2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Hi everyone!

Time to nominate books for October! The theme is Superstition.

~Please remember to state a connection to the theme when you nominate.

~Books we have read less than three years ago are not eligible. To see which books are not eligble, see this google sheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

~ Each person can nominate 1 book.

~ Book must be available both as a physical copy and as an ebook.

~ Authors: Please do not nominate your own book.

~ Please do not nominate books that are part of a series, unless it is the first book.

~ You can second someone else's nomination, but that will count as your nomination.


This thread will be closed by August 25th, and we will choose ten books for the poll. If there are more than ten books nominated, we will choose "seconded" books first. If there is still a tie to get into the top ten, we'll go back to the Goodreads average rating to see which is highest.

I would like to nominate The Thirteenth Tale. The connection is 13 in the title. This number is considered unlucky by superstitious folks in USA, UK, Sweden, Norway, and many western countries, though it's a lucky number in Italy.

The Thirteenth Tale is a love letter to reading, a book for the feral reader in all of us, a return to that rich vein of storytelling that our parents loved and that we loved as children.

Apologies to any group members who suffer from triskaidekaphobia. 😨

I would like to nominate Superstitious by RL Stine, an adult horror novel by RL Stine, the author of the Goosebumps series. The connection is in the title.

I would like to nominate Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay
"Picnic at Hanging Rock" includes elements of superstition, particularly concerning the mystical and potentially malevolent nature of Hanging Rock itself. The novel explores the idea that the rock possesses a power or influence that can cause strange and unexplained events. This is further emphasized by the author's deliberate ambiguity about whether the events are supernatural or simply inexplicable.

I would like to nominate The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo. "A sweeping historical novel about a dancehall girl and an orphan boy whose fates entangle over an old Chinese superstition about men who turn into tigers."

I second The Night Tiger.

I’m going to nominate ’Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. In my head I always imagine the towns Stephen King writes about as small towns with lots of traditions, superstitions and stories that scare children. (Some of the small towns are probably way bigger than I imagine as a Norwegian, but that’s how they are in my imagination 😂)

I will nominate “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah. The book celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.

I second The Thirteenth Tale! Perfect title for "superstition."

I second ’Salem’s Lot.

I will also second The Night Tiger! I was thinking about suggesting this one too!

I would like to nominate Caul Baby. The book is about caul, a thin layer of skin that is supposed to heal those who possesses it.

Emily wrote: "I would like to nominate Superstitious by RL Stine, an adult horror novel by RL Stine, the author of the Goosebumps series. The connection is in the title."

Seconding!!

I nominate Lady Macbeth
superstition evident in witches propheysying and in the play Macbeth itself which nobody is supposed to name out loud rather it should be called the scottish play

I nominate Weyward as it has a connection with witchcraft, superstition and the natural world and is the story of three women in three different centuries.

Marie (UK) wrote: "I nominate Lady Macbeth
superstition evident in witches propheysying and in the play Macbeth itself which nobody is supposed to name out loud rather it should be called the scotti..."

Yeesss. Second!

Ania wrote: "I nominate Weyward as it has a connection with witchcraft, superstition and the natural world and is the story of three women in three different centuries."

This sounds really interesting, I second Weyward

I would also like to see Weyward as an October read. Seems it would fit the theme as it spans 3 timeliness regarding the "legacy of Witchcraft"

Closing nominations!

Poll is up!!

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...