2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This year I would to read 50 books. At least 12 of those will most likely be sci-fi or fantasy books.

Therese A. Brink wrote: "This year I would to read 50 books. At least 12 of those will most likely be sci-fi or fantasy books."

Sounds good Therese! Wishing you the best of luck with your goal & happy reading!

Best of luck with your challenge!

1/50: The Power by Naomi Alderman.

Finished 1-6-18.

The book was interesting. Gives the history of how women took over societal power from men. Some of the women handled their power well others did not. Some men were allies of the women, others not so much. It was an interesting book. Sure to generate much discussion at book clubs.

2/50: Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Finished 1/21-18

This is a very good book. Even though the author writes about British racism, much of the book is relevant to the United States. Case in point, she writes, " A seemingly innocuous phrase has become naturalized in British politics over the last decade. The phrase 'white working class' is supposed to describe a group of disadvantaged and under-represented people in Britain. When she threw her hat in the ring for the 2015 Labour Party leaership contest, Leicester West's MP Liz Kendall explicitly let it be known that she was interested in supporting the white working-class children....

The phrase 'white working class' plays into the rhetoric of the far right. Affixing the word 'white' to 'working class' suggests that these people face structural disadvantage because they are white, rather than because they are working class." (pages 201-202)

I still remember all the hand wringing of many white liberals regarding that Trump won because the white working class was ignored. [I have a different opinion] "Hillbilly Elegy" became a poplular book. Why do not many white people mention the black working class or the working class in general? Why are people of color often ignored until they are need to vote in some election? This book raises lots of questions that should not be ignored by the individual or society.

3/50: Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation by Silvia Federici.

A feminist and socialist analysis of how the rise of capitalism turned women into a commodity with no value except to bear children and satisfy men. This description makes the book sound boring, but really it is a fascinating book. I learned a great deal about the conversion of Europe from a feudal society to capitalistic society. Along the way the reader learns about various peasant resistance movements and a history of witchcraft in Europe and the New World.

Therese A. Brink wrote: "3?50: Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation by Silvia Federici.

A feminist and socialist analysis of how the rise of capitalism turned wom..."

The description actually made me really interested!!! I've definitely added that to my list now.

Katie wrote: "Therese A. Brink wrote: "3?50: Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation by Silvia Federici.

A feminist and socialist analysis of how the rise..."

It is slow going, Lots of philosophy. I have a smattering of education in philosphy, but found some of the writing hard to follow. I was glad I had read Foucault's Discipline and Punish.

Therese A. Brink wrote: "Katie wrote: "Therese A. Brink wrote: "3?50: Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation by Silvia Federici.

A feminist and socialist analysis o..."

That's good to know. I've got a decent, albeit rusty, background in feminist and critical theory from undergrad so hopefully that would be enough to get me through it.

Congratulations on your first three books!

4/50:Baobab No. 1 by Igort:

This black and white graphic novel relates three interconnecting stories. One takes place in Japan around 1910 and concerns a boy named Hiroshi. The other takes place in Brazil and revolves around a cartoonist named Celestine. The other takes place in Africa, and concerns a baobab tree and the Monkey King.

I look forward to finding out how the stories connect.

Finished 2-5-18.

5/50: The Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville This book is an alternate history that takes place in the early 50s in Nazi-occupied Paris. One of the most engaging ideas in this book is that surrealist art comes to life in New Paris. Mieville provides an afterword that describes where these manifestations (manifs) come from. Most of the manifs are hostile towards the Parisians, but one named The Exquisite Corpse does help in the fight against the Nazis.

Here is what Wikipedia says about the Exquisite Corpse, "Exquisite corpse, also known as exquisite cadaver (from the original French term cadavre exquis), is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a either by following a rule (e.g. "The adjective noun adverb verb the adjective noun." as in "The green duck sweetly sang the dreadful dirge.") or by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed."

Moma has an Exquisite Corpse called "Nude" in its collection. Participants in "Nude" were Yves Tanguy, Joan Miro, Max Morise and Man Ray. Some of these artist appear in the book. Many other French philosophers and artists also are mentioned in "New Paris".

Delightfully intellectual and engaging at the same time. I will read this novel again.

Finished 2/7/18

6/50: Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America by Linda Tirado

One woman explains what it means to be a poor person. Tirado has lived in and out of poverty for many years. This book is her attempt to explain to financially well-off people why they should be less judgmental about poor people and what it is like to be poor. Worth reading.

