Purple Iris 2025 challenges

Hello everyone. I am not quite ready to jump into my 2025 challenges, but thought I'd start setting things up at least.
Last year was my first one trying the challenges here. I have one square left on my bingo card, but I really enjoyed doing that one, so will try again this year. I set up three personal challenges for myself, but only managed to complete the nonfiction one. We'll see if I can eke out another one this month.
For 2025, in addition to Bingo, I will try recent Haitian fiction again since I failed miserably last year! I will probably also try another language challenge, but I haven't decided yet.
A little about me. I am wary of sharing proper names on public sites, but I teach literature and also do some translating, which means I am always reading something. Besides the stuff I read for work, my usual genres are YA, romance, and mysteries. But I read a little bit of everything.
I have always enjoyed flowers, but am more into gardening these days. I live in the Caribbean and the images are some of my favorite flowers, which are also my tattoos.

I almost forgot to give a shout out to Charon07 for walking me through how to post images! Thanks again!

1/18: I am almost ready to jump into 2025 challenges. I had to add the desert rose because I will do a total of 5:
BingoDog
recent Haitian fiction
work-related non fiction (I did this in 2024 and was successful, but I am specifying non-English books this time.)
books in Haitian Creole
books I own and/or on my TBR list

There will probably be quite a bit of overlap so that books can work for two or more challenges, so hopefully it will be challenging, but doable!

BingoDOG



1. Birding with benefits
2. Things you save in a fire
3. Welcome to Lagos
4. The Magic Island
5. Les enfants des héros
6. The Lesbiana's guide to Catholic School
7. Recommended for you
8. Sankofa
9. Les couleurs d'Ophélia my last name
10. I'll be gone for Christmas
11. Le Peuple des Terres Mêlées - a bus is one of the narrators
12. Welcome to the hyunam-dong bookshop
13. Is she really going out with him? Pink cover
14. Sweet Heat -- bed on cover
15. Say you'll remember me main character is a vet
16. The Handmaid's Tale
17. Colored Television Main character works on a TV series
18. Statistically Speaking Set in Liverpool
19. Maid for each other
20. The Break-up pact
21. Une chercheuse I have been meaning to read this book for decades!
22. Sunny Song will never be famous set in summer
23. Love Marriage
24. The Woman in the library
25. Lavender's Blue The main character is a ghost writer.

Recent Haitian fiction

I tried this one last year and failed miserably. I read only 2, so far from my goal of 10. I will set a more modest goal of 5 this year. I am defining recent as anything published since 2020.

1. Les hommes aussi savent aimer comme des ouragans (2024)
2. La petite fille que le soleil avait brûlée (2023)
3. Village Weavers (2024)
4. Les villages de Dieu (2021)
5.

Work-related non-fiction in French or Creole

I actually did hit my target for this challenge last year, but want to prioritize non-English books this time around.

1. Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire d'Hayti by Louis Boisrond-Tonnerre
2. L'autre moitié du développement
3. Etudes françaises 60. 2. Créativités plurielles: Reflets de la littérature d'Haiti au féminin
4. Le destin de la jeune littérature by Jules Blanchet, published in 1939
5.

*Reclaiming Haiti's Futures I can't count this one since it is in English, but it would go here. I was not as impressed as I had expected to be.

*A History of Haitian Literature Another one I can't count, but I enjoyed it.

Books in Haitian Creole

I succeeded in this challenge last year as well, but want to try it again to chip away at this particular TBR list.

1. Bèbè Gòlgota I don't know how many times I've read this. I teach it often, but it's one of my favorites, so I don't mind.
2. Tifi Good, but a bit too long.
3.
4.
5.

Books I own or that have been on my TBR list for a long time

This one is inspired by one of the bingo squares. I check out a lot of library books, which is great, but I have a ton of books I've been meaning to read for the longest! I was going to aim for 10 for this one, but I chickened out and kept it at 5. We'll see how I'm doing in June.

1. L'autre moitié du développement
2. Les tambours du soleil et Margha
3. Le destin de la jeune littérature
4. Passe-temps, poetry by Justin Lhérisson. Not great, unfortunately.
5. The Magic Island
6. (bonus read!) Une chercheuse

Good luck with your goals this year.

Welcome back and good luck!

Thank you!

I’m happy to see your new thread! The flowers are so gorgeous! I’ll be watching your Haitian fiction category for titles available in English.

>10 Charon07: Hopefully that will motivate me to actually make progress on this challenge this time around!

I think for Bingo, I will just read as usual and see what fits, then start choosing books for squares in June.

