You may be thinking: another reading challenge, Dini?! Well, I too am shocked, dear readers because who do I think I am partaking in all these challenges? Something in the air in 2025 is telling me to do the challenges, so here I am: doing the challenges! 🤷🏻♀️ As a serial overthinker, I spent about 1.5 months hemming and hawing over whether or not to jump on the bandwagon with the 25 in 25 Reading Challenge. Last night, I finally decided that it was happening!
The Biggest Obstacle
The biggest obstacle was figuring out how to choose the books I would read for this challenge because I have an overwhelming number of unread backlist books on both physical and digital shelves. Then I remembered that random number generators exist and I have a numbered catalogue of my home library et voila! I had my method for choosing my reads. I’ve been wanting to tackle more of my physical books so I filtered my list of unread hardcovers and paperbacks and started generating numbers…
I may have instantly regretted this as the random number generator picked out five chonksters to read this year including Les Miserables, North and South, Dune, Sing A Black Girl’s Song: The Unpublished Works of Ntozake Shange, and The Mythology Book (reference). 😂 As much as I want to read these books at some point, I know that 2025 won’t be the year—well, except for maybe one or two of them—so I picked out five books semi-randomly to replace them.
At the end of the day though, I’m just going to have fun with this and not pressure myself to get anything read if I don’t feel like it! With that very long introduction out of the way, let’s take a look at my list of 25 books in 2025!
These are the “big books” (not necessarily in page numbers but more in content) that I’m most probably not going to attempt reading this year (especially Les Mis and Dune). I might give North and South a try, same as Sing A Black Girl’s Song but I feel like those are long-term reading projects.
Below are the titles I’ve picked to “replace” the five above, if I don’t read them.
That’s it for my 25 in 2025 picks! Are you also doing this reading challenge? Have you read any of these books or are they also on your TBR?
dinipandareads 
Ooh what an interesting selection of books! I have Foundryside on my tbr for March, I’ve heard amazing things!
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There’s something about random number generators. They always *know* the things you were secretly avoiding.
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Ohno! Ofcourse the generator would pick the biggest ones, ahah 🙈 goodluck, and have fun! Xx
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I read 6 from the top list (DNFed one other one). Lots of great books there. Eight Hundred Grapes was really good. The Reunion was great too, and the tears I cried for Lydia Bird. Hope you love all the books you read.
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That is quite the mixture of books! Your random number generator really had it out for you, though 😂 I hope you enjoy your 25 in 25!
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Good luck Dini. I’m kind of doing this. I have a spread in my planner for the 25 in 2025 so instead of picking books for this I’ve decided to fill it in as and when I read any of my physical books. I am doing the 5 in 2025 challenge though and I’ve shared the books I’ve picked for that on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/share/BBRnkL3Jk-
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Good luck on this challenge!
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Yay you decided to do it. I should have known from your comment to me that you were going to cave 😂 I’m happy that you found a way to pick books that you were happy with. Although I don’t blame you for changing some of those massive ones. I adore a long book and have some I’m incredibly excited for (like Priory Of The Orange Tree) but I’ve heard mixed things about Dune so, as much as I want to read it, I think I’d have put that on hold for now too. And I’m always wary around classics 🙈
I have a couple of these on my TBR and there are some others I haven’t actually heard of before. I have the Olivie Blake & Adalyn Grace books on my unowned TBR but have other series I need to read first by them (as I own them 😂). Ruta Sepetys I majorly need to try something by sometime and I’m curious about Foundryside. Year One is on my unowned priority list. I love that it sounds like a combination of fantasy and dystopia 😍 and I’ve heard good things about the Time War one.
I also own Legendborn & The Lost Dreamer. Both of which I should really get to now that they’ve been mentioned…
Good luck and have fun. I’ll be interesting to see how you get on with all of these. Hopefully you’ll discover some new favourites 🥰
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Good luck with this challenge, Dini. You have a nice mix of books here. Just wondering if you read the first two in the Irish Born trilogy, as Born in Shame is the last one. I hope you enjoy all of these books. Thanks for the reminder about The Lost Dreamer, it is sitting on my TBR shelf.
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[…] It’s Happening: 25 in 2025 Reading Challenge! […]
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Skip Dune. Just skip it. xD The one we have in common that I was most surprised by was The Mythology Book! That’s also on my shelf, think I got it on a whim at a secondhand sale. I like looking at it because it’s gold, but I probably should finally read it at some point. xD
The Rest of Us Just Live Here – for when you want something that’s a little easier than a grand quest but still has some shades of it
How it Feels to Float – when you are mentally ready for some really depressive shit
I Must Betray You – for a book that is very heavy topics and somehow still very easy to read in a way. LOVE this author.
The Water Dancer – would almost move this into the “content difficult” category?? Dense with ideas and lyrical and just kind of weird at some points. Probably not a quick read, but everyone is different. Read when you’re ready to settle in with a book that makes you think and feel
Can’t wait to check in at the end of the year! Fully support you tossing this out the window and reading none of them if it starts to go that way xD Just be happy!
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LOL! I feel like I am just doing all the challenges this year, too. Hope you have lots of fun doing this one – even if you don’t complete it.
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Yay, you figured it out!! This is a fantastic list!! I have Foundryside on my TBR and it’s one that I REALLY want to read if you want to BR it. haha. I Must Betray You and Lydia Bird are also ones that are on my TBR. I am adding The Water Dancer because I read one of his others and loved it. I wish you all the luck with these Dini!! I love how we are all about the challenges this year.
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This looks like a fantastic selection of books. Happy reading!
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Good luck with the challenge! I love the idea of using a random number generator 🥰 I really enjoyed I Must Betray You, Ruta Sepetys writes great historical fiction books!
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Awesome! Good luck to you! I participate myself, hehe 💪🏼
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