2025 Reading Challenge discussion

1. Death
2. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
3. Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All
4. The Alchemist
5. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary
6. Dept. of Speculation
7. Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future
8. Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
9. Who Would You Be Without Your Story?: Dialogues with Byron Katie
10. The Marriage Plot
11. The Meaning of Life from a Buddhist Perspective
12. Beyond Codependency: And Getting Better All the Time
13. We Should All Be Feminists
14. Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium
15. How to Love
16. The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself
17. 1984
18. Brave New World
19. Animal Farm
20. Me Talk Pretty One Day
21. The Pearl
22. Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects
23. Fahrenheit 451
24. Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to U.S. Empire
25. Gratitude
26. All About Love: New Visions
27. The Writing Life
28. A Short Guide to a Happy Life
29. And Still I Rise
30. Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality
31. Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death
32. Man's Search for Meaning
33. The Book of Vice: Very Naughty Things
34. Secrets, Lies and Democracy
35. Lord of the Flies
36. What Uncle Sam Really Wants
37. Politics and the English Language
38. An Appeal to the Toiling, Oppressed & Exhausted Peoples of Europe
39. Outsider in the White House
40. On the Shortness of Life
41. Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy
42. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
43. Mortality
44. Hector and the Search for Happiness
45. The Reluctant Fundamentalist
46. Common Sense
47. Things Fall Apart
48. Revolutionary Petunias
49. Of Empire
50. No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State
51. The History of Love
52. Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth
53. Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition
54. The Communist Manifesto
55. The Coming Insurrection
56. Civil Disobedience
57. The Changing Face of Empire: Special Ops, Drones, Spies, Proxy Fighters, Secret Bases, and Cyberwarfare
58. Demand the Impossible!: A Radical Manifesto
59. Emma (Howard Zinn)
60. Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope, and Repair
61. You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life
62. Revolution
63. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
64. Anthem
65. Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles
66. Articles of Impeachment Against George W. Bush
67. The Ocean at the End of the Lane
68. Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got to Be So Hated

Congrats on finishing your first book in 2016!

Thank you!

Recommends from my list so far:

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King's approach in On Writing is very voyeuristic and I love books about writing from acclaimed authors because most of them shrug to say, "It's not a formula, it's just writing" as their advice, but you still get to see so much behind the scenes of how they approach their work, when the lightning strikes, and most importantly — that the only key to better writing is writing.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary
I loved this quirky little book from Sedaris — I felt instantly involved in the familiar situations presented with cynicism and wit from the perspectives of animals, thinly-veiled human personalities seeping through at every turn. It's such a fast read and I found myself laughing out loud through the majority of the book.

Dept. of Speculation
This is the best book I've read so far this year. It was gripping, I was attached to the characters despite their namelessness, and the story was raw and surprising, but removed in the right ways, so the characters could say and do awful things and you weren't agast, but simply watching, listening, identifying. I couldn't put it down.

Looks like you might beat your challenge for this year! Good luck with your reading, I might have to check out your recommendations. the last one in particular sounds very interesting.

Ellen Rory wrote: "Looks like you might beat your challenge for this year! Good luck with your reading, I might have to check out your recommendations. the last one in particular sounds very interesting."

LOL, the goal is to read as many as I can while I have the motivation so if I slip up for a month it won't mean I can't do the thing. Preparing for procrastination. ;)

Haha that's my plan too. Cram whilst I've got time!

More recommendations from my list so far:

We Should All Be Feminists
Beautiful, brilliant essay — takes no time at all to read, much more time to ponder. Adichie's call to action is direct, but understanding. Her vision of equality beckons.

Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium
This book is nearly 20 years old, but the message is fitting for today. Sagan's primer on scientific principles and call to arms against climate change is breathtaking in its humanity. I found so much to love in this book, it may have taken the place of my favorite read for the year to date.

Good luck on your reading goal! Looks like you have already read some great books!

Updated recommendations/favorites from the list:
How to Love
This is a pocket reader on love without attachment and how to love others. It takes less than an hour to read and is full of a lifetime's worth of wisdom to put into practice.

1984
Heart. Eye. Emojis.

Me Talk Pretty One Day
David Sedaris had me holding my side with laughter in his honest, dry-humor-filled memoir.

The Writing Life
I can hardly think of a book I have loved more. Short read, full of open-hearted wisdom about how to write and how to live. Writing books done right are my happy place.