2025 Challenges

Birth of a Reader: (The challenge that gets harder every year--read one book published in every year of your life.)

1970: 
1971:
1972:
1973:
1974: 
1975: 
1976:
1977:
1978:
1979: 
1980:
1981:
1982:
1983:
1984:
1985:
1986: 
1987:
1988: 
1989: 
1990: 
1991:
1992:
1993: 
1994: 
1995:
1996:
1997: 
1998: 
1999: 
2000: 
2001:
2002:
2003: 
2004: The Bone Woman: A Forensic Anthropologist's Search for Truth in the Mass Graves of Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo by Clea Koff ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎
2005: 
2006: 
2007: 
2008: 
2009: 
2010: 
2011: 
2012: 
2013: 
2014: 
2015:  

2016: 
2017: 
2018: 
2019: 

2020: Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation by Andrew Weissmann ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

2021: 

2022: 

2023: 

2024: Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff ⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

2025:

PBT Monthly Tag: (Each month on PBT, a "tag" or "shelf" is chosen. A tag or shelf -- the words mean the same thing -- which is to say a topic, is chosen. Group members read, review, and discuss books of their own choosing. It is a great way to not only read books outside those topics you might normally read but also to learn about books that weren't previously on your radar.)

• January (Canada):
• February: 
• March:
• April:
• May: 
• June: 
• July:
• August:
• September:
• October:
• November:
• December:

2025 Trim the TBR: (This is a Play Book Tag challenge. Each month a group member picks a number, and we read whichever book on our personal list corresponds to the number. The books on my list are some of the oldest books on my Overdrive wishlist. Sometimes, members decide to do Buddy Reads, putting the same books on the same number so we can read them the same month and discuss them. I'm not commiting to any of those this year.)

1. The Irish Princess - Karen Harper
2. Captive Queen - Alison Weir
3. That’s Not in My American History Book - Thomas Ayers
4. Into the Silence - Wade Davis
5. Final Voyage - Peter Nichols
6. A Little History of the World - E. H. Gombrich
7. Far Bright Star - Robert Olmstead
8. Far North - Will Hobbs
9. You Can Buy Happiness - Tammy Strobel
10. 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel - Jane Smiley
11. The Spartans - Paul Cartledge
12. Tide, Feather, Snow - Miranda Weiss

2025 Play Harder Challenge: (This is a Play Book Tag challenge. Prompts were submitted by members and randomized lists individually created for each member. If a member finishes one list, they may request another.)

1. Reread a chapter book that you originally read under the age of 18.
2. A book involving a father, fatherhood or Father’s Day.
3. A book featuring a story about a grandparent
4. Collection of any year's best short fiction or stories edited by a favorite author
5. Read a with points of view from more than one character
6. Read a book of non-fiction related to history
7. Read a book recommended by a librarian.
8. A nonfiction book about a medical subject
9. Book by author who you first read for a PBT Monthly Tag
10. A food memoir
11. Read one of your top ten shortest books on your tbr.
12. A book tagged “language” or “linguistics”

2025 The Compass Challenge: (This is a Play Book Tag challenge. Each individual reader chooses a location on the globe from which to begin the game. The moderator spins a directional spinner individually for each reader. The reader must travel in a straight line from their starting location but may go as far or as close as they choose. A book must be read that is set in the location where the reader stops. New spins will be offered each Wednesday to readers who have completed a book and posted a review.)

Starting location: Talkeetna, Alaska, U.S.A.

Compass Spin: NE

Chosen Stopping Point: Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories, Canada

Chosen Book: 

House Calls by Dogsled: Six Years in an Arctic Medical Mission by Keith Billington

2025 Going Long Challenge: (This is a Play Book Tag challenge. Read at least four books over 500 pages.)

1. Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff (736 pages/31.5 hrs)