2025 Reading Challenge discussion

The theme for August is Holidays Abroad! Who doesn't want to go away?! Where would you go? The theme is completely open to interpretation: as long as you can tell us why you think it should fit the theme, it counts.

Please nominate only one book and ensure you either link the book or give the name of the author as well to avoid confusion. Please do not nominate books from a series, unless it is the first book in the series. You can second someone else's nomination, but that will count as your own. Nominations cannot have been chosen for a past group read (past buddy reads are fine).

This thread will be closed by June 22, and we will choose ten books for the poll. If there are more than ten books nominated, we will choose the ten most nominated. If there is still a tie to get into the top ten, we'll go back to the Goodreads average rating to see which is highest.

My nomination (hope it's okay, I'm new here): A Passage to India by E.M. Forster

Oops, I forgot to mention how it fits the theme. It's simple, really: some British people of means go to visit India on holiday. Being E.M. Forster, this book brings in class, conflicting cultures, romance, and in this case, it's also a crime drama. Can you tell I've seen the movie?

That is a great choice Andrew!

I'd like to nominate Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain.

The GR blurb says - "Great writer's 1897 account of circumnavigating the globe by steamship. Brimming with ironic, tongue-in-cheek humor, the book describes shark fishing in Australia, riding the rails in India, tiger hunting, diamond mining in South Africa, much more; also peoples, climate, flora and fauna, customs, religion, politics, food, etc."

A little question, don't know how to interpret this one. Usually abroad means out of US or is it wrong? But I'm from Norway. What does abroad mean for me then? Out of Europe?

Hi Winter,

You can interpret the theme in your own way. I don't live in the States myself. I have always interpreted abroad as meaning overseas. When I looked up the term "abroad" online, the definition says "out of one's own country" or "to another continent".

I love travel writing, so I'm going to nominate Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe by one of my favorites, Bill Bryson.

Bill Bryson's first travel book, The Lost Continent, was unanimously acclaimed as one of the funniest books in years. In Neither Here nor There he brings his unique brand of humour to bear on Europe as he shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet, and journeys from Hammerfest, the northernmost town on the continent, to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia. Fluent in, oh, at least one language, he retraces his travels as a student twenty years before.

Whether braving the homicidal motorist of Paris, being robbed by gypsies in Florence, attempting not to order tripe and eyeballs in a German restaurant, window-shopping in the sex shops of the Reeperbahn or disputing his hotel bill in Copenhagen, Bryson takes in the sights, dissects the culture and illuminates each place and person with his hilariously caustic observations. He even goes to Liechtenstein.

I would like to nominate All The Rivers Run by Nancy Cato.

Here's a short synopsis of what the book's about:

In a storm off the Victorian coast in 1890, a young English girl is shipwrecked and orphaned. She is rescued heroically by the only other survivor of the wreck, who is feted and rewarded in Melbourne. The girl is taken in care by her guardian, Uncle Charles, who has made a meager fortune from gold, and settled at Echuca - the great Australian inland port on the River Murray. His ward is sixteen years old, and her name is Philadelphia Gordon. She is known as Delie. Delie is an energetic and high-spirited girl who wants to paint, and not conform. She finds it difficult to understand why her aunt Hester, a tart and unsmiling woman, seeks to impose her ideas of womanhood, femininity, even good housekeeping on a girl who needs nothing more than the freedom to lead her own life. It is her cousin, Adam, who truly awakens in Delie the feelings of young womanhood. Tom, the seaman who rescued Delie, arrives in Echuca on a paddle steamer he bought with his reward. It is the beginning for Delie of a remarkable ten years in her life. Her investment of part of her inheritance in the riverboat is, without her knowing it, the first step towards a turbulent marriage to a riverboat man and, indeed, to the boats who ply their great trade along the mighty, unpredictable and perilous river. In a riverboat ceremony, Delie marries Brenton Edwards, a cavalier riverman, who wins and loses the girl on their way to the alter.

for those that want to take a long escape.

Scott wrote: "S. by Doug Dorst & J.J. Abrams or Ship of Theseus V.M. Starka. Who wants to take along escape?"

