2025 Reading Challenge discussion
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December - Advent Calendar
Hello and Welcome to the December Reading Challenge ~ "ADVENT CALENDER" i very excited and thankful to be leading this challenge!! Below is how to participate in the challenge. If yo have any questions at all PLEASE let me know!! HAPPY READING!!!!!!
How To Participate
🔹 To join the challenge, post a comment below with your goal.
🔹 You may choose your books in advance, or add them as you go.
🔹 You may join late if the challenge hasn't ended, and may count any relevant books completed during the challenge dates.
🔹 As you read, edit your original message, then post a new comment in this format:
** "Update to message #xx: Books read/book goal"
** Example: "Update to message #3: 3/30"
🔹 If you decide to leave the challenge, please don't delete your original post. Just let me know. You can mark your original post {redacted}.
🔹 If you are new to our group and/or our group challenges, check the Yearly, Quarterly, Monthly Challenges - Start Here thread for more information on how our challenges are run.
PARTICIPANTS ~*Amy(Other Amy) - 9/25
*Ana - 24/24 - COMPLETED!!
*Beth - 25/25 - COMPLETED!!
*Carmen - 8/10 (Books)
*Chalmation - 24/24 - COMPLETED!!
*Chrissie - 27/27 - COMPLETED!!
*Ciara - 63/31 - COMPLETED!!
*Claire - 0/24
*Debra - 21/24
*ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) - 0/24
*JennH - 24/24 - COMPLETED!!
*Karin - 26/26 and 24/24 - COMPLETED!!
*Lilli - 29/31
*Lina - 24/24 - COMPLETED!!
*Martha - 34/34 - COMPLETED!!
*Meghan L. - 0/24
*Melissa - 0/12
*Nancy - 0/31
*Queen Eternity - 8/48
*Rachael - 24/24 - COMPLETED!!
*Renee - 0/25
*Rhi - 5/12
*Sarah - 31/31 - COMPLETED!!
*Sheila - 23/23 - COMPLETED!!
*Sunny - 12/12 - COMPLETED!!
*Terri - 0/24
*TerryJane - 24/24 - COMPLETED!!
*Theresa - 24/24 - COMPLETED!!
*Whitney - 24/24 - COMPLETED!!
Signing up!I ran across a book that is exactly 24 chapters.
It's part of a series, but not the first book. I'm going to read it anyway. 😊
Varnished without a Trace
Progress: 24/24 chapters
Signing up! I really enjoyed doing this last year. Challenge complete 24 Dec 2024
I'm going with 25 Days by Per Jacobsen. 25 chapters, 25 days. 🎄
🎄 December 1 / Chapter 1
🎄 December 2 / Chapter 2
🎄 December 3 / Chapter 3
🎄 December 4 / Chapter 4
🎄 December 5 / Chapter 5
🎄 December 6 / Chapter 6
🎄 December 7 / Chapter 7
🎄 December 8 / Chapter 8
🎄 December 9 / Chapter 9
🎄 December 10 / Chapter 10
🎄 December 11 / Chapter 11
🎄 December 12 / Chapter 12
🎄 December 13 / Chapter 13
🎄 December 14 / Chapter 14
🎄 December 15 / Chapter 15
🎄 December 16 / Chapter 16
🎄 December 17 / Chapter 17
🎄 December 18 / Chapter 18
🎄 December 19 / Chapter 19
🎄 December 20 / Chapter 20
🎄 December 21 / Chapter 21
🎄 December 22 / Chapter 22
🎄 December 23 / Chapter 23
🎄 December 24 / Chapter 24
🎄 December 25 / Chapter 25
Other winter holiday related books read this month
🎄 A Christmas Murder by Mary Grand
🎄 The Mistletoe Mystery (Molly the Maid, #2.5) by Nita Prose
🎄 Ten Lords a Leaping (The Twelve Days of Christmas, #3) by Emily E.K. Murdoch
🎄 Plum Pudding Peril (Murder in the Mix #50) by Addison Moore
🎄 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (The Herdmans, #1) by Barbara Robinson
I also want to read The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Frosty Nights, a collection of 12 holiday ghost stories. I’ll start on December 13.
🎄 December 13 / Host
🎄 December 14 / Inferno
🎄 December 15 / The Old Play
🎄 December 16 / A Double Thread
🎄 December 17 / The Salt Miracle
🎄 December 18 / Banished<🎄 /b>
🎄 December 19 / The Gargoyle
🎄 December 20 / The Master of the House
🎄 December 21 / Ada Lark
🎄 December 22 / Jenkin
🎄 December 23 / Widows Walk
🎄 December 24 / Carol of the Bells and Chains
I was going to read Laughter at the Academy for this, but it turns out it has 22 stories and I've read most of them. Fortunately, The Proper Thing and Other Stories was released this year, and it does have 24 stories, and I've only read (I think) two previously, though the last story might be more of a novella I may read in slices the last week of the year (assuming I don't get trapped at my folks' place by a snowstorm again this year).🌟"Coafield's Catalog of Available Apocalypse Events"
🌟"Now Rest, My Dear"
🌟"Mother, Mother, Will You Play With Me?"
