2025 Reading Challenge discussion
ARCHIVE 2023
>
Martha☀'s Shelf Noise
date
newest »
newest »
2023 Book ShelfJanuary [7]
February [8]
March [8]
April [5]
May [5]
June [3]
July [6]
August [4]
September [5]
October [7]
November [10]
December [6]
2023 STATS36/70 (incl. Ms Demeanor)
Length
Short (<250 pages): 5
Medium (250-450 pages): 26
Long (451-800 pages): 4
Very Long (>800 pages): 1
Ratings
I didn't like it - 1✩ - 1
It was ok - 2✩✩ - 3
I liked it - 3✩✩✩ - 10
I really liked it - 4✩✩✩✩ - 10
It was amazing - 5✩✩✩✩✩ - 12
DNF -
(for more of my stats, (view spoiler)
Five Star Titles
Tags
adventure -
athletes - 1
biography -
(view spoiler)
BT Monthly Challenges3 options per month; goal= >1 per month
JANUARY (will read 3)
✅️debut book - The Tiger's Wife
✅️ member's choice -The Maid
✅️ author = Horowitz - A Line To Kill 30 Jan
FEBRUARY (will read 1)
✅️ secret in title - This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor
-
-
MARCH (will read 2)
✅️ 'M' in title and author - Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
-
✅️ author = Black History Month The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
APRIL (will read 2 or 3)
✅️ personal pronoun - Where I Belong
✅️ author = John Boyne - The Echo Chamber
✅️ member's choice - The Last Flight
MAY (will read 2)
✅️ strong female - The Sentence
✅️ member's choice Lessons in Chemistry
-
JUNE (will read 1)
✅️ LGBTQ+ - Local Woman Missing
-
-
JULY (will read 1)
-
-
-
AUGUST (will read 2)
✅️ upside down - The Marriage Plot
✅️ author - wearing glasses The Black Book Orhan Pamuk
-
SEPTEMBER (will read 3)
✅️ age addition =8 - Ape House
- author - multigenre Scarlett Thomas (literary fiction, children's, fantasy, how-to)
✅️ member's choice The Light Pirate (previously read)
OCTOBER (will read 3)
✅️ relative - Autopsy of a Boring Wife
✅️ author name O, C, T - Emily O'Grady ✅️Edna O'Brien Emily Chappell
✅️ member's choice The Marriage Portrait
NOVEMBER
✅️Autumn - Beyond Belfast: A 560-Mile Journey Across Northern Ireland on Sore Feet
- author - Lauren Groff The Vaster Wilds
DECEMBER
- Christmas story -
- <200 pages -
✅️ A debut book Remarkably Bright Creatures
Bibliopoly 2023Progress 35/35
Bibliopoly message #24
Bibliopoly tracking post @ Martha's Shelf Noise
Go Set on two or more continents
✅️ 84, Charing Cross Road 19 July
Purple A wheelbarrow, garden tool or plant on the cover or in the title
✅️ In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto 15 Mar
🚫Community Chest Participate in a Group Read
Purple A translated book
✅️ The Reader 31 July
🚫Tax Money on the cover or in the title
Reading Railroad A celebrity book club list
✅️ (Reese) Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
Blue Hat or headwear on the cover or in the title
✅️ The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Chance from TBR shelf within the ten highest or lowest # of ratings
✅️ (6) Italian on the Move (3cds + Guide) With Book
Blue An author or character is LGBTQ+
✅️ Local Woman Missing 3 July
