Official 2025 Reading Challenge

[SportsFan68]

I finished Never Flinch by Stephen King, not nearly as good as the earlier Holly Gibneys IHMO.

Back to book club books, I read The invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, James by Percival Everett, and Canyon Sacrifice by Scott Graham.

[Earl the Squirrel]

May Reads

Nothing much to look at here. I was still reading, but I was dividing my time between a half dozen or more books and not finishing anything.

Strangers in Time - David Baldacci

The Quiet Tenant - Clemence Michallon

Killing Me (Amber Jamison #1) - Michelle Gagnon

Last Wool and Testament (Knit and Nibble Mystery #12) - Peggy Erhardt

41/100

All from the library, I just finished what I had to for expiration reasons.

Ironically enough, for all of the time travel books I read, Strangers in Time had nothing to do with that. It was about three disparate people (both in age and background) coming together during the London blitzes of WWII.

Killing Me was a fun, quick read. I finished the second one in June and am hoping for a longer series showcasing the same characters.

[Earl the Squirrel]

I finished Never Flinch by Stephen King, not nearly as good as the earlier Holly Gibneys IHMO.

Back to book club books, I read The invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, James by Percival Everett, and Canyon Sacrifice by Scott Graham.

I agree about Never Flinch. There was just too much going on with not much happening. I didn't care anything about the Kate storyline, even though that was Holly's main involvement, so it could have been cut completely. Instead of all that, give more time to the Juror murders. It was just line em up and mow em down no name strangers, so the body count didn't really have an impact. I would have liked to maybe get those written from the victims' POV, so we'd actually care a bit about them.

And is there ANYTHING Barbara doesn't excel at? C'mon, Steve...

Did you finish Addie LaRue? I read that a few years ago and absolutely LOVED it! It's a bit slow to start off, but so worth it. I have her latest one on hold at the library, I started off in the 100s but don't know where I am now. Hopefully they've gotten a few more copies since then.

[Earl the Squirrel]

I am currently reading The Guest House by Robin Morgan-Bentley. This is a new author to me. Other books I've recently read....The St. Ambrose School For Girls by Jessica Ward, Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus, Listen To Me by Tess Gerritsen, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, The Warehouse by Rob Hart, The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine, The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley, The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch, Liz Welch, Amanda Welch, Dan Welch, The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. The Warehouse is different from the books I typically read and took me a bit to get into it, but I ultimately enjoyed it. There is something from the book that I can't stop thinking about and it kind of makes me think of a particular Bored Merrymen, but I won't spoil it! The Kids Are All Right is a book I've been wanting to read for a while, and no other book has ever made me cry more, but I'm glad I read it. I really enjoyed The Last Mrs. Parrish and have The Next Mrs. Parrish waiting for me once I finish The Guest House. Liv Constantine is actually the pen name of two sisters who write together, living three states apart. The Last Mrs. Parrish took place in a fictional CT. town, so I wondered if perhaps one of the sisters lives in New England or even here in CT. Well, I just found out last week that she actually lives in the same town as me! I always donate my books once I'm done and am happy to forward along any that anyone here might be interested in reading!

Okay, I read the blurb for The Warehouse because you piqued my curiosity, but I'm just not in to futuristic dystopia stuff so you'll have to spoil it for me, ha!

Did you read Atmosphere yet? Yep, TJR has done it again, made me vaguely interested in a subject that I thought would bore me to tears. It helped that it was set in the 70s, so I knew some of the history. Most of the space program stuff I know about Is 60s and 70s just because we learned about it as it was happening in school. She also (as usual) made me cry buckets...

As far as living in the same town, I just recently found out that Rebecca Yarros lives in my town! They're doing a Fourth Wing night at an Avalanche game and apparently crashed the ticket queue with 40k people or so vying for 20k tickets. Meanwhile, as much as I like several of her books, I am having a hard time getting the Onyx Storm...

[a1mamacat]

Just recently discovered PD James. Damn this woman is incredible. I have yet to figure out the endings.

Also enjoying Lilian Jackson Braun’s The Cat who series. Fun stuff.

Also re-reading Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series, I have the entire collection, probably about 50

[Earl the Squirrel]

June

*denotes a Kindle Unlimited book

Slaying You (Amber Jamison #2) - Michelle Gagnon

Gothictown - Emily Carpenter

*The Indomitable Lives of Tuesday West (Middle Falls Time Travel #22) - Shawn Inmon

*Taming of the Brew (Supernatural Speakeasy Cozy Mystery #15) - Lily Harper Hart

Atmosphere - Taylor Jenkins Reid

46/100

The cream of the crop was obviously the Middle Falls book (I've gone on before about this series and just discovered that he's started another one set in London with a co-writer, yay!!) and Atmosphere, which I talked about in my response to Hottie.