🌟"In the Land of Rainbows and Ash"
🌟"Heart of Straw"
🌟"The Levee Was Dry"
🌟"Fresh as the New-Fallen Snow"
🌟"Good Night, Sleep Tight"
🌟"Rise Up, Rise Up, You Children of the Moon"
⬜DETOUR: "Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea" (Carniepunk anthology)
⬜DETOUR: "Midway Relics and Dying Breeds" (Tor)
�"Phantoms of the Midway"
�"File and Forget"
�"Under the Sea of Stars"
�"Vegetables and Vaccines"
�"Come Marching In"
�"Foundational Education"
�"鲹ٳپԲ"
�"Love in the Last Days of a Doomed World"
�"What Everyone Knows"
�""
�"So Sharp, So Bright, So Final"
�"Sweet as Sugar Candy"
�"On the Side"
�"ʱٲ"
9/25
And a Happy New Year (just for fun):
�"The Proper Thing 1. Mary's Cotherstone"
�"The Proper Thing 2. Beldin's Blue"
�"The Proper Thing 3. Witchlight Cheddar"
�"The Proper Thing 4. Bell's Brie"
�"The Proper Thing 5. St. Margaret"
�"The Proper Thing 6. Stow-on-the-Water"
�"The Proper Thing 7. Dreamer's Lancashire"
�"The Proper Thing 8. Diver's Blue"
�"The Proper Thing 9. California Double-Cream Brie"
�"The Proper Thing 10. Dorset Ice"
Update: Hmm. I seem to recall the Midway is the traveling carnival, which means there are at least two other stories about it:
1. "Daughter of the Midway, the Mermaid, and the Open, Lonely Sea," in Carniepunk, and
2. "Midway Relics and Dying Breeds" over at Tor
So I may have to take some detours on the way. Might do those and leave "The Proper Thing" off the challenge.
Finished: 2024/12/21Here's to another December tackling the last of the Hunger Games books.
B) Starting on Dec. 1: Split a novel into 24 chunks and portion your reading so that you read the last chunk on Dec. 24.
Mockingjay 27/27 �
6.12. - started reading
7.12. - Chapter 1 & 2
8.12. - Chapter 3
10.12. - Chapter 4 & 5
11.12. - Chapter 6 & 7
14.12. - Chapter 8
15.12. - Chapter 9
16.12. - Chapter 10
17.12. - Chapter 11
18.12. - Chapter 12 - 14
19.12. - Chapter 15 - 19
20.12. - Chapter 20 - 24
21.12. - Chapter 25 - Epilogue
i'm in for 2 books Completed 2/2
1. Kushiel's Avatar- will take 26 days @ 4 chapters per day
Dec 1- chap. 1-4
Dec 2- chap. 5-8
Dec 3-chap 9-12
Dec 4- chap 13-16
Dec 5-chap 17-20
Dec 6-chap 21-24
Dec 7-chap 25-28
Dec 8-chap 29-32
Dec 9-chap 33-36
Dec 10-chap 37-40
Dec 11-chap. 41-44
Dec 12-chap. 45-48
Dec 13-chap. 49-52
Dec 14-chap 53-56
Dec 15-chap 57-60
Dec 16-chap 61-64
Dec 17- chap. 65-68
Dec 18-chap 69-72
Dec 19-chap. 73-76
Dec 20-chap 77-80
Dec 21-chap 81-84
Dec 22-chap 85-88
Dec 23-chap 89-92
Dec 24-chap 93-96
Dec 25 -chap 97-100
Dec 26- chap 101-102
2. A Promised Land- will take 27 days @ 1 chapter per day
Dec 1- chap.1
Dec 2-chap. 2
Dec 3-chap.3
Dec 4-chap. 4
Dec 5-chap. 5
Dec 6-chap. 6
Dec 7-chap. 7
Dec .8- chap. 8
Dec 9-chap.9
Dec 10-chap 10
Dec 11-chap. 11
Dec 12-chap. 12
Dec 13-chap 13
Dec 14-chap 14
Dec 15-chap 15
Dec 16-chap 16
Dec 17- chap 17
Dec 18-chap 18
Dec 19-chap 19
Dec 20-chap 20
Dec 21-chap 21
Dec 22-chap 22
Dec 23-chap 23
Dec 24-chap 24
Dec 25 -chap 25
Dec 26-chap. 26
Dec 27 - chap 27
Sign me up for 31 books31/31-COMPLETED
�1. Clear (1/12/24)
�2. Thank Fall: A Mindful Story Celebrating the Magic of Autumn! (2/12/24)
�3. Pharaoh's Daughter: A Novel of Ancient Egypt (3/12/24)
�4. A Tale of Two Cities (4/12/24)
�5. Speak (5/12/24)
�6. Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet (6/12/24)
�7. Archie's Girls Betty & Veronica #346 (7/12/24)
�8. Archie's Girls Betty & Veronica #347 (8/12/24)
�9. Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil (9/12/24)
�10. Graveyard Shift (10/12/24)
�11. Parade (11/12/24)
�12. The Anthropologists (12/12/24)
�13. The Most (13/12/24)
�14. When Among Crows (14/12/24)
�15. She Who Knows (15/12/24)
�16. What Does It Feel Like? (16/12/24)
�17. Small Things Like These (17/12/24)
�18. A Minor Chorus (18/12/24)
�19. Stargirl (19/12/24)
�20. Hope Was Here (20/12/24)
�21. Get Well Soon (21/12/24)
�22. Fly on the Wall: How One Girl Saw Everything (22/12/24)
�23. Paper Covers Rock (23/12/24)
�24. The Cat Ate My Gymsuit (24/12/24)
�25. Wrong Kind of Girl (25/12/24)
�26. Too Good To be True (26/12/24)
�27. When Love Dies (27/12/24)
�28. Kidnapped! (28/12/24)
�29. Deceptions (29/12/24)
�30. Promises (30/12/24)
