2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

I am going to nominate by Betty Smith.

Because I am thinking of Spring as a season, and seasons are measured by the change we see in the trees! (Tedious link I know!)

With "Spring forward" being the reminder to turn clocks forward for daylight saving, and therefore involving a little bit of time travel (kind of!), I 'd like to nominate The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

I like the idea of time travel :) I also nominate The Time Traveler's Wife

I nominate The Rabbit Back Literature Society (by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen) with a reasoning that goes something like "spring includes easter and easter bunnies and this one has rabbit in the title".

This is probably a real long shot for the group read, but my plans for 2014 include lots of chunksters. I nominate Middlemarch by George Eliot.

The Time Traveler's Wife was also one of the books nominated in the yearly Recommended by Reading Challengers 2014 Challenge, so for those participating in that, reading this book would allow you to cross one off that challenge list!

I nominate Seed by Ania Ahlborn because seeds spring in to flowers and trees at this time of year. It's a quick read too.

I nominate


Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz

Spring forward 200 years with Frankenstein into modern day New Orleans

I second (third, fourth, ..) The Time Traveler's Wife!

I'll put my vote to the time traveler's wife. It's been on mt TBR list for awhile

I nominate The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera to go with the theme of Spring since it is set in the Prague Spring period of Czechoslovak history.

I think I have The time travelers wife so that's my vote

Theresa~OctoberLace wrote: "This is probably a real long shot for the group read, but my plans for 2014 include lots of chunksters. I nominate Middlemarch by George Eliot."

I will likely tackle Middlemarch March-June If you would like to set up a buddy read if this does not win!

I second Middlemarch, too!

Kelsi, I'll suggest that in the Buddy Read thread.

Ian wrote: "I am going to nominate by Betty Smith.

Because I am thinking of Spring as a season, and seasons are measured by the change we see in th..."

I'm listening to this now and am almost finished. It's wonderful! I love the narration.

I also nominate the time travelers wife xx

Hi, Craig. We already have Middlemarch set up as a March/April Buddy Read. With over 900 pages, it may take 2 months for some folks to get through it. Maybe we should stick to shorter books here.

I see that The Time Traveler's Wife is getting lots of attention. I read it a while back and liked it much more than the movie.

Ian wrote: "I am going to nominate by Betty Smith.

Because I am thinking of Spring as a season, and seasons are measured by the change we see in th..."

I'll second a tree grows in Brooklyn!

I would like to go along with the nomination for A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I fourth that. A Tree Grows in Brooklynis also on my to-read list.

I will finish A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by tomorrow. The audio is wonderful. I love this book!!!

I nominate The Language of Flowers.

Theresa & Kelsi, I'd love to join you in reading Middlemarch as a buddy read

The Unbearable Lightness of Being and The Time Traveler's Wife are both excellent, but I'd like to try something I haven't read already :-)

I second A Tree Grows in Brooklyn it's in my TBR list too so make it a little smaller.

I second The Time Traveler's Wife

How about Time and Again by Jack Finney?

Donna wrote: "How about Time and Again by Jack Finney?"

I'll second Time and Again !

When I think of Spring, my thoughts turn to A Breath of Fresh Air so I nominate this book by Amulya Malladi.

I'm nominating The Goldfinch and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ... Of course birds and nests remind me of spring ;)

I'd like to second The Goldfinch, or nominate it if Julie goes with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The Goldfinch is on my to-read list!

I second A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. It's been sitting on my to-read shelf for a while and it also fits my new year resolution of reading more books written by women in 2014.

How about The Forgotten Garden. I have been meaning to read this for a while now.

I would like to nominate Forget Me Not by Amber Stokes. Forget-Me-Nots are beautiful flowers that remind me of Spring and because it is the first book in the series entitled: "The Heart's Spring".

I would like to nominate The Thirteenth Tale byDiane Setterfield

I love the idea of having to look back in order to "spring-forward" and sometimes that involves "making wrongs right" by confronting your past!

Below is the Good Reads book description.

Biographer Margaret Lea returns one night to her apartment above her father’s antiquarian bookshop. On her steps she finds a letter. It is a hand-written request from one of Britain’s most prolific and well-loved novelists. Vida Winter, gravely ill, wants to recount her life story before it is too late, and she wants Margaret to be the one to capture her history. The request takes Margaret by surprise — she doesn’t know the author, nor has she read any of Miss Winter’s dozens of novels.

Late one night while pondering whether to accept the task of recording Miss Winter’s personal story, Margaret begins to read her father’s rare copy of Miss Winter’s Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She is spellbound by the stories and confused when she realizes the book only contains twelve stories. Where is the thirteenth tale? Intrigued, Margaret agrees to meet Miss Winter and act as her biographer.

As Vida Winter unfolds her story, she shares with Margaret the dark family secrets that she has long kept hidden as she remembers her days at Angelfield, the now burnt-out estate that was her childhood home. Margaret carefully records Miss Winter’s account and finds herself more and more deeply immersed in the strange and troubling story.

Both women will have to confront their pasts and the weight of family secrets... and the ghosts that haunt them still.

I third One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest!

Hi Craig, sorry about that. I will go with One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest. It's been on my TBR list for so long and one I feel like is an absolute classic for others to read.

I nominate Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler as I consider Spring as the beginning of the year, new life, new feelings..
Bittersweet