The Nerd Daily Reading Challenge Completed

It’s taken me around 8 months, but I have completed another reading challenge for 2025. I embarked on The Nerd Daily Reading Challenge again, and enjoyed the prompts because they were broad enough to interpret for any book that I had on my shelf. There were some that were specific, and a few that I found I had to fit something into a little bit randomly – like bought on holiday, as I don’t always go on holiday. I’m pleased that I managed to do it though, and always take a look at the prompts each year to see what they are like. This year was good because I had most of the books on my shelf or come to me through review packages. It does mean that there might be times I read the same book some years, because it largely depends on what I have access to with other books. I read as diversely as possible, working with what I had and what I was sent throughout the year. I think I read some really good books, and will check out what is on offer for the challenge next year when the time comes.

1. 2025 release: Nephthys by Rachel Louise Driscoll
2. Judge a book by its cover: Unhallowed Halls by Lili Wilkinson
3. Recommended by The Nerd Daily: The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman
4. Debut Author: How to Be Normal by Ange Crawford
5. Green on Cover: Chickenpox by Remy Lai
6. An audiobook: First Chapters: Your Kid’s Next Read Summer Series – Dani Vee, Riley’s Failproof Guide to Breaking a School Record
7. Set in the decade you were born (1980s): Kip of the Karoo by Emma Gourlay
8. A new author to you: The Not-So-Little Tree by Marcus Addison
9. Author starting with J: Searching for Treasure by Johanna Bell and Emma Long
10. Title is red: Panic by Catherine Jinks
11. Released in July 2025: Quoll by Christopher Cheng and Cindy Lane
12. A sequel: Bravepaw and the Rotwood Mire by L.M. Wilkinson and Lavanya Naidu
13. Award-winning: The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku
14. Picked by a loved one: Heidi by Johanna Spyri
15. 350-499 pages: This Dream Will Devour Us by Emma Clancey
16. Author with an X, Y or Z in their name: Square Me, Round World: Stories of Growing Up in a World Not Built for You by Chelsea Luker and Eliza Fricker
17. Animal on cover: Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles by Corey Tutt, art by Ben Williams
18. A 2024 release you neglected: The Hunt for the Tasmanian Tiger by David Webby
19. Workplace or holiday setting: A Loo of One’s Own: A Mostly True Tale of Australia’s First Female Parliamentarians by Eleri Harris
20. Illustrations or images within: Tubowgule by Melissa-Jane Fogarty  
21. Features siblings:  The Girls Who Changed the World: Ming and Maria Explore the Universe by Jackie French
22. Protagonist starting with P: Epically Good Greek Myths by R.A. Spratt (Nanny Piggins)
23. Book with orange spine: Sunny at the End of the World by Steph Bowe
24. Bookstore or library recommendation: The 113^th Assistant Librarian by Stuart Wilson
25. A book you’ve been putting off: The Mademoiselle Alliance by Natasha Lester
26. Spooky or cosy: The Lost Notes of the Soul Spinners by Reece Carter
27. A genre you don’t usually read (science fiction): The Surface Trials by HM Waugh
28. Gifted to you: Made of Steam and Stardust by Bianca Breen
29. Illustrated cover: Little Bones by Sandy Bigna
30. An author you love: How to Sail to Somewhere by Ashleigh Barton
31. A book that’s hot right now: Seven Wherewithal Way: Into the Faerie Realm by Samantha-Ellen Bound
32. 2025 adaptation: Miss Austen by Gill Hornby
33. A book you know nothing about: The Last Egg by Sofie Laguna and Jess Racklyeft
34. Title starts with A or L: Legend of the Lighthouse Moon by Helen Edwards
35. Multiple perspectives: Wait Here by Lucy Nelson
36. Standalone: Salty by Sandi Parsons
37. Set in winter: Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
38. A different nationality: Finding Alfie: A D-Day Story by Michael Morpurgo
39. Three-word title: The Spirit Circle by Tara Calaby
40. A queer main character: A Good Kind of Trouble by Brooke Blurton and Melanie Saward
41. Thriller or romance: Win, Lose, Kill, Die by Cynthia Murphy
42. Wish you had or read when you were younger: Thunderhead by Sophie Beer
43. Part of a duology: Skipshock by Caroline O’Donoghue
44. Quoted by an author you like: Wilder Zoo: Neeka and the Missing Key by Tina Strachan and illustrated by Max Hamilton
45. Recommended by a friend: The Girl and the Ghost by Jacqueline Harvey
46. Bought on holiday: The Autist’s Guide to the Galaxy: Navigating the World of ‘normal people’ by Clara Törnvall, translated by Alice E. Ossman
47. #OwnVoices: Earth Speak: Boodjar Wangkiny by Sean McCann and Jane Goodwin
48. Under 250 pages: Hello Butterfly by Leanne Frost
49. Murder or a wedding: Blood Moon Bride by Demet Divaroren
50. Five-syllable title: The Other Shadow by Tania Ingram
51. Two or more authors: Spirit of the Crocodile by Aaron Fa’aoso and Michelle Scott Tucker with Lyn White
52. Reader’s choice: Willow Bright’s Secret Plot by A.L. Tait