Hosted once again at the host's Instagram. I will fill as many categories as possible.
Monday, December 30, 2024
2025 Feminist Reading Challenge
Sunday, December 29, 2024
2025 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge
Another I have been waiting for. I always like the variety of categories in this one. Unfortunately, this will be the last year for this challenge ☹️
I will pick the Fortnightly (one category from each topic) level once again, then see how much farther I get with the list.
Basic Genres
Western: Rider of Lost Creek--Louis L'Amour
Biography: The Light We Carry--Michelle Obama
Travel book: A Walk in the Woods--Bill Bryson
Classic: Around the World in 80 Days--Jules Verne
Sub-Genres
A mundane science fiction book: Cat's Cradle--Kurt Vonnegut
An eldritch horror book: The Diviners--Libba Bray
Alternate history book: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict--Laurie Viera Rigler
Comedy of manners book: This Side of Married--Rachel Pastan
The Interwebs
About social media: Tweet Cute--Emma Lord
Cute cat on the cover: The Travelling Cat Chronicles--Hiro Arikawa
About online shopping
Written by an Internet influencer
Change Things Up!
Coin in the title
About switching places: Two Peas in a Pod--Sarah Mlynowski
An author who has more than one pen name: The Girl Who Knew Too Much--Amanda Quick
A genre you don't normally read: Every Body Yoga--Jessamyn Stanley
Let's Go Small
About minimalization
Fewer than 150 pages: They Arrival--Shaun Tan
Book with characters who are very small
Book set in a small town: It Happened One Summer--Tessa Bailey
Delve Into the Past
About someone who could be your ancestor
By an author who has been dead for more than 50 years: The Diary of a Goose Girl--Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin
About an ancient civilization: Mystery of the Maya--R.A. Montgomery
With the word "classic" in the title
Measuring Up
Book with a long-distance romance: An American Marriage--Tayari Jones
Book that includes recipes: Mad Honey--Jodi Picoult
Book with the word "height" in the title
By an author who has "made it big": A Song Flung Up to Heaven--Maya caou
Tired Tropes
Multiple timelines: Hello Beautiful--Ann Napolitano
Love triangle: The Beach House--Rachel Hanna
A "chosen one" fantasy: Fourth Wing--Rebecca Yarros
Vampire story: Beautiful Creatures--Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Ticklish
Feather on the cover
Makes you laugh: New Kid--Jerry Craft
By a comedian
About a touchy subject: I Feel Bad About My Neck--Nora Ephron
That Wedding Tradition
Something Old--A book set at least 3 decades before you were born: The Last Train to London--Meg Waite Clayton
Something New--Published in 2025: Under the Same Stars--Libba Bray
Something Borrowed--Book borrowed from friend or the library: The Pull of the Moon--Elizabeth Berg
Something Blue--Book with a blue cover: Eleven--Tom Rogers
Beach Days
Towel on the cover: The Summer Pact--Emily Giffin
By an author who lives somewhere sunny and warm: Cantoras--Carolina de Robertis
A "beach read": Summer Island--Kristin Hannah
Book you take on vacation
Sinners and Saints
Demon or devil character: The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea--Axie Oh
Angel on the cover: Christina's Carol--Christina Rossetti
By an author known for their philanthropy
Reminds you of one of the Seven Deadly Sins: Ninth House--Leigh Bardugo
That 9 to 5 Thing
About commuting to work
Author whose name is an occupation: Dawn--Octavia E. Butler
Book you hope to discuss at the water cooler
A workplace romance: My Favorite Half-Night Stand--Christina Lauren
Just for Adults
An "adult beverage" in the title: The Master and Margarita--Mikhail Bulgakov
About a group of friends reuniting as adults: Pieces of Happiness--Anne Ostby
About a mid-life crisis
Book you wouldn't recommend to a child: How to Sell a Haunted House--Grady Hendrix
