: 0
“New” Books DNFed in 2024: 0

Here are the books I finished this week…

Finished Reading (Fiction):
None

Finished Reading (Nonfiction):
None

Finished Reading (Manga, Comic Books, & Graphic Novels):
This week I had a chance to start reading the Delicious in Dungeon manga. I am really enjoying it!
~Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 1 — 📚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
~Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 2 — 📚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
~Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 3 — 📚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
~Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 4 — 📚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
~Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 5 — 📚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
~Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 6 — 📚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
~Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 7 — 📚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
~Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 8 — 📚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finished Reading (Poetry and Drama):
None

DNFed:
None

Currently Reading:
~Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 9 — I just started this volume, but I will definitely be finishing it later today. 📚

QOTW:
I’m somewhat disappointed in how I didn’t complete my reading goals last year, but since scrapping them turned out to be the best thing I could have done for my mental health at the time, I can’t be too upset.



My goal for this year is to focus primarily on reading the books I already own. I’d like to complete at least 150 of the titles on my TBR list before the end of 2025.

The only other goal I have for the year is to read every book I purchase in 2025 before the end of the year. I don’t plan to buy very many books this year (except for ones written by my favorite authors), so this should be fairly easy to accomplish.

Happy New Year! And happy start to the 2025 challenge!

I spent New Year's Eve with my stepsister, watching the "Holiday Baking Challenge" and making molasses cookies. Then we sat in the hot tub and drank sparkling grape juice as the clock ticked down to midnight. Fun chill times.

Also got one book down for the challenge already! Granted, it's my shortest book, but at least I got the worst of the lot (hopefully) out of the way first...

Books read this week:

The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye: Five Fairy Stories -- some interesting fairy-tale-esque stories here, though the title story (more of a novella) takes a LONG time to finally get interesting.

The Bloodless Princes -- a fantastic sequel to The Fireborne Blade. I want a dragon-cat now…

Raise the Stakes -- a quirky little romp about the undead living alongside the living that also tries to be a commentary on diversity… though I could have done without the sudden breaking of the fourth wall in the middle.

Lives of the Monster Dogs -- a modern-day Frankenstein story about a race of humanoid dogs and their struggles to find their place in society.

The Eye of Argon -- my first read for the 2025 challenge! I read this for the prompt “a book with a less-than-three-star rating on Goodreads.” Falls directly into the “so bad it’s hilarious” camp, though learning the story behind it makes it heartbreaking -- it was published in a fanzine, ended up circulating among fantasy writers and conventions as something to mock and make fun of, and scared and embarrassed the author to the point where he never wrote again. Poor guy…

Currently reading:

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon -- for "book about a POC experiencing joy instead of trauma"
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Vol. 1 -- for "book with a left-handed character"
The Art of Trapeze: One Woman's Journey of Soaring, Surrendering, and Awakening -- for "book with an adult character going through a career change"
Floating Hotel -- for "book about space tourism"

QOTW -- Overall I'm satisfied with my reading goals. I finished all the challenges I was participating in, and I got plenty of reading done. I also adjusted how much I read in a week -- instead of pushing myself to read 4 books a week, I just read at my own pace. It's made reading more enjoyable and not a chore.

Happy New Year all! I'm baaaaack!!! Missed doing this so LORD WILLING I can keep with it this year!

Finished 0/50

Currently Reading

Everyday Saints and Other Stories for "a book of interconnected short stories". Technically, I started this last year, but it's MASSIVE so I'm still only halfway and am going to count it for this year. It's fantastic so far!

Lost Histories: The Good, the Bad, and the Strange in Early American Orthodoxy for "a book that fills a 2024 prompt (book published in 2024)". This is our parish's quarterly book club read and I'm not sure what to expect with this yet! We shall see!

QotW

Omg last year was a DISASTER. I read only 17 books. 17!!! A paltry number! My life absolutely imploded last year. Had people living with us half the year due to really intense domestic situations, had to switch parishes which was rough, husband's office closed so he had to transfer to a new county, daughter had to switch schools, my dad got remarried, plus we traveled a ton...it was just an INSANE year. I gave up on my challenge pretty early, but I've missed it, so I'm hoping I can keep up this year! I can usually read a lot and quickly so my goal is to do AT LEAST 40 books, but I' love to do all 50 this year! Here's hoping!

Happy New Year, PS Crew!

