2025 Reading Challenge discussion

My main challenge is to read 52 new authors this year! I've also added the year long I SPY title challenge and a spot to keep track of the Tequila Book Club reads as well.

I'm also going to try and record everything I read this year, just because it will be interesting to see how much I actually read over the course of a year. I do want to read at least 200 books.

A general restriction is that the books need to be available in electronic format. I'm trying not to add paper books to the bookcase.

I would like to whittle down my to-read list, although there are a lot of duplicate authors there. There's also a number of my favourite authors releasing new books this year, so they'll need to be read too.

I will probably reread some of my existing books because I enjoy that :)

52 New Authors


1: Stephanie Chong with Where Demons Fear to Tread
Finished: 01 Jan
Rating: 3 stars

2. Christopher Anvil with Interstellar Patrol
Finished: 02 Jan
Rating: 4 stars

3. Dave Freer with Rats, Bats & Vats
Finished: 10 Jan
Rating: 3 stars

4. James H. Schmitz with Agent of Vega & Other Stories
Finished: 14 Jan
Rating: 3 stars

5. Daniel O'Malley with The Rook
Finished: 15 Jan
Rating: 5 stars

6. Ernest Cline with Ready Player One
Finished: 17 Jan
Rating: 5 stars

7. Robert J. McCarter with Shuffled Off: A Ghost's Memoir
Finished: 22 Jan
Rating: 4 stars

8. Connie Shelton with Sweet Masterpiece
Finished: 24 Jan
Rating: 3 stars

9. Jutta Profijt with Morgue Drawer Four
Finished: 25 Jan
Rating: 2 stars

10. Bill Pronzini with The Booktaker:A Nameless Detective
Finished: 27 Jan
Rating: 2 stars

11. Tim Buckley with The Game Games Bowl
Finished: 27 Jan
Rating: 4 stars

12. Suzanne Collins with The Hunger Games
Finished: 30 Jan
Rating: 4 stars

13. Joanne Fluke with Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
Finished: 01 Feb
Rating: 3 stars

14. Sheila Horgan with Hot Tea
Finished: 10 Feb
Rating: 4 stars

15. Zoe Sharp with Killer Instinct
Finished: 12 Feb
Rating: 3 stars

16. James R. Tuck with That Thing at the Zoo
Finished: 18 Feb
Rating: 3 stars

17. Daniel Hecht with City of Masks
Finished: 18 Feb
Rating: 3 stars

18. Mark Hurst with Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload
Finished: 24 Feb
Rating: 2 stars

19. Cat Adams with Blood Song
Finished: 28 Feb
Rating: 3 stars

20. Mark Twain with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Finished: 29 Feb
Rating: 3 stars

21. Marlene Perez with Dead Is the New Black
Finished: 06 Mar
Rating: 2 stars

22. Nick Galifianakis with If You Loved Me, You'd Think This Was Cute: Uncomfortably True Cartoons About You
Finished: 07 Mar
Rating: 4 stars

23. Lise Haines with Girl in the Arena
Finished: 12 Mar
Rating: 2 stars

24. Amanda Hocking with Hollowland
Finished: 14 Mar
Rating: 4 stars

25. B. Justin Shier with Zero Sight
Finished: 16 Mar
Rating: 4 stars

26. Clay Griffith with The Greyfriar
Finished: 18 Mar
Rating: 2 stars

27. Jonah Lehrer with How We Decide
Finished: 17 Apr
Rating: 4 stars

28. Seth Godin with Poke the Box: When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time?
Finished: 17 Apr
Rating: 3 stars

29. A.J. Jacobs with Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection
Finished: 20 Apr
Rating: 3 stars

30. K. Bennett with Pay Me in Flesh
Finished: 22 Apr
Rating:3 stars

31. Clifford D. Simak with City
Finished: 22 Apr
Rating: 3 stars

32. Randy O. Frost with Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things
Finished: 23 Apr
Rating: 4 stars

33. Richelle Mead with Storm Born
Finished: 24 Apr
Rating: 3 stars

34. Hallgrímur Helgason with The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning
Finished: 25 Apr
Rating: 2 stars

