FROM THE MODS š Our moderator, bailey, is stepping down from the mod team, but she will stay on as a valued group member. Since joining the mod team in 2022, she has been an amazing team player, eagerly jumping in wherever needed. Her passion for Readathons brought new energy to our community. We are grateful for baileyās contributions and wish her all the best!
š You can find information in the above MCI thread about being one of our treasured volunteer member leaders. We couldnāt do it without them!
š Choose your favorite art for the yearly theme of Award Winners in the 2026 Masthead & Logo poll, which will be open for 10 days. The winner will choose our theme for June!
š If you have signed up for Secret Santa this year, be sure to check your e-mail over the next few days! You should receive information about your recipient by December 3. Once you receive your gift, post here. Itās a joy to see what the ānewā reads are from your Secret Santa.
š A Guide to the 2026 Yearly Challenges briefly describes our 16 year-long challenges for next year. Yes, you read that right. We have 16 this time!
ā It is time to set your goals for 2026! Set up your Personal Challenge to keep track of your reads, and/or your Member Corner where you can organize challenges.
š General information about our Readathons and a tentative schedule for 2026 can be found here.
GAMES Decemberās word search is here! If you enjoyed Octoberās Spooky Word Search, youāll love this holiday edition. Play now: Festive Word Search. Five Letters is still going strong. Stop by, grab your five letters, and see what funny or creative sentence you can come up with. Scattergories and Word Chain (Book Edition) are still available to play. Have a great idea for group fun? Please share your own Game Suggestions with us!
GROUP READ Our December theme is White, and our group read for this month is The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, an historical fiction novel about a renowned midwifeās fight for justice in 1789 Maine.
CHALLENGES Weāre excited to host monthly challenges for Decemberās theme of White, as well as a returning favorite, the Advent Calendar Challenge. We will also continue our quarterly challenges with the theme of Fear for one final month.
Monthly Challenges Shades of White is an open challenge to read books with white covers, or with white words in their titles or authorās names. White Wonderland is a white and wintry prompt based challenge. Advent Calendar is a returning member favorite to enjoy 24 (or more) smallish readings.
Quarterly Challenges Whatās Your Fear Factor? is an open challenge to read books with covers, themes, or titles that reflect phobias. Hereās to Fears features prompts related to a variety of fearsome phrases.
Yearly Challenges can help you reach your reading goals for the year in 2025. Check out A Guide to the 2025 Yearly Challenges to learn more about our year-long challenges! Yes, we have only one month left in the year, but you may backdate books you read earlier in 2025.
Our 2026 yearly challenges will be posted during the first half of December. Read about them in A Guide to the 2026 Yearly Challenges, join the ones you like, and start planning whenever you wish!
Do you have an idea for a new challenge? Please let us know! Most of our quarterly and monthly challenges grow from our membersā suggestions. We would love to hear your creative ideas!
TBR TWINS Share a book with an online friend while knocking off a read from your TBR list!
If youāve signed up for December, find your TBR Twin here. Please reach out to your twin and choose a book to read together! You can also sign up for January TBR Twins here, and we'll pair you with someone to read a book with next month.
BUDDY READS Letās read some books together! Buddy reads are a great way to read and discuss a book together with fellow group members. Feel free to join any discussion, even if you didnāt sign up!
If you would like to join any, please follow the link and let your buddies know you will join the read! Would you like to suggest a future Buddy Read or join a future one? You can sign up on our current Buddy Reads - Sign Up thread.
Happy December!
FROM THE MODS
š Our moderator, bailey, is stepping down from the mod team, but she will stay on as a valued group member. Since joining the mod team in 2022, she has been an amazing team player, eagerly jumping in wherever needed. Her passion for Readathons brought new energy to our community. We are grateful for baileyās contributions and wish her all the best!
š¢ ICYMI, here are our Yearly, Quarterly, and Monthly themes for 2026.
š” Submit your ideas for Quarterly and Monthly challenges in the Member Challenge Idea (MCI) thread.
