2026 Reading Challenge discussion
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60 for Nikki
Book 1. The Heir by Kiera CassFinished the first three Selection books a few years ago, enjoyed the cute story. The writing wasn't superb or anything, but I always like to read what my students are reading. I wasn't exactly sprinting to the library for these final two books, but I actually got myself a Selection coloring book and thought, meh, why not finish the series.
*Read January 7
Book 2. The Crown by Kiera CassNailed it. Finished the whole series. Cute ending, quick read.
*Read January 15
Book 3. The Black Key by Amy EwingAgain, another series I felt compelled to finish. I quite enjoyed The Jewel, the first book in the series, and after that my interest started to go down. It had less to do with the original plot and shifted to a caste battle of magic to over throw the oppressors.
*Read February 3
Book 4. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. PearsonI was really excited to read this book when I finally got my hands on a copy. I've read several other of Pearson's works and loved them. Well, about halfway through the book what I didn't want to happen, happened. It was kind of a let down the way the plot turned. I was expecting something, well, I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't that!
*Read February 5
Book 5. It by Stephen KingThis book was a little bit of a cheat since technically I started it in October of last year...but I only got like halfway through it, so I say it still counts. I mean, come on, the book is over 1,000 pages long! Anyway, instances of disturbing content aside, out of all of the books I've ever read, I can say with certainty I've never felt more connected to characters than I did with this book. It's like I was a part of their circle of friends, experienced everything right along with them instead of just reading about them. King truly did a masterful job of character development in this novel...but I suppose that's not hard to do when your novel is 1,000+ pages...
*Read February 11
Book 6. Heartless by Marissa MeyerI absolutely loved this book. As much as I enjoyed the entire Lunar Chronicles collection, I thought Meyer's writing in this novel far surpassed any of her others. She's outdone herself. The imagination, the connection to Wonderland without being overly reliant on the work of others while still maintaining accuracy to the beloved tales of that world, the complete and utter sadness that just seems to roll right off the pages...this is the only book I have ever truly cried after finishing. It has firmly earned a place as my second favorite book, right after The Time Traveler's Wife.
*Read February 21
Book 7. The Cellar by Natasha PrestonThis book was recommended to me by several of my students, so it went on the "to read" list. I kind of wish I had left it there. The characters, I found, were irritating and lacking depth. None of the characters were really dynamic, all quite static. While mildly interesting enough to finish, I got tired of listening to the characters say the same things over and over again...could have been improved in my opinion.
*Read February 24
Book 8. King's Cage by Victoria AveyardI wasn't sure how I felt about starting this book when it came out. I thought Red Queen was amazing. I though Glass Sword was kind of a disappointment. I can't really put my finger on it, just something about it made it forgettable. I didn't remember a whole lot from it, I got bored partway through it, it just didn't sit well with me. I let a colleague borrow it and read it first since I was still reading previous books on my list. She finished it in 5 days and gave it a glowing review. I dove in shortly after and felt Aveyard had redeemed herself from book 2. There HAS to be another book...right?
*Read March 16
Book 9. No Place Like Oz by Danielle PaigeI love the Dorothy Must Die books. I decided to wait, though, until all of the short story books (novellas) were out before I started reading them. This first one, giving readers background info on how Dorothy got back to Oz the second time after going home, was rather dark and intriguing. I like how when Paige write from the perspective of a 16 year old girl, the writing actually sounds like a 16 year old girl. I'm going to wait until summer when I have more time and reread the novels along with my first time read of the other novellas.
*Read March 19
Book 10. (woohoo!) Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn AndersonThis book was recommended to me by our new school librarian, who absolutely loves everything to do with Peter Pan. So, naturally, she wanted *forced* me to read this retelling through the eyes of Tiger Lily. It was very dark, so don't go into this thinking Disney. I thought it was okay, not bad, but not great either.
*Read March 28
Milestone Marker: 10 Books Down!Most Loved of Books 1-10: Heartless
Most Loathed of Books 1-10: The Adoration of Jenna Fox
What's next? Novellas of the Red Queen??
Book 11. Queen Song by Victoria AveyardWell, it was interesting, I'll give it that. It gave us a little background on how Cal's mother became queen and what really happened to her. While it did answer some questions, it was also just confusing enough that I think I'm still left with some...?
*Read March 28
Book 12. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth PfefferThis was another recommendation based on my love of the Ashfall books by Mike Mullin. I know, I know, I'm doing a really great job of knocking out those books on my TR list. I was in the mood for a natural disaster book, though. It was pretty decent. I enjoyed the premise, even though the main characters just so happened to coincidentally have the right things or be in the right place at the right time...
*Read April 2
Book 13. The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth PfefferYep, since I read the first one, I can't not continue in the series. A little disappointed to find out the second book is basically the natural disaster happening all over again, but from a different person's perspective in a different city. Meh.
*Read April 9
Book 14. This World We Live In by Susan Beth PfefferAnd book 3 in the series. Character from the first book meets up the character from the second book. Shocker. Never saw it coming...and felt enough closure from this that I did not feel the need to read the newest fourth book in the series. I actually got a recap of it from someone as was really glad I didn't.
