Leona's 2025 Challenges

Planning for 2025 reads.

READING THROUGH TIME
COLOR CAT
ALPHA KIT
COVER CAT

READING THROUGH TIME
January (Tess_W)- Look to the Heavens
90 minutes in Heaven by Don Piper. ***** 1/7/2025
February (cindydavid4)- Colors
March (DeltaQueen)- Sweet, Sweet Revenge
April (Familyhistorian)- All is not what is seems
May (LibraryCin)- Fairy Tales
June (AnnieMod)- People on the Move
July (WelshBookWorm)- Composers
August (CurrieBell)- Don't Let Yourself Get Checkmated!
September (Miss Brangwen)- Highlands & islands
October (john257hopper)- Autumn
November (Miss Watson)- The High Seas

COLOR CAT 2025
January (pamelad)- Green
A memory of Christmas Tea by Tom Hegg and illustrated by Warren Hanson. Green holly on the tea cups.
February (VivennR)- Gold
March (Ladyofthelodge)-Pink
April (Helanliz)-Brown
May (Charon0)- Red
June (clue)- Yellow
July (ish63)-White
August (DeltaQueen50)-Grey
September (NinieB)- Silver
October (suanna.fraser- lack
November (MissWatson)- Blue
December (tess)- Purple

ALPHA KIT 2025
JANUARY:
S-A Nice Class of Corpse by Simon Brett **** 1/3/2025
O-The Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke ***** 1/12/2025
FEBRUARY:
L-
G-
MARCH:
U-
A-
APRIL:
K-
E-
MAY:
I-
D-
JUNE:
C
Q-
JULY:
W-
T-
AUGUST:
N-
J-
SEPTEMBER:
B-
M-
OCTOBER:
F-P-
NOVEMBER:
Y-
H-
DECEMBER:
V-
R-
YEAR LONG:
X-
Z-'

COVER CAT 2025
Hanson
JANUARY (lowelibrary)- cover contains something involved in a tea party
A Memory of Christmas Tea by Tom Hegg and illustrated by Warren Hanson.
FEBRUARY (pamelad)- a tree on the cover
MARCH (Tess_W)- farm animals on the cover
APRIL (VivienneR)- cover shows a road
MAY (LadyoftheLodge)- more than two elements/objects on the cover
JUNE (christina_reads)-something with wheels on the cover
JULY (DeltaQueen50)- a fruit pictured on the cover
AUGUST (susanna.fraser)-cover image includes a photograph
SEPTEMBER (sallylou61)-dogs and/or cats on the cover
OCTOBER (JayneCM)-something on the cover that that will fit in your pocket
NOVEMBER (majkia)-celestial objects on the cover
DECEMBER (Robertgreaves)-something you would like for a Christmas (or equivalent gift-giving occasion in your tradition) present on the cover

Good luck with your 2025 reading, Leona!

Happy reading in 2025!

Thank you >6 Tess_W: and >7 JayneCM:

Happy reading and good luck with your categories!

>9 MissWatson: Thank you.

Simple setup. Simple is good! Enjoy the New Year and may your reading be wonderful.

>11 majkia: Thank you. I wanted to do challenges where I could read books that fit more than one category.

Glad to see you participating in several KITS and CATS, especially CoverCAT

Happy reading for 2025, Leona!

Wishing you a great reading year in 2025, Leona!

Thank you >13 lowelibrary:, >14 susanj67:, and >15 DeltaQueen50:
Looking forward to the challenges.

Happy reading in 2025!

>17 VivienneR: Thank you.

Happy reading in 2025!

>19 MissBrangwen: Thank you.

Have a good reading year!

>21 dudes22: Thank you.

Thanks for visiting my thread, Leona! I've dropped my star here to make sure I catch up with what you read too. Good luck for 2025!

>23 Jackie_K: Thank you.

My first audio book years ago was when I drove from Austin to San Antonio to get my husband at the airport. I did not care for it as the tone never changed. Now, I do listen to the cars but since I say I get three weeks to the gallon, it takes time.
I got a lot of my audio books and books from an environmental store. There people drop off unused containers of paint, cleaners, etc. The county library brings their books they no longer want so I get a lot of my books there. One time they brought a lot of audio books and so I took some. No limit on books but a limit of 10 items of other things. These are free to the public in certain counties.

I am reading Lucia, A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon by Andrea Di Robilant. It will fit in a number of challenges on LT.

Happy New Year.

Happy New Year and good luck with your reading.

Hope your 2025 reading is great! Happy New Year!

>28 lowelibrary: and >28 lowelibrary: Thank you.

I finished Lucia, A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon by Andrea Di Robilant A true story of the author's great-great-great-great grandmother and her letters. Very interesting. My grandparents were from Northern Italy.

Have a great reading year!

>32 beebeereads: Thank you.

Cover CAT (Tea) and Color CAT (Green)
A Memory of Christmas Tea by Tom Hegg
A short book about a nephew remembering his great-aunt and Christmas tea with her. He has her Christmas china.
A sweet book with poems and illustrations. It said to me take time and have that special cup of tea, or anything, because life is short with that special person in you life.
The illustrations are extra special and the poems speak to the reader.
I have not read the first book, A Cup of Christmas Tea.
Tom Hegg, the author, and, Warren Hanson, who did the illustrations, are in Minnesota.

