2026 Reading List and Challenges

 

Here's where I'll track this year's completed books and reading challenges.

1.  Secrets of the Maison Fournier - Amelia Pine

2.  A Certain Darkness - Anna Lee Huber 

3.  The Belle of Belgrave Square - Mimi Matthews

4.  Lady Susan - Jane Austen

5.  An Unsuitable Job - Bonnie Hardy

6.  Life From Scratch - Sasha Martin

7.  Oracle of Philippi - Catherine Ensley

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The 52 Book Club's 2026 Reading Challenge

My goal is simply to see how many I can check off the list. Given that I've been reading somewhere around 25 books each of the last couple of years, I'm okay with getting through about half of the list. However, this year I'm going to go ahead and count books for two prompts if suitable. Find out more about the 2026 Reading Challenge HERE, and check out the 2026 Reading Challenge Guide too.

#the52bookclub #the52bookclub2026

1.  Set in an ancient civilization - Oracle of Philippi by Catherine Ensley

5.  Featuring a conspiracy - A Certain Darkness by Anna Lee Huber

6.  Title starts with the letter O - Oracle of Philippi by Catherine Ensley

10. Spans a decade or more - Life From Scratch by Sasha Martin

15. Has a subtitle with a comma - Life From Scratch by Sasha Martin

21. Written in the 1800s - Lady Susan by Jane Austen

24. An uneven number of chapters - An Unsuitable Job by Bonnie Hardy

35. Character with a secret identity - The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews

40. Author's first and last name start with the same letter - The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews

44. Literary device: personification - Secrets of the Maison Fournier by Amelia Pine

47. Diacritical mark on the cover - (A Belle Époque Historical Mystery) - Secrets of the Maison Fournier by Amelia Pine

52. Published in 2026 - An Unsuitable Job by Bonnie Hardy

Any mini-challenges I complete will be listed here as well.

Lady Susan by Jane Austen for Prompt #1 - story is told in letters

A Certain Darkness by Anna Lee Huber for Prompt #2 - related to crime

An Unsuitable Job by Bonnie Hardy for Case #1 - (12) An amateur sleuth

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I started working on The 52 Book Club's Connections Challenge in the summer of 2025, and it was intended as a mini-challenge for that season. I knew I wouldn't finish it during the summer! I like the challenge, so for now I'm going to just keep on going (especially since I didn't get that far!) and whenever I can add another link to this chain I will. I may even get tired of it before I finish, or before the end of this year.

1. Pick any book - Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

2. Title shares a word with previous title - Jane of Lantern Hill by L.M. Montgomery

3. Set in the country where the previous author was born (Canada) - Village Books by Craig McLay

4. Published the same year as the previous book (2012) - No Safe Harbor by Elizabeth Ludwig

5. +/- 30 pages from the previous book - Murder Most Fair by Anna Lee Huber

6. Similar title font to the previous book - Food For Thought by Alton Brown

7. Author shares name with character from previous book - While the City Sleeps by Elizabeth Camden

8. Cover shared item with the previous cover - A Certain Darkness by Anna Lee Huber

9. Shares a narrative technique with previous book - Life From Scratch by Sasha Martin

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The 52 Book Club Mystery Genre Challenge launched in March 2026 (and there's a mini-challenge based on it) but it does not have an end date. This is a perfect challenge for me, since I can take as long as I want, but I tend to choose mysteries, so I can work on completing all of the challenge at whatever pace is working for me.

12. An amateur sleuth - An Unsuitable Job by Bonnie Hardy

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2025 Alphabet Soup Challenge

To read a book beginning with each letter of the alphabet (plus a couple of extra little challenges)

A - 

B -  The Belle of Belgrave Square - Mimi Matthews

C - A Certain Darkness - Anna Lee Huber

D - 

E - 

F - 

G - 

H - 

I - 

J - 

K - 

L - Lady Susan - Jane Austen

M - 

N - 

O - Oracle of Philippi - Catherine Ensley

P - 

Q -

R - 

S - Secrets of the Maison Fournier - Amelia Pine

T - 

U - An Unsuitable Job - Bonnie Hardy

V - 

W - 

X -

Y -

Z -

Number in the title - 

Color in the title - 

Animal in the title - 

One Word title -