š You can find information in the above MCI thread about being one of our treasured volunteer member leaders. We couldnāt do it without them!
š Choose your favorite art for the yearly theme of Award Winners in the 2026 Masthead & Logo poll , which will be open for 10 days. The winner will choose our theme for June!
š If you have signed up for Secret Santa this year, be sure to check your e-mail over the next few days! You should receive information about your recipient by December 3. Once you receive your gift, post here. Itās a joy to see what the ānewā reads are from your Secret Santa.
š A Guide to the 2026 Yearly Challenges briefly describes our 16 year-long challenges for next year. Yes, you read that right. We have 16 this time!
ā It is time to set your goals for 2026! Set up your Personal Challenge to keep track of your reads, and/or your Member Corner where you can organize challenges.
š General information about our Readathons and a tentative schedule for 2026 can be found here.
ā Read about What to Expect in 2026.
GAMES
Decemberās word search is here! If you enjoyed Octoberās Spooky Word Search, youāll love this holiday edition. Play now: Festive Word Search .
Five Letters is still going strong. Stop by, grab your five letters, and see what funny or creative sentence you can come up with.
Scattergories and Word Chain (Book Edition) are still available to play.
Have a great idea for group fun? Please share your own Game Suggestions with us!
GROUP READ
Our December theme is White, and our group read for this month is The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon , an historical fiction novel about a renowned midwifeās fight for justice in 1789 Maine.
You can join the discussion or post your review of the book!
You can also vote for our January book with the theme of Self, as well as nominate a book for February with the theme of Gold!
CHALLENGES
Weāre excited to host monthly challenges for Decemberās theme of White, as well as a returning favorite, the Advent Calendar Challenge. We will also continue our quarterly challenges with the theme of Fear for one final month.
Monthly Challenges
Shades of White is an open challenge to read books with white covers, or with white words in their titles or authorās names.
White Wonderland is a white and wintry prompt based challenge.
Advent Calendar is a returning member favorite to enjoy 24 (or more) smallish readings.
Quarterly Challenges
Whatās Your Fear Factor? is an open challenge to read books with covers, themes, or titles that reflect phobias.
Hereās to Fears features prompts related to a variety of fearsome phrases.
Yearly Challenges can help you reach your reading goals for the year in 2025. Check out A Guide to the 2025 Yearly Challenges to learn more about our year-long challenges! Yes, we have only one month left in the year, but you may backdate books you read earlier in 2025.
Our 2026 yearly challenges will be posted during the first half of December. Read about them in A Guide to the 2026 Yearly Challenges , join the ones you like, and start planning whenever you wish!
Do you have an idea for a new challenge? Please let us know! Most of our quarterly and monthly challenges grow from our membersā suggestions. We would love to hear your creative ideas!
TBR TWINS
Share a book with an online friend while knocking off a read from your TBR list!
If youāve signed up for December, find your TBR Twin here. Please reach out to your twin and choose a book to read together!
You can also sign up for January TBR Twins here, and we'll pair you with someone to read a book with next month.
BUDDY READS
Letās read some books together! Buddy reads are a great way to read and discuss a book together with fellow group members. Feel free to join any discussion, even if you didnāt sign up!
We are reading the following books:
Alex Cross #13: Double Cross
The Alice Network
Arc of a Scythe #3.5: Gleanings
Cotton Malone #13: The Bishopās Pawn
The Frozen River
Hawthorne & Horowitz #5: Close to Death
Kay Scarpetta #14: Predator
The Mad Wife
Marley
The Meiji Guillotine Murders
One of Us Is Lying #2: One of Us Is Next
Shades of Magic #1: A Darker Shade of Magic
If you would like to join any, please follow the link and let your buddies know you will join the read! Would you like to suggest a future Buddy Read or join a future one? You can sign up on our current Buddy Reads - Sign Up thread.
Finally, welcome to all of our new members! We can't wait to get to know you. Please stop in and introduce yourself or say hello to our new members!
Happy Reading, everyone!
Winter, SarahKat, TerryJane, Carri Carey, Blagica, Theresa, JennH, and Susan