2025 Reading Challenge discussion

1/52
The Bell Jar
I just finished this book tonight. It was painfully beautiful. I loved it.

2/52
The Outsider
I just finished this book this afternoon. I just love Stephen King's style of writing.

Hey, good luck on your challenge! ;)

Erin wrote: "Hey, good luck on your challenge! ;)"

Thank you.

3/52
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
I just finished this book today. Edith Wharton is able to bring up conflicting feelings in me towards her characters. I could not put this book down until I finished it.

4/52
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
I finished this book today. Stephen King never disappoints me.

5/52
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
I finished this book today. This was a great read. 👍

6/52
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Such a wonderful series. I am reading through them again. ❤

7/52
Thinner by Richard Bachman
I read this book years ago but it was just as good the second time.
😀

8/52
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
A wonderful book I will never get to old to read. 😁

Debra wrote: "6/52
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Such a wonderful series. I am reading through them again. ❤"

Good luck on your reading challenge fellow-52-books! I love that you're re-reading books you love. I tend to re-read one of my favourites Howl's Moving Castle every year!

Rebecca wrote: "Debra wrote: "6/52
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Such a wonderful series. I am reading through ..."

It looks interesting and has a leading female. I put it on my want to read list. 👍

I am all about magic this year. I hope that your reading goal is your little touch of magic.

Blagica wrote: "I am all about magic this year. I hope that your reading goal is your little touch of magic.
"

Thank you! 🧙‍♀️

9/52
Little Dog Lost by René Guillot
A sweet story for children and animal lovers. 🦊🐶🥰

10/52
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
This is such a wonderful series. I will never be too old to enjoy these books. 🦁

11/52
1984 by George Orwell
This is an incredible book. It is as relevant today as it was when it was written. Sad, terrifying, hopeful, hopeless, this story runs the gambit of emotions. George Orwell needs to be read by all.

12/52
Prince Caspian - Book 2 in the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
This was a wonderful sequel to the first book. Old characters and new join for a new adventure. Even at 49 yrs., I am enjoying this series. C. S. Lewis had a fantastic imagination.

13/52
Prey by Michael Crichton
Prey is interesting and fast paced. I love the fact mixed in the fiction. I love Michael Crichton's books. He was a very talented author that used his background to create fantastic stories.

14/52
The Two Dead Girls by Stephen King
I read this series as it was coming out and remember being excited and impatient for the next installment. It is just as engaging and brilliant today as it was when I first started reading it. This is a must read for everyone. The Green Mile is a mixture of what is beautiful, ugly, sad and joyful in all of us.

15/52
We by
This book was mentioned in the Afterward of my copy of 1984 by George Orwell. It mentioned that he was inspired by this work. It is the grandfather of dystopian novels. THX-1138, 1984, A Brave New World-you see where these authors were moved by what Zamyatin wrote. I'm so glad that I found this work. It was incredible. I will read it again.

16/52
The Mouse on the Mile by Stephen King
Stephen King does not disappoint. A great follow up to The Green Mile #1. You grow to love the characters as they develop more completely throughout the series. One little actor in this book is especially easy to love. A great must read series.

Debra wrote: "2/52
The Outsider
I just finished this book this afternoon. I just love Stephen King's style of writing."

I really loved this book! If you haven't already try to read if it bleeds it's a sequel to this from Holly's POV

Carol-ann wrote: "Debra wrote: "2/52
The Outsider
I just finished this book this afternoon. I just love Stephen King's style of writing."

I really loved this book! If you haven't already try to read..."
Thanks for the recommendation! I definitely will!

17/52
Animal Farm by George Orwell
I love this book. I read it years ago and it still has the same effect on me. It seems silly and funny at first but I think it goes down a terrifying road. Is Man doomed to repeat his mistakes and injustices over and over? Is he able to learn from the past and apply the lessons? This is a warning that is brilliantly conveyed to us by George Orwell.

18/52
Coffey's Hands by Stephen King
I just love this series. Once again, King is able to pull me into The Green Mile universe. The story gets better and better with each little book. The characters are engaging but one little actor has my heart. I cannot wait to start the next section.

19/52
Roadwork by Richard Bachman
I love Stephen King. Not all of his stories have to be supernatural to be terrifying. This one is sad. You can see how this can really happen. Another great tale by a great author.

Debra wrote: "1/52
The Bell Jar
I just finished this book tonight. It was painfully beautiful. I loved it."
Was this made into a short animation?
may have seen that a couple of years ago, do not remember it so well....

20/52
The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix by Stephen King
I love this story. It has all the aspects of humanity, good and bad. Again, one little character took my heart. Stephen King is a truly gifted storyteller. This is a must read.

Scott wrote: "Debra wrote: "1/52
The Bell Jar
I just finished this book tonight. It was painfully beautiful. I loved it."
Was this made into a short animation?
may have seen that a couple of years..."
I couldn't find the short animation but it was made into a film in the 1970's. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078843/
I never saw the film.

21/52
Night Journey by Stephen King
I love this series. Another wonderful installment in The Green Mile. Another hit out of the park by Stephen King. It's so hard to put down. Everyone needs to read this story.

22/52
The Parasites by Daphne du Maurier
I saw the movie Rebecca years ago and enjoyed it but her writing is beautiful. I loved this book. Part of the time I wanted to shake some sense into the character and part of the time I questioned nature over nurture. I loved Daphne du Maurier's The Parasites and will read more of her works. She is definitely a gifted author.

23/52
The Green Mile, Part 6: Coffey on the Mile by
The final installment. There is a part of me that is sad that I am finished with this series. It is a wonderful story with an ending that is bittersweet. Stephen King is a gifted storyteller that has earned his place as one of our beloved writers. These chapbooks are a definite read for everyone, Stephen King fan or not.

