The quarterly challenge check-in worked quite well for me in 2024, so I decided to stick with it. In these posts, I do a quick recap of the reading I did, pick 5 of my favorite reads, and also report on how I progressed with my different reading challenges. All of these are based on my reading goals for 2025 post, which you are welcome to check out! That said, it’s time for the second challenge check-in for 2025 Q2.
2025 Q2 was a bit slower in many ways – in April we finished with SPFBO 10, and after a very busy time reading-wise, it was time to easy down a bit. Plus June is always a busy time at work and this year I also have moving to contend with. Who says I can’t have fun?
Until July 1st I opened 17 books (5 less than in Q1), although two of those I’m still reading, so we’ll go with 15 for the sake of simplicity. I DNFd only 1 so that’s an improvement (then again, these were all my picks so the odds were in my favour). Out of the 15 books, 1 was a reread. As for format, 6 were audiobooks (half of what I read in Q1, wow) and 8 were ebooks and 2 were paperback ARCs.
So all that means is that I’m 83% done with my GR goal – I once again set the number to 40. I think it’s safe to say that I’ll kill it in Q3.
Out of the 15 books, 9 were on the list I set up as my shortened TBR in my Reading Goals for 2025 post, so I did really well there again. I’m keeping things on track which surprises even me, lol.
The books I loved the most in 2025 Q2
Out of the 15 books, I gave 5👑 to 4. But I also had 2 4.5👑 reads as well. I’m keeping myself to my promise at the start of the year and this year I’m stricter with my ratings. Although in 2025 Q2 I had pretty good ratings overall, but then I either joy read or ARCs I really was looking forward to, and I wasn’t disapppointed much.
Often I find that not necessarily the books I 5 starred stay with me until the end of the year, but those I might rated lower for some reason. So, in these mini-lists, I’ll focus on highlighting those that I think have the potential to end up on my top 10 reads of 2025 list. I will not pick rereads, because I obviously loved them previously, so I’d like to give the spotlight to newcomers. The books are listed in the order I’ve read them.
Into the River Dead by Michael Dylan is the 4th DI Simon Wise mystery/thriller novel. While the team investigates the death of a woman washed on the banks of the Thames, they have to deal with a new boss and new team members, as well as Wise’s twin. Poor Simon continues not having any good times.
The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide is a standalone novel that mixes a few genres – fantasy (magical contracts sealed by Vowsmiths, automatons walking around), closed room (well, house, more like) murder mystery (the bodies are piling) and romance (M/M primarily but also has ace rep). Well worth your time if any of the above is your thing!
Carnival of Lies by D. V. Bishop couldn’t NOT be on this list. I binge read the first 4 books last year and of course I had to get my hands on book 5 as well. Aldo this time has to team up with people whom he usually doesn’t trust to survive in the city he hates most – Venice. And we finally get a glimpse into his past! This book is not particularly a murder mystery (even though people die), it’s more espionage/heist story, but still fun and just as high quality as the rest of the series.
Be Mine by Lizzy Barber is a standalone psychological thriller that follows Beth, a struggling mother with a newborn, trying to find her feet but her past comes knocking. We follow her both in the past and the present as she gets entangled with a wellness cult. I really enjoyed this book until about the last quarter. Could have been an easy 5 star, but I still recommend it if you are curious about cult dynamics.
Paved with Good Intentions by Peter McLean is set in the same world as his War fot the Rose Throne series, but it’s completely standalone – despite what GR/Amazon tells you. This one was among my most anticipated reads this year, and while I didn’t love it as much as I hoped, I still recommend it if you want to get a taste of McLean’s writing before committing to the main series.
Despite a decent start with Womble’s reading challenge this year, 2025 Q2 was…less than satisfactory 😬 Although, I’m planning to fill one more over the course of the year. Anyway, only 1 prompt out of 3 got completed.
April – Easter Eggs: The Locust Job by Craig Schaefer. So, I didn’t read this in April, but it still fits as we had to read a book with stories within stories. Some of Schaefer’s series are part of The First Story universe. The first story ever written plays out over and over as the characters reincarnate in different universes – they all have the same destiny but this time they are trying to break the cycle. Faust gets involved, and the characters show up from time to time. And since I ticked this off, I can also add the stretch goal which was to pick a book by an author I love – that book happens to be Into the River Dead by Michael Dylan, which I did read in April, so we are all good.
May – The Random Factor: This is the prompt I’m willing to come back to at one point. We have to read the 5th book we spot on our shelf/list/whatever. But between the ARCs and other stuff I didn’t have many opportunities to pick random books.
June – Use the daylight/long reading night: LOL. There was absolutely no chance picking the longest book on my TBR. I was mostly reading ARCs and also taking a well earned break – which I spent with working and packing.
I still love this board game look. Especially as I’m really getting into board games this year. After making the initial choices at the start of the year, 2025 Q2 was pretty straightforward. Here is the board:
April – 4D – Wait for Morning (read a book entirely in the AM hours): Into the River Dead by Michael Dylan. Okay, so, I cheated (which is totally allowed!!) because I never read in the AM hours, like, who does that?! But, we are allowed to switch prompts if needed, so I went for a book that has river in the title.
May – 5D – A Sundancer! (book where a main character is a dancer or dance is important part of the book): You & I, Rewritten by Chip Pons. Since I forgot to plan my reading accordingly, I had to be a bit creative. This book doesn’t have a dancer, nor is dancing an important part of the book, HOWEVER, there is a club the characters sometimes go to and some dancing was happening followed by jealousy. And I think this was the book where they went to karaoke and I’m pretty sure this was the moment the MC really fell in love with his partner as he was singing and dancing on the stage.
June – 6D – Sketch Sundancer (read a book featuring a fantasy character): How to Find a Nameless Fae by A. J. Lancaster. Finally a prompt where I didn’t have to cheat! Since I read a lot of fantasy, this wasn’t much of a problem. And this book – surprise! – features a fae.
In 2025 Q2, I decided to add 6 books (tentatively) to The Sound of Madness Reading Challenge card. Here they are:
- Paved with Good Intentions by Peter McLean for I RUN THIS JUNGLE
- Carnival of Lies by D. V. Bishop for HOW MUCH IS THE FISH?
- Be Mine by Lizzy Barber for MR. VAIN
- Mushroom Blues by Adrian M. Gibson for BEER NEVER BROKE MY HEART
- Into the River Dead by Michael Dylan for CHALK OUTLINE
- How to Find a Nameless Fae by A. J. Lancaster for IMMORTALS
Here is what my card looks like right now:
And that concludes my Challenge Check-In for 2025 Q2. On the whole, I’m doing well with my different challenges, so for now, I’m happy with my progress. Let’s hope I can keep it up for Q3 as well! I’d love to hear about how you are doing with your challenges so far, so feel free to comment below!
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