2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Well this is a good idea, having corners like this.

2015 Personal challenge: 70 Books
1. Locke & Key, Volume 5: Clockworks by Joe Hill
2. Dinner With Friends by Donald Margulies
3. Blankets by Craig Thompson
4. Locke & Key Vol. 6: Alpha & Omega by Joe Hill
5. A Guide to Hindu Spirituality by Arvind Sharma
6. Locke and Key: Grindhouse by Joe Hill
7. The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
8. Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book One by Alan Moore
9. Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Vol. 1 by Bill Willingham
10. My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf
11. The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen
12. Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan
13. East of West, Vol. 1: The Promise by Jonathan Hickman
14. Good Dog by Graham Chaffee
15. T-Rex Trying by Hugh Murphy
16. Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami
17. Orbiter by Warren Ellis
18. Saga, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan
19. Shaper by Eric Heisserer
20. Saga, Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan
21. Revival, Vol. 1: You're Among Friends by Tim Seeley
22. The Stranger by Albert Camus
23. Revival, Vol. 2: Live Like You Mean It by Tim Seeley
24. MIND MGMT, Vol. 1: The Manager by Matt Kindt
25. Happy! by Grant Morrison
26. Marvel Knights: Spider-Man: Fight Night by Matt Kindt
27. Echo: Atomic Dreams by Terry Moore
28. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
29. Nine Lives of Adam Blake by Ryan Gladney
30. Trees, Vol. 1 by Warren Ellis
31. Sex Criminals, Vol. 1: One Weird Trick by Matt Fraction
32. Mao II by Don DeLillo
33. Black Orchid by Neil Gaiman
34. Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know by Mark Berkson
35. All-New X-Men, Vol. 1: Yesterday's X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis
36. Heck by Zander Cannon
37. When the Women Come Out to Dance by Elmore Leonard
38. Hawkeye, Vol. 3: L.A. Woman by Matt Fraction
39. Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis by Warren Ellis
40. Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever by Tom Neely
41. Ongoingness: The End of a Diary by Sarah Manguso
42. Deadly Class, Vol. 1: Reagan Youth by Rick Remender
43. Dead Man's Knock by Mike Carey
44. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Currently:
Rust by Julie Mars
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

I SPY CHALLENGE - 2015

1. Color - Black Orchid
2. Number - Nine Lives of Adam Blake
3. Things That Grow - Trees, Vol. 1
4. Seasons -
5. First Name - Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever
6. Places - Mystic River
7. Body Part -
8. Weapon -
9. Body of Water - Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book 1
10. Form of Water -
11. Product of Fire -
12. Celestial Body -
13. Architecture -
14. Senses -
15. Royal Title -
16. Family Member -
17. Elements -
18. Time of Day -
19. Metal -
20. Emotion/Feeling - Happy!
21. Animal/Insect - Good Dog
22. Something to Read - Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
23. Gender Identifier - When the Women Come Out to Dance
24. Paranormal Being -
25. Occupation - MIND MGMT, Vol. 1: The Manager

A-Z CHALLENGE - 2015

A. Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis by Warren Ellis
B. Blankets by Craig Thompson
C.
D. Dinner With Friends by Donald Margulies
E. Echo: Atomic Dreams by Terry Moore
F.
G. Good Dog by Graham Chaffee
H. Heck by Zander Cannon
I.
J.
K.
L. Locke & Key, Vol. 6: Alpha & Omega by Joe Hill
M.Mao II by Don DeLillo
N. Nine Lives of Adam Blake by Ryan Gladney
O. Ongoingness: The End of a Diary by Sarah Manguso
P.
Q.
R. Revival, Vol. 1: You're Among Friends by Tim Seeley
S. The Stranger by Albert Camus
T. The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
U. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
V.
W. When the Women Come Out to Dance by Elmore Leonard
X.
Y.
Z.

Nice corner :) I SPY and A-Z is some of my favorites!

Winter wrote: "Nice corner :) I SPY and A-Z is some of my favorites!"

Thanks! The challenges really have me looking for books I normally would have missed.

Andrew wrote: "Winter wrote: "Nice corner :) I SPY and A-Z is some of my favorites!"

Thanks! The challenges really have me looking for books I normally would have missed."

