2026 Reading Challenge discussion

FROM THE MODS

Happy September!

👋 Welcome to Marielle, who comes to us from the Netherlands. She has joined our mod team as a challenge moderator, and will help us bring fun challenges to the group. You can read Marielle’s bio in her Meet Your Mods! post, and if you’d like, you may wish her a warm welcome here.

📗 Our final Readathon of 2026 is nearing. Kinds of Kings is an individual readathon which will take place September 25 - September 27. Readathon Central can be found here. We look forward to hosting readathons again in 2027!

📢 Your mod team will soon begin planning for 2027! If you are new to the group, you may not realize how much our members influence this planning. Over the next few months, we will seek your input for a new yearly theme, new challenge ideas, existing challenges to bring back, and our annual masthead and logo contest. Keep an eye on these messages and our discussion board for more information, and help set the tone for our community’s coming year!

📃 Please be sure you have read our group rules. Spam and promotional comments will be deleted and the user will be removed from the group. We enjoy having our members here, so please follow the rules.

📩 Messaging is no longer available on Goodreads. You may communicate with the mods in the Questions and Comments for Mods thread.

GAMES & EVENTS
Welcome to a brand-new month of fun and games! Don’t forget to join in on the fun with the older games as well! There’s plenty of fun to be had, so jump in and keep the good times going!

Our new September game is a funny little game of This or That .

The following older games are still available to enjoy:
▪ Alphabetical Add-On Story
▪ Five Letters
▪ Guess a Letter
▪ Last Two Letters
▪ Scattergories (Round 1)
▪ Scattergories (Round 2)
▪ Scattergories (Round 3)
▪ Word Chain (Book Edition)

Do you have an idea for a fun forum game? Please share your Game Suggestions with us!

GROUP READ
Our September theme is Forest, and our group read for this month is The God of the Woods by Liz Moore , a mystery surrounding the 1975 summer camp disappearance of a teen girl and the secrets surrounding her community and family.

You can join the discussion or post your review of the book!

You can also vote for our October book with the theme of Supernatural, as well as nominate a book for November with the theme of Names!

CHALLENGES
September brings new monthly challenges with the theme of Forest, and we’ll continue our third quarter challenges with the theme of Global Glory.

Monthly Challenges
Lost in the Undergrowth is an open challenge to seek out a forest-related word in the title or text of your books.
Take a Hike is a prompt based challenge exploring forest elements.

Quarterly Challenges
Build Your Own Hall of Fame: Global Glory is an open challenge to add new international, regional, and independent exhibits to your literary museum.
Glory of the Globe has prompts that encourage you to read award winning books from all over the world.

Yearly Challenges can help you reach your reading goals for the year. Check out A Guide to the 2026 Yearly Challenges to learn more about our year-long challenges!

Do you have an idea for a challenge or would you like to learn about leading a challenge? Visit the Member Challenge Ideas thread. Most of our quarterly and monthly challenges grow from our members’ 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 you’ve signed up for September, find your TBR Twin here. Please reach out to your twin and choose a book to read together!

You can also sign up for October TBR Twins here, and we'll pair you with someone to read a book with next month.

BUDDY READS
Let’s 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 didn’t sign up!

We are reading the following books:
The Bloodsworn Saga #3: The Fury of the Gods
Children of My Heart
Dream Wheels
Crescent City #2: House of Sky and Breath
La diaspora des Desrosiers #2: Crossing the City
Elder Race #1
Mad Mabel
Marion
Shadow and Bone #3: Ruin and Rising
Shutter Island
Tell Me What You Did
Throne of Glass #7: Kingdom of Ash
Whistler
Wonder Boys

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. We encourage you to stop by the Start Here thread, which has useful information on how everything works within the group. And be sure to say hello in the introduce yourself thread. See you there!

Happy Reading, everyone!
Winter, SarahKat, TerryJane, Blagica, Theresa, JennH, Susan, and Marielle

Sign me up for 3:

1. Trees: Read a book with trees or leaves on the cover, set in a heavily wooded area, or a book with a dark, mysterious theme.
2. Ferns, Mosses, and Fungi: Read a book with a ferns, moss, or mushrooms on the cover, or a book where someone forages for food, herbs or medicines.
3. Vines: Read a book with a vine on the cover, with a character who enjoys climbing or running, or a book about someone who needs something or someone for support.
4. Mammals: Read a book about a forest mammal, with a forest mammal on the cover, or a survival or adventure book.
5. Birds: Read a book with a bird on the cover, in the title or author’s name, or about a character who "leaves the nest."
6. Amphibians and Reptiles: Read a book with an amphibian or reptile on the cover, or with a title word that describes their movement, e.g., crawl, slither, hop.
7. Insects and Invertebrates: Read a book with an insect or invertebrate on the cover, or with an associated word in the title, e.g. buzz, wing, web.
8. Water source: Read a book with a stream, pond, wetland or similar water source in its cover art, or reflected in the title.
9. Global Forests: Large forests are found on all continents except Antarctica. Read a travel book, or a book set in the woods on any other continent besides your homeland.
10. Forest Careers: Read a book about someone whose work involves the forest and its elements, e.g. hiking guide, wildland firefighter, forest ranger.

Audrey wrote: "Sign me up for 3:

1. Trees: Read a book with trees or leaves on the cover, set in a heavily wooded area, or a book with a dark, mysterious theme.
2. Ferns, Mosses, and Fungi: Read a book with a fe..."

Hi Audrey! I am so excited you want to sign up for the Take a Hike challenge. Please do so Here . We want the challenge leader to be able to note your progress. Happy Reading and good luck.