Another month, and time for the last update of 2025! The next update will come in early January 2026, before we start all over again and I post about what challenges I’ll be doing for that year. I’ve done okay the last month, and actually completed challenges (though some still have bonus books if I can get to them!). Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll actually be able to finish my own Musicals Challenge, which is disappointing. But for next year I am definitely taking on less challenges.
2025 Reading Challenges
Update #1 / #2 / #3 / #4 / #5 / #6 / #7 / #8 / #9 / #10
Goal: 70/70 (+7) COMPLETE
Musicals Reading Challenge 2025
14/24 (+3) Prompts Completed
Currently Reading
Repo! The Genetic Opera – 21st Century Cure – Dystopia
Sunrise on the Reaping felt like it would fit this quite well! It’s my current audiobook – I’m really enjoying it, and I’m looking forward to the film.
Read
Hairspray – You Can’t Stop the Beat – Upbeat
Love at First Psych was definitely upbeat, but maybe a little too much! It was a fun little audio drama, but fell flat in some places.
Fiddler on the Roof – If I Were a Rich Man – Rags-to-riches (from bad to good fortune) or riches to rags (the reverse)
I read a Cinderella retelling for this – The Midnight Prince – and really enjoyed it. It’s part of a larger, multi-author series, and I’m keen to go back and read the series from the start.
My Fair Lady – The Rain in Spain – Transformation
I’d sort of forgotten The Haunting of Alma Fielding was a non-fiction book when I started it – it fit the prompt though, and I enjoyed this as an audiobook. A really fascinating look at paranormal investigation in Britain between WWI and WWII.
Books to Read: Tell Me I’m Worthless, Ahsoka, The Convenient Marriage
2025 TV Shows Reading Challenge
12/12 (+1) Prompts Completed
Challenge Completed
Read
Charmed – A book featuring witches or magic
I do enjoy witchy books, and I definitely enjoyed The Wedding Witch! Maybe not quite as much as the first two books in the series, but it was still a really fun read. And with this book finished, this challenge is now completely done!
Be Curious – Non-Fiction Challenge 2025
12/12 Prompts Completed
This challenge is actually completed, but it’s remaining here as there are some bonus books I’m hoping I get to before the end of the year! Even if that seems a bit unlikely right now, but I live in hope!
Books to Read: The End of Bias, Black Klansman, Bloody Valentine
Romance Readers Diversity Challenge 2025
10/12, +2 Bonus (+1) Prompts Completed
Currently Reading
A book with autism representation
If it wasn’t so late in the year, I’d likely DNF Wish You Were Her. There’s not a truly likeable character in sight, and it’s uncomfortable how much autism is used either as a character’s defining trait, or to wave away poor behaviour. A frustrating, messy read.
Read
A book with indigenous representation
The Truth According to Ember was, however, a really funny, wonderful workplace romance, and one I absolutely recommend!
Books to Read: Lap Dance! for Dystopia, A Thief and a Gentleman, Three Holidays and a Wedding
2025 SFF Title Challenge
12/16 (+2) Prompts Completed
Currently Reading
empire
As soon as I saw this challenge I knew my pick for this – The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, a history book set in the Star Wars universe. It is interesting, though it is a little bit dense, too! Deliberately so, as it makes it feel like a real history book.
Read
sorcery
I really enjoyed Sorcery and Small Magics – absolutely delightful cozy fantasy, and one I highly recommend!
sea
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy Down in the Sea of Angels as much. The book is a bit messy and very preachy, and I really didn’t get on with it.
Books to Read: The Path of Thorns, Maria the Wanted and the Legacy of the Keepers, The Siege of Burning Grass
Netflix Movies & TV Shows
16/24 (0) Prompts Completed
No progress on this one (again!), but hopefully with fresh prompts to look at I include some of these books in other challenges, and make some actual progress on this in 2026. Though I do say that ever year at this point, so we’ll see!
Books to Read: So You Want to Talk About Race, All That Remains, A Discovery of Witches
I’m not taking part in Blogmas this year, and that’s usually when I post details of my Musical challenge, but I’ll get something up in the next few weeks anyway so you can have a look and, if you like, take part! For now, I will say I have picked out 4 challenges for next year and have another one on the way. The intent was to do less, but these caught my eye…and I might actually have to drop one! We’ll see though, as I’ll take some time to see how much crossover there is between them. For now, well, I’ll keep with the challenges for this year and see how it goes through December.
Unwrapping Words 