👻 The Manuscript Marauders 👻 BookTalk Reading Challenge October 2025

Log only the books you finish or DNF from October 1, 2025 to October 31, 2025. The logging will start and end at midnight whatever time zone you're in. The logging will officially stop at midnight PST October 31. (Pacific Time).

Log books within 3 days of finishing / DNFing them. Please DO NOT log pages that you intend to read or page counts of books that are in your TBR. ONLY FINISHED PAGES SHOULD BE LOGGED!

Add the book title/ author/ format and page count to the post you have reserved in your team’s thread (which will be posted by your captain). You will edit this post as you keep reading. You will also be adding the same page counts in the Google sheet that will be shared in your team’s thread.

Wherever possible, please use Amazon’s page counts for logging pages. For ebooks and audiobooks, use Kindle page counts. For paperbacks and hardcovers, use paperback page counts. If you cannot find the book on Amazon, you can use other legitimate sources.

For online fiction, use word count divided by 300 to log pages.

If you DNF, or if you are continuing a book from June, log only the pages you’ve read. You can use percentage read (at the point of DNF) for ebooks, actual page numbers for paperbacks and for audiobooks, log pages based on number of hours read (40 pages per hour at normal speed)

You are responsible for tracking your own reading. Please keep an accurate log of the books you finish. We trust you to be honest. And while we understand the spirit of competitiveness, please also remember that the Reading Challenge is designed to motivate you to read more and beat your own personal counts, so you are competing with yourself!

Lastly, have fun! This is not meant to stress you out, or cause a burn out, it's meant to nurture a love of reading. Read what you can, how much you can, when you can!

Red: NOT playing Book Bingo

WildestDreams (C)

Bee222

Leenaaa

ssttuuttii

MoodyMango

wallflowergirl

minakrish

heavenlybliss

DMGThings

LadyWhistledown

TheMinion

Srijeeta06

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lyxF2LeKbpTG7KzbfVqHvHTTpoo8SvKWJaUaF1vWTv4/edit?usp=drivesdk

Each team will have 25 tasks to do; and each team member will be required to complete at least 2 tasks (aka read 2 books) for your team in order to win the participation badge

Captains, please post your team’s thread like always. The first post will have names of team members, rules, link to excel sheet and in the second post, you can post the Bingo Rules & mention who is doing what task.

The Bingo card will be posted on Oct 1st at 8 pm IST. You will have until Oct 3rd 8 pm IST to decide on the tasks and then the Bingo will officially begin. You also have this time period to clear any doubts/ queries about the tasks.

If a team member is non-responsive (hasn't volunteered for any task) by Oct 7th OR if a team member signs up and does not complete at least one task by Oct 15th, you can assign the same task to someone else in your team/ another volunteer can pick it up.

Each completed task carries 10 points.

Every row (5), diagonal (2) & colored group task (5) completed by a team carries an additional 50 points, but will be awarded only to the first team to complete them. For eg: If your team finishes all the Red colored tasks first, your team is awarded 50 points. Only those teams that tag me (I will be checking the time stamps) on completion will be considered for points.

Completing all the tasks on the grid (aka Bingo) carries 100 points, and will be awarded to the first team that completes it.

At the end of the challenge, we will total up the points and the winning team gets a special siggy.

When you complete a task on the grid, please also mention how the book relates to the task given. For eg: If the task is ‘Read a mystery book’, please post a short blurb of the book that highlights the genre, so that it’s easy for me to verify if the task has been completed accurately.

Captains (or anyone else in the team who's available) can make a master post with your team's target and then edit it later to add the links to the completed tasks posted by each team member. For eg: A volunteer can make a post stating that your team is going after the Middle Row and then edit it to add links as the tasks are completed. Then tag me, with the link to the master post and I will check based on the time stamp for when I was tagged. Since calling out 'Bingo' only counts even in the real game, if a team completes a row/diagonal/colored group ahead of everyone else but fails to tag me, then they don't win that row.

We know it's a team challenge and everyone gets competitive and wants to win, but please please don't cheat and mark the task as completed without reading the book just so your team can win/ claim Bingo.

The same thread can be used for Bingo and the Reading Challenge, meaning Captains will post both sets of Rules, then individual team members will reserve their log posts and then the discussion for Bingo can begin.

