JessyHere's "That's too many challenges" 2025

I love book challenges. One might even say I'm obsessed with them. Here are the ones I will attempt this year. I probably won't complete them all, but it is fun to try!

Library Thing Challenges:
ColorCAT
CoverCAT
MysteryKIT
NatureKIT
RandomKIT
ScardyKIT
SF&FKIT
BingoDOG

Other Challenges:
NoveList 2025 Challenge
StoryGraph Reads the World 2025
StoryGraph Genre Challenge 2025
3s

I will try to fit books into multiple challenges where I can. Let's see how many I can do!

Currently reading:


Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

Monthly Challenges:

January
ColorCAT: Green: Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
CoverCAT: Cover contains something involved in a tea party: Anything that moves by Dana Goodyear
MysteryKIT: Winter mysteries: Running out of time by Suzanne Trauth
NatureKIT: Sheep and Shepherding: The Wisdom of Sheep by Rosamund Young
RandomKIT: Eat, drink, and be merry: Anything that moves by Dana Goodyear
ScardyKIT: Diverse Perspectives: Lone women by Victor LaValle
SF&FKIT: Cozy Fantasy: Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
NoveList: Mix things up with a genre blend: Lone women by Victor LaValle

February
ColorCAT: Gold: Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
CoverCAT: a tree on the cover: The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher
MysteryKIT: vintage mysteries: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
NatureKIT: Forests, Farms & Grasslands: The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher
RandomKIT: Playing with Time: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal-El Mohtar and Max Gladstone
ScardyKIT: Haunted Houses / Haunted Places: The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher
SF&FKIT: The Art of SFF: Spectrum 19: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art
NoveList: Fall in love with an LGBTQIA+ romance: Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert

March
ColorCAT: Pink
CoverCAT: farm animals on the cover
MysteryKIT: espionage
NatureKIT: Landscape
RandomKIT:
ScardyKIT: Real-life Monsters
SF&FKIT: Magical Realism
NoveList: Stay up to date with a book about current social issues

April
ColorCAT: Brown
CoverCAT: cover shows a road
MysteryKIT: paranormal
NatureKIT: Flying Creatures
RandomKIT:
ScardyKIT: Arachnids, Insects, and Reptilia
SF&FKIT: Women Authors
NoveList: Read a book with neurodivergent characters.

May
ColorCAT: Red
CoverCAT: more than two elements/objects on the cover
MysteryKIT: mysteries not set in my country
NatureKIT: Plants, Fungi, Etc.
RandomKIT:
ScardyKIT: Out in the Wild
SF&FKIT: Authors of Global South
NoveList: Enjoy a larger-than-life cinematic book

June
ColorCAT: Yellow
CoverCAT: something with wheels on the cover
MysteryKIT: LGBTQ+ detectives
NatureKIT: Oceans and Rivers
RandomKIT:
ScardyKIT: YA and graphic novels
SF&FKIT: Anthologies and Collections
NoveList: Lighten up with a funny or whimsical graphic novel.

July
ColorCAT: White
CoverCAT: a fruit pictured on the cover
MysteryKIT: series sleuths
NatureKIT: Inner Lives of Animals
RandomKIT:
ScardyKIT: Ghosts
SF&FKIT: Alternative History
NoveList: Enjoy a chilling summer with must-read horror.

August
ColorCAT: Grey
CoverCAT: cover image includes a photograph
MysteryKIT: legal thrillers
NatureKIT: Weather and Climate
RandomKIT:
ScardyKIT: Female authors
SF&FKIT: Space
NoveList: Read a cli-fi, solarpunk, or hopepunk book

September
ColorCAT: Silver
CoverCAT: dogs and/or cats on the cover
MysteryKIT: silver age mysteries
NatureKIT: Urban Nature
RandomKIT:
ScardyKIT: Stephen King and family
SF&FKIT: Back to School SFF
NoveList: Read a book set in the decade you were born.

October
ColorCAT: Black
CoverCAT: something on the cover that will fit in your pocket
MysteryKIT: police procedurals
NatureKIT: Endangered Species
RandomKIT:
ScardyKIT: Gothic
SF&FKIT: Mysterious Artifacts
NoveList: Try an award-winning audiobook or graphic novel.

November
ColorCAT: Blue
CoverCAT: celestial objects on the cover
MysteryKIT: psychological mysteries and thrillers
NatureKIT: The Effects of Nature on Human Beings
RandomKIT:
ScardyKIT: Psychological Thrillers
SF&FKIT: The Day After
NoveList: Tempt your tastebuds with a culinary read.

December
ColorCAT: Purple
CoverCAT: something you would like for a Christmas (or equivalent gift-giving occasion in your tradition) present on the cover
MysteryKIT: cozies
NatureKIT: Wild Card
RandomKIT:
ScardyKIT: Your Favorite Scary Trope
SF&FKIT: disabled main character
NoveList: Go meta with books about books

3s

This is a personal challenge I came up with to combine books of a certain theme in groups of 3.