35. Megg Jensen with Anathema
Finished: 2 May
Rating: 1 star

36. James White with Beginning Operations

37. G.K. Chesterton with The Complete Father Brown

38. Doreen Owens Malek with Danger Zone

39. Diane Capri with Don't Know Jack

40. Anna Katharine Green with The Golden Slipper and Other Problems for Violet Strange

41. Deanna Chase with Haunted on Bourbon Street

42. Dana Stabenow with A Cold Day For Murder

43. Chuck Wendig with Blackbirds

44. Diana Dempsey with Ms America and the Offing on Oahu

45. Dave Jeffery with Necropolis Rising

46. Sparkle Abbey with Desperate Housedogs

47. Rose Pressey with How to Date a Werewolf

48. Stephen R. Covey with The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

49. Timothy Hallinan with Skin Deep

50. B.V. Larson with Swarm

51. Debora Geary with To Love a Witch

52. Ian Woodhead with The Unwashed Dead

53. Lexi Revellian with Replica

54. Sterling Archer with How to Archer: The Ultimate Guide to Espionage and Style and Women and Also Cocktails Ever Written
Finished: 11 June
Rating: 3 stars

55. Terri Thayer with Wild Goose Chase
Finished: 13 June
Rating: 2 stars

56. Deborah Smith with More Sweet Tea
Finished: 21 June
Rating: 2 stars

57. Karen Karbo with How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great
Finished: 28 June
Rating: 2 stars

58. Richard Babcock with My Wife's Story
Finished: 28 June
Rating: 3 stars

59. Joseph Wurtenbaugh with The Old Soul
Finished: 28 June
Rating: 3 stars

60. Jess Walter with Don't Eat Cat
Finished: 28 June
Rating: 3 stars

61. E.S. Moore with To Walk the Night
Finished: 29 June
Rating: 2 stars

62. Cass R. Sunstein with Going to Extremes: How Like Minds Unite and Divide
Finished: 30 June
Rating: 3 stars

63. Victoria Connelly with A Weekend with Mr. Darcy
Finished: 3 July
Rating: 3 stars

64. Gary Chapman with The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate

65. Lilian Jackson Braun with The Cat Who Had 14 Tales

66. Benjamin Hoff with The Tao Of Pooh

67. Felicia Day with The Guild
Finished: 19 July
Rating: 5 stars

68. Zack Whedon with Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories
Finished: 19 July
Rating: 4 stars

69. Carolyn Hart with The Christie Caper
Finished: 12 August
Rating: 3 stars

70. G.M. Malliet with Death of a Cozy Writer
Finished: 14 August
Rating: 3 stars

71. E.L. James with Fifty Shades of Grey

Year Long "I SPY Title" Challenge
All of these are off my to-read list.


1. Color: Emerald Sea (The Council Wars, #2) by John Ringo

2. Number: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Finished: 17 Jan
Rating: 5 stars

3. Things That Grow: The Rose Rent by Ellis Peters

4. 4 Seasons: Much Fall of Blood by Mercedes Lackey

5. First Name: A Logic Named Joe by Murray Leinster

6. Places: Agent of Vega by James H. Schmitz
Finished: 14 Jan
Rating: 3 stars

7. Body Part: Yellow Eyes by John Ringo

8. Weapon: Vorpal Blade by John Ringo

9. Body of Water: The Sea Hag by David Drake

10. Form of Water: The Virgin in the Ice by Ellis Peters

11. Product of Fire: Torch of Freedom by David Weber
Finished: 27 Jan
Rating: 3 stars

12. Heavenly Body: Mutineers' Moon by David Weber
Finished: 02 Jan
Rating: 4 stars

13. Architecture:Pyramid Scheme by Dave Freer

14. 5 Senses:

15. Royal Title: Princess of Wands by John Ringo

16. Family Member: Mother of Demons by Eric Flint

17. 4 Elements: A Chalice of Wind by Cate Tiernan

18. Time of Day: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

19. Metal: The Chrome Borne by Mercedes Lackey

20. Emotion/Feeling: Grimmer Than Hell by David Drake

21. Animal/Insect: Rats, Bats & Vats by Dave Freer
Finished: 10 Jan
Rating: 3 stars

22. Something to Read: Invasion: Book One of the Secret World Chronicle by Mercedes Lackey

23. Gender Identifier: The Creatures of Man by Howard L. Myers

24. Paranormal Being: Ghost by John Ringo

25. Occupation: Killer by David Drake

Reading with Tequila Book Club


January:
Where Demons Fear to Tread by Stephanie Chong
Finished: 01 January
Why we're reading this: January's genre is paranormal romance

Everything!
A comment to keep track of everything I read this year...this will track my progress to the 200 books I committed to.