[Hotseat Or Bust!]

I am currently reading The Guest House by Robin Morgan-Bentley. This is a new author to me. Other books I've recently read....The St. Ambrose School For Girls by Jessica Ward, Two Can Keep A Secret by Karen M. McManus, Listen To Me by Tess Gerritsen, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, The Warehouse by Rob Hart, The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine, The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley, The Kids Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch, Liz Welch, Amanda Welch, Dan Welch, The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. The Warehouse is different from the books I typically read and took me a bit to get into it, but I ultimately enjoyed it. There is something from the book that I can't stop thinking about and it kind of makes me think of a particular Bored Merrymen, but I won't spoil it! The Kids Are All Right is a book I've been wanting to read for a while, and no other book has ever made me cry more, but I'm glad I read it. I really enjoyed The Last Mrs. Parrish and have The Next Mrs. Parrish waiting for me once I finish The Guest House. Liv Constantine is actually the pen name of two sisters who write together, living three states apart. The Last Mrs. Parrish took place in a fictional CT. town, so I wondered if perhaps one of the sisters lives in New England or even here in CT. Well, I just found out last week that she actually lives in the same town as me! I always donate my books once I'm done and am happy to forward along any that anyone here might be interested in reading!

Okay, I read the blurb for The Warehouse because you piqued my curiosity, but I'm just not in to futuristic dystopia stuff so you'll have to spoil it for me, ha!

Did you read Atmosphere yet? Yep, TJR has done it again, made me vaguely interested in a subject that I thought would bore me to tears. It helped that it was set in the 70s, so I knew some of the history. Most of the space program stuff I know about Is 60s and 70s just because we learned about it as it was happening in school. She also (as usual) made me cry buckets...

As far as living in the same town, I just recently found out that Rebecca Yarros lives in my town! They're doing a Fourth Wing night at an Avalanche game and apparently crashed the ticket queue with 40k people or so vying for 20k tickets. Meanwhile, as much as I like several of her books, I am having a hard time getting the Onyx Storm...

I have not yet read Atmosphere, but look forward to reading it soon!! If I tell you about The Warehouse, it will not have the same effect as if you were to read it and discover it for yourself. Trust me! I do not usually read dystopian tales, but it's set in the very, very near future, like it could almost be happening now ish, and there is suspense! It's a relatively short book, wouldn't take long to read. Since my previous post, I have read The Next Mrs. Parrish. I liked it, but I think I enjoyed the first one more. I also read The Summer I Turned Pretty, this past weekend. Like the Karen McManus books I read, it is a Young Adult novel, but I really enjoyed it. I just started Three Little Truths by Eithne Shortall. This is a new author for me, but I had to get it, as it was advertised as "Liane Moriarty meets Lisa Jewell"!!!

[SportsFan68]

I finished Never Flinch by Stephen King, not nearly as good as the earlier Holly Gibneys IHMO.

Back to book club books, I read The invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, James by Percival Everett, and Canyon Sacrifice by Scott Graham.

I agree about Never Flinch. There was just too much going on with not much happening. I didn't care anything about the Kate storyline, even though that was Holly's main involvement, so it could have been cut completely. Instead of all that, give more time to the Juror murders. It was just line em up and mow em down no name strangers, so the body count didn't really have an impact. I would have liked to maybe get those written from the victims' POV, so we'd actually care a bit about them.

And is there ANYTHING Barbara doesn't excel at? C'mon, Steve...

Did you finish Addie LaRue? I read that a few years ago and absolutely LOVED it! It's a bit slow to start off, but so worth it. I have her latest one on hold at the library, I started off in the 100s but don't know where I am now. Hopefully they've gotten a few more copies since then.

Yes, I finished Addie LaRue. I got the uncomfortable feeling that only two of us in the book club actually read the whole thing. I'm a little worried that will also be true at our Canyon Sacrifice discussion, not because it moves slowly but because it's not all that well written.