Blue: Any shade of blue on the cover or in the title
✅️ Things We Do in the Dark
In Jail A banned or challenged book
Beloved
🚫 Pink A dog on the cover or in the title
Electric Company A light source on the cover
✅️ Starlight 19 Mar
Pink An author or character with different nationality or birth country
✅️ A Thousand Splendid Suns 31 Aug
Pink Any shade of pink on the cover or in the title
✅️ Girl
Pennsylvania Railroad An author with a pen name
✅️ 11/22/63 23 Jan
Orange A ship or boat on the cover, or involving water travel
✅️ Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
🚫Community Chest Participate in a Readathon
Orange An author or character with different religious or spiritual beliefs
✅️ Sadness Is a White Bird 02 Oct
Orange Any shade of orange on the cover or in the title
✅️ Ms. Demeanor
Free Parking Your choice
✅️The Sentence
Red A car, truck or bus on the cover, or involving a road trip
✅️ The Alice Network 17 July
Chance TBR shelf among the ten oldest or newest additions
✅️ Beyond Belfast: A 560 Mile Journey Across Northern Ireland On Sore Feet
Red An author or character with different ethnicity
✅️ The Vanishing Half
Red Any shade of red on the cover or in the title
✅️ The Last Flight
B&O Railroad An author or title beginning with B or O
✅️ The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk 05 Oct
Yellow A boot or shoe on the cover, or involving foot travel
✅️ Mud, Rocks, Blazes: Letting Go on the Appalachian Trail
Yellow An author or character who has a physical or emotional impairment
✅️The Maid
Water Works Any form of water on the cover
✅️ Watch Me Disappear 10 Jan
Yellow Any shade of yellow on the cover or in the title
✅️ Carrie Soto Is Back 23 Mar
Go to Jail Crime fiction or true crime book
✅️ Snow 17 Jan
Green A thimble, sewing or craft implement on the cover or in the title
✅️Brooklyn
Green An author or character of other gender
✅️ Spare
🚫 Community Chest Participate in a Buddy Read or TBR Twins
Green Any shade of green on the cover or in the title
✅️ The Bullet That Missed
Shortline Railroad Under 200 pages long
✅️ How to Pronounce Knife: Stories 05 Sept
Chance TBR shelf within the ten highest or lowest average ☆ rating
✅️ Demon Copperhead 04 Feb
Dark Blue Cat on the cover or in the title
✅️ The Tiger's Wife 25 Feb
Luxury Tax A gemstone or precious metal on the cover or in the title
✅️ The Marriage Plot14 Sept
Dark Blue Award winning
✅️ A Visit from the Goon Squad
1)✅️continents
2)✅️garden
4)✅️translated
6)✅️celebbook
7)✅️hat
8)✅️low#ratings
9)✅️LGBTQ+
10)blue✅️
11)banned
13)✅️light
14)✅️nationality
15)✅️pink
16)✅️pseudonym
17)✅️boat
19)✅️religion
20)✅️orange
21)✅️FREE
22)✅️road
23)✅️oldTBR
24)✅️ethnicity
25)✅️red
26)✅️B&O-
27)✅️foot
28)✅️neuro
29)✅️waterworks
30)✅️yellow
31)✅️crime
32)✅️sewing
33)✅️gender
35)✅️green
36)✅️>200pages
37)✅️✩rating
38)✅️cat
39)✅️gem/metal
40)✅️award
TBR Jar 2023 Year Long ChallengeGoal: 30 books
I used the Randomizer function to select 35 books from my TBR list - but many are still there because I haven't found those books yet!