*Read April 14
Book 15. The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda RileyI'm not really sure where to start with this book. It had a very unique and original plot, if not somewhat strange and unexplained, and I generally liked most of the story. However, at times the story was dragged out for way too long. I'm ashamed to admit that there were parts I...skimmed. It was very romantic, though.
*Read April 16
Book 16. Cuckoo Song by Frances HardingeSadly, I was a little disappointed after I finished this book. I was expecting an extreme level of creep factor, don't read with the lights off kind of scary. This was the hype given from the back cover. While entertaining, and adorable at times, on a scary scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 2. A good story, but a total let down on the horror promise.
*Read April 21
Book 17. Big Little Lies by Liane MoriartyWow! I loved this book from start to finish. I could not put it down! I made my classes read extra amounts of time just so I wouldn't have to stop reading it. There's not even a specific factor about it I can pinpoint to say what made it an amazing read. It's just so enthralling, every chapter, every page reveals something new, another piece of the puzzle...will you solve the mystery?
*Read April 25
Book 18. Heir of Fire bySarah J. MaasJust finished this yesterday. It's been a while since I read the first two books. I loved Throne of Glass, but wasn't quite as invested in Crown of Midnight, so I took a little break before continuing on. I thought there was some great writing in this book, some great figurative language and well placed powerful statements. I also liked that the main characters were clearly dynamic, and Maas seems to write her characters the way her readers want them to end up. I'm immediately starting Queen of Shadows!
*Read May 3
Great goal! I am also trying to reduce my to read shelf but I keep finding more books I want to read. I read Heartless last year and I really enjoyed it. The Time Traveler's Wife is one of my all time favourites too!
Book 19. Tales of the Peculiar by Ransom RiggsI thoroughly enjoyed the tales in this book. Kind of like Grimm's, but less....well, less wordy. An absolute delight :)
*Read May 13
Book 20. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas4th book in the series...just amazing. There was so much action in this book! There were also a lot of little "conclusions" to some storylines, which was nice, in order to clear the way for the end-all, be-all. I REALLY want to start Empire of Storms, but it's even longer than this one and I need to get some other books read for Clean out the Shelves challenge :(
*Read May 15
Great goal Nikki! Since I exclusively read e-books I am constantly struggling on not hoarding books. Some months are better than others, but so far the only thing growing at an alarming rate is the list on Goodreads of books I want to read.
Good luck with your goal :)
Book 21. Coraline by Neil GaimanI really only read this because a friend of mine said I should read some of Neil Gaiman's other word before attempting American Gods. This was a quick read, and I was interested to see how it compared to the movie. Very similar, except toward the end. I wasn't super impressed, so maybe I'll have to choose a different of his novels before casting final judgement...
*Read May 16
Book 22. Steel Scars by Victoria Aveyard*Challenge: Clear the Shelves
I was bored with this novella after about 5 pages...but I forced myself to finish it strictly for the shelf clearing challenge since I've had it since February. I can't really say why I liked it less than Queen Song, but I would have DNF'd it if it weren't for the challenge.
*Read May 15
Book 23. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot*Challenge: Clear the Shelves
This was a cute read. A little redundant at times, kind of dragged on at certain parts, but overall the story has that adorable factor to it with some humor thrown in. I'll admit it, I laughed out loud a few times. When this challenge is over, I'll maybe borrow some of the other books in the series from the library. I only bought the first one several months ago when it was on sale on BookBub.
*Read May 21
Book 24. There Was an Old Woman by Hallie EphronThis was a fun read. Mysterious with just a little bit of creep to it. Totally did not see the ending coming. Nice mix up to the YA.
*Read May 29
Book 25. The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren SumaThis came highly recommended from my local library. I tried it out and was not disappointed. Had a different edge to it and a nice change from the dystopian...man I think I need to take a break from the dystopian novels. It seems like they're taking over my reading shelf. I enjoyed both the darker element to this and thought the author did a nice job of weaving it the supernatural.
*Read June 13
Book 26. The Killing Season by Alex FrenchA very interesting book. Like watching a whole documentary series but in book form. I thought it was fascinating to learn about all of the events (not just murder) that were all happening around this time period of the early 70's.
*Read June 16
Book 27. Ship of Fate: The Story of the MV Wilhelm Gustloff by Roger MoorhouseNothing fancy or special about this book, but very straightforward about the history of this ship. Both interesting and sad to see where this ship started and where it ended, along with all of the lives lost with it. Tragic.
*Read June 18
Book 28. Salt to the Sea by Ruta SepetysThis was a pretty good book. Stayed true to its historical counterparts (having read the nonfiction history of the ship, the Windhelm Gustav), prior to reading this historical fiction. It was an interesting story about refugees escaping Germany at the end of WWII; however, I personally would have liked it if the story focused more on the tragic sinking of the ship. The characters don't even get to the ship until about 75% of the way through the book.
*Read June 22
Book 29. The Gunslinger by Stephen KingBlech. As much as I loved It, I kind of despised this book. The writing was way, way overdone. (As an adult and an English teacher, I should not have to pull up a dictionary 3 times within the first 2 pages). Half the time I didn't understand what was happening or WHY it was happening, and the other half I didn't want to understand because it was weird or gross. There is no way I'd be able to make it through any of the other books in the series. King should just stick to his horror stories and leave fantasy to the masters.
