2026 Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge

Sign-ups are open for the 2026 Calendar of Crime Reading Challenge. The challenge will be hosted once again by the My Reader's Block blog. This is one of my favorite challenges as I have found new authors (to me) that I enjoy. 

 

The Rules

1. The challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2026. All books should be read during this time period. You can sign up at any time. If you have a blog, please post about the challenge. Then sign up via the challenge post form 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.

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

3. Twelve books, one representing each month, are required for a complete challenge. 

4. 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. 

5. Books may only count for one month and one category, but they may count for other challenges. 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.

6. 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.  Whew!  This is freeing.

7. 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)]

8. The headquarters link in the left-hand sidebar of the challenge post will be updated in January for 2026 for easy access to this original challenge post, monthly review link-ups, and the final wrap-up. 

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

2026 Nonfiction Reader Challenge

Sign-ups are now open for the 2026 Nonfiction Reader Challenge. The Book'd Out blog is hosting the challenge again. The aim of the Nonfiction Reader Challenge is to encourage you to make nonfiction part of your reading experience during the year. As for myself, I am going to downgrade my participation level to Nonfiction Nibbler which requires me to read just six books. When I signed up for this year’s challenge I had no idea how difficult 2025 would be for me personally. I probably only read half of the books that I planned to read.

You can select, read and review a book from the categories listed below during the year for a total of up to 12 books; OR select, read and review any nonfiction book. A book may be in print, electronic or audio format.

Choose a goal:

Nonfiction Nipper: Read & review 3 books, from any 3 listed categories

Nonfiction Nibbler: Read & review 6 books, from any 6 listed categories

Nonfiction Nosher: Read & review 12 books, one for each category

Nonfiction Grazer: Read & review any nonfiction book. Set your own goal, or none at all, just share the nonfiction you read through the year.

Categories:

History

Memoir/Biography

True Crime

Science

Health

Food

South East Asia

Humour (Humor)

Lost or found

Television

Subculture

Published in 2026

 You can choose your books as you go or create a list in advance. You may combine this challenge with others if you wish. Use your best good faith judgement as to whether a book fits the category or not.

Where a book is identified by more than one category, it may only count for one, not both.

You can read your chosen titles in any order, at any pace, just aim to complete the challenge by December 31st 2026

HOW TO JOIN

Create a blog post committing to your participation in this challenge. If you don’t have a blog you are still welcome to sign up. You can create a shelf for the challenge at Goodreads, LibraryThing or Storygraph, or post via Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky etc. Just add your name and a link to your shelf/account in the sign-up.

The challenge will run from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026. Participants may join at any time up until December 1, 2026.

Each time you read and review a book as part of this challenge, please identify the post by adding either a direct statement and/or the challenge image badge to the post. It’s also helpful if you indicate the category the book fulfills.

Use the hashtag #ReadNonFicChal on social media. You can tag the challenge host on Twitter: @bookdout or Bluesky @shelleyrae.bsky.social or Instagram/Threads: @shelleyrae _bookdout or any of my other social media linked in her sidebar.

Share your review with other challenge participants by including your name or blog name and the category with a direct link to your review in the monthly link.

Bloggers can grab the above badge to use in the challenge posts.

I hope you can join me in this special challenge.

2026 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge Author Edition

It's time once again to sign up for the Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge Author Edition. The Escape With Dollycas blog is hosting the challenge in 2026. The rules are easy to follow:

1. This challenge will run from January 1, 2026, until December 31, 2026.

2. You can join anytime. You do not have to post a review of the book. Books can come from any genre.

3. Children's Books and Novellas are acceptable, but they need to be over 50 Pages. 

4. You do not need to link up each spoonful.

5. Crossovers to other challenges are allowed and encouraged! 

6. The challenge is to read one book with an author surname that starts with every letter of the alphabet. 

7. There are two different ways you can set up your own A-Z Reading Challenge.

A - Make a list from A-Z. Throughout the year, as you go along, add the authors you are reading to the list. Towards the end of the year, you can check and see which letters you are missing and find books to fit.

OR

B - Make a list now of 26 authors, picking one for each letter of the alphabet, and check them off as you read them. 

8. As requested, the 2026 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge has been added to Storygraph as another way to keep track of your books:  https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/2aa6b63b-7c2d-4f14-b5de-9f507cfbd490. 

9. Books can be read in any order and all formats – print – e-book – and audio – are acceptable for this challenge!

10. Bloggers can grab the image above and make a post about the challenge to encourage others to join!

11. Non-bloggers you can join too! Just keep track any way you wish. You can even set up a special shelf on Goodreads to help you keep track! 