I think I will make it a habit to update this thread on the weekends. Now that I've started teaching again, my weeks are always kind of crazy! I have finished 8 books so far this year (a few were ones I'd started in 2024) and 3 of them work for Bingo squares! Two of them also work for the narrated by a child square, but since I read a lot of YA, I am sure I can find something else for that.

The Lesbiana's guide to Catholic School is my favorite of the ones I've read so far. I enjoyed Recommended for you and used it for the non-traditional family square since the main character has two moms, but she was so annoying. Believable, but very annoying. I did not really enjoy The Break-up pact. I think I need to stop reading Emma Lord. I loved her first book but have been progressively more disappointed in everything she's published since then.

I read Dear committee members for the epistolary square for last year's Bingo. I laughed throughout the whole thing. Some of the letters were not believable at all, but it's a very funny book. I am wondering whether to continue the series.

I have not made a dent in any of my personal challenges yet, but it's early days!

Thanks for stopping by my thread. I love the floral images here - so gorgeous! Looking forward to following your reading.

>12 purpleiris: The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School is a great title!

You’ve done a lot of reading for a hectic school year and made great progress on your Bingo card!

>13 Crazymamie: Welcome! Your thread feels like the hang out spot! :)

>14 Charon07: I do love that title. I'm glad the book lived up to it.
The light before bed reading is always easy for me. It is a rare night that I don't read at least one or two chapters to wind down. The books that demand more concentration, and maybe even note taking, those are the ones I fall behind on!

I was able to cover two more bingo squares this week! A bookshelf counts as furniture, right? I still haven't made progress on my personal challenges, but it's still early!

I just realized I already used that book for another square and I am trying not to repeat books unless absolutely necesary.

I taught Les enfants des héros last week. It's one of my all time favorite books. It's a novella about two kids who are on the run after killing their father (that's not a spoiler, it happens on the first page), narrated by the youngest. It's translated into English, but I've never read the translation. The translator has a good reputation, though, so hopefully the English version is as great as the original.

>17 purpleiris: I have not heard of this one before - adding it to The List.

>17 purpleiris: That title does sound intriguing.

>17 purpleiris: I'm a big fan of Haïtian literature. Another title to add to my list!

You all will have to let me know what you think if you do read it.

Last week was tough! I had a migraine that lasted several days and I spent all of last weekend on zoom for a conference. I did keep reading, but haven't had a chance to post until today.

Now I need to see if anything I read works for my challenges!

>21 purpleiris: Sorry to hear about your migraine. I find it difficult to read at all when I have one.

>21 purpleiris: Thanks. I find I can read paper books or even on the ipad. The computer is what I need to stay away from when I have a migraine and I couldn't do that last week which is probably why it lingered longer than usual.

Obviously I don't have the hang of the reply function quite yet!

>24 purpleiris: We’ll blame it on post-migraine brain fog :-)

So sorry to hear about the migraine. Those are always exhausting and painful.

No migraine this week! Other stressors, but I got new plants and flowers, which is always fun.

Only one book I've read over the past few days works for my challenges. Statistically speaking is set in Liverpool, which I've never been to. I've never been to England at all, so I'm using it for that square. It was a fun read. Nothing earth shattering, but I enjoyed it.

>27 purpleiris: Glad to hear the migraine’s gone! Please share some photos of your plants and flowers when they’re photo-ready.

I will try my best!

I finished Is she really going out with him? this morning and am using it for the CAT square since the cover is pink. I will attach my review here although it's just a couple of sentences. I want to figure out how this works.

I got a message saying I must review a book if I want to attach a review but I have reviewed many books.

Oh well! I will figure that out later.

Ha! I only today discovered that having a private collection meant none of my reviews were visible to anyone. I saw some other members discussing private collections and learned some stuff I probably should have known years ago. All this time, I thought people could actually read my reviews!

I finished Le peuple des terres mêlées (again!) today. It's a beautiful, but challenging book. I am interested to see how my students do with it in class tomorrow. Also, since one of the narrators is a bus I am using it for one of my bingo squares. I doubt I will read anything else with a non human narrator!

It looks like I can only attach recent reviews? I'm pasting my review from one of the previous times I read this here:

Very moving account of the 1937 massacre. The main characters are Pedro Brito, a Dominican and Adele Benjamin, a Haitian. They symbolize the union of the Haitian and Dominican people. Meanwhile, Trujillo's motivation for the massacre is explained through his obsession with the Citadelle. His inability to possess it causes him to create the blancos de la tierra myth and eventually order the massacre. I know that may seem strange, but it works in this book.
I've taught this book several times now in my contemporary Haitian literature class. It works with the migration, love/sexuality and conflict themes. Other themes explored in the book are madness and workers' rights.

