2026 Book Reading Challenges

[Earl the Squirrel]

Just filled in my Goodreads Challenge. I kept it at 100, but I might try to push myself a bit more this year. I made it to 104 (I think) in 2025. I need to update my totals in the 2025 thread. I keep meaning to do it and then whenever I sign on here, I get distracted...ha!

I don't think there's a place for it in Goodreads, but I might make it a personal challenge to maybe read more non-fiction this year. Probably not 50/50, but maybe 60/40 or something. I think my reading is heavily skewed towards fiction, but I'm going to look over last year's list I might be mistaken. Or maybe so many of different genres, or authors I haven't read before, just to spice it up.

Anybody else? Also if you had any goals or accomplishments last year, go write 'em up!

[silverscreenselect]

My reading list is contained in the reviews on my website, plus a few Golden Age mysteries for my book club. My reading pace has slowed down due to my family situation and my illnesses these last few months, but I'm looking to pick things up in 2026. The most recent are:

The Unraveling of Julia - Lisa Scottoline (not on the website yet)
What the Night Brings - Mark Billingham
Powerless - Harry Turtledove
Bat Out of Hell (an anthology inspired by the Meat Loaf album)
Deadly Dolls (another horror anthology about dolls)
Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie - James Lee Burke
The Blue Horse - Bruce Borgos

Non-fiction:

There's No Going Back (biography of Jonathan Demme)
Cesar Romero: The Joker Is Wild (biography)

[Earl the Squirrel]

My reading list is contained in the reviews on my website, plus a few Golden Age mysteries for my book club. My reading pace has slowed down due to my family situation and my illnesses these last few months, but I'm looking to pick things up in 2026. The most recent are:

The Unraveling of Julia - Lisa Scottoline (not on the website yet)
What the Night Brings - Mark Billingham
Powerless - Harry Turtledove
Bat Out of Hell (an anthology inspired by the Meat Loaf album)
Deadly Dolls (another horror anthology about dolls)
Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie - James Lee Burke
The Blue Horse - Bruce Borgos

Non-fiction:

There's No Going Back (biography of Jonathan Demme)
Cesar Romero: The Joker Is Wild (biography)

I read the Scottoline book a little over a month ago. It was semi-interesting, dragged in some parts and left some loose ends but, overall, I liked it fine. Didn't end up where I thought it would and involved some Deus ex machina, but it wasn't a waste of time.

I'm thinking of writing reviews on my Goodreads page, in some parts just so I'll remember what the hell some of these books were about!

Bat Out of Hell and the Cesar Romero bio sound interesting!

[a1mamacat]

Was limited in December, but got rolling with the Rissoli and Isles series by Tess Gerritsen, and am waiting impatiently for the Black Wolf, by Louise Penny.

Also acquire a few cozy mysteries involving bakeries and gardens.

[silverscreenselect]

I'm thinking of writing reviews on my Goodreads page, in some parts just so I'll remember what the hell some of these books were about!

I've been banned from Amazon (they never explained why), even though I had written hundreds of reviews for them and was ranked in their top 2,000 of reviewers. I post my reviews on Goodreads and NetGalley or Book Sirens (for ARC's I get from them) as well as on my website. I've got on my To Do list for this year to update my LinkedIn page and link my NetGalley reviews there as well.

I just posted my review of the Scottoline book today, although I finished it in the waiting room in the hospital this week. I gave it a C.

[Hotseat Or Bust!]

Was limited in December, but got rolling with the Rissoli and Isles series by Tess Gerritsen, and am waiting impatiently for the Black Wolf, by Louise Penny.

Also acquire a few cozy mysteries involving bakeries and gardens.

I've read the entire Rizzoli & Isles series and loved it!! I know it's been a few years since the last book, and I can't find anything where she's stated that she's done with the series, so I keep hoping for an announcement of another book. In the mean time, I plan to start her Martini Club series soon!

[mrkelley23]

New to the challenge, and I'm cheating a little by calling some of these 2026, because some of them I read over Christmas Break, which for me began on Dec. 19. But I didn't post in last year's challenge, so I'm claiming them, so nyah.

Roughly from most recent to oldest:

Better Off Dead -- Lee Child and Andrew Child -- probably just my aversion to the nepotism, but it feels like an inferior writer imitating a superior one.
Kalikimaka Killer -- Jasmine Webb. Webb is a Janet Evanovich wannabe and her character is a Stephanie Plum wannabe. Distracting editing problems, too.

