2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

Hey, my name is Ian.

I am starting off this year by finishing The Secret History which I started on the 29th of December. So far i'm really enjoying it!

I read 24 books last year too. The estimate might be a little conservative but i'm not sure of what i'll be reading yet :). I'm hoping for 10,000 pages which I didn't make last year.

Wow your start to your goal seems interesting! Will have to add The Secret History to my To-Read List! All the best with your 24 books!

Thanks Hiba! It really is interesting. It was recommended to me by a friend. And Donna Tartt published a new book last year called The Goldfinch which is supposed to be really good :)

Ian thanks for the recommendation. I have added both books to my to-read list.. lets see how they turn out for me.

You'll have to let me know if you enjoy them :)

I will do that for sure.. :)

First book finished :).

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

1/24 read

Ian wrote: "First book finished :).

The Secret History by Donna Tartt"

Woo nice job!! Excited to see what you read next.

I am going for Red Seas Under Red Skies. I read the first one in the series in 2012. And it will count as my 500 pager for the let it snow challenge and its one of the books for my TBR randomiser challenge - so 2 challenges with one stone!

There you go!! Nice - I don't think I've heard of the series but it's awesome you're looking at different challenges. It makes it more fun to track :)

Gahh I had to complete a midterm this weekend and a bunch of other assignments for these condensed wintersession courses I idiotically signed up for so I'm really behind on reading now :(

I have been neglecting my studies a little. Luckily my meeting with my PhD supervision has been pushed back to tomorrow so I have a little more time to look organised!

What courses are you doing?

Haha the most fascinating of course! Web Programming I, Social, Security, & Privacy Implications of Computing, Intro to Computer Science, and Discrete Mathematics (is it bad that I actually really like everything so far?).

I'm just willing to accept the title of nerd at this point after making the massive mistake of thinking law school was a good idea.

No of course not its good that you have found something you enjoy!

Thank you - it's nice to hear people say things like that because I have felt ashamed of dropping out for a while. I graduated from Vassar College with BA in Art History and Anthropology (I really just liked what I was learning!!! I wasn't so focused on how useful career-wise they might be at the time...oops). After that, I was heavily pressured by my Irish family into going to law school, and I left that (nothing wrong with the law, it just wasn't for me) to begin working on pursuing a master's in comp sci. Now everyone is happy :]

Lol I meant to ask before all that, what are you studying for your PhD?

I'll give you the short answer - which is that it is a Psychology PhD, from an Evolutionary Psychology perspective. I only started in October, so am still finding my way!

That sounds intriguing, and I actually wouldn't mind hearing more about it in another time/place (as I'm starting to feel bad realizing the topic has completely veered away from your personal reading challenge - sry!) I know a lot of people who have/are pursuing psychology PhD's, and I really enjoyed every psych course I took in college (social psychology, principles of development, and abnormal psych were all awesome).

Totally understand you're still finding your way, as am I, as, I've come to find, many people our age are!

I will send you a message at some point to explain what it is I am researching! no worries for veering off topic

Second book complete. It was only a short one - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland- and it was also the first eBook I have ever read.....I think I might want a kindle!

2/24

What is The Secret History about? I'm a little curious :D

Its really good.....Its basically about a group of college kids who take an elusive greek class, which isolates them from the rest of their college. The first few pages informs you that basically they murder one of their friends....and then it works forward to that point, explaining the twists that led to the murder....and then the second half goes to after the incident and how they cope with it. (or don't cope).

Personally I prefer the first half. But I still gave it 5 stars because I believe the second half, whilst a little less thrilling, is pretty true to the situation and the characters.

Ian wrote: "Its really good.....Its basically about a group of college kids who take an elusive greek class, which isolates them from the rest of their college. The first few pages informs you that basically t..."

You made me wanna read it again. I loved it.

Wow. Is this also a series? I wanna start reading it! :D thank you!

No its a stand alone novel. But the within in it i believe it has Book 1 and 2.

Third book finished! I read by Scott Lynch and it was awesome.

3/24 read :)

Here is my review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Fourth book read. It was a quick one - The Deja Vu Experiment by J.G. Renato.

4/24

Here is my review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Fifth book read - Mrs. Mike by Benedict Freedman and Nancy Freedman.

It was a really brilliant book. My favourite of the year so far. I gave it 5* and here is my full review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

5/24

6th book finished - Wake: A Novel by Anna Hope.