Me too, I have read so many books this year (my first challenge year) that I never even would have looked at! Now I range from series you can buy in a store (like Ice People/popular in Norway) to the most heavy classics. I feel like I'm travelling both to new places and times, it's awesome ^^

Is the stranger good by the way? Pretty sure it's on the 1001 books before you die-list.

Winter wrote: "Is the stranger good by the way? Pretty sure it's on the 1001 books before you die-list."

I read it in high school, and liked it at the time, partly because it was an easy read, and partly because it was very interesting. I was looking for a specific book in the library and my eyes caught it, and had the urge to re-read, twenty-odd years later, because I couldn't remember much about it. I liked it better the first time, and this (second) time gave it 3/5 stars.

Here is the review I wrote after I read it this year:

I suppose we call a book a classic because it has a message or resonance for time and place beyond that in which the text was originally created. That said, I suppose this book is a classic in those terms, when all we have to do is look at the media frenzy whenever there is a slightly unusual crime case today, in America or in Europe. The victims of scrutiny are indeed stripped naked before the absurdities of public opinion, both manufactured by the media and by small talk among peers. I found the main character's point of view to be intriguing and indeed it resonated with some things that I myself go through mentally. I cannot call him a sympathetic narrator, but I would call him trustworthy. I feel unsatisfied by the fact that the character's reaction to his own act of violence as well as the character's willingness to assist vile characters in their own small atrocities is not much examined. Furthermore, the issue of atheism comes into play at the end of the book and suddenly takes on more weight than it deserves from everything that came before. That final scene is almost overdone with melodrama. But the book is interesting, and honest for the most part, and ultimately, unfortunately, unsatisfying. Perhaps that's the nature of existentialism, but I kind of doubt it.

Thanks :) Probably will not be my next list read then, but I will get to it eventually.

You may have a better experience. It's short, pretty easy reading, and frequently referenced in philosophical circles. Highly influential. But yeah, I can't in honesty recommend it personally (then again, someone might not recommend Old Man and the Sea, a book I do love).

POP SUGAR READING CHALLENGE - 2015
Okay, I'll add this to my challenges for this year. Don't know if I'll finish it.

1) A book with more than 500 pages
2) A classic romance
3) A book that became a movie -
4) A book published this year - Trees, Vol. 1 by Warren Ellis
5) A book with a number in the title - Nine Lives of Adam Blake by Ryan Gladney
6) A book written by someone under 30
7) A book with non human characters - Good Dog by Graham Chaffee
8) A funny book Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever by Tom Neeley
9) A book by a female author - Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami
10) A mystery or thriller -
11) A book with a one word title - Orbiter by Warren Ellis
12)A book of short stories
13) A book set in a different country
14) A nonfiction book
15) A popular author's first book
16) A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet Mao II by Don DeLillo
17) A book a friend recommended - MIND MGMT, Vol. 1: The Manager by Matt Kindt
18) A Pulitzer Prize winning book
19) A book based on a true story - Blankets by Craig Thompson
20) A book at the bottom of your to-read list
21) A book your mom loves
22) A book that scares you
23) A book more than 100 years old
24) A book chosen based entirely on it's cover - Heck by Zander Cannon
25) A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
26) A memoir - Ongoingness: The End of a Diary by Sarah Manguso
27) A book you can finish in a day - T-Rex Trying by Hugh Murphy
28) A book with antonyms in the title The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 1: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen
29) A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
30) A book that came out the year you were born
31) A book with bad reviews
32) A trilogy
33) A book from your childhood
34) A book with a love triangle
35) A book set in the future
36) A book set in high school - Shaper by Eric Heisserer
37) A book with a color in the title - Black Orchid by Neil Gaiman
38) A book that made you cry - Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
39) A book with magic
40) A graphic novel - My Friend Dahmer by Derf Beckderf
41) A book by an author you've never read before - The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
42) A book you own but haven't read yet
43) A book that takes place in your hometown (or surrounding area)
44) A book that was originally written in a different language - The Stranger by Albert Camus
45) A book set during Christmas
46) A book by an author with your same initials
47) A play - Dinner With Friends by Donald Margules
48) A banned book
49) A book based on or turned into a TV show
50) A book you started but never finished