Fairies

🥇Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
🥉Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
🥈A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Weird Western

🥇Lone Women by Victor LaValle
🥈Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian
🥉The Shotgun Arcana by R.S. Belcher

Nerdy Romances

🥈The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
🥉Conventionally Yours by by Annabeth Albert
🥇Love, Comment, Subscribe by Cathy Yardley

StoryGraph Reads the World 2025

Australia
Belgium
China
Egypt
Iceland
Kenya
Malaysia
Mexico
The Netherlands
The Philippines

StoryGraph Genre Challenge 2025

Nonfiction about visual art or artist
Historical fiction set outside of the UK, US, or Canada
Essay collection by a disabled author
Children’s book published after 2020 by an author of color
Nonfiction book by or about a sports personality
Graphic novel by a woman or nonbinary person
Poetry collection centered around nature
Literary or contemporary novel in translation
Book about video games
Queer horror

BingoDOG



1. A place you've never been
2. Either "Library" or "Thing" in title
3. Writing about writers
4. Oldest book in your TBR: Camouflage by Joe Haldeman
5. A holiday in title
6. A long title (5+ words): This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal-El Mohtar and Max Gladstone
7. Features adoption/foster care/nontraditional family
8. Medical topic
9. The sun on cover/in title
10. Child as a main character
11. Newly in public domain
12. Author has your or relative’s 1st or last name
13. Read a CAT: Anything that Moves by Dana Goodyear
14. Totally random
15. Features a birth: Lone Women by Victor LaValle
16. Nonhuman narrator: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
17. Features winged creature(s): Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
18. A profession in title
19. Travel
20. Recommended by a friend or LT member: Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
21. Set in your favorite season
22. Originally published in a language not your own
23. Hollywood!
24. A piece of furniture on the cover
25. Features fire

Welcome to my obsession!

I’m impressed! Good luck with all your challenges, and have a good year of reading!

Hi Jessy! Good luck with all those challenges, they are mind-boggling!

Ambitious! Enjoy!

Welcome to the Category Challnge. You have some very interesting books lined up.

Welcome to the category challenge.

Best of luck with your many challenges! It's always great when you can find books that can do double (or triple) duty!

Happy New Year and good luck with your reading.

Would someone please explain what a book bullet is? I've seen this term mentioned on several other threads.

Hope you have a great year of reading in 2025!

>15 JessyHere: A Book Bullet is a recommendation you picked up from reading someone else's thread and/or review.

>17 lowelibrary: Thank you!

Enjoy your year of challenges...I like the 3s idea!
Find me here
https://www.librarything.com/topic/367017#8712413

Welcome and enjoy your reading!

Fairies 3

Started off strong with Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett for my first of the fairy 3. I absolutely love the dynamic between Emily and Wendell. This has to be hands down my favorite romantasy. Needless to say this one took the gold for me.

Next up was Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire. This was a paranormal mystery where the detective stumbles around getting shot and clues occasionally fall into her lap without her seeming to really be looking for them. And she ultimately does not resolve the final conflict, someone else does. This one was a disappointment and gets the bronze.

Last one was A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas. As with many other romantasies (notable exception being the Emily Wilde series) I rolled my eyes pretty hard at the romance parts but got invested in the worldbuilding. Fated mates is my least favorite romance trope. I really want to see what happens, so I will probably continue the series. This one gets the silver.

Weird Western 3

The first one I read for the weird western 3 was Lone Women by Victor LaValle. This historical horror was about a woman who burns down her parents farmhouse for mysterious reasons then flees to Montana where she has heard that even a 'lone woman' can start a homestead, even a black woman. She takes with her a mysterious steamer trunk which she never opens and is very possessive of. I loved the reveal of what was in the trunk and what happened at the farm. The characters were great and the ending was fantastic. Loved this one. Gold medal.

Next I read Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian which was about an unlikely group going on a quest together to travel across Kansas to claim the bounty on a witch. Lots of magical obstacles meet them on their way. I liked this one so much I preordered the next one. Again, great ending. It was a close race for gold, but this one gets silver.

The last one I read (or tried to) was The Shotgun Arcana by R. S. Belcher. This one made me have to reconsider the rules of the 3s challenge. Because I could not finish this one. I ultimately decided that as long as I made it 33% through the book, I would still count if for the 3, instead of having to pick a new one (I actually made it 36% in this one). I picked this up because I remember liking the first one in the series. But at 36% of the book I should know what the plot actually is. And you shouldn't still be introducing new characters without also showing what these characters have to do with anything that's happened so far. I lost my patience with this one. Bronze, if it even deserves a medal at all.

Nerdy Romance 3

It's February and you know what that means: time for a romance 3! 'Tis the season. This was a really close race and I liked all of these, so the medals are almost meaningless here.

First up was The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang. A very successful econometrician who is on the autism spectrum decides she needs help with sex and relationships. So she decides to hire someone to help her practice, logically. Loved the characters in this one, really cute romance. Silver medal.

The next one I decided to try was Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert. Two rival card players are going on a road trip with their gaming group to the big card tournament convention. Everyone else has a last minute emergency and it ends up being just the two of them going, of course. This one was really fun and the nerdiest of the bunch. Bronze medal.

And lastly, Love, Comment, Subscribe by Cathy Yardley. I think Cathy Yardley is becoming one of my favorite romance authors. This one is about two Youtubers who were high school rivals, deciding to have their channels collaborate in order to boost both their numbers. I laughed out loud multiple times at this one and had to run into the other room to tell my husband what happened. Gold medal.

After about a month and a half of doing CATs and KITs, I think I am going to give up on them. My reading became really regimented trying to do them all in a month. I think I prefer challenges that are stretched out over the whole year rather than specific ones for each month. It allows me to pick things on a whim more. And I am really having fun with my 3s challenge and it's hard to fit them in with all the CATs and KITs. So I will be focusing more on my other challenges from now on.

I like your groups of 3! And glad to hear you're liking the Emily Wilde series, as I'm definitely interested in checking it out soon.