2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

As part of a New Year's Resolution to read more, I've decided to set myself the - first ever - challenge of reading 30 books in 2015. I'm excited to give it a try and I'm hoping that being part of this group will motivate me in to completing it, more so than if I was doing it alone!

On to the books...

1. 'Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop' by Jenny Colgan - read 8th January
2. 'Girl Online' by Zoe Sugg - read 10th January
3. 'Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?' by Mindy Kaling - read 12th January
4. 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn - read 21st January
5. 'Return To X Isle' by Peter Lerangis - read 23rd January
6. 'Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned"' by Lena Dunham - read 12th February
7. 'We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves' by Karen Joy Fowler - read 30th March
8. 'The Rosie Project' by Graeme Simsion - read 25th April
9. 'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green - read 5th May
10. After You by Jojo Moyes - read 10th May
11. 'Station Eleven' by Emily St. John Mandel - read 16th May
12. 'The 5th Wave' by Rick Yancey - read 20th May
13. 'The Girl on the Train' by Paula Hawkins - read 28th May
14. 'The Lie' by C.L. Taylor - read 6th June
15. 'The Love Shack' by Jane Costello - read 11th June
16. 'Before I Go to Sleep' by S.J. Watson - read 16th June
17. 'The Mangle Street Murders' by M.R.C. Kasasian - read 18th June
18. 'Fangirl' by Rainbow Rowell - read 22nd June
19. 'The Husband's Secret' by Liane Moriarty - read 27th June
20. 'The Accident' by C.L. Taylor - read 2nd July
21. 'The Girl with All the Gifts' by M.R. Carey - read 4th July
22. 'The Sudden Departure of the Frasers' by Louise Candlish - read 14th July
23. 'How to Fall in Love' by Cecelia Ahern - read 15th July
24. 'We Were Liars' by E. Lockhart - read 16th July
25. 'When We Were Friends' by Tina Seskis - read 27th July
26. 'Us' by David Nicholls - read 10th August
27. 'The Island Escape' by Kerry Fisher - read 11th August
28. 'Before We Met' by Lucie Whitehouse - read 24th August
29. 'The Shock of the Fall' by Nathan Filer - read 27th August
30. 'A Walk in the Park' by Jill Mansell - read 9th September
31. 'How I Lost You' by Jenny Blackhurst - read 17th September'
32. The Maze Runner' by James Dashner - read 21st September
33. 'My So-Called (Love) Life' by A.L. Michael - read 24th September
34. 'Dream a Little Dream' by Giovanna Fletcher - read 29th September
35. 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak - read 20th October
36. 'The Scorch Trials' by James Dashner - currently reading

First book of the year read and it was definitely a lovely one to start with.

On to the next but with a whole host of different books waiting on the shelf, I haven't a clue which to choose next! Wish me luck in deciding! :)

wow finished one already! Don't think 30 will be a problem for you. I decided on 25 but think I'm pushing it a bit.

Welcome Amy! You are off to a good start with your goal. It is so nice to start off with a book you really enjoy. Please join in on some of our challenges. It is fun and motivating to see where the books you read fit in with our challenges.

Alan wrote: "wow finished one already! Don't think 30 will be a problem for you. I decided on 25 but think I'm pushing it a bit."

I was shocked too! I hope not.
25 is a good number though, fingers crossed you'll be able to reach it. The important thing is giving it a go though in my opinion. :)

Jodi wrote: "Welcome Amy! You are off to a good start with your goal. It is so nice to start off with a book you really enjoy. Please join in on some of our challenges. It is fun and motivating to see where the..."

Thank you Jodi. I did enjoy it and it was a nice one to ease me in! I'll be looking in to some of the challenges more over the weekend, but the ones I've seen look rather fun to do!

After waking up stupidly early this morning and not being able to drop back off to sleep, I managed to finish my second book: 'Girl Online' by Zoe Sugg.

To sum up the review I wrote on it: I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'Girl Online', despite the controversy over the ghost writer news (and in Zoe's defence, she had always said she was going to have help when writing it), and I found that I couldn't put it down. I especially liked the aspects of harder-hitting issues such as anxiety and homophobia, which I felt gave the book some more depth.

It may not be the world's best writing or a challenging read, but it's an enjoyable and lovely book and I'm happy it was the second choice in my '30 books in 2015 Challenge'.

Good luck with your first-ever challenge, Amy! I hope you find that setting a goal and tracking your books helps keep you motivated. It was a huge help to me last year.

Cassandra wrote: "Good luck with your first-ever challenge, Amy! I hope you find that setting a goal and tracking your books helps keep you motivated. It was a huge help to me last year."

Thank you Cassandra, I'm enjoying it so far and finding that writing down my progress is really helping me keep on track and keeping me motivated!

Have now finished 'Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?' by Mindy Kaling and I've got to say, it was a really fun and enjoyable read.

Mindy is relatable, incredibly witty and her writing style is easy to read, as well as, being laugh-out-loud funny. Brilliant book.

Now on to the next!

'Gone Girl' has now been read and I loved it, all the way up until the end to which I thought was a bit of an anti-climax. All in all though, such a gripping book!!

Going for a short-story horror next, so expect another update on here soon!

'Return To X Isle' by Peter Lerangis was a disappointing book compared to the great first one. Also, I was annoyed to hear that there is no third to finish it off and thus it's been left on a cliffhanger with no real ending, which is a massive shame! It was a short book, so at least I finished it quickly.

Next up: 'Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's "Learned"' by Lena Dunham.

On to book no. 15 and half way through this challenge! Had a mini-break for a couple of months but back in to the swing of reading and I can't seem to put any book down at the moment. Absolutely loved 'A Girl on the Train' and 'The 5th Wave', now on to something a bit softer after a while of sci-fi and thriller. Looking forward to cosying up with 'The Love Shack'!

Can't believe I'm on to book no.18 now, definitely on target for 30 this year!

I loved 'The Love Shack' and 'Before I Go To Sleep'. 'The Love Shack' was a lovely, witty and easy read, whereas, I was utterly gripped by 'Before I Go To Sleep' and I could not put it down!

I am trying to get back in to using my Kindle a little more, so I am now swapping between 'The Mangle Street Murders' and 'Fangirl' (paperback). Looking forward to a murder mystery and another girly book.

Great job, Amy. I'm glad you've gotten back on track! It's a great feeling to feel so motivated to read and catch up on your challenge.

I did it!! 30 books in 2015 and we're only in September!

Now, I'm going to carry on reading and then set my 2016 reading challenge, dependant on how many I can get through.

It feels great to have achieved the goal on my first ever reading challenge! :)

Amy wrote: "I did it!! 30 books in 2015 and we're only in September!

Now, I'm going to carry on reading and then set my 2016 reading challenge, dependant on how many I can get through.

It feels great to have..."

Congratulations!

Congratulations on finishing your challenge, Amy! What are your favorite books of the year so far?