Journey Through Time Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2026

 

Going hand-in-hand with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge at The Intrepid Reader & Baker, we have the Journey Through Time Historical Fiction Reading Challenge at Alma's Book Journey on Instagram. I'm going to try to do all twelve, but for my personal challenge tracker my commitment will be for six.

Biblical/Ancient Era: 

Romance:

A Child's Tale:

At Sea:

Latin America:

WWI or WW2

American Revolution:

Historical Fantasy

Libraries/Books/Teachers:

Set in the 1800s:

Mystery/Suspense:

Set in your Fav Decade:

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2026

 

Marg at The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader & Baker will be hosting the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge again this year. I've still got a couple of historical series to work on and plan to join in for another round.. If historical fiction is your thing (or you'd like to see if it is), take a peek at the details at the link above.

I'm going to sign up for the Victorian Reader level (5 books). I may wind up venturing further, but if I reach my initial goal then I will claim the challenge complete.

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Victorian Reader

Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026

 

The Cloak & Dagger Challenge is back at Carol's Notebook. Those who have participated before will recognize the rules and format--check out the link for full details and to sign up. Since my primary reading genre is mysteries, I will be joining in again at the Sherlock Holmes level of 56+ books in the mystery and crime fields.

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52 Book Club 2026 Challenge

 

I'm back for another round of Liz's reading challenge at The 52 Book Club. Hers is a low-key challenge, so there is no pressure to fulfill all 52 categories I'm setting a personal goal of 26. I may read more that fit the categories, but at 26 I can claim my challenge goal fulfilled. Several times in the past I've managed to pull off all 52--so who knows, maybe I'll get there again. I'll list some tentative selections below and update as needed.

1. Set in an ancient civilization: Aristotle, Detective by Margaret Doody

2. Kangare word on the cover: The Clue of the Broken Locket by Carolyn Keene (Clue/Cue)

3. Written without quotation marks: Sinai Tapestry by Edward Whittemore OR Ghost by Paul Aster [library]

4. Has a dust jacket:

5. Featuring a conspiracy:

6. Title starts with letter O:

7. Title starts with letter P: Pencil Points to Murder by Willetta Ann Barber & R. F. Schabelitz

8. A three-syllable word in the title:

9. Featuring a natural disaster:

10. Spans a decade or more:

11. Requires suspension of disbelief:

12. A genre-defining read:

13. Bookface:

14. Includes a character list:

15. A subtitle with commas:

16. Deus Ex Machina:

17. Author's bio mentions their dog: The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

18.Provokes strong emotion:

19. A nosy neighbor character:

20. Day of the week in title: Thursday's Folly by Judson Philips OR Death over Sunday by James Francis Bonnell

21. Written in the 1800s:

22. Spotted in a TV series or movie: The Saint in New York by Leslie Charteris [in Inglorious Basterds, 2009]

23.Grumpy/Sunshine trope:

24. Uneven number of chapters:

25. Includes a red herring:

26. Title in serif font:

27. Two or more authors, one pseudonym: Murder by Prescription by Jonathan Stagge (Hugh Wheeler & Richard Webb)

28. From a series at least eight books long:

29. Set in the Arctic or Antarctic: Death in a Cold Climate by Robert Barnard

30. Author related to another author: A Dying Fall by Hildegarde Dolson

31. Author related to author in prompt 30: Squire of Death by Richard Lockridge (married)

32. Publisher starting with letter B: A Death for a Double by E. X. Giroux (Ballantine)

33. Standalone fantasy novel: The Ship of Ishtar by A. A. Merritt

34. Inspired by top-grossing movie the year you were born: Murder on the Line by John Creasey (train robbery; Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid)

35. Character with secret identity

36. Award-wining book from last year:

37. Started on the 26th of the month:

38. Domestic fiction:

39. A book that cost you nothing:

40. Author's first and last name start with same letter:

41. A guide to...: A Botanist's Guide to Parties & Poisons by Kate Khavari (library)

42. Includes a handwritten interior font: The Far Away Man by William Marshall (signed by author) OR The Prowler by Frances Rickett (signed by author)

43. Goodreads recommendation for you: The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro

44. Literary Device--Personification: 

45. Biographical Fiction: Murder on the Yellow Brick Road by Stuart Kaminsky

46. Non-fiction about character in prompt 45: Judy Garland, Clark Gable, Louis B. Mayer, etc.

47. A diacritical mark on cover: A Murder of Quality by John le Carré

48. Related to the word "Nemesis": Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz

49. From the 800s of the Dewey Decimal System:

50. Set in a castle: Murder of a Lady by Anthony Wynne

51. Includes a map.

52. Published in 2026: When the Wolves Are Silent by C. S. Harris

Old Students Never Die

 Old Students Never Die (1962) by Ivan T. Ross (Robert Rossner)

Ben Gordon is a high school teacher who has just come to the end of one of "those" years. A year where there didn't seem to be a single student who wanted to learn or who showed a spark of interest in what Gordon had to teach. Nearly every year there would be some and there would be certain students who were just plain favorites. Not teacher's pets--but students who seemed to make a connection. Jackie Meadows was one of those students. He was brilliant in schoolwork, but he and Gordon connected. But, as with most students, Gordon had lost touch with him.

