325 Reading Challenge May Update and June TBR

Previous reading challenge post: April Update.

Almost half way through with 2025 and, no, I’m not halfway through my planned TBR. But I have found some new favorites and I’m reading more, which were always two of the main goals anyway. I read six books, four of which came from the 325 Reading Challenge list. But I only read three books from my May TBR. Here’s a quick recap about what I planned to read:

1. Men We Reaped: A Memoir by Jesmyn Ward (non-fiction)

2. A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher (fiction)

3. Made In Manchester by Brian Groom (non-fiction)

4. Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (fiction)

5. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (non-fiction)

325 Challenge Books Read In May

The 325 Reading Challenge books I read in May were:

As I predicted, I read A House With Good Bones first, because of course I did. I’m a big fan of T Kingfisher’s work and am working my way through them when they become available at the library. They are also on my to-buy list when I find the specific editions I want.

What I’ve learned from Between the World and Me will stay with me for a very long time. A great companion read to two other books I’ve read from the 325 Reading Challenge: Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde and An Autobiography by Angela Y. Davis back in February.

Carmen Maria Machado is the only author who appears twice on my 2025 TBR. Why? She’s written both non-fiction and fiction that work really well as companion reads. I read In The Dream House in January and, once I saw it was available at the library, I picked up and have now read Her Body and Other Parties. I highly recommend reading both together. Tales from the Cafe allowed me to revisit the haunted (time-traveling optional) Tokyo cafe again after reading the original Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I recommend reading the books in order.

May book reviews

1. Review: A House With Good Bones by T Kingfisher

2. Review: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (non-fiction)

3. Review: Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado (fiction)

4. Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (fiction)

June Book TBR (To Be Read)

My 325 Reading Challenge pile of books for June includes a new addition that replaced a fiction book I didn’t finish from earlier in the challenge:

1. The Southern Book Club’s Guide To Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix (fiction)

2. Abroad In Japan by Chris Broad (non-fiction)

3. Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison (fiction)

4. How To Be Right In A World Gone Wrong by James O’Brien (non-fiction)

5. Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories From Social Justice, edited by Adrienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha (fiction)

I know I’ll pick up the Grady Hendrix first because of course I will, having already read two of his books this year. Chris Broad is a British YouTuber who lives in Japan. I discovered his YouTube channel in 2020 during Lockdown. Now I have his book and know I’ll be hearing it in the voice of Mr Affable himself without needing an audiobook. This will be my first Rachel Harrison book and my first time reading some of the authors in Octavia’s Brood. The latter is the new addition to the 325 Reading Challenge. I look forward to discovering new favorites.

What are you reading in June?

How to take part in the 325 Reading Challenge

We’re only in June, so there’s still time to join the 325 Reading Challenge. The full details can be found in the launch blog post. In brief: read twenty-five fiction books and twenty-five non-fiction books in 2025.

If you want to recommend books you’ve enjoyed, you can post on social media with the hashtags #325ReadingChallenge and #ReadingRecommendations

Let me know if you join in the comments or find me on social media, mainly on Bluesky.

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Mary Wyrd Creative Virtual Assistant

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