2025 Reading Challenge discussion

I have increased my challenge from 25 to 50. Lets see how this goes!

#1 The Great Gatsby Satring off the year with a great classic. I read it in high school and liked it. I reread it now and totally fell in love. 5/5 stars!

#2 Still Alice Very heart breaking story and a total eye opener. I worked with a neurologist for a year so I've seen my share of alzheimers patients but never in their prospective. Very happy I read this book and gave it 4 stars.

#3 Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore . Funny, contemporary, light mystery, great read, 4 stars.

#4 World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War 2.5 stars

#5 Maus, Vol. 1: My Father Bleeds History I'm trying to expand my horizons so I read Maus. Loved it. Great story. Def going to read #2.
5 stars.

#6 And When She Was Good 5 stars. This book made me actually consider the possiblity of becoming a prostitute...

#7 Maus, Vol. 2: And Here My Troubles Began Again, great work of art. Horrific and heart breaking story. 5 stars.

#8 Robert's Rules for Dummies 3 stars

#9Where the Wild Things Are 4 stars

#10 The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is about an 11-year-old Flavia Dolores de Luce who by coincidence gets rapped up in solving murder mystery of a complete stranger...or so it seems. I imagined Flavia and everyone else in Buckshaw characters from a Tim Burton film. I totally loved Flavia and wish I'd have been as smart as her at that age. Anyway, the book was humorous, educational(chemistry, chemistry, chemistry!!), and took me on a lovely mystery ride until the end. 5 stars.

#11 The Face on the Milk Carton 2 stars

I vaguely remember watching the movie version of this book on tv many many years ago and decided to read the book. It also fit many challenges I'm doing.

I only gave The Face on the Milk Carton 2 stars because 1. the protagonist was so stupid and annoying and 2. way too many unnecessary simile and metaphors. I also didn't like the fact that the ending was a total cliff hanger. It was like cutting the book in half and calling one half book 1 and the other half book 2.

Don't get me wrong there were some good parts in the story for which reasons I didn't give the book only 1 star.

But still, I am not interested in reading the second half of the book.

#12 Feng Shui Made Easy, Revised Edition: Designing Your Life with the Ancient Art of Placement 4 stars

#13 Under a Glass Bell 1 star

#14 The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye 4 stars

#15 It Had to Be You 4 stars

#16 The Dream Sourcebook: A Guide to the Theory and Interpretation of Dreams
4 stars

#17 11/22/63 5 stars

#18 Queen and Country, Vol. 1: Broken Ground 3 stars

#19 Queen and Country, Vol. 2: Morning Star 3 stars

#20 The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag 4 stars

#21 Queen and Country, Vol. 3: Crystal Ball 3.5 stars

#22 A Game of Thrones Wow. What an awesome book!! Everything had an equal balance: fantasy, chivalry, lust, etc. I tend to read mostly during my lunch at work and before bed so I would consistently have crazy dreams about knights and beheadings. If I hadn't lost the book behind my bed for almost 2 months I would've finished much quicker. Definitely looking foward to readind book #2.

5 stars!!

#23 The Gunslinger 3 stars

#24 Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile 3 stars

#25 Lockdown 3 stars

Lockdown is about a boy named Alex who is facing time in a crazy underground penitentiary where underaged feolns attend.

The whole first quarter of the novel I was banging by head against the stearing wheel of my car(audio book). In my opinion there were way to many similis and metaphors and the foreshadowing was a bit too much. At times, the writing felt a bit ameteur.

However, the characters grew on me, the action scenes had my heart pumping, and everything was very discriptive. I didn't thinl I would be looking foward to read the next installment, but I am

#26 How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character 2.5 stars. Very good clinical information, however, super boring.

#27 Daughter of Smoke & Bone
3 stars

#28 Graceling 5 stars. absolutely loved it!

Must read Graceling! Everyone says how great it is but I've never read it.

Adriana wrote: "Must read Graceling! Everyone says how great it is but I've never read it."

definitely a must read

#29 The Walking Dead, Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us 3 stars

#30 Wedding Night 3 stars

#31 Queen and Country, Vol. 4: Operation Blackwall 3 stars

What was wrong with The Walking Dead book? Not as exciting as the show?

Adriana wrote: "What was wrong with The Walking Dead book? Not as exciting as the show?"

yes...I love the show and counting down the minutes for the new season to start, however, the books so far aren't really grabbing my attention. I'm going to try #3 and so how that goes.

#32 Washington: A Life 4 stars

#33 Fire 2 stars