The Perks Of Being A Book Addict discussion

UNO 2026 Starts on February 1, and sign ups are open

Can't wait to start playing?

Would you like to chat to other UNO addicts - there are plenty of us!

Feel free to chat about everything and anything here :)

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Good introductory info:

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience
📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years?
📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)?
📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)?

R

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Hello Everyone!

Excited to be playing with you all for another year. 😊

📕 I'm Mel, participating in UNO since 2017 and also one of the moderators since 2021.

📕While my original favourite genres are still the Classics and Fantasy & Golden Age Detective Fiction, they have been joined by History (both the non-fiction and fiction kind) and there are definitely some shifts in the % of the genres I'm reading. Thanks to GR friends and challenges I am reading more widely than before. My avoidance of Horror is still unchanged, though.

📕If I could choose to read books again for the first time, ... tall order, but these would be my top choices:

Pride and Prejudice,
The Lord of the Rings &
The Goblin Emperor

📕I had some great reads in 2025. The highlights were





&

My letdowns were:

So happy to see this open to today! 😊 Signing up momentarily.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Happy New Year! 😊

Happy New Year! And I'm so in again. 😁

Hello UNO fanatics! 😊

Frida wrote: ""

🤣

Hey everyone, so happy to be back for UNO again!

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience
I'm Lady Tea (named after the beverage--have a minor Earl Gray obsession--, 'Tea' is not my real name) and I've been playing UNO...I think every year since 2020 or 2021? I forget, but anyways, I've done tons of group challenges before and I'm really looking forward to it!

📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years?
Offhand, I'd say Gothics are my favourite genres, but I rarely read them. To me, Gothics died as a genre along with Henry James, and an authors who claim that they write Gothics nowadays are just lackluster in my opinion, not real Gothics. So I don't read those often.
I have been reading a lot of romance for the past 2-3 years, though I am looking to get back into more thrillers and literary fiction.

📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)?
Hm....definitely by Clive Barker, though every time I re-read it, it does still bring the same wonder as the very first time I read it. I'm DYING for him to finally release the next book of the series (much like the world is waiting for George R.R. to actually write something), but just pray that he won't die before releasing the works.
Also...I guess I'd like my mind to be wiped clean of books that I've loved like , just so that I can rediscover the mystery anew and have all the spine-tingling chills that go along with that!

📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)?
*checks 2025 reads to remember what the heck I actually read. Then, proceeds to make a list of 5 best and 5 worst*
**NOTE: I did quite a few re-reads last year, so I'll skip over those.**

BEST
1. -- I just KNEW I would fall in love with this and it would become one of my all-time favourites, and lo and behold, it has. Nothing has touched my heart quite like this!
2. -- Technically, this should be the entire Murderbot Diaries, because I just discovered it this year, but YES. I love everything about Murderbot and THIS book, the full-length novel of the series, is one of the best things to ever come out of sci-fi, bar none! (Dying for the next book in the series this year, not even questioning, just fishing out my wallet to BUY.
3. -- Gah, this was heart-wrenching! It actually made me CRY, which never happens, so that's impressive right there!
4. -- my first time reading this, but it was absolutely BRILLIANT!
5. -- gave me goosebumps, was addictive to read. Scared me because I listened to the audiobook of this at night as well, and kept feeling literal chills. (And loving every minute of it!)
HONOURABLE MENTIONS: &


WORST
1. -- If I could do the equivalent of murdering this, I would. I can't even express in words how much I hate this piece of trash, except to mention that part of the reason I hate it so much is because so many people for some reason read it and though it was 'good'. Comparing it to the immortal Jane Eyre is a cardinal sin in my eyes though, and I'm Inquisition-style ready to punish that. -_-
2. -- This book DEVASTATED me. Unlike Verity, which is way worse as widespread garbage, this book definitely didn't impact as many people, but for me PERSONALLY, it ruined what was such a great series, a great MC, and just...gah! Everything was ruined in this, and became like the New Moon version of everything--in other words, taking everything that was even a little good about Twilight and just chucking it out the window for a forced and stupid love triangle. I HATED it and what it did to the heroine of the series, whom until then was an awesome badass!
3. -- If I could murder the "hero" of this, I would. -_-
4. -- this book is singularly insulting to Native American culture. The only reason it doesn't rank worser is because it was surprisingly readable (like, I didn't feel the need to DNF it, shockingly enough), so it survives to the midway point.
5. -- the only reason this didn't rank worser is because I was EXPECTING it to be terrible, and so, in that sense, it didn't disappoint. xD
_________________________________

Haha, as you can tell from above, I will have a lot to say about books. :D

I participated in UNO for the first time last year and once I got the hang of it I had a blast! So excited for it to start up again.

