2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

Progress: 96/100

Having read 99 books in 2024, I am aiming to read at least 100 books in 2025. I am posting this half way through the year and are over ¾’s of the way through my challenge so have no doubts that I will be able to meet this goal, even if my reading has slown down.


Books Read

1. How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie
2. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
3. Endsinger by Jay Kristoff
4. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Alice in Wonderland: The Complete Collection by Lewis Carroll
6. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
7. Nerve / Smokescreen by Dick Francis
8. Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead
9. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide by Mary-Jane Knight
10. The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
11. The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
12. Succubus Heat by Richelle Mead
13. The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket
14. Succubus Shadows by Richelle Mead
15. From Below by Darcy Coates
16. Succubus Revealed by Richelle Mead
17. The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket
18. His Black Tongue by Mitchell Lüthi
19. Think Again by Jacqueline Wilson
20. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
21. A Is for Alien: An ABC Book (20th Century Studios) by Charles Gould and Joey Chou
22. Wolf's Bane by Kelley Armstrong
23. The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
24. Beg Me to Slay by Lisa Kessler
25. Good Girls Don't by Mara Wilson
26. At Night, I Become a Monster by Yoru Sumino
27. A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair
28. Always a Bridesmaid by Erin Clark and Laura Lovely
29. This Is Not A Kid's Book: Sleepover by Andrew Racho and Winendra Adi
30. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
31. The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes
32. Valour by John Gwynne
33. The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket
34. A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair
35. The Dark Between the Trees by Fiona Barnett
36. Hunted by Darcy Coates
37. The Chase by Reece Barden
38. Journal 29 by Dimitris Chassapakis
39. A Touch of Malice by Scarlett St. Clair
40. A Touch of Chaos by Scarlett St. Clair
41. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
42. The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket
43. Doomed Romances: Strange Tales of Uncanny Love edited by Joanne Ella Parsons
44. Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning
45. The Hunt by Reece Barden
46. Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation, Vol. 1 by Simon Spurrier, Daniel Bayliss and Dan Jackson
47. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
48. The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket
49. The Wicked and the Dead by Melissa Marr
50. Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
51. The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket
52. Blood Martinis & Mistletoe by Melissa Marr
53. The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket
54. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
55. The Kiss & The Killer by Melissa Marr
56. The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket
57. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
58. The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2: Love Bites edited by Trisha Telep
59. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
60. An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
61. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
62. The Heidi Trilogy: Heidi / Heidi Grows up / Heidi's Children by Johanna Spyri and Charles Tritten
63. Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
64. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
65. Song of Souls: A Pied Piper Retelling by Skye MacKinnon
66. The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan and Haley Riordan
67. Lord Loss by Darren Shan
68. The End by Lemony Snicket
69. Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
70. Ghost Camera by Darcy Coates
71. Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman
72. Ruin by John Gwynne
73. The Hexed & The Hunted by Melissa Marr
74. Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates
75. Briardark by S.A. Harian
76. The Crash by Freida McFadden
77. The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients by Irvin D. Yalom
78. Dragon Day by Bob Proehl
79. Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel
80. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
81. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
82. The Collectors by Philip Pullman
83. Waywarden by S.A. Harian
84. Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman
85. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
86. The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
87. Lark and the Wild Hunt by Jennifer Adam
88. Let's Get Digital: How to Self-Publish, and Why You Should by David Gaughran
89. 1984 by George Orwell
90. Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto
91. The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
92. The Excitements by C.J. Wray
93. The Indie Author Mindset: How changing your way of thinking can transform your writing career by Adam L Croft
94. Wrath by John Gwynne
95. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
96. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
97. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker
98. Demon Thief by Darren Shan
99. Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
100. The Will of the Many by James Islington
101. Blood Slaves by Markus Redmond
102. King of Wrath by Ana Huang

Hi Amber! You are smashing your goal, and then some! Amazing! I hope there have been lots of fantastic reads so far this year. I enjoyed The Bear and the Nightingale and Hamnet. And you really can't go wrong with Tolkien J R R. Happy reading!

JennH wrote: "Hi Amber! You are smashing your goal, and then some! Amazing! I hope there have been lots of fantastic reads so far this year. I enjoyed The Bear and the Nightingale and [book:Hamne..."

Thank you, I had the advantage of being able to listen to audiobooks at work towards the beginning of the year.

I expected to enjoy The Bear and the Nightingale, but Hamnet really blew me away.

January

Books Read: 16
Progress: 16/100

This was a good start to the year in terms of reading. Work was busy but most of the time I was able to listen to audiobooks. This led to be reading 13 audiobooks and 2 physical books.

1. How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie
2. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
3. Endsinger by Jay Kristoff
4. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Alice in Wonderland: The Complete Collection by Lewis Carroll
6. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
7. Nerve / Smokescreen by Dick Francis
8. Succubus Dreams by Richelle Mead
9. Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide by Mary-Jane Knight
10. The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
11. The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
12. Succubus Heat by Richelle Mead
13. The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket
14. Succubus Shadows by Richelle Mead
15. From Below by Darcy Coates
16. Succubus Revealed by Richelle Mead

February

Books Read: 21
Progress: 37/100

Another good reading month in terms of audiobooks. Again, this was because it was busy at work and I was able to listen to audibooks while I was there. 17 books were audiobook.