12. If you post about your books on Social Media, please use this hashtag #AlphabetSoupChallenge

13. Follow Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book, as there may be special announcements made about the challenge.

14. There is also a very active group on Facebook where you can share your books read and converse with others taking part in the challenge. 

15. To sign up, use Google Forms. Sign Up Here. 

2026 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge

It's time once again to sign up for the Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge. The Escape With Dollycas blog is hosting the challenge. The rules are easy to follow:

1. This challenge will run from January 1, 2026, until December 31, 2026.

2. You can join anytime. You do not have to post a review of the book. Books can come from any genre.

3. Children's Books and Novellas are acceptable, but they need to be over 50 Pages. 

4. You do not need to link up each spoonful.

5. Crossovers to other challenges are allowed and encouraged! 

6. The challenge is to read one book with a title that starts with every letter of the alphabet. You can drop the A’s and The’s from the book titles as shown below. The first main word needs to be the letter you are counting; except for Q, X, AND Z titles, then the word that starts with the challenge letter can be the first letter of any word in the title. Book titles starting with EX can be used for the X prompt.

7. There are two different ways you can set up your own A-Z Reading Challenge.

A - Make a list from A-Z. Throughout the year, as you go along, add the books you are reading to the list. Towards the end of the year, you can check and see which letters you are missing and find books to fit.

OR

B - Make a list now of 26 books, picking one for each letter of the alphabet, and check them off as you read them. 

For example:

 A -Anatomy of an Alibi: A Novel by Ashley Elston

8. As requested, the 2026 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge has been added to Storygraph as another way to keep track of your reads.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/6cf5d67b-ad85-4139-ba04-801b20bd648c

9. Books can be read in any order and all formats – print – e-book – and audio – are acceptable for this challenge!

10. Bloggers can grab the image above and make a post about the challenge to encourage others to join!

11. Non-bloggers you can join too! Just keep track any way you wish. You can even set up a special shelf on Goodreads to help you keep track! 

12. If you post about your books on Social Media, please use this hashtag #AlphabetSoupChallenge

13. Follow Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book, as there may be special announcements made about the challenge.

14. There is also a very active group on Facebook where you can share your books read and converse with others taking part in the challenge. 

15. To sign up, use Google Forms. Sign Up Here. 

2026 Net Galley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge

The Netgalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge returns in 2026!  It is hosted by the Socrates Book Reviews blog. While I only read 5 books for the challenge this year, I hope to increase that count next year by committing to read at least 25 books. 

The Challenge Rules:

1. The challenge runs from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026. There is no deadline to sign up.

2. You do not need to have a blog in order to participate.

3. Any genre, release date, length, etc. counts. It just needs to be a book from NetGalley or Edelweiss.

4. Books can count for more than one challenge that you are participating in.

5. Link your reviews every month on the Socrates Book Reviews blog.

6. To sign up make a blog post stating the level you intend to read in 2026 and link that blog post to the challenge post. The first link should be your name, the url should be the direct link to that blog post, not your main blog page.  If you do not have a blog then state your reading level in the comments below and how you will be sharing your book reviews.

Level of Participation

Bronze – 10 Books

Silver – 25 Books  (my level of participation)

Gold – 50 Books

Platinum – 75 Books

Diamond – 100  Books

2026 Key Word Reading Challenge

I love the Key Word challenge and have been participating for years. I am rejoining again in 2026.  The challenge is once again being hosted by the ladies at the Chapter Adventure blog. The requirements are easy. Read one book each month where the title of the book contains one of the key words for that month. You can track your progress through the Goodreads challenge group or on Storygraph! In addition, you can post your book review each month on social media using the hashtag #motifreadingchallenge⁠ and tag @chapter_adventure on Instagram.

2026 Cruisin' Thru the Cozies Reading Challenge

It's time to sign up for the 16th annual Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge.  Once again, Yvonne at the Socrates Reviews Books Blog is the challenge host. This reading challenge has two ways to participate and you can choose whichever one suits you the best:

A) Read only cozy mysteries of your choice; or

B) Read one book from these sub-genres:

- One from culinary (anything dealing with food: restaurants, baked goods, etc.)

- One from animal related (cats, dogs, birds, etc.)

- One from craft related (any kind of hobbies - knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking, etc.)

- One from paranormal (witches, vampires, etc.)

- One from cozy mysteries based outside the US (example: Belinda Lawrence series (British))

- One career-based cozy mystery (housekeeping, wedding planner, etc.)

- One holiday based (set during any holiday - Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentines, etc.)