Lady Tea wrote: "Hey everyone, so happy to be back for UNO again!

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience
I'm Lady Tea (named after the beverage--have a minor Earl Gray obsession--, 'Tea' is not my real name) and I've ..."

Talking about books is much appreciated. Thanks for this. 😊

And Murderbot is worthy of all the love we can pour on it. Very excited for the next instalment to get published.

Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) wrote: "I participated in UNO for the first time last year and once I got the hang of it I had a blast! So excited for it to start up again."

You have stepped on the slippery slope of challenges. 😉

Yay, it's UNO time! I first played in 2016 - so year 11 for me. This was the Challenge that started it all. It feels like something is missing if I'm not reading for a Challenge. I read anything and everything and have read some great books... and some not so great ones. (And Space Smut always comes in handy for a Mini-Challenge, LOL)

Traditionally I have been a romance reader... in all its forms. But lately I've moved away from that a bit and really enjoy historical murder mysteries.

Favourite book last year had to be the finale of Jay Kristoff's Empire of the Vampire series - - what a finish. And the main character Gabriel de Leon aka Gabe the Babe... swoon!

And most disappointing probably the latest Cormoran Strike by Robert Galbraith. Love the characters but the plot was just too convoluted and sheesh if Robin and Strike just talked to each other they'd be together in a hot minute!

Book I would like to read again for the first time -

despite all the hype it is the most beautifully written book in the English language.

and The Fever series by Karen M Moning. Book 4 had the best cliffhanger ever!

Can't wait for Uno 2026 to start - I've been hording colour covers since last year! Happy reading everyone.

Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "I've been hording colour covers since last year! Happy reading..."

🤭 The perfect UNO-attitude! 😄

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience I'm Vikki from Northern Ireland. This will be my 4th time playing UNO. I've done lots of other team challenges in other groups.
📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years? My favourite is crime / thriller. That hasn't really changed as an adult. The other genres I read tend to be fantasy, historical fiction, chick lit... it depends on my mood which I read most of. Last year it was fantasy.
📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)? I'd love to re-read the Harry Potter for the first time. I loved the whole wizarding world and remember the excitement for the new books coming out. I even bought the last book at midnight.
📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)? I did a chart to try to work out my favourite book and it ended up being Can’t Run, Can’t Hide by Yrsa Sigurdardottir closely followed by The Final Vow by M W Craven.
Disappointing read.... there was one I rated 1 star but I can't say I was disappointed as I didn't have any expectations for it. I'd say the one that disappointed me the most was The Puzzle Wood

Melindam wrote: "Talking about books is much appreciated. Thanks for this. 😊

And Murderbot is worthy of all the love we can pour on it. Very excited for the next instalment to get published."

Haha, thanks!
And yes, very excited for that, though it will be at the end of May, I think, so we won't be able to use it for UNO. xP

I’m glad to see there are other Verity haters out there. I read it a few years ago and I still rant about it when someone brings it up. I have to say it did have Jane Eyre vibes but I just felt like Verity took the story of Jane Eyre and then messed it up. Then again pretty much any retelling of Jane Eyre I’ve hated.

And Murderbot Diaries I absolutely adore. My husband and I listen to them together when a new one comes out. Very much looking forward to the newest novel.

Hi all, this is my 9th UNO, I think. According to my shelf my first was in 2017.

I over the last five years or so I’ve been reading a lot of alien romance and fantasy. I also enjoy history romance, science fiction, and nonfiction about history that takes a deep dive into an event or invention. Horror is really the only genre I avoid though sometimes there are crossover books I enjoy.

Best books were and

Most disappointing book: . This was more about it not being the right book for me.

Hello everyone!

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience

Karen - started Uno way back when on a whim. Have been a team challenge addict since joining NBRC in 2012

📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years?

Not genres, really, I just love character driven novels. Which lends itself to fantasy, HF mostly but I also enjoy pretty much anything except horror

📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)?

