2026 Reading Challenge from Atlanta Bookish Shop
Friday, January 09, 2026For the past decade, I've participated each year in the Popsugar Reading Challenge. I always liked it because it gave me the opportunity...
For the past decade, I've participated each year in the Popsugar Reading Challenge. I always liked it because it gave me the opportunity to read books already on my shelves but to also try and discover other books by satisfying specific prompts. Usually there are about 50 prompts, and while I almost always read more than 50 books each year, I find it so hard to complete all the PS Reading Challenge prompts. They can sometimes be vague, or I have a hard time finding a book I'm interested in based on the prompts available.
While I'll still be working towards the PS Reading Challenge in 2026, I am really delighted this year to be completing the Bookish Reading Challenge! Bookish is a small bookstore in Atlanta that focuses on authors "in the margins" - authors who are women, BIPOC, trans, queer. It's an honest must-visit Atlanta-area bookstore, with an absolute joy of an owner. So that's just one of the reasons I'm delighted to participate in this particular challenge.
I'm also excited because it's different than any other challenge I've seen before. In this challenge, 134 books have been sorted into 16 categories, but to complete the challenge, you don't have to read them all. Instead, the objective is to really just find new-to-you books that have been thoughtfully curated about different categories with diverse authors and stories. These aren't all brand new, just released books either, which makes this particularly diverse. Additionally, there are incentives to win. Read at least one book in at least 12 of the 16 categories to win a tote bag, and read at least 24 books from the list (no category requirement) for a t-shirt. It's actually genius, because then these totes and tees become marketing for the store. I. AM. OBSESSED.
One caveat - these do need to be NEW TO YOU books, so I've had to cross-out some books below, which I've already read in the past (here's looking at some favorites like Stars and the Blackness Between Them and The Shining). For books to count towards the challenge, they need to be read in 2026. I do have plans for other categories, and some to figure out along the way. I'll be double-dipping with the 2026 PS Reading Challenge, as well as trying to narrow down my Netgalley books for review. There are others that have just been on my TBR forever that I haven't gotten to, and this will give me that push to read them this year.
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