2025 Reading Challenge discussion

I'm looking forward to trying out a few challenges. I really need a hobby. I spent between 3-5 hours a week in a waiting room while my twins are at various appointments. It might be fun to make a "game" out of all the waiting.

Yearly Challenge- Personal Challenge 125 Books (January 2016-December 2016)

1.) Pernelle's Escape and Murder at the Queen's Masquerade- Counting this as one book as the page total for both books combined is 127- Just a personal choice
2.) The Prince Lost to Time
3.) The Mapping of Love and Death
4.) Land of Shadows: A Medieval Mystery
5.) The Empty Throne
6.) Marvel Encyclopedia Updated and Expanded
7.) The Time of Murder at Mayerling
8.) The Eye of God
9.) Murder at Whitehall
10.) In the Time of the Poisoned Queen
11.) The Letters of the Younger Pliny
12.) The Blood of Caesar: A Second Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger
13.) The Dark Rose
14.) The Martian
15.) SPQR I: The King's Gambit
16.) Warriors of the Storm
17.) A Land Divided
18.) The Sword of Summer
19.) Requiem in Vienna
20.) A Morbid Taste for Bones
21.) King and Goddess
22.) The Winter Mantle
23.) Civil War
24.) Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois
25.) The Goldfinch
26.) Duchess of Aquitaine: A Novel of Eleanor
27.) The Merchant of Death
28.) Batman: The Killing Joke
29.) The DC Comics Encyclopedia
30.) The Corpus Conundrum: A Third Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger
31.) Tudors: Volume II: A History of England
32.) The Book of Shadows
33.) Lord of the Silver Bow
34.) A Lesson in Secrets
35.) Green Darkness
36.) Enchantress of Paris: A Novel of the Sun King’s Court
37.) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
38.) SPQR II: The Catiline Conspiracy
39.) Face Down in the Marrow-Bone Pie
40.) The Strangler Vine
41.) No Dark Place
42.) The Rival Queens: Catherine de' Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal that Ignited a Kingdom
43.) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
44.) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
45.) Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France
46.) A Dark Anatomy
47.) The Sister Queens
48.) Death in the Ashes: A Fourth Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger
49.) The Help
50.) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
51.) The Rivals of Versailles
52.) The Architect's Apprentice
53.) The Visitors
54.) The Serpent and the Moon: Two Rivals for the Love of a Renaissance King
55.) Anatomy of Murder
56.) Saintly Murders
57.) The Silence
58.) The Silver Pigs
59.) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
60.) End of Days: A Novel of Medieval England
61.) Elegy for Eddie
62.) Margaret the First
63.) Dark Waters
64.) Face Down Upon an Herbal
65.) The Eyes of Aurora: A Fifth Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger
66.) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
67.) Medicus
68.) The Hidden Oracle
69.) The Mask of Ra
70.) The Sun King Conspiracy
71.) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
72.) A Maze of Murders
73.) Cocaine Blues
74.) Katheryn the Wanton Queen
75.) A Feast of Poisons
76.) A Monster Calls
77.) The Keeper of Hands
78.) A Matter of Breeding
79.) The Third Place
80.) Bess of Hardwick: First Lady of Chatsworth, 1527-1608
81.) Mark of the Lion
82.) The Time of the Wolf: A Novel of Medieval England
83.) Percy Jackson's Greek Gods
84.) The Moon in the Palace
85.) The Virgin's War
86.) Dreaming the Eagle
87.) Terra Incognita
88.) Persona Non Grata
89.) SPQR III: The Sacrilege
90.) Island of Bones
91.) Leaving Everything Most Loved
92.) Outlander
93.) The Infidel Stain
94.) A Dangerous Place
95.) Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes
96.) The Hidden Man
97.) Lady of the Eternal City
98.) The Killing Way
99.) Stalking Ivory
100.) Journey to Munich
101.) The Fifth Knight
102.) Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery
103.) Bohemian Gospel
104.) The Horus Killings
105.) Sacred Treason
106.) The Queen's Man
107.) The Hourglass Factory
108.) Shinju
109.) Caveat Emptor
110.) The Wedding Shroud
111.) Circle Of Shadows
112.) Flying Too High
113.) The Blood of The Fifth Knight
114.) Theft of Life
115.) The Girl in the Glass Tower
116.) A Curious Beginning
117.) A Duty To The Dead
118.) Bloodline
119.) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
120.) Bundori
121.) The Butcher Bird
122.) Plantagenet Princess, Tudor Queen: The Story of Elizabeth of York
123.) The Courts of Love
124.) The Hammer of Thor
125.) Serafina and the Black Cloak

CHALLENGE COMPLETED!