But this year fellow teacher Jay Gibbs asks Gordon if he remembered Meadows and did he know that he had turned out to be a very successful comedian on the night club circuit. Yes, he did...and, no, he didn't. Gordon had planned to set out early for a summer vacation road trip--to anywhere but where the school was, but Gibbs tells him that tonight is Meadows' last night at the local club and Gordon should catch the show. So, he does, enjoys the show, and meets up with Meadows after. He's surprised to find himself accepting his former student's invitation to spend the first part of summer vacation at the comedian's country place. Especially when he hears that it will be full of television types because Jackie is in the middle of negotiations for his own TV show.

What starts as a pleasant holiday in the country turns deadly when a local girl returns home and winds up murdered on the property of Jackie and his wife. The sheriff isn't too happy about the involvement of so many outsiders and takes it personally that a local girl was murdered after attending a party full of these people. He casts a suspicious eye on Jackie and Ben and all of Jackie's friends. Ben Gordon isn't above a little sleuthing of his own and it looks like he's found the killer for the Sheriff...or has he?

Of my most recent academic mystery reads, this one has been the best--though still not the strongest I've ever read. I like Ben Gordon and I enjoyed seeing this world through his eyes. His amateur sleuthing is good, though he does make some wrong turns. What I didn't enjoy was the fact that he only got to the correct solution after a disastrous incorrect one. I'm not sure that I like that particular twist that Ross gave to the plot. It just seems a bit bleak to me and I do like to see justice served at the end of a mystery. The other drawback is that Jackie, the "successful" comedian, just isn't funny. His jokes are either a bit cruel or just don't have a punch line worth waiting for. I would think it difficult to successfully portray a comedian on the page and Ross just doesn't quite bring it off. I did enjoy this enough that I look forward to reading the other Ross novel sitting on the TBR piles (Requiem for a Schoolgirl), I hope that the ending is a little more satisfying. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: They come into our lives as children--thirteen or fourteen years old, clumsy, boisterous, half-formed.

Last lines: The highway was empty. I pressed the accelerator all the way down.
*************************

Deaths = 5 (two natural; two hit on head; one shot)

[Finished on 11/29/25]

December Reading by the Numbers Reviews

 

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Click here to enter

December Virtual Mount TBR Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

December Mount TBR Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

December Vintage Scavenger Hunt Reviews

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

2026 Mystery Marathon: My Sign-Up

 

Two years ago Rick over at the Mystillery decided that we needed to stretch our mystery-reading muscles and start training for a Mystery Marathon. [Full disclosure: I've been in training for this since my mom introduced me to Nancy Drew.] For each marathon we need to read at least 26 mystery books. I finished five marathons in 2024, but last year our trainer Rick has told us not to overdo. So one marathon and we can head to the refreshments tent and relax.

Marathon 2026

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2026 Six Shooter Challenge: My Sign-Up

 

I'm heading out to the shooting range again with Rick and his Six Shooter Mystery Reading Challenge in 2026. The goal is pretty straight-forward--read six books on the same target (by the same author) to complete your round. Any targets started in 2025 but not yet complete will carry over to the new year, so Rick's page won't be fully ready to go for a while. But you can check out the current details at the link above.

As with his other challenges, Rick doesn't ask for a commitment. But I will set a personal goal in order to claim the challenge complete for 2026. I've been setting it at four targets--and I will be aiming for the same in the new year.  Likely targets will include Agatha Christie, the Lockridges, and Carolyn Keene. Other authors TBD.

Target 1

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Target 2

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Target 3

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Target 4

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2026 Medical Examiner Challenge

 

Once again Rick at the Rick Mills Project will be offering up the Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge as well as the Six Shooter Challenge and the Mystery Marathon. I, having no self-control when it comes to challenges--especially mystery-related challenges, will--of course--sign up for all three. For full details, check out the link above after the new year starts. Basically, just read mysteries and log the number of named corpses on his handy form.

