2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Read exactly 100 books in 2013 -- goal is 101 in 2014.

1/1/14 to 1/20/14
Whale Talk Reread for a book club.
Habibi Loved.
The Cruelest Month Good but not great.
One Good Knight Love inverted fantasy, comfort reading.
The Shadowed Sun Loved.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Good.
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened. Yes please.
Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier. Informative, interesting, creepy. Oh Alaska, how I love you.

Listened to the audio:
Brothers in Arms EVERYBODY SHOULD READ THIS BOOK AND/OR LISTEN TO THE AUDIO IMMEDIATELY. Narrator is great, book is great, series is great. Not that I have strong opinions or anything.
The King of Attolia This one is also great, both as a book and as an audiobook.

great start!!!

1/21/14 to 1/31/14

The Path of Daggers. Reading the series now that it's done. This volume was meh.
The Marbury Lens Disturbing, not quite sure what to think. I'll be reading the sequel.
Roofwalker. Highly recommended series of short stories.
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader Highly recommended for bibliophiles.

January total: 14/101

2/1/14 to 2/14/14

A Mind to Murder Completely forgettable murder mystery.
Hero Reread for a book club; despite having a couple problematic things, I thoroughly enjoyed it (again).
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1: Unmanned Read the entire series (all 5 hardback volumes). Overall very much enjoyed it; I think volumes 1, 3, and 4 were the strongest.
The Perilous Gard I enjoyed this -- learned quite a few new words.

Books read to date: 18/101

2/15/14 to 2/28/14

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. Meh.
Passenger by Andrew Smith. Sequel to The Marbury Lens. Enjoyed it more than the first, recommended though your mileage may vary.

Audio:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling, read by Jim Dale. Awesome as an audiobook, adds depth to the series.
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien read by Rob Inglis. Not recommended for audio. I felt like the narrator didn't add much to the characters and was rather flat the whole time.

Books read to date: 22/101

Read 3/1/14 to 3/31/14

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. Sci-fi, AI and spaceships and societal norms, and I loved, loved, loved it. Definitely the best book I've read in a while.
The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce. Reread. Good, but I liked it more the first time through.
Melting Stones by Tamora Pierce. Pretty meh about this one.
If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan. Disliked the beginning -- felt it was very, very angsty. Started to like it more as plot and things started happening; overall thought it was alright but not great.
Winter's Heart. by Robert Jordan. Ok but not great.
The Arctic Marauder by Jacqes Tardi. Weird graphic novel. Loved the drawings. Thought the plot and character's were weak.

Audio

Mirror Dance By Lois McMaster Bujold. I would sing a love song to Bujold if it wouldn't terrify her. And her narrator.
Memory. by Lois McMaster Bujold. Yes please!

Books read to date: 30/101

4/1/14 to 6/30/14

And Then There Were Nuns: Adventures in a Cloistered Life The funniest part was the title. Not my cup of tea.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Reread. Still quite good.
The Impersonator Historical mystery. Decent, fast read. Not a lot of depth.
Crossroads of Twilight
Every Day Loved the premise, liked the execution.
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead Good summary of issues women face in the workplace and research about it
New Spring Meh.
The Likeness Rich, vibrant, breathtaking prose.
Life As We Knew It Reread. Very enjoyable.
The Last Unicorn Not my cup of tea.
Daughter of the Forest Exactly my cup of tea.
Proxy Interesting, prose could have used some more work.
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children Recommended.
Deadline Urgh.
Battle Magic
Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon More please.
Powers, Vol. 1: Who Killed Retro Girl? This should have been amazing, but didn't resonate with me.
The Night Circus YES YES more please!
Code Name Verity Horrify, limited POV, lying liars, I loved it.
Payment in Blood Closed room mystery. Good but nothing special.
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex Interesting!
Hawkeye, Vol. 2: Little Hits Thank you!
A Redtail's Dream THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ART IN BEAUTIFUL-ART-VILLE
The Good Lord Bird I liked it a lot
Redshirts Eh. I understand, but didn't like, several stylistic choices of the author.
The Best American Short Stories 1993 Some were amazing, others not as much.
The Gaslight Dogs Good.

AUDIO:

Gone Girl Decent narrators.
Komarr YES PLEASE, THANK YOU.
The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood VERY good narrator, learned a lot.
A Civil Campaign OH HEY THERE.

Books read to date: 61/101

Wow, you're doing so great on your challenge! (And I love, love, loved The Night Circus too.)