My Personal Reading Challenge for 2026

I love the start of a new year. It’s the perfect time to take a look at my life and do a quick audit. And I use the information to put together my personal reading challenge for 2026.

What’s working? What’s not? What would I like to do more of?

I think it’s safe to say that I would always like to be reading more. I do my best to fit reading in between work and chores and taking care of my home. But yeah. I could always use more good stories in my life. 🙂

But see, that’s a problem. Because I love to pick up new books when I’m at the thrift store or when I’m at Ollie’s, but I’m running out of room on my shelves. So this year I’m planning to read more of what is on my shelves so that I can clean out and pass along books to my friends and to the community.

If you’d like to follow my progress throughout the upcoming year, please make sure to hit the subscribe button below!

What is My Personal Reading Challenge for 2026?

My personal reading challenge for 2026 is to read 26 physical books that I have sitting on my bookshelves. After I’m done reading them, I will decide whether it is a book I would like to keep and re-read, or if it is a book I would like to share with a friend/or my community.

Why 26 Books?

I chose the number 26 because of the year being 2026! But hopefully I will accomplish my goal early and be able to add more titles to this list. We shall see!

What Titles do I Plan to Read?

I’m so glad you asked! Here is a list of the 26 titles that I have added to my reading challenge for this year. There are books that I’ve collected over the years, either by purchasing them myself or they have been given to me by friends and family.

Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood
Crash by Tamara Lush
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
In a New York Minute by Kate Spencer
Plan a Happy Life by Stephanie Fleming
Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper
The Haunting of Blackwood House by Darcey Coates
The Haunting of Gillespie House by Darcey Coates
Meet You in the Middle by Devon Daniels
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Violet by Scott Thomas
Frayed by Layne Deemer (This is actually a re-read!)
Looking for Alaska by John Green (Also a re-read)
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
The Finnish Way by Katja Pantzar (My Mom wants to borrow this when I’m finished with it)
The Strawberry Patch Pancake House by Laurie Gilmore
The Joy You Make by Steven Petrow
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green (I started this last year but need to restart from the beginning)
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison
Blackcake by Charmaine Wilkerson
A Distant Shore by Karen Kingsbury (My future MIL lent this to me and I need to return it soon! lol)
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

These Books Will Certainly Keep Me Busy

What a list, huh?

If you made it to the bottom of this blog post, thank you so much for checking it out. Writing things down is one of the best ways for me to get things done. So hope to bookmark this page and check back on it frequently throughout the upcoming year.

Let me know in the comments if you are participating in any reading challenges this year. I’d love to hear all about it!