2026 Reading Challenges

Yes, of course, I will always do my GoodReads challenge. This year, since my reading has been very inconsistent as of late, I am only challenging myself to read 52 books. One book per week is very doable and I’ll most likely read quite a few more than that, but I want to take things easy this year.

They also have other challenges that unlock throughout the year, which I discovered late last year and missed out on a bunch. I’ll describe those as I do them this year.

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa
The Lost Prince by Julie Kagawa

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This challenge was so much fun last year that I decided to do it again this year and read all the winners of the GoodReads Awards. Here is a list of them:

Best Fiction: My Friends by Fredrik Backman
Best Historical Fiction: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Best Mystery/Thriller: Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson
Best Romance: Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Best Romantasy: Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
Best Fantasy: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Best Science Fiction: The Compound by Aisling Rawle
Best Horror: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
Best Debut: Alchemised by SenLinYu
Best Young Adult: Fake Skating by Lynn Painter
Best Nonfiction: Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
Best Memoir: The House of My Mother by Shari Franke
Best History/Biography: How to Kill a Witch by Zoe Veditozzi & Claire Mitchell

Two winners have been excluded from my list: Best Audiobook went to Onyx Storm, which was already a winner in the Romantasy category, and Best YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi was Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, which I’ve already read. Everything else is brand new to me, even most of the authors.

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Bringing back Beat the Backlist to try and whittle down my ever growing TBR. I don’t think I’m going to shoot for a specific number, but one of the things they created was a bingo card with reading prompts. So I will be going for at least a few bingos on that. Here’s the card:

Descriptions of the prompts are below. They have a lot more info over at their website. They have an even larger bingo card with 49 squares, but that seemed a bit much. This will be tricky enough.

recs in real life: recommended by a family member or close friend
2025 debut: an author’s first book that released in 2025
acronyms: there are a lot of acronyms in the story or the title includes one
novella sweet spot: between 150-200 pages
throwback to the good ol’ days: a favorite childhood read – could be yours, a friend’s, a family member’s, your choice!
anthology of shorts: collection of short stories and/or poetry
classics past or present: classic novel or retelling of a classic
oh the places you will go: place name in title
I like ’em chonky: more than 542 pages
BFFs: features 2+ best friends as main or important side characters
end of an era: last book in a series
title starts with “L”: self explanatory lol
fave author rec: a book recommended by one of your favorite authors
blast from the past: book featuring a historical setting
it’s been a decade: been on your TBR 10+ years
10, 10, 10s across the board: title has 10+ words
to the moon: about or featuring anything space related in the story or on the cover
award winner: this book won an award of any kind
love is in the air: a book about or featuring a prominent subplot about love (in any form)
lights, camera, action!: book-to-screen or about movies/TV shows
all the colors: rainbow cover (has at least 4 rainbow colors)
celebrity author: the book is by a well-known figure
the most beautiful cover: the art on this book cover stands above the rest to you
I reject your reality: a speculative fiction book

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There may be a few more small challenges that I do. I bought a really cool reading planner for this year and it lists a few challenges in there that I may or may not do. Like I said with the other GoodReads stuff, I’ll talk about those as I complete them if I decide to do so.

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