Bloggin' 'bout Books: Announcing the 2026 Bookish Books Reading Challenge

2026 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama

- Alaska

- Arizona

- Arkansas

- ~~California~~ (1)

- Colorado

- Connecticut

- Delaware

- Florida

- Georgia

- Hawaii

- Idaho

- ~~Illinois~~ (1)

- ~~Indiana~~ (1)

- Iowa

- Kansas

- Kentucky

- Louisiana

- ~~Maine~~ (1)

- Maryland

- Massachusetts

- Michigan

- Minnesota

- Mississippi

- Missouri

- Montana

- Nebraska

- Nevada

- New Hampshire

- New Jersey

- New Mexico

- ~~New York~~ (2)

- North Carolina

- North Dakota

- Ohio

- Oklahoma

- Oregon

- Pennsylvania

- ~~Rhode Island~~ (1)

- South Carolina

- South Dakota

- Tennessee

- Texas

- Utah

- Vermont

- ~~Virginia~~ (1)

- Washington

- West Virginia

- Wisconsin

- Wyoming

- Washington, D.C.*

International:

- England (2)

Announcing the 2026 Bookish Books Reading Challenge

4:26 PM

Thanks to everyone who has participated in the 2025 Bookish Books Reading Challenge. I hope you've had fun with it! It's been a joy to have you all along for the ride and to get bookish recs from you. I've been slacking on visiting and commenting on your reviews, but I'll try really hard to catch up before the end of the year. Keep linking up your reviews. (Yes, I'm aware that I'm a total hypocrite since I haven't written many of my own this year. Oops! I'm going to try to be more on top of things in 2026.)

In spite of being a slacker host, I'm having fun hosting this challenge, so I'm bringing it back for 2026. The rules are the same as they've always been. I hope you'll join me for this no pressure, totally chill reading challenge. Spread the word to your bookish, bloggish friends. The more, the merrier.

Here's everything you need to know:

This is a laidback challenge designed to encourage the reading of all those bookish books that are still lingering on our shelves and TBR lists. Any book counts as long as one of its main themes is books (reading them, writing them, hoarding them, stealing them, eating them, burning them, decorating with them, organizing them, sniffing them, selling them, etc.). Any book that is essentially bookish in nature counts. All formats are acceptable. Since this challenge isn't about pages read, length doesn't matter either. Picture books are totally fine.

Because it wouldn't be a challenge without a *little* bit of pushing, I created some levels just to make it more fun:

Toe in the Door: 1-10 books read

Picking and Perusing: 11-20 books read

Lost in the Stacks: 21-30 books read

Living in the Library: 30+ books read

I'm an overachiever, so I'm aiming for the Living in the Library level again this year.

Reviews aren't required, but they're always nice. I, for one, am perpetually on the lookout for more bookish books and reviews help me to know which are worth the read. So, I'll put a monthly linky up so we can all see what we're reading for the challenge.

You don't have to have a blog to participate, but it's helpful to keep a list of books read for the challenge somewhere. Mine will be listed under the "Reading Challenges" tab here at BBB.

If you need ideas for the challenge, I've started a Goodreads list to help. I'm sure there are others there with a similar theme.

The challenge will run from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026. You can sign up any time during the year, starting now, but only books finished after the starting date count for that year's challenge.

Challenges are more fun with friends, so please join me. Feel free to grab the challenge button, post about the challenge on your blog, and help me spread the word.

21 comments:

Helen's Book Blog13 December, 2025 09:35
I've managed to do 21 bookish books in 2025. Like the cover love challenge, I am not sure if I am going to do this one this year, but... it is so easy with no link ups!
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Rebecca18 December, 2025 08:48
Signed up! Looking forward to seeing what level I end up at.
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Marg20 December, 2025 23:17
I'll be joining again.
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Mark Joseph Jochim27 December, 2025 00:31
I did pretty good on this challenge in 2025 but I cleared out most of the bookish books that I own over the course of the year! Easy to find more. . . .
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Marg08 January, 2026 18:58
Happy New Year!

I have shared my first review for the challenge!

http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2026/01/two-historical-fiction-novels-wartime.html
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TGB13 January, 2026 20:33
This sounds so fun! I love finding like minded folks. I can't wait to see what books everyone finds. Happy 2026!
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Davida Chazan (The Chocolate Lady)17 January, 2026 06:34
I'm always reading books about books and writers, so I'm in!
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Davida Chazan (The Chocolate Lady)22 January, 2026 23:28
I read TWO this month, the second one is here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2026/01/23/for-the-love-of-syntax/
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Joanne23 January, 2026 03:04
I've been meaning to do this challenge for a while and 2026 is the year! Have just put out a sign up post. Thanks for hosting Susan.
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Anonymous24 January, 2026 08:11
I would like to sign up but the link isn't linking, lol
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Anonymous24 January, 2026 14:35
What a great idea- I can’t wait to see what everyone reads!
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