And here we are, my final post in my year wrap up (ignore my December wrap up ok). And while the last couple of years have been as many challenges as possible I decided for 2024 that I would tone things down and limit the amount of challenges I would do. And we are going to DO THAT EVEN MORE FOR 2025. I have given 2025 a title. The title is Slow 25. Let me explain.
Over the part 3 and a bit years, since becoming a bookseller, I have been trying to expand my reading as much as I possibly can. I believe to be the best bookseller you can be, if you work in a store with a lot of different genres etc., is to read different authors, genres, formats etc and I have spent 3+ years doing that. Now that I am a place where I feel that I have a good amount of knowledge I want to get back to reading the books I was obsessed with back when I first got into reading.
Go back to my reading roots. HOW EXCITING. Now the reason it’s called a Slow 25 is the books that I want to read are all books that are going to take me some time to read whether that’s pacing or the amount of content. So let’s see how my SLOW 25 impacts my challenges.
How many books do I plan to read in 2025? (Goodreads Reading Challenge)
Now my first challenge is always the Goodreads Reading Challenge. For the last couple of years I have been challenging myself to read 100 books and I have succeeded. Now that I am focusing on books that will take up for of my time, I have decided to challenge myself to read 75 books.
2025 Sequels Challenge
The sequels challenge this year is actually not affected at all! Like every year I am challenging myself to read 12 sequels from series I am currently working my way through. This challenge has been going on since I started blogging basically. It’s an old faithful. I do have 42 series on the go at the moment…
Here are series I am currently reading:
| Title | Author | Series | No. in Series |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Bullet That Missed | Richard Osman | The Thursday Murder Club | 3 |
| The Republic of Thieves | Scott Lynch | Gentleman Bastard | 3 |
| Nona the Ninth | Tamsyn Muir | The Locked Tomb | 3 |
| As Good As Dead | Holly Jackson | AGGTM | 3 |
| Faithbreaker | Hannah Kaner | Fallen Gods | 3 |
| Exit Strategy | Martha Wells | The Murderbot Diaries | 4 |
| Down Amongst the Sticks and Bones | Seanan McGuire | Wayward Children | 2 |
| The Silvered Serpents | Roshani Chokshi | The Gilded Wolves | 2 |
| The Little Sparrow Murders | Seishi Yokomizo | Detective Kosuke Kindaichi | 7 |
| Sad Cypress | Agatha Christie | Hercule Poirot | 21 |
| Clouds of Witness | Dorothy L. Sayers | Lord Peter Wimsey | 2 |
| Foxglove | Adalyn Grace | Belladonna | 2 |
| Heavenly Tyrant | Xiran Jay Zhao | Iron Widow | 2 |
| A Steeping of Blood | Hafsah Faizal | Blood and Tea | 2 |
| Mockingjay | Suzanne Collins | The Hunger Games | 3 |
| The Wicked King | Holly Black | The Folk of Air | 2 |
| Sycamore Gap | L.J. Ross | DCI Ryan Mysteries | 2 |
| Dream Girl Drama | Tessa Bailey | Big Shots | 3 |
| Return to the DallerGut Dream Department Store | Mi-Ye Lee | DallerGut Dream Department Store | 2 |
| Muse of Nightmares | Laini Taylor | Strange the Dreamer | 2 |
| Shadow of the Bird | Tim Probert | Lightfall | 2 |
| Ancillary Sword | Ann Leckie | Imperial Radch | 2 |
| The Christmas Stocking Murders | Denzil Meyrick | Inspector Frank Grasby | 2 |
| The Heroic Legend of Arslan #3 | Hiromu Arakawa | ||
| Delicious in Dungeon #5 | Ryoko Kui | ||
| Frieren: Beyond Journey’ End #6 | Kanehito Yamada | ||
| The Girl from the Other Side #5 | Nagabe | ||
| Yona of the Dawn #6 | Mizuho Kusanagi | ||
| Claymore #3 | Yagi Norihiro | ||
| Spy X Family #3 | Tatsuya Endo | ||
| Usotoki Rhetoric #3 | Ritsu Miyako | ||
| Inuyasha #2 | Rumiko Takahashi | ||
| The Faraway Paladin #3 | Mutsumi Okubashi | ||
| Children of the Whales #4 | Abi Umeda | ||
| Drifting Dragons #3 | Taku Kuwabara | ||
| Snow White with the Red Hair #5 | Sorata Akiduki | ||
| Bloodmarked | Tracy Deonn | The Legendborn Quartet | 2 |
| Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon #4 | Naoko Takeuchi | ||
| Nana #3 | Ai Yazawa | ||
| Sweat and Soap #3 | Kintetsu Yamada | ||
| Witch Hat Atelier #5 | Kamome Shirahama | ||
| Daemons of the Shadow Realm #5 | Hiromu Arakawa |
Physical TBR Challenge
I smashed my 50 books challenge last year but again – due to the nature of my Slow 25 idea I have decided to reduce the amount of books from my TBR. So I am challenging myself to read 40 books from my Physical TBR!
Slow 25
Now you must be asking yourself what the hell are these books she is going to be focusing on? Well let me tell you.
- SFF Books – Specifically chunky fantasy books. I have on my bookshelf currently way too many 500+ epic fantasy or complicated and intricate sci-fi books that I just haven’t been prioritising. The have been sat there collecting dust. After reading books like Harrow the Ninth and Ancillary Justice, I knew I want to get back to reading SFF books that make my brain work. Get those cogs turning. This does mean it will take longer for me to read them.
- Murder Mysteries – Specifically classic murder mysteries. I have been neglecting my classic crime books for the last year and a bit. Mainly because the pacing of these books require to really give the time and energy to them that I wasn’t ready to give yet. But after reading Before the Fact I just knew I needed to read more classic crime. I will also be reading modern crime as well.
- Non-Fiction – Last year I started increasing how much non-fiction I read but got bogged down by how long it takes to read them. Well I want to prioritise these books going forward. I am so excited to expand my knowledge.
IndiaReadsALot 