2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Hi Megan!
I'd like to join with a goal of 20 books.

Progress 1/20

1. Brown Girl Dreaming

Diversity in Reading
My Reading Corner
Progress: 40/40

1. The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
2. Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead
3. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
4. Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Sutan
5. Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Ibram X. Kendi
6. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
7. The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
8. The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
9. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
10. The Gods of Tango by Carolina De Robertis
11. Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman
12. The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
13. Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
14. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
15. Ida: A Sword Among Lions by Paula J. Giddings
16. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
17. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
18. The Carrying: Poems by Ada Limon
19. Beloved by Toni Morrison
20. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
21. The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar
22. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
23. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Marukami
24. Peter Darling by Austin Chant
25. The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
26. Little Weirds by Jenny Slate
27. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
28. The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
29. The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
30. Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong
31. Jazz by Toni Morrison
32. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
33. The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin
34. Death's End by Liu Cixin
35. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
36. The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu
37. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
38. While Justice Sleeps by Stacy Abrams
39. Octavia's Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements by Adrienne Maree Brown
40. The Night Watchman by Louise Erdich

16/30

Diversity of Voice and Nation
1. African
2. Asian
💬3 European Summer in Provence
4 Latin American
5. Middle Eastern
6. Immigrant, Refugee, or Asylum-Seeker
7 Black Author or Character
💬8 Female Author or Main Protagonist Island in the East
💬9 Male Author or Main Protagonist One Enchanted Evening
💬10 book Translated from another Language The Shadow of the Wind

Diversity of Beliefs
11 Character or Author who is Buddhist or Hindu
12 Character or Author who is Jewish
13 Character or Author who is Muslim
14 Character or Author who is a Feminist

Diversity of the Heart
🌈15 Non-Binary, Queer or Transgender Under the Rainbow
🌈16 Gay or Lesbian When Harry Met Harry
🌈17 Bisexual or Pansexual Make Me Fall
🌈18 Adopted or fostered The Sun Sister

Diversity in Body and Mind
19 Body Positive or Fat Positive
20 A Child or an Elder (Under 18 or Over 75) The Familiars
❤️21 Low Income or Financially Insecure Country Heaven
❤️22 Survivor of Abuse or A Hate Crime The Tattooist of Auschwitz
23 Character or author in a wheelchair
24 Character or author with a learning disability
25 Character or author with a chronic health condition
❤️26 Character or author with a cognitive or intellectual disability My Dyslexia
27 Character or author living with addiction
❤️28 Character or author who is differently-abled (e.g. Deaf, blind) The Little Village of Happiness
29 Character or author who is neurologically diverse (e.g. ADD, autism)

Diversity of Genre
📔30 Autobiography or Biography The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company
📔31 History or Historical Fiction A Rumored Fortune
📔32 Romance Romancing Mister Bridgerton
📔33 Fantasy or Sci-Fi The House in the Cerulean Sea
34 Mystery, Crime or Thriller
📔35 Non-Fiction Into the Bermuda Triangle: Pursuing the Truth Behind the World's Greatest Mystery

I’d like to sign up for 50 please. 21/50



Geography
BIPOC
Body
Beliefs
LBGQT

BIPOC
✅1. Razorblade Tears
✅2. Clark and Division
✅3. Black Betty
✅4. Mr Loverman
✅5. The Satapur Moonstone
✅6. The Library of the Dead
✅7. The [book:The Frangipani Tree Mystery

LBGQT
✅1. A Spindle Splintered
✅2. A Marvellous Light
✅3. Outlawed
✅4. The Life and Death of Sophie Stark
✅5. Betwixt
✅6. Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality
✅7. Black Sun
✅8. Red, White & Royal Blue

GEOGRAPHY
✅1. The Widows of Malabar Hill
✅2. Waking the Tiger: A thrilling award-nominated historical crime novel
✅3. Jade Dragon Mountain
✅4. Death in the East
✅5. Crooked Adam
✅6. The Cat Who Saved Books
✅7. Radiant Girl
✅ 8. The Betel Nut Tree Mystery
✅9. Quietly in Their Sleep
✅10. The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story
✅11. A Fatal Thaw

BELIEFS:
✅1. Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer
✅2. The Bombay Prince (Parsi)
✅ 3. The Daemon Device(Jewish)
✅ 4. The Shadowing (Quaker)

Please count me in - update to 20 - 21/20

To qualify for this challenge, the book must be written by an author(s) who is different from you. The difference could be in race, gender, sexual orientation, geography, nationality, religion, family background, language, ability,

Geography- (Not in South Africa)

Philadelphia - Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas - 02/01
England - Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen 08/01
Florida - Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer 15/01

Race-

African American - Every Reasonable Doubt by Pamela Samuels Young - 07/01
Native American - The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich 30/01

Gender (Not Female)

Male -
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler - 08/01
The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver 14/01

Nationality (Not South African)

English - Fall of Angels by Barbara Cleverly 09/01
Australian - The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton - 11/01
Canadian - Still Life by Louise Penny 11/01
Polish - Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk 16/01

Family background -

Military Spouse - From Beer to Eternity by Sherry Harris 12/01

Education

She has a degree in fine arts and mass communication & journalism from The University of New Mexico - The Spanish Daughter by Lorena Hughes 13/01
He has a PhD in Chinese Literature from National Central University - The Man with the Compound Eyes by Wu Ming-Yi 21/01
She earned her BA in Magazine Journalism from the University of Georgia and MFA in Writing from the Savannah College of Art & Design. - A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham 26/01

Career

Scientist - Lab Girl by Hope Jahren 14/01
Zoologist - Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens 15/01
Landscape Gardener - Murder for Neptune's Trident by Victoria L.K. Williams 21/01
Message Therapist - Cats on the Prowl: Book One] by Nancy C. Davis 24/01

Born -

Annapolis, Maryland - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver 19/01
Stockholm, Sweden - Anxious People by Fredrik Backman 29/01
Ability -

A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking 20/01 - In 1963, Hawking was diagnosed with an early-onset slow-progressing form of motor neurone disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – ALS, for short) that gradually, over the decades, paralysed him.