�31. Haunted West End Theatres (31/12/24)
I'm going to read a short story a day for 24 days. They will be from two books which collect various short stories.COMPLETED: 24/24
Neil Gaiman's Likely Stories
1. Foreign Parts
2. Feeders and Eaters
3. Closing Time
4. Looking for the Girl
Cursed
5. Castle Cursed by Jane Yolen
6. As Red as Blood, As White as Snow by Christina Henry
7. Troll Bridge by Neil Gaiman
8. At That Age by Catriona Ward
9. Listen by Jen Williams
10. Henry and the Snakewood Box by M.R. Carey
11. Skin by James Brogden
12. Faith & Fred by Maura McHugh
13. The Black Fairy's Curse by Karen Joy Fowler
14. Wendy, Darling by Christopher Golden
15. Fairy Werewolf vs. Vampire Zombie by Charlie Jane Anders
16. Look Inside by Michael Marshall Smith
17. Little Red by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple
18. New Wine by Angela Slatter
19. Haza and Ghani by Lilith Saintcrow
20. Hated by Christopher Fowler
21. The Merrie Dancers by Alison Littlewood
22. Again by Tim Lebbon
23. The Girl from the Hell by Margo Lanagan
24. Castle Waking by Jane Yolen
I think I'll try my hand at 12 short stories. For the 12 days of Christmas/Yule
I think I will also try for 12 short stories! Hopefully I can achieve more by the end of the month!6/12
� Jay Lake and the Last Temple of the Monkey King by Ken Scholes
� I Hate Dragons by Brandon Sanderson
� Christmas with Queen Bess by John Bennett, in The Junior Classics 8: Stories From History
� The Horror at Red Hook by H.P. Lovecraft
� He by H.P. Lovecraft
� The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft
� Pluto and Proserpine by H. P. Maskell, in Classical Mythology: Myths and Legends of the Ancient World
� The Oregon Trail Diary of Willa Porter by Andy Marino
� Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight by Clifford Geertz, in Myth, Symbol, and Culture
� Agamemnon by Aeschylus, in Greek Tragedies, Volume 1: Aeschylus: Agamemnon, Prometheus Bound; Sophocles: Oedipus the King, Antigone; Euripides: Hippolytus
� Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl
� The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
� The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen
(stories may change)
Oh, this should be fun! I’m thinking about doing Les Mis. It's a bit of a beast, but I’ve read it before. I just got a new copy, and if I’m doing my math right, it’s got 48 books.8/48
Dec. 02 - Les Miserables - Part one, book 3 and book 4
Dec. 03 - Les Miserables - Part one, book 5 and book 6
Dec. 04 - Les Miserables - Part one, book 7 and book 8
Dec. 05
Dec. 06
Dec. 07
Dec. 08
Dec. 09
Dec. 10
Dec. 11
Dec. 12
Dec. 13
Dec. 14
Dec. 15
Dec. 16
Dec. 17
Dec. 18
Dec. 19
Dec. 20
Dec. 21
Dec. 22
Dec. 23
Dec. 24
I will go for 24 short stories.ADVENT CALENDAR CHALLENGE
Duration: December 1 - December 31, 2024
24/24
12/1 - Parable by Jess Walter
12/2 - A Planned Occasion by Angie Kim
12/3 - The Third Man by Mani Sheriar
12/4 - The Egg by Andy Weir
12/5 - The Chef by Andy Weir
12/6 - Access by Andy Weir
12/7 - Annie's Day by Andy Weir
12/8 - The Real Deal by Andy Weir
12/9 - Bored World by Andy Weir
12/10 - The Midtown Butcher by Andy Weir
12/11 - Fallen Grace by Sadeqa Johnson
12/12 - Speed Grieving by Allison Ellis
12/13 - Naomi's Gift by Martha Hall Kelly
12/14 - What Child Is This by Rhys Bowen
12/15 - Everybody Loves Kamau! by W. Kamau Bell
12/16 - All by My Elf by Olivia Dade
12/17 - Belle Mer by Luanne Rice
12/18 - Antihypoxiant by Andy Weir
12/19 - Meeting Sarah by Andy Weir
12/20 - Twarrior by Andy Weir
12/21 - Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur
12/22 - Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey
12/23 - Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez
12/24 - Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria
B) Starting on Dec. 1: Split a novel into 24 chunks and portion your reading so that you read the last chunk on Dec. 24.What's Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing, Its Cast and Crew, and Its Enduring Legacy of Service
588 pages, 25 pages per day
Days Completed: 24/24
Challenge Complete
🕯� ADVENT CALENDAR - Monthly ChallengeDuration: December 1 - December 31, 2024
Progress: 24/24 -- COMPLETE