I've had S. sitting on my shelf since it came out! It's so bizarre, but I think I'll like it. (I haven't even taken it out of its packaging because I'm worried that I'm going to put papers back in the wrong pages.)

i 2nd the vote for a passage to India by e m Forrester

I nominate The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappearedby Jonas Jonasson. Here's what it's about:

The international publishing sensation—over two million copies sold.

A reluctant centenarian much like Forrest Gump (if Gump were an explosives expert with a fondness for vodka) decides it’s not too late to start over …

After a long and eventful life, Allan Karlsson ends up in a nursing home, believing it to be his last stop. The only problem is that he’s still in good health, and in one day, he turns 100. A big celebration is in the works, but Allan really isn’t interested (and he’d like a bit more control over his vodka consumption). So he decides to escape. He climbs out the window in his slippers and embarks on a hilarious and entirely unexpected journey, involving, among other surprises, a suitcase stuffed with cash, some unpleasant criminals, a friendly hot-dog stand operator, and an elephant (not to mention a death by elephant).

It would be the adventure of a lifetime for anyone else, but Allan has a larger-than-life backstory: Not only has he witnessed some of the most important events of the twentieth century, but he has actually played a key role in them. Starting out in munitions as a boy, he somehow finds himself involved in many of the key explosions of the twentieth century and travels the world, sharing meals and more with everyone from Stalin, Churchill, and Truman to Mao, Franco, and de Gaulle. Quirky and utterly unique, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared has charmed readers across the world. (less)

I will nominate The Call of the Wild by Jack London if it is not read yet.

Maybe 20 years of a dream of going to Alaska. Maybe I will be able to go one day, the trouble is none here want to go somewhere it's so cold (we live in Norway, so no lack of winter and cold). So I continue to visit in pictures and books.

I'll second Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe. It sounds like a great book!

Every book nominated gets put into the poll, correct? So if I don't second a nomination, it doesn't affect the book being placed in the poll, right?

There are two I want to second the nominations for but I can't decide between them so I thought I'd just wait and vote in the poll but I wanted to make sure they would both be represented in the poll even if I don't second them.

I nominate The Accidental Assassin by Nichole Chase.

Teresa, ten books make it into the poll. If there are ten or fewer books nominated, they will all make it in. If there are more than ten nominated, the ones with the most nominations (seconds) will make it in.

You can choose to either nominate a book that hasn't been mentioned yet or second one of the existing nominations, but not both.

Does that makes sense?

I nominate The Corpse Exhibition: And Other Stories of Iraq.

The first major literary work about the Iraq War from an Iraqi perspective, The Corpse Exhibition shows us the war as we have never seen it before.

Here is a world not only of soldiers and assassins, hostages and car bombers, refugees and terrorists, but also of madmen and prophets, angels and djinni, sorcerers and spirits. Blending shocking realism with flights of fantasy, Hassan Blasim offers us a pageant of horrors, as haunting as the photos of Abu Ghraib and as difficult to look away from, but shot through with a gallows humor that yields an unflinching comedy of the macabre. Gripping and hallucinatory, this is a new kind of storytelling forged in the crucible of war.

...Because "unflinching comedy of the macabre" makes... okay, maybe a better book blurb than a tourist brochure, but hey.

The Greater Journey by David McCullough is about several people who journeyed to Paris in the 19th century to gain something that couldn't be found other places, art, medical training, the company of like minded people. It is nonfiction but very interesting and enlightening.

I second The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris...I think it fits with the theme perfectly and from what I've heard, it's great!

Becka wrote: "I nominate

I lived in Japan for 3 years and I love their literature. This story encompasses part of the sadness surrounding the dropping of ..."

I second Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

I second A passage to India as well.

I nominate A Room with a View by E.M. Forster because the main character meets two men while vacationing in Italy that she has to choose between!

I'll nominate Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan This book is about a group that travels to China and Burma.

I would like to second Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan! I have read a couple of Amy Tan's books and fell in love with her writing.

Jodi wrote: "The theme for August is Holidays Abroad! Who doesn't want to go away?! Where would you go? The theme is completely open to interpretation: as long as you can tell us why you think it should fit the..."
Emma Straub's The Vacationers. Title says it all!

