2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Just completed #13 (incarcerated) - Night by Elie Wiesel. I cannot imagine the despair and torture of the concentration camps. But because Wiesel was brave enough to survive and then relate his experiences, I can know what the experience was like. What an important piece of history - this is a must read! His writing is beautiful, haunting, and clear. Definitely worth reading! 5 stars

4/20

Update to message 59: 4/10 done.

#OwnVoices
Duration January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019

3/10 Tasks Complete

Read a book featuring a protagonist who identifies as _____ by an author who is also _____.

1. African (e.g, Ghanian, Nigerian)
2. Agnostic, Athiest, or Humanist
3. Asexual or Aromantic

4. Asian (e.g., Hmong, Japanese) Six Four Hideo Yokoyama

5. Bisexual or Pansexual
6. Black (e.g. African-American, Black British)
7. Buddhist
8. Christian-minority (i.e., Christian in a country in which it is not the most common religion)
9. Differently-Abled (e.g., Autistic, Deaf, Paraplegic)

10. Gay Male or Lesbian Female Giovanni's RoomJames Baldwin

11. Hindu
12. Immigrant
13. Incarcerated or Institutionalized
14. Indigenous (e.g., Aboriginal, Inuit, Mojave)

15. Jewish - Here I Am Jonathan Safran Foer

16. Latin American (e.g., Mexican, Colombian-descent)
17. Living with a Mental Health or Cognitive Disability
18. Low-Income or Financially Insecure
19. Middle Eastern
20. Mixed Race or Multi-racial
21. Muslim
22. Non-binary or Transgender
23. Oceanic (e.g., Papuan, Samoan) - (view spoiler)
24. Practitioner of a minor religion or another form of spirituality
25. Refugee, Migrant, or Asylum-Seeker
26. Survivor of Sexual Assault or Domestic Violence

February update to msg #7

I'll be reading multiple books for some prompts (such as those for geographic regions), so I'll be tracking both tasks and books.

Progress: 7/26 tasks (8/20 books)

Update to msg #51. Goal 4/26.

Thank you!

Updating Msg. 56

13. Incarcerated or Institutionalized- The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps by Heinz Heger

19. Middle Eastern- The Sand Fish: A Novel from Dubai by Maha Gargash

5/26 Read

Update: 5/10

21. Muslim - Internment
26. Survivor of Sexual Assault or Domestic Violence - It Ends with Us, Asking For It

Update to message #142 - Read 3/10 tasks

updated message 97

6/13 complete

Update message 60

9/15

If They Come For Us by Fatima Asghar (Muslim author)
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (African author)

Both were lovely. Fatima’s poetry is beautiful and impactful and I’m so glad I was able to read her work. Highly recommend if you like poetry.

Updated message #47.
So far 4/13.

Message 60 has been updated :)
10/15 complete.

Update for msg #7

Progress: 10/24 tasks

Kristin, please change my challenge goal from books read to tasks completed. My new goal is 24 tasks.

Updated message 41-- middle eastern
Here to Stay-- the author is a Iranian-American and a lesbian, the protagonist is Iranian/Jordanian-American, and other characters represented are gay, black, mixed race-- a very diverse book.

Just completed #6 (Black) - An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. Wow, what a sucker punch in the emotions, but oh so good! It's beautifully written and crafted, from the thoughtful characters, to the slow extraction of information, to the construction. The care the author takes allows the reader to engage with the subject matter slowly and thoughtfully. All the legal and prison content is accurate. As a criminal defense attorney for 12 years in the south, justice is often never blind or balanced. I appreciate that the author represented the absolute destruction to a person and the families in so many small and major ways. So good and a must read! 5 stars

5/20

Hola!
I've been searching in my to read list for this year and I've found a lot of books that adjust perfectly into this challenge. Sign me in for 40 books, please.