22/30
TBR Jar challenge message #8
◻ = randomized pick
⏰️ = book from last year's TBR Jar challenge
✅️
84, Charing Cross Road✅️
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian◻
Alone in the Classroom◻
The Art of Possibility✅️
Beyond Belfast: A 560 Mile Journey Across Northern Ireland On Sore Feet✅️
The Black Book 04 Oct✅️
The Bourne Identity◻
The Boy at the Top of the Mountain✅️
Brooklyn⏰️
The Carbon Cycle: Crossing the Great Divide✅️
The Echo Chamber 13 April✅️
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty◻
Full Dark House⏰️
Girl, Woman, Other✅️
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto◻
The Island of Missing Trees✅️
Local Woman Missing✅️
Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night◻
The Mistress of Spices✅️
Mud, Rocks, Blazes: Letting Go on the Appalachian Trail⏰️
The Orenda◻
Plastic: A Toxic Love Story✅️
The Reader✅️
Rebecca✅️
Rock Paper Scissors05 Jan✅️
Sadness Is a White Bird 02 Oct⏰️
Signs of Life: To the Ends of the Earth with a Doctor◻
The Songbook of Benny Lament◻
Sophia's Secret✅️
Starlight 19 Mar◻
These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901✅️
A Thousand Splendid Suns✅️
Tomorrow, When the War Began✅️
A Visit from the Goon Squad✅️
Watch Me Disappear 10 Jan⏰️
What Is Left the Daughter◻
Where There's a Will: Hope, Grief and Endurance in a Cycle Race Across a Continent✅️
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams 12 Feb⏰️
The Yellow House
I Spy 2023 Year Long ChallengeProgress 28/30
message #38
1. Transportation = car
✅️ The Alice Network
2. Days of the week = date (Friday)
✅️ 11/22/63 23 Jan
3. A food or drink = Food
✅️ In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto 15 Mar
4. Type of crime = kidnap
✅️ Local Woman Missing 3 July
5. Olympic sport = gymnastics
✅️ Winterland 18 Jan
To see more ... (view spoiler)
1)✅️transportation
2)✅️day
3)✅️food
4)✅️crime
5)✅️olympic
6)✅️instrument
7)✅️cat
8)✅️school
9)✅️weather
10)✅️Europe
11)✅️celebration
12)
13)✅️light
14)✅️art
15)✅️measurement
16)✅️on wall
17)✅️circus
18)✅️direction
19)✅️accessory
20)✅️road
21)✅️purple
22)✅️written
23)✅️gothrough
24)✅️inhouse
25)✅️bird
26)✅️farm
27)endearment
28)✅️chess
29)✅️yellow
30)✅️technology
Titles which are committed to year-long challenges:👀 = I Spy
💰 = Bibliopoly
🍿 = PopSugar
Ⓑ - BINGO
⏰️ = TBR ‘22
⌛ = TBR ‘23
A = audiobook
B = book
K = kindle
L = library
N = need
O = own
👀⌛ BL
Alone in the Classroom👀Ⓑ⌛ BL
The Art of Possibility👀Ⓑ NEED
Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw: Travels in Search of Canada👀 AO
Beloved👀⌛ BL
The Boy at the Top of the Mountain⏰️⌛ BO
The Carbon Cycle: Crossing the Great Divide👀Ⓑ BL
The Enchanted⌛ K
Full Dark House💰⏰️🍿⌛ AL
Girl, Woman, OtherⒷ⌛ AO
The Island of Missing Trees💰🍿 AO
The Long Walk👀⌛ KO
The Mistress of SpicesBO
Monkeys with Typewriters: How to Write Fiction and Unlock the Secret Power of Stories🍿⏰️⌛ BO
The Orenda👀 BL
Picture Us in the Light👀⌛ BL
Plastic: A Toxic Love Story👀Ⓑ⏰️⌛BL
Signs of Life: To the Ends of the Earth with a Doctor⌛ K
The Songbook of Benny Lament👀💰🍿 BL
Songs in Ursa MajorⒷ⏰️⌛ BL
What Is Left the Daughter👀💰🍿Ⓑ⌛ BL
Where There's a Will: Hope, Grief and Endurance ..👀⏰️⌛ BO
The Yellow House
BT Year Long Challenge - One Month At A Time"read at least one book in one of the categories each month"
-books can be read in any order until 31 Dec '23
message #9
27/25
January
a) Book to movie The Bourne Identity
b)
✅️ c) a prior Members Choice book Demon Copperhead
February
✅️a) Romance Ms. Demeanor
✅️ b) a book published in 2022 Carrie Soto Is Back
✅️c) author = POC - to honor Black History month ❌Reproduction and ✔️The Vanishing Half
March
✅️ a) Self help Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen
✅️ b) Series The Bullet That Missed
