2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

I think I will be attempting more challenges this year. I have looked at Popsugar and it seems much harder to me than last year. I am going to give it a shot though. I am also going to attempt the 52 Book Club Challenge. Some of the prompts overlap with Popsugar or a book will work for different prompts on both lists.

The Beyond the Bookends Challenge also looks like I can work in books that I have read for the other challenges on this one and it is only one each month. I'm looking forward to the upcoming year of reading!!

I have decided to just stick to 2 challenges: Popsugar and 52 Book Club

The first finished book of 2022 fits a prompt on both lists. Sawman Werebear

Popsugar: Found family
52 Books: Rural setting

Vespertine

This one also works for both lists I'm working on and is a good suggestion for anyone doing an ABC challenge.

Popsugar: man-made disaster (would work for nonpatriarchal society)
52 Books: published by Simon and Schuster

Found is the first in a middle grade series The Missing

Popsugar: a misleading title
52 Books: starts with F (it would also fill the middle grade age prompt)

A Bandit's Prequel is the first book I have read by this author.

This book fits the following prompts:
Popsugar: can be read in one sitting
52 Books: five-syllable title

A Little Night Magic I found on audible. I picked it because I have liked books by this narrator before.

Popsugar: this is a book that I knew nothing about. (I will continue this series!)
52: Books. Author has an x, y, or z in their name. Lucy March

Every Heart a Doorway was a strange read. I don't know what I was expecting but this wasn't it. I did like it though. There were a lot of underlying currents of difficult social issues that teens especially have to deal with especially with their parents.

I had a difficult time placing this on the Popsugar list because it fits more than one prompt. I was highly tempted to double dip, but I restrained myself. I finally settled on a book with a character on the ace spectrum. It could have also fit a book about gender identity and a Hugo award winner.

For 52 books: a book whose title starts with E. (simple enough)

was a Christmas gift from my daughter and I really enjoyed it.

Popsugar: this was the first in a duology. I look forward to the next one.
52 Books: a book set on more than one continent

#8 is book 5 in this clean romance series.

Popsugar: a book that features two languages (elvish and escarlish)
52 Books: illustrated people on the cover.

I'm currently working on but its not nearly as good as the first one

Finished The Last Little Blue Envelope and I liked it much better than expected. Still wasn't as good as the first one though. Ginny did a lot of growing up right there at the end.

Popsugar: second book in a duology
52 Books: chapters have titles.

Just starting The God of Lost Words. I've been looking forward to this one. Patiently waiting for my hold at the library. I'm not sure if it fits either of the lists, but surely I can find somewhere to fit it in. If not, oh well. I've got all year to finish the lists and lots of books to read.

Bear My Soul only works for the 52 Books challenge. It fits the prompt of a character with superhuman ability. I think bear shifters fit this. I don't think I can fit it on Popsugar, but there are plenty more to read.

The God of Lost Words works for both reading challenges.

Popsugar: a book about the afterlife
52 Books: about a library

Loved this series, but it is by no means a light read.

The Godfather only fits 52 Books for a bilingual character. They speak both English and Italian.

This is one of my favorite reads and Joe Montagna does a wonderful job on audible.

I think I am becoming a book challenge junkie. I may need to seek help........

I have decided to add the Nerd Daily's reading challenge and the ABC reading challenge. So as an update:

Nerd Daily: Title starts with F or S: Sawman Werebear
Mystery or Middle Grade Found
New York Times Best Seller: The Godfather
Under 350 pages: Every Heart a Doorway
Author new to you: A Bandit's Prequel
Book gifted to you: The Last Little Blue Envelope
Audiobook: A Little Night Magic
Number in the title: 13 Little Blue Envelopes
Illustrated cover: Pretense
One word title: Vespertine

For Fox Sake. This is a good start for this RH. I look forward to the rest of this series.

52 Books: has an author's note
Nerd Daily: has purple on the cover

Down Among the Sticks and Bones this is the second book in the Wayward Children series. It was so sad and heartbreaking on so many levels. The sadness of the girls and their parents and their grandmother. So much loss and misunderstanding.

Popsugar: a book about gender identity
Nerd Daily: part of a series

Book Scavenger This was a fun middle grade read. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good puzzle.

Popsugar: twin city. San Francisco is a twin to Osaka Japan. I plan on reading Onyx: Truth to fill the 2nd prompt
52 Books: Middle grade age
Nerd Daily: the start of a new series

for the popsugar prompt: a book with a tiger on the cover or in the title. This has both. Its very good, but don't read it if you don't like sad books.