Books or FFs can count towards a challenge unless explicitly mentioned, but the minimum page number criterion of 60 pages must be maintained. Meaning you cannot read multiple one page FFs and log them as one task.

DNF pages will also not count; for a task to be considered completed on the Grid, only finished books will count.

Book Bingo Challenge:

1. Own Voices – Bee ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167379155

2. NY Times Best Seller list – Flower✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167396486

3. Holiday/ Festival themed – Hiral ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167386443

4. A translation – Leena✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167441319

5. Rated below 3 stars on GoodReads – Flower ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167380350

6. Education/ Science themed – Flower ✅https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167380368

7. Single Word Title – Mrina ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167379138

8. Superhero Fanfiction – Stuti ✅https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167379146

9. Part of series – WD ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167380586

10. Written in first person – Hinna✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167380545

11. Movie/ Series adaptation – Leena ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167456439

12. Animated Book Cover – Mrina ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167385602

13. Read by someone else in August – Bee ✅https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167379155

14. Number in Title – WD ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167380237

15. Punny Title – Bee ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167391953

16. Futuristic or Dystopian – Stuti ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167388837

17. Author’s name starts with S – Bee ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167380233

18. Author’s debut – Mrina✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167385602

19. Non-human characters – Mrina ✅https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167379138

20. A Retelling – Hinna ✅https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167428837

21. Historical Fiction – Hiral ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167380354

22. Published in the 2000s – Bee ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167386429

23. Recommendation by a member of another team – Stuti ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167385936

24. Set in India – WD✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167384163

25. More than 400 pages – WD ✅ https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167379145

✔️Claimed Diagonal 1 https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167379167

✔️ Claimed Red group tasks https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167380263

✔️ Claimed Diagonal 2 https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167380602

✔️ Claimed Row 2 https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/167380595

Bingo Card Template credit: oh_nakhrewaali

1. Own Voices: Book written by an author that represents the same minority/ marginalized population as the book character. For eg: A book where the main protagonist is autistic written by an autistic author or a book where MCs are BIPOC/ LGBTQ+ written by someone who is also from the BIPOC/LGBTQ+ community

2. NY Times Best Seller list: A book that has been in the NY times best seller list.

3. Holiday/ Festival themed: A book based around a major holiday like Christmas or Easter or Eid/ Diwali etc. Any festival is acceptable provided it forms part of the plot of the book.

4. A translation: An English translation of a book/ FF originally published in a different language. Please mention the original language and the name of the translator in your log.

5. Rated below 3 stars on Good Reads: Self-explanatory (check the overall rating on GR)

6. Education/ Science themed: A book/ FF that is based in an educational institution such as a school/ college/ university or one where the MCs have occupations in Education i.e. teachers/ professors/ students/ research based/ working in STEM occupations such as medical/ engineering/ scientists etc. Please mention how the book fits this criteria in your log.

7. Single Word Title: Self-explanatory

8. Superhero Fanfiction: This has to specifically be a FF, can involve any superhero from any Universe.

9. Part of series: Can be any book which forms a part of a series; either a continuing series or an interconnected one.

10. Written in first person: First person PoV narrative style.

11. Movie/ Series adaptation: A book that has been adapted into a movie/ series. Note: Unreleased/ ongoing productions or announcements will not count. It must be a movie/ series that is already released.

12. Animated Book Cover: Something like this:

Note: If a book has been published with multiple covers, I'll still accept it if one of them is animated provided it's a legit one and not fan-made. Please add a pic of the cover in your log!

13. Read by someone else in August: I'll open the August RC sheet and make it accessible for you all, and you can pick a book that someone else has logged from there. Mention the UN of the person in your log.

14. Number in Title: The title of the book (or FF) MUST have a number in it. For eg: Nine Rules to break when romancing a rake.

15. Punny Title: The title must have a pun. Eg: Dead over heels; Sticks & Scones, Bratfest at Tiffany's etc

16. Futuristic or Dystopian: Set in the future or a Dystopian world.

17. Author's name starts with S: I'll accept first or last name starting with S

18. Author's debut: Self-explanatory

19. Non- human characters: A book/ FF that has a non-human character. For eg: werewolves or wraiths or any fantasy creatures/ animals will be accepted.

20. A Retelling: Any retelling such as fairy tale/ folk/ modern. For eg: Pride and Prejudice retelling set in the modern world.