Isolation
About being ostracized: The Only Woman in the Room--Eileen Pollack
With "lone" or "lonely" in the title
Single person on the cover: Pardonable Lies--Jacqueline Winspear
With a hermit character: Trixie Belden: The Secret of the Mansion--Julie Campbell
State of Mind
Set in the state where you live: Sunrise on Half Moon Bay--Robyn Carr
About having a positive outlook: How Not to Fall Apart--Maggy Van Eijk
Picture of a brain on the cover
"Mind" in the title: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind--Shunryu Suzuki
Mistakes Were Made
Story of misadventure: The Last Letter--Rebecca Yarros
About mistaken identity: I Found You--Lisa Jewell
About righting a wrong: A Spark of Light--Jodi Picoult
About leaving a bad relationship: Serendipity--Fern Michaels
Love Those Sitcoms
Cheers--Set in a bar: Borderline--Lawrence Block
The Odd Couple--About roommates: As Seen on TV--Sarah Mlynowski
The Simpsons--A graphic novel: Banned Book Club--Kim Hyun Sook
The Munsters--Non-human characters: Sue & Tai-chan, Volume 2--Konami Kanata
Colors
Hair color in the title
Author with a color name: The Beach House--Jane Green
Your favorite color on the cover: Girl, Serpent, Thorn--Melissa Bashardoust
Rainbow on the cover: In Search of the Golden Rainbow--Charles Armistead
School Lunches
"Sandwich" in the title
YA novel: Cursed--Karol Ruth oldstein
With a cheesy cover: Ghost--Jason Reynolds
By someone who works/worked in food service: Be Ready When the Luck Happens--Ina Garten
Cardinal
Cardinal direction in the title: East of Eden--John Steinbeck
Bird on the cover: 16 Lighthouse Road--Debbie Macomber
MC belongs to a religious order: A Man For All Seasons--Robert Bolt
Cardinal number in the title: Table for Five--Susan Wiggs
Elemental
Ghost, spirit or similar character: Karen's Ghost--Ann M. Martin
"Earth," "fire," "water" or "air" in the title: Earth's Wild Music--Kathleen Dean Moore
Author whose initials are the same as a two-letter chemical symbol: Maya and the Rising Dark--Rena Barron (Rb=Rubidium)
With a Sherlockian character: The Case of the Missing Marquess--Nancy Springer
Board Games
Life--An epic family novel: Fingersmith--Sarah Waters
Trivial Pursuit--A nonfiction book about an obscure topic: The Small and the Mighty--Sharon McMahon
Twister--Pictures of hands and/or feet on the cover: It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit--Justin A. Reynolds
Clue--Mystery set in house party
Age-Old Tales
With an elderly protagonist: The Love Story of Missy Carmichael--Beth Morrey
Fairy tale or mythology retelling: Spindle's End--Robin McKinley
By someone older than you: Silver Bay--Jojo Moyes
Coming-of-age story: On Agate Hill--Lee Smith
Card Suits
Diamonds--Gem on the cover
Spades--"Garden" in the title: Dig In!:12 Easy Gardening Projects Using Kitchen Scraps--Keri Cornell
Heart--Book by an author you love: Late For the Wedding--Amanda Quick
Clubs--About an exclusive group or club: The Beach Club--Elin Hilderbrand
Opening a Can of Worms
Controversial book: Tiny Beautiful Things--Cheryl Strayed
About creepy crawlies: Holes--Louis Sachar
Memoir by someone known for outrageous behavior
Book about a scandal
Wildcards
About climate change: The Mammoth Hunters--Jean M. Auel
About a museum
Short story collection: Before the Coffee Gets Cold--Shikazu Kawaguchi
Book of nursery rhymes: A Child's Garden of Verses--Robert Louis Stevenson
Set in a continent you'd like to visit: White Teeth--Zadie Smith
Calling challenge complete on December 29. This is the last year for "Pick Your Poison." It's been a fun one.
The Sad Stuff That Lies Ahead
As I have said, I am not looking forward to the coming month when the Orange Menace is back in office ☹️ These cartoons (posted by Bob at I Should Be Laughing today) say it all.
2025 Book to Movie (and TV) Reading Challenge
Once again joining this one. I always get as many books as I can.