I will read the short stories in these two books.
🎄 Tales of Christmas (5 stories)
🎄 The Christmas Stories of Louisa May Alcott (19 stories)
🕯� 1. The Heavenly Christmas Tree by Fyodor Dostoevsky
🕯� 2. At Christmas Time by Anton Chekhov
🕯� 3. A Kidnapped Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
🕯� 4. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
🕯� 5. The Burglar's Christmas by Willa Cather
🕯� 6. Gwen's Adventure in the Snow by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 7. Rosa's Tale by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 8. What Polly Found in Her Stocking by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 9. A Hospital Christmas by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 10. A Country Christmas by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 11. Mrs. Podgers' Teapot by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 12. Peace from Heaven by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 13. The Quiet Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 14. A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 15. A Song by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 16. Kate's Choice by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 17. Bertie's Box by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 18. What Love Can Do by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 19. Tessa's Surprises by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 20. A Christmas Turkey by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 21. Becky's Christmas Dream by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 22. A Merry Christmas (from Little Women) by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 23. A New Way to Spend Christmas by Louisa May Alcott
🕯� 24. Tilly's Christmas by Louisa May Alcott
I will read The Christmas Bouquet and Bay Side Retreat, which has a total of 24 chapters.December 1-7:
December 8-14:
December 15-21:
December 22-24:
I have several books of short stories on my TBR, so I will work my way through those. Sign me up for 31 stories total!She's Always Hungry: Stories - Eliza Clark (11 stories)
This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things - Naomi Wood (9 stories)
A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories - Lucia Berlin (43 stories)
Hola!Count me in, please 😉
I'll be reading 10 books, one of which is a collection of 15 short stories, so I have one story per day
PROGRESS:
📚BOOKS: 8/10
📅DAYS: 22/24
☑️1. Hallelujah by Skye Warren (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️2. O come all ye faithful by Amelia Wilde (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️3. Baby, it's cold outside by Giana Darling (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️4. This Christmas by Theodora Taylor (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️5. Wrapped in red by Sam Mariano(Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️6. O Holy Night by Pam Godwin (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️7. Santa Baby by Claire Contreras (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️8. Last Christmas By Katee Robert (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️9. Little Drummer Boy by M. O'Keefe (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️10. It came upon a midnight clear by Jenika Snow (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️11. Carol of the Bells by Maria Luis (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️12. Silent Night by Sienna Snow (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️13. Away in a manger by Jade West (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️14. All I want for Christmas is you by M. Robinson (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️15. Silver Bells by Alta Hensley (Meet Me Under the Mistletoe)
☑️16. The Gift of the Magi
☑️17. The Bookstore Sisters
☑️18. The Bookstore Wedding
☑️19. If the Fates Allow
☑️20. What Child Is This
☑️21. The Greatest Gift: A Christmas Tale
☑️22. Small Things Like These
23.
24.
***Progress: 29/31
---------------
1. � (and finished Acqua passata)
2. �
3. �
4. �
5. �
6.
7.