7/50: Old Man's War by John Scalzi

I really enjoyed this book. I intend to finish the other books in this series. The plot is original and it was a good read.

In the future Earth has various space colonies that need to be protected from other alien species that also want the same space.
Earth's solution is to offer people a chance to join the Colonial Defense Force (CDF). How does on do this? People announce their intention to join the CDF and upon their 75th birthday they are allowed to join the CDF. Since a 75 year old person is way too old to be a combat soldier, the person has to and transfer their memories into a genetically enhanced body. Legally dead on Earth, they are now the property of the CDF.


Scalzi does a good job in describing life in the new CDF bodies. He also has some really fascinating non human alien characters.

8/50: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Seconds before his house is destroyed to, Arthur Dent is rescued by his friend Ford and whisked off into space. Dent finds out that Earth has been destroyed to build an intergalactic highway.

Join Dent and his companions as they travel throughout the universe. Enjoy the rather droll humor of this most excellent book.

9/50: Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

It was okay. I won't continue with the series though.

Murderous nuns, a magic academy and a cold world. This is a coming of age story about a young girl who comes into her own while learning the arts of destruction.

10/50: The Daily Coyote: Story of Love, Survival, and Trust In the Wilds of Wyoming by Shreve Stockton

The story was interesting, but I was disturbed how she obtained her coyote.
She got Charlie, the coyote pup from her boyfriend who kills coyotes for a living from an airplane. As far as I could tell, she does not find a problem with what her boyfriend does for a living, and seems to be okay with killing coyotes. I docked her a star for this apparent lack of concern. Two stars total.

10/50 Fantastic progress! Two months down 10 to go. Have you picked a book that stands out so far this year?

Blagica wrote: "10/50 Fantastic progress! Two months down 10 to go. Have you picked a book that stands out so far this year?"

Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation

11/50:The Humans by Matt Haig

An alien visits Earth to kill people who know, or might know the answer to an important mathematical question.

Along the way, the alien. known as Professor Andrew Martin, comes to appreciate humanity in all its illogical chaos. His observations on humanity are witty and often profund.

Highly recommended.

12/50: The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker


Where do I start?. This book is very long. I felt that I wasted most of my time on this book. I will never get this time back.

I am not sure Pinker really proved his point. Much of his evidence revolves around his own biases. I am pretty liberal (and I mean really, very liberal), but I think he shouldn't have said that conservatives were more stupid than liberals unless he could prove it.

When he got to vegetarianism, a subject I know quite a bit about, I thought many of his comments were off the mark. While discussing vegetarianism, he also also made a swipe at Hinduism that was not warranted. Once again he states his opinion as fact.

This is a long, rambling book. If I had it to do over again, I would only read certain chapters in the book. I would totally skip the mathematical "proofs" he offers on violence.

13/50: October: The Story of the Russian Revolution by China Miéville

A stirring account of the Russian revolution. The Russian revolution was an important historical event that changed the world in many ways - both good and bad. Mieville does a good job describing the heady days of the Revolution.

14/50: Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord.

An African folktale. Interesting story with creatures that change shape. Some of the changleings are good; some are not.

An easy read with lots of emphasis on family and duty.

15/50: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

What would happen if a flu pandemic killed over 99% of the world's human population? This book attmepts to answer that question by following the lives of people pre and post pandemic. The story follows several people after the pandemic - how they survive - what happened to their loved ones - what their lives were like before the pandemic.

This was a good read.

Kristin wrote: "Love your reviews! I already want to add a bunch of these books to my TBR list (and have one I will definitely be avoiding!). I look forwarding to seeing what else you read this year!"

Thank you for your kind words.

16/50: High Protein Vegan Diet: Lose Weight Gain Muscle by Michael Clarke

This book assumes you want high protein vegan meals. No introduction to the main part of the book is provided, just the usual warning to consult your doctor if you are on a special diet.

The 104 recipes cover the following: beverages, appetizers and dips, breakfast, salads, soups and stews, and main and side dishes.

Each recipe is described as follows: servings per recipe, ingredients needed, directions and finally nutrition per serving. I found several recipes that had over 20 grams per serving of protein.

As an active person trying to lose weight and stay fit, I find this book very useful.

If you are a vegan having trouble getting enough quality protein, this book may be for you. Warning: you must be willing to cook.

17/50: Salted: A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes by Mark Bitterman

The author knows his artisanal salts, and these are the salts Bitterman writes about. Bitterman also owns his own salt stores.

