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2025 My Reader’s Block wrap-ups

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I hadn’t done the Color Coded challenge for a while & decided I wanted to play again this year. It took me all year to get my “colorful” titles done, but here’s my line-up.

Blue– Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey
Red– A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce #3) by Alan Bradley
Yellow-The Golden Tresses of the Dead (Flavia de Luce, #10) by Alan Bradley
Green– Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink
Brown– What Time the Sexton’s Spade Doth Rust (Flavia de Luce, #11) by Alan Bradley
Black– The Grey Wolf (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #19) by Louise Penny
White– White Mulberry by Rosa Kwon Easton
Any other color (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, etc).– The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag (Flavia de Luce #2) by Alan Bradley (purple cover)
A word/image that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Shadow, Paint, Ink, etc).– A Tarnished Canvas (Lady Darby Mystery, #13) by Anna Lee Huber

My goal for Mount TBR this year was Mt. Vancouver: 36 books. I kept getting distracted by new books & library books, so my TBR progress slowed. With a dedicated push in December, I made my goal & moved some books out!

The Virtual Mount TBR Challenge is only for books I do not own. They may be borrowed from the library, a friend, found on a free e-book site, or anywhere else that allows me to temporarily “checkout” the book.
My goal was to repeat White Plume Mountain: Read 48 books from my Virtual TBR/Wish List/Library. Because of all the library reading above, I made my goal.

I participated in Bev’s Calendar of Crime challenge for the first time this year & it was fun. Twelve books, one representing each month, are required for a complete challenge & I did it.

Jan– A Late Frost (Orchard Mystery #11) by Sheila Connolly
Feb– Forget Me Never (China Bayles #29) by Susan Wittig Albert
March– The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches (Flavia de Luce, #6) by Alan Bradley 
April– Speaking from Among the Bones (Flavia de Luce, #5) by Alan Bradley 
May– The Blessing Way (Leaphorn & Chee, #1) by Tony Hillerman
June– Rock with Wings (Leaphorn & Chee, #20) by Anne Hillerman
July– A Thief of Time (Leaphorn & Chee, #8) by Tony Hillerman
August– Where Dead Men Meet by Mark Mills
Sept– Talking God (Leaphorn & Chee, #9) by Tony Hillerman
Oct– Nipped in the Bud (Orchard Mystery #12) by Sheila Connolly
Nov– Between a Flock and a Hard Place (Meg Langslow, #35) by Donna Andrews
Dec– I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Flavia de Luce, #4) by Alan Bradley

What’s in a Name 2025 wrap-up

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I love this challenge & have done it for several years. Our host is Carolina Book Nook, & this year it took me until September to finish because I wasn’t finding a Cardinal direction book. Here are my reads:

Cardinal direction  The Winds from Further West by Alexander McCall Smith

Wanderlust  A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko

First & last name Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman

Alliteration Theft on Thursday (Lois Meade Mystery #4) by Ann Purser
Deity  Talking God (Leaphorn & Chee, #9) by Tony Hillerman

Crime I Only Read Murder (Miranda Abbott, #1) by Ian Ferguson, Will Ferguson

2024 Reading Stats

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16 non-fiction
35 new-to-me authors
103 series books
14 re-reads
66 audio-books
10 of 11 challenges completed
92 of 102 Newbery winners

You can see all my books read here.

2023: 168 books; 50,922 pages; 11 non-fiction; 27 new-to-me authors; 109 series books; 21 re-reads; 61 audio-books; 7 of 7 challenges completed; 91 of 102 Newbery winners