I finished Welcome to Lagos today. I am using it for the travel square since the characters travel throughout Nigeria and one travels to England. This is the first time I've read this author, but I am interested in reading more.

It's been a while since I've posted. I haven't been impressed by anything I've read lately. I really expected to like Colored Television a lot more than I did.

My daughter "made me" start watching The Handmaid's Tale, so I'm wondering if I should read that again. I remember that I really liked it, but cannot remember anything besides the basic premise, which is weird. I read it in 2015, so not that long ago.

I finished two books I really enjoyed this week. It's such a good feeling to really enjoy a book. I liked The most wonderful crime of the year. It's the first book by Ally Carter I've read that isn't YA and I much prefer this to her earlier work. It was a really fun read.
This morning I finished Translation and Race. Lots to think about and probably come back to in the course of my own work!
I have not made too much progress on my challenges for the year, but I feel like it's still early.

>33 purpleiris: This sounds really interesting, not a book I've come across. I'll see if I can find a copy. (Although I don't plan to read it in French!)

>37 charl08: It's one of my favorites. I know there are English and Spanish translations. I don't know how widely available they are.

>36 purpleiris: The translation book sounds fascinating! I did my master's thesis on the translation of American theatre into French: accents and other cultural markers were the items that I focused on. 30 years later I still think it's some of the most interesting work I did!

>38 purpleiris: It seems like with postage from the US it is very expensive! One I will look out for if I make it over the Atlantic again.

>40 charl08: Am I remembering correctly that you're in England? Worldcat says it's in a couple of university libraries and at Leeds City Council. I am not sure if that is at all helpful.

>39 Cecilturtle: Your thesis sounds fascinating! It's true that authors use accents to convey so much. How do you account for that when translating? Now I'm trying to remember if any of the stuff I've translated made particular use of accents! I don't think so... The book was really good. I finished it in less than a week. Light on the jargon, but lots of food for thought. In one of the chapters she goes into the controversy about translating Gormon's inauguration poem into Dutch if you remember that whole thing.

>42 purpleiris: No, but I'm sure it would have been a grand and difficult task... there is so much to account for.

>36 purpleiris: I also liked The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year. If you want to try another adult novel by Ally Carter, I really enjoyed The Blonde Identity, a super fun spy caper.

>44 christina_reads: I will check it out. Thanks!

I stayed up late finishing Love Marriage last night. I really liked it. An online friend recommended it, so I'm using it for that bingo square, but I may end up moving it to the "features a birth" square. I made small progress on my Haitian Creole books and am currently reading L'autre moitié du développement for my non-fiction challenge. I also finished Wedding Dashers last week, but I don't think it works for any of my challenges.

I have been reading but not posting here. Also the books I've been reading don't work for any of my personal challenges or Bingo. I also have way too many books checked out from the library online and I am racing to finish them before their due dates. Sadly, I don't think I will success. I already had to return The parable of the sower but I hadn't made it too far, so I can just start again at a later date. I am halfway through my reread of The Handmaid's Tale and will be very sad if I have to return it without finishing it. I was not crazy about The Blonde Identity, but that makes sense. While I love mysteries and thrillers, I am really not into spy novels. The first chapter of The blonde who came in from the cold was a fun read, but I probably won't read the novel.

>47 purpleiris: I know the problem of racing to finish the library ebooks before they’re snatched away! I may stop putting things on hold and only read ones that I have a chance of being able to renew. You’re braver than me if you can reread The Handmaid’s Tale in this day and age.

Well, remember I'm not in the US. Not to say that everything is great with women's rights here, but we haven't been losing any rights and none are currently being threatened. Also, my daughter has me watching the series for the first time (I just started season two) and I wanted to be able to compare the two experiences.

I am using Say you'll remember me for the medical bingo square since the main male character is a vet. I enjoyed the read, but it was not very light hearted and I kind of felt like the couple should have broken up. So maybe a good book, but not a great romance?

I am making progress on my bingo card, but very little on my other challenges. This happens every year!

I think I might have too many books going at the same time. I finished The Testaments this week, but it's slow going for everything else. I guess I'll have a nice batch to log when I finally finish them. I am currently reading one Haitian novel, an anthology of essays on Haitian literature, L'autre moitié du développement and Dream Hotel. There might be something else I'm forgetting.

I think I had the library automatically return three books this week. I keep checking things out, but not actually reading them or abandoning them halfway through. I just finished Birding with benefits which I did not think would fit any challenge. But! It's a romance between characters who are birders, so lots of winged creatures for my bingo card!