✅️c) Historical A Gentleman in Moscow
April
✅️ a) Magical realism The Light Pirate
b) Essays Monkeys with Typewriters: How to Write Fiction and Unlock the Secret Power of Stories
✅️ c) Story about an animal On Animals
May
✅️ a) Cozy mystery Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone
✅️ b) Thriller Notes on an Execution
c)
June
✅️ a) short stories How to Pronounce Knife: Stories
✅️ b) a play Tom Lake
c)
July
✅️ a) non-fiction 84, Charing Cross Road
✅️ b) award winner The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
✅️ c) classic Rebecca
August
✅️ a) biography/memoir Out and Back: A Runner's Story of Survival Against All Odds
✅️ b) YA Tomorrow, When the War Began
✅️ c) WWI or WWII or Civil War The Reader
September
✅️ a) LGBTQSadness Is a White Bird
✅️ b) mystery - The Black Book
✅️ c) GR's Award Winner - any year The Maid
October
✅️ a) true crime The Marriage Portrait
✅️ b) horror Hostage (not horror tho)
✅️ c) sportsBeyond Belfast: A 560-Mile Journey Across Northern Ireland on Sore Feet
November
✅️ a) More than 400 pages Great Circle
b) Southern LitBeloved
c)
December
a) Christmas story
b) < 200 pages
✅️ c) A debut book Remarkably Bright Creatures
Popsugar 2023 - Year Long Challenge29/30 prompts
message #81
✅️ 1. A book you meant to read in 2022 Watch Me Disappear 10 Jan
✅️ 3. A vacation Rock Paper Scissors 05 Jan
✅️ 4. First-time author The Tiger's Wife 18 Feb
✅️6. Forbidden romance Great Circle
✅️ 7."Girl" in the title Girl
✅️ 8. A celebrity memoir Where I Belong 18 May
✅️ 9. Colour word Sadness Is a White Bird o2 Oct
✅️ 14. Retelling of a classic Demon Copperhead 04 Feb
✅️ 15. Song lyric as its title Starlight 19 Mar
✅️ 16. main character's name Maureen: A Harold Fry Novel 17 Feb
✅️ 17. Love triangle Ms. Demeanor
✅️18. Banned The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
✅️ 19. Celebrity memoir Where I Belong
✅️ 20. 2023 TV series Lessons in Chemistry
✅️ 23. A book with a map Beyond Belfast: A 560-Mile Journey Across Northern Ireland on Sore Feet
✅️ 25. Text Only Cover The Trees
✅️ 26. Shortest book on TBR Italian on the Move (3cds + Guide)With Book
✅️ 28. Secondhand Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
✅️ 29. Friend recommended Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams 12 Feb
✅️ 30. Celebrity book-club list Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty (Reese)
✅️ 31. About a family The Echo Chamber 13 Apr
✅️ 33. An athlete/sport Out and Back: A Runner's Story of Survival Against All Odds
✅️ 34. A historical-fiction book The Alice Network
✅️ 35. Divorce Autopsy of a Boring Wife
37. should have read in high school Monkeys with Typewriters: How to Write Fiction and Unlock the Secret Power of Stories
✅️ 43. One day They Both Die at the End
✅️ 46. A pet character Rebecca
✅️ 48. Two languages Winterland 18 Jan
✅️ 49. Longest 11/22/63
✅️ 50. Alliteration in the title The Black Book
1)✅️2022TBR
3)✅️vacation
4)✅️debut
6)✅️forbidden
7)✅️"girl"
8)✅️celebrity
9)✅️colour
14)✅️retold classic
15)✅️lyric
16)✅️name
17)✅️♥️triangle
18)✅️banned
19)✅️favprompt
20)✅️TV
23)✅️map
25)✅️text_only
26)✅️short
28)✅️2ndhand
29)✅️recommended
30)✅️bookclub
31)✅️family
33)✅️sport
34)✅️historical
35)✅️divorce
37) high school
43)✅️oneday
46)✅️pet
48)✅️2languages
49)✅️longest
50)✅️alliteration
Bound Together Best Book of 2023:
Monthly Fiction Favourites ⭐:
Jan. Winterland 5⭐ 18 Jan
Feb. Demon Copperhead 5⭐ 04 Feb
Mar. Carrie Soto Is Back 5⭐ 23 Mar
Apr. The Light Pirate 4⭐ 29 Apr
May A Gentleman in Moscow 5⭐ 12 May
June Lessons in Chemistry 5⭐ 12 June
July Rebecca 5⭐ 30 July
Aug. The Reader 5⭐ 1 Aug
Sept. How to Pronounce Knife: Stories 5⭐ 10 Sept
Oct. Sadness Is a White Bird 05 Oct
Nov. The Marriage Portrait 5⭐ 03 Nov
Dec.
