2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

Reading is one of my absolute favourite hobbies (which I'm guessing is also true for most of you) but I have a tendency of falling behind because of studying, work and life in general. I've been trying to ensure I always find time to read a good book no matter how busy I am and I am really hoping to reach (or even better, exceed) my reading goal for this year, which is set at 15 books for now.
Feel free to let me know how you felt about any of the books I've read and suggest anything you think I might like. I find reading even more enjoyable if you have someone to discuss it with, which is why I joined this group to begin with.

1. Манюня:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the first in a series of three books by the Armenian author Narine Abgaryan, in which she tells stories of her carefree and mischief-full childhood written in a way that will have you laughing out loud. (No exaggeration whatsoever). I thoroughly enjoyed it and believe it's a book I'll keep on re-reading.

2. Манюня пише фантЪстичен роман ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Just as captivating as the first book in the series.

3. The Ten Thousand Doors of January ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The third book I decided to read this year is the debut novel by the American author Alix E. Harrow - a fantasy novel about a girl who discovers the existence of Doors, which connect our world to many others, each one magical in its own way. To be perfectly honest I didn't find the beginning of this book particularly interesting. I found the story a bit flat and the writing style slightly immature. I think part of this might be explained by the fact that the main character (January) is only 7 years old in the beginning of the story, so this might have been the author's intent. However, I am very glad I kept on reading because once the story started developing and the writing became more elaborate, I became progressively more invested in January's fate and didn't want to put down the book. Overall, a lovely fantasy novel and just what I wanted to read!

Best of luck with you reading challenge, Niya! :)

Thank you very much, Ilona!

4. Wilful Disregard ⭐⭐⭐

I chose to read Lena Andersson's novella because I was in the mood for something short, snappy and thrilling that you sit down and read in one go. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. This is a story of blind, unrequited love or as the author has presented it, "The dreadful gulf between thought and words, will and expression, reality and unreality, and the things that flourish in that gulf, are what this story is about." Ester Nilsson, a journalist leading a well organised though slightly dull life, falls madly in love with the artist Hugo Rask. She throws everything, including her current relationship, away in hope of becoming an essential part of Hugo's life. The way I see it, this book was meant to represent the continuous internal struggle in Ester's mind as she has to deal with her undying hope and desire for the two of them to be together, on one side, and the reality in which he doesn't seem to want the same, on the other. However, there seems to be a great imbalance in how these two notions have been represented. Most of the book discusses Ester's willingness to do anything to be with Hugo, despite his disrespectful behaviour, while very little time is spent on how she tries to pull herself together and come back to her senses regardless of her infatuation. As a result there was much less internal struggle than I expected, which made the book feel a little flat and repetitive to me and I ended up reading it over a matter of days rather than hours. That being said, I quite enjoyed the style in which the novella was written and the author had a number of interesting points to make with regard to relationships, which is why at the end of the day I am glad to have chosen this book.

5. The Tattooist of Auschwitz ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

In my opinion Heather Morris has done a wonderful job telling Lale's story in a way that truly entrances the reader. The characters were so vividly described, that I felt as if I've known them for a very long time. The novel was very well paced and with so many twists and turns, that I constantly wondered how it was possible for it to be based on a true story. Upon finishing the book I felt humbled and also glad I learned a little bit about Lale Sokolov's life.

6. A Woman Is No Man ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

In her debut novel Etaf Rum tells the story of three Arab women of different generations living in America. She discusses the traditional role of the woman of Arab descent as part of the family unit and society as a whole. The story line intrigued me from the very beginning and maintained my curiosity till the last page. I really enjoyed the way the story was told in fragments that the reader had to piece together. The characters were interesting and complex, the latter becoming clearer further into the book. I am very happy I chose to participate in this May Buddy-Read as it got me thinking more about the struggles Arab women face and pushed me to look for other books on this topic to deepen my understanding.

7. The Little Prince ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I've wanted to read this classic by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry for a while, but for some reason never got around to it. So after finishing the 6th book for my yearly challenge, I decided it was high time I sat down and read it. I loved the fact that the author was simultaneously telling two stories - one aimed at children and one at adults and there were definitely a number of points he made about life that couldn't have been said any better (and have now been added to my favourite quotes collection). However, after finishing the book, I personally felt like something was missing although I'm not entirely certain what this could be. It is quite possible that my expectations were too high because of what I had previously heard from others who have read it, as a result of which I was not as impressed as I would have been had I not known anything about this book to begin with. That being said, I am glad I finally came around to it and would like to revisit it again at some point in the future to see if and how my take on it changes.

What was meant to be number 8. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared ⭐

I was very excited about Jonas Jonasson's novel and even suggested it for a Buddy Read. I thought it was going to be a funny, witty story with interesting, quirky characters. To be perfectly honest I was hoping that I was about to read something along the lines of A Man Called Ove.

Unfortunately, I ended up being terribly disappointed and couldn't even make it past halfway through the book. There are two storylines in this novel. The first one, in which the centenarian sets off on an adventure, is relatively interesting but not particularity riveting. My main issue was with the second storyline that centres around the early life of the protagonist. I found it awfully dull and tedious and it ended up being the reason why I gave up on finishing this book. I truly think that there was a lot of potential in this story for something light yet meaningful, but unfortunately, the author missed the mark. Overall the humour wasn't great, the story was difficult to get through and I didn't feel especially connected with the characters.

[I won't be counting this book towards my reading challenge as I didn't read it till the end, but I still wanted to share my opinion with anyone who is interested.]