2022: 171 books; 55,585 pages; 15 non-fiction; 34 new-to-me authors; 115 series books; 28 re-reads; 76 audio-books; 9 of 10 challenges completed; 86 of 100 Newbery winners
2021: 194 books; 64,530 pages; 8 non-fiction; 36 new-to-me authors; 126 series books; 40 re-reads; 110 audio-books; 9 of 9 challenges completed; 83 of 99 Newbery winners
2020: 218 books; 76,990 pages; 31 non-fiction; 51 new-to-me authors; 115 series; 27 re-reads; 104 audio-books; 10 of 10 challenges completed; 82 of 98 Newbery winners
2019: 161 books; 55,269 pages; 15 non-fiction; 44 new-to-me authors; 105 series; 26 re-reads; 78 audio-books; 8 of 8 challenges completed; 81 of 97 Newbery winners
2018: 122 books: 41,700 pages; 10 non-fiction; 25 new-to-me authors; 56 series; 23 re-reads; 52 audio-books; 9 of 9 challenges completed; 77 of 96 Newbery winners
2017: 162 books; 49,126 pages; 14 non-fiction; 32 new-to-me authors; 94 series; 22 re-reads; 78 audio-books; 14 of 14 challenges completed; 75 of 95 Newbery winners
2016: 162 books; 50,718 pages; 14 non-fiction; 33 new-to-me authors; 49 series; 30 re-reads; 68 audio-books; 16 of 17 challenges completed; 73 of 94 Newbery winners
2015: 141 books; 50,971 pages; 11 non-fiction; 29 new-to-me authors; 45 series; 37 re-reads; 56 audio-books; 10 of 10 challenges completed; 71 of 93 Newbery winners
2014: 139 books; 43,972 pages; 7 non-fiction; 36 new-to-me authors; 26 series; 20 re-reads; 37 audio-books; 10 of 10 challenges completed; 70 of 92 Newbery; books set in 25 of 50 states
2013: 150 books; 47,936 pages; 7 non-fiction; 29 new-to-me authors; 25 series; 32 re-reads; 49 audio-books; 6 of 6 challenges completed; 64 of 91 Newbery; books set in 25 of 50 states
2012: 196 books; 56,851 pages; 11 non-fiction; 55 new-to-me novelists; 95 series; 25 re-reads; 25 audio-books; 6 of 6 challenges completed; 64 of 90 Newbery
2011: 132 books; 39,641 pages; 15 non-fiction; 42 new-to-me novelists; 54 series; 12 re-reads; 33 audio-books; 0 of 0 challenges completed; 59 of 89 Newbery
2010: 152 books; 46,899 pages; 3 non-fiction; 37 new-to-me novelists; 25 series; 19 re-reads; 28 audio-books; 5 of 5 challenges completed; 50 of 88 Newbery
2009: 73 books; 23,576 pages; 3 non-fiction; 31 new-to-me novelists; 36 series; 5 re-reads; 48 of 87 Newbery
2008: 79 books; 32,031 pages; 8 non-fiction; 15 new-to-me novelists; 31 series; 19 re-reads; 42 of 86 Newbery
2007: 44 books; 17,069 pages; 3 non-fiction; 8 new-to-me novelists; 15 series; 13 re-reads; 38 of 85 Newbery

2025 My Reader’s Block sign-ups

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I’ve joined this challenge for 12 years in an attempt to read down my owned books. My goal for Mount TBR this year is Mt. Vancouver: 36 books.

The Virtual Mount TBR Challenge is only for books I do not own. They may be borrowed from the library, a friend, found on a free e-book site, or anywhere else that allows me to temporarily “checkout” the book.
My goal is to repeat White Plume Mountain: Read 48 books from my Virtual TBR/Wish List/Library.

I’ve debated about Bev’s Calendar of Crime challenge every year & decided this is the year to jump in. Twelve books, one representing each month, are required for a complete challenge. To claim a book, it must fit one of the categories for the month you wish to fulfill. Unless otherwise specified, the category is fulfilled within the actual story. So I’ll be looking through my mysteries to find monthly mystery fun.

I used to do the Color Coded challenge every year & find that when I read a “colorful” title, I’m wanting to mark it down. So it seems my mind wants to do this challenge again!

The color may be named in the title, in the author’s name, or it may appear as the dominant color for the cover of the book. For “implies color” the image implying color should dominate the cover–for instance a large rainbow, a field of flowers, or the image of a painter.
Read nine books in the following categories with the color in the title/author name/on the cover:

  1. Blue
  2. Red
  3. Yellow
  4. Green
  5. Brown
  6. Black
  7. White
  8. Any other color (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, etc).
  9. A word/image that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Shadow, Paint, Ink, etc).