- One travel mystery (character could be on a cruise, touring another area, etc.)

- One historical mystery (any mystery not set in the present)

- One is your choice! (freebie!)

On top of that there are different levels of participation that you can join for either A or B.

Level one (Snoop) - 10 books  (my personal challenge)

Level two (Investigator) - 20 books

Level three (Super Sleuth) - 30 books

Level four (Sleuth Extraordinaire) - 40 books

Here are the rules:

1. The challenge runs from January 1, 2026 and ends December 31, 2026.

2. You don't have to choose your books in advance. If you do, you can change your list at any time during the year. Books can overlap with other challenges.

3. Books can be in any format - paper, audio, ebooks

4. You don't have to post a review

NOTE: If you don't have a blog and want to participate, that's fine. You don't have to have a blog, just post in the comments section as you finish books. If you belong to a site like Goodreads and review the books there, that's fine too. here will also be a link for completed reviews and another link for your wrap up posts. 

I tend to read between 10 and 20 cozies every year so I will be participating at Level One - Snoop and from Challenge A. I will be reading books of my choice.

November Update

I made plans to read a book per day this month up until November 11 when I am undergoing eye surgery for crossed eyes. However, I am too uptight to read. Most likely the only posts that I will publish for the rest of the year will be reading challenge wrap-ups and new challenges for 2026. I will be back in full form in January. 

Book Cover of the Month: October

I loved the artwork in this superb graphic novel by world renowned cartoonist Craig Thompson.  The book was drawn in red pen and ink comic strip panels as was the book cover. I love the saturated red color which may actually be vermillion red, as was referenced toward the end of the story. Thompson selected a drawing of he and his siblings working as ginseng farm laborers when they were kids.  Their parents had no sense that they were children and probably shouldn't spend the summers working 8 to 12 hours per day. They were evangelical Christians to boot and should have had the sense not to abuse their kids this way.

The inside pages are filled with very detailed drawings and it takes some time to look at them while you are reading the story.  They are attractive enough to have inspired me to go through the pages again to fully absorb the beautiful drawings.  Ginseng Roots is as much an autobiography as it is a piece of art. Check it out. 

Book of the Month: October

There was no question what my best book for October would be. Ginseng Roots is a phenomenal work of art. This graphic novel  details author Craig Thompson's life from childhood to the present. Beginning at age seven, his parents had him working as a farm laborer in Marathon, Wisconsin alongside them. Craig worked a minimum of 8 hours a day but sometimes worked 12 hours per day, depending on the season. About a year later his younger brother joined them. Being children, Craig and his brother created ways to have fun such as telling tall tales and making games out of the work.

Years later, Thompson developed an immune system disorder and couldn't hold a pen anymore to make comics. The book delves into the medical treatments he received as well as his attempts at making this comic.  

Ginseng Roots is a must read!  It will definitely be in my top ten books for 2025 and just might be number 1.

The Christmas House

The Christmas House is an Amish fiction novella with a modern twist. While it has the usual romance and faith, I was surprised by the main character's love for the English newcomers. It was published on September 2, 2025. 

The publisher's summary:

With the holidays approaching, Liz Lantz is dedicated to using her Hickory Hollow buggy tour business to share God's love with the Englisher tourists who visit her Lancaster County community. But when her father and brother are called away for a while, Dat finds a young Amishman to assist her on the tours in her brother's place, much to Liz's dismay. Regardless, the popularity of her Christmas House Buggy Tour means she could use the help, so as the countdown to Christmas begins, she works alongside Matthew Yoder, who quickly takes a genuine interest in the tour customers--and Liz.

As an Englisher family in Hickory Hollow expresses their festive spirit with a lavishly decorated house for the second year running, Liz's Amish community becomes increasingly concerned about attracting unwanted traffic and attention, and Liz wonders if there is any way to bridge the gap to help the new neighbors feel welcome. At the same time, she grapples with her growing feelings for Matt, whose position with her is only temporary. Can she find a way to bring harmony to Hickory Hollow in time for Christmas?

I loved this book. It's a heartwarming tale of Liz Lantz's efforts to help her new neighbors. In contrast, the rest of the Amish avoided them and were disgusted by their Christmas decorations. It was surprising to me that Liz began a business taking visitors on buggy rides in Hickory Hollow. This is not something I expected an Amish person to do, let alone a female. It was also surprising that Liz took customers to her English neighbor's home, fully decked out with interior and exterior lighted decorations. Most of the Amish disapproved of the gaudy display. Why Liz did not get spoken to by the bishop is beyond me. 