21. Historical Fiction: Can be any genre as long as it's set in the past (I'll accept anything upto the 1960s)

22. Published in the 2000s: Anything that was published between 2000 and 2009.

23. Recommendation by a member of another team: You can tag one person whose tastes match yours and ask for 3 recs, or tag 3 people and ask each for one recommendation. Note that you cannot endlessly keep tagging people until you find a rec that suits you. The max you can tag is 3, and get 3 recs and pick one of them to read. I'll need a link to the post where you got the rec to verify.

24. Set in India: Self-explanatory. Please mention where in India it takes place in your log. Note: Fictional towns won't be allowed, it has to be a real place.

25. More than 400 pages: Self- explanatory.

WildestDreams Page Log

• The truths we burn by Monty Jay — 409 pages

• The only one by Lauren Blakely — 140 pages

• Forever yours by Neha Khanagwal — 262 pages

• Dream of you by J. L Armentrout — 147 pages

• The lies we steal by Monty Jay — 484 pages

• The blood we crave - Part 1 by Monty Jay — 381 pages

• The blood we crave - Part 2 by Monty Jay — 333 pages

• Il signore degli anelli by JRR Tolkien (trilogy) — 1291 pages

• L'amica geniale by Elena Ferrante — 378 pages

• Storia del nuovo cognome by Elena Ferrante — 557 pages

• Storia di chi fugge e chi resta by Elena Ferrante — 485 pages

• Storia della bambina perduta by Elena Ferrante — 559 pages

The Count of Monte Cristo | Alexandre Dumas | 551 pages

The Pearl | John Steinbeck | 106 pages

The Music Made Me Do It | Gohar Mushtaq | 44 pages – Resuming next month

The Thursday Murder Club | Richard Osman | 47 pages – DNF

HB's October 2025 Page Log

1. Are You The One (Chinese) by Kuang Shang Jia Kuang (online) - Continued from page 190 - 204 - 14 pages

2. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (ebook) - Continued from page 334 - 514 - 180 pages - 3 stars ✅- It took a while to get into the writing style, and even though the plot was typical and predictable, it was a nice read. I just wish it was more emotional rather than light.

3. The Turn Of The Key by Ruth Ware (ebook) - Continued from page 125 - 337 - 212 pages✅ - 4.5 stars - It was a bit slow at times but overall engaging and the ending broke my heart into tiny pieces. So even though it was predictable I liked the emotions it invoked at the end.

4. The Fury by Alex Michaelides (ebook) - Continued from page 138-336 - 198 pages - 2.5 stars✅ - So disappointing with boring twists. Only his debut novel TSP was worth reading.

Total page count = 604 pages

Bingo Challenge Page Log

1. Death Row by Freida McFadden (ebook) - 74 pages✅ - 3.5 stars - Written in first person - I was really into this until the twist messed it up and the ending left me even more confused than Verity some parts reminded me of Pen Pal but that was so much better than this. Disappointed with Freida yet again.

2. The Wild Man by Alex Grayson (ebook) - 317 pages✅ - 5 stars - Tarzan Retelling - The themes of this book reminded me of Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas. I really enjoyed this book as that one, perhaps even more. It has become one of my favourite dark romance.

3. The Crash by Frieda McFadden (ebook) - 388 pages✅ - 4 stars - NYT best seller 2025 - The twist was typical but at least the story kept me engaged. Typical Frieda style.

4. Disavow by Bella Di Corte (ebook) - 237 pages (to be continued) - one word title

5. The Liars Wife by Samantha Hayes (ebook) - 132 pages (to be continued) - authors name starts with S

Total page count = 1148 pages

Total page count for all books = 1752 pages

minakrish’s page logs – October 2025

🎱 Book Bingo Challenge Reads:

1. The Mountain and The Sea by Alexis.Danaan — Non Human Character — 145 pages
2. Evermore by Corinne Michaels — Single word title — 124 pages
3. One Week With You by JR Jenner — Author’s debut — 162 pages
4. The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary — Animated book cover — 354 pages
5. Every Rose has its Thorns by feistyferret — More than 400 pages — 452 pages
6. A Season of Miracles by nebula2 — Festive/holiday theme — 430 pages
7. Wo Yaqeen Ka Ik Naya Safar by Farhat Ishtiaq — A translation — 128 pages
8. 500 Days Of Summer: Screenplay — Number in Title — 119 pages
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling — Part of series — 640 pages
10. A Walk To Remember by Nicholas Sparks — Movie series Adaptation — 208 pages
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling — Published in 2000s — 640 pages
12. Lallan Sweets by Srishti Chaudhury — Set in India — 250 pages

