Dare to Dream discussion

Please post all questions/comments/updates about the summer 2025 challenge in this thread. :)


The Summer 2025 Reading Challenge will begin June 1st and end August 31st.

Rules of the challenge:

Read 3 books (or more)
Complete 3 prompts (or more)
All genres ok
Rereads ok

This summer, complete 3 (or more) of the following:

1. Many talented writers have birthdays in the summer.

So this summer,

READ A BOOK BY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

Kwame Alexander
Ken Follett
Dennis LeHane
Alice Munro
Ali Smith

2. The Women’s Prize for Fiction will announce this year’s winner in June. The prize promotes and celebrates fiction by women. It’s open to full length novels written in English by women of any nationality, published in the UK.

So this summer,

READ ANY BOOK THAT HAS MADE THE LONGLIST FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE. (ANY YEAR)

3. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid will be published on June 3rd. It’s the group read.

Bonus Group Reads:

My Friends by Fredrik Backman
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
(Both were published in May)

So this summer,

READ ONE OR MORE OF THE BOOKS AND DISCUSS IT WITH THE GROUP.


4. The Life of Chuck will be released in theaters on June 13th. It’s described as a life affirming, genre bending story about 3 chapters in the life of an ordinary man. It’s based on the Stephen King novella of the same name.

So this summer,

READ A NOVELLA.

OR

READ ANY BOOK BY STEPHEN KING.

5. Squid Game season three is scheduled to be released on June 27th on Netflix.
It’s a South Korean tv series that revolves around a secret contest where the players, all of whom are in deep financial hardship, risk their lives to play a series of deadly children’s games for a large cash prize.

So this summer,

READ A BOOK THAT FEATURES A DEADLY COMPETITION.

OR

READ A BOOK WITH THE WORD “GAME” IN THE TITLE/SUBTITLE.

6. World Snake Day is July 16th.

So this summer,

READ A BOOK WITH THE LETTERS S-N-A-K-E IN THE TITLE/SUBTITLE.

7. Random-This counts towards the challenge but isn’t inspired by the season.
So not long ago, Oprah, Reese Witherspoon and Jenna Bush Hager were photographed together at a book event. I’ve featured Oprah’s and Reese’s bookclubs in past challenges.

So this summer,

READ ANY BOOK THAT HAS BEEN PICKED FOR JENNA’S BOOKCLUB (READ WITH JENNA).

WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY AND HEALTHY SUMMER. :D

I'm already planning on reading Sunrise on the Reaping this summer and it works for Task #5 (deadly competition).
Already planning on Friends by Fredrick Backman
I'm a fan of Ali Smith so I'll probably re-read one of her books.
I'll be on the lookout for snakes this summer!
I'll also read a Stephen King book.

My library will have an audiobook of Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, so I'll read that title too.

Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl wrote: "My library will have an audiobook of Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, so I'll read that title too.
"

Thanks for all of the updates, Dustin! :D

I’ve got a stack pilled up and am excited about another wonderful challenge! Thank you!!

Danell wrote: "I’ve got a stack pilled up and am excited about another wonderful challenge! Thank you!!"

You’re welcome, Danell! Glad you like it! :D

I finished My Friends by Fredrik Bachman. I really enjoyed it. The characters, writing and story kept me engaged. Looking forward to seeing what others think about it.

Danell wrote: "I finished My Friends by Fredrik Bachman. I really enjoyed it. The characters, writing and story kept me engaged. Looking forward to seeing what others think about it."

Glad you enjoyed it, Danell! :D I’m looking forward to reading it.

I'll be away until June 20th. I'll try to check in if I can before. Hope all of you are well.
xo

I hope everything is ok Rachel. I’ve got 3 books to read this month for the Goodreads challenge but I do hope to sneak a few books in this month for the seasonal challenge.

I just returned from vacation. Will get started on the Summer Challenge a bit later this month once I get some titles from the library.

A library hold came through and I listened to All The Broken Places by John Boyne which works for
S-N-A-K-E. It was a good book

SNAKE is a harder word to find in titles than last season.
I have read a novella by Richard Wagamese, The Next Sure Thing.
I watched The Life of Chuck film at the movie theater last night and will be re-reading IF IT BLEEDS this Summer.

I read King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby, which works for
S-N-A-K-E. I enjoyed it! That man can write a fantastic action packed thriller with believable story lines and characters.