*Read June 27
Book 30. Poison Study by Maria V. SnyderI wasn't sure what to expect what I started this for July's challenge, but it was a lot better than I was expecting! I quite enjoyed the story of a young woman destined for execution and ends up as the king's food tester. Then proves herself further and saves the life of the king, going beyond the call of duty. I really loved it. The "love line" of the story I thought a bit forced and cheesy, but otherwise a unique plot and decent writing.
*Read July 3
Book 31. Empire of Storms by Sarah J. MaasI'm still mostly enjoying this story, but we're at book 5...and it's still going because it didn't end here. This one was roughly 700 pages, and they seem to keep growing. How long is the next one going to be? I'm ready for the story to end so I can focus on a new set of a characters in a new series.
Also, I was a bit shocked at the jaw-droppingly descriptive porn chapter, considering that technically it's part of a YA series. The series is in the library of the middle school I work at, and no way in you-know-what would I EVER allow this book on our shelves because of the inappropriate content. Not even exaggerating, it was total skin-a-max equivalent.
*Read July 17
Book 32. Frost Like Night by Sara RaaschThis series started off with such promise, the first novel was really quite good. Then it went downhill. For most of the second and third novels I just felt like I was reading a poorly written varying version of Throne of Glass or some other similar storyline. It really just seemed to lose all of its originality.
*Read July 22
Book 33. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.Yeah...this book was just weird. I'm all for science fiction and philosophy and what not, but this main character's got more problems that Holden Caulfield. Wow. Claiming to time travel, be abducted by aliens, and pretty much a loser of an enlisted man in WWII who survives by happenstance and oddity...I'm really at a loss for words on this one.
*Read July 30
Book 34. From the Mist(Hidden Cove Trilogy #1) by Alexa DareIt was what it was for being a free book...that about sums it up.
*Read July 31
Book 35. The Prestige by Christopher PriestI thoroughly enjoyed this book. Had to keep notes in it the first few chapters to make sure I remembered who was related to whom and thoughts about character intuitions. Oddly enough, towards the end of the book, I got the strangest feeling that I'd read it before...weird, but possible.
*Read August 11
---Didn't get a chance to enter any yearly challenges being new to the group partway through the year and all, but just for giggles thought I'd post the PopSugar reading challenge and see if I inadvertently read any of the books on the list :)1. A book recommended by a librarian Tiger Lily
2. A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long Empire of Storms
3. A book of letters The Princess Diaries
4. An audiobook
5. A book by a person of color
6. A book with one of the four seasons in the title
7. A book that is a story within a story Tales of the Peculiar
8. A book with multiple authors
9. An espionage thriller
10. A book with a cat on the cover
11. A book with an author who uses a pseudonym
12. A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read Big Little Lies
13. A book by or about a person who has a disability Slaughterhouse-Five
14. A book involving travel The Prestige
15. A book with a subtitle Ship of Fate: The Story of the MV Wilhelm Gustloff
16. A book that's published in 2017 Into the Water
17. A book involving a mythical creature
18. A book you've read before that never fails to make you smile
19. A book about food
20. A book with career advice
21. A book from a nonhuman perspective The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
22. A steampunk novel
23. A book with a red spine The Killing Season
24. A book set in the wilderness All the Little Children
25. A book you loved as a child
26. A book by an author from a country you've never visited Cuckoo Song
27. A book with a title that's a character's name The Adoration of Jenna Fox
28. A novel set during wartime Salt to the Sea
29. A book with an unreliable narrator
30. A book with pictures Hatshepsut: First Female Pharaoh
31. A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you
32. A book about an interesting woman Heartless
33. A book set in two different time periods
34. A book with a month or day of the week in the title
35. A book set in a hotel The Thousandth Floor
36. A book written by someone you admire
37. A book that's becoming a movie in 2017 The Gunslinger
38. A book set around a holiday other than Christmas
39. The first book in a series you haven't read before Life As We Knew It
40. A book you bought on a trip
Advanced
41. A book recommended by an author you love
42. A bestseller from 2016
43. A book with a family-member term in the title
44. A book that takes place over a character's life span The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope
45. A book about an immigrant or refugee The Sun Is Also a Star
46. A book from a genre/subgenre you've never heard of
47. A book with an eccentric character Coraline
48. A book that's more than 800 pages It
49. A book you got from a used book sale
50. A book that's been mentioned in another book
51. A book about a difficult topic The Walls Around Us
52. A book based on mythology
2026 Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
All the Little Children (other topics)Away from the Dark (other topics)
Into the Light (other topics)
Into the Light (other topics)
Ashes, Ashes (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Aleatha Romig (other topics)Rob Alcraft (other topics)
Christopher Priest (other topics)
Alexa Dare (other topics)
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (other topics)
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I don't think I'll try any reading challenges/lists this year, my goal is to move several of my "to read" books that have been sitting on that shelf gathering metaphorical dust over to the "read" shelf.