1. Where Demons Fear to Tread by Stephanie Chong
2. Interstellar Patrol by Christopher Anvil
3. Mutineers' Moon by David Weber
4. The Armageddon Inheritance by David Weber
5. Heirs of Empire by David Weber
6. Rats, Bats & Vats by Dave Freer
7. Agent of Vega by James H. Schmitz
8. The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
9. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
10. Shuffled Off: A Ghost's Memoir by Robert J. McCarter
11. Balefire by David Drake
12. Sweet Masterpiece by Connie Shelton
13. Morgue Drawer Four by Jutta Profijt
14. The Booktaker:A Nameless Detective by Bill Pronzini
15. The Game Games Bowl by Tim Buckley
16. Torch of Freedom by David Weber
17. An Election by John Scalzi
18. The Tale of The Wicked by John Scalzi
19. The Bride Wore Black Leather by Simon R. Green
20. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
21. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
22. Questions for a Soldier by John Scalzi
23. Judge Sn Goes Golfing by John Scalzi
24. How I Proposed to My Wife: An Alien Sex Story by John Scalzi
25. Brain Ships by Anne McCaffrey
26. The Second Son by Lee Child
27. Hot Tea by Sheila Horgan
28. Sweet Tea by Sheila Horgan
29. Killer Instinct by Zoe Sharp
30. Iced Tea by Sheila Horgan
31. Green Tea by Sheila Horgan
32. Peppermint Tea by Sheila Horgan
33. Tea to Go by Sheila Horgan
34. That Thing at the Zoo by James R. Tuck
35. City of Masks by Daniel Hecht
36. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
37. Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload by Mark Hurst
38. Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi
39. The Harvest by Robert Charles Wilson
40. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
41. Blood Song by Cat Adams
42. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
43. Dead Is the New Black by Marlene Perez
44. If You Loved Me, You'd Think This Was Cute: Uncomfortably True Cartoons About You by Nick Galifianakis
45. Timeless by Gail Carriger
46. Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines
47. Hollowland by Amanda Hocking
48. Zero Sight by B. Justin Shier
49. The Greyfriar by Clay Griffith
50. Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
51. The Android's Dream by John Scalzi
52. Blood and Bullets by James R. Tuck
53. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
54. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
55. How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
56 Poke the Box: When Was the Last Time You Did Something for the First Time? by Seth Godin
57. Drop Dead Healthy: One Man's Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection by A.J. Jacobs
58. Pay Me in Flesh by K. Bennett
59. City by Clifford D. Simak
60. Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost
61. Storm Born by Richelle Mead
62. The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning by Hallgrímur Helgason
63. With Spring Comes the Fall by Joshua Guess
64. Living With the Dead: The Bitter Seasons by Joshua Guess
65. The Hungry Land by Joshua Guess
66. Anathema by Megg Jensen
67. The Kilternan Legacy by Anne McCaffrey
68. Ring of Fear by Anne McCaffrey
69. The Americans by Jake Bible
70. Beginning Operations by 71. James White
71. The Complete Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton
72. Danger Zone by Doreen Owens Malek
73. Don't Know Jack by Diane Capri
74. The God Engines by John Scalzi
75. The Golden Slipper and Other Problems for Violet Strange by Anna Katharine Green
76. Haunted on Bourbon Street by Deanna Chase
77. A Cold Day For Murder by Dana Stabenow
78. Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig
79. Ms America and the Offing on Oahu by Diana Dempsey
80. Necropolis Rising by Dave Jeffery
81. Desperate Housedogs by Sparkle Abbey
82. How to Date a Werewolf by Rose Pressey
83. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
84. Skin Deep by Timothy Hallinan
85. Swarm by B.V. Larson
86. To Love a Witch by Debora Geary
87. The Unwashed Dead by Ian Woodhead
88. Replica by Lexi Revellian
89. Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi
90. How to Archer: The Ultimate Guide to Espionage and Style and Women and Also Cocktails Ever Written by Sterling Archer
91. Wild Goose Chase by Terri Thayer
92. More Sweet Tea by Deborah Smith
93. How to Hepburn: Lessons on Living from Kate the Great by Karen Karbo
94. My Wife's Story by Richard Babcock
95. The Old Soul by Joseph Wurtenbaugh
96. Don't Eat Cat by Jess Walter
97. Alien Emergencies: A Sector General Omnibus by James White
98. To Walk the Night by E.S. Moore
99. Going to Extremes: How Like Minds Unite and Divide by Cass R. Sunstein
100. The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett
101. A Weekend with Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly
102. The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate by Gary Chapman
103. The World of Poo by Terry Pratchett
104. The Cat Who Had 14 Tales by Lilian Jackson Braun
105. Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
106. The Tao Of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
107. The Guild by Felicia Day
108. Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories by Zack Whedon
109. Serenity: Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon
110. Better Days by Joss Whedon
111. The Shepherd's Tale by Zack Whedon
112. Serenity: Float Out by Patton Oswalt
113. The Guild: Vork by Felicia Day
114. The Guild: Bladezz by Felicia Day
115. The Guild: Tink by Felicia Day
116. The Guild: Clara by Felicia Day
117. The Guild: Zaboo by Felicia Day
118. The Guild: Fawkes by Felicia Day
119. The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett
120. Matilda by Roald Dahl
121. After the Coup by John Scalzi
122. San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant
123. The Christie Caper by Carolyn Hart
124. Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet
125. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

I've just finished reading mutineers moon which was on my I SPY list. It's the first in a series and I'm going to have to keep going with the - it's really good (4 stars). I've been a fan of David Weber for ages, he writes the best space battles.