Rick doesn't require a sign-up post, but in order to claim this one as complete on my own personal challenge tally sheet, I must submit at least 20 death certificate reports. With the number of mysteries I read per year, this doesn't prove too difficult--so, there should be plenty of toe tags signed by "Quincy" Hankins at the Mystillery Morgue.

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Commitment met

2026 Calendar of Crime: My Sign-Up

 

As I mention elsewhere, mysteries are my genre of choice. So, I have little difficulty filling up my calendar with all sorts of mysterious dates and dastardly deeds. The goal--to read one month-related mystery book per month for a total of twelve books. See link at the Calendar of Crime for details and a link to the monthly prompts.

January: 

February: 

March: 

April: 

May: 

June: 

July: 

August: 

September: 

October: 

November: 

December:

2026 Read It Again, Sam Challenge: My Sign-Up

 

I don't do a lot of re-reading, but it does seem that I wind up with at least a handful each year. So, I'm going to sign up for my Read It Again, Sam Challenge again.
 
There are several levels (below) and the full rules may be found at the link above.
Déjà vu: Reread 4 books  
Feeling Nostalgic: Reread 8 books
A Trip Down Memory Lane: Reread 12 books  
Living in the Past: Reread 16+ books

I'm just going to go for Déjà vu: Reread 4 books. If I find myself doing more rereads, then I'll level up.

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2026 Color Coded Reading Challenge

 

Every year I think I've used up my last title with "Brown" (or a shade of brown) for the Color Coded Reading Challenge and every year I prove myself wrong (or buy more books with suitable titles). I'll keep signing up as long as I have suitable titles or author's name (I don't plan on ever using cover color...).

Here's the basic rule: read nine books with the various colors listed below in their titles, the author's name, or as a dominant color/image on their covers. For full details, click the link above. I'll list my books and date read as they come.

1. Read book with "Blue" (or a shade of blue):

2. Read a book with "Red" (or a shade of red):

3. Read a book with "Yellow" (or a shade of yellow):

 
4. Read a book with "Green" (or a shade of green):

5. Read a book with "Brown" (or a shade of brown):

6. Read a book with "Black" (or a shade of black):

7. Read a book with "White" (or a shade of white): 

8. Read a book with any other color:

9. Read a book a word/image that implies color (rainbow, polka dot, etc): 

2026 Reading by the Numbers: My Sign-Up

 

The Reading by the Numbers Challenge is the reading challenge at its most basic--just track everything you read. Anything counts--graphic novels or comic books, hard copy, e-books, audio novels, etc. If it is a book, it counts. And although the covers shown in the challenge image are all mysteries, you may read from any and all genres that interest you. Just set a goal and when January 1 comes around, start reading.

For the last two years, I've set my goal at 150, but in 2025 life went off the rails and there's no way I'm making 150. So, I'm dialing it back and setting my goal at 100. Hopefully, I'll rack up more than that. But with 100 I can claim the challenge complete.

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2026 Virtual Mount TBR: My Sign-Up

 

Every year my goal is to read from my own stacks (hence the original Mount TBR Challenge). And every year I decide that there are TBR books that I don't own that I just have to Read. So--with my Virtual Mount TBR Challenge, I get to count that mountain too. As per usual, I'm starting with Rum Doodle and, hopefully, I won't get too carried away with library books. Though it would be nice to say that I've climbed the steps to Vulcan's Mount Seleya....

Click to enlarge

If you have tons of books on your want to read list that you don't own, then please join me as we tackle fictional mountains in the TBR world. Just click on the link above.

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Rum Doodle

Book Challenge by Erin 24.0

 

Book Challenge by Erin 24.0

First and foremost, have fun. Don't stress. No one is being judged, graded, or penalized. Even if you finish only one book the entire challenge, if you enjoy it and it's an accomplishment for you, then that's awesome.

The challenge runs from January 1, 2026 - April 30, 2026. You submit your book list prior to beginning the challenge. Exchanges are accepted for the first round, but not in the bonus round (announced later). No books started before 12 a.m. on January 1 or finished after 11:59 p.m. on April 30 will count. (We live in different time zones--follow according to your own time zone.) Each book must be at least 200 pages long. Audio books are fine too. Read one book for each category. For full details see Erin's page on Facebook (link above). You will need to join the private group to view.

