2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Update to message #30 18/24. I LOVE Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer Florida is good as well but is pretty dark and it's hard to get into at times.

Message #35 updated: 18/22

Update to msg 32: 19/24.

Update to message #7: 38/56 complete

Updated msg 41: 12/24

Day 12 From

Dreambridge - 5 stars
Far off in the borderlands, in a cottage under forest eaves never blighted by cold or steel, apprentice healer Kirelle awakens shivering from a bad dream of an axe that fell and blood that ran, not from living flesh but over treebark, to spatter across frosted ground. She knows the bleeding tree is real.

The Eld Tree, the last tree which links this world to that of the feys had been brutally threatened and if it died, the last link would be gone and the fey mysteries would be lost to earth forever.

The Wizard of the Forest himself summons Kirelle because she has been chosen to seek revenge on the humans who have so thoughtlessly attempted to destroy this sacred link. Because the fey will cry vengeance and the blood price must be met.

But can the reckless humans be made to understand the gravity of their actions? Can a healer shed the blood the fey demand? And what if the axe was never meant to fall?


Wizard of the Owls - by Janny Wurts

Updated msg 41: 13/24

Day 13 From

Song's End - 5 stars

A stunning heartbreaking tale that takes us back to Huntress Skyfire continuing the events from Dreamsinger's Tale.
Woodbiter is no more and Dreamsinger's stay with Skyfire's tribe brings strife and misunderstandings. Skyfire alone is able to temper his madness and she alone can see past it, to the promise of a future where the gentleness of elvish heritage might coexist with the hardly cunning of the wolf.

She fights challenge after challenge to protect her position of chieftess and to ensure the stay of her newly found mate within the tribe. After all, she is carrying his cub.

But the challenges keep coming and treachery strikes. Dreamsinger is killed and Skyfire left heartbroken and enraged with her bonded mate no more. Her will is set on finding out the killer and the only one who can provide a clue is Song, Dreamsinger's bonded wolf, also left behind just as bereft as Skyfire herself.

Tauriel by Inna-Vjuzhanina female elf ranger

Update to msg 32: 20/24.

Updated msg 41: 14/24

Day 14 From

The Renders - 3.5 stars

Jaiddon's world is getting unravelled. As though smashed by a fallen sky, his whole town lay in splintered ruins. Not even the boats in the harbours have been spared.

Renders had undone one entire town as though its existence was no more solid than morning mist. If nothing is done to stop them, the entire world would follow.
And as it turns out, Jaiddon is the only one left to stand in their path. But will he be able to find a way to do it, when so many other failed before him? And will he be able to pay the price his actions will require?

Updated msg 41: 15/24

Day 15 From

No Quarter - 4 stars

Another Fleet story continuing the adventures of the overly proud and ambitious Michael Christopher Jensen Jr.; it describes another of his encounters with the infamous space pirate MacKenzie James.

A commander now, aboard his own ship Kildare, Jensen finds himself confronted with a surprise attack by MacKenzie. This time it is MacKenzie's plan that Jensen has to follow. And the space pirate hedges his bets on Jensen's hatred and obsession as the carrot for his trap. Except that, the more you mess with a man's obsession, the more dangerous he is likely to become. And James' hatred for MacKenzie doesn't seem to be rooted in sanity any longer.

A chase and catch game in space, a trap within another and a villain without any moral or censure. And you'll have to wonder who that villain really is.


Art by Don Maitz

Updated msg 41: 16/24

Day 16 From

That Way Lies Camelot - 5 heartbreaking stars!!!

This story made me laugh and it made me cry!! It damn near broke my heart! And I love it!

Sandy is dying. He's dying of cancer, to the despair and anger of his mother Ann and his aunt Lynn.
Because for two years the boy had had so little, between the doctors and the treatments and the jail-like isolation necessary to shelter him from infection. And with the hope ripped out of their hearts Lynn feels like suing Allmighty God, that he would allow a little boy to be born, solely to suffer anguish and die.
Because ..."Damn, damn, damn. There aught to be a law against mother outliving their children."

And the worst part to all this is that the 2 women can't even fulfil their little boy's last wish. For Sandy would like to visit the Round Table of King Arthur - a truly impossible task! Until one day when the impossible is just about to happen. Well either that or Lynn goes irrevocably crazy!

A moving and sensitive tale that brought tears to my eyes and goosebumps on my skin. Just Magic!!

Arthur Steps Up - by Don Maitz

Message #35 updated: 19/22

Message #35 updated: 20/22

oshizu wrote: "Update to msg #5: 18/24

✔️Day 18: p1348/1348 (ch 78)

Oops! I finished reading The Stand--I just couldn't wait to find out how it turned out.
Looking for something else to read for the last six da..."

Oh, good for you! I have read this probably since January and just missed every deadline I had. Maybe I should just read it.

22/24
The Lonesome Bodybuilder: Stories is pretty great, I have read couple short story collections lately which weren't my taste but this is so weird that.. I mean, somebody just decided rather be flower. Weird is the best.

Update to msg #22: 22/24

Mie wrote: "Oops! Finished a little early... sorry... But my choice of Christmas calendar was actually so bad, that I just wanted it over and done with, hahaha...

Oops! Well, congrats on finishing - even if the reason wasn't as awesome as it could have been. :)

Reija wrote: "oshizu wrote: "Update to msg #5: 18/24

✔️Day 18: p1348/1348 (ch 78)

Oops! I finished reading The Stand--I just couldn't wait to find out how it turned out.

Oh, good for you! I have read this probably since January and just missed every deadline I had. Maybe I should just read it."

@Reija

I don't know how your reading experience of The Stand has been, but I wasn't very engaged until about halfway through the book
For the first 600-700 pages, I casually wondered if I'd be able to read this book to the end--it felt like a bit of a slog.
Then, it suddenly became deeply fascinating and I had to struggle to read only my 50ish pages a day.
I haven't read Stephen King for at least 10 years. I'm glad I stuck with this book. :)

Update to message #30 - 22/24.

Message #35 updated: 21/22

Update to msg 32: 22/24.

Update to message 9:

22/24

Update to msg 32: 23/24.

Updated message 11
46/48

Only one day to go :)

Update to message #15: I'm upping my goal to 31 stories. 22/31.

Message #35 updated: 22/22

¡Merry Christmas!

Update to msg 32: 24/24.
Merry Christmas!

Msg 45: 24/24
Merry Christmas full of lovely stories!

Final update to msg #22: All done! 24/24

Updated message 11
48/48 completed!

I hope you all have a lovely christmas :)

Update to msg #5: 24/24
Challenge completed.

Happy holidays to everyone!

COMPLETED! Original message is 29

Update to message 9:

24/24 -- completed!

24/24

I don't think I did any check-ins for this, but I did meet my goal last night and read a chapter in Luke every day for 24 days!

Update to Message #30 - 24/24. Thank you so much for this fun challenge. It completely opened my eyes to reading more poetry and short stories!

Update to message 23:

24/24 -- completed

Updating message #7 to show 50/56 complete.

Update to Message 42:

Oof This month was not my month to read this book, I guess. :P I wound up getting busy, then getting into other books, so I basically got nothing done (except for 9 Pages) for Option B.

However, for option A (Poems), I did read all 24 days!

So, Option A- 24/24; Option B- 0/24

24/24! Done.

@oshizu
I have read the first book and started the second so basically it's getting better! Nice to know.

24/24 All done!

CONGRATS to all who completed their challenge already! Merriness!

24/24 Completed! I finished late, but I finished! :) Hope everyone had/is having a Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

I intend on doing this challenge every month. I listen to mostly audio books but intend on reading one physical book every month as a personal challenge. :)

Update to Message # 25 31/24 complete!

I hit my 24 goal and surpassed it to read all 31 short stories in The Love Object: Selected Stories by Edna O'Brien!!!

I liked some stories better than others, and Edna O'Brien writes beautifully. I did not enjoy this anthology though except for 3 stories. It dragged on a lot, and I know she was trying to vividly portray foreign concepts and emphasize poverty and rural Ireland among other things, I felt like I was being forced to understand it. My parents are Irish immigrants and grew up that way.

Again, I loved her as a writer. I'll definitely take a pass should she have any more short stories now or in the future. At first I thought I would check out some of her novels... but I'm certainly in no rush.

I'm proud of myself for making through this many short stories though!!! I can't think of any anthology of short stories that I have ever liked except comedy ones. They just end too abruptly, and with hers, she would have characters come back with old squabbles or make cameos. So I didn't know much about what was going on because the stories weren't divided by each character's perspective or anything. It was just a chore to get through. I would love to talk to somebody who read and loved it to get their insight.

Hi, I am late with updating but completed 44 of 48 planned reads. See message #37

Thank you so much for joining in this month, all - and;

Happy new year!

Update to message #7: Challenge complete!

I truly loved the book by Max Lucado, so much that I bought it as a gift for some friends.

Somehow, I had forgotten how depressing Dylan Thomas's poetry could be. The rest of the poems may remain forever unread by me, unless I some day become as obsessed with death as he was.