17. The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket
18. His Black Tongue by Mitchell Lüthi
19. Think Again by Jacqueline Wilson
20. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
21. A Is for Alien: An ABC Book (20th Century Studios) by Charles Gould and Joey Chou
22. Wolf's Bane by Kelley Armstrong
23. The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
24. Beg Me to Slay by Lisa Kessler
25. Good Girls Don't by Mara Wilson
26. At Night, I Become a Monster by Yoru Sumino
27. A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair
28. Always a Bridesmaid by Erin Clark and Laura Lovely
29. This Is Not A Kid's Book: Sleepover by Andrew Racho and Winendra Adi
30. All Systems Red by Martha Wells
31. The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes
32. Valour by John Gwynne
33. The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket
34. A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair
35. The Dark Between the Trees by Fiona Barnett
36. Hunted by Darcy Coates
37. The Chase by Reece Barden

March

Books Read: 12
Progress: 49/100

Yet again it was busy at work but I was able to listen to audiobooks while there. I read 8 audiobooks. I was also able to finish some books that I had been reading for a long time.

38. Journal 29 by Dimitris Chassapakis
39. A Touch of Malice by Scarlett St. Clair
40. A Touch of Chaos by Scarlett St. Clair
41. The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
42. The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket
43. Doomed Romances: Strange Tales of Uncanny Love edited by Joanne Ella Parsons
44. Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning
45. The Hunt by Reece Barden
46. Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation, Vol. 1 by Simon Spurrier, Daniel Bayliss and Dan Jackson
47. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
48. The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket
49. The Wicked and the Dead by Melissa Marr

April

Books Read: 18
Progress: 67/100

I left my job! That means I will probably not be listening to as many audiobooks as I was. April was also the Magical Readathon Spring Semester so I tried to get a lot of reading done. I ended up listening to more (9) audiobooks than I expected due to time spent gardening and time spent walking a pair of dogs we were looking after.

50. Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
51. The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket
52. Blood Martinis & Mistletoe by Melissa Marr
53. The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket
54. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
55. The Kiss & The Killer by Melissa Marr
56. The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket
57. I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
58. The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2: Love Bites edited by Trisha Telep
59. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
60. An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
61. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
62. The Heidi Trilogy: Heidi / Heidi Grows up / Heidi's Children by Johanna Spyri and Charles Tritten
63. Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
64. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
65. Song of Souls: A Pied Piper Retelling by Skye MacKinnon
66. The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan and Haley Riordan
67. Lord Loss by Darren Shan

May

Books Read: 15
Progress: 82/100

I read more books than I expected this month. This was in part due to deep cleaning the kitchen and discovering Stardew Valley which led to, yes, listening to more audiobooks, some of which were quite short. They are definitely making up the bulk of my reading this year.

68. The End by Lemony Snicket
69. Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
70. Ghost Camera by Darcy Coates
71. Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman
72. Ruin by John Gwynne
73. The Hexed & The Hunted by Melissa Marr
74. Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates
75. Briardark by S.A. Harian
76. The Crash by Freida McFadden
77. The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients by Irvin D. Yalom
78. Dragon Day by Bob Proehl
79. Goddess of the River by Vaishnavi Patel
80. The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
81. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
82. The Collectors by Philip Pullman

AmbWitch wrote: "JennH wrote: "Hi Amber! You are smashing your goal, and then some! Amazing! I hope there have been lots of fantastic reads so far this year. I enjoyed The Bear and the Nightingale a..."

What an awesome perk of the job! I've heard of others being able to listen to audiobooks at work, but I've never had been so lucky myself.

Yes, Hamnet has stuck with me. Sadly, I didn't really enjoy her following book, The Marriage Portrait that much though.

JennH wrote: "What an awesome perk of the job! I've heard of others being able to listen to audiobooks at work, but I've never had been so lucky myself.

Yes, Hamnet has stuck..."

It was honestly what kept me sane at work.

That's a shame about The Marriage Portrait. I keep thinking about trying Maggie O'Farrell's other work but arn't sure.

AmbWitch wrote: "JennH wrote: "What an awesome perk of the job! I've heard of others being able to listen to audiobooks at work, but I've never had been so lucky myself.

Yes, Hamnet has stuck..."

It was honestly ..."

Well, maybe it was just me. Because The Marriage Portrait is rated very well. I've got my eye on her memoir, I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death and the title, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, intrigues me.

JennH wrote: "Well, maybe it was just me. Because The Marriage Portrait is rated very well. I've got my eye on her memoir, I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death and the title, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, intrigues me..."

Yes, I think it's her memori that interests me, but I have a feeling it's something I won't get to for a very long time, my TBR is outragious, haha.

AmbWitch wrote: "JennH wrote: "Well, maybe it was just me. Because The Marriage Portrait is rated very well. I've got my eye on her memoir, I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death and the title, The Vanishin..."

Same here with my TBR! I think I've designated I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death as a readathon book. And as we have a team readathon coming up, if it works for any of the prompts, I think it'll be time to read it.

June

Read more than I expected as it doesn't feel like I spent that much time reading. Although, compared to previous months I didn't read much.

Books Read: 9
Progress: 91/100

83. Waywarden by S.A. Harian
84. Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman
85. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
86. The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
87. Lark and the Wild Hunt by Jennifer Adam
88. Let's Get Digital: How to Self-Publish, and Why You Should by David Gaughran
89. 1984 by George Orwell
90. Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto
91. The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields

July

I didn't really read that much this month.

92. The Excitements by C.J. Wray
93. The Indie Author Mindset: How changing your way of thinking can transform your writing career by Adam L Croft
94. Wrath by John Gwynne
95. Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
96. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Woohoo! Congratulations on hitting your goal, Amber! And still going strong!

JennH wrote: "Woohoo! Congratulations on hitting your goal, Amber! And still going strong!"



Thank you!

I didn't read as much as I wanted this month as I had other obligations BUT I hit 100 books!

97. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker
98. Demon Thief by Darren Shan
99. Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
100. The Will of the Many by James Islington
101. Blood Slaves by Markus Redmond
102. King of Wrath by Ana Huang