8. �
9. �
10. � (and finished La balena alla fine del mondo)
11. � (and finished La zattera di pietra)
12. �
13. � (and finished Umili prose: I racconti di Belkin - La donna di picche - Kirdžali - La figlia del capitano)
14. �
15. �
16. �
17. � (and finished Qualcuno che conoscevo)
18. �
19. �
20. �
21. �
22. �
23. � (and finished Pasta Mortem)
24. �
25. �
26. �
27. � (and finished Le campane di Bicêtre)
28. �
29. � (and finished Persone normali)
30. �
31. � (and finished Oltre Capo Nord. Viaggio di una donna allo Spitzberg)
Love this challenge! This year, I'm going to read a comic a day.Progress
24/24
1 - Young Avengers (2005-2006) #4
2 - Young Avengers (2013-2014) #5
3 - Ultimate Spider-Man #43
4 - Iron Man (2024-) #1
5 - Ultimate Spider-Man #44
6 - Ultimate Spider-Man #45
7 - Fantastic Four (2022-) #10
8 - NYX (2024-) #6
9 - X-Factor (2024-) #2
10 - Ultimate Spider-Man #46
11 - Ultimate Spider-Man #47
12 - Fantastic Four (2022-) #11
13 - Ultimate Spider-Man #48
14 - Batman: Dark Patterns (2024-) #1
15 - Fantastic Four (2022-) #12
16 - Ultimate Spider-Man #49
17 - Ultimate Spider-Man #50
18 - Absolute Batman (2024-) #3
19 - Fantastic Four (2022-) #13
20 - Fantastic Four (2022-) #14
21 - Ultimate Spider-Man (2024-) #12
22 - Batman: The Long Halloween #9
23 - X-Factor (2024-) #3
24 - Fantastic Four (2022-) #15
Ron Rash's short story collection
Something Rich and Strange: Selected Stories.There are 34 stories and I hope to read one (or two) a day in December.
�1. Hard Times 5⭐️
- An illustration of incredible poverty during the depression. I honestly gasped at the height of this story!
�2. 3 AM and the Stars Were Out 5⭐️
- A breached calf brings two old friends together, revealing their shared pasts and current solitudes.
�3. The Ascent 5⭐️
- Jared, an 11 year old with a vivid imagination, discovers a crashed airplane in the Smokey Mountains. Finding it brings excitement, promise, hope, wealth and goes on to alter the course of his family's life.
�4. Night Hawk 3⭐️
- Jenny begins her new job as a radio station disc jockey on the graveyard shift and recounts the trauma and shame that have brought her to this place. This one eluded me, lacking the punch that the others have had.
�5. The Trusty 5⭐️
- As a chain-gang makes their way along a back route, Sinkler earns the title 'Trusty' as the one who is unchained to go source well water each day for the gang. His con-man attempt at escape catches him off-guard. An excellent twist.
�6. Back of Beyond 5⭐️
- We are forced to face the question of whether we want our enemies close enough that they may still abuse us or so far away that we have no idea if they still live. Rash captures so much in that single phrase that Martha utters.
�7. Lincolnites 4⭐️
- Another gripping story of a solitary farm woman who knows how to recognize and outwit an intruder. Deliciously gruesome.
�8. Into the Gorge 2⭐️
- Jesse gets caught harvesting ginseng on his family's old homestead, although this land now belongs to the Park Service. I couldn't really see his motive nor the connection to his great-aunt's story. He lost me here.
�9. Return 4⭐️
- As a soldier returns from war, he gets off the local bus and walks up the 3 mile road to his family's home, a journey he had been visualizing and dreaming of throughout his time away. Reflective and so touchingly descriptive.
�10. Waiting For the End of the World 3⭐️
- Devon has burned all of his bridges and now lives off the meager wages he's paid to play music at the local bar. We are given a glimpse of the life he has lost/rejected and the slight remorse he feels. Too much 'in the know' cultural references for me.
�11. Burning Bright 4⭐️
- Marcie's life was one of true loneliness after her husband died and her daughters moved away and grew distant. When she hired Carl to do odd jobs around the farm, she savoured every aspect of their quiet companionship and now is willing to overlook his faults in order to keep him close.
�12. The Woman Who Believed in Jaguars 1⭐️
- Ruth wonders about a line drawing of a jaguar that she saw in a text book 4 decades ago so decides to bother a ornithologist at the zoo about the existence of jaguars in her state. She accuses a mother of having kidnapped a child. This one was odd and unlikeable.
�13. Where the Map Ends 3⭐️
- Two runaway slaves find shelter in a farmer's barn for the night and wonder at where to go from here, since they have reached the edge of their hand-drawn map. They are found in the morning by the farmer and plead for his help. The farmer choses to help only one of them, due to a grudge he has with the slaves' owner.
�14. Those Who Are Dead Are Only Now Forgiven 5⭐️
- Incredibly powerful. Jody and Lauren are the bright students of their class, the only ones with hope of succeeding in college and leaving the nowheresville they grew up in. At college, Jody works so hard to manage classes, money, loans and grades. When he comes home, he finds that Lauren has chosen a different path - an easy path, filled with pleasure.
