13 Moon Reading Challenge 2026

The 13 Moons Reading Challenge by ReadnBuried is comprised of thirteen categories with multiple prompts for each category. Thirteen books (one from each category) will complete the challenge at its most basic level--Penumbral Lunar Eclipse--which is what I will be going for. I may do more, but will consider my challenge commitment complete with 13. If you're feeling ambitious you can try for all 104! Click on the link for full details about all the levels.

Wolf Moon
Book featuring an Asylum:
"Vanilla" in the title:
Book with less than 90 pages:
Read while eating a sandwich:
Read a book in your favorite place:
By an author who is funny:
Do NOT read this book while sitting on floor:
Book about a Teacher:

Snow Moon
A mirror on the cover:
Word "Chocolate" on the cover:
Start book in Winter:
Book with a Playlist:
Book with three Ss in title:
Read book while seated next to someone:
Read while eating a treat:
Read a book when you have nothing else to read:

Worm Moon
Book about a Mental Disorder:
"Strawberry" in title:
Book about Cheese:
Book with movie adaptation:
Book features snakes:
Read a book on a blanket:
Start book after 5 pm:
Snail on the cover: 

Pink Moon
Book about Mental Health
"Mango" in the title:
A friend recommendation:
Choose a book blindfolded:
Title is same as name of a song:
Whale on the cover:
Book you think will make you blush:
Book about breast cancer:

Flower Moon
Book features a castle:
"Cookies" in the title:
Mask on the cover:
Book features your favorite flower:
More than 5 colors on cover:
Book features the northern lights:
Set in the South:
Number 6 in title:

Strawberry Moon
Book has Gothic setting:
"Cheesecake" in the title:
Book with a series adaptation:
Eyebrows on cover:
"Ember" in the title:
Read book on a desk:
Book features sushi:
Polka dots on cover:

Buck Moon
Book with a Ghost character
"Caramel" in title:
A Book Club read:
Read book using phone's flashlight:
Start a book right after lunch:
Book features a blue collar job:
Book you wish would be turned into a movie:
Book about self-defense:

Sturgeon Moon
Book in which a character dies:
"Butter" in the title:
Book from somebody's anti-TBR: Last Ditch by Ngaio Marsh (from Noah at Noah's Archives)
Book features royalty:
Fangs on the cover:
An AI recommendation:
Set in one of the counties in the UK:
Read a Fable:

Harvest Moon
A horror book:
"Rainbow" in the title"
Framed painting on cover:
Book with only 7 chapters:
Book about a fandom:
Roll a die and read book corresponding to the number:
Read first book you see on the shelf:
Book with character with tattoos:

Hunter's Moon
Start book after midnight:
"Road" in the title":
Glitter on the cover:
About a band that is no longer active:
Listen to a free audiobook:
Book with different endings: [choose your own adventure]
Written by Indie Author and then taken by publisher:
Star-Crossed Lovers trope:

Beaver Moon
Set in Victorian era:
"Cake" in title:
Book features a circus:
Book similar to your favorite book:
Book with British & American characters:
Book about ancient technology:
Rocking chair on cover:
Religious symbol on cover:

Cold Moon
A psychological thriller:
"Marshmallow" in title:
Book features a game:
Ferris wheel on cover:
Book with a fantasy creature:
Book features an egg:
Book with an empty chapter:
Milkshake on cover:

Blue Moon
Knife on the cover:
"Raspberry" in title:
Book in your Reading Challenge TBR:
Book features inheritance: The Plumley Inheritance by Christopher Bush
Set in a School of any kind:
Carousel on the cover:
Book you think will surprise you:
Book with a subject new to you:

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.
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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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December Virtual Mount TBR Reviews

 

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December Mount TBR Reviews

 

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December Vintage Scavenger Hunt Reviews

 

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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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