Finished:

Rock Concert: An Oral History as Told by the Artists, Backstage Insiders, and Fans Who Were There (3/5)

I was hoping that this could be for the prompt related to a bucket list activity, but it was much more focused on promoters and performers than attendees. This book covers 1950-1985 (ending at Live Aid). What we got was fine, but I definitely wanted more, such as the nitty gritty technical stuff that has led to today's spectacles like The Eras Tour, TSO shows, and KISS's End of the Road Tour. If anyone knows about anything in that vein, please shout it out in the replies.

Way Station (4/5, reread)

This was the January 2025 book club pick. It really makes you question the deep stuff of existence as you read about Enoch's life, and it does it without coming off as preachy or telling you how to live your life. It qualifies as a book under 250 pages, but it benefits from being read at a slower pace.

Question of the Week:

I had a pretty good reading year in 2024 in terms of 4 and 5 star reads. For 2025, I will try to find more of those and reduce my overall level of TBR titles (easier if I stop buying books).

I have, unfortunately, not finished any books yet this week. I've been dealing with a few personal issues that have derailed my normal routine a bit.

I am currently reading--
Klara and the Sun
Pygmalion (audiobook)
I, Robot (ebook)

Only I, Robot is for the PS challenge.

QOTW
I'm torn on how I felt I did last year. One thing that was definitely a positive change is that (and this is a bit of a carry-on from the last part of 2023) I'm getting better at DNFing a book if it isn't working for me. I still try to give every book a fair chance, but if it's really not working for some reason, I leave it. (I can always come back to it later to try again if I feel I might be in a better place for it.) Unfortunately, when I do that with a book I chose that fits a challenge prompt, that sometimes leaves me scrambling to find another book that will work instead, which increases my reading stress for a bit.

Another positive is that I started using a pen and paper reading journal. That's streamlined my digital organization, too.

Speaking of challenges specifically, though, I think I tried to chase too many small ones along with the big ones all from the beginning of the year, and that was too much at once. There are a few "big" ones I try to complete each year that I'm going to focus on (one at a time), then at the end of the year if there's still reading time left I can look at some of those "smaller" ones I've enjoyed in the past.

Happy New Year everyone!

I have been too busy to keep up much on my reading besides the audiobooks I could find to borrow to read while working. Which of course is almost never the books you need for challenges.

I have finished some more books since I last checked in but, I did not finish the challenge. I only have 2 left (which, as it happens, is what happened last year). I am listening to one now that I'm gonna use for one so then I'll just have one more. And I own the other book so I am hoping to get to it soon.

2024 Challenges:
Popsugar: 48/50
ATY: 52/52 FINISHED!
Robot Librarian: 49/52
Booklist Queen: 52/52 FINISHED!
A to Z: 26/26 FINISHED!
Physical TBR: 2/98
Kindle TBR: 3/123

Goodreads: 251/200
**I originally had this at 100 but upped it twice later in the year.**

Book Clubs:
*I managed to read at least one from each of these this year.**
PS Monthly: 27/61
Reese: 34/102
Oprah: 13/103
Jenna: 10/71
OSS: 7/39


Finished:
8 finished, 1 Completed Popsugar

That One Night
We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy
Wrong Place Wrong Time
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts
Coven: A Graphic Novel
Winterkill
Rock Paper Scissors
The Hunting Party

-------
Currently Reading
While We Were Dating
The Cuckoo's Calling
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 1
Lessons in Chemistry

On the Backburner
Libby

Physical Library Rentals
Homicide: The Graphic Novel, Part Two
The Society of Shame
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 2
Is This Normal?: Judgment-Free Straight Talk About Your Body

Magazines: (13/152)
Read since last check-in: 0
I got almost nowhere with this challenge! BUT, I didn't add to many to it this year which is a good thing.

I'm really gonna try harder to clear out these magazines because they are just sitting in piles around my room and it is kinda bothering me.

Question of the Week:
Overall I am happy with my success. I managed to complete a challenge I had not planned on doing, and I also read more than double the amount of books I had planned originally. Of ALL the challenges put together, that I undertook I completed 81% of the prompts.

Towards the end of the year I was inspired by some of you and decided to figure out my stats. They are as follows:

251 books read:
108 Novels
137 Graphic Novels (47 YA/ 87 Juv/ 3 Adult)
5 Picture books
1 DNF Novel

Of those 58 were YA and 36 NF.

So even not counting my Graphic novels I reached my original goal of 100 books. Plus, I am really proud of myself for reading a LOT more NF this year.