�15. Their Ancient, Glittering Eyes 5⭐️
- Three old retired buddies hear rumours of an enormous fish living under the town bridge. They make it their purpose to see it then to catch it, using all manner of rods, lures and strategies. It is a fun story of triumph for all involved.
�16. Falling Star 5⭐️
- Bobby can feel his life slipping out of his control. While his old body is struggling with the hard labour of his job, his wife is excelling at night school courses. She is no longer present in his life, giving all her attention to her studies. He decides to take matters into his own hands and is caught out by his own ignorance. Another great twist.
�17. The Magic Bus 5⭐️
At 16 years old, Sabre is beginning to see the empty life ahead of her. Chores, cooking and cleaning are her expected tasks and thanklessly done. When a beat up VW van breaks down on the highway by her family's farm, she helps the two hippies and listens to their stories of an adventurous life out on the open road. Sabre is pushed to open her mind to unheard of opportunities.
�18. Something Rich and Strange 4⭐️
After a young girl falls to her death down a river rapids, the recovery diver becomes overwhelmed with grief while trying to dislodge her body. It haunts him for months as the team waits for the river level to recede. Fabulous language here.
�19. The Dowry 3⭐️
Young lovers are barred from visiting each other and marriage because their families were on opposite sides of the Civil War. The local preacher tries his best to reason with the young woman's father but the father is set on the 'eye-for-an-eye' adage.
�20. A Sort of Miracle 4⭐️
Two good-for-nothing lay-about brothers-in-law (what a mouthful!) are driving Denton mad with their lack of motivation to do anything. He takes them out into the high mountains to help him with a chore. This whole snowy adventure proves that these brothers have actually gleaned a lot of knowledge from all their TV watching. But it simply isn't enough to counter their idiocy.
�21. The Corpse Bird 4⭐️
When an owl takes up a perch in the backyard Scarlet Oak, Boyd knows that it is an omen of an upcoming death. Knowing that his neighbour's have a sick daughter, Boyd takes matters into his own hands. This would have been better if either Boyd or his own daughter had come to a gruesome end.
�22. Dead Confederates 4⭐️
Grave-digging promises to be a lucrative business and Wesley recruits XX to partner with him in the robberies one night under a full moon. But the harsh back-breaking work and getting caught red-handed catch Wesley off-guard. This is a victory for morality!
�23. The Woman at the Pond 4⭐️
A local pond is being drained and, with that, all the old memories of fishing and swimming come back. As the water recedes, fishing lures, styrofoam, cinder blocks and garbage are revealed at the bottom. XX remembers a delicate encounter with an abused woman at the edge of the pond years ago which now comes to mind. This one has an unclear ending, making you choose your own ending.
�24. A Servant of History 2⭐️
James arrives in the 'New World' on a quest for of English music and ballads that have survived and thrived in America. He learns the hard way that folks don't appreciate his haughty prying. The ending was too vague for me. I don't really know what happened.
�25. 26 Days 4⭐️
Their daughter is almost done her military service in Afghanistan. The parents are counting down the days and are equally terrified that she might not make it home. A beautiful snippet of the depth of parental love.
�26. Last Rite 3⭐️
Perhaps during the Civil War, Elijah was killed but details of his demise are few. So his mother and his very young wife hire a guide to take them to the place where he died. More animosity than grief here.
�27. Blackberries in June 5⭐️
So similar to #14 above. Jamie and Matt are a hard-working young couple who are pouring their time, money and love into fixing up the shack that they call home. They have ambitions to make it livable and comfortable so that they can each return to school and eventually raise a family here on the lake. When disaster strikes Jamie's brother, her family puts inordinate pressure on J&M to give financial help to her lazy-ass sister-in-law and their rotten family.
�28. Chemistry 4⭐️
A chemistry teacher is diagnosed with debilitating depression and is prescribed medications that will dull his senses. He refuses to take the pills and is convinced that a religious sect will help him through this time. All told from his teenaged son's perspective.
�29. The Night the New Jesus Fell to Earth 5⭐️
Very funny! In an attempt to recruit more people to the church, Larry creates the equivalent to a nativity scene for Easter. He is only using it as a way to market his used car sales. All told through the eyes of his witty ex-wife who knows exactly who he is.
�30. The Harvest 4⭐️
On a thick foggy night, a family sneaks onto another farmer's field to secretly harvest their crops, taking advantage of the farmer's mourning family. Very eerie.
�31. Badeye 4⭐️
A sketchy character runs a snow cone business out of his truck. All the kids love him but the mothers in the neighbourhood want to revoke his business license. One day, Badeye brings the narrator a gift - in the form of a Coral snake. Madness ensues.
�32. Love and Pain in the New South 3⭐️
The narrator's ex-wife shows up with the divorce papers and expects him to sign off everything to her. She still captivates him and he is very sorry for the way the marriage came to its end. A little strange (pet monkey?) and unresolved.
