Get Lost in Literature

Happy Sunday! I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your weekend. The Sunday Post is a news meme created by Caffeinated Reviewer . I'm also linking up with Sunday Salon at ReaderBuzz. I will be posting on the first Sunday of each month and I hope you'll join me. Today’s post is a recap of 2025 and my upcoming plans for 2026. January's weather has been positively glacial. We've had snow, we've had sub-zero temperatures, we've had everything but penguins. But according to the weatherman that seems to be going on all across the country right now. If you live in a state where snowy winters are not the norm: drive slowly if you have to go out, take aspirin for your back after shoveling, and curl up under a blanket with a good book and a hot chocolate when your day is over. I almost didn't post anything today. My blog has been inactive for a month. I normally do something in between reviews, and I've never really gone a whole month without posting a revi...

Happy New Year to you all!  I hope everyone’s holiday season was filled with positive vibes. The Sunday Post is a news meme created by Caffeinated Reviewer.  I'm also be linking up with Sunday Salon at ReaderBuzz . I will be posting on the first Sunday of each month and I hope you'll join me. Today’s post is a recap of 2025 and my upcoming plans for 2026. My month of December contained very little reading so I don't really have anything to share on the final month of 2025. Instead, I'm going to jump right into my yearly recap. 2025 In 2025 I gave myself two challenges: My Good Reads Challenge was to read at least 12 books, and my second challenge was to participate in the Pick Your Poison Challenge (a challenge that was discontinued this year) by reading at least 13 books off the list of subjects. (the list of books I read for the challenge can be found here ). I wasn’t sure I could read more than twelve books, but not only did I achieve the 13 books required for PYP...

I was looking for a yearly reading challenge that I’d be able to complete in a year, and I found the inaugural Speccy Fiction Challenge hosted by Book’d Out . The rules say, “It allows you to choose from the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, (though the focus is skewed towards the first two), and their myriad of subgenres.” And since I read a crapton of fantasy, I thought this might be an achievable challenge. There are 4 levels/goals: Spectator who can set their own goal, Squint read and review 3 books from 3 categories, Stare is 6 books, and Survey is 12. I’m aiming to at least achieve ‘Stare’ and read 6 books from 6 categories, but if I make it to 6 with time to spare, I’m going to try to get to 12. CATEGORIES: Published in 2026   A speculative novella (less than 250pgs)   A translated speculative novel   The first book in a speculative fiction duology/trilogy/series   Romantic speculative fiction   Speculative fict...

I discovered this reading challenge by Gregory Road in December of 2024, ten years too late to be a long-term participant. I was disappointed to learn 2025 was to be the final year of the challenge but made the decision to join in the fun while it lasted. The challenge was designed to be a reading challenge for people who struggle with reading challenges, offering a wide variety of topics for participants to choose from.  I challenged myself to the Baker's Dozen: 13 books - Choose one category from any of the thirteen topics provided except for the wildcard books,  thinking it would give me the best shot at actually completing the challenge. Thirteen would be one more book than my GoodReads Challenge so it seemed like an okay goal. Imagine how stunned I was that I hit book 13 by July, surpassing my GoodReads Challenge, and I hadn't had to go out of my way to track down suitable books. These are the categories and books I chose: 1. Basic Genres - Biography .  American Ph...

Book Beginnings on Fridays by Rose City Reader -  Share the opening sentence (or so) of the book you are reading this week. You can also share from a book that caught your fancy, even if you are not reading it right now. "A few years back I was running out of money so I volunteered for a research study at the University of Pennsylvania." Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak I can't say the first line wowed me, but it did stoke my curiosity... What kind of research study? This book didn't wait long to reveal a complex character and creepy vibes. Book Blogger Hop Q:    How many books did you read in 2025? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer) A:    I read 20 books in 2025. Which doesn't sound like a lot when some book bloggers are reading several hundred a year, but for me and the small amount of time I have to read, it is a lot. Plus, I only challenged myself to 12, so I'm proud of the number.

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic is Books On My Winter 2025-2026 to-Read List. Six of these books I already own, one of them isn’t being published until after the new year, and let’s be honest… there’s no way I’ll get to all of these this winter, some of these will rollover into a Spring-to-read list. But I’ll have fun seeing how far I get. 1. Justify: 111 Days to Triple Crown Glory by Lenny Shulman 2. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros 3. The Brides of Maracoor by Gregory Maguire 4. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo 5. The Night Ship by Jess Kidd 6. The Alchemised by SenLinYu 7. Sparking Fire Out of Fate by Brigid Kemmerer 8. Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig 9. All Systems Red by Martha Wells 10. Caliban’s War by James S.A. Corey