2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Update to Message 136: 20/36

Update: MSG # 20 3/15

Update to message 32, 14/20 books

11. Blood to Poison
12. The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye
13. Pumpkin
14. Klara and the Sun

Update to Message #9: 60/65

Update to Message #29
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare - Nigerian author/character

7/25

Update to Message #29
Booked by Kwame Alexander : BIPOC male

#8/25

Update to message 54

25/50

Updated message 42:
Progress: 4/15

Updated msg 14

Mexican-American

The Hacienda by Isabel Canas. This book was creepy and scary and yet taught me - perfect combo! Clearly written with a deep understanding of Mexican history, the plot moved swiftly back and forth with the hacienda at the center of the storm. Loved the characters too! Really excited to see what this author writes next! I received this book as a free giveaway in exchange for my honest review. Definitely worth reading! 5 stars

30/50

Update to Message 136: 21/36

Updated msg 14

Jewish

True Pretenses by Rose Lerner. I was uncertain of this book at first, and then a comment halfway through made me pause and ponder, but by the end I was thoroughly in love with both mains and this book! I loved that they were honestly dishonest, I loved that the author peeled back the civility of the genteel, and I loved that she introduced Jewish characters into the regency (they were there in history, but are almost never on the page in these historicals). Charming and delightful and thoughtful. Definitely worth reading! 5 stars

31/50

Updated message 10-- 9/15

Update to message 30: progress 1/5

Updated msg 14

Lesbian

The Highland Fling by Meghan Quinn. Fun, escapist, with lovely flashes of real conversations that helped make it more enjoyable. I liked the main characters, though I felt like sending them both to therapy multiple times. There were some great comic scenes and also some emotional ones. And now Scotland has been bumped up on my travel list. Definitely worth reading! 4.5 stars

32/50

Update to Message #29:
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner -Korean american

9/25

Updated msg 14

Chinese-American

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li. This was such an incredible debut! I loved the writing, the interchanging perspectives was done very well, and the plot was great! “For so long, the past had been a wound still open. Now he could run his finger along the mark those years had left. Scars were nothing but tissue, keratin, a reminder of what the body could endure.” It was just a touch repetitive, but it was a really enjoyable read. Definitely worth reading! 4.5 stars

33/50

Update to Message #25:

When the Apricots Bloom by Gina Wilkinson.
I debated if this one qualifies but I decided to include it. The author is a white woman from America (no diversity there), but it is about her experience working as a foreign correspondant in Iraq during the time of Saddam Hussein and her experiences as a woman living in a time of a regime where women are not equal, and her stories are of a foreigner living in Iraq along with fictional stories of women she met there. So, I felt like it qualifies

10/25

Wow this challenge is so awesome, I want in! :D

🌸 DIVERSITY IN READING 🌸
January 1, 2022-December 31, 2022
1 year, right? I will read 12 books for this challenge! :)

Progress : 3/12
Different Nationalities -- Books that is not Thai.
1. CHINA : (Jan.)
2. CHINA : (Mar.)
3. GHANA : (Mar.)

Update to Message 136: 22/36

Updated msg 14

Australian

The Lost Man by Jane Harper. This was an expertly crafted mystery! The setting was its own character. I loved the complexity of the characters and the slow build to the reveal. Perfection and this won’t be my last Jane Harper novel. Definitely worth reading! 5 stars

34/50

April update to msg #27: 21/35
Thank you, Megan!

15. Ethnicity (Polish, #2it) Flights
16. Mixed heritage: Jade Legacy
17. Ethnicity (African-American): When No One Is Watching
18. Sexuality (Non-binary): Gender Queer
19. Ethnicity (African-American): Attorney-Client Privilege
20. Globetrotting (India): Midnight at Malabar House
21. Sexuality (Trans); Confessions of the Fox

Update to Message #9: 74/65

I expect to read several more diverse authors in the next month or two, so I'm not ready to leave the challenge yet, despite going over my goal.

Update to message 6: Completed 18/24.

Update to message #5

PROGRESS: 72/100

message #7:

Please update my goal to 100.

Update to message 32, 17/20 books

15. The Merciless Ones
16. Check, Please!, Book 2: Sticks & Scones
17. Heartstopper: Volume One

Update to Message 136: 23/36

Updated to here! Welcome to our new participant, Pang! And congrats to TerryJane on completing the challenge!

Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.
~ Stephen R. Covey

Update MSG #20 4/15

Updated msg 14

Swedish, translated from Swedish

Horrific Sufferings of the Mind-Reading Monster Hercules Barefoot: His Wonderful Love and His Terrible Hatred by Carl-Johan Vallgren, translated by Veronica and Paul Britton-Austin. This is an odd book but without some of the flashes of brilliance that could turn it into a treasure. There were parts I enjoyed. But there were parts I hated. The love interest was only ever described as physically attractive with no other qualities because why give a girl a personality - annoying. At times it was gratuitously gory. And the lapses in the plot were just a bit lazy. Glad to have this one done. 2 stars

35/50

Updated msg 14

Neurodiverse

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire. Excellent installment in this series! I have no idea how the author manages to contain and convey so much in these slim volumes, but it is magic! “it took most of Sumi‘s attention to keep herself from interrupting, pointing out how it was funny how ‘real’ history seemed to be all about white men doing important things while everyone else barely existed except when they needed to be shown the error of their ways. It made sense that the self-made heroes would have written history to make them look as good as possible. It didn’t make sense for everyone else to be expected to believe it. It was like saying water was dry and the sky was red, and somehow making that the law of the land.” Cora has become my favorite in this series, and I cannot wait to see what happens next in her story! Definitely worth reading! 4.5 stars

36/50

Update to Message #29

Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P Manasala - by a Pacific Islander author

11/25

Updated to here!

Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without.
~ William Sloane Coffin Jr.

Update to Message #9: 89/65
Thanks, Megan.

Update to Message 136: 25/36

Updated message 37.

Status: 10/10. Challenge complete.

Congratulations to Anu on completing the challenge! Updated to here!

When we listen and celebrate what is both common and different, we become a wiser, more inclusive, and better organization.
~ Pat Wadors

Update to message 54

30/50

Update: #20 5/15

Updated msg 14

African-American

Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson. This was a well-written exploration of one woman’s story of enslavement. I appreciated the characters and the way the information was presented. The ending was rather abrupt, and while I appreciated the epilogue, I still felt like the story was missing an ending. Did Pheby cease to exist upon assisting others? The epilogue seems to suggest otherwise. Looking forward to discussing with my book club! Definitely check out the author’s note! Worth reading! 4.5 stars

37/50

Hi! Is it too late to join? I have been challenging myself to read around the world for the last few years and would love to be part of this.

I will commit to 25 books and increase as I am able, since this is not the only category that I read in.

1 Notes on grief/Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ***** Author: Nigerian; set in Maryland & Nigeria
2 Zikora/Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ***** Author: Nigerian, set in Washington DC
3 Hunger/Roxane Gay ***** Author: Indian American, set in USA
4 The Tango Singer/Tomás Eloy Martínez **** Author: Argentine, set in Argentina
5 Baking Cakes in Kigali/Gaile Parkin ***** Author: Zambian, set in Rwanda
6 Henna House/Nomi Eve **** Set in Yemen
7 Aya /Marguerite Abouet & Clément Oubrerie **** Authors: Ivory Coast, set in Ivory Coast
8 When Hoopies Go to Heaven/Gaile Parkin ***** Author: Zambian, set in Swaziland
9 Old Drift/Serpell ***** Author: Zambian, set in Zambia
10 The Hacienda/Lisa St. Aubin de Terán *** Author: English, set in Venezuela
11 Contemporary Israel/Robert O Freedman ***** Author: Male, analysis of Israel & Palestine
12 The Island of Sea Women/Lisa See ***** Author: Asian American, set in Korea (Jeju)
13 Abyssinian Chronicles/Moses Isegawa *** Author: male Ugandan by birth, written in Swedish
14 Burial Rites / Hannah Kent ***** Author: Australian, set in Iceland
15 The Guest List / Lucy Foley ***** Author: British, set in Ireland
16 The Abu Dhabi Bar Mitzvah: Fear and Love in the modern middle east/ Adam Valen Levinson *** Author: Male, set in Middle East
17 The queen of water / Resau and Farinango *****Author: Ecuadorian, set in Ecuador
18 Allah is not obliged / Ahmadou Kourouma ***** Author: African, set in Ivory Coast and Liberia
19 A general theory of oblivion / Jose Eduardo Agualusa ***** Author: Portuguese, set in Angola.
20. Women without men/ Shahrnush Parsipur *****
Iranian author, set in Iran
21. Olga Dies Dreaming/ Xochitl Gonzalez *****Puerto Rican experience
22. In the Midst of Winter by Isabelle Allende ***** Guatemala/Chile
23. Chess Story / Stefan Zweig **** Austrian
24. Black Cake / Charmaine Willkerson ***** Carribean
25. The Dancer from Khive / Bibish ***** Uzbekistan

Update to Message 136: 26/36

Welcome to the challenge, Kszr! Updated to here!

Diversity is a fact, but inclusion is a choice we make every day. As leaders, we have to put out the message that we embrace and not just tolerate diversity.
~ Nellie Borrero

Updated message 10-- 10/15

Update to Message #25

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

12/25

Updated msg 14

African-American

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings. I really wanted to like this book but in the end it was too disjointed and strange for me. It has an interesting concept, I loved all the New Orleans references, and the music references were fascinating. But I was left confused about what was happening for most of the book. And I felt like the writing had holes in it. Ultimately this was not an enjoyable read for me. I received this book as a free giveaway in exchange for my honest review. 2 stars

38/50

Update to Message 136: 28/36

Update to message 6:

Completed 22/24

Updated msg 14

African-American

Through the Storm by Beverly Jenkins. One of my favorite historical romances from this author so far! I loved all the characters (except the villains and racists of course)! I always appreciate how this author brings in historical events and people, so you learn something next to steamy scenes. Definitely worth reading! 4.5 stars

39/50

May update to msg #27: 32/50

Megan, please increase my goal to 50. Thank you!