[Lackadaisical Stumblebum]

No posts for almost two months?? Come on, people, I know somebody has to have read a book since then!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

July

* denotes a Kindle Unlimited book

A Dark and Stormy Knit (Knit and Nibble Mystery #11) - Peggy Erhardt

*1980: A Year in the Life of Keith Diamond (1980s Time Travel Adventure #1) - Jason Ayres

Death Row - Freida McFadden

*Cables and Conjurers - Nancy Warren (Vampire Knitting Club #15)

Mirror, Mirror - Jessica Jesinghaus

*Ushers - Joe Hill

Tell Me What You Did - Carter Wilson

Every Hour Until Then (Timeless #5) - Gabrielle Meyer

*Scallops and Sorcerers (Vampire Knitting Club:Cornwall #2) - Nancdy Warren

*Sinister Snack Attack (Two Broomsticks Gas and Grill #10) - Amanda M. Lee

Lone Women - Victor Lavalle

The Ghostwriter - Julie Clark

Murder in Rose Hill (Gaslight Mystery #27) - Victoria Thompson

The Memory Collectors - Dete Meserve


60/100

Finished up a lot of loose ends this months, yet I'm still 2 booka behind schedule as of the end of October.

A lot of cozies that are nice if you like those sorts of things (as I obviously do) but nothing tremendously exciting on their own. The best was, of course, the Gabrielle Meyer one. I got excited as soon as I started it and saw that one of the MC's lives was set in 1888 London. Because we all know what that means, right? Right???

Lone Women currently holds the title of the most fucked up book I've read so far this year. Which says something since I had previously read Victorian Psycho. Tell Me What You Did and Ghostwriter were good ideas that kind of telegraphed what was going to happen. Either that, or I've read way too many psychological thrillers the past couple years and have come to expect the unexpected. Maybe a little of both...

Murder in Rose Hill was sad because the author passed last August and I'm pretty sure that she didn't have any more in the chute or they would have been published by now. And stuff was just starting to happen for a few of the ongoing plots throughout the series! Their friend Theodore Roosevelt just because president! Gino is finally ready to declare his feelings for Maeve! This means nothing if you haven't read the series, but if you know, you know.

Memory Collectors was good with a message of, no matter how much you try to change history and employ a butterfly effect, things happen as they are meant to happen.

[Lackadaisical Stumblebum]

August

* denotes a Kindle Unlimited book

*1981: A Year in the Life of Nick Taylor (1980s Time Travel Adventure #2) - Jason Ayres

*1982: A Year in the Life of Wendy Wood (1980s Time Travel Adventure #3) - Jason Ayres

*The Last Secret of Lily Adams - Sarah Blaydes

Never Flinch - Stephen King

My Lovely Wife - Samantha Downing

The Only One Left - Riley Sager

Whistle - Linwood Barclay

Asylum Hotel - Juliet Blackwell

68/100

The Year in the Life books are definitely potato chip reading; I could finish this whole series in days but I'm trying not to catch up to the author. Lily Adams was one of those Old Hollywood mysteries that was told in alternating views between the past and the present. I've already given my opinion of the new King book and I don't think Whistle lived up to the hype. After a loooong, slow burn it was tied up too quickly and neatly. You can tell he's a King fan, this reminded me so much of Needful Things and the blurb I read on another of his books was reminiscent of The Dark Half or Secret Garden/Secret Window.

[Earl the Squirrel]

September

*denotes a Kindle Unlimited book

Too Old For This - Samantha Downing

*Well Behaved Woman: A sweeping and emotional historical fiction novel set in the Golden Age of Hollywood - Caroline Lamond

The Home - Judith Sonnet

The Dead Husband Cookbook - Danielle Valentine

Theme Music - T. Marie Vandelly

73/100

September was a light month for finishes, but some good ones.

Too Old for This concerns a retired (female) serial killer who, through a Series of Unfortunate Events, has to come out of retirement. A lot of humour in this one! Well Behaved Women was about the life of Alla Nazimova, alternating between her story and that of a young girl that comes into her orbit. Great book, but not for the LGBT-averse. Theme Music kept my attention, but it's one where you get frustrated with the protagonist being a dumbass. Like in those commercials sending up horror films "Let's go into the old barn! Why not just get into the running car?"