>53 purpleiris: Sounds super cute!

I have been away from here for a while. I look forward to seeing what everyone's been up to.

As for me, there was a fire in my kitchen in early June. Neighbors called and I rushed home to find the fire department there. Thankfully it was limited to the kitchen, but I've been living with my mom while waiting for the insurance claim to process so I can rebuild the kitchen. I was in Canada for a month, teaching an intensive course and visiting with my daughter. It was great. Now I'm back home, back to teaching and translation projects and hounding the bank to process my claim.

>55 purpleiris: I'm so sorry about the fire -- that must have been terrifying news to hear! Glad to hear that you are safe, and I hope the insurance comes through for you soon!

What a horrifying experience. I hope the ensuing hassle with the insurance company is resolved quickly.

>55 purpleiris: How horrible! Dealing with insurance companies can be a trauma in itself, so I hope your claim is paid soon.

>55 purpleiris: Bon courage! J'espère que ça se résorbe vite.

Thanks everyone! They say it will take between two and three months, which seems pretty long. Luckily my mom and I get along!

Good news. I actually heard from the bank about my claim much earlier than I expected. I still don't have a check, but I have an amount so I feel like it's getting closer!

I am finally starting to make some progress on my challenges. I had been stuck for a while. Today I finished L'autre moitié du développement. It has been on my TBR list forever so I was able to add it to that challenge and it also works for my work non-fiction books. I am glad I finally read it although it took me many months to finish it. The author is an economist, so not my comfort zone at all and the book was published in the 80's. Unfortunately, a lot of what she talks about is still current. She is looking at female labor in Haiti -- both paid and unpaid -- and how it contributes to the wider economy. Her thesis is basically that women's unpaid or badly paid labor enriches men.

I finished this today, but sadly didn't love it. I was fully expecting to. I haven't read contemporary theater in a while, so that might have something to do it. I'm counting it towards my recent Haitian fiction challenge even though it's a play.

I started Village Weavers but it is annoying me, so I might not continue.

I love that LT lets me add things that are not strictly books. I finished reading the special volume a journal did on Haitian literature by women this week and I'd be sad if I couldn't add it to my list. I really enjoyed it and hope it makes scholars aware of the variety of authors that are out there. I feel like people keep studying the same two or three authors.

I also finished Under your spell this week. It was a wonderful read. I hadn't heard of the author before and got the recommendation from someone else's thread. I don't remember who, but thank you!

It looks like I can only attach one review per message, so here's the one for the Wood book.

>65 purpleiris: I haven't read that one yet, but I really liked the sequel, Let's Make a Scene!

>66 christina_reads: Oh, it must have been you then. Thank you! I remember seeing that Let's Make a scene was a sequel and deciding to start with the first one first. I am on the wait list for Let's Make a scene. So glad to have a new fun author to add to my list.

>67 purpleiris: Oh, yay! It's always great to discover a new author, isn't it?

>65 purpleiris: I'd not heard of this one, but the library has a copy so I've requested it. Sounds good!

>68 christina_reads: It really is! Especially for people who read a lot!

>69 charl08: I hope you enjoy it!

I have been reading Village Weavers for a while now and have still not finished, which I guess means I am not loving it. The spelling errors are annoying me and I never feel like going back to the book when I put it down. I will try to push through this week before I have to return it to the library.

In the meantime, I finished two books this week that I did enjoy We are all guilty here and It's a love story. It's been a while since I read a mystery and Slaughter did not disappoint. Nothing for my challenges, though!

I finally finished Village Weavers. It never got better for me, unfortunately. I started Villages de Dieu and I am enjoying that more although I am not crazy about the author.

I love when I read something that works for my challenges. I can't believe it's already October. I need to step it up!

Today I finished Les tambours du soleil et Margha. This is a recently published edition of Haitian poetry that is considered a classic, but was out of print. I have been meaning to get to these collections for a while, so I'm happy I found this new edition. I do wish they had reprinted the original illustrations. I am sure I will come back to these.

I love when I can use the same book for more than one of my challenges. I need to step up my reading in Haitian Creole. I should also figure out what I want to use for the "oldest on my TBR" square. I have a few books that have been on my list for a while.

I just finished Wordslut. I feel like I am in the minority, but I did not love it. I didn't hate it, either, it was just not as impressive as I expected.

I just finished Villages de Dieu, so I am making progress on my recent Haitian fiction challenge. I really liked the narrator, but wanted more from the story.