I've just signed myself up for the 2012 reading challenge too: http://www.goodreads.com/challenges/2...

200 books!

Finished the second in David Weber's Dahak series, The Armageddon Inheritance. I adored this book! Four stars. I'm going to start the third in the series now.

Sci-fi Fantasy Book Club reads
I'm going to track the yearly reads for the Sci-fi Fantasty Book Club here.

January:
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay

I love these book clubs - I've been meaning to read Vonnegut for ages but never quite got to it. He'll be another new author :)

I've read some of GGK's work before (Tigana has to be one of the most stunning books available) and I'm keen to read more. I'll have to find an electronic copy though if I'm going to read it.

Helen wrote: "I've read some of GGK's work before (Tigana has to be..."

I recently read my first GGK book, Tigana, and loved it. I can't wait to hear how you like The Summer Tree. I just ordered A Song for Arbonne as my second Kay book.

Lisa wrote: "Helen wrote: "I've read some of GGK's work before (Tigana has to be..."

I recently read my first GGK book, Tigana, and loved it. I can't wait to hear how you like [book:The Summer T..."

Ohh, let me know what you think of A Song for Arbonne! I've got it here to read at some point...

Finished the last book in David Weber's Dahak series, Heirs of Empire. Wonderful pace. It's a fair sized book - I was reading an omnibus of all three books and it was about 60% of the book.

Rats, Bats and Vats did double duty today and ended up on both the I SPY challenge and my new author list.

I'm about to diverge a little here - I intrigued by The Rook by Daniel O'Malley and I'm going to read that next. It will go on my new authors list at least!

I've just finished The Rook - loved it! Absolutely fantastic! I can't wait for more books by Daniel O'Malley. And he's an Aussie too.

Finished Ready Player One. I'm a software engineer and I was a kid in the 80s, so this book had everything I could wish for. Even Voltron! *love*

Finished Shuffled Off: A Ghost's Memoir. Interesting idea - it's a transcript of a ghosts memoir and some short chats with the people left behind after he died.

That ghost one looks very interesting! I will have to see if I can find it. And you are doing great with your challenge :)

Tatum wrote: "That ghost one looks very interesting! I will have to see if I can find it. And you are doing great with your challenge :)"

Thanks Tatum. It's the author's first published novel and I got the kindle version from amazon.

Finished Balefire by David Drake. Rated it two stars - it's a collection of short stories and they were ok but didn't really grab me. I've really enjoyed other work by the same author, so it won't put me off though.

Finished Sweet Masterpiece today. A nice light weight cozy mystery.

Finished Morgue Drawer Four. Pretty light weight which was good, but the protagonist wasn't particularly likeable.

Finished two books today. Really enjoyed The Game Games Bowl - although I follow Ctrl+Alt+Del I haven't read a book by Tim so I counted him as a new author.

Finished Torch of Freedom last night. I enjoyed it, but the first third of the book seemed to be all explanation and conversation - nothing really happened. That seems to be happening more and more with the books in the Honorverse and I'm a bit over it.

Finished An Election by John Scalzi. It's a short story about an election where most of the people running are aliens. There's some giggles and I quite enjoyed it; 4 stars.

Another John Scalzi short story finished, The Tale of The Wicked. A space ship gaining sentience and ending a war; good fun!

Finished The Bride Wore Black Leather by Simon R. Green - I love the Nightside books. They always deliver a good read. Four stars.

Great work so far Helen, you're doing great in your challenges. That does look like an interesting series... like I really need to add more interesting series to my to read list, but hey ;)

@Sarah, Tatum; the only thing that bothers me about the Nightside books is that I can't go back and read them for the first time again. I'll just have to make do with rereading them occasionally!

Finished The Hunger Games. Really good - worth four stars. I wanted to read this before the movie comes out in March and now I'm really looking forward to it...hope they don't stuff it up!

I love cozy mysteries and just finished Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder. Three stars; it's not a particularly complicated book, you just follow the heroine as she talks to people to work out who did the murder. But definitely fun, and I enjoyed the cookie recipes sprinkled throughout. There's definitely a couple of recipes I want to try out!