Freebie: Death on the Slopes by Norma Schier (204 pages)

A Book That Begins With A, B, or C: 

Aristotle, Detective by Margaret Doody (278 pages)

An Epistolary Book: 

Don Among the Dead Men by C. E. Vulliamy (224 pages)

A Book With a Clock on Cover OR "Clock" in Title: 

The Division Bell Mystery by Ellen Wilkinson (256 pages)

Book With a Strong Father Figure: 

Frederica by Georgette Heyer (384 pages)

Book from List Curated by Australian Readers: 

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (235 pages)

Book With Occupation in Title: 

The Fourth Postman by Craig Rice (228 pages)

Book Set in a School or an Academic Setting: 

High Marks for Murder by Rebecca Kent (200 pages)

Book Added to Your List Because of the BCBE group: 

A Dangerous Crossing by Rachel Rhys (selected by Olga Michelle Gladtskov Ball) for "Takes Place on a Mode of Transportation 8.0")

Biography/Memoir/Historical Fiction About Someone You Know Little About: 

An Affair to Remember: The Remarkable Story of Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy by Christopher Anderson (315 pages)

2026 Mount TBR: My Sign-Up

 

I'm ready to kick off my fourteenth climb up Mount TBR as well as the fourteenth year I've sponsored the challenge. It will come as a surprise to no one that my TBR mountain range is no smaller than when I started. I just seem to trade one mountain for another, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to keep trying to read more than I take in. Once more the goal is to climb Mount Everest (100 of my own books) with the hopes of planting a flag atop Mount Olympus on Mars. I've managed that feat in two of the past years--but it's unlikely that I'll get very far on Mars this year. Grab your hiking boots and come join me on a TBR trek in 2026!

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2026 Vintage Scavenger Hunt: My Sign-Up

 

My own Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge is near and dear to my heart. It's the first challenge I sponsored here on the Block and mysteries are my genre of choice--if I'm forced to choose. We're back again for another round of the Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt. The mission is to find as many objects on the scavenger hunt list as possible, although finding a total of eight on either card will technically fulfill the challenge. You can play along in either the Golden or Silver (or, for the more adventurous, both) and all the rules may be found at the link above. I will be searching for both gold and silver treasure--eight on each card will allow me to count my challenge complete, but I will definitely be trying to find them all. Hope you will join me!

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Commitment Met

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Commitment Met

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2026 Color Coded & Read It Again, Sam Challenges

 

There continues to be a lot of love out there for both the Color Coded and Read It Again, Sam Challenges. Since I don't monitor these quite as closely as my other challenges and my linky provider limits the number of linky "parties" I can provide, I am setting these up on the same sign-up and headquarters sites again this year. The Headquarters with review links and wrap-up links will be updated on the sidebar at the beginning of the year. Here are the challenge descriptions and sign-up links:

Color Coded Reading Challenge

 

I've opened the possibilities up just a bit further--the color may be named in the title, in the author's name, or it may appear as the dominant color for the cover of the book. For "implies color" the image implying color should dominate the cover--for instance a large rainbow, a field of flowers, or the image of a painter. Get ready for a rainbow of reading in 2026. 

General Rules:

~Challenge runs from January 1 through December 31, 2026 and any book read after January 1 may count regardless of when you sign up. You may sign-up any time.

~Read nine books in the following categories:

1. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue in the title/author name/on the cover.

2. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red in the title/author name/on the cover.

3. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow in the title/author name/on the cover.

4. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green in the title/author name/on the cover.

5. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown in the title/author name/on the cover.

6. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black in the title/author name/on the cover.

7. A book with "White" or any shade of White in the title/author name/on the cover.

8. A book with any other color in the title/author name/on the cover.title/on the cover (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, etc).

9. A book with a word/image that implies color in the title/author name/on the cover. (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Shadow, Paint, Ink, etc).

~Crossovers with other challenges are fine.

~To Sign Up please fill in the form below. If you have a blog, please post about the challenge on your site and enter the url link. You may also enter a link to a Goodreads or Library Thing list, Instagram, etc. If you can't use the form for any reason, you may also sign up by commenting below.

~If you post on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media to log a book, please use #ColorCoded2026.

~At the beginning of the new year, I will put up posts for review links for each color category and the sidebar image will be updated to the new challenge links.

 

 

Read It Again, Sam

For those of you who love to revisit old friends in the book world, I present another round with Sam at the piano for all your reading music needs. While not quite as popular as the Color Coded Challenge, this one still has its devotees.

Rules:
~Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2026.

~Levels:

   Déjà vu: Reread 4 books

   Feeling Nostalgic: Reread 8 books

   A Trip Down Memory Lane: Reread 12 books

   Living in the Past: Reread 16 books

  Just Give Me a Time Machine Already...: 24+ books

~Once you choose your challenge level, you are locked in for at least that many books. If you find that you're lost in a nostalgic haze and want to tackle a higher level, then you are welcome to upgrade. You cannot change down, however.
~Any book read after January 2026 will count no matter when you sign up.
~Crossovers with other challenges are fine. 