24/52
The Color Purple by Alice Walker

A new national treasure...wisely and deeply American...a rare and lovely book.
-Cleveland Plain Dealer

Remarkable expressiveness, color and poignancy...not only a memorable and infinitely touching character but a whole submerged world is vividly called into being.
-New York Review of Books

Marvelous characters...Walker dares to reveal truths about men and women, about Blacks and Whites, about God and love...a story of revelation...one of the great books of out time.
-Essence

I could not say it better myself.

25/52
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
I could hardly put this book down. Most free moments I had were reading this novel. It took a few pages for the style to become familiar to me but once it was I was hooked. Dickens is an incredible story teller and I look forward to pursuing his other works.

I love Dickens! Are you planning to read anything else by him this year?

Sarah wrote: "I love Dickens! Are you planning to read anything else by him this year?"
Definitely. I have a book that contains three of his novels.
Great Expectations
Hard Times
Cricket on the Hearth
I have Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol. Are you interested in reading him? If so, let me know.

26/52
The Four Horsemen: The Conversation That Sparked an Atheist Revolution
"The words of Hitchens,Dawkins, Harris, and Dennett are needed more than ever. These are the heirs to Voltaire."
-Matt Ridley, author of The Evolution of Everything

"I was gripped. Throughout this erudite conversation the humility and openness of science shines against religion's arrogance, hypocrisy, and sheer gall in just 'making stuff up.' How refreshing it is."
-Susan Blackmore, author of The Meme Machine.

I agree wholly with these two reviewers. I could not have said it better myself.

27/52
Bag of Bones by Stephen King

"What I admire most about BAG OF BONES is its intelligence of vioce, not only the craftsmanship-the indelible sense of place, the well-fleshed characters, the unstoppable story line-but the witty and obsessive voice of King's powerful imagination."
-Amy Tan

A wonderful piece of storytelling that was so hard to put down and left me emotionally exhausted when I finished.

28/52
Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

"King has the talent to lift adults' blinders to gorror, and that's why his fans can't get enough of him. It's also what makes his stories as deliciously frightening as they are."
-Cincinnati Enquirer

The only other author whose short stories I possibly love more would be Lovecraft. King never disappoints.

Keep being awesome!

29/52

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King and Owen King
""Stephen King...speaks to the powerful allure of fictin, of how a great story can capture someone's imagination and make him or her see theworld in a completely differnet way."
-Mike Barry, Portland Press Herald

"Epic, ambitious, and dedicated to the uncontainable...Owen King has a captivating energy, a precision, and a fondness for people that are rare."
-David Thomason, The New York Times Book Review

A wonderful book that is full of connections to other stories, both religious and fairy. The ending is fast moving after a slow build up. A beautiful story.

Blagica wrote: "
Keep being awesome!"

👍
📚Happy reading!

30/52

Rage by Bob Woodward

"Bob Woodward, a great reporter. What is a great reporter? Someone who never stops trying to get as close to the truth as possible. There is no truth, we all know that. No one truth. No objective truth. No single truth. No simple truth or no one simple truth either. But there are facts. Hard facts. Objective facts. Verifiable facts. And the more facts you come up with, the closer you come to whatever truth there is.
"In his entire career, Bob Woodward never stopped seeking out facts. As many facts as he could get. Bob, in 19 books, has been doing that all his life.
"He is one of the great reporters of our time. A great journalist of our time. One of the greatest explainers of how our government works. How our politics works. Not the kind of government in politics that we're taught about in high school, or college, and textbooks. But how they really work, in reality.
"Bob Woodward has been reporting like that for 45 years. He never-no matter how famous and legendary he has become, he has never stopped looking for facts."
-Robert Caro,
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Power Broker and four volumes of The Years of Lyndon Johnson, at the PEN America awards dinner, May 22, 2019

I could hardly put this book down. I have always respected Bob Woodward for being factual and fair. This was a frightening account that has shaken my already shaky faith in our system.

31/52

Cujo by Stephen King
"The master of modern horror has done it again...Reading Cujo is like having a razor blade drawn along the edge of your subconscious where all the demons and monsters are lurking."
-Pittsburgh Press

There is one thing that King did in this book that never happened to me. He made me pity the killer, the monster as much as his victims. Such a sad, savage, terrifying story.

32/52

Misery by Stephen King

"Undiluted horror...Wonderful...King's best...A primal storyteller writing about a primal scream!"
-Houston Chronicle

This was one the most terrifying novels that I ever read by King. I could see this happening. It's never dull and I would find myself cringing often. I loved this book.

33/52

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

"Vivid, powerful, disturbing...offers the rare exhilaration of being scared within the safe limits of art. It is little wonder that so many readers have embraced the imaginative tallents of Stephen King."
-Washington Post Book World

Frightening and heartbreaking, I could not put this down if I had even one free moment. Grief is the terror, loss a nightmare. I loved this book. Once again, Stephen King does not disappoint.

34/52

The Firm by John Grisham

"Keeps the reader hooked...from the creepy first chapters...to the vise-tightening midsection and on to the take-the-money-and-run finale."
-The Wall Street Journal

This was a really good book. It was a fast paced, nerve racking read. I liked the ending. This was much better than the movie.

35/52

Punish the Sinners by John Saul

This was a quick read. I enjoyed it but know I probably will not read it again. It touches on the sad, painful subject of suicide and religious beliefs.

36/52

Demon Seed by Dean Koontz

"His perennial bestsellers are seamless weaves of horror, fantasy, suspense and science fiction...engrossing entertainments (that) transcend the imaginative possibilities of any one of the genres from which they borrow."
-Washington Post Book World

This was an entertaining quick read. It mixes horror and science fiction into a very scary premise for a story.