As for next year I am going force myself to focus on my owned TBR. I am going to try the select a title from a jar method. I'll have to read what I pick. Only exception is if it is a series and I want to continue the series I can (whether with others I own or library). I'm gonna say I am doing Popsugar and ATY but it's more of a as it fits method this year. I am also going to challenge myself to complete the A to Z challenge with only my Kindle books I have.

2025 Challenges:
Popsugar: 0/50
ATY: 2/52 & 0/10
Physical TBR: 0/98
Kindle TBR: 0/123

Goodreads: 0/100

I'm actually pretty happy with my goals last year. I've really struggled to be motivated to read the last couple years but my sister and I started a little bookclub that has really helped. One of my goals this year in fulfilling the challenges is to read books I already own (not that that will stop me from buying new books 😁) And to just keep up the momentum from last year

I am loving the PS Challenge this year. There's more room for nonfiction books for the prompts which works for me since I mainly read nonfiction.

Last year I read 86 nonfiction and 21 fiction books so the PS '24 challenge was a bit difficult since most of the prompts fit the fiction genres.

I'll be doing 47 of the prompts. 3 of them didn't appeal to me. I can't stand books about food so I'm avoiding the food truck prompt. Overall though, love most of the prompts and I've got my books filled out for them so that's cool.

I am just over halfway through Crime and Punishment as my classic I've never read. Obviously I gave myself a head start. I did not read half of it yesterday.

QOTW: The only goal I set was 52 books for the year. I fell pretty far behind, finally caught up, then fell behind again, and caught up over Thanksgiving to wind up with 53 books. Average book length of 385, so not bad.

Happy New Reading Year! 🎊📚🎊 I finished up the book I had in progress at the end of December yesterday, so I have my first read of the year checked off. I didn't check to see if it fit any prompts since I read most of the book last year. It was a fun read since I decided to fill in the Advent calendar clue page as I read along. I may have been referred to as "nerdy" for doing this...and I didn't deny it 🤓

Finished:
* Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret by Benjamin Stevenson, which was a short, quick read and earned me my nerdy status for noting the clues down at the end of each chapter 🤓

Currently Reading:
* The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries edited by Michael Sims; and,
* Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout: Tools to Help You Heal and Recharge When You're Wrung Out by Stress by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer, which is a Libby hold that came in today, so I just downloaded it and haven't actually started reading it.


Question of the Week:
Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year? What are your reading goals for this upcoming year? Have you made any changes or adjustments? I had several bookish resolutions that served as my reading goals for 2024 and I'm pretty happy with how I did in terms of sticking to them. I'm going to come up a new (shorter) list for 2025 because I had six for 2024. I realized about halfway through the year that might have been overly ambitious, but they did help me focus on reading more of the books that I own and chip away at my NetGalley backlist titles, which was my primary reading goal.

I actually managed to finish two for the challenge because obviously I started them in the last week of December. The one that came as a surprise to me was Sons of Fire: Volume 2 by Adam Lance Garcia for PS prompt 13. A book rated less than three stars on Goodreads

To be honest I was NOT going to do this one. I find it annoying and honestly who wants to read badly rated books? But that graphic novel was one I had gotten at a local con and it had only one rating, a one star (I have not yet rated/reviewed but it's better than that) So I'm taking that as a this prompt and putting it behind me (that said I can't really rec it because it's part two and it doesn't look like part 3 ever came out.

The one I had planned on doing for this week was for PS prompt 4. A book with two or more books on the cover or "book" in the title. I read Once Upon a Seaside Murder by Maggie Blackburn It's book two in a series. The protagonist was so annoying I wanted to thunder punch her into the ocean she lived beside. I won't be reading more of this series. That said this works for this prompt and for an adult changing careers if you want a suggestion for those prompts

QOTW I was pretty happy with last year's reading. I managed 135 books (including graphic novels/manga), I finished most of my challenges (the only one I didn't is the one I don't mind, the literary escapes one on FB where you have to read a book in every state. I just do what I can there because whittling down my physical TBR pile is more important to me)

Speaking of which, I did a good job of that and donated many books because unless they're signed or if they're a series I love, all my books are going to new homes these days.

I was initially scowling at the new popsugar prompts but once I started pawing through my books like a raccoon I found almost every prompt in the TBR without trying hard.

