2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

READ & ROAM
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2026



Expanding on a crowd favorite monthly challenge, Read & Roam is an open-ended yearly challenge that takes readers on a journey through the pages of books that are linked by Award, Genre, or Reader recommendation. Feel free to travel on one long adventure, or take multiple smaller excursions throughout the year. Set a goal and book your travel plans!

🔹 Begin your trip by reading any Award Winner.
🔹 Visit its Goodreads page and choose your next reading destination from: one of its Genres, the Readers Also Enjoyed area, or a book that won the same Literary Award. (See note.)
🔹 Continue toward your goal using one of the travel styles below, repeating until you reach your destination.

🗺️ Staycation Style: Each book is selected from the starting book's page in day trip or weekender fashion.
🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

Note: The Goodreads features used for this challenge are available on the website, but not in the mobile app. If you don't have access to a computer, try visiting Goodreads using a browser on your device.
Genres are located below the book blurb.
Readers Also Enjoyed is located below About the Author and is scrollable.
Literary Awards are listed below the First published date.

To see a sample Goodreads page showing where these features are located, (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)].

How to Participate:

1. Post here telling the challenge leader how many books you plan to read.
You may choose your books at the beginning, or add them as you go. You may join any time during the year, and may change your goal whenever needed.

2. When you finish books for the challenge, edit your original post or member’s corner thread to add them.
Instructions are in the how-to link below.

3. To have your progress updated, post a new comment here to let the challenge leader know.
Every time you post an update, be sure to include your original (sign-up) message number, the number of books you have completed, and your goal. We use your original message number to identify you, since multiple members may have the same profile name.
Example:
Update to message 32: 2/25 books read!

For more information about how our challenges work, visit this how-to thread or ask your challenge leader.

P.S. Please do not delete posts! It changes the message numbers, complicating the update process for both leaders and participants. If you wish to leave the challenge, simply post a comment here to let us know. You may edit your original post to say {deleted}. Thank you!

Participants

Amy #16 - 0/12
Angel **Book Junkie** #11 - 0/60
BarbaraBrubru_gingertiger #27 - 0/10
Beth #30 - 0/0
Caraina #31 - 0/12
Carolyn #19 - 0/12
Cordelia #6 - 0/10
D.L. #21 - 0/6
Debra Diggs #7 - 0/10
Denise #29 - 0/10
Ela (Mouse333) #22 - 0/12
GailW #13 - 0/12
Gina Marie #12 - 0/6
Janine #14 - 0/30
JennH #9 - 0/36
Jill #17 - 0/12
Kristina #18 - 0/36
Lina #28 - 0/10
Michelle #5 - 0/10
Missy #33 - 0/17
Nat #20 - 0/20
Rachael #8 - 0/12
Sarah #26 - 0/10
Serenity #15 - 0/12
Shari #25 - 0/30
Susan #10 - 0/30
Syd #34 - 0/10
TerryJane #24 - 0/30

STATS
Participants: 28
Books Read: 0
Books Pledged: 477
Challenges Completed: 0

Updated through Message #34 on Dec 16, 2025.

Reserved by backup moderator

I'm in! This looks like fun. I'll go for 10.

Goal: 10
Progress 0/10 (0%)

0/10

Read & Roam

0/10

Road Trip Style - Readers Also Enjoyed

1. Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak (Goodreads Choice Award, Readers' Favorite Horror)
2. That's Not My Name by Megan Lally
3. Such Quiet Girls by Noelle W. Ihli
4. Guess Again by Charlie Donlea
5. Too Old for This by Samantha Downing
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
............................................
Might do 2 short road trips.

1. Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (Edgar Award, Best Novel)
2. Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
3. The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
4.

Please sign me up for 12 books.

COMPLETED: 0/12

🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion
1. Award Winner: tbd
Genre/Readers Also Enjoyed/Literary Awards

Please sign me up for 36.

READ & ROAM
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2026

🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

Genres, the Readers Also Enjoyed area, or Literary Award

1.

READ & ROAM
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2026

I'd like to join for a goal of 30

🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

READ & ROAM
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2026
Completion: 0/60
I would like to set a goal of 60 with a goal of 5 Per month
🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

Genres, the Readers Also Enjoyed area, or Literary Award

January
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Please sign me up for 6 to start. I may add more as I go.

🗺️Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

Progress = 0/6

I'm going to track my progress in my 2026 Reading Corner.

READ & ROAM
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2026
Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion. Linked by Award, Genre, Reader recommendation.

☀ Progress 0 / 12 (to start)

I really enjoyed the Sisterhood of the Travelling Books challenge so I'm thrilled to see this.

Sign me up for 30. I'll be doing it road trip style.

I'd like to join for a goal of 12 (one per month)

🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

I will read 12 books!
0/12

Road Trip Style

I’m signing for 12. Road Trip style.

READ & ROAM
January 01 - December 31, 2026
Progress: 0/36

Sign me up for 36!

Member Corner Tracking Post

I will join the staycation and start with 12 books.
1. Atmosphere
2. My Friends
3. One Golden Summer
4. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
5. An Eye for an Eye
6. Remarkably Bright Creatures
7. Good Spirits
8. First-Time Caller
9. The Women
10. We All Live Here
11. Beach Read
12. The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I'm in for 20!

Completed: 0/20

🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

Lit:
1. Prophet Song (Booker Prize)
2. The Bone People (award)
3. Heart Lamp: Selected Stories (genre - fiction)
4. Time Shelter (award - International Booker)
5. The Safekeep (award - fiction)

SFF:
6. A Sorceress Comes to Call (Locus Award)
7. Jade Legacy (award)
8. Rakesfall (genre - fantasy)
9. It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over (award - Ursula K Le Guin Prize)
10. No One Will Come Back For Us and Other Stories (genre - fantasy)

Horror/Mystery
11. The Eyes Are the Best Part (Bram Stoker Award)
12. Screams from the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous (award)
13. Where I End (genre - horror)
14. Song for the Unraveling of the World: Stories (award - Shirley Jackson Award)
15. The Book of X (award - Shirley Jackson Award)

Nonfiction
16. A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth: 4.6 Billion Years in 12 Pithy Chapters (Royal Society Science Book Prize)
17. There Is No Blue (genre - nonfiction)
18. Ordinary Notes (award - Hilary Weston Prize)
19. A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon (genre - nonfiction)
20. Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman (readers also enjoyed)

I thought for sure I signed up for this, but my post isn't showing lol I will try again and see if it sticks. 6 Books please for now :)

But I am not sure I understand the staycation vs. road trip style. What's the difference? (Sorry for the dumb question)

Road Trip Style (probably Readers Also Enjoyed) - 0/12

1.

D.L. wrote: "But I am not sure I understand the staycation vs. road trip style. What's the difference?"

A real life Staycation has "home" as its base, taking multiple day trips and returning to stay at home each night.
home --> zoo --> home --> hike --> home -->museum --> home --> amusement park

The Staycation option in this challenge means that all secondary books (B) are based on the first book (A).
A --> B
A --> B
A --> B
A --> B

For a real life Road Trip, once you leave home, you stay in various places as you make your way cross-country to a destination, or maybe a big loop back to home. In the original Vacation movie, the Griswolds stayed at a motel, Cousin Eddie's house, a campground, and a hotel on their Road Trip to Wally World.
home --> town 1 --> town 2--> town 3

For the Road Trip option in this challenge, each book after the first is based on the previous book.
A --> B --> C --> D

Glad you came back to join! Hope this helps explain it better.

I'll join with a goal of 30 for now.

Please sign me up for 30.

READ & ROAM
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2026

Progress: 0 / 30

🔹 Begin your trip by reading any Award Winner.
🔹 Visit its Goodreads page and choose your next reading destination from: the Readers Also Enjoyed
🔹 Continue toward your goal using one of the travel styles below, repeating until you reach your destination.

🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

Progress: 0 / 30

Sign me up for 10 books

0/10

Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book’s page in a linear or cross-country fashion. - Readers Also Enjoyed

1. All the Light We Cannot See
2. The Book Thief
3. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
4. The Giver
5. The Giving Tree
6. Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Lost Christmas!
7. Walt Disney's Peter Pan
8. Disney's Sleeping Beauty
9. Disney Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
10. Lady and the Tramp

Hi,
I am in for 10, road trip style :), thanks !

I am in for 10 as well, road trip style, thanks!

🗺️ Read & Roam - Yearly Challenge 🗺️
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2026

🗺️ Progress: /10 🗺️ -

Tracking my books read for this challenge in my corner

🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️🗺️

I'll try for 10

Goal and books tbd. I'll be back!

I'm in for 12 books

READ & ROAM
Duration: January 1, 2026 - December 31, 2026

🔹 Begin your trip by reading any Award Winner.
🔹 Visit its Goodreads page and choose your next reading destination from: one of its Genres, the Readers Also Enjoyed area, or a book that won the same Literary Award. (See note.)
🔹 Continue toward your goal using one of the travel styles below, repeating until you reach your destination.

🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

Completed: 0/12

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Welcome, everyone! 👋

I'm so excited for a new year of reading! Just two more weeks until we can hit the road. 😎

Please check the Participant List and let me know if there are errors in your name, goal, or original post number.

Sign me up for 5 for now. I'll try it.

The Last Cuentista is my starter book (Newbery Medal Award). If I'm reading the explanation comment right, then I'm going Road Trip Style. I don't want to keep returning back to LC just for newer books. I'll search the Genre/Readers Also Enjoyed/Literary Awards section for books I might already own or fall on a list I have.

The Last Cuentista (Newbery Medal Award)
-> The Dragonet Prophecy vol 1 (Middle Grade genre)
-> Where the Red Fern Grows (Childrens genre)
-> One of Us is Lying (School genre)
-> House of the Scorpion (South Carolina Book Award)
[all 5 are from my TBR Jar list - took some searching to find something from that]

Hmmm sign me up for 10 please.

Member's Corner

Update to msg 33 (back on mobile). Change my number from 5 to 17 please. Managed to find links for the other 12 from my TBR Jar list. I tried not to repeat genres or awards for these which took awhile.

From previous: House of the Scorpion (South Carolina Book Award)
-> Scythe (Rhode Island Teen Book Award)
-> Dread Nation (Gateway Readers Award)
-> Lovely War (Historical Fiction genre)
-> Samurai Rising (Historical genre)
-> The Whydah (YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction)
-> The Orpheus Plot (Adventure genre)
-> The Unidentified (Science Fiction genre)
-> The Story That Cannot be Told (Fiction genre)
-> The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora (Vermont Golden Dome Book Award)
-> The Wednesday Wars (Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award)
-> Illusionarium (Young Adult genre)
-> A Soul as Cold as Frost (Magic genre)

Question from msg 33: if I decide to do a second round later in the year, would I pick up from book 17 or start over with a new chain?

Missy wrote: "Question from msg 33: if I decide to do a second round later in the year, would I pick up from book 17 or start over with a new chain?"

It's your choice, Missy. You can have one long chain if you wish, or create multiple shorter chains. Do whichever best suits your reading needs. 😊

Also, I've updated your goal to 17.

TerryJane wrote: "Missy wrote: "Question from msg 33: if I decide to do a second round later in the year, would I pick up from book 17 or start over with a new chain?"

It's your choice, Missy. You can have one long..."

Thank you for responding (and updating score)! I might do chains for each book list I try then. The 2026-27 ones usually get released around summer.

READ & ROAM
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2026

🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

Genres, the Readers Also Enjoyed area, or Literary Award

Completed: 0/12

1.

I'll try with 5.

🔹 Begin your trip by reading any Award Winner.
🔹 Visit its Goodreads page and choose your next reading destination from: one of its Genres, the Readers Also Enjoyed area, or a book that won the same Literary Award.
🔹 Continue toward your goal using one of the travel styles below, repeating until you reach your destination.

🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

Progress: 0/5

READ & ROAM
Duration: January 1, 2026 - December 31, 2026

🔹 Begin your trip by reading any Award Winner.
🔹 Visit its Goodreads page and choose your next reading destination from: one of its Genres, the Readers Also Enjoyed area, or a book that won the same Literary Award. (See note.)
🔹 Continue toward your goal using one of the travel styles below, repeating until you reach your destination.

🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.


Completed: 0/12

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12

READ & ROAM
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2026


🔹 Begin your trip by reading any Award Winner.
🔹 Visit its Goodreads page and choose your next reading destination from: one of its Genres, the Readers Also Enjoyed area, or a book that won the same Literary Award. (See note.)
🔹 Continue toward your goal using one of the travel styles below, repeating until you reach your destination.

🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

0/25

1. How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing WomenBy Claire Mitchell

2.
3.
4.
5.
6
7
8.
9
10

Hello! Please sign me up for 12 books, road trip style.

🔹 Begin your trip by reading any Award Winner.
🔹 Visit its Goodreads page and choose your next reading destination from: one of its Genres, the Readers Also Enjoyed area, or a book that won the same Literary Award.
🔹 Continue toward your goal using one of the travel styles below, repeating until you reach your destination.

🗺️ Road Trip Style: Each book is selected from the prior book's page in a linear or cross-country fashion.

Progress: 0/12

1. Butter by Asako Yuzuki [British Book Award for Debut Fiction, 2025]