�33. Shiloh 4⭐️
Benjamin simply walks away from a gruesome battle in the Civil War and abandons the war. He knows that he is only a few days walk from his home and his beloved wife. He is not prepared for what he finds upon his return.
�34. Outlaws 4⭐️
As a student, he worked as an outlaw at an Old Time Museum, acting and frightening the tourists. One of his fellow outlaws has just received his draft notice for the Vietnam War and is trying to figure out how to injure himself out of the service.
I'm in! I'll be doing option B. The book I picked has 24 chapters. I'll read a chapter a day.
B) Starting on Dec. 1: Split a novel into 24 chunks and portion your reading so that you read the last chunk on Dec. 24. (Ideally the novel has 24 chapters to start with! But as long as you can manage to count out fairly even-sized chunks, it'll work.)
Progress: 24/24 days
Book: Unraveled by Lauren Dane
12/2/24 - Chapter 2
12/3/24 - Chapter 3
12/4/24 - Chapter 4
12/5/24 - Chapter 5
12/6/24 - Chapter 6
12/7/24 - Chapter 7
12/8/24 - Chapter 8
12/9/24 - Chapter 9
12/10/24 - Chapter 10
12/11/24 - Chapter 11
12/12/24 - Chapter 12
12/13/24 - Chapter 13
12/14/24 - Chapter 14
12/15/24 - Chapter 15
12/16/24 - Chapter 16
12/17/24 - Chapter 17
12/18/24 - Chapter 18
12/19/24 - Chapter 19
12/20/24 - Chapter 20
12/21/24 - Chapter 21
12/22/24 - Chapter 22
12/23/24 - Chapter 23
12/24/24 - Chapter 24
Signing up as well! For option B, so going for 24 days of reading. 🎄 Advent Calender Challenge - Monthly Challenge 🎄
Duration: December 1 - December 31, 2024
🎄 Progress 24/24 🎄 - COMPLETED!
I have decided to go with option B again (like last year), and have again decided on a multi-chaptered non-fiction book, Women Living Deliciously. Last year, Invisible Women was amazing, I am really hoping I will like this one as well.
Tracking my thoughts and quotes from the book in my corner, as this comment doesn't have enough characters left.
🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
I am signing up for option A: 24 essays from AdventWord.Day 1: "Humility"
Day 2: "Abound"
Day 3: "Redemption"
Day 4: "Sprout"
Day 5: "Earnestly"
Day 6: "Faithfulness"
Day 7: " Safety"
Day 8: "Splendor"
Day 9: Refine
Day 10: Joy
Day 11: Prepare
Day 12: Righteousness
Day 13: Salvation
Day 14: Proclaim
Day 15: Rejoice
Day 16:
Day 17:
Day 18:
Day 19:
Day 20:
Day 21:
Day 22:
Day 23:
Day 24:
I'll be reading 12 stories from
Progress:12/12
🕯�1. Why I Live at the P.O.
🕯�2. Flowers for Marjorie
🕯�3. Death of a Traveling Salesman
🕯�4. A Worn Path
🕯�5. Asphodel
🕯�6. The Purple Hat
🕯�7. Shower of Gold
🕯�8. A Curtain of Green
🕯�9. A Visit of Charity
🕯�10. The Wanderers
🕯�11. The Bride of the Innisfallen
🕯�12. Ladies in Spring
I'm in! Getting a "late" start and have not really figured out what I'm going to read yet. I've got a few short story options, but I also might want to spread a book out for the month. I'll be back when I decide!Found a book! This book takes place in 24 hours, but the hours are not split by chapter, so I'm going to read roughly an hour's worth of story each day. Since this is Dec 3, I need to read 3 hours tonight.
Hour 1:
Hour 2:
Hour 3:
Hour 4:
Hour 5:
Hour 6:
Hour 7:
Hour 8:
Hour 9:
Hour 10:
Hour 11:
Hour 12:
Hour 13:
Hour 14:
Hour 15:
Hour 16:
Hour 17:
Hour 18:
Hour 19:
Hour 20:
Hour 21:
Hour 22:
Hour 23:
Hour 24:
I have just joined this group and am excited to sign up for this! I will read a chapter a day (24 days) of Atua Wāhine: The Ancient Wisdom of Māori Goddesses by Hana Tapiata, which was published in September. Each chapter introduces a new atua wāhine and ends with an activity to do, to help draw the wisdom of the goddess into our life. 