I couldn't match this to prompts on the other challenges, but that's ok too.

The Girl from Everywhere

I picked this for the Popsugar prompt Pacific Island author and really enjoyed it. Highly recommend for anyone that likes a bit of time travel magic.

Popsugar: Pacific Island author
52 Book Club: Includes a map
Nerd Daily: Four-word title

This fits the 52 Book Club prompt for wealthy character.

Love this series, but even for vampires its very bloody.

Just finished . This had a really good premise, but fell flat.

It fit the Nerd Daily for YA book

Cemetery Boys I liked this one but gave it 3 stars because it was so repetitive. The last few chapters almost made me give it 4 stars. I was not expecting things to work out like they did.

Popsugar: OWN Voices
Nerd Daily: OWN Voices
52 Books: don't judge a book by its cover

Binti Highly recommend this for anyone that loves an original SciFi read. This book fit many different prompts so it was hard to decide where to put it, because I don't like to double dip if I can help it. It would be good for a book read in one sitting becuase it was really short.

Popsugar: favorite author quoted on the front (Ursula Le Guinn)
52 Books: POC as the main character
Nerd Daily: Protagonist starts with B

I chose Odd and the Frost Giants for the popsugar prompt protagonist that uses a mobility aid. I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this short read. It was refreshing to read a story with such positive energy.

This also fit the Nerd Daily prompt for a re-telling because it is a retelling of a Norse myth.

I chose My Lady's Choosing: An Interactive Romance Novel for the Popsugar prompt set in a Victorian Era. This was a fun read where you choose your own path. I wasn't sure how this would work as an ebook, but it was a lot of fun seeing the different scenarios.

It also fits the Nerd Daily prompt for chosen at random.

I love this cover! I chose this for the 52 Books prompt word related to gold. If you love a good fantasy story you should pick this one up. Loved it! I am really looking forward to the next on in this new series.

Popsugar: Booktock recommendation
Nerd Daily: Debut author.

This book would have fit a lot of different prompts and its worth the read.

I love this cover, but I've seen another with almost the same cover (I just can't remember the name of it.) It saddens me to think the author gave up on the series, but that appears to be the case.

52 Books: Book with less than 2022 rates on GR
Nerd Daily: a reread

When I started Greenglass House I didn't expect it to work for any prompts, but this wasn't the case. This book surprised me a lot. It was really a fun read with all the puzzles and the twist at the end.

It works for:
Popsugar: Set during a holiday (Christmas)
52 Books: an unlikely detective

I picked Midnight at the Blackbird Café for the Popsugar prompt of a book with cutlery on the cover. I fell in love with this book. It wasn't insta-love but it came about gradually as I got to know the characters and the town. Highly recommend this one.

Popsugar: cutlery on the cover
Nerd Daily: Stand alone
52 Books: household object on the cover

The Cerulean Loved this book!! I gave it 5 stars. Quick synopsis: Sera lives in a city entirely of women on a floating island in the sky that is tethered to a planet below. She is chosen to break this tether and thrown from the island to her death.

So much is woven into this story: sexual norms and coming of age, treatment of women in a patriarchal society, fear of anyone and anything that is different, and the cruelty of humans.

This fits the popsugar promt for a nonpatriarchal society, but it is also a duology. But I have already filled the duology prompt.

Nerd Daily: Book with a blue spine. I read the ebook, but the whole book looks blue.

The Hawthorne Legacy fits the popsugar prompt for a book about a secret. Love this series and cannot wait for the next one to be released in August. I don't know if this is set to be just a trilogy or a series, I hope it's the latter.

This would also fit the Nerd Daily prompt for a book with a blue spine, but I have already filled that prompt.

Just finished Axman Werebear by T.S. Joyce. Love these books. They are easy reads that are a bit of paranormal romance with the grizzly shifters. They are all on KU and can be read as stand alones, but I am trying to read them in order. This one fits the Nerd Daily prompt of a book set in summer.

I had a disappointment this week with a DNF. The Cartographers. I had been so looking forward to this one, maybe my expectations were too high. I finally gave up at 35% in. I didn't like the characters, and some things just didn't seem plausible. I had planned to use it for a book published in 2022, but I just couldn't continue. Oh well, on to the next.

That Touch of Magic an audiobook by Lucy March. I enjoyed this one as well as the first in the series. Its a 2nd chance romance with a little magic thrown in.

Nerd Daily: fantasy or romance
52 Books: involves a second chance

The Alchemist of Fire and Fortune by Gigi Pandian. If you have not listened to this audiobook series, I would highly suggest it. Dorian is by far the star of this series.

