2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Hi everyone!

Time to nominate books for October! The theme is Orange.

~Please remember to state a connection to the theme when you nominate.

~Books we have read less than three years ago are not eligble. To see which books are not eligble, see this google sheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

~ Each person can nominate 1 book.

~ Book must be available both as a physical copy and as an ebook.

~ Authors: Please do not nominate your own book.

~ Please do not nominate books that are part of a series, unless it is the first book.

~ You can second someone else's nomination, but that will count as your nomination.


This thread will be closed by August 26th, and we will choose ten books for the poll. If there are more than ten books nominated, we will choose "seconded" books first. If there is still a tie to get into the top ten, we'll go back to the Goodreads average rating to see which is highest.

I would like to nominate Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

I really enjoyed There There and would like to read this one!

Connection in the author's last name. 😁

L Y N N wrote: "I would like to nominate Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

I really enjoyed There There and would like to read this one!

Connection in the author..."

Haha! I just came here to suggest/nominate There There as I read Wandering Stars first.

Same author - so it´s still the connection the author´s last name!

I'll nominate The Priory of the Orange Tree.

Connection is "Orange" in the title

I second wandering stars

I nominate The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros because mangoes are sort of orangey in color and it appears on the Most Orange Books of All Time Listopia. It's just a book worth reading. Or re-reading.

L Y N N wrote: "I would like to nominate Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

I really enjoyed There There and would like to read this one!

Connection in the author..."

I loved There There also, it is one of my top reads this year and have a copy of Wandering Stars

[Nomination retracted - new suggestion here]

I'd like to nominate Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, as the theme is in the title :)

I'd like to nominate James, a reimagined version of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, this time told by Huck's friend, Jim, an enslaved man who is running toward freedom. The connection is the color of the cover.

I'd like to nominate The Martian by Andy Weir


Connection to the theme:
While called the "Red Planet" Mars can appear more orange in tone at times and while on it's surface (is this a stretch? lol)
But also the cover is orange :)

M wrote: "I'd like to nominate The Martian by Andy Weir


Connection to the theme:
While called the "Red Planet" Mars can appear more orange i..."

I'll second this if it's not been done before.

I had a few possible suggestions for this theme, but then I stumbled on the 'Most Orange Books' Listopia and got lost in a minefield of new TBRs.
Anyway, a summer read for this theme that fit nicely is
The Orange Grove- Rosanna Ley


Connection to the theme is pretty self-explanatory but for me, it makes me just want to holiday in Seville again 😍 Looking forward to this month though, as so many nominations are right up my street!

Ilona wrote: "I'd like to nominate Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, as the theme is in the title :)"

I second this

I changed my mind, so I would like to retract my original nomination and change it to The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois - the connection is still in the orange cover.

Lisa wrote: "I changed my mind, so I would like to retract my original nomination and change it to The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois - the connection is still in the orange cover."

I second this.

Rachael wrote: "I had a few possible suggestions for this theme, but then I stumbled on the 'Most Orange Books' Listopia and got lost in a minefield of new TBRs.
Anyway, a summer read for this theme that fit nicel..."

I second this book nomination.

I would like to recommend Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese.

The connection is kind of long winded, but in Canada Orange T-shirt Day, also known as Truth and Reconciliation Day falls on September 30th. This day is suppose to be a day of reflection and reconciliation in regard to Indigenous Residential Schools that were a horrible part of Canadian history and many people wear Orange t-shirts in support of hope for the future.

Indian Horse is a widely regarded fiction that narrates on this topic and considered a must read by many Canadians. It is a very somber topic however, I would recommend looking up content warnings. I think this is an interesting connection to the theme and seeing as it is just days before October I figured I'd offer it up as an option!

I second The Priory of the Orange Tree

Rhi wrote: "I would like to recommend Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese.

The connection is kind of long winded, but in Canada Orange T-shirt Day, also known as Truth and Reconc..."
He’s a great author but as far as I can tell this is not available as an ebook (at least not for Kindle) which would limit participation. Some of his other books are.

Surprized no one mentioned the A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess yet. Not an easy book to read, but it's an impactful one...

Valerie wrote: "Rhi wrote: "I would like to recommend Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese.

The connection is kind of long winded, but in Canada Orange T-shirt Day, also known as Trut..."

Thats a shame, I think I'm going to make it a personal goal to read it in addition to the winner

Rhi wrote: "I would like to recommend Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese.

The connection is kind of long winded, but in Canada Orange T-shirt Day, also known as Truth and Reconc..."

Good suggestion. I'll be wearing my orange shirt on Sept 30th

Rhi wrote: "Valerie wrote: "Rhi wrote: "I would like to recommend Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese.

The connection is kind of long winded, but in Canada Orange T-shirt Day, al..."

A great book! Sad story but needs to be known. And Wagamese was really a good writer.

Anna wrote: "Surprized no one mentioned the A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess yet. Not an easy book to read, but it's an impactful one..."

I'll second this.

Rhi wrote: "Thats a shame..."

Rhi, no need to lament. Goodreads shows 28 editions of Indian Horse in print, audio, and ebook formats. It also has not been selected as a Group Read here in the last three years, so it's a valid nomination.

It is available on Kindle either for purchase or free for Kindle Unlimited users, on Hoopla as an ebook, and on openlibrary.org as a scanned ebook.

===

EDIT: Oops! I may have misspoken. While this book shows as available in Kindle format for me (amazon.com with no Prime membership), I'm told that it may be inaccessible to others on amazon.com and/or amazon.co.uk.

TerryJane wrote: "Rhi wrote: "Thats a shame..."

Rhi, no need to lament. Goodreads shows 28 editions of Indian Horse in print, audio, and ebook formats. It also has not been selected as a Group Read ..."
Not available on Amazon.mx either. Which is frustrating because I’d really like to read it!
Maybe make it an option but suggest people check they can get hold of it before they vote for it?

Closing nominations for October 📙😊!

Poll is up! Follow the link below to check out all the great options:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...