PROGRESS: 69/40 60
Read a book featuring a protagonist who identifies as _____ by an author who is also _____.
♥1. African (e.g, Ghanian, Nigerian)
Angolan:
☑The Book of Chameleons
Cameroonian:
☑Boy!
Congolese:
☑Tram 83
Ivorian:
☑Aya of Yop City
Maroccan:
☑The Sand Child
Nigerian:
☑Open City
Senegalese:
☑So Long a Letter
Sierra Leonean:
☑A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Somali:
☑Desert Flower
South African:
☑Master Harold...and the boys
Tanzanian:
☑By the Sea
Zimbabwean:
☑Walking Still
2. Agnostic, Athiest, or Humanist
3. Asexual or Aromantic
♥4. Asian (e.g., Hmong, Japanese)
Filipino:
☑Three Filipino Women
Japanese:
☑The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
☑Confessions of a Mask
Indian:
☑Tigre blanco
Kyrgyz:
☑Jamila
South Korean:
☑Please Look After Mom
5. Bisexual or Pansexual
♥6. Black (e.g. African-American, Black British)
African-American:
☑The Bluest Eye
☑El Color Púrpura
☑Devil in a Blue Dress
☑Beloved
☑A Red Death
☑To Be Young, Gifted, and Black: An Informal Autobiography
☑The Autobiography of Malcolm X
☑I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Antiguan:
☑Annie John
French (Guadeloupe):
☑Who Slashed Celanire's Throat?
7. Buddhist
8. Christian-minority (i.e., Christian in a country in which it is not the most common religion)
9. Differently-Abled (e.g., Autistic, Deaf, Paraplegic)
♥10. Gay Male or Lesbian Female
☑Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
☑Yo
11. Hindu
♥12. Immigrant
☑La casa en Mango Street (Mexican immigrants' daughter)
☑The Sun Is Also a Star (Jamaican immigrant)
☑The Joy Luck Club (Chinese immigrants' daughter)
☑La breve y maravillosa vida de Óscar Wao Dominican immigrant)
♥13. Incarcerated or Institutionalized
☑Girl, Interrupted
♥14. Indigenous (e.g., Aboriginal, Inuit, Mojave)
☑Don't Be Afraid, Gringo (American Indian - Honduras)
☑The Blue Sky (Tuvan - Mongolia)
☑Plaga de palomas (Chippewa - USA)
♥15. Jewish
☑The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939–45
☑Shylock Is My Name
☑Night
☑Dawn
☑The Magician of Lublin
♥16. Latin American (e.g., Mexican, Colombian-descent)
Argentinian:
☑Bestiario
☑Todos los fuegos el fuego
Ficciones
Brazilian:
☑Mi planta de naranja-lima
Chilean:
☑Hija de la fortuna
☑El cartero de Neruda
☑Un viejo que leía novelas de amor
☑Inés del Alma Mía
Colombian:
☑El amor en los tiempos del cólera
☑Cartas a mamá desde el infierno
Cuban:
☑El reino de este mundo
Mexican:
☑Querido Diego, te abraza Quiela
Peruvian:
☑La tía Julia y el escribidor
Guatemalan:
☑Hombres de maíz
Uruguayan:
☑La tregua
Venezuelan:
☑Doña Bárbara
17. Living with a Mental Health or Cognitive Disability
18. Low-Income or Financially Insecure
♥19. Middle Eastern
Iranian:
☑Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
Lebanese:
☑Samarkand
☑Other Lives
♥20. Mixed Race or Multi-racial
☑White Teeth
☑Cutting for Stone
♥21. Muslim
☑My Name Is Red
♥22. Non-binary or Transgender
☑Man Enough to be a Woman: The Autobiography of Jayne County
23. Oceanic (e.g., Papuan, Samoan)
♥24. Practitioner of a minor religion or another form of spirituality
☑The Wine of Astonishment Spiritual Baptist (Trinidad)
♥25. Refugee, Migrant, or Asylum-Seeker
☑The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur
☑Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime Sarajevo
♥26. Survivor of Sexual Assault or Domestic Violence
☑The Wild Truth: A Memoir

Update to message 19: I have read 8 of the 12. Message 19 now has the details.

Updating Msg. 56

4. Asian- The Question of Red

6/26 Finished

I’m up to 7 now, having finished Autoboyography (bisexual) and Song of a Captive Bird (Muslim) recently.

