2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

I used to read quite a bit, but somewhere along the way I got to the point where I'd maybe read one book the whole year. So I'm hoping to read at least 30, but hopefully closer to 50 this year. And I'm knitting a book snake to keep track and motivate me!

I got to a late start this year so I ended up starting at the very end of January and finished in February. So I'll start tracking from there!

February Reads:
A Court of Thorns and Roses
The Midnight Library
Dune
The Nightingale
The Duke and I

Total so far: 5

March Reads:
The Ministry of Time
Testaments
Little Fires Everywhere
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue
Beyond the Wand

Total so far: 10

April Reads:
Magic Lessons
Rules of Magic
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
The Rose Code
The Silent Patient

Total so far: 15

May has been busy that I barely got any reading in at the beginning, but I managed to get in a few audiobooks and ended up finishing 4 books this month. (Had one DNF)

May Reads:
Circe
Fourth Wing
Iron Flame
A Court of Mist and Fury

Total so far: 19

June Reads:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Onyx Storm
A Court of Wings and Ruin

Total so far: 22

Hi Ashley! It's great to see you getting back into reading. Looks like you're hitting your goal and then some! We're here to cheer you on as you reach it! I am intrigued about this book snake you're knitting. I remember reading about knitting a temperature blanket some time ago. Is this something along the lines of that?

I hope you have been enjoying lots of terrific books. Of your books, I really liked The Nightingale, The Court of Thorns and Roses series, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, to name of few. Which have been your favorites? Happy reading!

I'm also intrigued by your book snake. How does it work? Do you add colours dependent on what you've read?

JennH wrote: "Hi Ashley! It's great to see you getting back into reading. Looks like you're hitting your goal and then some! We're here to cheer you on as you reach it! I am intrigued about this book snake you'r..."

Hey Jenn! Thank you! I'm really happy I've managed to keep it going. The book snake is definitely keeping me motivated and is a fun visual track record of my progress. I came across it on Instagram.

Basically, you come up with a set of categories you're likely to read and assign them colours. Then, when you finish a book, you knit a stripe in the matching colour. I got the pattern from @bookaroundfindout on Insta if you're interested. 😊

As for favourites, I am a sucker for anything fantasy or historical, so those books you mentioned ranked pretty high for me this year. I did also enjoy Circe, the Ministry of Time, and the Fourth Wing series.

AmbWitch wrote: "I'm also intrigued by your book snake. How does it work? Do you add colours dependent on what you've read?"

Hey Ambwitch! I kind of explained most of it in my other reply, but to make it my own I made a couple tweaks. The pattern called for a set number of rows per book, but I thought it would be more interesting to do a row per hundred pages. I think it helps to see my progress more accurately, especially if I'm spending ages reading a longer book. (Slowly reading Anna Karenina and that'll be a chunky stripe!)

My second tweak was to play with colour patterns for books that fall in more that one genre. So I've been teaching myself stranded knitting while I'm at it.

That sounds quite cool. I just noticed that there's a knitted snake in your profile picture so I assume that's the one? It looks good, I like the idea behind it.

Yup! that's the snake! 😊

June Reads Continued:
Red Rising
Tress of the Emerald Sea

Total so far: 24

⋆ A s h l e y ⋆ wrote: "JennH wrote: "Hi Ashley! It's great to see you getting back into reading. Looks like you're hitting your goal and then some! We're here to cheer you on as you reach it! I am intrigued about this bo..."

That's so neat! It is indeed a fun way to keep track. I only wish I was organized enough to do something like this. 😊 Can't wait to see the finished product at the end of the year!

So July was too busy, and I didn't get any reading beyond one quick read.

July Reads:

Lessons in Chemistry

Total so far: 25

August reads: *crickets*...

Ashley, hope you’re getting closer to your goal, knitting your cool snake, and enjoying your 2025 reads!

Haha so... July and August happened and reading did not. Summer was just so busy!

Hello September and back to school mayhem!

September Reads:

A Conjuring of Light

Total so far: 26

October reads:

The Diamond Eye
The Fragile Threads of Power

Total so far: 28

November Reads: