Personal Challenges
First of all, I have decided to take a Sabbatical from hosting Agatha Christie Short Stories Read Along for 2026. It has taken a lot of energy for me last year. I would still continue to read Christie's short stories, but maybe in the next year or two. For this year, there will be no #AgathaChristieSS.
However, I will still create a sort of mild challenge for myself. During A Century of Books, I realized that I have not read many books published in the 1970s, except perhaps some children books, and Agatha Christie's. I was born and spent my childhood in the 1970s, hence my first reading experience as adult started only in the 1980s. Now I want to rectify it by starting a personal challenge: Reading the 1970s. It's partly inspired too by Simon & Karen's Reading the Year every April and October!
It's basically reading books published in the 1970s, one year at each year. Since I would turn 55 this year, I want to celebrate it with reading my birth year: 1971. So, here it is...
Reading the 1971
Books I have Read:
- The Days of the Jackal (Frederick Forsythe)
- Nemesis (Agatha Christie)
- When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (Judith Kerr)
The tentative reading list:
1. The End of Summer (Rosamunde Pilcher)
2. If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? (Erma Bombeck) 3. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (Elizabeth Taylor) 4. In the Shadow of Man (Jane Goodall)
5. Then Again, Maybe I Won't (Judy Blume) 6. Summer at World's End (Monica Dickens)
7. Not to Disturb (Muriel Spark)
Let's see how many I would end up reading, but they sound really nice. My target is at least read four or five of them, but I might end up reading all (and perhaps more..). If you have any titles in mind that you think I might be interested, please let me know!
Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026
Once again I will be participating in Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge 2026 hosted by Carol @ Carol's Notebook. My aim is for Detective Level (16-25 books). I have done the same for last year, and ended up reading 20 books. This year I'm planning to read at least 25.
The tentative reading list:
1. The Layton Court Mystery (Antony Berkeley)
2. A Murder is Announced (Agatha Christie) - reread
3. They Came to Baghdad (Agatha Christie) - reread
4. The Ten Teacups (Carter Dickson)
5. Murder on Black Swan Lake (Andrea Penrose)
6. Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) (Jesse Q. Sutanto)
7. They Do It with Mirrors (Agatha Christie) - reread
8. The Body in the Dumb River (George Bellairs)
9. The Beckoning Lady (Margery Allingham)
10. Murder in Regent's Park (A.C. Koning)
11. Murder on Wheels (Stuart Palmer)
12. The Carter of "La Providence" (Georges Simenon)
13. The Frangipani Tree Mystery (Ovidia Yu)
14. Fell Murder (E.C.R. Lorac)
15. Death Around the Bend (T.E. Kinsey)
16. Death in Daylesford (Kerry Greenwood)
17. To Fetch a Thief (Spencer Quinn)
18. Richardson Scores Again (Basil Thomson)
19. The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern (Lilian Jackson Braun)
20. Come A Stranger (E.R. Punshon)
21. Murder at Mallowan Hall (Colleen Cambridge)
22. Dim Sum of All Fears (Vivien Chien)
23.
24.
25.
Other than those two, I would still be participating in some of the fun reading events/challenges hosted by other bloggers throughout the year, such as the Reading Year, Paris in July, Reading the Meows, WIT Month, Spinsters September, 20 Books of Summer, Novella in November, Nonfiction November, Dean Street December, etc.
Have you any reading plans for 2026? Or do you just read whatever you want to?
Other than those two, I would still be participating in some of the fun reading events/challenges hosted by other bloggers throughout the year, such as the Reading Year, Paris in July, Reading the Meows, WIT Month, Spinsters September, 20 Books of Summer, Novella in November, Nonfiction November, Dean Street December, etc.
Have you any reading plans for 2026? Or do you just read whatever you want to?