Looking at everyone's above I agree with so many and can't decide!!! Wuthering Heights is definitely up there as I just remember being taken away by the story as a teen and just loving it. Looking forward to the upcoming film too

📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)?

Best was Finishing The Way of Kings series (Branden Sanderson) and also which was one of those which surprised me with it's impact.
I actually had no 1 or 2 star reads last year. I have become really quite ruthless with my tbr which helps. For example, If the book has been on my tbr for a while and has a GR rating of less than 3.5, unless I am dying to read it, it gets culled 🤣

Hi all,

-- My name is Marie-Anne. I'm originally from Flanders (Belgium) and currently live in the Pacific Northwest (US). I've participated in a few individual challenges for a long time but didn't explore team challenges until a few years ago. I've done several team challenges now and I'm loving the experience.

-- My favorite genres are mystery, including historical mysteries, and fantasy, but not much those with vampires and time travel. But I read almost everything, history, thrillers. I also like a lot of non-fiction - mostly those related to science, computer science, mathematics, archaeology, mythology, ballet, music and art. I particularly like biographies in those fields.

-- I re-read regularly and am currently starting over all the Agatha Christie mysteries - in order. Why? They are quick and fun. This has been a year where I didn't want to tackle to many weighty tomes.

-- Looking back on 2025, I discovered some new mystery series I'm enjoying, including those by Con Lehane connected to the New York Library, Elaine Viets Angela Richman Death Scene Investigator series, and Dana Stabenow's series set in Cleopatra's time in Egypt. I also really enjoyed The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, The Omega Factor on the Gent Altarpiece, The Oxford Murders, a nifty mathematical puzzle mystery, and The Eighth Detective. My top non-fiction book was This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race - very scary!
There were some disappointments, but I got something out of those also.

Annalisa wrote: "I’m glad to see there are other Verity haters out there. I read it a few years ago and I still rant about it when someone brings it up. I have to say it did have Jane Eyre vibes but I just felt lik..."

Actually, I maintain that it's nothing like Jane Eyre, because there are a few key differences, like:

1 - Edward Rochester never murdered his wife.
2 - Jane Eyre was NOT okay being with him since he was still married.

In fact, though probably no one has read it, Verity is pretty much like a messed-up version of Dragonwyck. I think people's minds just jump to Jane Eyre because that's a way more famous book, but trust me: once you read Dragonwyck, you'll see WAY more parallels there.

I think for me it was less about the characters and more about the setting. The house in Verity and the manor in a Jane Eyre were described in similar ways. So the suggestion from that edned up in my head and didn’t leave.
Did you enjoy Dragonwyck?

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience
My name is Ashley and I haven't participated in a team challenge in 1 day.

📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years?
They have changed. Traditionally, I'm a fantasy girly, maybe a side of romance. But as I've... aged Classics and Bio's and Sci Fi have crept in. Now I like just about anything.

📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)?
This is a far too difficult question.... I will just say the series that got me into BIG reading... The Lord of the Rings.

📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)?
Best - the ENTIRE Dungeon Crawler Carl series (I'm eagerly awaiting the next this year).
Worst - Pucking Around ... 🤢 Oh, Ashley, why didn't you like it? Oh, allow me to ...

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Big sigh. This book.

Let me preface this with a disclaimer. I like the “reverse harem” / “why choose?” trope. I don’t care about the order of operations: who’s with who first, how they get there, or what creative furniture is involved. I also love stupid, cheesy dialogue and over-the-top lines that make me laugh, even when they’re nowhere near smart or groundbreaking. That is not the problem here.

The problem? Is it the sketchy doctor/patient power dynamic? No. The wet-noodle FMC? Also no. It’s that this thing is nearly 800 pages long when it maybe, maybe, had enough story for 300. The conflict is paper-thin, and the insta-love kills any tension before it starts. If you’re going to have a woman and three men end up together, you need an actual climb to get there. We can’t all just yell "Yay! Let’s do it!" like horny cheerleaders and call it a plot.

Rachel, our wet-noodle, is annoying. I have no idea why these guys are so obsessed with her. Caleb and Jake have the closest thing to a relationship arc, and Ilmari? He’s just a random add-on, like a DLC nobody asked for. If I wanted that experience, I’d just play The Sims and set someone on fire. Instead, my brain is the thing in ashes.