Three short stories by John Scalzi; Questions for a Soldier, Judge Sn Goes Golfing and How I Proposed to My Wife: An Alien Sex Story.
I really enjoy his short works, they're generally pretty light-hearted and funny, a nice way to end a long day.

Finished Brain Ships last night. It's an omnibus containing The Ship Who Searched and Partnership. I have read them both before but not for a long time and it was nice to read some old favourites again.

Wow Helen, you are doing so well in both your total book goal and your new authors goal! Keep it up and you'll wind up blowing your totals away :)

Tatum wrote: "Wow Helen, you are doing so well in both your total book goal and your new authors goal! Keep it up and you'll wind up blowing your totals away :)"

I hope so! Although I've got some travel coming up this year, and I'm involved in organising a convention, so I suspect there will be a steep dive at some point. I'm trying to build up a buffer!

Finished Hot Tea last night. This is the first book in a series made from a hybrid traditional novel and serial novel. I thought is was an interesting idea; it's a full length book but it leads directly into the second book in the series.
It was an odd read; I kept expecting something earth shaking to happen for the plot to revolve around, but it was a really gentle read about a young woman and her family. It wasn't until the end that the plot started to thicken, so I'm going to buy the next book to see what happens.
The format is interesting and the characters are engaging. It's kind of like watching someone's life go by. I give big bonus points for not making the lead character stubborn to the point of stupidity which so often happens when the protagonist is female.

Read Sweet Tea yesterday. It's the continuation of my previous book. Three stars - still good, but we made very little progress on the murders. It's a good thing the books are cheap!

Finished Iced Tea, the third in the series. I enjoyed it (3 stars), but they're beginning to drag on a bit. Still, I'm going to buy the next one!

I may have to look into these. I've always been fascinated with the serialization of novels in Victorian times and I read Stephen King's attempt at it with The Green Mile. It's interesting that she's chosen to write full length novels that way (also more words for your dollar, which is always a good thing!).

Tatum wrote: "I may have to look into these. I've always been fascinated with the serialization of novels in Victorian times and I read Stephen King's attempt at it with The Green Mile. It's interes..."

I've finished the existing books in the Tea series; Green Tea, Peppermint Tea and Tea to Go. Lots of fun; it's rather like watching a soap opera, but with less amnesia as a plot device. I've given them all 4 stars and if there was a seventh I would be reading it instead of posting :) Definitely give it a try!

Read That Thing at the Zoo today. Paranormal monster killing. Good fun. Will get a full length book at a later date.

I ran out of internet on the weekend, so couldn't get on to update. I read City of Masks by Daniel Hecht and Spin by Robert Charles Wilson.

City of Masks was good, but a little creepy for me. I might buy another one but not in a hurry. The writing was very good though.

Spin was excellent (5 stars) - Robert Charles Wilson is a fantastic author. He writes very human science fiction and addresses unique problems. I already loved his work, although I didn't know it when I bought Spin; about 15 years ago I read The Harvest and thought it was wonderful.

I was a bit disappointed in Bit Literacy: Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload. I'd hoped to find some new tips and tricks for handling digital information but it was really pretty basic, designed for someone without much confidence in computers and their organisational abilities.
Still, it was a change of pace from my usual fiction.

Finished two recently: Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi and The Harvest by Robert Charles Wilson.
Fuzzy Nation is a reboot of the original Little Fuzzy (H. Beam Piper). I haven't (yet) read the original, but I intend to. I thoroughly enjoyed the story. And of course, I read The Harvest. I've remembered the plot of this book for over 15 years, and it was just as good as I remembered!

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce is an old favourite. I love coming back to this series. It was a bit odd to read it on paper though, instead of the kindle. I couldn't get comfortable!

I've slowed down a bit...too many other things going on :(

Finished Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez. I gave it two stars - it was ok, but I think I'm a little older than the target market for this one. It was passable though, especially if you're looking for something light and fast.

Added two more: Timeless by Gail Carriger and If You Loved Me, You'd Think This Was Cute: Uncomfortably True Cartoons About You by Nick Galifianakis.
Really enjoyed them both; Timeless is the fifth book in the Parasol Protectorate series (steampunk mysteries) and I have a soft spot for single panel comics.

I've read two excellent books this week: Hollowland by Amanda Hocking and Zero Sight by B. Justin Shier. Well worth picking up, 4 stars each.

Finished The Greyfriar by Clay Griffith. Rated two stars; it was ok but I didn't really like any of the characters, so I was just trying to hurry through it.