Safe Enough -- Lee Child
The Thursday Murder Club -- Richard Osman. Probably my favorite of the new (to me) authors on this list.
Lethal Prey -- John Sandford
Death of an Irish Mummy -- Catie Murphy. Love the idea of an expat in Dublin in this cozy series.
Death on the Green -- Catie Murphy. Cozy mystery set in Dublin AND golf? Count me in
Guilty by Definition -- Susie Dent. Love the plotting and characters, but the writing style is a bit too precious for me.
Every time I go on Vacation, Someone Dies -- Catharine Mack. Meh
Gunmetal Gray -- Mark Greaney. I wanted to like this series, I really did. And it is (slooooowly) getting better. I may go back to it when I get desperate again.

Spell Booked -- Joyce and Jim Lavene. First in a series called the Retired Witches mysteries, it didn't intrigue me enough to keep going. Still on the may go back to list, though.

Dead in Dublin -- Catie Murphy. First in the series. I believe there are 5 already completed, but my library hasn't seen fit to invest in the last two yet as ebooks.

A Killing in Costume -- Zac Bissonnette. Meh
Ballistic -- Mark Greaney
On Target -- Mark Greaney. These Gray Man books are definitely not cozy. Gory and even more unbelievable than Reacher. And the unbelievable-ness keeps crashing me out of the story.

Missing You -- Harlan Coben. Discovered one that I hadn't read yet.
The Woman in the Library -- Sulari Gentill. I quite liked this one. It was on some newspaper's best of 2025 list.
The Gray Man -- Mark Greaney. First in the series
The Color of Magic -- Terry Pratchett. As someone who was a fan of SF/fantasy in the 70s and 80s, I was a little embarrassed to not have read any of Pratchett's stuff. I lied it okay, but not enough to go back. Yet.

Heat Lightning -- John Sandford. Virgil Flowers is even better than Lucas Davenport.
Volcano Violence -- Jasmine Webb. More Plum wannabe action.
Mai Tai Massacre -- Jasmine Webb. Ditto.
Hibiscus Homicide -- Jasmine Webb
Pina Colada Poison -- Jasmine Webb
Beachside Bullet -- Jasmine Webb
Maui Murder -- Jasmine Webb
Aloha Alibi -- Jasmine Webb. I know, I made fun of her. But the novels are short, and don't require much concentration.

[silverscreenselect]

The most recent reads:

The List by Steve Berry
Return of the King by Thomas Aiello (non-fiction story of the Muhammad Ali-Jerry Quarry fight in 1970)
The House at Devil's Neck by Tom Mead

Not as fast as I'd like, but I think I'm picking up the pace now.

[Earl the Squirrel]

New to the challenge, and I'm cheating a little by calling some of these 2026, because some of them I read over Christmas Break, which for me began on Dec. 19. But I didn't post in last year's challenge, so I'm claiming them, so nyah.


The Color of Magic -- Terry Pratchett. As someone who was a fan of SF/fantasy in the 70s and 80s, I was a little embarrassed to not have read any of Pratchett's stuff. I lied it okay, but not enough to go back. Yet.

Good Omens by Pratchett and Neil Gaiman is one of my top three favourite books of all time (the other two are A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and The Agony and the Ecstasy, in case anybody gives a shit, which I doubt....). I had read all of Gaiman's work up until that time and could tell the difference between the writing. Lots of dry humour, which is Pratchett's vibe, which I have always dug and he has a way with footnotes that is tip top! If you have't read this and decide to give it a try, get the hard copy. I'm a Kindle Paperwhite devotee, but the footnotes don't give the same punch when you have to click to go to a different page. It breaks up the ryhytym (why can't I ever fucking spell that word? I'm an excellent Speller, slow and in the driveway....)

Anyway, all that to say that I really thought I would love Discworld since I enjoyed STP's style so much and I know it has a manic following, so.... I started with the first book (which, of course I did. I was one (or maybe the only) of those kids that coloured each page in order in their colouring books, starting with the small picture of the frontispiece). And I didn't like it AT ALL. Could not get through it for the life of me and a friend who loves them suggested I try some of the series within the series. I loved those!!

The best series to start with are:

Death (who can't love a Death who rides a pale horse named....BInky?)

Witches (you may have heard of Granny Weatherwax and maybe Nanny Ogg? They're pretty well known characters)

Pyramids (Egyptian themed, not as good as the aforementioned two but Egypt really turns my crank)

So, give it a try if you like clever absurdities with multiple meanings and I'll consider counting your reads from December 19 and allowing a whole bunch of short books!

[mrkelley23]

Those do sound like excellent recommendations, thanks.

I'll be in a bit of a dry spell for the next several weeks -- a book a week would be a good pace, rather than one a day like I can get over breaks. Our next cruise is in March, so I'm storing up suggestions until then.

[Beebs52]

I am so behind on reading new books.
Therefore Ima reading Gone with the Wind, this would be 6th or 7th time?