You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

June 20th is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the shortest day in the Southern Hemisphere. I think that's something to celebrate with a challenge.

Here are your choices:

- Read a book that is over 500 pages, or under 200 pages. Please observe the minimums as per our general rules. If reading an ebook or audiobook, please use the page count for the first print book (paperback or hardcover) that comes up in the edition search.
- Read a book that is light and fluffy, or dark and gothic.
- Read a book with "long" in the title, or "short" in the title.
- Read a book set in the extreme north or south hemisphere.
--- North includes Alaska, Canada's Yukon, Nunavut, NWT, Greenland, Iceland, the Artic/North Pole.
---- South includes Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica/South Pole
( I know there are more countries and regions in the arctic/antarctic circles, but we'll restrict our options to the ones listed.)

For "light & fluffy", think uplifting, humour, feel-good stories. For "dark & gothic, think dark themes in mystery, horror, supernatural, disturbing even. We're looking for extremes here, so nothing in between. If in doubt, ask for clarification.

General Rules:

1. The book may be in any format - paperback, ebook, audiobook.
2. The book may be combined with the Year Long Challenge and the Group Themed Read.
3. The book must be started and read between June 1 - 30, 2025 (based on your local time zone).
4. The challenge is for one book. You may read more books if you chose but you need only report one.
5. The book must be 175 pages or more determined by the issue you read.


Reporting:

List your WoF name, link to the book you read and tell us which prompt you chose. Also give us a small blurb about your reactions to the book. If doing the page length prompt, please indicate the pages read using the determination methodology explained above.

I immediately started gophering. lol

Janice, since you've read How the Penguins Saved Veronica, do you think enough of it is set in Antarctica to qualify? It seems like it, but I can't tell from the blurb how much of the story is set there.

It's fun because I was planing to listen to The Name of the Rose (first print 552 pages) and reading Desnudo En El Tejado (144 pages). I guess I will finally complete a challenge in June...

Lots to choose from for this challenge! Probably one set in Alaska. Thinking about Unnatural Intent.

Kristie wrote: "I immediately started gophering. lol

Janice, since you've read How the Penguins Saved Veronica, do you think enough of it is set in Antarctica to qualify? It seems like it, but I ..."

The majority of the book is set in Antarctica. I hope you enjoy it, Kristie.

Thanks, Janice. I've been wanting to read it for a while now.

I have wanted to read Homecoming by Kate Morton for so long and now is my chance. 547 pages .

Jayme wrote: "I have wanted to read Homecoming by Kate Morton for so long and now is my chance. 547 pages ."

I have it on my wishlist so I'll be interesting in how you like it.

I've decided to double dip and read Run for the Hills for light and fluffy. It would have been perfect to read on my little road trip Jun 16-18, but I'm the discussion leader for the group themed read so I need to read it first thing.

I’m hoping to read Run for the Hills as well, but I don’t want to count on it for the challenge just in case I can’t get a copy in time.

I think I'll read A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories. It has 'long' in the title, and it is under 200 pages.

Lanelle wrote: "I think I'll read A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories. It has 'long' in the title, and it is under 200 pages."

I enjoyed that when my kids were the right age for it; I hope you like it!

Since I haven't selected all of my books yet, have to think about it.
I quite like this, and some of it is closely tied to my family background. 

I have lots of ideas for this one. I could read
Ship of Destiny as it's over 500 pages or read a few kindle edition books that I have on my e-reader. Just want to check, what is the number of pages for a short book on Kindle? The minimum is 250 pages right?! So, what would the length be for a short book?

Grainne wrote: "I have lots of ideas for this one. I could read
Ship of Destiny as it's over 500 pages or read a few kindle edition books that I have on my e-reader. Just want to check, what is th..."

From the rules: "- Read a book that is over 500 pages, or under 200 pages. Please observe the minimums as per our general rules. If reading an ebook or audiobook, please use the page count for the first print book (paperback or hardcover) that comes up in the edition search."

For this challenge, we're going to revert to how we used to determine page lengths of ebooks and audiobooks, rather than set a specific length for each format.

I loved the Realm of the Underlings series. They are perhaps my favourite fantasy series over all.

I think I will use one of my Toppler books as I tend to choose shorter books for topplers so I'm sure I can find one of those to fit!

Janice wrote: "Grainne wrote: "I have lots of ideas for this one. I could read
Ship of Destiny as it's over 500 pages or read a few kindle edition books that I have on my e-reader. Just want to c..."

Yeah, I will probably read Ship of Destiny. It seems like a really great series. Thank you.

I quickly jumped to Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories which fits the short, arctic and maybe even dark theme prompts. However, I don't think I want to read a short story collection right now so I am going to try Night Film . It's over 500 pages and I've owned it for a while. I remember friends on goodreads raving about it when I joined 10+ years ago so it's about time I got to it.

I hope you enjoy it Vicki. I read it back in 2018 and gave it 4 stars.

Janice wrote: "I hope you enjoy it Vicki. I read it back in 2018 and gave it 4 stars."

Thanks, I picked it up to check pages and it's got a lot of interesting additions going on. Like bonus material. I am intrigued.

Reading Before Before: A Story of Discovery and Loss in Sierra Leone which a friend wrote about her time in Sierra Leone before the brutal war there when she was a Peace Corps volunteer. It's 179 pages or so.

Beth wrote: "Reading Before Before: A Story of Discovery and Loss in Sierra Leone which a friend wrote about her time in Sierra Leone before the brutal war there when she was a Peace Corps volu..."

Sounds fascinating, Beth. Eager to hear what you think of it.

I was planning on reading Homecoming by Kate Morton for the challenge, but after starting it several times, but continually nodding off I reached page 36 and called DNF. After looking at my shelves again I realized I had a book that would fit for "long" As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh. Read until page 100 no head nods in sight.
Homecoming will be donated to my local library, or the sleep research center.

So maybe I should take it off my wishlist? Thanks for the heads up.

lol, Jayme. I was thinking the same thing, Janice.

I did take it off. I read some reviews. One of the 1-star reviews said she loved Kate Morton, but hated this book because it was a confusing book within a book story.

It went onto my wishlist when it was published in 2023 because it was Kate Morton. Since then, it hasn't been a priority. I'd actually kind of forgotten about it.

Janice wrote: "I did take it off. I read some reviews. One of the 1-star reviews said she loved Kate Morton, but hated this book because it was a confusing book within a book story.

It went onto my wishlist when..."

You will not regret removing it 😉

Whereas I might regret reading it? LOL!