2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Happy August!

FROM THE MODS
Our beloved moderator, Ilona, will be stepping down from her role. Since 2017, Ilona has been a pivotal part of our group, starting as the moderator of the welcome committee and, in recent years, serving as a global moderator. Her dedication, kindness, and hard work have been instrumental in shaping the way our group runs.

Ilona's contributions have made a lasting impact on us all, and her presence will be greatly missed. We are deeply grateful for everything she has done for our community. However, we are delighted to share that Ilona will continue to read with all of us as an active member.

As she embarks on new adventures, we wish her all the best and hope she finds success and happiness in all her future endeavors.

GROUP READ
Our August theme is Silk and our group read for this month is The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, a classic telling the story of disabled bell-ringer, Quasimodo, and his guardian, Frollo, in Medieval Paris.

You can join the discussion or post your review of the book!
You can also vote for our September book with the theme of Mountains as well as nominate a book for October with the theme of Orange!

CHALLENGES
This month, we have new challenges with the theme of Silk and we’ll continue our quarterlies with the theme of Summer!

Monthly challenges
Follow the Silk Road is an open challenge to read books with connections to Silk Road countries or trade goods.
Smooth as Silk is a prompt-based challenge based on common similes.

Quarterly challenges
Summer Games is an open challenge based on Olympic and Paralympic sports, host cities, and game years.
Summer Bucket List invites you to read books with some favorite summer activities.

Yearly challenges can help you reach your 2024 reading goals. Visit Guide to the 2024 Yearly Challenges to learn more.

Do you have an idea for a new challenge? Please let us know! Most of our quarterly and monthly challenges grow from our members’ suggestions. We love hearing your creative ideas!

TBR TWINS
Share a book with an online friend while knocking off a read from your TBR list!

If you’ve signed up for August, find your TBR Twin here . Please reach out to your twin and choose a book to read together!
You can also sign up for September TBR Twins here , and we'll pair you with someone to read a book with next month.

BUDDY READS
Let’s read some books together! Buddy reads are a great way to read and discuss a book together with fellow group members.

We are reading the following stand-alone books:
All Fours
The Arsonists’ City
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
The Beautiful Dead: A Tale of K-Pop, Ghosts, and Nine-Tailed Fox Women
The Beekeeper of Aleppo
The Butcher of the Forest
The Frozen River
Hello Beautiful
Le Morte d’Arthur
The Name of the Rose
Never Have I Ever
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
What Alice Forgot
The Whisper Man

We will start or continue the following series:
Asian Saga #2: Tai-Pan
The Collector #2: Roses of May
King of Scars #2: Rule of Wolves
The Lord of the Rings #2: The Two Towers
Matthew Shardlake #1: Dissolution
Nightingale Mysteries #3: The Last Note of Warning
Sigma Force #16: Kingdom of Bones
Washington Poe #4: Dead Ground
Wool #1
Ziba MacKenzie #2: Nothing to Lose

If you would like to join any, please follow the link and let your buddies know you will join the read! Would you like to suggest a future Buddy Read or join a future one? You can sign up on our current Buddy Reads - Sign Up thread.

Finally, welcome to all of our new members! We can't wait to get to know you. Please stop in and introduce yourself or say hello to our new members!

Happy Reading, everyone!

Winter, SarahKat, TerryJane, Carri Carey, bailey, Ashleigh, Sunny, and Blagica

Hi just to comment that the books showing for group and buddy reads on the main page are not correct. They are for July.

Valerie wrote: "Hi just to comment that the books showing for group and buddy reads on the main page are not correct. They are for July."

Thanks for letting us know.

Good luck, Ilona, with your future endeavors! Best wishes!

Theresa wrote: "Good luck, Ilona, with your future endeavors! Best wishes!"

Thank you Theresa :)