My favourite fiction of 2023 is ~~~
Monthly Non-Fiction Favourites ⭐:
Jan. Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood 4⭐ 12 Jan
Feb. Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams 4⭐12 Feb
Mar. This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor 5⭐ 14 Mar
Apr. On Animals 4⭐ 29 Apr
May Where I Belong 5⭐ 18 May
June
July 84, Charing Cross Road 4⭐ 19 July
Aug. Italian on the Move 3⭐ 6 Aug
Sept. Out and Back: A Runner's Story of Survival Against All Odds 3⭐ 21 Sept
Oct.
Nov. Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night 4⭐ 28 Nov
Dec.
My favourite non-fiction of 2023 is ~~~
BT Find-A-Word Challenge 18 Jan - 14 Feb
Must find the exact word
List #1 - 20/20
problem word=extremely
✅️ sun Watch Me Disappear page 210
.. and eyes squinting in the sun.
✅️ coffee 11/22/63 chapter 9A 6:16
.. and went behind the counter to pour the coffee.
✅️ running Winterland page 21
Anya pictured herself running through the empty ..
✅️ open 11/22/63 chapter 9A 18:16
His front door banged open.
✅️ comfortable Snow page 117
I hope you'll be comfortable.
✅️ train Snow page 93
"we were on a train once ..."
✅️ rain Watch Me Disappear page 201
It's sunny out, a respite from the rain.
✅️ yellow 11/22/63 chapter 9A 10:58
The yellow card man is also near it, ..
✅️ toy Watch Me Disappear page 244
.,. someone is flying a toy drone over the heads ...
✅️ angry Watch Me Disappear page 248
He is mad at her, irrationally angry.
✅️ crying Watch Me Disappear page 234
.. maybe even crying in her lap a little
✅️ snow Snow page 100
.. two parallel black ruts in the snow.
✅️ bookWatch Me Disappear page 220
.. on the living room couch, reading a book
✅️ extremely A Line To Kill disc 4h 6:50
His parents were extremely grateful
✅️ crazy 11/22/63 chapter 9A 26:57
The story was so crazy, it was admirable
✅️ modern 11/22/63 chapter 9A 20:31
"Microwave - good. Modern cars - bad"
✅️ note Watch Me Disappear page 200
.. does not bother to conceal the note of skepticism
✅️ love Watch Me Disappear page 196
I believe you because I love you
✅️ fire Watch Me Disappear page 199
I saw a giant wall of fire
✅️ fence Watch Me Disappear page 327
He hits Send just as the sun vanishes over the fence
List #2 - 18/20
problem words= caramel roadblock
✅️ newspaper 11/22/63 chapter 18C 2:01
The kid was selling subscriptions to a newspaper...
✅️ creek Demon Copperhead page 14
.. yelling at Maggot and me down in the creek ..
✅️ gratitude A Line To Kill disc 3d 5:44
All three of us breathed in the fresh air with gratitude.
✅️ premium A Line To Kill disc 1j 8:11
rooms at the hotel had been given various designations, platinum, silver, premium and so on...
✅️ calendar Demon Copperhead page 106
.. that would take some looking at a calendar..
✅️ bracelet Winterland page 248
She needed to pick up the bracelet before ..
✅️ illegal Winterland page 269
'She's not illegal anymore,' said Elena.
✅️ wrong 11/22/63 chapter 18B 2:38
'Nothing wrong with that but ...'