Progress:
Day 1 (3rd Dec) - Foreward and Hineahuone
Day 2 (4th Dec) - Introduction (and about 4 1/2 pages of my own written reflections in response to the wānanaga section that provides questions to consider)
Day 3 (5th Dec) - Te Kore and the infinite potential
Day 4 (6th Dec) - Te Po and the darkness
Day 5 (7th Dec) - Te Ao Marama and the light
Day 6 (8th Dec) - Papatūānuku, the earth and home
Day 7 (11th Dec) - Wainuiātea and Hinemoana, the waters
Day 8 (12th Dec) - Hinepūtehue and transforming pain into beauty
Day 9 (13th Dec) - Hineteiwaiwa, the moon and childbirth
Day 10 (15th Dec) - Mahuika and fire
Day 11 (16th Dec) - Hineteiwaiwa and lunar cycles
Day 12
Updated message #15Days Completed: 3/24
Updated message 10: 4/24 read (first book of short stories complete)
Update to message #22: 6/34Ron Rash's short story collection
Something Rich and Strange: Selected Stories.�1. Hard Times 5⭐️
- An illustration of incredible poverty during the depression. I honestly gasped at the height of this story!
�2. 3 AM and the Stars Were Out 5⭐️
- A breached calf brings two old friends together, revealing their shared pasts and current solitudes.
�3. The Ascent 5⭐️
- Jared, an 11 year old with a vivid imagination, discovers a crashed airplane in the Smokey Mountains. Finding it brings excitement, promise, hope, wealth and goes on to alter the course of his family's life.
�4. Night Hawk 3⭐️
- Jenny begins her new job as a radio station disc jockey on the graveyard shift and recounts the trauma and shame that have brought her to this place. This one eluded me, lacking the punch that the others have had.
�5. The Trusty 5⭐️
- As a chain-gang makes their way along a back route, Sinkler earns the title 'Trusty' as the one who is unchained to go source well water each day for the gang. His con-man attempt at escape catches him off-guard. An excellent twist.
�6. Back of Beyond 5⭐️
- We are forced to face the question of whether we want our enemies close enough that they may still abuse us or so far away that we have no idea if they still live. Rash captures so much in that single phrase that Martha utters.
I'd like to try this - I will need to catch up a little, but it's doable. I also need to find an appropriate book to read - "The Greatest Gift" by Ann Voscamp. 12/1 - It is Advent: Come
12/2 - Life Begins as a Love Story
12/3 - Where are you?
12/4 - Rise
12/5 - Living by Faith
12/6 - Laugh!
12/7 - God Provides
12/8 - The Stairway of God
12/9 - Neber Undone
12/10 - Covenant of Love
12/11 - A Scarlet Lifeline of Hope
12/12 - Every Little Thing is Going to Be Okay
12/13 - Looking on Hearts
12/14 - Light to Warm Us
12/15 - Adore Him
12/16 - The Gift of the Storm
12/17 - Lifting Up the Little and Small
12/18 - Come to the King
12/19 - Watching for Him Who Is Enough
12/20 - When All the Miracles Begin
12/21 - The Preparations Are Already Done
12/22 - Be a Dwelling Place for God
12/23 - God With Us
12/24 - God in the Manger
12/25 - Today
Updated message 10: 6/24. Would really recommend reading this short story, it was really good: As Red as Blood, As White as Snow
Updated message 4. Progress: 12/24 chapters.
Sheila from MC signing up a bit late but the book that just came off hold from the library had 23 chapters plus an epilogue, so one each day, although I’ll have to catch up today hopefully.I may also have a seasonal book or two.
Update for message #24 (tho i believe I was 25 in the beginning):🎄 Progress 7/24 🎄
Thanks!
Update to message #6: 9/25 (upping challenge goal by 1).
update to message #2114/34
2025 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories (other topics)This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things (other topics)
She's Always Hungry (other topics)
A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories (other topics)
This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Alexis Daria (other topics)Tessa Bailey (other topics)
Abby Jimenez (other topics)
Alexandria Bellefleur (other topics)
Olivia Dade (other topics)
More...
Duration: December 1 - December 31, 2024
The Advent Challenge is back for another year!
Many countries around the world use advent calendars or Christmas calendars to celebrate the month of December. For some people, the calendar has religious significance, but for others it's a secular, non-religious tradition.
To join, post a message telling the challenge leader how many books you plan to read.
If you are new to our group and/or our group challenges, you can learn more about how they work in this thread.
For this challenge, there are two options:
A) Starting on Dec. 1 and ending on Dec. 24, read a short story (or poem or essay) every day. Use stories or poems from collections, magazines, or the internet - there's lot of good short fiction available for free from many publishers.
B) Starting on Dec. 1: Split a novel into 24 chunks and portion your reading so that you read the last chunk on Dec. 24. (Ideally the novel has 24 chapters to start with! But as long as you can manage to count out fairly even-sized chunks, it'll work.)
If you'd rather keep reading past the 24th, you're welcome to try for the whole month!
Thank you, Lisa Marie, for volunteering to lead this challenge.