I just finished Zero Stars Do not recommend. I guess I could use it for the "features fire" Bingo square -- there are a few fires in the story -- but I will wait and see if I can find something that fits better.

>76 purpleiris: I remember enjoying this one and then read her immensely popular Cultish which I found terrible for the exact same reasons that you cite: it really is sloppy research passing as academic.

>77 purpleiris: I was super taken by the story. I don't know much about Haiti and I found this to be good insight into what is happening today: frightful!

>79 Cecilturtle: It annoyed because I find the topic so fascinating! It's like she was holding something I wanted just out of reach. There is no shortage of books about language on my TBR list, so I am sure I will find one I like better.

>80 Cecilturtle: It is definitely good insight into what's going on today. I guess maybe that was part of the problem for me. If you are already aware of what's going, then you're reading more for plot or characters or whatever and I felt like that part of it wasn't fleshed out enough. I would have loved to know what became of Patience, for example.

I just finished Bless the daughter raised by a voice in her head. A perfect collection of poems.

I finished Just another missing person. It was okay, but I didn't love it. It does not work for any of my challenges. Hopefully my next book will!

I am taking advantage of a few light weeks at work to organize my LT collection. It is very soothing! I am trying to get rid of duplicates (started with 150!) and add author names and proper titles to the books that got messed up when I imported from Goodreads however many years ago. At some point, I should probably go through and remove the hyperlinks in my reviews that no longer work.

Finally read something for my Bingo card. Sweet Heat has a bed on the cover. I enjoyed this, but do feel like the author needs a better editor. I always find there are too many plots crammed into her novels.

Just finished Welcome to the hyunam-dong bookshop which I was able to use for one of my bingo squares. I'm glad I read it, but it wasn't particularly engrossing. I have six squares left and a few books to read for my other challenges. I can't believe people are already setting up next year's threads!

>87 purpleiris: Me either! I have yet to have any inspiration...

>88 charl08: Glad I'm not the only one! I think I might go with my favorite cities for a theme, but I haven't given much thought to the actual challenges I want to do. I want to focus on a big reading push to finish the year!

It does not fit any of my remaining Bingo squares or any of my challenges, but An Academic Affair was a really fun read. Enemies to lover set in Australian academia. I hope the author continues this series!

Just finished The Woman in the library. I liked it, but the framing lessened the tension in the actual mystery without adding enough tension of its own. That's another Bingo square, at least! I'd love to actually finish my card in 2025. We'll see!

I now only have four squares left for my Bingo card! And I am reading books for two of them right now. Finding something to read for the random square was harder than I thought. I used the LT random generator, but couldn't figure out if there was a way to get it to choose only from to-read list. So it kept choosing either books I had already read or books I didn't have on hand and that weren't available for check out at the library. I finally settled on Sankofa. I mostly enjoyed it, but I'm not sure how I feel about the end. I've read two of this author's books so far and they are very different from each other. I am looking forward to reading more from her.

I am still working on the books for the longest on TBR and newly public domain squares. I will probably finish them early next week. I need to figure out something for fire and the family name. I will probably be looking for some poetry or children's books at this point. I am cutting it close!

>93 purpleiris: I’m hopeful that I can finish my bingo card, but I might not finish my KITs and CATs, and I’m nowhere close to the goals I set for most of my personal categories. But I read a lot of good books this year, and that’s what really counts!

Very true. Reading good books is reward enough. Like you, I think I can finish my bingo card, but probably won't finish all my challenges. I guess I will carry them over!

I just finished The Magic Island. I will review it, but need to take a breath first. Not a fun read.

I have two bingo squares left to finish my card and I am almost done reading a novel for one of them. So it looks like I will actually complete my card by the end of the year. I doubt I will finish any more of my personal challenges, though. I don't want to set up my 2026 challenges until I'm sure which ones I'll need to carry over from this year. So far, it's looking like all but one of them.

>96 purpleiris: Good luck with your Bingo card. I hope you find some light and enjoyable reading after that last book you reviewed—you’ve earned it! I’m not going to finish the goals I set for most of my challenges this year either, but that just gives me more to look forward too next year!

Yes, thankfully my last few books have been very light and uplifting!

And that's my bingo card completed!

I read Les couleurs d'Ophélia which is about a seven year old girl who has lost her sight to finish my card. I liked the idea, but found the execution a bit lacking. Of course I'm not the target audience, so maybe it's just right for the targeted age group.

Congratulations on completing your Bingo card! I'm looking forward to following you over in the 2026 group...I'm still catching up with everyone's threads!

>100 christina_reads: Thanks! This was my third attempt at Bingo and the first time I was actually able to finish by the end of the year!