Monday, December 30, 2024

2025 Feminist Reading Challenge

Hosted once again at the host's Instagram. I will fill as many categories as possible.



1. By a writer from Sudan: Home is Not a Country--Safia Elhillo
2. A book about women in history: The Small and the Mighty--Sharon McMahon 
3. Poetry by a writer (from a country other than your own): Sonnets From the Portuguese--Elizabeth Barrett Browning 
4. Translated short story collection
5. Debut by a writer under 30: White Teeth--Zadie Smith 
6. Books about AI/technology/robots: Tweet Cute--Emma Lord
7. Fantasy by a Latinx writer: Gods of Jade and Shadow--Silvia Moreno-Garcia
8. A book featuring/about witches: Beautiful Creatures--Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
9. A reissued/rediscovered book from the archives
10. Gothic fiction/horror by a writer of color: Everyone Knows You Go Home--Natalia Sylvester 
11. Memoir by an Asian writer: In Order to Live--Yeonmi Park 
12. Fiction by a woman of color published prior to 1980
13. A book featuring food/with food on the cover: Be Ready When the Luck Happens--Ina Garten
14. Queer mythology/folktales: The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea--Axie Oh 
15. A book you picked based on the cover: Sunrise Canyon--Janet Dailey 
16. A book featuring Afrofuturism or Africanfuturism: Dawn--Octavia E. Butler
17. About sex/sexuality: The Fountains of Silence--Ruta Sepetys 
18. Fiction translated by a woman: Magic Candies--Heena Baek (reread) [translated by Sophie Bowman]
19. A book a disabled MC/by a disabled writer: Cursed--Karol Ruth Silverstein 
20. A climate fiction book: The Mammoth Hunters--Jean M. Auel 
21. A book from the library: Nightcrawling--Leila Mottley 
22. A book with asexual rep/about asexuality: Cantoras--Carolina de Robertis 
23. Non-fiction title from an indie press: The Only Woman in the Room--Eileen Pollack
24. Protagonist older than 50: Pieces of Happiness--Anne Ostby

Bonus authors 
A book by Han Kang
A book by Annie Ernaux 

Calling challenge complete on December 28

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.



My Books:
Calling challenge complete on December 28

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:

  1. Cardinal directionEast of Eden--John Steinbeck
  2. WanderlustThe Last Train to London--Meg Waite Clayton
  3. First & last nameMartin McLean, Middle School Queen--Alyssa Zaczek
  4. AlliterationThe Last Letter--Rebecca Yarros
  5. DeityGods of Jade and Shadow--Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  6. CrimeThe Great Train Robbery--Michael Crichton
Challenge completed on July 26

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. 

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Still just cannot comment on the election result, and am not looking forward to next month, let alone the next four years!
  4. 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!
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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. 
  12. 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
  13. 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!

And that's my final Thursday 13 post for 2024. I'm looking forward to doing it again in 2025. Please visit then! And have a great rest of this year.