Yearly Challenge- I-Spy Challenge (January 2016-December 2016)
(I will add the book link when I complete the task)

1.) Of Mice and Men
2.) A Tale of TWO Cities-The Serpent and the Moon: Two Rivals for the Love of a Renaissance King
3.) Gone with the Wind- The Shadow of the WIND
4.) A Wrinkle in TIME- The Time of Murder at Mayerling
5.) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn-
6.) The Little Prince- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7.) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking GLASS-The Hourglass Factory
8.) Brave New World
9.) Do Androids DREAM of Electric Sheep?- Dreaming the Eagle
10.) The Joy Luck Club- LUCKy Us or The Girls at the Kingfisher CLUB
11.) The Diary of a YOUNG Girl- The Eyes of Aurora: A Fifth Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger
12.) I Know Why the Caged BIRD Sings- The Butcher Bird
13.) The BOOK Thief- The Book of Shadows
14.) The GOD of Small Things- The Eye of God
15.) Around the World in 80 Days
16.) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-TIME- The Time of the Wolf: A Novel of Medieval England
17.) The TIME Traveler's Wife- The Prince Lost to Time
8.) ALL Quiet on the Western Front- Murder at Whitehall
19.) The Old MAN and the Sea- The Winter Mantle
20.) Where the RED Fern Grows- Sacred Treason
21.) Island of the BLUE Dolphins- Cocaine Blues
22.) Friend GREEN Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe- Green Darkness
23.) GIRL with a Pearl Earring- The Girl in the Glass Tower
24.) The CALL of the Wild- A Monster Calls
25.) The Good Earth

18/25
CHALLENGE FINISHED-NOT COMPLETED

Yearly Challenge- Around the World in Books (January 2016-December 2016)- Read a book with author ties to the following countries:
1.) United States- Priscilla Royal (read Land of Shadows: A Medieval Mystery )- author lives in Northern California
2.) England- Bernard Cornwell (read The Empty Throne)- author was born in London
3.) Austria- J. Sydney Jones (read Requiem in Vienna )- according to author's blog, he spent time living in Vienna
4.) Kuwait- Tony Hays ( read The Killing Way)- according to website bio, author lived in Kuwait for a period of time
5.) Ireland- E.M. Powell (read The Fifth Knight)- author was born and raised in Ireland
6.) Australia- Kerry Greenwood ( read Cocaine Blues)-lives in Australia
7.) Czech Republic- Princess Michael of Kent (read The Serpent and the Moon: Two Rivals for the Love of a Renaissance King)- born in Carlsbad, Bohemia
8.) Scotland- Manda Scott (read Dreaming the Eagle)- author was born and raised in Scotland
9.) Wales- K.M. Ashman (read A Land Divided) - author lives in Wales
10.) Canada- Sally Christie (read The Rivals of Versailles)- according to the author's blog bio, the author lives in Toronto
11.) China- Weina Dai Randel (read The Moon in the Palace)- born and raised in China
12.) South Africa- Michelle Diener
13.) Germany- Looking for suggestions
14.) France- Sophie Perinot (read The Sister Queens)- according to the author's website, she spent time in France during college
15.) Turkey- Pliny the Younger (held positions in Ephesus during his lifetime)

13/15

CHALLENGED FINISHED-NOT COMPLETED

Yearly Challenge- A Book for Every Year (A book published in every year since Elizabeth was born in 2008)- (January 2016-December 2016)
2008- The Blood of Caesar: A Second Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger
2009- The Help
2010- Requiem in Vienna
2011- The Mapping of Love and Death
2012- Tudors: Volume II: A History of England
2013- The Goldfinch
2014- The Empty Throne
2015- Murder at Whitehall
2016-Land of Shadows: A Medieval Mystery

CHALLENGE COMPLETE!

Yearly Challenge- From Fiction to Reality (Read a fiction book and a non-fiction book about the same topic)- (January 2016-December 2016)
Non-Fiction
1.) The Letters of the Younger Pliny
2.) Tudors: Volume II: A History of England
3.) The Rival Queens: Catherine de' Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal that Ignited a Kingdom
4.) Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France
5.) Bess of Hardwick: First Lady of Chatsworth, 1527-1608

Fiction
1.) The Blood of Caesar: A Second Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger
2.) The Dark Rose
3.) Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois
4.) The Rivals of Versailles
5.) The Girl in the Glass Tower

CHALLENGE COMPLETE!

