2026 Reading Challenge discussion

It's the last TBR Twins of 2013! Here are the pairings:

Zara
Soph

Sherry
Karina


Tiffany-Rae
Brian

Shannon
Katelyn

Kayla
Theresa~OctoberLace

Melek
Craig

Kathryn
Jen

Courtney
Karin

JuliaC
SilverRaindrops

Londa
Jo



Let us know what you and your twin picked, then once you've finished, come back and tell us what you thought.

Courtney and I will be reading A Walk to Remember

Karin wrote: "Courtney and I will be reading A Walk to Remember"

I have never read the book but I love the movie. I watch it every time I see it on TV

Karina & I will be reading The Devil's Alphabet

Because of a last minute mix-up, I sent Karin a message saying she was my twin before following up and saying she was actually Courtney's. But Karin has offered to be twins with BOTH of us. Karin and I will be reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette.

Kayla and I have chosen The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.

Kara wrote: "Because of a last minute mix-up, I sent Karin a message saying she was my twin before following up and saying she was actually Courtney's. But Karin has offered to be twins with BOTH of us. Karin a..."

Yeee!! Loved Where'd You Go, Bernadette. I hope you guys do too.

Soph and I will be reading two books:


1. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (this is a re-read for me. I've read it twice already and absolutely loved it. I was actually thinking of re-reading this book a few days ago. I'm really excited to be re-reading it again)
2. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Jo and I will be reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Brian and I decided to read The Night Circus. We both think it will be a good change from what we have been reading.

Such great books! Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, The Book Thief, and The Night Circus are three of my favorites.

Kara wrote: "Such great books! Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, The Book Thief, and The Night Circus are three of my favorites."

I have heard great things about The Night Circus. I am excited to read it!!!!

Zara wrote: "Soph and I will be reading two books:


1. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (this is a re-read for me. I've read it twice already and absolutely loved it. I was actually thinkin..."

Stiff is on my to read shelf. I can't wait to hear what you think.

I love Stiff, too. Or, well, I apparently love everything Mary Roach writes. (Which, incidentally, I discovered through a twin read earlier this year!)

Jen and I are reading The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. I started it this morning and I'm enjoying it so far. I watched the movie years ago and I think I liked it, but I don't remember much about it.

I finished both of the books that were picked with Courtney and Kara this much. Courtney and I picked A Walk to Remember which was a quick read - not my favorite Nicholas Sparks book, although it was appropriate for December since most of it seemed to take place in December. Kara and I picked Where'd You Go, Bernadette which was another easy read that kept me entertained. It was pretty quirky and cute. I rated it a solid 3 stars (probably more like 3.5 - wish we could use 1/2 stars!)

Brian and I were reading The Night Circus. I had mixed feelings about it. I loved the book but for some reason it took me forever to get through. Maybe it was just the style. I would recommend it to almost everyone though. :) Seeing as this is the last day of December we will continue discussion into January. Hope everyone read something good this month. Our first part of discussion though seemed like we both felt the same way about this book though so I am glad.

Tiffany-Rae wrote: "Brian and I were reading The Night Circus. I had mixed feelings about it. I loved the book but for some reason it took me forever to get through. Maybe it was just the style. I would..."

Indeed - I had (am having) mixed feelings about it too. It's one I'd strongly recommend everyone read, but I found (am finding) it takes an extremely long time for me to read it. There's nothing difficult or anything about it - I think the format and organization really throws me off and I find myself confused about who I'm reading about. Tiffany-Rae and I are going to finish our discussion once I get my act together and actually finish though. And I think we're glad we chose it and agree we felt similarly! :)

Kayla and I both loved our TBR Twin Read, The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. Here's a summary of our comments to each other:

Me: I just loved The Forgotten Garden and could kick myself for owning this book but leaving it unread for four years. Kate Morton did a wonderful job of drawing the reader into her tale, interlacing events taking place in 1900-1913, 1975, and 2005, in both England and Australia. Without revealing any spoilers, I will say that the story involves an elderly woman whose origins were a mystery. She did not even know she was adopted until she was an adult. I found the story enthralling and gave it 5 stars.

Kayla: I finished The Forgotten Gardenon New Year's Eve. I loved it. (view spoiler)[I did find the end a bit predictable. I guessed early on that Eliza was the real mother. I just didn't expect them to kidnap her and that was the reason she didn't go back to the ship. I also thought it was odd that she left a 4 year old child on a ship by herself. Having a young child myself I could never imagine doing that. (hide spoiler)] Overall though, I loved the book! I think Kate Morton is a beautiful writer and can't wait to read the other two books of hers I own.