2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

Almost everything I plan to read this year is part of several TBR lists I keep at home on paper. The exceptions are the books I'll read for the Yearly Mystery Challenge. I'm trying for 250+ (edited due to unfortunate circumstances to 165 on Aug 12)

224/165 completed

Quarter 1:
1. Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus by Alexander Pope - finished 1/1/22
2. Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home by Harry Kemelman - finished 1/2/22
3. The War Terror by Arthur B. Reeve - finished 1/3/22
4. The Great Quest by Charles Boardman Hawes - finished 1/4/22
5. April's Kittens by Clare Turlay Newberry - finished 1/5/22
6. The Slaughterman’s Daughter by Yaniv Iczkovits - finished 1/6/22
7. Shawnee Alley Fire by John Douglas - finished 1/7/22
8. Classified as Murder by Miranda James - finished 1/8/22
9. City Sister Silver by Jáchym Topol - finished 1/9/22
10. Vathek by William Beckford - finished 1/10/22
11. Bosambo of the River by Edgar Wallace - finished 1/11/22
12. The Wallet of Kai Lung by Ernest Bramah - finished 1/12/22
13. The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting - finished 1/13/22
14. In My Mother's House by Ann Nolan Clark - finished 1/14/22
15. Who Is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht - finished 1/15/22
16. Tutu Deadly by Natalie M. Roberts - finished 1/16/22
17. Scandal at the Gala by Wendy Meadows - finished 1/17/22
18. Paddle-to-the-Sea by Holling Clancy Holling - finished 1/18/22
19. Evelina by Frances Burney - finished 1/19/22
20. The Voices by Allen Cooke - finished 1/20/22
21. A Soul of Steel AKA Irene at Large by Carole Nelson Douglas - finished 1/21/22
22. The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman Hawes - finished 1/22/22
23. One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey - finished 1/23/22
24. A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift - finished 1/24/22
25. The Man Who Met the Train by Harold Adams - finished 1/24/22
26. The She-Devil in the Mirror by Horacio Castellanos Moya - finished 1/25/22
27. Pussyfoot by Carole Nelson Douglas - finished 1/26/22
28. They Were Strong and Good by Robert Lawson - finished 1/27/22
29. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - finished 1/28/22
30. Tales from Silver Lands by Charles J. Finger - finished 1/30/22
31. A Thousand Steps by T. Jefferson Parker - finished 1/31/22
32. The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton - finished 2/1/22
33. The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Alice Kimberly - finished 2/2/22
34. The Valley by John Renehan - finished 2/8/22
35. If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss - finished 2/9/22
36. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig - finished 2/9/22
37. Dash and Dart by Mary Buff & Conrad Buff - finished 2/10/22
38. Among the Ruins by Ausma Zehanat Khan - finished 2/11/22
39. See Also Murder by Larry D. Sweazy - finished 2/12/22
40. Death of a Winter Shaker by Deborah Woodworth - finished 2/14/22
41. Memoirs of Fanny Hill by John Cleland - finished 2/15/22
42. Tuesday the Rabbi Saw Red by Harry Kemelman - finished 2/16/22
43. Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis - finished 2/17/22
44. Smoky the Cow Horse by Will James - finished 2/18/22
45. Marshmallow by Clare Turlay Newberry - finished 2/19/22
46. Needle in a Haystack by Ernesto Mallo - finished 2/20/22
47. The Beach Affair by Barbara Johnson - finished 2/21/22
48. Farm Fresh Murder by Paige Shelton - finished 2/22/22
49. Dick Whittington and His Cat by Marcia Brown - finished 2/23/22
50. Jacques the Fatalist by Denis Diderot - finished 2/24/22
51. Bones by Edgar Wallace - finished 2/25/22
52. The Two Destinies by Wilkie Collins - finished 2/26/22
53. The Wonder Smith and His Son: A Tale from the Golden Childhood of the World by Ella Young - finished 2/27/22
54. A Patchwork of Clues by Sally Goldenbaum - finished 3/1/22
55. The Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza - finished 3/1/22
56. Many Moons by James Thurber - finished 3/3/22
57. Outfoxed by Rita Mae Brown - finished 3/3/22
58. The Two Reds by William Lipkind - finished 3/5/22
59. Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji - finished 3/7/22
60. Love in Excess by Eliza Fowler Haywood - finished 3/9/22
61. Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe - finished 3/13/22
62. The Silent Bullet by Arthur B. Reeve - finished 3/14/22
63. Irene's Last Waltz by Carole Nelson Douglas - finished 3/24/22
64. The Way to Dusty Death by Alistair MacLean - finished 3/24/22
65. Evan Help Us by Rhys Bowen - finished 3/25/22
66. Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman - finished 3/26/22
67. Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág - finished 3/28/22
68. Mother Goose by Tasha Tudor - finished 3/31/22
69. Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field - finished 3/31/22
70. The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous - finished 3/31/22

As of March 31, I've completed 70 of the 250+ books I've signed up for this year in my personal challenge.

Quarter 2:

71. The Most Wonderful Doll in the World by Phyllis McGinley - finished 4/1/22
72. Henry-Fisherman by Marcia Brown - finished 4/2/22
73. Wednesday the Rabbi Got Wet by Harry Kemelman - finished 4/4/22
74. In the Forest by Marie Hall Ets - finished 4/6/22
75. The Mask of Ra by Paul Doherty - finished 4/7/22
76. The Divinity Complex by P.H. Figur - finished 4/8/22
77. The Happy Day by Ruth Krauss - finished 4/10/22
78. I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai - finished 4/10/22
79. A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne - finished 4/11/22
80. The Keepers of the King's Peace by Edgar Wallace - finished 4/12/22
81. The Scargill Cove Case Files by Jayne Ann Krentz - finished 4/13/22
82. The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly - finished 4/13/22
83. The Secret House by Edgar Wallace - finished 4/14/22
84. Murder at the Filmore by Zelda White - finished 4/15/22
85. Yonie Wondernose by Marguerite de Angeli - finished 4/15/22
86. The Gabriel Hounds by Mary Stewart - finished 4/16/22
87. Any Witch Way You Can by Amanda M. Lee - finished 4/18/22
88. Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss - finished 4/19/22
89. A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift - finished 4/20/22
90. Chapel Noir by Carole Nelson Douglas - finished 4/21/22
91. Little Blacknose: The Story of a Pioneer by Hildegarde Hoyt Swift - finished 4/21/22
92. The Romance of Elaine by Arthur B Reeve - finished 4/22/22
93. The Christmas Anna Angel by Ruth Sawyer - finished 4/24/22
94. Invisible Country by Annamaria Alfieri - finished 4/25/22
95. Bed and Breakfast and Murder by Patti Larsen - finished 4/26/22
96. Chernobyl Wolves: The Wolf in Ukraine by Christoffer Petersen - finished 4/27/22
97. Cecilia by Frances Burney - finished 4/28/22
98. America's Ethan Allen by Stewart Hall Holbrook - finished 4/29/22
99. The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - finished 4/30/22
100. The Return of Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer - finished 5/1/22
101. The Tangled-Coated Horse and Other Tales: Episodes from the Fionn Saga by Ella Young - finished 5/2/22
102. Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli - finished 5/2/22
103. The Rooster Crows: A Book of American Rhymes and Jingles by Maud Petersham & Miska Petersham - finished 5/3/22
104. Murder on the Sugarland Express by Angie Fox - finished 5/3/22
105. Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan - finished 5/3/22
106. Shen of the Sea: Chinese Stories for Children by Arthur Bowie Chrisman - finished 5/4/22
107. Amelia by Henry Fielding - finished 5/7/22
108. Anton Reiser by Karl Philipp Moritz - finished 5/8/22
109. Absent in the Spring by Mary Westmacott - finished 5/9/22
110. The Nun by Denis Diderot - finished 5/9/22
111. The Quest of the Sacred Slipper by Sax Rohmer - finished 5/10/22
112. Small Rain: Verses from the Bible by Jessie Orton Jones - finished 5/10/22
113. The Jumping-Off Place by Marian Hurd McNeely - finished 5/11/22
114. Little Lost Lamb by Golden MacDonald - finished 5/12/22
115. The Vanished Messenger by E. Phillips Oppenheim - finished 5/12/22
116. Finding Nouf by Zoë Ferraris - finished 5/13/22
117. Unforgiving Shadows by Ray Flynt - finished 5/14/22
118. A People's Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers by Victor LaValle - finished 5/15/22
119. Ape in a Cape: An Alphabet of Odd Animals by Fritz Eichenberg - finished 5/16/22
120. Candide by Voltaire - finished 5/16/22
121. Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out by Harry Kemelman - finished 5/18/22
122. Flamingo Fatale by Jimmie Ruth Evans - finished 5/19/22
123. City at World's End AKA Galaxy_Novel_Number_18_City_At_Worlds_End_ by Edmond Hamilton - finished 5/21/22
124. Murder Most Thorny by Loulou Harrington - finished 5/23/22
125. Cassandra by Kerry Greenwood - finished 5/24/22
126. My Mother is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by Becky Reyher - finished 5/24/22
127. Camilla: By Frances Burney - Illustrated - by Frances Burney - finished 5/25/22
128. Pran of Albania - by Elizabeth Cleveland Miller - finished 5/25/22
129. The 120 Days of Sodom by Marquis de Sade - finished 5/26/22
130. Beside the Syrian Sea by James Wolff - finished 5/27/22
131. The Versailles Conspiracy by Robert Cartwright - finished 5/28/22
132. The Forgotten Daughter by Caroline Dale Snedeker - finished 5/29/22
133. Outcast by José Latour - finished 5/30/22
134. Angels Mark by Natalie Buske Thomas - finished 5/31/22
135. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - finished 6/1/22
136. The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward - finished 6/2/22
137. Minute for Murder by Nicholas Blake - finished 6/2/22
138. Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper by Marcia Brown - finished 6/3/22
139. Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett - finished 6/3/22
140. Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault - finished 6/4/22
141. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald - finished 6/6/22
142. The Runaway Papoose by Grace Moon - finished 6/7/22
143. Finders Keepers by William Lipkind - finished 6/7/22
144. My First Murder by Leena Lehtolainen - finished 6/8/22
145. The Nebraska Quotient by William J. Reynolds - finished 6/9/22
146. Murder Over Easy by Jimmie Ruth Evans - finished 6/10/22
147. The Neruda Case by Roberto Ampuero - finished 6/11/22
148. The Secret of the Night by Gaston Leroux - finished 6/12/22
149. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - finished 6/13/22
150. Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac - finished 6/14/22
151. The Patient at Peacocks Hall by Margery Allingham - finished 6/15/22
152. Tod of the Fens by Elinor Whitney - finished 6/16/22
153. They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie - finished 6/18/22
154. The Twice-Hanged Man by Priscilla Royal - finished 6/19/22
155. Unfinished Portrait by Mary Westmacott - finished 6/20/22
156. Queen of Ambition by Fiona Buckley - finished 6/29/22
157. Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - finished 6/29/22

Quarter 3:

158. A Potion to Die For by Heather Blake - finished 7/3/22
159. You Can Write Chinese by Kurt Wiese - finished 7/6/22
160. White Snow, Bright Snow by Alvin Tresselt - finished 7/7/22
161. Best Served Cold by Jimmie Ruth Evans - finished 7/8/22
162. A Death in Vienna by Frank Tallis - finished 7/10/22
163. McElligot's Pool by Dr Seuss - finished 7/10/22
164. Electra by Kerry Greenwood - finished 7/16/22
165. Bring Your Own Poison by Jimmie Ruth Evans - finished 7/18/22
166. Spice and the Devil's Cave by Agnes Danforth Hewes - finished 8/16/22
167. Winterbound by Margery Williams Bianco - finished 8/17/22
168. The Unquiet Dead by Ausma Zehanat Khan - finished 8/23/22
169. Dr. Mary's Monkey: How the Unsolved Murder of a Doctor, a Secret Laboratory in New Orleans and Cancer-Causing Monkey Viruses are Linked to Lee Harvey Oswald, the JFK Assassination and Emerging Global Epidemics by Edward T. Haslam - finished 8/30/22
170. Murder on the Potomac by Margaret Truman - finished 8/31/22
171. Murder in Costa Rica by L.D. Markham - finished 9/7/22
172. When Will The World Be Mine? by Miriam Schlein - finished 9/7/22
173. Leftover Dead by Jimmie Ruth Evans - finished 9/9/22
174. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole - finished 9/21/22
175. State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy - finished 9/29/22

As of June 30, I've completed 157 of the 250+ books I've signed up for this year in my personal challenge.