There is some mystery concerning Liz's father and brother's ability to return home in time for Christmas. Her mother was depressed but there is a hint that it might be unrelated. A severe snowstorm blanketed Hickory Hollow causing the electricity to snap. While it did not affect the Amish, the Englishers lost all power including heat. Liz comes up with a plan to help them and, once again, another surprising twists happens. Let's not forget the romance. Whether Liz and Matthew become a couple is for you to find out.

The Christmas House is a relaxing read. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

Deeds Left Undone

Deeds Left Undone is the 13th installment of Wine Country Mystery series by Ellen Crosby. It was published on August 5, 2025 and is another awesome entry for the series. The Wine Country series is a cozy mystery series that I have loved from its beginning. 

The publisher's summary:  

When a vineyard accident during harvest season leaves Lucie Montgomery without a valuable employee, it’s her worst nightmare. But before she can search for a replacement, there’s more bad news: Paul Merchant, her winery manager’s husband, is found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool.

Police rule Paul’s death an accident, but his wife insists he was murdered because of his leadership of Don’t Pave Paradise, a conservationist group lobbying to keep the region’s beautiful country roads unpaved. And six weeks ago, Paul’s predecessor also died under mysterious circumstances.

As Lucie is drawn into investigating Paul’s death, she discovers more than one motive for the crime—and more than one person in their close-knit community who wanted Paul dead. And when she finds an old photo of a beautiful local heiress who died tragically in a fire eighty years ago among Paul’s papers, she starts to wonder if the modern-day crime might have roots in the past.

Either way, someone is determined to make sure Lucie, who’s agreed to continue the work of Don’t Pave Paradise, hits a dead end before she even gets started. Even if it means committing murder. Again.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting reacquainted with some of my favorite characters. Lucie, Quinn and the gang are all lovable characters who get along with each other. I find it fascinating that all of the characters in a mystery series like each other. Where's the villain? Villains pop up in every novel but they're not associated with the day to day activities on the farm. I especially love that Lucie has a mobility impairment but manages to run a vineyard. It's not your average job for a person with a disability. 

I had some difficulty believing that opponents of the Don't Pave Paradise were responsible for the death of Paul Marchand and maybe another person associated with the group too. It seemed a ridiculous reason to kill someone. However, that is exactly what happened but the reason was totally unexpected. An interesting side story about an eighty year old fire exposed decades of conflict among the families in the region and filled the middle of the story. The families, however, are all connected to the crimes that are being solved in the book. Questions abound concerning whether today's families are attempting to clear their ancestors of crimes committed or whether there is another reason. There is another reason!

Deeds Left Undone is the perfect cozy mystery.  I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

Zodiac

In this deeply philosophical graphic memoir, legendary Chinese artist Ai Weiwei explores the connection between artistic expression and intellectual freedom through the lens of the Chinese zodiac. 

The publisher's summary:

As a child living in exile during the Cultural Revolution, Ai Weiwei often found himself with nothing to read but government-approved comic books. Although they were restricted by the confines of political propaganda, Ai Weiwei was struck by the artists’ ability to express their thoughts on art and humanity through graphic storytelling. Now, decades later, Ai Weiwei and Italian comic artist Gianluca Costantini present Zodiac, Ai Weiwei’s first graphic memoir.

Inspired by the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac and their associated human characteristics, Ai Weiwei masterfully interweaves ancient Chinese folklore with stories of his life, family, and career. The narrative shifts back and forth through the years—at once in the past, present, and future—mirroring memory and our relationship to time. As readers delve deeper into the beautifully illustrated pages of Zodiac, they will find not only a personal history of Ai Weiwei and an examination of the sociopolitical climate in which he makes his art, but a philosophical exploration of what it means to find oneself through art and freedom of expression.

Contemplative and political, Zodiac will inspire readers to return again and again to Ai Weiwei’s musings on the relationship between art, time, and our shared humanity.

I am not as enamored with the book as are other reviewers. There were several dialogues that I just didn't understand even though there are explanations of some of them. A major question for me was why Ai is a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) when he grew up in a rural area with his exiled father. He has been purged more than once and says he believes in free speech and human rights. Why the CCP membership?

Ai's life story is told as each animal of the zodiac is explained. In the chapter on the snake he wrote about Mao. Ai knew Mao personally but says that Mao is a snake, as all politicians are. Ai Weiwei believes that to be an artist you must be also be an activist. If you're not an activist then you are a dead artist 

The black and white drawings, though detailed, did not help me enjoy the book. They are drawn in comic book panels and are rather detailed but the dialogue was more interesting than the drawings.

I had high expectations for this memoir but it fell short. 3 out of 5 stars.