Happy New Year!! Hope everyone had a good start to the year. For New Year's Eve I stayed home and went to bed early- after years of bartending (or going to shows if I had the night off), I really like waking up on New Year's Day not feeling exhausted. Then I met up with my parent's for lunch yesterday, which was nice, but the weather was way colder than I was prepared for.

I was trying to guess what the goodreads color would be for 2025- I guessed yellow or lime green, my friend picked hunter green. Didn't they just have teal a few years ago?

Finished:
Hammajang Luck- this was my last read of 2024. It's a queer, space heist. A really fun time! I got it through netgalley, and it's out later this month. Hope it gets enough attention
-no prompt for me in 2024, could be for the LGBTQ+ prompt though

I Think They Love You- I loved this romcom! Perfect way to start the year. It's got fake dating, second chances, and the crushing weight of family expectations. Loved it! And it starts right after the New Years, so fits the season
-1 A book about a POC experiencing joy and not trauma

Currently reading:
How Long 'til Black Future Month?- reading this collection just one or two stories a day. I have a habit of rushing through story collection, and then not really being able to appreciate them. Only about 4 stories in, but really enjoying it


QotW:
Overall I'm pretty happy with my reading year last year. I paced myself on the PopSugar so I wasn't trying to cram 20 prompts into the last few months like normal. Another personal goal was I wanted to read more translated works, and I did. So, I'm happy with that.

For the new year, I still want to read more translated books, some older books-since I read mainly new releases in 2024, and more books I own. Last year, most of what I read came from the library, which I love supporting the library, but I need to read the books I own too!

Happy New Year! I'm still on vacation and enjoying every day I have left. I had friends over for a New Year's Eve game night. I decided yesterday would be a good day to put away the Christmas decorations and deep clean my apartment to make a fresh start. I listened to an audiobook while I worked, and the time flew by.

Finished
Christmas and Other Horrors: A Winter Solstice Anthology (a book about a cult). I love this book! Like any anthology, there are some stories that are better than others, but there are far more great stories than weak ones. Regarding the prompt, I’m using cult in the classical sense here -- “a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object.” In this case, a Christian saint.

Insurrection (a book that features a character with chronic pain). This is the conclusion to a Stargate time travel/alternate reality trilogy, and it was wonderful. Bless the writer and fans for remembering Jack’s bad knee/chronic pain because the show writers only remembered when the actor couldn’t do a stunt or needed time off for surgery.

Reading
It Ends at Midnight

DNF
As The Crow Flies. There's nothing wrong with this book, and I'll come back to it later. I just need a little break from this series.


QOTW
I’m very pleased with my reading goals for last year. I wanted to finish the 2024 challenge, plus go back and finish the 2023 challenge. I managed to do both. I also finished reading 3 series. For this year, I’m only focused on the 2025 challenge prompts. It feels more relaxed planning to read 50 books versus the 83 I needed to read last year.

Happy New Year! It's been a few weeks since my last check in. I did end up finishing ATY and popsugar just under the wire.

Finished:

Silver Nitrate (PS horror BIPOC author) 3 stars. Horror is not a genre I enjoy but this one was not too much horror. I have read a few books by Silvia Moreno-Garcia but I don't think I usually rate her more than 3 stars. Good books but not great.

Deaf Utopia: A Memoir—And a Love Letter to a Way of Life (PS deaf author) 4 stars. Interesting memoir from someone I didn’t know. I liked that he included a lot of deaf history.

Anxious People (PS 24 hours) 3 stars. A robbery turned hostage situation. Funny with a heartfelt tone.

The Knockoff (PS 42 year old character) 2 stars. The main character needed to be at least 10-15 years older to be so believably in the dark about technology and social media. And the villain needed more meat to her character.

LaGuardia (ATY author African country) 3 stars. Graphic novel . The art was beautiful but the plot was a bit thin.

A Darker Shade of Magic (ATY set in 25 most beautiful cities) 4 stars. Very cool first book. I'm interested to see where this series goes.

Arch-Conspirator (ATY science or sci-fi book) 2 stars. This is a retelling of Antigone but with a sci-fi twist. I never read Antigone so I can’t judge it against the original. I know that this novella was depressing.

The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight (PS blind author) 3 stars. This was very informative about the history of the blind which I don’t know very much about. The actual memoir part was not as interesting as the history.

Loki: Agent of Asgard, Vol. 1: Trust Me (ATY a touch of magic) 4 stars. Loki is always a favorite of mine.