[Earl the Squirrel]

October

*denotes a Kindle Unlimited book

Not Quite Dead Yet - Holly Jackson

Matchmaking for Psychopaths - Tasha Coryell

Framed in Death (In Death #61) - J.D. Robb

Slashed Beauties - A. Rushby

How to Survive a Horror Story - Mallory Arnold

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine - Lindsey Fitzharris

Great Big Beautiful Life - Emily Henry

The Locked Ward - Sarah Pekkanen

81/100

Back up to speed, I think I had started a lot of these in the previous month and then had to haul ass before they were due back at the library. Not Quite Dead Yet had an interesting premise of a someone who suffered a brain injury during an assault that was going to kill her in a matter of months (bone moving in the brain or something) and she sets off to find her killer. Ended up way different than I expected. Tasha Coryell's books go off the rails in all of the best ways. I don't know why I keep reading the "In Death" series, they became stale a long time ago. I guess out of a sense of completion more than anything else.

Slashed Beauties was a very cool book with a topic (anatomical mannequins for medical education) about which I was unaware. The Butchering Art was a bit dry, but extremely interesting!

[Earl the Squirrel]

November

*denotes a Kindle Unlimited Book

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil - VE Schwab

Vagabond: A Memoir - Tim Curry

*The Deadly Life of Diana Penn (Cheviot Hills Time Travel Series #1) - Shawn Inmon & Kirsten McKenzie

*Middle Falls Favorites - Shawn Inmon

*The Kill Clause - Lisa Unger

Through Each Tomorrow (Timeless #6) - Gabrielle Meyer

Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America - Michael Ruhlman

Pretty Girls - Karin Slaughter

Night Watcher - Daphne Woolsoncroft

The Unraveling of Julia - Lisa Scottoline

91/100

Nothing too earth shattering here, I saw a show on the history of the grocery store on the History Channel, which took me down the rabbit hole of grocery books. For some reason, I find them fascinating! All of the moving parts that are necessary just to make sure we can find that box of cornflakes on the shelf! Pretty Girls was my first Karin Slaughter book, exceptionally graphic and she's not afraid to go there and make's everything okay at the end. I've read a couple more and I'm hooked, although I'm trying not to start her series books, because I'm mired in enough series at the moment.

Tim Curry's memoir was interesting, although to be honest a lot of his early family life could have been cut and more about his film and stage work could have been added. Fanny Fun Fact: The whole 'flames on the side of my face' speech from Clue? Totally ad-libbed by Madeline Kahn! Bury Our Bones was long and pretty dense, but I'm glad I read it. Didn't like it as much as Addie Larue, though.

[Earl the Squirrel]

December

* denotes a Kindle Unlimited book

*False Witness - Karin Slaughter

The Graceview Patient - Caitlin Starling

*The Good Daughter - Karin Slaughter

*The Collected Lives of Chuck Burke (Middle Falls Time Travel #23) - Shawn Inmon

The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket - Benjamin Lorr

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre - Philip Fracassi

*Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys - Joe Coulombe and Patty Civalleri

One of Us - Dan Chaon

*The Last Father Daughter Dance: A Short Story - Lisa Wingate

*Freaky Festivals (Mystic Caravan #20) - Amanda M. Lee

Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes - Karin Slaughter

Dead of Summer - Jessa Maxwell

103/100

Okay I went off count somewhere during the year, because Goodreads shows 104, but I don't care enough to go back and check my math because, either way, I did it!!! Yeah, there were a couple novellas and a couple of actual short stories but I'm counting them because there were also some absolute behemoths! It also added a few knitting and craft books I technically read, but I deleted those off of my challenge.

Finished the year with a bang and mowed through some books! I've already finished one and are midway through a few others for this year, so January might be packed as well. I guess all I did in December was read...

I've never been to Trader Joe's, the one we have here in town is quite a ways away from me. But after reading both of the grocery books this month, I might have to make a trip! Where the Ruhlman book last year focused on a chain in Ohio called Heinen's, the Lorr book talked about Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. So I had to check out Trader Joe's own story. Pretty amazing!

One of Us was another one of those WTF? books like Victorian Psycho and Lone Women that I had to keep reading just to try and figure it out (which I never really did). Obviously from the title it's about a circus and its sideshows. Kind of, but not really. Weird shit...

I might go back and compile some stats and/or Best of and Worst of lists, or I might just turn the page and look forward to the next year.

Anybody else have any insights or superlatives on what you read in 2025?

[Bob78164]

Anybody else have any insights or superlatives on what you read in 2025?

I discovered V.E. Schwab (who sometimes has published as Victoria Schwab), and she's rapidly become a favorite. Her "Shades of Magic" series was very well written but at times seemed to betray some inexperience in writing. However, the first volume of her follow-up series, The Fragile Threads of Power, I found riveting. I had the same experience with her stand-alone novel, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. The book that first put her on my radar, also a stand-alone, was The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. --Bob

[Bob Juch]

The Dead Husband Cookbook. That's a title that will at least get people to pick up the book and read the back cover blurbs.