When Rachel asked herself if she should stay or go, I was screaming, GO! Let these men rest in peace! Ugh.

I wanted messy, chaotic fun. What I got was a very long book where the only real journey was how fast my enthusiasm died.

Really looking forward to this year's round of Uno! I've played several times, though I can't recall how many, lol.

I love this game so much!

Lady Tea wrote: "In fact, though probably no one has read it, Verity is pretty much like a messed-up version of Dragonwyck. I think people's minds just jump to Jane Eyre because that's a way more famous book..."

I've read and watched the movie Dragonwyck with Vincent Price :-) I loved the book (the movie is visually gorgeous but it just doesn't live up to the book). Note to self: avoid Verity.

Also The Raging Quiet and Dead of Winter are favourites of mine so I approve of your reading tastes ;-) Btw Green Darkness has also a gothic feel to it but it's time travel in case that's a dealbreaker. Since you're a fellow gothic fiction enthousiast, have you tried anything by Laura Purcell ?

Oh dear, Dragonwyck could be just finding its way onto my TBR.... 🤭

Happy New Year everyone!

Oh I always look forward to getting my reading off to a good start with UNO, Im thinking its around 8 years Ive been playing now.

Any Thriller fans out there? I recently saw - The Housemaid over the holidays. Book to film adaptation. Now Im usually disappointed the films always fall short, but nope not with this one.... the acting was so so good and it stayed very close to the book, bar a couple of subtle changes.

Amanda Seyfried - brilliant, I will watch anything she is in. Then of course Brandon 🤤 need I say anymore🤣

Oh wow, so much to reply to! (Thanks everyone, glad I got a conversation going!

Annalisa wrote: "Did you enjoy Dragonwyck?"

Yes I did, I think I gave it 4/5 stars. I liked the first half more than the second half, as the stakes felt higher and the heroine was more interesting at time part.

Audrey Jane wrote: "I've read and watched the movie Dragonwyck with Vincent Price :-) I loved the book (the movie is visually gorgeous but it just doesn't live up to the book). Note to self: avoid Verity.

Also The Raging Quiet and Dead of Winter are favourites of mine so I approve of your reading tastes ;-) Btw Green Darkness has also a gothic feel to it but it's time travel in case that's a dealbreaker. Since you're a fellow gothic fiction enthousiast, have you tried anything by Laura Purcell ?"

Same, I've also seen the movie! Love me some Vincent Price and Gene Tierney! <3 (Although I liked them both much more in Laura, if you've seen that?
And yes, definitely the book is better, but I felt that the film did justice to it as well, considering it was only released 3 years after the book came out! And yes, definitely AVOID Verity.

I'm so glad to meet someone else who's read The Raging Quiet and Dead of Winter--especially for The Raging Quiet, as I feel that's kind of a niche book that not everyone might try out. I've also read Green Darkness, actually, and gave it 5/5 stars, actually. Yes, the time travel part was weird, but I just kind of ignore the beginning and end parts, as it's the whole "illicit romance" part in the middle that really intrigues me, as well as the historical fiction setting. Ah, good times! I remember reading it in university when taking a 1500s-present history course, so I got all the references as well! As for Laura Purcell, I have "The Silence Companions" on my to-read list, but haven't read anything by her yet. Why? Would you recommend her as good, or as someone to avoid?

Melindam wrote: "Oh dear, Dragonwyck could be just finding its way onto my TBR.... 🤭"

It's definitely not as perfect as Jane Eyre, but if you've read Verity, you'll definitely see more of the plot parallels there.

I forgot to include my favorite book in my year-in-review 🤣
- 5 stars!

Ashley wrote: "📕 Name & Team Challenge experience
My name is Ashley and I haven't participated in a team challenge in 1 day.
..."

haha
welcome Ashley.
And based on your review, I'm surprised you gave it 2 stars!

I love Jane Eyre which makes me a bit concerned about Dragonwyck and Verity 🤣
A friend gave me Verity years ago and it is still sitting on the bookshelf

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience
My name is Natasha and I've been on multiple team challenges, but this will be my first time playing UNO

📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years?
Mine are fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, science, history, nature, and literary criticism.

📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)?
Lord of the Rings. It's such a magical book and I always love rereading it. I think it would be incredible to be able to reread it again since I could experience that magic for the first time

📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)?
I really enjoyed Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Call of the Wild, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, and The Silmarillion. My disappointing reads are: The Girl in Red and Theft of Swords.