Currently Reading:
A Gathering of Shadows (ATY secrets, lies, deception)

Loki: Agent of Asgard, Vol. 2: I Cannot Tell a Lie (No prompt)

Upcoming:

Leviathan Wakes (ATY “group” that’s not a family)

QOTW: I'm mostly happy with my reading goals for last year. I completed both of my challenges. I think I will still do the same two challenges this year however I plan to be a bit more strategic. I will try to do the harder prompts first and leave the easier prompts for last. I'm also going to read any really big books early in the year. I will usually cut a big book from my list if it is too close to the end of the year and I won't have time to finish it.

Hello from Columbus and happy late late Thursday! Here’s a few books from the last few weeks, I hope everyone who celebrated had wonderful and joyful holidays. I’m excited for what 2025 has in store!

Finished:
The Dictionary of Lost Words

Loud: Accept Nothing Less Than the Life You Deserve I’ve followed Drew on TikTok since the beginning and so I was excited to read the book. She cracks me up but this book was just sorta fine. It’s a memoir like many others, not bad but nothing groundbreaking.

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy good ol enemies to lovers. This was pretty generic and had a lot of scenes I skipped but the premise was cute and it kept me more engaged than most romantasy books do.

Where the Drowned Girls Go just a quick reread before I jump into the newer books. Not my fave in the series but I can see how it’s setting up some future plots.

The Great Adventure Catholic Bible and Catechism of the Catholic Church: Complete and Updated I read this over the course of the year as a follow the ascension presents podcasts. It’s a very enjoyable part of my daily routine and I’m so used to it now that I don’t even know how I’d function if I stopped the habit now lol.

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return what an amazing graphic novel. I love her storytelling.

Currently Reading:
House of Leaves
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Great Adventure Catholic Bible
The Monsters of Templeton

Challenges:
Popsugar - 0/40; 0/4; 0/3; 0/3
Read Harder - 0/24
Classics - 0/12
European Tour - 0/10
12 Friends - 0/12
Yearly Goal - 0/180

QOTW:
I happily met my reading goals for 2024. With the hustle and bustle of the holidays I wasn’t reading much at all, so I’m still wrapping up one book from the challenge but otherwise I finished it all. I upped my 2025 goal, I’m worried in being a little too ambitious but I’m cautiously optimistic!

I completed no books due to the holidays and a trip we are on but have 4 in progress.

Question of the Week
Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year? Yes I read more than 100 for the first time ever. I completed all my reading challenges though PS was a sprint at the end.
What are your reading goals for this upcoming year? 80 books &4+ challenges
Have you made any changes or adjustments? Yes I actually want to reduce the number of books because I ignored other hobbles. I started some changes late last year including PS and had trouble overlapping books across challenges. I started on time and am doing more planning. I have a lot of overlap with PS and read harder because I started with RH which has truckiercprmpys. I am also overlapping with ATT and 52 and hope to have at least 15 “free”, no prompt books that will come from my TBR. If you are going RH as well, I learned that Out of my Mind is book 1 of a duology.

I am also doing a few smaller, more self paced challenges

I am 3/50.

I finished:
My Friend Dahmer: A Graphic Novel: Features an unlikely friendship; I started the year with a quick graphic novel and now that I finished it, it doesn't fit the prompt as well as I think another book could, so I will likely replace it as the year goes on. I also didn't really care for this. I thought it was distasteful with no real point of view.

Echo Road: Book you got for free: In December I reread the Bree Taggart and Mercy Kilpatrick series, so this crossover was nice to include in the challenge and it didn't disappoint.

Coming Home to Silver Leaf Falls: Silver in the title: This was a quick audiobook and it was fine, but it wasn't something I will remember at all.

Currently reading:
The Takeout - Food truck
A Killer's Wife - recommended by an AI chatbot
Forest of Silence: Addicting psychological thriller with twist: Not for the challenge
Pink Lady: Maybe chronic pain

QOTW:
I'm happy with how I completed PopSugar, but I would have liked to read more books that I actually own and more books that have been on my TBR list for longer than a year, so I'm setting separate goals for that this year. I never seem to stick to those goals though. I also increased my Goodreads goal to 150 books this year, because I was well over 200 last year, so 120 didn't seems like much of a challenge.

New year means new releases!

Here are all the books I'm looking forward to this year. Of the 16 books that I'm excited about, only 2 are fiction books (technically YA). The rest are all nonfiction so I am certainly pleased.