Bitterman explains the history of salt making, briefly convers industrially produced salt and then launches into the many varieties of salt and how to use them. He also includes recipies that require a certain type of salt.

Bitterman is a salt connoisseur and often waxes eloquent on the salts he loves.

This nicely illustrated book is produced with heavy stock paper on oversize pages. It was very informative and a joy to read.

18/50:Changing Body Composition through Diet and Exercise by Michael Ormsbee

Excellent introduction on how to get healthier through exercise and diet. Ormsbee is a teacher and reseacher at Florida State University and really knows the facts about nutrition and exercise.

The lecture I found of most interest (they were all interesting) was the one where he spoke about older obese women and their protein intake. This really helped me decide where to go with my nutrition.

I recommend this course to anybody who wants to know how to combine exercise and diet for optimal health.

One must buy this course through The Great Courses. I listened to the lectures in digital format. The digital guidebook follows the lectures verbatim and is 240 pages. The course consists of 24 lectures that are around 30 minutes each. I plan to refer to the guide book when I need to help with my nutrition.

19/50: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

Magisterial treatment of the rise and fall of Hilter's Germany. I listened to this on Audiobooks, and it took a very long time - weeks.

That such a person could rise to power and be responsible for the deaths of so many millions is truly terrifying.

If you want to know about Hitler, how he rose to power, how he took Europe and how the Third Reichh was defeated during WWII, this is the book for you. Have patience though, it will take a very long time to read and/or listen to it.

Shirer was a journalist, and he lived in Germany for much of the period of the book. He finally had to leave Germany in late in 1940. He also draws on extensive hiostorical documents from the Third Reich. Recommended if you have the time to read this tome

A book is a dream that you hold in your hand. Looks like you have had some awesome dreams this year. I hope that April brings you many more five star reads. Do you have a stand out book so far this year?

Blagica wrote: "A book is a dream that you hold in your hand. Looks like you have had some awesome dreams this year. I hope that April brings you many more five star reads. Do you have a stand out book so far this..."
non-fiction: Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation
fiction: The Humans

20/50: Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

I am not sure how to rate the book. This is a horror story that takes place in a school for children who have travelled to an alternate universe (there are many) and want to go back to the alternate reality.

This book is guresome. Some of the children do awful things. This book was short, and for that I am grateful. I do not think I will continue with this series.

21/50: The Life and Opinions of Zacharias Lichter by Matei Călinescu

I am unsure how to rate this book.

Written during the Romanian Communist dictatorship, this book was viewed as quite important, a commentary on conformity. The main character, Zacharias Lichter, is a crazy holy fool whose poems and reflections on life are collected in this book. All the chapters are very short, usually one to three pages. While some of the chapters , especially on old age and psychiatry, were very enlightening, others left me with a "so what" feeling.

This could be a book that was best suited being read during a particular time and place.

22/50: Four Futures: Life After Capitalism by Peter Frase

I enjoyed this book. The author envisions four different futurers for humanity based upon a combination of authoritarianism/ democracy and scarcity/abundance.

Lots of interesting scenarios. I also liked the fact that the author used science fiction to explain some of his scenarios.

23/50: How to American: An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents by Jimmy O. Yang

Yang narrates his own book on Audible. I enjoyed listening to him and his adventures in becoming an American.

“Reading brings us unknown friends” While the warm weather is coming I hope you make some new friends in May! You are doing great keep it up!

24/50: The Space Between the Stars by Anne Corlett

Anne Corlett's The Space Between the Stars reminds me of a second rate version the sci-fi version of Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist. An explanation follows.

While the story was interesting - a virus kills most human life throughout the human inhabited universe, there were too many coincidences for me to really enjoy this book. Just like Dickens's Oliver Twist, there are plenty of coincidences to go around in The Space Between the Stars.

The main character, Jamie, was also a pain in the ass. She seems to be constantly complaining and demanding that people do what she wants. Most her actions are based on her feelings and not on any factual basis. Jamie is a very illogical, whiny person. She reminds me of Gilbert of Eat, Pray, Love )a novel I loathed).

25/50: Baobab No. 2 by Igort

Artwork is good, story line is interesting.

26/50: Baobab No. 3 by Igort

Good drawings and interesting story, but as it does not appear that Baobab's story will ever reach a conclusion, I would not recommend.

“I have always imagined paradise will be a kind of library.” I hope you find a corner in Paradise with some great books!!