I haven't read any SNAKE titles yet, but I've been noticing snakes more in books I'm reading. Also, last week I crossed paths with a small snake while hiking my favorite trail.

I have read The Door of No Return by Kwame Alexander, one of the authors featured this season. I was surprised to discover it was a children's book of historical fiction written in verse. My first book read by the author 4/5 stars.

I will also be reading my first Dennis LeHane work, Small Mercies.

I am planning to re-read Lisey's Story by Stephen King and I have some Read With Jenna titles lined up.

I am currently re-reading a favorite from when I was a teenager. I first borrowed the book from a bookmobile that would visit my town once a month. It has the word "Game" in the title (task #5).
A Deadly Game of Magic by Joan Lowery Nixon written in the 1980's.

Hey friends

I've been dealing with some health issues but I really miss our little group and reading which has always been a comfort to me. I'll be checking in but
Im using my phone which is different than the iPad. Im figuring it out.


Let me know how your summer is going.

Danell wrote: "A library hold came through and I listened to All The Broken Places by John Boyne which works for
S-N-A-K-E. It was a good book"

Thanks for the update, Danell! :)

Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl wrote: "SNAKE is a harder word to find in titles than last season.
I have read a novella by Richard Wagamese, The Next Sure Thing.
I watched The Life of Chuck film at the movie theater last night and will ..."

Thanks for the update, Dustin! :)

Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I haven't read any SNAKE titles yet, but I've been noticing snakes more in books I'm reading. Also, last week I crossed paths with a small snake while hiking my favorite trail.

I have read The Doo..."

Thanks for the updates. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the books you've chosen (and how many snakes you'll find :)
:)

Danell wrote: "I read King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby, which works for
S-N-A-K-E. I enjoyed it! That man can write a fantastic action packed thriller with believable story lines and characters."

Thanks for the update, Danell!
Glad you enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading it. :)

My phone is crazy. First i wasn't able to directly respond to comments then i obviously did something and everything is better. The layout and accessibility is better. Hope it stays this way. As mentioned previously technology and I are not friends lol.

I read and loved My Friends by Fredrik Backman.
I've enjoyed all 3 novels and both novellas I've read by him.

I’m sorry to hear of your health issues Rachel, hugs to you my friend. I’m glad you enjoyed My Friends!

I read The Marsh King’s Daughter which works for
S-N-A-K-E. It takes place in the U.P., where I live. It’s one of my favorites that I’ve read so far this year.

Rachel wrote: "I read and loved My Friends by Fredrik Backman.
I've enjoyed all 3 novels and both novellas I've read by him.


"

I'll be reading this one soon!

I re-read a novella and am currently reading a Read With Jenna Pick.

Danell wrote: "I’m sorry to hear of your health issues Rachel, hugs to you my friend. I’m glad you enjoyed My Friends!

I read The Marsh King’s Daughter which works for
S-N-A-K-E. It takes place in the U.P., wh..."

Thank you, Danell! :)

Also thanks for the update (added The Marsh King's Daughter to my to read list :)

Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I re-read a novella and am currently reading a Read With Jenna Pick.
"

Thanks for the update, Dustin! :)

Hope you enjoy My Friends and the Four Winds-
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them.

I haven't read the book, The Marsh King's Daughter, but loved the 2023 film adaptation.


Speaking of film, here a few of my current favorites:
Sinners
The Life of Chuck
ELIO (Disney/Pixar)
The Materialists

I'm not a big fan of the blockbusters; I prefer independent arthouse films.

The Four Winds was quite good. Maybe I'll read more by Kristin Hannah in the future. Picked up My Friends from the library today, but trying to finish a couple of other Read with Jenna titles first.

If I keep this up, might have to increase my goal for the Summer Reading Challenge!

Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl wrote: "The Four Winds was quite good. Maybe I'll read more by Kristin Hannah in the future. Picked up My Friends from the library today, but trying to finish a couple of other Read with Jenna titles first..."

Thanks for the update, Dustin ! :D
She's a great writer. She used to write mostly women's fiction until she wrote the nightingale. That book was so popular that she only writes historical fiction now.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on your Read with Jenna titles. Hope you enjoy them.

Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I haven't read the book, The Marsh King's Daughter, but loved the 2023 film adaptation.


Speaking of film, here a few of my current favorites:
Sinners..."

