2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

Last year I joined the group halfway through the year, so I am excited to start from the beginning in January! I feel that it was only right to go for 25 in 2025.

Things I count as Read:
- Books (including audio)
- Narrative Story Podcasts
- Manga/Webtoons
- Short Stories

Reading Goal: 40/25

1. The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst ★★★.25
2. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown ★★.75
3. Fantasy World Vol 1: A Fantasy Series by J. Clair ★★★
4. The Magnus Protocol [Podcast] by Jonathan Sims ★★★.75
5. The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan ★★★★
6. One Hundred Years of SolitudeGabriel García Márquez ★★★★
7. The Accidental Heiress, Season 3 (Webtoon) ★★★.25
8. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot ★★.5
9. White Sand, Volume 1 by Brandon Sanderson ★★★.25
10. The Tale of The Rabbit and The Rose: 20th Anniversary Edition by Veronica Elizabeth Low ★★★
11. The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley ★★★.25
12. My Guide to RPG Storytelling by Aron Christensen ★★★
13. Peeling Oranges: A Collection of Poetry by Maria Giesbrecht ★★★.25
14. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin ★★★★
15. Don't Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo ★★★.5
16. Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green ★★★.75
17. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas ★★★.25
18. Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl ★★★
19. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho ★★★.75
20. The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang ★★★★.5
21. The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown ★★★.5
22. Total Party Kill by Craig Francis Power ★★.5
23. Spring by Joe Latham ★★★
24. Inferno by Dan Brown ★★★.75
25. Bats of the Republic: An Illuminated Novel by Zachary Thomas Dodson ★★★.5
26. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain ★★★.25
27. Love Poems ★★★.5
28. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas ★★.5
29. Origin by Dan Brown ★★.25
30. The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo ★★★.75
31. The Hungry Mouth at the Edge of Space and the Goddess Knitting at Home by Renan Bernardo ★★.75
32. Lore Olympus: Volume One by Rachel Smythe ★★.75
33. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune ★★★★.25
34. Summer by Joe Latham ★★★.25
35. Heartstopper: Volume One by Alice Oseman ★★★.5
36. The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan ★★★★.75
37. Weyward by Emilia Hart ★★★.75
38. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson ★★★★
39. Cells at Work!, Vol. 1 by Akane Shimizu ★★★★
40. Heartstopper: Volume Two by Alice Oseman ★★★★

Let's do it!

Good luck with your reading challenge in 2025, Rhi 😊.
I hope you have a fantastic year filled with lots of amazing books.

Happy reading!

Made it to 10 books and its only April!

We are a third of the way through the year and I've made it to 15 books! I have been on a roll recently, but I have also been reading smaller books then I typically do, so that I think has a lot to do with it.

My average rating so far is 3.3★. I have been trying to be more thoughtful when rating this year, I typically rate things a little too generously as long as I don't dislike the book. I have also been trying to use the .25 system of star ratings to help with this.

So far I think my favourite book was The Dragon Reborn, as I have really been enjoying The Wheel of Time series and am currently reading The Shadow Rising (which is 1050 pages!!)

A close second might be One Hundred Years of Solitude. Even though I did not rate it as high, I have honestly not stopped thinking about it and enjoyed it a lot. I think that perhaps I was a little too hasty with my rating.

Another book worth mentioning is Don't Sleep with the Dead. I only just finished it and think I may change my rating to 4★, but I think there may be some recently bias still (and some bias for Nghi Vo, who I love dearly)

Hi Rhi! Looks like you're smashing your goal! Way to go! I hope you are enjoying lots of amazing books along the way. Happy reading!

We are halfway through the year!

I have slowed down since the the end of spring and have only completed 5 more books since my last major update. My highest rated book so far is The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang with 4.5★!

I'm also only 5 books away from my goal so I definitely expect to surpass it!

We are now 3/4 of the way through the year! I passed my reading goal of 25 books back at the end of July and have now reached 35/25. This year I have read a lot more smaller and easier books such as graphic novels, poetry collections, young/middle grade and short stories/novellas. Due to this I have smashed through my original goal very easily.

So far this year most of the books I've read have been pretty mid. This is probably due to my choice of easier/small books. Since my last update, the only really notable book I enjoyed more then others was The House in the Cerulean Sea!

As of writing, I have only rated 5 book above 4 stars:
- The Dragon Republic
- The House in the Cerulean Sea
- The Dragon Reborn
- A Game of Thrones
- One Hundred Years of Solitude

I have a loose goal for the remainder of the year which is to focus more on Novels (sort of a quality over quantity of books going forward).

Rhi, congratulations on crushing your goal! Awesome! While the books may have been shorter and sparser, you still have indeed read them. I'll be cheering you on as you finish the year with secondary loose goal of reading novels!