- East of Eden--John Steinbeck
- Klara and the Sun--Kazuo Ishiguro
- Hello Beautiful--Ann Napolitano
- Around the World in 80 Days--Jules Verne
- Tiny Beautiful Things--Cheryl Strayed
- Beautiful Creatures--Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
- Cloud Atlas--David Mitchell
- A Man For All Seasons--Robert Bolt
- The Great Train Robbery--Michael Crichton
- Saint X--Alexis Schaitkin
- The Case of the Missing Marquess--Nancy Springer
- A Walk in the Woods--Bill Bryson
- Holes--Louis Sachar
- The Witches--Roald Dahl
Thursday, December 26, 2024
What’s in a Name? 2025
Another favorite is now up.
In 2025, choose 6 books that have titles that contain:
- Cardinal direction: East of Eden--John Steinbeck
- Wanderlust: The Last Train to London--Meg Waite Clayton
- First & last name: Martin McLean, Middle School Queen--Alyssa Zaczek
- Alliteration: The Last Letter--Rebecca Yarros
- Deity: Gods of Jade and Shadow--Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Crime: The Great Train Robbery--Michael Crichton
2025 Book Blog Discussion Challenge
I will once again participate on the Book Discussion Challenge. This year was my first.

Details about the Discussion Challenge are at It Starts at Midnight and Feed Your Fiction Addiction. I will once again aim for the first level, then see how much farther I can go. The graphic above will be displayed on my posts.
The Levels:
1-10 – Discussion Dabbler
11-20 – Creative Conversationalist
21-30 – Chatty Kathy
31-40 – Terrifically Talkative
41+ – Gift of the Gab
Final Thursday 13 for 2024
Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂
This was my first year participating in The Thursday 13. I did not begin until June and have been going at it since, missing some weeks in September and November. I plan to go at it again next year, as it has been fun. I like how the topic is open for the blogger to choose. Thus there is a variety of topics by different participants.
As 2024 comes to a close, here are some things from the past year and the coming week.
- As I said earlier this month, this year marked 16 years of blogging for me. I still can't believe it's been that long.
- In one of my first Thursday 13 posts, I listed new authors I discovered. I know I found more than those listed, and hope to find even more in the coming year.
- Still just cannot comment on the election result, and am not looking forward to next month, let alone the next four years!
- I began experimenting with writing in unusual formats. I then neglected to finish what I had begun, and keep saying I will get back to it! I just don't know when!
- I joined the Book Blogging Discussion for the first time, and am planning to join again next year. The sign-up post for 2025 is now live on one of the two hosts' blogs and I intend to make my sign-up post soon. Looking forward to next year and seeing what other posts about.
- In August, I shared some bizarre reading categories I came across this year in my various challenges. I've resolved most of them, and am now struggling with two I did not mention then: Translated fiction by a woman published prior to 1980, and "Bought whilst on vacation." I may have to fudge that one a little. I don't know if I'll get those done. If I don't, I will not have finished two of the challenges I did this year. I tried looking for a used book at Goodwill this post week, but nothing has caught my attention as of yet.
- I didn't get around to watching a lot of Christmas movies on the different streaming services this year. I rewatched a series of movies I had discovered a year or two ago, one from 1995 that I could only find on Youtube, and one new-to-me one I came across on Christmas Eve.
- I will probably stay home for New Year's Eve next week. I don't even see myself stying up past 9PM, as that has not been the case in the last week. Even before COVID hit, I was going out less and less on NYE. I'm used to it.
- Deciding what to read during the first days of the new year. The county library reopens on January 2, but I want to read from home for a while.
- Once again, joined the April A to Z Blogging event, and am planning on doing it again next year. Will begin coming up with possible themes.
- Had a great holiday party at work. My white elephant gift was a mini waffle maker. I never had one of these until now, but have not been eager to use it just yet.
- A new local bookstore is scheduled to open in my home town next year. I'm so excited for that. We have not had a bookstore in my town for more than 20 years. On a sad note, I also learned that the owner of the previous bookstore has passed away this year. RIP
- Deciding whether or not to brave the stores on the day after Christmas. I don't know what it'll be like, since today is Boxing Day. And I still barely understand what that really means!