📚 Other October Reads:

1) i fear/no fate - EnchantedPixie495, ifyouwereamelody — 188 pages

2) Mine - Curiositykils — 409 pages

3) Living the Dream - Ally147 — 92 pages

4) Signet - Oldmedina - 118 pages

5) Wheel of the Year - thewitchiestwriter — 158 pages

6) Wrecked by You - Oldmedina — 132 pages

7) The Grey - Sc2014 — 146 pages

8) Sit Beside Me - Emara88 — 305 pages

9) Heartfelt Consequences - fangr8 — 184 pages

10) My Amortentia - feistyferret — 374 pages

11) Five Days - galfoy — 147 pages

12) Alone in Paradise & The Swap Box - galfoy — 74 pages

13) A Gallows Marriage - MilaBelle — 541 pages

14) things past - ninepiecesofcrait — 148 pages

15) 3 One Shots:

Malicious Intent - morriganmercy

sundress season - ninepiecesofcrait

Unplanned - girlfromthebar

— 106 pages

16) call it what you want - HawthorneWhisperer — 119 pages

17) On the Rocks - ninepiecesofcrait — 214 pages

18) Mercy Show to Me - Anogete — 385 pages

19) Intermundane - Anogete — 372 pages

20) Aparecium - LadyKenz347 — 195 pages

21) Ordinary People - inadaze22 — 446 pages

22) Ours to Keep - head_over_heels016 — 423 pages

23) Lazarus - constantblathering — 589 pages

24) Finding the Courage to Live Again - nebula2 — 1244 pages

25) Aftershock - nebula2 — 724 pages

26) The Start of Our Journey Through Life - nebula2 — 565 pages

27) The Vow - ECleveland — 463 pages

Total Page Count: 12,513 pages

(Links for fan-fictions are on the Google Sheet. Done for this month.😮‍💨)

ssttuuttii Page Log for October 2025

Fandoms (Spider-man, MCU and other Marvel shows / comics)

Blue = complete stories
🅱️ = Book Bingo

1. 🅱️ Not a Damsel - beforethemoon - 63 pages [Superhero Fanfiction]
   
2. 🅱️ Going Down In Flames - missxiumore - 100 pages [Futuristic / Dystopian]
   
3. 🅱️ Jillybean & the body - Peter M - 104 pages [Recommendation by a member of another team]
   
4. 🅱️ Your Dearly Devoted - TheMidnightThief - 181 pages [Historical Fiction]
   
5. Fire Hazard - omgyippe - 272 pages
   
6. I'll give you my best side, tell you all my best lies - oneshinyapple - 89 pages
   
7. On Days That End In "Y" - oneshinyapple
   head first; no regrets - oneshinyapple
   In the Gold Room - oneshinyapple
   79 pages
8. second-hand smoke - cyupids - 81 pages
   
9. we're the lifers - cyupids
   Spin The F*cking Bottle - mynamescalzy
   Burning Love - reluctantlyryn
   Day 6 - Role Reversal - is_a_book
   80 pages
10. did we look like partners in crime? - itskotka - 71 pages
    
11. MJ and the spreadsheets - KByrd - 88 pages
    
12. Harley is having way too much fun - KByrd
    We're Never Too Far Apart - kingdomfaraway
    unexpected swap - mrstinky
    79 pages
13. Death Before Inaction - hppjmxrgosg - 189 pages
    

🅱️ook 🅱️ingo = 448 pages
Total = 1476 pages

Bee's Oct Page Log

Total :- 14200

Bingo (card complete ✅)