~If you post on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media to log a book, please use #ReadItAgain2026.

 

 
~~To Sign Up for either or both please fill in the form below. If you have a blog, please post about the challenge/s on your site and enter the url link. You may also enter a link to a Goodreads or Library Thing list, Instagram, etc.
~No blog or social media site or can't use the form for any reason? No problem! Post a comment below to announce your entry into the challenge/s and when you have completed just post a comment on the most current review site with a list of your books.
~Please use the Headquarters Page (updated link coming in January) to post review links and a final wrap-up post and/or comments. [Reviews are not required--but we'd love to see what you think about the books you've read if you do review.]

Calendar of Crime 2026

 

photo credit: Ellery Queen's Calendar of
Crime (Signet edition)

Ready for another year of mysterious months and dangerous days? I'm pleased to sponsor the 2025 edition of the Calendar of Crime. Just a reminder that this mystery-based challenge allows readers to include any mystery regardless of publication date. If it falls in a mystery category (crime fiction/detective novel/police procedural/suspense/thriller/spy & espionage/hard-boiled/cozy/etc.), then it counts and it does not matter if it was published in 1896 or 2026. 

 

The Rules
~Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2026. All books should be read during this time period. Sign up at any time. If you have a blog, please post about the challenge. Then sign up via the form below and please make the url link to your challenge post and not your home page. If you don't have a blog, links to an online list (Goodreads, Library Thing, etc.) devoted to this challenge are acceptable OR you may skip that question.

~All books must be mysteries. Humor, romance, supernatural elements (etc.) are all welcome, but the books must be mysteries/crime/detective novels first.

~Twelve books, one representing each month, are required for a complete challenge. You may find the spreadsheet with monthly categories HERE. We will be using the 2024 version again this year.

~To claim a book, it must fit one of the categories for the month you wish to fulfill. Unless otherwise specified, the category is fulfilled within the actual story. for instance, if you are claiming the book for December and want to use "Christmas" as the category, then Christmas figure in some in the plot. Did someone poison the plum pudding? Did Great-Uncle Whozit invite all the family home for Christmas so he could tell them he plans to change his will?

~The "wild card" book is exactly that. If July is your birth month (as mine is), then for category #9 you may read any mystery book you want. It does not have to connect with July in any way--other than a July baby chose it. The other eleven months, you must do the alternate category #9 if you want to fulfill that slot.

~Chinese Zodiac: Animal must be important to the book in some way. Examples: animal name appears in title (stand-alone, not part of another word); animal itself is important to the story; animal appears on cover; important character is associated with the animal (nickname--for instance, owns one as a pet, etc.) OR book may have been published in a year that corresponds to the Zodiac year.

~Books may only count for one month and one category, but they may count for other challenges (such as my Vintage Scavenger Hunt Challenge). If it could fulfill more than one category or month, then you are welcome to change it at any time prior to the final wrap-up.

~Books do not have to be read during the month for which they qualify. So--if you're feeling like a little "Christmas in July" (or May or...), then feel free to read your book for December whenever the mood strikes.

~A wrap-up post/comment/email will be requested that should include a list of books read and what category they fulfilled. [Example: January: The House of Sudden Sleep by John Hawk (original pub date January 1930)]

~The headquarters link in the left-hand sidebar will be updated in January for 2025 for easy access to this original challenge post, monthly review link-ups, and the final wrap-up. The final wrap-up link will not go live until the end of 2025, so please save your notification until that time.

~If you post on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media to log a book, please use #CalendarOfCrime2026.

Reading by the Numbers 2026

 

Year number five for the Reading by the Numbers Challenge on My Reader's Block! Over the years various blogs have sponsored reading challenges that were all about tracking how many books you read. But those that I participated in are no longer active, so I decided to create my own. This is the reading challenge at its most basic--just track everything you read. Anything counts--graphic novels or comic books, hard copy, e-books, audio novels, etc. If it is a book, it counts. Books with numbers in the title are not required. I merely used those above as a play on the challenge name. And, although the covers shown in the challenge image are all mysteries, you may read from any and all genres that interest you.

~Challenge runs from January 1 through December 31, 2026.

~No pre-set challenge levels. You decide on your personal goal.

~May be used concurrently with other "number" reading challenges (such as the Goodreads Challenge) or with any other challenge.

~A blog and reviews of the books are not required to participate, but if you have a blog, please post your sign-up for the challenge and link the post in the form below. You are also welcome to link up other media sites where you log process (Instagram; Goodreads; etc.). 

~As with my other challenges, I will update the Headquarters link in the left sidebar of the blog at the beginning of the year.

~If you post on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media to log a book, please use #ReadingByNumbers2026.