Thanks for the recommendations, Dustin! :)

I know Sinners was a big hit. Heard they're already planning a sequel.

I hope you're right about Sinners. I had heard mention of a sequel but wasn't sure how much truth there was to it. It's nice to have an original screenplay. Inspired by real events, based on books and adapted screenplays are sometimes fine, but the real gems are original screenplays. Sequels and re-makes are really starting to irritate me. Today is the last day Sinners shows at my movie theater. Hopefully it will return during award season.

Although the Spring challenge is over I just got my library hold for Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green. I thought it was interesting and good.

Danell wrote: "Although the Spring challenge is over I just got my library hold for Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green. I thought it was interesting and good."

Glad you enjoyed it, Danell! :D

I listened to The Living Great Lakes by Jerry Dennis, which works for S-N-A-K-E. I thought it was good and informative. I live 7 minutes from the beach on Lake Michigan. I was going to go swimming in the lake after work but didn’t go. I haven’t gone at all this year and summer is going fast!

Danell wrote: "I listened to The Living Great Lakes by Jerry Dennis, which works for S-N-A-K-E. I thought it was good and informative. I live 7 minutes from the beach on Lake Michigan. I was going to go swimming ..."

Thanks for the update, Danell! :D
Summer is going fast-try and get to the lake ! :)

Finished a reread of The Life of Chuck by Stephen King.
I had read it when it was part of If it Bleeds but had forgotten some of it.
Really interesting way to tell a character's life-recommend.

I listened to Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan which works for S-N-A-K-E. I really enjoyed it and feel guilty using it for the challenge because it was only a two hour audiobook.

Danell wrote: "I listened to Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan which works for S-N-A-K-E. I really enjoyed it and feel guilty using it for the challenge because it was only a two hour audiobook."

Thanks for the update, Danell! :)
Don't feel guilty-it completely works for the challenge. Glad you enjoyed it-it's one of my favorites. :)

Rachel wrote: "Finished a reread of The Life of Chuck by Stephen King.
I had read it when it was part of If it Bleeds but had forgotten some of it.
Really interesting way to tell a character's life-recommend.
..."

I'm also planning to re-read If It Bleeds/The Life of Chuck this Summer. Soon. I've seen the film five times now.

Danell wrote: "I listened to Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan which works for S-N-A-K-E. I really enjoyed it and feel guilty using it for the challenge because it was only a two hour audiobook."

There is a film adaptation starring Cillian Murphy. I currently have the movie poster for SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE hanging on my living room wall. I own a hardcover copy of the book.

I finished Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane. Really didn't enjoy it. Based on this experience, I won't be picking up another Dennis Lehane book anytime soon.

On a happier note, I am currently reading My Friends by Fredrik Backman and enjoying it immensely. I think I will put it in my TOP 5 Reads of 2025, but it will knock Run for the Hills off that list.
Link to the Top 5 Books of 2025 List (I've been voting on these for several years, keeping track of my favorite new discoveries):
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...
And something to note, I have discovered all of my current 2025 Top 5 titles through the reading challenges in this group :-) Thanks Rachel!

Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I finished Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane. Really didn't enjoy it. Based on this experience, I won't be picking up another Dennis Lehane book anytime soon.

On a happier note, I am currently readin..."

Thanks for the update, Dustin! :)

Sorry you didn't enjoy the Lehane book. I haven't read anything by him but have watched films based on his books.

I'm glad you're enjoying My Friends and other titles you've found through the challenges. You're very welcome. :D

I read The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North, which works for S-N-A-K-E. It was ok.

Danell wrote: "I read The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North, which works for S-N-A-K-E. It was ok."

Thanks for the update, Danell! Hope your next book is more enjoyable. :D

I was going to read the newest Louise Erdrich anyway (another author I was introduced to through these seasonal reading challenges), but I was delighted to discover it's a Read With Jenna pick, so I can use it for the Summer Challenge. The Mighty Red.

I've watched the new Superman movie twice so far. Would highly recommend :-)

I'm currently re-reading If It Bleeds by Stephen King.
The Life of Chuck movie has left my theater, but I watched it six times so I have it imbedded pretty well in my memory. I'm anxious to compare the film and short story.

Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I was going to read the newest Louise Erdrich anyway (another author I was introduced to through these seasonal reading challenges), but I was delighted to discover it's a Read With Jenna pick, so ..."

I've been thinking of picking this one up too so looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.