2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This month we will be reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

This is where we will be discussion the book prior to the group read. If you're excited for the book let us know! Have you read it before or is it your first time?

I would probably not have picked up this book myself, but that makes these monthly reads all the more fun. Got a copy from my local library and am curious to see how the story will unfold. Definitely going to watch the film after reading the book as well!

This was one of my favorite books. I hope you all enjoy it.

I also just picked this up from the library and am looking forward to reading it with you all! It is not a book I normally would have had on my radar 😊

Seen the movie multiple times, but have never really been interested in reading the book. But what I like about group reads is almost all the books I never would have read willingly, but have enjoyed most of them!

My library has multiple ebooks and audiobooks for this so I should be able to grab a copy once the month starts!

I'm in for this one. I started reading the book back in 2008 when it was fairly new, but I was going through a divorce and other drama at the time so I set the book aside and never picked it back up. It's been glaring at me from my bookshelf for the last 12+ years so I'm glad to have the opportunity to pick it up again. I started reading a few days ago and I'm already about 20% done.

Joan wrote: "This was one of my favorite books. I hope you all enjoy it."

Agreed! Ditto from me as well! :)

I bought this from a thrift shop years ago because I love elephants. Glad I'll finally have a reason to read it!

I picked up this one at a used book sale a few years ago, and it has been sitting on my shelf ever since. I’m really hoping I can join in, but grad school has put a serious dent in my personal reading time recently. My TBR list is crazy long...

This too was one of my favorite books!, I found the story fascinating. I particularly enjoyed learning about the history of that era. Hope you get something good out of it.

My fiancé is a few-books-a-year reader, and usually audiobook. But this book is one he has read cover to cover, the only book he said that’s ever been the case for him! I had been meaning to read it for years and now I’m excited to ha e the chance! I read up to chapter 2 so far this morning, it’s going to be a quick read I think, really intriguing book.

I'm almost done with the book and should finish by the weekend. I think what I like most about it is the Depression-era circus setting which feels authentic and really breathes pathos into the story.

I’m excited to read this one! It’s been on my TBR shelf for a long time. I have seen the movie and am interested in seeing the differences between them.

I picked up this book nearly 12 years ago as a teenager and couldn't get past the first chapter. Back then, I wanted my fictional circuses to involve paranormal and horror elements a la Cirque Du Freak (Darren Shan) but now I'm ready for the emotion and romance! Really looking forward to this pick!

This sounds like a pretty good book. I was just done watching The Greatest Showman two or so weeks ago for the first time. So this seems interesting to me. Since it's about a circus

I'm going to finally start reading it today! Like many people here, I wouldn't have picked this book up by myself and I'm excited to see what's in store for me!! :)

I have had this book sitting in my TBR list for so long, and theres always something that peaks my interest more, so I'll give it a try and hurry a little bit because september is ending soon!

So, the month is almost over and I had this book in front of me for many days now but I still had few books to finish first. Now I finally started and let's see how it goes :).