I gave it 5 stars - here is my review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... - spoilers are hidden :)

6/24

Julia. wrote: "I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!! I first read it when I was about 15 years old and read it at least once a year (I'm now in my 40's). "

It was brilliant. So much better than I expected. I read it as part of the TBR randomizer challenge, and to be honest I had forgot it was on my shelf to read! So I was a little dubious about reading it but am so glad I did!

7th book complete :)

I just finished The Fixer by T.E. Woods - it was a great thriller!

I gave it 4 stars and here is my review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

7/24 complete!

8th book finished.

I completed The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

I gave it 5 stars :)

8/24

You are gonna blow way past your yearly goal at this rate. :)

I know I am reading a lot faster than this time last year....Likely because this group encourages me to do so!

But I was ahead last year and then it took me 4 months to read War and Peace so I ended up being spot on!

9th book finished - The Blackheath Séance Parlour by Alan Williams.

Here is my review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I gave it 5 stars

9/24

10th book finished - The Moon Field by Judith Allnatt.

This is my review - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

10/24

Ian wrote: "I am going for Red Seas Under Red Skies. I read the first one in the series in 2012. And it will count as my 500 pager for the let it snow challenge and its one of the books for my T..."

I read all books from The Gentleman Bastard series, in my opinion the first book The Lies of Locke Lamora and the last one The Republic of Thieves are better than Red Seas Under Red Skies. But all in all it was a good adventure/fantasy series.

I think the first one was definitely more creative than the second one, and I missed a lot of the characters from the first book too. But I still really enjoyed the second book :).

11th book finally finished! Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez.

My reading has definitely slowed down as I have gotten so busy with work. Also I didn't really enjoy this book. I gave it 3 out of 5 stars, as I did like the first half and the ending. But I really didn't like some of the plot developments/writing in the second half of the book.

11/24

I just finished my 12th book - City of the Sun by Juliana Maio.

I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. You can read my review here if you are interested... https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... :)

12/24 Halfway through the challenge!!

I just finished my 13th book - Paper Towns by John Green.

I read it as part of a Buddy read for April, I did really enjoy it and gave it 4 stars :)

13/24

But when you read other Green's books (except TFioS) you'll find that they're really similar to one another xD

Yeh I have read "Looking for Alaska" and did find it quite similar to "Paper Towns" in several ways. But I still enjoyed it. I think I will give "An abundance of Catherines" a miss, as I have heard it is also very similar. But will probably try "Will Grayson, Will Grayson".

Also I have read TFIOS and have found it to be his best and one of the best novels I have ever read.

Just finished book number 14 - The Gatekeeper and I thought it was truly wonderful! You can read my review here - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I gave it 5 stars :)

14/24

I have now finished 15 books - the last one i read was The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh.

I truly loved the unique story and the characters. I couldn't put the book down to be honest, it was such a joy to read. It killed me writing my review and only being able to give it 4*. I am getting more critical now, and there was one issue I had which bugged me too much to give this full marks. I'd still highly recommend it though :)

Here is my review....https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

15/24

Thanks Julia :). Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. You'll have to let me know what you think of it :)

It feels like ages since I posted here! Possibly because I have been reading 1Q84, and have finished book 1 but not book 2 which is within the same edition so haven't counted it as complete yet.

I have now officially finished a 16th book though, which is - Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

I enjoyed it and gave it 4*.....On to the next!!

16/24

I have finished my 17th book, which was Valley of the Dolls. It was brilliant! So different from what I expected - which I guess was a stereotypical form of chick lit. But this exceeded my expectations. 5 stars!

17/24

18th book finished. It was The Almond Tree. I won this on goodreads by entering one of their giveaways. The book was truly amazing - I gave it 5 stars and would recommend it to any fan of historical fiction.

18/24

Ian wrote: "18th book finished. It was The Almond Tree. I won this on goodreads by entering one of their giveaways. The book was truly amazing - I gave it 5 stars and would recommend it to any ..."

I won that book on Goodreads as well and really liked it! Glad it's getting more recognition!

Megan wrote: "Ian wrote: "18th book finished. It was The Almond Tree. I won this on goodreads by entering one of their giveaways. The book was truly amazing - I gave it 5 stars and would recommen..."

My sister won it as well! I think they have given away quite a few of these! But it is definitely a worth while read. I love historical fiction, but have never read anything previously on the israeli/palestine conflict, so really enjoyed it.