Sexual Orientation

Queer millennial - Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers 22/01

Religion

Catholic - The White Garden: A Novel of Virginia Woolf by Stephanie Barron 23/01 (view spoiler)[She grew up in Washington, D.C., and attended Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School, a two hundred year-old Catholic school for girls that shares a wall with Georgetown University. (hide spoiler)]
Jewish - The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank 07/02

rika wrote: "Please count me in


To qualify for this challenge, the book must be written by an author(s) who is different from you. The difference could be in race, gender, s..."

Welcome to the challenge, rika! Do you know how many books that you would like to pledge for the challenge?

Rachael wrote: "I'm interested in this one! I wanted to do the Global Voices 2021 and never got around to it, soI'll be using the same prompt list if that's okay? Put me down for 30 please

Voices From Around The ..."

Rachael, that's completely fine. Welcome to the challenge!

Welcome to all of our new participants! Great job to those who have already completed a book for the challenge! Updated to here.

We are all different, which is great because we are all unique. Without diversity, life would be very boring.
~ Catherine Pulsifer

Duration: January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022


Progress: 0/48

Updated message 18

1/20 books read

Update to message 6:

2/24 completed

Update to Message 5:

2/20 books read

Oops, meant update to message 51!

2/20 read

Update to Message #29:
Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

1/25

Megan wrote: "rika wrote: "Please count me in


To qualify for this challenge, the book must be written by an author(s) who is different from you. The difference could be in ra..."
Please count me in for at least 12 books. Thanks

Update message 55
2/12

Update on message #22: finished 2/10 books.

Updated msg 14

Just completed a book by a Pakistani-American Muslim author - Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed. Well-written middle grade! Doesn’t shy away from a hard subject matter but also includes the joy in life as well. Loved the characters and the descriptions of Pakistan. Definitely worth reading! 4.5 stars

1/50

Update message 55 - 3/12

Updated message 18

2/20

Update message 55 - 4/12

Message 55 updated - 5/12

Welcome to the challenge, Lindsey! Great progress so far for everyone! Updated to here

A lot of different flowers make a bouquet.
~ Islamic Proverb

Update on message #22: finished 3/10.

Diversity in Reading
January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022
0/10

1. Mangos and Mistletoe (race, sexuality)
2. Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body (disability)
3. Kindred (race)

Update on message #22: finished 6 of 10.

Update message 55 - 6/12

Updated message 10-- 1/15
Asian (Phillipino)-- The Friend Zone

Hi, I'd like to join for 6 books.

Updated msg 14

Just completed a book by English authors - Castle Dor by Daphne du Maurier and Arthur Quiller-Couch. I wonder how this novel would have turned out if it was solely written by Du Maurier and not a continuation of Quiller-Couch. I found the concept intriguing and certain parts were quite clear and direct. Other sections it was like reading through fog. However, overall, it was an enjoyable read. But one I would recommend only for die hard fans. 3 stars

2/50

Message 55 updated 7/12

Updated message 37. 2/10 Completed

Message 55 updated - 8/12

Update message #22: 7/10

Update Message #29:
Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers: LGBTQ+/Sapphic romance

2/25

Update message 55 - 9/12

Update message 54.

2/50

Update message 55 - 11/12

Update to message 6:
5/24

* James Baldwin: The Fire Next Time
* Esi Edugyan: Washington Black
* Louise Erdrich: The Sentence
* Nicola Upson: Nine Lessons
* Nicola Yoon: Instructions for Dancing

Update to message 55 - 13/20

Update to #54

3/50

Update to Message # 29
Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas - BIPOC

3/25

Updated msg 14

Just completed a book by an author born in Kenya and living in England - The Tsarina's Daughter by Ellen Alpsten. Overall, really enjoyable historical fiction. It took me a bit to get situated in the time period. The author does mention the suffering of the Russian people contrasted to the ostentation of the royalty. I enjoyed learning more about the history, and the author’s interpretation of historical figures’ actions. I received this book as a free giveaway in exchange for my honest review. Worth reading! 4 stars

3/50

Updated message 18 3/20

Update to 55 - 14/20

Update 55 - 15/20

Update on message #22: completed 9/10 books and would like to raise my goal to 20.

Updated msg 14

Just completed a book by a Canadian author - The Maid by Nita Prose. Enjoyed this mystery! Loved the main character, how she was described and how she viewed the world. I enjoyed how the story unfolded, though it was a bit long in the middle. I appreciate that the author used her experiences working with special needs children to inform her creation of the character. Definitely worth reading! 4.5 stars

4/50

Updated message 31

1/10

Updated message 10-- 2/15