January:

Y2K: How the 2000s Became Everything

More Than a Doll: How Creating a Sports Doll Turned into a Fight to End Gender Stereotypes

Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents―and What They Mean for America's Future - (paperback release)

The Abduction of Betty and Barney Hill: Alien Encounters, Civil Rights, and the New Age in America - (paperback release)

*****

February:

Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading

LatinoLand: A Portrait of America's Largest and Least Understood Minority - (paperback release)

*****

March:

Sunrise on the Reaping

*****

April:

Morphenomenal: How the Power Rangers Conquered the World

The Autistic's Guide to Self-Discovery: Flourishing as a Neurodivergent Adult

Bibliotherapy in the Bronx

*****

May:

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space - (paperback release)

Force of Chaos (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Book 1): A Novel

*****

August:

Destroyer of Worlds: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb

Disney Adults: Exploring (And Falling In Love With) A Magical Subculture

What Happened to Millennials: In Defense of a Generation

Nadine in NY wrote: "Ooooh!!! Not that I need more challenges, but now I want to look at this one!! I am SO..."

Haha, well if you want a peek:
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com/2024/...

Erin wrote: "I was trying to guess what the goodreads color would be for 2025- I guessed yellow or lime green, my friend picked hunter green. Didn't they just have teal a few years ago?..."


I confess I never noticed that Goodreads choses a new color each year. Is it that band across the top of the page?



Hammajang Luck- this was my last read of 2024. It's a queer, space heist. A really fun time! I got it through netgalley, and it's out later this month. Hope it gets enough attention


This one looks fun and I requested it a few weeks ago, but they have not approved me (probably because I have a huge backlog of NG books to read right now)

Nadine in NY wrote: "I confess I never noticed that Goodreads choses a new color each year. Is it that band across the top of the page?"

It's also the box around the 2025 Reading challenge on the website- not sure if it's on the app. It literally doesn't matter at all, but my friends used to try to guess what it would be, and I wanted something new. Well, I really just wanted my guess to be right...

Hammajang Luck is out on the 14th I think, so if you don't get it from netgalley, it should hit libby soon!

I am stressed out right now. Awaiting some test results for my middle son who may be extremely/fatally ill. He’s only 44, so my fingers are crossed… I have 3 more friends who are battling physical illness/diseases as well recently. I want a MAGIC wand so I can make them all healthy!!! That’s not too much to ask for, is it?!? LOL 🥲

The good news is that after FINALLY finishing The Picture of Dorian Gray, very closely following All the Colors of the Dark, I was able to zip right through Out of My Mind because…I thoroughly enjoyed it!! YAY!! I truly greatly enjoy most every book I read, so to encounter two so closely together from which I had so little enjoyment was a real downer for me, then combine that with the knowledge of the health challenges encountered by my son and close friends, I was becoming depressed. Thrilled that my reading is now helping to uplift me once again! 😊😃

TWO LISTS!
Powell’s list of favorite books from 2024:
https://www.powells.com/featured/book...

2024 in 10 books from Haymarket:
https://mailchi.mp/haymarketbooks/202...

ADMIN STUFF:
THE JANUARY 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ IS Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper!
This book could be used to fulfill prompt #43 A book that includes a nonverbal character!
National Dress Up Your Pet Day is January 14, 2025
Thank you to Jennifer W who volunteered to facilitate this discussion! 😊
You can find it HERE

THE FEBRUARY 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ FINAL SELECTION POLL IS
HERE! Still six titles!

THE MARCH 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ NOMINATION POLL IS HERE! Wow so many from which to select! 😊

THE LISTING OF 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ TOPICS IS HERE!
***

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year? What are your reading goals for this upcoming year? Have you made any changes or adjustments?
No. To read more than I managed in 2024, however, given how 2025 has begun, I’m just going to read and not worry about how much or what prompts are fulfilled, etc., for a bit. If I thought 2024 was stressful, I’m relatively certain 2025 is going to top it. Unfortunately…

2025 READING CHALLENGES:
Popsugar: 6/50
Around the Year (AtY): 10/52
AtY 2025 Anniversary List: 5/10
Read Harder: 2/24
52 Book Club: 2/52