Yearly Challenge- The TBR Randomizer Challenge (January 2016-December 2016)- pick 10

1.) Duchess of Aquitaine: A Novel of Eleanor
2.) The Postmistress
3.) Green Darkness
4.) Bess of Hardwick: First Lady of Chatsworth, 1527-1608
5.) Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery
6.) Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles
7.) The Temple of Light
8.) The Visitors
9.) Within the Fetterlock
10.) The Wedding Shroud

6/10
CHALLENGE FINISHED-NOT COMPLETED

Yearly Challenge-Let's Turn Pages Challenge- 2016 (January 2016-December 2016)

January 2016- 5,698/45,000
February 2016- 11,480/45,000
March 2016- 16,036/45,000
April 2016- 21,522/45,000
May 2016- 27,237/45,000
June 2016- 33,649/45,000
July 2016- 38,424/45,000
August 2016- 42,900/45,000
September 2016-
October 2016-
November 2016-
December 2016-
As of 12/28- 45,465
45,465/45,000

CHALLENGE COMPLETE

Yearly Challenge- The A-Z Challenge- Character Edition (January 2016- December 2016)
A- Amyas- The Dark Rose
B- Billy Beale- The Mapping of Love and Death
C- Cornelia- The Blood of Caesar: A Second Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger
D- Decius Caecilius Metellus-SPQR I: The King's Gambit
E- Elizabeth I- Murder at Whitehall
F- Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria- The Time of Murder at Mayerling
G- Gruffydd ap Cynan- A Land Divided
H- Hanns Gross- Requiem in Vienna
I- Isabella Marin- Anatomy of Murder
J- Julian Ridolfi- Green Darkness
K- Kathryn Swinbrooke- The Eye of God
L- Louise de Valliere- The Sun King Conspiracy
M- Mary I of England- In the Time of the Poisoned Queen
N- Nicholas Segalla- The Prince Lost to Time
O- Oswald- The Butcher Bird
P- Pliny the Younger-The Letters of the Younger Pliny
Q- Professor Quirrell- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
R- Richard- Land of Shadows: A Medieval Mystery
S- Sigtyggr- Warriors of the Storm
T- Theodore Decker- The Goldfinch
U- Uhtred- The Empty Throne
V- Venkat Kapoor- The Martian
W- Waltheof- The Winter Mantle
X- X the half troll- The Sword of Summer
Y- Prince Yo-The Moon in the Palace
Z- Zidantas- Lord of the Silver Bow

26/26
CHALLENGE COMPLETE

Quarterly Challenge- Quarter 1- Group Reads Challenge (January 1, 2016-March 31, 2016)- Goal of 3

1.) The Martian
2.) The Help
3.) The Goldfinch

CHALLENGE COMPLETE!

Quarterly Challenge- Quarter 1- Boxed Set Challenge (January 1, 2016- March 31, 2016)- Goal of 6
All books are by authors writing under a pen name

1.) The Strangler Vine M.J. Carter- also has books published as Miranda Carter
2.) The Prince Lost to Time Ann Dukthas also writes as Paul Doherty
3.) The Eye of God author also writes as Paul Doherty
4.) Murder at Whitehall author name is a pen name
5.) A Morbid Taste for Bones Ellis Peters is a pen name used by Edith Pargeter
6.) Green Darkness Anya Seton is a pen name for Ann Seton

CHALLENGE COMPLETE!

good Luck!

Blagica wrote: "good Luck!"

Thanks!

Monthly Challenge- Marathon (January 1 - 31, 2016)- Goal of 8

1.) Pernelle's Escape and Pernelle's Escape
2.) The Prince Lost to Time
3.)The Mapping of Love and Death
4.) Land of Shadows: A Medieval Mystery
5.) The Empty Throne
6.) The Time of Murder at Mayerling
7.) Marvel Encyclopedia Updated and Expanded
8.) The Eye of God

CHALLENGE COMPLETED!

Yearly Challenge- Listopia (January 1-December 31, 2016)- Goal of 10 books from the A & M Reading List
1.) The Winter King
2.) Gates of Fire
3.) In the Name of the Rose
4.) A Morbid Taste for Bones
5.) The Iron King
6.) Martyr
7.) Heresy
8.) The Mask of Ra
9.) Mercenaries
10.) The Sanctuary Seeker

2/10
CHALLENGE FINISHED-CHALLENGE NOT COMPLETED

Yearly Challenge- Pop Sugar 2016 Reading Challenge (January 1 - December 31, 2016)- Goal of 15

8.) A book set in Europe- The Time of Murder at Mayerling
9.) A book that's under 150 pages- Pernelle's Escape
10.) A NY Times bestseller- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
14.) A book you can finish in a day- The Prince Lost to Time
18.) A book that's more than 600 pages- The Goldfinch
20.) A science-fiction novel- The Martian
21.) A book recommended to you by a family member (little brother)- The Sword of Summer
22.) A graphic novel- Civil War
23.) A book published in 2016- Warriors of the Storm
25.) A book that takes place during the summer- Requiem in Vienna (Summer 1899)
27.) A murder mystery- Land of Shadows: A Medieval Mystery
30.) A book with a blue cover- The Winter Mantle
39.) A book that takes place on an island-The Mapping of Love and Death (takes place in England)
40.) A book that's guaranteed to bring you joy- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

CHALLENGE COMPLETED!