Due to family circumstances -- my mother dying and my being named executor of her estate -- I have not been able to continue to read for the various challenges I joined earlier in the year. I'm still reading a little bit, but not nearly enough to finish much. So, I'm going to change my goals to match the number of books I've read so far. I will continue to post books as I am able to finish them, but I don't expect that to be very many. I hate to leave anything undone, so I've decided that I will have a personal challenge next year to finish the books I don't get to this time!

So, I'm changing my goal on this challenge to the 165 books I've already completed.

Oops. Forgot to post my update on Sept 30.

I have completed 175/165 (revised from 250+).

Quarter 4:

176. Jane's Island by Marjorie Hill Allee - finished 10/7/22
177. Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis - finished 10/8/22
178. The Bitter Glass by Eilís Dillon - finished 10/10/22
179. Waterless Mountain by Laura Adams Armer - finished 10/12/22
180. Black and White by David Macaulay - finished 10/12/22
181. Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert - finished 10/12/22
182. The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia by Samuel Johnson - finished 10/14/22
183. Notable Women in Mathematics: A Biographical Dictionary by Teri Perl - finished 10/15/22
184. Murder in the Oval Office by Elliott Roosevelt - finished 10/16/22
185. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - finished 10/17/22
186. Sandi, The King-Maker by Edgar Wallace - finished 10/18/22
187. Happily Ever Afters: A Reimagining of Snow White and Rose Red by Melanie Cellier - finished 10/19/22
188. The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe - finished 10/20/22
189. The Mamacita Murders by Debra Mares - finished 10/27/22
190. The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis - finished 10/31/22
191. The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe - finished 11/05/22
192. The Pageant of Chinese History by Elizabeth Seeger - finished 11/08/22
193. At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill - finished 11/09/22
194. Gray Shadows by Julia Gousseva - finished 11/10/22
195. Gulliver's Travels: Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. by Jonathan Swift - finished 11/13/22
196. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - finished 11/15/22
197. The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith - finished 11/17/22
198. The Social Media Murders by Jon Athan - finished 11/19/22
199. Little Indiscretions: A Delectable Mystery by Carmen Posadas - finished 11/20/22
200. The One You Love by Paul Pilkington - finished 11/21/22
201. Blood River by C.E. Nelson - finished 11/22/22
202. The Mayor's Wife by Anna Katharine Green - finished 11/23/22
203. The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart - finished 11/24/22
204. The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by Tobias Smollett - finished 11/25/22
205. Dead White by Gwen Parrott - finished 11/27/22
206. The Darling Dahlias and the Poinsettia Puzzle by Susan Wittig Albert - finished 11/28/22
207. Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris - finished 11/29/22
208. Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos - finished 12/1/22
209. The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley - finished 12/2/22
210. The Trouble With Magic by Madelyn Alt - finished 12/3/22
211. The Heretic's Apprentice by Ellis Peters - finished 12/4/22
212. The Man Who Fell Through the Earth by Carolyn Wells - finished 12/5/22
213. Paper, Scissors, Death by Joanna Campbell Slan - finished 12/6/22
214. Peril in Paradise by Deb Graham - finished 12/8/22
215. The Color of Destiny by Julianne MacLean - finished 12/9/22
216. Double Duplicity by Paty Jager - finished 12/10/22
217. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - finished 12/11/22
218. Famished by Meghan O'Flynn - finished 12/13/22
219. In the Shadow of Evil by Nancy C. Weeks - finished 12/17/22
220. From Potter's Field by Patricia Cornwell - finished 12/18/22
221. The Axeman's Jazz by Ray Celestin - finished 12/19/22
222. The Tailor of Panama by John le Carré - finished 12/21/22
223. Outsider in Amsterdam by Janwillem van de Wetering - finished 12/22/22
224. The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang - finished 12/22/22

Well, it's not December 31st yet, but I'm done for the year!
I completed 224/165 of the edited challenge I gave myself. Not bad for such a strange and bizarre year.

I'm carrying forward 2 challenges that I want to complete: Hindsight (as a personal challenge) and Serial Reader. They will be top priorities for me next year.