2024 Popsugar: 47/50

FINISHED:
*The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde ⭐ was definitely NOT an enjoyable read for me in many ways. I wish I had started reading it in tandem with a different book that I could truly enjoy, but I didn’t have time to do so. It feels as if I had been reading this book for a year or more. It was drudgery to get through. But now I am at least familiar with yet another classic!
POPSUGAR: NEW #2, NEW #6, NEW #20-2024: prompt #36 A book written by an incarcerated or formerly incarcerated person, NEW #39, NEW #44 (and with good reason! LOL)
ATY: NEW #2-A book set before 1900, NEW #5, NEW #15, NEW #16, NEW #24, NEW #44, NEW #48
RHC: NEW #4

*Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ was an amazing read! This felt realistic, although I can easily imagine the negative behaviors directed toward a child like Melody would most likely be even worse than depicted here. I am so grateful to authors like Draper who tackle describing life for such differently-abled main characters! Especially targeting younger readers. That can only be helpful to everyone in this world! Anxious to read the other two in the series now. I am reminded of Dusti Bowling’s Life of a Cactus series which was also excellently written!
POPSUGAR: #2, #6, NEW #43
ATY: #2, #5, #16, #24, NEW #26 (drape), NEW #34, NEW #45
RHC: NEW #24-2015: prompt #11 Read a YA novel
52 Book Club: NEW #34, NEW #47

Will document later…
*Shift (Wool #2) by Hugh Howey (2024 #46)
POPSUGAR:
ATY:
RHC:
52 Book Club:

CONTINUING:
*The Trees by Percival Everett (2024 #40)
*Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2024 #42)
*Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
*The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
*Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking has me thinking so very much that I have delayed reviewing it until I can finalize my thoughts…
*The Birthing House by Kathy Taylor
*...And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer

PLANNED:
*21st Birthday (Women’s Murder Club #21) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*22 Seconds (Women’s Murder Club #22) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*23rd Midnight (Women’s Murder Club #23) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*23 1/2 Lies (Women’s Murder Club #23.5) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*The 24th Hour (Women’s Murder Club #24) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*Fear No Evil (Alex Cross #29) by James Patterson
*Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
*The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

I am stressed out right now. Awaiting some test results for my middle son who may be extremely/fatally ill. He’s only 44, so my fingers are crossed… I have 3 more friends who are battling physical illness/diseases as well recently. I want a MAGIC wand so I can make them all healthy!!! That’s not too much to ask for, is it?!? LOL 🥲🪄

The good news is that after FINALLY finishing The Picture of Dorian Gray, very closely following All the Colors of the Dark, I was able to zip right through Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper because…I thoroughly enjoyed it!! YAY!! I truly greatly enjoy most every book I read, so to encounter two so closely together from which I had so little enjoyment was a real downer for me, then combine that with the knowledge of the health challenges encountered by my son and close friends, I was becoming depressed. Thrilled that my reading is now helping to uplift me once again! 😊😃

TWO LISTS!
Powell’s list of favorite books from 2024:
https://www.powells.com/featured/book...

2024 in 10 books from Haymarket:
https://mailchi.mp/haymarketbooks/202...

ADMIN STUFF:
THE JANUARY 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ IS Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper!
This book could be used to fulfill prompt #43 A book that includes a nonverbal character!
National Dress Up Your Pet Day is January 14, 2025
Thank you to Jennifer W who volunteered to facilitate this discussion! 😊
You can find it HERE

THE FEBRUARY 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ FINAL SELECTION POLL IS
HERE! Still six titles!

THE MARCH 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ NOMINATION POLL IS HERE! Wow so many from which to select! 😊

THE LISTING OF 2025 MONTHLY GROUP READ TOPICS IS HERE!
***

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Are you happy with how you completed your reading goals last year? What are your reading goals for this upcoming year? Have you made any changes or adjustments?
No. My main goal is to read more than I managed in 2024, however, given how 2025 has begun, I’m just going to read and not worry about how much or what prompts are fulfilled, etc., for a bit. If I thought 2024 was stressful, I’m relatively certain 2025 is going to top it. Unfortunately…

However, I have discovered that many books I intended to read in 2024 will fulfill many 2025 challenge prompts, so that's good!

