Mid-Year Update and Favorite Reads from the 325 Reading Challenge
What do bones, houses, vampires, race, and generational trauma all have in common?
They feature in my favorite reads at the midway point of the 325 Reading Challenge!
The what? Get comfortable, friend, and let me tell you.
The 325 Reading Challenge is a Mary Wyrd Reading Challenge. It involves reading twenty-five fiction and twenty-five non-fiction books from our personal TBR (To Be Read) Lists during 2025. I opened the challenge up to anyone and everyone. A few folks over on The StoryGraph picked it up.
How has it gone? Let’s find out.
325 Reading Challenge Book List
As I explained in the 325 Reading Challenge launch blog, I chose all the books from my ever-growing To Be Read list in November 2024. Yes, I am usually that proactive. Most books are sourced from my local library services, which I have used for decades. I love my local libraries so much that I used to work there.
Using my library for so many books was a strategic risk. I can’t afford to buy all these books. In fact, I only own a small percentage of the books on the list. The only other option is the library. Other people use the library (obviously and also yey) so there was a chance that some books wouldn’t be available when I wanted them. Or even at all. Some of these titles are almost never available, they are that popular. Way to go, authors!
Libraries, I love you! And thank you to the librarian who renewed my library card this year.
So, what have I read? Let’s look at the updated graphics and the reading lists!
Starting with the fiction list.
325 Reading Challenge fiction mid-year update
I have ten fiction books left to read from the original list! How many did I actually read?
Let’s find out. The links on the titles will send you to the book reviews on The StoryGraph.
Full Immersion by Gemma Amor. Pending.
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield. DNF.
Bunny by Mona Awad. DNF.
Wise Children by Angela Carter. Pending.
The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo. DNF.
A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos. Pending.
The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez. Read.
Poor Things by Alasdair Gray. Pending.
The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall. Pending.
Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison. Read.
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix. Read.
The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi. Pending.
House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias. Read.
We Have Always Lived In the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Pending.
Tales from the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. Read.
A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. Read.
The Fisherman by John Langan. Read.
Lone Women by Victor LaValle. Read.
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado. Read.
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce. Pending.
The Black Lizard by Edogawa Rampo. Read.
Some Prefer Nettles by Junichiro Tanizaki. Read.
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward. Pending.
All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes. Pending.
The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. Pending.
From the original reading list, I have read eleven fiction books!
Additional Fiction List
In addition, I tried to replace the books I DNF’ed with a different book. Thankfully, I’ve actually read some books from this list or this reading list would risk becoming the Ship of Theseus! The extra books are:
The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica. Read.
Octavia's Brood edited by Arienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha. Pending.
Wooing The Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis. Pending.
Adding that one book means I have read twelve fiction books out of twenty-five.
So, what does our non-fiction list look like now?
325 Reading Challenge non-fiction mid-year update
I have fourteen non-fiction books left to read from the original list!
The links on the titles will send you to the book reviews on The StoryGraph. How many did I read?
Gather Together In My Name by Maya Angelou. Pending.
Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates. Pending.
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir. Pending.
Abroad in Japan by Chris Broad. Read.
Create Dangerously by Albert Camus. Pending.
In Defence of Witches by Mona Chollet. Read.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Read.
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez. Pending.
The Anarchy by William Dalrymple. DNF.
An Autobiography by Angela Y. Davis. Read.
The Furies by Elizabeth Flock. Pending.
Made In Manchester by Brian Groom. DNF.
All About Love by bell hooks. Pending.
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde. Read.
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado. Read.
Guest House for Young Widows by Azadeh Moaveni. Pending.
Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto. Read.
How to Be Right In A World Gone Wrong by James O’Brien. Read.
102 Ways to Write A Novel by Alex Quick. DNF.
Femina by Janina Ramirez. Pending.
The Book Makers by Adam Smyth. Pending.
Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit. Pending.
Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward. Pending.
Guilty Thing: A Life of Thomas De Quincey by Frances Wilson. Pending.
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. Pending.
From the original list, I have read eight books.
Additional Non-Fiction List
As with the fiction, so with the non-fiction. I have replaced the non-fiction books I DNF’d with:
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney
Written In Bone by Professor Dame Sue Black
Black Cats and Evil Eyes by Chloe Rhodes
So I’m still at eight out of twenty-five non-fiction books that I’ve read in 2025 (from the challenge).
In total I have read twenty out of fifty books.
I might not read fifty reading challenge books, but I am enjoying the journey.
I’ve also found some really wonderful books.
Mid-Year 325 Reading List favorite reads
It wasn’t easy picking only five books, but here they are, in no particular order:
House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias.
Autobiography by Angela Y. Davis.
The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher.
I don’t give star ratings, but if I did, these five books would have the most stars.
What Mary read next
I’ve already planned which books I’m reading in July in my June Update blog post. But I’m always on the lookout for new books to read. In fact, I’ve actually read twenty-seven books so far in 2025. Some must-read books were available to me and I couldn’t resist! That includes some wonderful ARC’s (Advanced Reader Copies) from clients. I hope for the same during the rest of 2025.
What did you read and love in 2025? What are you reading now?
Happy reading!