[Hotseat Or Bust!]

November

*denotes a Kindle Unlimited Book

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil - VE Schwab

Vagabond: A Memoir - Tim Curry

*The Deadly Life of Diana Penn (Cheviot Hills Time Travel Series #1) - Shawn Inmon & Kirsten McKenzie

*Middle Falls Favorites - Shawn Inmon

*The Kill Clause - Lisa Unger

Through Each Tomorrow (Timeless #6) - Gabrielle Meyer

Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America - Michael Ruhlman

Pretty Girls - Karin Slaughter

Night Watcher - Daphne Woolsoncroft

The Unraveling of Julia - Lisa Scottoline

91/100

Nothing too earth shattering here, I saw a show on the history of the grocery store on the History Channel, which took me down the rabbit hole of grocery books. For some reason, I find them fascinating! All of the moving parts that are necessary just to make sure we can find that box of cornflakes on the shelf! Pretty Girls was my first Karin Slaughter book, exceptionally graphic and she's not afraid to go there and make's everything okay at the end. I've read a couple more and I'm hooked, although I'm trying not to start her series books, because I'm mired in enough series at the moment.

Tim Curry's memoir was interesting, although to be honest a lot of his early family life could have been cut and more about his film and stage work could have been added. Fanny Fun Fact: The whole 'flames on the side of my face' speech from Clue? Totally ad-libbed by Madeline Kahn! Bury Our Bones was long and pretty dense, but I'm glad I read it. Didn't like it as much as Addie Larue, though.

My first Karin Slaughter book was The Good Daughter. I have since read every single one of her books. She may be my most favorite author. I read the Will Trent series first and then read the Grant County series...not by design, I just ended up reading the Will Trent books first. I know you mentioned not really wanting to start another series, and I don't want to spoil anything, but I would suggest reading the Grant County series before the Will Trent series. I have not yet read any Lisa Unger books, but her name always seems to pop up in the "authors you might enjoy" lists, so I'll probably check her out at some point.

[Hotseat Or Bust!]

Although I enjoyed The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, I didn't enjoy the two follow up books, It's Not Summer Without You and We'll Always Have Summer, as much. They were okay, just not as good as the first book. I've also read: The Last House On Needless Street by Catriona Ward, The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand, Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty, First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston, The Housekeepers by Alex Hay, The House In The Pines by Ana Reyes and The Trap by Melanie Raabe. I'm about to start Kill Me by Stephen White. The Perfect Couple was my first Elin Hilderbrand book...I enjoyed it and will read more of her books.

[Earl the Squirrel]

[ If I tell you about The Warehouse, it will not have the same effect as if you were to read it and discover it for yourself. Trust me! I do not usually read dystopian tales, but it's set in the very, very near future, like it could almost be happening now ish, and there is suspense! It's a relatively short book, wouldn't take long to read.

As always, you were right! I'm glad you didn't tell me, because I spent most of the book thinking that you were referencing someone else, which I didn't think quite fit. And then I got it!! I'll PM you to make sure we're on the same page (ha!), but it's gotta be....

Funny that this book kind of coincides with another one I'm currently reading. And both are most frightening because they are both so easy to imagine coming true, I'll go more in-depth on these when I post my January roundup in this year's thread...

So what did you think about Here One Moment? I think it might be my favourite Moriarty book so far!

[Hotseat Or Bust!]

[ If I tell you about The Warehouse, it will not have the same effect as if you were to read it and discover it for yourself. Trust me! I do not usually read dystopian tales, but it's set in the very, very near future, like it could almost be happening now ish, and there is suspense! It's a relatively short book, wouldn't take long to read.

As always, you were right! I'm glad you didn't tell me, because I spent most of the book thinking that you were referencing someone else, which I didn't think quite fit. And then I got it!! I'll PM you to make sure we're on the same page (ha!), but it's gotta be....

Funny that this book kind of coincides with another one I'm currently reading. And both are most frightening because they are both so easy to imagine coming true, I'll go more in-depth on these when I post my January roundup in this year's thread...

So what did you think about Here One Moment? I think it might be my favourite Moriarty book so far!

I replied to your PM, and yes, we are on the same page!! Holy shit!! Ha ha!! It is so scary to think that the near future could be very close to what was happening in the book! I loved Here One Moment!! I didn't want it to end!!!