Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge 2025 - January Update: The Folcroft Ghosts & Nuclear Time

Happy Saturday everyone!  I hope everyone's been doing well so far this year.  We're now midway through January and I've completed my first 2 tasks for Book Riot's 2025 Read Harder Challenge.  The tasks I completed in January required me to read a book about obsession and a book about a piece of media you love (a TV show, a movie, a band, etc).  I selected The Folcroft Ghosts by Darcy Coates and Nuclear Time (Doctor Who: New Series Adventures #40) by Oli Smith respectively.  Read on to see my mini reviews and my plans for next month:

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The Folcroft Ghosts by Darcy Coates is a YA horror novel that I'm glad I stuck with. It's a solid read, but it didn't quite hook me as much as I was hoping to right away. That said though the final act more than makes up for it. Plus, it's always cool to see a big reader and a blogger as well so it was good to meet the siblings, Kyle and Tara. 

My review is also on Goodreads.

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Nuclear Time (Doctor Who: New Series Adventures #40) by Oli Smith isn't a bad series five adventure, but it's not a favorite tie-in novel from this tv series.  Mainly, I wish book Amy, Rory, and The Doctor all felt a little more like themselves tv counterparts.  Rory is my favorite from this TARDIS team and Oli Smith missed mark the most with his character of the group.  If you're a fan of the show and like reading these extra adventures, you might want to try this even if it isn't one of the best.

My review is also on Goodreads.

Next Up For February:

Read a romance book that doesn’t have an illustrated cover.

My choice: A Taste for Love by Jennifer Yen - I've noticed this is a fairly popular YA book at the library.  Plus, the two on the front are drinking boba and I do like boba.  It's also a Pride & Prejudice retelling.

Read a staff pick from an indie bookstore. (Preferably, from your local indie bookstore.)

My choice: The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien by John Hendrix - This graphic biographic sounds like it could be perfect to me.

Are you taking part in this challenge?  Have you read any of these books?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!