Jackie's challenge in 2025

Hello, welcome to my 2025 Category Challenge thread! I’m Jackie, I live in Scotland and work as a research nurse, and I also dabble with creative writing and sketching/painting. I’ve been in this group since 2016, although unlike many I stick to the same categories every year. I love the book chat here and I expect I will get hit with more great books to read this year thanks to all your recommendations. I mostly read narrative non-fiction, but I do try to read at least a little bit of fiction too! As usual, as long as I have at least one book in each category by the end of the year I’ll be happy!

I had good intentions to choose pictures for each theme to brighten up the thread, but life has got away with me (again), including a family bereavement (at the start of the year we will be saying our final goodbye to my mother-in-law, who died in early December), so I’ve not really been in the mood. It will be a subdued start to the year, but I hope to find lots of comfort and inspiration in the books and threads I read. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone else is reading too.

1. Central & Eastern Europe/Former Soviet Union

A part of the world I find endlessly fascinating. I have been lucky enough to work and study in Romania and Moldova, and travel to a few other countries in the region too, so this is where I record the books I read related to this part of the world.

2. Non-fiction (general)

Non-fiction books which don't comfortably fit in any of my other more specific categories. (this one is usually quite full!)

3. Contemporary fiction (1969-present)

All fiction, all genres, contemporary with me, so from 1969 to the present day.

4. Sexual & reproductive health & rights/gender/sexuality/parenting/children

My PhD broadly covered these topics, and I've picked up a lot of related books over the years, so this is where they go.

5. Celtic

For all those books relating to the Celtic nations and regions. Rather Scotland-heavy as that is where I have made my home, but Wales, Ireland, Cornwall, Brittany etc are all welcome too.

6. Vintage (1900-1968) and Ancient fiction (pre-1900)

A combined fiction category, as I don't have that many books in either category. I really struggle with particularly pre-1900 books, so don't expect this category to be bulging! But I don't want to abandon them completely.

7. Poetry

I've always put poetry in my fiction categories, but it hasn't ever felt quite right, so last year I made it a new category.

8. Academic

During and after my PhD I managed to acquire a lot of academic books with supremely good intentions of reading them. Even though I'm not working in academia any more, I do still want to get to at least some of them.

9. Biography/autobiography/memoir/true story

I find people's lives so interesting, so this is where memoirs etc go.

10. Travel

I'm always up for armchair travelling!

11. Religious

Primarily books relating to Christianity, but hopefully not exclusively.

12. Nature/landscape/environment/place

This is the genre I read most frequently, and I am excited for the NatureKIT this year.

Doors open - welcome to my thread!

Hi Jackie - Nice to see you here again. Sorry about your mother-in-law. Always seems extra hard around the holidays. I'm looking forward to following up with you again this year and the many BBs I'm sure I'll be taking.

>15 dudes22: Thank you, I always manage to get BBs from you coming in the other direction too! It has been a bit of a weird end to the year, everything is sparkly and happy and we've been trying to organise a funeral. But, we will gather next week and celebrate a long life well lived.

I'll probably visit threads over the next few days, but am dropping stars anyway so I hopefully don't miss anyone I like to follow in 2025.

Interesting categories! Enjoy your 2025 reading!