2026 Reading Challenges

Tracking my progress with 2026 reading challenges. (Links to all challenges with full details, and to sign-up, can be found in this post.)

Challenges listed below:
Book Challenge by Erin 24.0

2026 A to Z Challenge - Horror Aficionados on Goodreads
2026 I Read Horror Year-Round
2026 Book to Movie (and TV) Challenge
2026 Read Your Shelf Challenge

24.0 - January 1 through April 30

Freebie : A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin

Book title beginning with A, B or C: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab

Epistolary: A People's History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal

Book with clock on the cover: The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher

Strong father figure: Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski

Radio National Pick: Circe by Madeline Miller

Occupation in the book title: The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell

School or Academic setting: Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

Reader's pick: White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Biography/Memoirs/Historical fiction: Chronicle of the Pharaohs by Peter A. Clayton

2026 A to Z Challenge - Horror Aficionados on Goodreads

Look for book titles or author's last names that start with each letter of the alphabet but now we're including a fun change:

The A to Z can be all BOOK TITLES, all AUTHOR'S LAST NAMES or A COMBINATION OF BOTH.

That's right. You chose what you would like to include in your personal A to Z Challenge.

Some letters, such as Q, X, and Z, are a bit more difficult to find, so any title or author's name that includes those letters is acceptable.

A 

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

I host this challenge at my sister blog, the horror blog, Castle Macabre. 

Here are the categories and levels...

• Winter - set in winter or snow on the cover or winter in the title
• Epistolary horror - found footage, told in letters and/or diaries
  A People's History of the Vampire Uprising, Raymond A. Villareal
• Cult and/or ritual
• Haunted house
• Full moon and/or woods on the cover
• Indigenous, Asian, or Latino author
• Pumpkins/Jack O' Lanterns on the cover
• Black author - White Is for Witching, Helen Oyeyemi
• Book published in the 60's, 70's, or 80's
• Social justice horror
• Yule/Christmas holiday themed
• Whatever scares you the most

Levels:

Spooky: Read 6 books from 6 categories
Chilling: Read 12 Books from all 12 categories
Frightful: Read 2 books from each category for a total of 24 books
Horrifying: Read 3 books from each category for a total of 36 books

I'm doing the Chilling level. I've listed some of my planned reads above.

Optional bonus challenge - Complete the Word

The words
DREAD
FEAR
FRIGHT
HORROR
SCARED
TERROR

I'm not sure what word (or words) I'm going to choose yet. TBD. 

My main level...

The Enthusiast: read 1-3 books (2026 TV/Movie releases)
Also, additional levels...
Not Ready to Let Go: read at least one (1) book made into a movie or series in 2025
Living in the Past: read at least one (1) book made into a movie in previous years
The Movie Was Better (What?!): watch the movies/shows for the books you read.

Potential books (including some I didn't get to last year):

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, George R.R. Martin (2026)

The Book of Magic (Practical Magic 2) by Alice Hoffman (2026)

Fire & Blood: 300 Years Before A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin - House of the Dragon streaming series (2022, 2024, 2026)

Klara And The Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro (2026)

Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns by Lauren Weisberger (2026)

Remain, Nicholas Sparks & M. Night Shymalan (I don't usually read Sparks, but I'll make an exception when Shymalan is involved.)

The Testaments, Margaret Atwood (2026)
Wicked, Gregory Maguire (2024, 2025))

The Witching Hour, Anne Rice (reread) Second season of streaming series (1/5/25)

The Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay (2023)
Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann (2023) Currently reading
My Lady Jane, Cynthia Hand - streaming series (2024)

Klara And The Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro (2025)
The Running Man, Stephen King (2025)

The Long Walk, Stephen King (2025)

Books read
2026




2025




2024 and older

Movies watched

Completed books will have the date completed in red linked to the review (if applicable). Replacement books will be added to the end of the list.

Curious about this challenge? Get all the details here.

Books from my "holds shelf"

Diary of an Immortal, David J. Castello
The Orphan Witch, Paige Crutcher
The Sparrow, Maria Doria Russell
The American Adventuress, C.W. Gortner
The Year of the Witching, Alexis Henderson
The Penguin Book of Witches, Katherine Howe, Editor
The Double Bind, Chris Bohjalian
Billy Summers, Stephen King
The Twisted Ones, T. Kingfisher
Relics, Tim Lebbon
The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One, Amanda Lovelace
The North Water, Ian McGuire
All the Dark Places, Terri Parlato
The Chestnut Man, Soren Sveistrop
The Book of Speculation, Enka Swyler
A People's History of the Vampire Uprising, Raymond A. Villareal
Hell Bent, Leigh Bardugo
Freezing Point, Karen Dionne
The Marsh King's Daughter, Karen Dionne
The Forever House, Tim Waggoner

Babel, R.F. Kuang
Strange Piece of Paradise, Terri Jentz
White Horse, Erika T. Wurth
The Broken Ones, Stephen M. Irwin
The Kingdom of Sweets, Erika Johnson
Witches Get Stuff Done, Molly Harper

The String Diaries, Stephen Lloyd Jones
My Darling Girl, Jennifer McMahon
Maplecroft, Cherie Priest
The Evening Road, Laird Hunt
Don't Fear the Reaper, Stephen Graham Jones
Salvation Spring, T.C. Parker
Hummingbird, T.C. Parker
The Long Con, T.C. Parker
Familia, Lauren E. Rico
The Book of Longings, Sue Monk Kidd
Try Not to Die: At Ghostland, Ralston & Tullius
Hell on High, Michael Clark
Hemlock Island, Kelley Armstrong
Witches Steeped in Gold, Ciannon Smart
Frankenstein Omnibus, Dean Koontz
Castle of Sorrows, Jonathan Janz

Babysitter, Joyce Carol Oates
The Manor House, Gilly MacMillan
Affinity, Sarah Waters
The Book of Atrix Wolfe, Patricia McKillip

Children of the Night, Dan Simmons

Hotel Transylvania, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

The Doll, Daphne DuMaurier

The Toll, Cherie Priest

The Evening and the Morning, Ken Follett

The Hundred Secret Senses, Amy Tan

Chronicle of the Pharaohs, Peter A. Clayton

Sleep Tight, J.H. Markert

Circe, Madeline Miller

Vampires and Vampirism, Montague Summers

My Heart Laid Bare, Joyce Carol Oates

The Black Hunger, Nicholas Pullen

Jesus for the Non-Religious, John S. Spong

At the bottom of the page is an image of my current holds shelf. I managed to read 12 books from the 58 books that were on the shelf starting in 2025. When I did read a book from my holds shelf, I shelved it on my main shelves and chose a book from my main shelves to replace it. I changed this up a bit after the first couple of years of this challenge. I made a list of new books as they arrived and for every third book I read from the holds shelf, I would replace it with one of the new books. That way I'm still replacing the majority of books from my main shelves.

Books replacing completed books on the "holds shelf"