Aloha from Hawaii! My name is Lauri & I’m born & raised in Hawaii. I love these big team challenges. This will be my 11th time playing UNO!

📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years?
My favorite genres are historical fiction, mystery/cozy mysteries & chick lit.
📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)?
Wow! This is a hard question but we’ll start with these: The Clan of the Cave Bear The Joy Luck Club Outlander The Red Tent The Kite Runner



📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)?
And as far as 2025 went, there were no disappointments! I most enjoyed The Ten Thousand Doors of January Agatha Arch Is Afraid of Everything Remarkably Bright Creatures The Reading List What You Are Looking for Is in the Library

Hi Paulette, Marie-Anne, Laurie & Natasha! 😊

Annalisa wrote: "I’m glad to see there are other Verity haters out there. I read it a few years ago and I still rant about it when someone brings it up. I have to say it did have Jane Eyre vibes but I just felt lik..."

Add me to the list of Verity haters. I despised that piece of garbage. I read because it was a book club choice and it was surprisingly polarizing..and I say surprising because that means a few people actually liked it. One of the worse books I've ever read

Lady Tea wrote:

"Melindam wrote: "Oh dear, Dragonwyck could be just finding its way onto my TBR.... 🤭"

It's definitely not as perfect as Jane Eyre, but if you've read Verity, you'll definitely see more of the plot parallels there.


I have never read a book by Colleen Hoover. Somehow she's just one of those popular authors that I just don't feel like trying, though maybe I will...some day :)

Reading all these comments, I'm kind of glad that after It Ends with Us I refused to touch another Hoover book, so I've never been tempted to try Verity.

I liked her Confess and Ugly Love, but in hindsight, I wonder if they were as good as I thought they were at the time.... not going to revisit though.

Hello everyone!

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience: I'm Sarah, and this is my first year joining in on Uno
📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years?: Horror, and thrillers have always been my go to/palette cleansers whenever I've read too much romance. Cozy mysteries are up there too though, but honestly? I'll read anything.
📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)?: Oh jeez, I'd love to re-read A Court of Thorns and Roses, Fourth Wing, The Hunger Games and Legendborn again for the first time.
📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)?: My favorite read was Breathe In, Bleed Out and I was so disappointed with Boys with Sharp Teeth. I'd gotten an arc for it, and I had to dnf it.

Sarah wrote: " but honestly? I'll read anything."

Ideal challenger material! 😅

Hey everyone :)

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience: I'm Aoife, used to be very active in group challenges & hoping to get back into them this year :)
📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years?: Mystery (cosy & suspense), fantasy, romance. I have expanded my genres but I always go back to fantasy! I read basically everything and will try most books if I can find them but non-fiction wouldn't be for me
📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why): Foster & Meddling Kids I would love to read both again for the first time.
📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)? 2025 wasn't a great year for reading for me, didn't have one 5* read for the first time in a while! Once & Future, Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping On a Dead Man & She's a Killer were my favourite reads from last year tho! Disappointing reads were The One That Got Away & A Crepe to Die For

Welcome (back), Aoife! 😊

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience
Andy - 6th time UNO

📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years?
general fiction - especially science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction
non fiction - in particular biography
what has changed over the years - probably reading more translated fiction, expanding my horizons

📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)?
so many options
think I'd love to discover Iain M Bank's Culture series - starting with

might even reread this year - a bit nervous - what if they don't live up to my memory of them

📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)?
Stay with Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Regeneration by Pat Barker
Playground by Richard Powers

Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior
Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

Suttree by Cormac McCarthy
When the Ground Is Hard by Malla Nunn
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

most disappointing - had high expectations for the Galactic Milieu trilogy by Julian May
but, for me, they got progressively worse

Aoife wrote: "📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why): Foster ..."
100% agree here Aoife - excellent book

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience
Hay all! I'm Jenny, and I fell down the challenge wormhole with Uno in 2016 or 2017, I forget which one. I have been doing team challenges like crazy person ever since.
📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years?
My tastes have definitely changed over the years, but the overarching requirement for me to like a book is the writing.
I started young with science fiction and fantasy, and moved on to mystery/thriller books and then got into speculative fiction and literary fiction. I have circled back to sci-fi in a big way as there is so much out there that is amazing.
📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)?
There are too many to list all of them, but for the reason of wanting to discover some of my favorite characters again for the first time, here are a few.

📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)?
I finally finished Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and it was amazing. Also-
James, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, The Rose Field, and the one I was most surprised by was The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.
Bad books were numerous, but mostly ones I read to fit a weird task, and not worth mentioning.

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience: I'm Gwen and I've been participating in Uno since 2020, often as a co-captain

📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years? I love many genres, they haven't really changed much over the years (except maybe adding more!) Some of my faves are post-apocalyptic, fantasy, light sci-fi, paranormal, romance, thrillers, and more. For non-fiction, I like memoirs, travel biographies, archeology, and sociology/psychology.

📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)? An interesting question, I don't often reread books. The only one that comes to mind is The Shining as I think it would be fun to read that one again without knowing what happens.

📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)

Some of my top reads for 2025 were:

Ink Blood Sister Scribe
A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World
Small Things Like These
Nothing to See Here

Two books that fell flat for me were The Misfortunates and LIFEL1K3. The first because I found it unnecessarily vulgar and sexist and the second because it seemed overly juvenile, even for a YA book.

I'm looking forward to another three months of the Uno Challenge!

Andy wrote: "Aoife wrote: "📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why): Foster ..."
100% agree here Aoife - excellent book"

I just adore the writing style!!

📕 Hello, my name is Suzanne and I played for the first time last year, so I'm excited to join in this year too!

📕 Do you have favorite genres — and have they changed over the years?
I'm a huge fan of wuxia/danmei and fantasy. I used to love romance but I think I may have overdone it. I find myself having a very short fuse while reading them now.

📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)?
The Poppy War - the entire trilogy!
The Manor of Dreams: A Novel
Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel), Vol. 1 - the whole series!
The Diabolic Trilogy (Boxed Set): The Diabolic; The Empress; The Nemesis

📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)?
It's hard to decide...I'll only put down a few from the last couple of months :)
The Memory Collectors
The Possession of Alba Díaz
Silver Elite
To Cage a Wild Bird
The Ghostwriter
The Poppy Fields
Strange Sally Diamond
The Night Ends with Fire

📕 … and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)?
Sadly, there were so many but to keep this short, I'll only put down a few.
Once Upon a Demon's Heart
Leave Me Behind
Hammajang Luck
Of Jade and Dragons
Half a Soul
Den of Vipers

📕 Name & Team Challenge experience:

My name is Kristen, I like to go by Dizzy for most online things. I have not participated in a team challenge; however, I have become very active on Goodreads and would like to try!

📕 Do you have favourite genres — and have they changed over the years?

My favorite genres have always been fantasy, magical realism, and political books. I think over the years I went through phases of reading only biographies, and of course, I'll get on a good sci-fi series and totally binge the entire thing (red rising anyone?)

📕 If you could reread one (or 5 ;) book for the first time again, which would it be (and why)? For the first time?

Probably the Hunger Games series, which was the start of my obsession with post-apocalyptic anti-establishment book series. It was one of the few series I went and did midnight book buying and dressed up for the movies.

📕 Looking back on 2025, what’s been your best read(s)… and (if you feel like sharing) your disappointing one(s)?

I really concentrated on making sure I was more honest with reviews on Goodreads this year.

My top five were:
1. The adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by: - very enjoyable/top 5 best audiobooks I've ever listened to. That voice is so tasty.
2. The Road of Bones by: Demi Winters - honestly thought it was going to be meh, turned out to be an amazing protagonist and male protagonist.
3. Project Hail Mary - listened to it with my 10 year old and he loved it! I loved that it was a co-op scifi, which is rare in that world.
4.
5. Nuclear War by Annie Jacobson - an amazing read on a nuclear scenerio on a global scale.

My bottom five:
1. Amid Clouds and Bones by Ella Fields - not a great narration, story was dumb.
2. How to lose a Time War by: Amal El-Mohtar - I liked this one, but the hype was too hyped.
3. Powerless by Lauren Roberts - The worst main character ever, could not finish.
4. Prince of Thorns by Mark Laurence - the attempt to shock me into interest will not work on me. A very triggering beginning, with inexcusable reasoning.
5. Tom Lake by Anne Pratchett - snorefest, I liked it because I was in theatre most of my life, but that was about it.

Can't wait to read for this challenge! ^_^