2025 READING CHALLENGES:
Popsugar: 6/50
Around the Year (AtY): 10/52
AtY 2025 Anniversary List: 5/10
Read Harder: 2/24
52 Book Club: 2/52

2024 Popsugar: 47/50

FINISHED:
*The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde ⭐ was definitely NOT an enjoyable read for me in many ways. I wish I had started reading it in tandem with a different book that I could truly enjoy, but I didn’t have time to do so. It feels as if I had been reading this book for a year or more. It was drudgery to get through. But now I am at least familiar with yet another classic!
POPSUGAR: NEW #2, NEW #6, NEW #20-2024: prompt #36 A book written by an incarcerated or formerly incarcerated person, NEW #39, NEW #44 (and with good reason! LOL)
ATY: NEW #2-A book set before 1900, NEW #5, NEW #15, NEW #16, NEW #24, NEW #44, NEW #48
RHC: NEW #4

*Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ was an amazing read! This felt realistic, although I can easily imagine the negative behaviors directed toward a child like Melody would most likely be even worse than depicted here. I am so grateful to authors like Draper who tackle describing life for such differently-abled main characters! Especially targeting younger readers. That can only be helpful to everyone in this world! Anxious to read the other two in the series now. I am reminded of Dusti Bowling’s Life of a Cactus series which was also excellently written!
POPSUGAR: #2, #6, NEW #43
ATY: #2, #5, #16, #24, NEW #26 (drape), NEW #34, NEW #45
RHC: NEW #24-2015: prompt #11 Read a YA novel
52 Book Club: NEW #34, NEW #47

CONTINUING:
*Shift (Wool #2) by Hugh Howey (2024 #46)
*The Trees by Percival Everett (2024 #40)
*Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2024 #42)
*Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
*The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
*Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking has me thinking so very much that I have delayed reviewing it until I can finalize my thoughts…
*The Birthing House by Kathy Taylor
*...And Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer

PLANNED:
*21st Birthday (Women’s Murder Club #21) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*22 Seconds (Women’s Murder Club #22) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*23rd Midnight (Women’s Murder Club #23) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*23 1/2 Lies (Women’s Murder Club #23.5) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*The 24th Hour (Women’s Murder Club #24) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
*Fear No Evil (Alex Cross #29) by James Patterson
*Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
*The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

L Y N N wrote: "I am stressed out right now. Awaiting some test results for my middle son who may be extremely/fatally ill. He’s only 44, so my fingers are crossed… I have 3 more friends who are battling physical ..."




I'm so sorry. That is crazy stressful.

I am so so sorry Lynn. Sending good vibes your and your son's way <333

Happy New Year!!

I completely blanked on it being Thursday yesterday; I hope from next Monday I'll have my days straight again, haha!

We just finished Squid Game season 2, and are now waiting patiently impatient for season 3! Did it need a season 2? No. Did I still love it? Yes.

Some fun 2024 stats I kept track of:

Fics
4.399.586 words (13.134 pages), 236 fics

Books
24, 8741 pages

Movies
49 (48 different ones, 45 new ones)
19 cinema visits (25 different movies)

TV Shows
537 episodes, 48 complete seasons, 39 different TV shows
537 new episodes

Puzzle
41.519 physical pieces, 625 digital pieces

Games
10 finished, of which 6 started in 2024 (DDLV kept up with)

Disney trips
11 trips, 23 days of entry

Compared to 2023 it's pretty stable, so I succeeded in my goal of keeping my hobbies balanced, but my book count dropped. My brain just wouldn't let me read them. Fingers crossed for this year!

Read
Disney Frozen: Olaf's Quest
A cute little thing Audible recommended me, and I used as my 25th official book of the year here on Goodreads. I actually really enjoyed the stories (and that's coming from someone who is anything but a Frozen fan), and the voices are spot on!

The Miracle on Ebenezer Street
A book I've had for ages because the cover is beautiful and I love the author's other work (or at least, the first book of a trilogy I've yet to finish; you know how it is xD). Enjoyed it!

Currently Reading
Since this check in is for yesterday, technically nothing, but I am hoping to start my first book after finishing this check in. Just have to decide whether it's going to be Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (why does this not show up when searching for Wicked??) or I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You.

QOTW
Not at all. Only 24 books and a short story? Like, I'm proud of reading that much, but it still doesn't feel like me. I am however very proud of the fact that 21 of those books were on my TBR pre-2024! I hope to keep that up and work on that backlog, especially my owned books. I do want to read more of my eARC backlog as well. It's been years, these books deserve better.

I will be focusing on the Popsugar Reading Challenge Discord Server Reading Challenge (Server Challenge for short xD) first and foremost, and hopefully this one as well. We'll see how it goes! Any book is a win, whether it fits a prompt or not.

Oh Lynn, I'm so sorry to hear about your son!! I'll be hoping for good news for him! 💕