After I finally managed to finish the Toronto Public Library’s reading challenge last year, after so many years of leaving it half-done, some of you asked if I was planning to do the new challenge.

Not likely, I said. But then the 2025 challenge was in the form of a Bingo card. Which I found irresistible. Almost immediately, “not likely” transformed into “maybe”.

So, then I thought, well, I’ll just complete a column or a line: that will be fun.

And, since then, I’ve read 12 books… none of which connect to form a column or line. (Honestly, what are the odds? I’m not math-y.)

Some I’ve written about here already, and I’ve included their National identity (as they, themselves, have defined it, whenever possible) in brackets, because I’m choosing Indigenous, First Nations, and/or Inuit writers.

3. A Book Written By a Neurodivergent Author:
i heard a crow before I was born by jules delorme (2024) [Kanien’kehá:ka]

9. A Book about Nature:
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2024) [Citizen Potawatomi Nation]

18. A Book by an Author Who Has Written More than 25 Books:
Black Ice by Thomas King (2024) [Cherokee/German-Greek]

19. A Book with Ghosts:
Exposure by Ramona Emerson (2024) [Diné]

20. A Book Likely to Become a Classic:
Don’t Take Your Love to Town by Ruby Langford (1988) [Bundjalung, Aboriginal]

But I’ve read seven books that fit seven other categories too, so I’ll share more about those next time. (Sneak peek in the accompanying image!)

Which categories would you find the easiest, and which the most challenging? Is there one that is neither the hardest or easiest but which strikes you as exceptionally interesting?

And, if you were going to choose a theme, to add another layer of challenge to your reading, what would you choose?