>34 mnleona: I have read A Cup of Christmas Tea and rated it 4 stars. I will have to look for the sequel.

>35 lowelibrary: Some reviews liked the A Cup of Christmas better. I need to read it also.

We got more snow overnight and still have a winter weather advisory. I live on a lake and yesterday a lot of campers and some with tents came and are still here overnight. A group of people who know each other. I counted 8 cars and trucks yesterday at one time and those are the ones near me. There were other tents and ice houses around the lake. It is a small lake so I can see most of it from where I am.

Hello Leona :-) It sounds cold where you are. I'm Googling the fire you mentioned on my thread, and I think I've found the book (Under a Flaming Sky?). There are also lots of websites, which I'm going to investigate this afternoon.

The Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke
For the January O
A short story from a book of stories I own: Home for Christmas, Stories for Young and Old. Complied by Miriam Le Blanc and Illustrated by David G. Klein.
Artaban the Magian of the city of Ecbatana, is supposed to meet the other three Wise Men who have heard of the birth of the one to be called the King of the Jews in Jerusalem. The three are waiting for him.
The first delay is when he stays to help a young mother trying to save her baby from Herod's orders to kill the babies. This delay causes him to miss meeting the other Wise Men and they go without him to see Jesus. Other delays such as helping the poor, the hungry, the sick and other causes find him arrive after the Holy Family has fled to Egypt.
Throughout his life, Araban tries to see Jesus and unable to do so until later in life.
The reader need to read the rest of the book as I do not want to spoil it.
This book was written in 1895. It can also be found on gutenberg.org.
It will be a re-read for me.

I have not been updating.
I finished Mrs. Plansky's Revenge by Spencer Quinn. I updated it to a 4* today even though I thought it sometimes went too far. The second book of the series Mrs. Plansky Goes Rogue will be out this year.
This is from my library which has a "Blind Date With a Read" in February. The book is wrapped in paper with a description of the book but not the title or author.
I am almost finished with Happy, Happy, Happy, My Life and Legacy as the Duck Commander by Phil Robertson. I bought this at a local thrift store.

>40 mnleona: “Blind Date with a Read” sounds like such fun! I bet that would be a great way to discover books or authors that one might otherwise dismiss out of hand.

Finished Happy, Happy, Happy, My Life and Legacy as the Duck Commander by Phil Robertson
This is a non-fiction book written by the head of the Robertson family known for the show Duck Dynasty, Phil Robertson.
The more I read the book, the more I liked it.
Being raised in West Texas and fishing with my father, I remember gar fish, trot lines, and my father skinning catfish. I also went duck hunting with him and remember how cold is was.
Contents:
Low-Tech Man
Great Outdoors
Rise, Kill, and Eat
Strange Creatures
Who's a Man?
Honky-Tonk
Sportsman's Paradise
Duck Commander
Family Business
If It Sounds Like a Duck
Redneck Caviar
Prodigal Sons
River Rats
Founding Fathers
Letters From the Family
This book was written in 2013.
I give a lot of credit to his wife, Kay; a special lady.
Next time I watch the show I will pay more attention to the family. I appreciate that he became religious and raised his children that way. Not a man or family without problems but worth reading about the family, their life, and their business.

>40 mnleona: Keep the Robertson book---he's not long for this world.

>43 Tess_W: I know. It is sad.

Finished Seeds of Uncertainty by Fran Sheldrick.
This is book 1 of a series with Shay Flaherty and Mac Llewellyn. Shay Flaherty has a farm on which she grows fruits and vegetables. Shay is a quiet person who prefers to be alone. She does have a dog. Shay makes gourmet homemade chutneys and more and has a popular Bonfire Pickle she makes but the author does not give a recipe.
Mac Llewellyn is a New York homicide investigator who likes to whittle. He has a partner, Tyler Braun, who has his own personality and very likable.
They meet for the second time after the murder of her neighbor.
There a lot of characters and the plot thickens so keeps the reader interested.
Besides murder, there is art forgery , land development, friendship, and romance.
I like tidbits in a story and the author does add some about flowers like the bird of paradise brings joy and freedom and the florist told Mac it represents optimism.
I look forward to reading more about Shay and Mac.
A 5 star rating.

Finished The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters. I have a lot of her books and no longer read them in order.

>46 mnleona: I have Crocodile in the Sandbank but have yet to read it!

My local library is having a challenge on reading book from each continent. I read Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle by Edgar Rice Burroughs on Project Gutenberg.

For my local library continent reading challenge I am now reading Shadow of the Silk Road by Colin Thubron for Asia.

>49 mnleona: I read that book many years ago and liked it a lot. It's definitely captured a pivotal moment in time.

>49 mnleona: Just added that to my wish list.

Reading The Codex by Douglas Preston. I have studied the Maya, visited some of the ruins, and have taught about the Maya at a museum.

Reading Haunted House Murder by Leslie Meier. I won this book in 2019 and so a re-read.

Reading Serpent by Clive Cussler. Underwater archaeology.

>52 mnleona: Very interesting!

Serpent has the Maya as well as the Olmec. I am only 1/4 of the way into the book.