Updated 1/15

Updated 1/18

Updated 1/20

Updated 1/27

Updated 1/31

February Challenge- Time Goes By (February 1- 29, 2016)- Goal of 5- CHALLENGE COMPLETE!
1.) Beginning of the World
2.) During the Dinosaurs
3.) After Homo Sapiens but Before A.D.
King and Goddess (takes place 1400s B.C.)
4.) 0 A.D. to 700 A.D.
The Corpus Conundrum: A Third Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger (Pliny's political career in Rome was from 79 A.D. - 112 A.D.)
5.) 700 A.D. to 1500 A.D
The Winter Mantle
6.) 1500 A.D. to 1900 A.D. Colonization
Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois (1564-1572)
7.) Far East Before Communism (up to 1950 A.D.)
8.) During a World War (I or II)
A Lesson in Secrets (1932)
9.) Cold War (1945) to turn of century (2000)

March Challenge- #readwomen challenge (March 1-31, 2016)- Goal of 4

1.) Read a book about the Eastern cultures
The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter- Takes place in India during the early years of British occupancy

INCOMPLETE!

Quarterly Challenge- Quarter 2- Award Winning Books (April 1- June 30, 2016)- Goal of 5

1.) The Silver Pigs- won Authors' Club Best First Novel Award (1989) http://www.authorsclub.co.uk/?page_id...- read 4/22-4/25
2.) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- won Bram Stoker Award for Works for Young Readers (2003) http://www.dpsinfo.com/awardweb/stoke...- read 4/4-4/26
3.) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- won British Book of the Year (2006) https://sites.google.com/a/unca.edu/b...- read 4/26-5/13)
4.) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- won Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature (2008) http://www.mythsoc.org/awards/
5.) A Monster Calls- won Kate Greenaway Medal in 2012 http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/g...

CHALLENGE COMPLETE

Quarterly Challenge- Quarter 2- Clear the Shelves (April 1- June 30, 2016)- Goal of 6 E-Books

1.) The Sun King Conspiracy
2.) Katheryn the Wanton Queen
3.) The Moon in the Palace
4.) The Virgin's War
5.) The Infidel Stain
6.) A Dangerous Place

CHALLENGE COMPLETE

Great job, Gretchen! Any standout recommendations so far?

So far the fiction and nonfiction about Catherine de Medici and her daughter Marguerite top my list. They were both excellent reads and have put me on somewhat of a French reading tear.
Médicis Daughter: A Novel of Marguerite de Valois and The Rival Queens: Catherine de' Medici, Her Daughter Marguerite de Valois, and the Betrayal that Ignited a Kingdom

The Strangler Vine looks to be the start of a good mystery/thriller series.

I enjoyed The Martian much more than I thought I would. Sci-fi is definitely not my genre of choice. I even got my husband to read it. He finally had to see what I was finding so funny.

I've never heard of The Strangler Vine but it sounds really interesting. I added it to my to-read list.

Monthly Challenge- May-Marathon (May 1- May 31, 2016)- Books (8) and Pages (4,500)
1.) Margaret the First (176 pgs) 5/1-5/4
2.) Dark Waters (384 pgs) 5/3-5/7
3.) Face Down Upon an Herbal (256 pgs) 5/7-5/10
4.) The Eyes of Aurora: A Fifth Case from the Notebooks of Pliny the Younger (272 pgs) 5/10-5/11
5.) Medicus (400 pgs) 5/12-5/14
6.) The Hidden Oracle (384 pgs) 5/14-5/15
7.) The Mask of Ra (244 pgs) 5/15-5/19
8.) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (759 pgs) 5/13-5/22
9.) A Maze of Murders (256 pgs) 5/20-5/23
10.) Cocaine Blues (175 pgs) 5/23-5/24
11.) Katheryn the Wanton Queen (374 pgs) 5/24
12.) A Feast of Poisons (256 pgs) 5/24-5/28
13.) A Monster Calls (216 pgs) 5/28
14.) The Keeper of Hands (256 pgs) 5/29-5/30
15.) A Matter of Breeding (224 pgs) 5/30-5/31

Final Page Count 4,632/4,500

CHALLENGE COMPLETED

All of my progress and challenges are updated for the year.
Starting back at one of those adult job things really interfered with my reading time. Fortunately, I work at a school so here's to a summer full of challenge fun!