Reading Challenges 2026 Introduction

I'm gong to be attempting several challenges again this year. I say "attempting" because last year I completely failed at most of my challenges because the majority of my reading was of ARCs for launch teams and NetGalley, and the books just didn't meet the challenge prompts.

The first challenge again comes from the Avid Readers of Christian Fiction Facebook Group I am in.

Tackle the TBR Pile is from Crystal Caudill's blog.

There is also the reading challenge from the Eating Our Words Facebook group. 

I'm joining in with The Posse again:

I'm again joining in with the Read Your Bookshelf Challenge from Chantel Reads All Day. 

One of the authors I follow, Malissa Chapin, is again doing a challenge on her FB page, Malissa Chapin's Merry Band of Book Lovers. I completely failed her challenge again last year, but I decided I could try again.

Here's the challenge from the Faith Filled Fiction FB group. I love that it is a bingo and not needing to read a specific book in each month.

 

I'm also going to try to read a book set in each of the 50 states with the Literary Escapes Challenge. Last year was the second year I attempted it. Unfortunately, I didn't get all 50 states. I'm actually not sure how many I did get.

A couple of years ago I decided I would try her Alphabet Soup Challenge. I'm not exactly how well I did last year, but I wanted to try again this year..

And seeing as I'm reading a bunch of books anyway, and reading many different authors, I figured I'd try the Alphabet Soup Author Edition this year. Just to see how many letters I can get with what I am already reading. 

I'm also going to try to read books set in as many European countries as possible with the 2026 European Reading Challenge from Rose City Reader. Last year I read books from only two different European countries. I'm hoping to increase that number this year. 

Additionally, she has the TBR 26 in '26 challenge. Last year I only got one book read off of my TBR pile. As I mentioned above, most of my books were ARCs.

Finally, I am joining in again with a  yearly challenge from the Scripture Literature-You Are What You Read FB group. I like this one because I can just fit the books in as I read them.

So, here it is:

1- Star Crossed Lovers

2- A Haunting

3- Author shares an initial with you

4- Biblical Relic

5- I can relate

6- A Social Contruct

7- Story of Survival

8- Comfort Zone

9- Spiritual Gifts

10- From Lore

11- Coming of Age

12- Starting over

13- Prodigal Family Member

14- Friendship

15- A Different World

16- Takes place in Europe

17- Favorite past category

18- Isolation

19- Redhead Protagonist

20. A Diagnosis

21. Elderly Protagonist

22. Number in the Title

23. Wrongly Accused

24. Book you got from a thrift store

25. Flowers on the cover

26. Choose your own Adventure  

My Goodreads goal is to read 100 books this year. Last year I had set it at 110 and I ended up only reading 80 books. 

Okay, so this looks like a lot again. However, a couple of them fit the fact that I want to read from my TBR shelf. And recording books that fit into the alphabet is just that, recording books I am already reading. I won't force myself to read a bunch of books JUST to get the letters I'm missing. And of course, I try to combine challenges when possible. And with the yearly challenges, I read books for the other challenges and then see where they fit in the yearly challenge lists. Also, when I pick books for the monthly challenges, I will try to choose books that take place in different states or countries. Also, I'll probably prioritize the challenges I've been doing longer if I start struggling with keeping up.