✅️ generation The Tiger's Wife page 93
.. life was passed on from generation to generation
✅️ disappointment 11/22/63 chapter 28C 17:37
.. his face a mask of rage, hate and disappointment.
11 caramel
✅️ procedure The Tiger's Wife page 12
.. a variety of surgical procedures would ..
13 roadblock
✅️ four Winterland page 229
How different life might have looked as four.
✅️ pink Winterland page 245
.. a wash of pink behind it.
✅️ trolley The Tiger's Wife page 3
.. the bright hiss of the trolley , the dampness of the morning, ..
✅️ one-way Demon Copperhead page 265
Built to move out goods, one way only
✅️ awning The Tiger's Wife page 15
.. barbecue stand with a blue awning and ..
✅️ whiskers The Tiger's Wife page 52
.. the cat has a ring of milk on its whiskers and ..
✅️ basement 11/22/63 chapter 18A 12:21
'No basement!' Snakeskin boots replied.
BT BINGO Challenge 01 Feb to 30 Sept 2023
message #15
25/25
.....B.........I.........N.........G.........O
Water...Comm...Door...Food...Steps
Leaves...Animal...City...Party...Number
Book...Time...Flower...Job...Wood
Outside...Red...Bug...Transp...No Pic
Shadow...Girls...Inside...Colors...Body
✅️ B1 - a body of water Where I Belong
✅️ I1 - communication method Building A Story Brand
✅️ N1 - a door Brooklyn
✅️ G1 - food In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
✅️ O1 - stairs or steps Maureen
✅️ B2 - leaves or cactus The Reader
✅️ I2 - an animal (tiger) The Tiger's Wife
✅️ N2 - city A Thousand Splendid Suns
✅️ G2 - party The Hunting Party
✅️ O2 - a number 84, Charing Cross Road
✅️ B3 - a book The Black Book
✅️ I3 - time piece The Echo Chamber
✅️ N3 - flowers or plant Sadness Is a White Bird
✅️ G3 - occupation This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor
✅️ O3 - wood Adventures in Opting Out: A Field Guide to Leading an Intentional Life
✅️ B4 - outside attire The Alice Network
✅️ I4 - title in red Local Woman Missing
✅️N4 - bug or insect Demon Copperhead
✅️ G4 - method of transportation (escalator) The Last Flight
✅️ O4 - no picture Three Women
✅️ B5 - shadow or hidden face Things We Do in the Dark
✅️ I5 - girls name Ms. Demeanor
✅️ N5 - inside scene A Gentleman in Moscow
✅️ G5 - many colored The Vanishing Half
✅️ O5 - human part (head) Carrie Soto Is Back
✅️1)
Girl✅️2)
Dark Places✅️3)
The Marriage Portrait✅️4)
The War of Art✅️5)
Autopsy of a Boring Wife✅️6)
They Both Die at the End✅️7)
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone✅️8)
Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night (just using sub-heading)✅️9)
Signs of Life: To the Ends of the Earth with a Doctor (just using sub-heading)10)
Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads✅️11)
Monkeys with Typewriters: How to Write Fiction and Unlock the Secret Power of Stories (just using sub-heading)✅️12)
Beyond Belfast: A 560-Mile Journey Across Northern Ireland on Sore Feet (just using sub-heading and 'five hundred sixty' as 3 words)
2025 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Beloved (other topics)Beloved (other topics)
The Alice Network (other topics)
Signs of Life: To the Ends of the Earth with a Doctor (other topics)
Beloved (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Lauren Groff (other topics)Emily O'Grady (other topics)
Edna O'Brien (other topics)
Emily Chappell (other topics)
Scarlett Thomas (other topics)
More...
✅️1. 70+ books [74]
✅️2. 20% non-fiction (14) [16]
✅️3. Review every book read
✅️4. Join 1 yearly challenge [7]
✅️5. Join 2 BT challenges [5]
🔲6. Read 30+ from TBR [28]
📚 ⏰️ ✅️ ❌️ ⭐️ 🔲 ◻