Updated message 41-- 4/13. The author is Jewish. The book contains people from many different ethnicities and religions.

Message #156 updated
PROGRESS: 12/40

Updated message 41-- 5/13

update msg 105

4/10

updated message 97
7/13 complete

Edited post #47.
So far 7/13.

updated message 97
8/13 complete

Message #156 updated
PROGRESS: 14/40

Updated Message #48. Challenge completed :)

#OwnVoices
Duration January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019

1. African (e.g, Ghanian, Nigerian) -
2. Agnostic, Athiest, or Humanist -
3. Asexual or Aromantic
4. Asian (e.g., Hmong, Japanese) -
5. Bisexual or Pansexual -
6. Black (e.g. African-American, Black British) -
7. Buddhist
8. Christian-minority (i.e., Christian in a country in which it is not the most common religion)
9. Differently-Abled -
10. Gay Male or Lesbian Female -
11. Hindu
12. Immigrant
13. Incarcerated or Institutionalized
14. Indigenous (e.g., Aboriginal, Inuit, Mojave)
15. Jewish -
16. Latin American (e.g., Mexican, Colombian-descent)
17. Living with a Mental Health or Cognitive Disability
18. Low-Income or Financially Insecure
19. Middle Eastern
20. Mixed Race or Multi-racial -
21. Muslim
22. Non-binary or Transgender
23. Oceanic (e.g., Papuan, Samoan)
24. Practitioner of a minor religion or another form of spirituality
25. Refugee, Migrant, or Asylum-Seeker
26. Survivor of Sexual Assault or Domestic Violence -

10/10 - COMPLETED

Message #156 updated
PROGRESS: 15/40

update to message 60.
12/15

Update: 9/10

3. Asexual or Aromantic - Summer Bird Blue
6. Black (e.g. African-American, Black British) - On the Come Up
10. Gay Male or Lesbian Female - Proud, Queer, There and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World
18. Low-Income or Financially Insecure - Educated

Update to msg #7

22. Transgender: An Unkindness of Ghosts
16. Latin America: Atlantic Hotel (Brazil)

Progress: 13/24 tasks
(as of 20 April 2019)

Just completed #1 (African - Ghanian) - Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Beautifully written, heart-breaking to read. The book does end with some hope, but it's got a lot of truth to relate first. A must read! 4.5 stars

6/20

Just completed #25 (refugee) - Homes: A Refugee Story by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah. I love this book! I love the fact that it's written by a teacher relating her student's stories. I love that it's about a family laughing and loving amidst the struggle. I love that you don't hear about the teacher until the afterword. It's just so well-done! Beautiful writing! A must read! 5 stars

7/20

Message #156 updated
PROGRESS: 16/40

Message #156 updated
PROGRESS: 17/40

Just completed #22 (Transgender) - Long Black Veil by Jennifer Finney Boylan. I really enjoyed this novel, both for the ownvoices perspective of the author and for the mystery. Really well-written too! Definitely worth reading! 5 stars

8/20

Message #156 updated
PROGRESS: 19/40

April update to msg #7

Progress: 14/24 tasks

7. Buddhist- My Master's Robe: Memories of a Novice Monk
12. Immigrant- A Thousand Wings
21. Muslim- Sultana's Dream

9/24 Read (Msg. 56)

updated message 97

9/13 complete

Updated message 41-- 6/13
Survivor of sexual assault-- In Pieces. Sally Field bravely talks about being sexually assaulted by her stepfather.

Updated message #51. Thank you!

Progress: 6/26

Message #156 updated
PROGRESS: 20/40

Edited post #47.
So far 9/13.

Message #156 updated
PROGRESS: 23/40

Update msg 42

5/12

Hey, everyone! Kristin, the leader for the challenge, has been a bit under the weather. But she'll be back soon and will update when able. Hope you feel better soon, Kristin!

Message #156 updated
PROGRESS: 27/40 (books) 13/13 (tasks)



P.D.: My best wishes, Kristin!

Message #156 updated
PROGRESS: 30/40 (books) 13/13 (tasks)