Nerd Daily: by a favorite author
52 Books: a job title in the title
Popsugar: by an author I read last year

Beyond Shame is the first book in the Beyond Series by Kit Rocha. I love this series! It's spicey dystopia at its finest.

It fits the Nerd Daily prompt for author starts with R.

Elevation by Stephen King was chosen for the 52 Books prompt of a book read by the author. I really loved this very original story about a man who is suffering from gravity reversing its force on him. For such a short book it really tugged on my heart strings.

52 Books: book read by the author
Popsugar: begins with the last letter of your previous read

I picked for the Popsugar prompt for a book with a mirror image on the cover. This was a fun read that is great for kids and those who are kids at heart. Loved the fairytale world and all the characters.

Popsugar: a book with a mirror image on the front
52 Books: more than 500 pages
Nerd daily: to be a movie in 2022

Soul Eater by Lily Mayne was recommended to me by my daughter. I'm glad I gave it a shot, now I'm hooked :)

Fits prompts:
52 Books: Indie Author
Nerd Daily: Recommended by friend or family member

The Best Kind of Magic by Crystal Cestari was included in the audible membership. This was a fun, light read/listen on audible about a matchmaker in a world of witches. It worked perfectly for the Popsugar prompt for a book about witches, but I couldn't find a place for it on my other challenges. But that's ok, I enjoyed it and will continue with the series.

The Strangers by Margaret Peterson Haddix fits the Popsugar prompt for parallel reality. The description was intriguing, but this middle grade age book was long and repetitive. It was an ok read, but I don't think I will continue this series.

I had started getting behind on my reading Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf challenges thanks to life. But now I am only one behind schedule on my reading goal of 125 this year.

I just finished listening to Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf (free with audible). Timmy is a necromancer with a 10-year-old girl as an apprentice and his favorite weapon is a shovel. Needless to say, this was funny.

It fits the Nerd Daily prompt for a protagonist that starts with T.

Death by Laura Thalassa

If you have not read this series, I cannot stress enough about how you need to. If you love fantasy, romance, fiction in general, powerful emotion....... then read this series. Or anything by this author really. She is awesome.

Popsugar: 2 POV
52 Books: a book that intimidates you
Nerd Daily: on my TBR

Up From Ashes: A New Spark is Lit by R. Gordon Carlton

I chose this one because a friend of mine wrote it and it fits the Nerd Daily prompt for an author that starts with G. It also works for the 52 Books prompt of a re-do of one of this year's prompts with a different genre. It has fewer than 2022 reads.

It's a fantasy that is imaginative and creative but could use a good editor.

This would also work for prompts such as indie author, or with a few number of reads/reviews.

Servant by Rebecca Royce

I love nearly everything by this author. If you haven't read any of her work, I would highly recommend it.

It fits prompts for being published in 2022 and specifically with Nerd Daily, Feb 2022

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick was chosen for the Popsugar prompt Hugo Award Winner.

This was an alternate history showing how things might have been like if the US and its allies did not win WWII. I really wanted to like it, but it just didn't happen. Internal dialogue suffocated the story. I have no idea what was going on.

I used The Last Librarian by Brandt Legg for the 52 Books prompt for a technology-based book.

Set in the future, this book was based upon the shoulders of Fahrenheit 451 and 1984. Full of conspiracies, double agents, and revolutions this book makes you think about the importance of the freedom to read. Highly recommend it, and I will continue the series.

Hollen the Soulless by Denali Day

New favorite series!! Must have more Dokiri Brides!!!!!

I love Hollen! He can kidnap me any day! He is the perfect blend of savage and softness. I gave it 5 stars but really 4.5 because the FMC was an idiot in the first half.

If you like romance and fantasy, this is a must read. But be warned, its hot but not spicey.

It fit the prompt for Popsugar a favorite prompt from a past challenge: free book. It is on KU and Audible Prime.

Nerd Daily: based on the cover

Just finished Lick by Kylie Scott for the Popsugar prompt a book with a music group.

Listened to this on audible and loved it!

Evelyn wakes up in Vegas with a killer hangover and discovers she's married. Oops!

Buried in a Bog by Sheila Connolly

I read this one for the second sister city prompt in the Popsugar challenge. Apparently, Cork Ireland is a sister city to San Francisco. I don't get it, but whatever.

This read bored me to death, no pun intended. I usually like murder mysteries, but this was just boring. I will not continue the series, and nor do I recommend it.