Full rules and sign-up linkups can be found at the link for each challenge.
I set my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal at 140 books for 2025. That’s 15 books higher than my goal for 2024, but 23 books fewer than I actually read last year.
As of January 18, 2025, I have read 6 books. I’m not sure why the widget says “3 books.”
(Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get the Goodreads Reading Challenge widget to work on this page, probably because my blog’s security software keeps blocking JavaScript. I may just have to keep updating this page manually.)
Audiobook Challenge 2025
Host: Caffeinated Reviewer and That’s What I’m Talking About
Progress: 0/12 (0%)
1 January, 2025 — 31 December, 2025
In Progress
None yet!
I’m participating in the Audiobook Challenge 2025, hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer and That’s What I’m Talking About. My goal for the year is to listen to and review 12 audiobooks, putting me in the Stenographer category.
Below are the books I have listened to but have not yet reviewed. Books marked with a * are books I have read or listened to before.
- The Calculating Stars (Mary Robinette Kowal)* – review will post on 1/22/2025
- The Cartographers (Peng Shepherd) – currently listening
- The Fated Sky (Mary Robinette Kowal)* – currently listening
COYER 2025: Out to Lunch
Host: Berls, Michelle, & Lillian
Progress: 3/25 (12%)
1 January, 2025 — 31 December, 2025
In Progress
The goal of COYER 2025: Out to Lunch is to “Clean Out Your E-Reader” — to plow through all those unread ebooks and audiobooks you downloaded because they were free or cheap. To qualify, books must be in digital format (ebook or audiobook.) They must be free or low-price (under $5.00 for e-books; under $7.50 for audiobooks.) However, in a departure from the original, strict rules, this year you don’t have to own the books. ARCs have always counted, but now library books do to. However, you can’t count books you read through subscription services like Kindle Unlimited, Amazon Prime, or Audible Plus.
My goal is to read and review 25 qualifying books in 2025. The books can also count for any of my other challenges.
Below are the books I read but have not yet reviewed for COYER 2025: Out to Lunch. Books marked with a * are rereads.
Library Love Challenge 2025
Host: Books of My Heart
Progress: 1/12 (8%)
1 January, 2025 — 31 December, 2025
In Progress
I’m participating in the Library Love Challenge 2025 , hosted by Angel’s Guilty Pleasures & Books of My Heart. My goal is to read and review 12 books, which is the the lowest possible option. I’m hesitant to try for more, because I have so many books on my Kindle and on my physical shelves that I also want to read, and also because some of my library books will be for writing research, so I probably won’t read them all the way through.
Below are the books I read but have not yet reviewed. Books marked with a * are books I have read or listened to before.
Netgalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2025
Progress: 1/25 (4%)
1 January, 2025 — 31 December, 2025
In Progress
The 2025 NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge is hosted by Yvonne at Socrates’ Book Reviews. I am joining at the Silver level: 25 books. That’s going to be a real challenge for me, but I have a lot of ARCs I need to read or reread and then write reviews for. It’s not so much the reading that I find challenging, it’s the review-writing, and so I’m going to allow myself to count reviews for books that I read in the past few months but haven’t yet reviewed (assuming I remember the book well enough and kept good enough notes to write a review.)
Below are the books I read in 2025 but have not yet reviewed. Books marked with a * are books I have read or listened to before.
- A Death in Diamonds (S.J. Bennett) – currently reading
Robin's Recs 2025
Host: Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
Progress: 0/6 (0%)
1 January, 2025 — 31 December, 2025
In Progress
None yet!
Robin’s Recs is a personal challenge to read and review at least 6 books that my (adult) child, Robin, has either recommended or given to me. You can see the full list of titles by clicking on the challenge title.
Below are the books I read in 2025 but have not yet reviewed. Books marked with a * are books I have read or listened to before.
- The Cartographers (Peng Shepherd) – currently listening
Additional Goals
Write 250 words per day of fiction or fanfic; reviews don’t count. As of January 18, this has been going terribly, but it remains a goal.
Spend less time scrolling through social media and more time reading and writing. I don’t even need to explain this one, do I?
Write more reviews than last year. Especially, be more consistent about reviewing ARCs.
Read more of the (unread) books I already own.
Make better use of the library. I know; this seems to clash with “read more books I already own.” But if you think of it as “borrow books from the library books instead of buying them”, it makes more sense.
Read more diversely. As in previous years, I want to read some books by and about nonwhite, LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse, and disabled people.
Prune some of the books I own, and reorganize and catalog as many of the remaining books as possible. This goal is about a) getting the book collection down to a manageable (and movable) number, and b) being more intentional about what books I own. My physical bookshelves are too crowded, and sometime in the next 10 years we may downsize to a smaller house. Besides, small print (as found in many older mass-market paperbacks) is increasingly difficult for me to read, so there’s not much point in my keeping a lot of those around.
