On The Same Page discussion

This year I'm taking a relaxed approach to challenges, keeping in mind that I do like challenges and planning for them, but they tend to not be realistic.

1. ATY52 - goal 26 (out of 52 prompts)
2. 12+4 - goal 12 but I'll be happy with 6
3. Tome (500+ pages) - goal 5
4. Buffet Challenge in Catching up on Classics Group
4. Focus on new releases (2025-2026) - no goal but track activity.
5. Book Riot Read Harder Challenge
5. In-depth reading of one author (or maybe a country) TBD. I would like to do this but not sure how realistic it is. Putting this idea on the backburner to think about....

Reserve

Every year I am excited to read new releases (buzzy books) but I rarely read them in the year of publication. Sometimes I do a few years later. This is my chance to get caught up on the books I missed in 2025 and stay current with 2026 releases!

2025 books:
To read:
The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
Flesh by David Szalay
Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green
My Friends by Fredrik Backman
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams
The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

2026 books:
The Last of Earth: A Novel by Deepa Anappara (Jan 13)
I Give You My Silence by Mario Vargas Llosa (English translation) (Feb 24)
Son of Nobody by Yann Martel (Mar 31)
Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez (Apr 7)
Abundance by Hafeez Lakhani (May 5)
The News from Dublin: Stories by Colm Toibin (Mar 31)

Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2026
- I've never done this challenge before but want to give it a try this year. There are 2 prompts I will likely not complete - #9 (not interested in romantasy) and #19 (I don't like prompts that require this much personal knowledge about the author).

1. Microhistory
2. book featured on a "best book covers' List
3. YA book by a Latine author
4. Novel with a MC who uses they/them pronouns
5. Nonfiction about resistance
6. Gothic novel published in the last ten years
7. Sports book by a women, trans or nonbinary writer
8. Classic from the Zero to Well-read podcast
9. Romantasy book with a queer and/or BIPOC MC
10. Book recently adapted for film, TV or musical
11. Book by a deaf author
12. Read/try a recipe from a cookbook about a culture whose food you've never eaten
13. Nonfiction comic
14. Magical realism or fabulism
15. Author is a librarian
16. Queer picture book
17. Book about cult(s)
18. Nonfiction about AI or social media
19. Intersex author
20. Set in space
21. Genre (SFF, horror, mystery, romance) in translation
22. Nonviolent true crime
23. African author
24. Pick a challenge from any of the previous years' challenges

Note: One book can be used for multiple categories.

Idea for in-depth studies:

1. Ukraine fiction and non-fiction
2. Graham Greene novels and short stories
3. Italian authors - Elena Ferrante, Domenico Starnone, Umberto Eco, The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories, The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni

Great idea, Pam; and great categories too. We should all try to read with "no pressure"....

Good luck and it will be interesting to see your picks. ☺️📚📚

Great challenge ideas, Pam. I went through a period of Graham Greene novels. He's such an interesting author.

Bill wrote: "Great challenge ideas, Pam. I went through a period of Graham Greene novels. He's such an interesting author."

Thanks Bill! I've only read a few of his short stories and I enjoyed them. One thing I noticed is that he seems to focus on themes relating to Catholicism. He certainly has a lot of material to choose from! I'll have to see what I'm drawn to next year. I can never predict in December so I'm not even going to try. But I would like to make a decision before March and make it a year-long reading adventure.

Alondra wrote: "Great idea, Pam; and great categories too. We should all try to read with "no pressure"....

Good luck and it will be interesting to see your picks. ☺️📚📚"

Thanks Alondra! I feel like I will have better success in 2026. I got really distracted this year.

Pam wrote: "Alondra wrote: "Great idea, Pam; and great categories too. We should all try to read with "no pressure"....

Good luck and it will be interesting to see your picks. ☺️📚📚"

Thanks Alondra! I feel l..."

I was beyond distracted and still am. I cannot believe that I kicked these challenges to the side like this. Hopefully we both find time for it.

i decided to make a few changes to my thread:

1) No tracking of challenges and goals other than the ones detailed on this thread. No need to duplicate my tracking.
2) No tracking of books that I read which I purchased recently. I'm just leaving it at new releases.
3) Added the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2026. I listen to their podcast, so I'd like to try the challenge. I already have plans to read books that fit many of the prompts. There are just two of them that are likely a NO for me unless they give some options that sound appealing.

I think we're all doing fine tuning at this point... :)