2026 Reading Challenges

If you couldn’t tell that my year started off on a disorganized note, I guess this post might clue you in because yes, it’s the end of February, and yes, I’m just now posting my reading challenges. 😂 I usually have separate posts for the main challenges I’m joining because I also list out potential reads for each prompt, and I still might do that as follow-ups after this because I find them so helpful. But I digress.

I decided to stick to three main reading challenges this year, but then I also somehow joined three more on Storygraph to aid my backlist reading! Here’s what the list is looking like right now (titles in bold are my main ones):

  • Year in Aeldia 2026
  • Devour Your TBR 2026
  • 2026 TBR Tackle
  • 2026 Easy Reading Challenge
  • Beat the Backlist 2026
  • Buzzword Reading Challenge 2026

Buzzword Reading Challenge

I might’ve struggled a bit with this challenge last year, but I’m hopeful for 2026! This is one of the only challenges that I do yearly and still really enjoy and I hope that Kayla keeps this challenge going.

Add it to your Challenges on Storygraph!

2026 Year in Aeldia

There wasn’t anything publicly posted about the Year in Aeldia challenge for 2026, but I got the update that was apparently shared on the readathon’s Discord saying that people should just pick a different route this year.

With a massive map of paths to choose from, this was no issue and I’m excited that I have this one to look forward to. While you’re meant to take it one month at a time so the story unfolds slowly, I’ve gone ahead and chosen my path already because I need it like that, lol.

I made this graphic on Canva but you’re welcome to use the template if you like. Grab it here. (And I’d be super grateful if you kept my name as the credit, if you do use it!)

Beat the Backlist +25Bingo

I’m joining the Beat the Backlist Reading Challenge once again this year and although I didn’t complete all the squares in this 25-Bingo last year, I’m still gonna attempt it again this year! I was tempted to even go for the bigger Bingo board but I told myself to calm down, lol. If I complete this one in 2026, then maybe I’ll give the bigger one a go next year!

Add it to your Challenges on Storygraph!

Other backlist challenges…

I don’t recall how I came across the other challenges that I joined on Storygraph, but they’ve all got prompts to motivate you to read your backlist titles and that sounded appealing to me. There aren’t any monthly goals, and you basically tick prompts off as you read, and it’s been fun. I’m not gonna be too serious with these challenges, but there’s no denying that it feels so good to be able to tick off a prompt and add another backlist title to the read pile! 🤭 I feel so accomplished every time I make an update, haha. The challenges are: Devour Your TBR 2026, 2026 TBR Tackle, and the 2026 Easy Reading Challenge.

The images below link to the challenges on Storygraph if they sound interesting or if you’re just looking for a low-key backlist reading challenge to join.

And that’s it for the reading challenges I’m joining in 2026! Are you also doing any of these challenges? How many are you participating in this year (if any)? Do you have challenges that you repeat every year no questions asked?

Blog signature that reads: Let's Chat! xoxo, Dini

Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [317]

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent your time reading in bed or wish you had time to read today.

I’m spending this Sunday night in bed with Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan. This’ll be my first buddy read with Leslie this year and I’m excited and anxious to dive in. You know when you start a new book and immediately get that “oh, this is gonna be good” feeling? I’m only two chapters in right now and I can already tell that this is going to have me emotionally twisted up, and hopefully it’ll be in the best way! I’m going for an immersive read with this after testing out the audiobook.

What book do you have in bed with you this Sunday?

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Let’s Talk Bookish: A Book Collection and Other Things…

✨ Welcome back to another week of LTB! ✨

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and myself! In this discussion meme, participants get to talk about certain topics, share opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Learn more about LTB, past topics and future topics HERE.

This week’s topic is:

Suggested by: Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly
Prompts: Do you own a lot of books? Do you think of yourself as a book collector? Outside of reading, do you have any other hobbies that involve collecting things? What would you love to have a collection of?

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Book Review: What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah

What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Pub Date: 4 April 2017
Genre: Literary Fiction, Short Stories

Panda Rating:

(4.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

A dazzlingly accomplished debut collection explores the ties that bind parents and children, husbands and wives, lovers and friends to one another and to the places they call home.

In “Who Will Greet You at Home,” a National Magazine Award finalist for The New Yorker, A woman desperate for a child weaves one out of hair, with unsettling results. In “Wild,” a disastrous night out shifts a teenager and her Nigerian cousin onto uneasy common ground. In “The Future Looks Good,” three generations of women are haunted by the ghosts of war, while in “Light,” a father struggles to protect and empower the daughter he loves. And in the title story, in a world ravaged by flood and riven by class, experts have discovered how to “fix the equation of a person” – with rippling, unforeseen repercussions.

Evocative, playful, subversive, and incredibly human, What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky heralds the arrival of a prodigious talent with a remarkable career ahead of her.

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Domestic abuse, child abuse, trauma, violence

TL;DR: What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky is a fantastic collection of short stories. These stories are about mothers, daughters, fathers, sons, lovers, friends, and enemies. It’s about the people you love, hate, admire, fear, envy, and respect. They touch upon resilience, grief, hope, and joy, but most of all, these are stories about women and girls with fire in their bellies and who refused to be stamped out. No matter whether they’re set in the past, present, future or other reality, these stories are so utterly human and realistic. The author doesn’t treat you to abstract pretensions, but gives these stories to you straight, and I love this collection more for it. Light is by far my favourite, but The Future Looks Good and Windfalls are fantastic as well. Overall, this was a beautifully written and well connected short story collection that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend!

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [316]

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent your time reading in bed or wish you had time to read today.

I’m kicking off this Sunday post with another “I don’t know what I’m reading next” moment because once again, I finished my previous read earlier in the evening, and now I’m in that weird headspace of wanting to pick up something else immediately, but also wanting to linger a bit in the space the previous book left me. Here are a couple of titles that I’m thinking about picking up next:

Have you read any of these (and if so, would you recommend it)? What book are you spending your Sunday in bed with?

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Let’s Talk Bookish: Romance Novels ft. OTPs!

✨ Welcome back to another week of LTB! ✨

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and myself! In this discussion meme, participants get to talk about certain topics, share opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Learn more about LTB, past topics and future topics HERE.

This week’s topic is:

Prompts: It’s almost Valentine’s Day, which means that the most popular book genre is bigger than ever! Do you like to read romance novels? Who are your favorite fictional couples? Which characters from different books or series do you think would be perfect for each other?

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