Category - Title - Author - Format - Page count

1. Own Voices - My Sister the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite - ebook - 242

2. NYT bestseller - Bride - Ali Hazelwood - ebook - 403

3. Holiday/festival themed - Season's Schemings - Katie Bailey - audiobook - 262

4. A Translation - Whereabouts - Jhumpa Lahiri - paperback - 208

5. Rated below 3 stars on GR - I Kissed the Grump Next Door - Charity Bee Ames - ebook - 130

6. Education/Science themed - Stuck with You - Ali Hazelwood - ebook - 147

7. Single word title - Coraline - Neil Gaiman - paperback - 208
8. Superhero FF - 5 Times Peter and Tony are Separated. - samos7 - ao3 - 65

9. Part of Series - Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins - paperback - 448
10. Written in 1st person - The Broken Vows - Daniel Hurst - audiobook - 197
11. Movie/Series adaptation - One of Us is Lying - Karen M. McManus - audiobook - 368
12. Animated book cover - It's Not Me, It's You - Alex Light - ebook - 379
13. Read by someone else in Aug - Peril at End House - Agatha Christie - ebook - 256
14. Number in title - Below Zero - Ali Hazelwood - ebook - 157
15. Punny title - Faeted to Fall - A K Caggiano - audiobook - 164
16. Futuristic/Dystopian - Animal Farm - George Orwell - ebook - 120
17. Author's name starts with S - Court of Tricksters - S L Prater - audiobook - 272
18. Author's Debut - Sometimes I Lie - Alice Feeney - paperback - 384
19. Non-human character - The Baby Dragon Cafe - A. T. Qureshi - audiobook - 317
20. A retelling - Spindle Fire - Lexa Hillyer - audiobook - 373
21. Historical fiction - Devil in Winter - Lisa Kleypas - ebook - 384
22. Published in 2000s - The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins - paperback - 448
23. Rec by a member of another team - The Writer - James Patterson - ebook - 400
24. Set in India - Luv Under Starlight - N. M. Patel - ebook - 402
25. More than 400 pages - Everyone a Stranger by Kevin O'Brien - ebook - 414

Other books

Title - Author - Format - Page count

The Wrong Daughter - Dandy Smith - ebook - 81 (cont from Sep)
This Vicious Grace - Emily Thiede - paperback - 210 (cont from Sep)

Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins - paperback - 448
Crowne of Lies - C D Reiss - ebook - 314
If Love Had a Price - Ana Huang - ebook - 78 (DNF)

Heiress Takes All - Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka - ebook - 363

Tempting the Scoundrel - Katrina Kendrick - paperback - 325

The North Wind - Alexandria Warwick - ebook - 446

Starling House - Alix E Harrow - paperback - 448

To Con a Gentleman - Sarah Adams - ebook - 284
The Stranger in the Mirror - Liv Constantine - paperback - 336
The Guest List - Lucy Foley - audiobook - 381
Rival - Penelope Douglas - ebook - 370

The Hating Game - Sally Thorne - ebook - 387

The Forbidden Wish - Jessica Khoury - ebook - 350

Ward D - Freida McFadden - ebook - 348

Other fanfics

Title - Author - Page count

Late hours - youkeptthepieces - 99
and the saints go marching in - excel_siors - 95
{Inside Your Mind - excel_siors

rotten work - mbwff} - 71

never known how it broke me down - RunnyYolk - 171
ring the changes - kaythebest - 151
finger cuffs - nonheather - 102

One Step Closer - Chimmy_Loves_Kookies - 1033
{Capital Letters - nimy
Only love can hurt like this - chaand
out of the woodwork - lvlyvmk} - 76
from a place the world forgot - lvlyvmk - 85

Well, mujhe kuch samajh nahin aaya Do I put number of pages I read in this post?

If yes, then….

Books completed so far:

1. Online, Desire (Chinese original translated to English) by Nog Jian. Number of pages: approximately 400

2. Paperback. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Number of pages: 315

3. Paperback. Twelve Red Herrings by Jeffery Archer. Number of pages: 324

Total number of pages: 1039 (I can't believe I read so much )

MoodyMango's Page log

1. Kathleen Catches a Killer by M. Louisa Locke - 118 pages (#21 Historical Fiction)
2. Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie - 179 pages (#3 Holiday/ Festival themed)
3. Man of Her Match by Sakshama Puri Dhariwal - 209 pages (#24 Set in India)
4. One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke - 441 pages (#14 Number in Title )
5. A Substitute Wife for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath - 453 pages ( #25 More than 400 pages)

Total page count: 1400 pages ( for book bingo and RC both)