Kara wrote: "Scott wrote: "S. by Doug Dorst & J.J. Abrams or Ship of Theseus V.M. Starka. Who wants to take along escape?"

I've had S. sitting on my shelf since it came out! It's so bizarre, bu..."

Yeah one way to do it mark it with pencil or post it notes. Everything is in margine so that how I find the right pages. There is a tread listed on goodreads where everything goes.

The Vacationers by Emma Straub? I've seen really bad and really good reviews. I'm intrigued!

Nicole wrote: "The Vacationers by Emma Straub? I've seen really bad and really good reviews. I'm intrigued!"

Ohh, this looks good!

Just saw someone else nominated it before me. Oops!! It does look good!!

I nominate The World Unseen . It's pretty outside the box and seems so interesting. Here's a description:

In 1950's South Africa, free-spirited Amina has broken all the rules of her own conventional Indian community, and the new apartheid-led government, by running a café with Jacob her 'coloured' business partner. When she meets Miriam, a young wife and mother, their unexpected attraction pushes Miriam to question the rules that bind her and a chain of events is set in motion that changes both women forever.

I will third Saving Fish from Drowning

I forgot to say that if anyone is interested in reading Mark Twain's Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World, I downloaded it free for Kindle from Amazon. It was the Australian site I used, but it looks like it's also free on the British and US sites.

I nominate

I lived in Japan for 3 years and I love their literature. This story encompasses part of the sadness surrounding the dropping of the bomb and how that affected the lives of the people close by.

Synopsis:
"Hiroshima-born Sadako is lively and athletic--the star of her school's running team. And then the dizzy spells start. Soon gravely ill with leukemia, the "atom bomb disease," Sadako faces her future with spirit and bravery. Recalling a Japanese legend, Sadako sets to work folding paper cranes. For the legend holds that if a sick person folds one thousand cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again. Based on a true story, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes celebrates the extraordinary courage that made one young woman a heroine in Japan."

Becka wrote: "I nominate

I lived in Japan for 3 years and I love their literature. This story encompasses part of the sadness surrounding the dropping of ..."

This is a brilliant book.

Sandra wrote: "I nominate The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappearedby Jonas Jonasson. Here's what it's about:

The international publishing sensation—over t..."

Seconded! This book is brilliant.

I will second The Vacationers also!

I will add my support to The Vacationers.

I second The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. This has been on my tbr list for a while.

Down and Out in Paris and London


I choose this book because many people go abroad to study, work or gain life experience through travel. This looks like an interesting book about George Orwell's experience living in Paris and London.

This unusual fictional account - in good part autobiographical - narrates without self-pity and often with humor the adventures of a penniless British writer among the down-and-out of two great cities. The Parisian episode is fascinating for its expose of the kitchens of posh French restaurants, where the narrator works at the bottom of the culinary echelon as dishwasher, or plongeur. In London, while waiting for a job, he experiences the world of tramps, street people, and free lodging houses. In the tales of both cities we learn some sobering Orwellian truths about poverty and society.

I will nominate Anna and the French Kiss i think this will be awesome because its about going to paris and exploring it and young summer romance.

✿ Alicia ✿ wrote: "I second The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. This has been on my tbr list for a while."

Hi Alicia,

I thought this book was really interesting and quite funny in parts.

I also support The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and DisappearedHave been recommended to me many times!!!

I nominate Red Queen! I have heard so many great things about the book!

Devika, that looks like a great book. Would you mind sharing with us why you think it fits the theme? It doesn't have to fit exactly, as long as it has some connection the theme.

I'll second In a Sunburned Country. I read it many years ago, and I loved it! I learned so much about Australia, and I laughed the whole way through it. I would like to take that armchair vacation again this summer!

Although I was tempted to second one of the above nominated, I couldn't choose which one. So, I'm nominating one other that was gifted to me by a friend & I haven't yet read: Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town. 'Holidays abroad' in a sense of adventure, discovery and complete disconnection with (my) daily routines.

I second A Passage to India

Kathryn wrote: "I forgot to say that if anyone is interested in reading Mark Twain's Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World, I downloaded it free for Kindle from Amazon. It w..."

I'll second "Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World"!

I second (or third, fourth, etc) The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared!! Looks like a fun read!