The 52 Book Club: 2025 / 2026 Challenge discussion

WEEKLY CHECK-IN
August 6, 2025 -- Week 32

It's a new month and a new week! We're starting WEEK THIRTY-TWO of our 52bookclub challenge. What book(s) are you reading this week?

I'm currently reading The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan, Sing, Nightingale by Marie Hélène Poitras, and Sapphires & Souls: An Urban Fantasy Mystery by Parker Blue

Finishing up the audiobook for prompt #20 Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
Started Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins for prompt #3 starts with M

I just finished up The Stone Witch of Florence and Funny Story Next up will probably be 1984

I am reading A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas and listening to The Only One Left by Riley Sager

I am mixing it up with backlist and new releases:
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna- so charming, whimsical, and fun.
The Map of Lost Memories by Kim Fay - strong sense of place with a bit of thriller and a touch of romance.
Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry. Love, love, love the slow, easy pace of this tale, depicting the lives of everyday people in a small town from a simpler time.

I'm reading Jane Eyre (standalone novel) and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches (has a moon on the cover)

I’m currently reading Nolyn by Michael J. Sullivan and listening to The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home by Joseph Fink.

I'm listening to The Counterfeit Heiress by Tasha Alexander (no prompt), The Abominable Showman by Robert Rankin for a pun in the title, and just finished The Golden Gate by Amy Chua for a RL book club.

I just finished Orbital for prompt 22 (a found family trope) tonight. Tomorrow I am going to start The Swifts-A Dictionary of Scoundrels for Prompt 23 ( a sprayed edge).I am continuing to read John Adams (Prompt 29-shares universe with Prompt 28) and Don Quixote (Prompt 30-in the public domain).

I'm trying to get through Last Dance on the Starlight Pier. I've had it checked out from the library too long and can't renew it again. I might just let it go, but I've spent a lot of time on it already!

I'm reading Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui about the history of humans in the water; fascinating.
Currently listening to The Women by Kristin Hannah about an Army nurse in the Vietnam War. I'm about halfway through and think it is very good.

I am reading André Bjerke: I kampens glede by Peter Normann Waage for the Connections Challenge #4 Published the same year as the previous book (2018), I fantasins världar by Jan Broberg, World of Strange Phenomena by Charles Berlitz, and I should really fininsh Grendel by John Gardner for #21 Character's Name In The Title.

Tuesday I finished The Last Hour Between Worlds. Meh. Knocked out Prompt 38 though.

I started reading yesterday Mexican Gothic for Prompt 15: Latin American History. So far it's going well, but I'm thoroughly creeped out! This is my first time reading Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

I have two books on my "Slowly Reading" list:
-- In the Shadow of Man by Dr. Jane Goodall (going well, I'm just slow at reading nonfiction) for Prompt 44: A celebrity on the cover.
-- The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. I am transcribing this into braille for a student at work. I don't need to have it ready until school starts back up, and it's cringing me out so bad. This will cover Prompt 26: More than a million copies sold.

I am hoping that I get my Libby ebook copy of The Long Walk this week so I can complete Prompt 6: Genre set in Spring. I've been waiting since May! But I'm at the top of the list right now.

I've made up quite a bit of my schedule. I was behind 12 books at the start of July, and now I'm only behind 4 books! I'm hoping I can get ahead before work starts back up at the end of August. Because who knows what my reading will look like then.

I just started reading American Wife by Taya Kyle for prompt # 41.

I'm finishing up:
My Ántonia
The Correspondent
The Humans

Continuing:
Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World (connections challenge book 1)
War and Peace
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List

Starting:
Sense and Sensibility
Before We Forget Kindness
Atmosphere

I just finished Pride and Prejudice and am also reading Chasing Beauty: The Life of Isabella Stewart Gardner and The Fugitive, Volume 6 of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time.

That week I read The African Queen by C.S. Forester.