Purple Iris 2026 challenges

It is the last day of 2025 and I am still hoping to finish up my Bingo card and maybe a challenge! But I want to be ready for tomorrow.

I am a middle aged literature professor who lives in the Caribbean. I read a lot for work but for fun enjoy reading romances, mysteries and Y/A. For non fiction, I usually read Haitian history and books about language.

I did flowers for last year's thread. This year I am doing a Francophone theme. Four "Francophone" cities are represented: Paris, Montreal, Port-au-Prince, and New Orleans. They also happen to be my favorite cities.

For challenges, I will be participating in BingoDog again. I am attempting two challenges I did not complete this year: recent Haitian fiction and books in Haitian Creole. I am doing a non-fiction challenge just to keep track of what I read. And one new challenge for 2026 -- Francophone fictions: fiction from any French-speaking locale. I already have a few in mind that I came across in people's threads in 2025!

Let's see if this will be the year I actually complete all my challenges!

1. Life at the center
2.
3. 1984
4. Zoune chez sa ninnaine
5.
6. The Shippers
7.
8.
9. Where the rhythm takes you
10.
11. Pugs and kisses - dogs on the cover
12. The retirement plan
13. Le mirador aux étoiles - big family secret
14. Epi oun jou konsa tèt Pastè Bab pati
15. Mornings in Jenin
16. Mèt Bolo - Pierre Michel Chéry died last year
17. I'll be you
18. De femmes et d'ailes
19. Run for the hills
20. Désorientale
21.
22. Love me tomorrow
23. Happy ending -- two marriages end
24. Everything is fine here
25. Ready or not

I’m looking forward to see your selections!

Thanks! There are a couple challenges I probably won't complete this year, so I will most likely attempt those again and maybe add one or two others?
I think I might do a Francophone challenge --books published in French from a variety of places.

Great blessings to you and your reading in the new year.

Thank you! Same to you!

I’m not going to meet all of my 2025 challenges either, so I’ll be continuing them in 2026 as well. As ever, the list of books to read grows faster than the list of books read.

Exactly this!!

Good luck with your 2026 reading.

Thanks! I am hoping to finish 2025 strong. The past couple of years, it has taken me a few extra weeks to wrap up the previous year's challenge.

Have a great 2026 Bingo read.

Enjoy your Bingo reading!

Happy reading in 2026!

Thank you!!

Enjoy your 2026 reads!

Wishing you a great reading year in 2026!

Thank you!! I realize I need to start setting this thread up before the new year starts!

Francophone fictions
Fiction in French from anywhere around the world

1. Désorientale by Négar Djavadi (Iran/France)
2. La maudite québécoise by Janis Locas (Québec)
3.
4.
5.

Kreyòl pale, kreyòl konprann
Works in Haitian Creole

1. Epi oun jou konsa tèt Pastè Bab pati
2. Mèt Bolo
3. Bonjou Silans
4.
5.

Les derniers seront les premiers
Recent Haitian fiction (2020-2026)

1. Je ne te trouverai pas deux fois dans ce meme corps (2026)
2. Sara Sans-Souci(2025)
3.
4.
5.

Verite sou tanbou
Non-fiction

1. Life at the Center: Haitians and Corporate Catholicism in Boston
2. Reclaiming Haiti's Futures: Returned Intellectuals, Placemaking and Radical Imagination
3. Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native children and the construction of American racism
4. Aid State: Elite Panic, Disaster Capitalism, and the Battle to Control Haiti
5. Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire d'Hayti
6. The Sexual Politics of Empire: Postcolonial Homophobia in Haiti
7.
8.
9.
10.

Happy reading in 2026!

>22 MissBrangwen: Thank you! Hoping to get my thread set up today.

Great photos! Have fun with your 2026 reading!

Thank you!

>21 purpleiris: Love the style of this, imagine a table and chair just off camera with some coffee and a book. Perfect!

Wishing you well for your 2026 reading.

>19 purpleiris: J'ai compris! I love how Creole makes French so much more poetic and vibrant! I have Gouverneurs de la rosée on my TBR, I'm hoping to get to it this year.

Beautiful house in >19 purpleiris:

>26 charl08: Yes! And maybe some beignets, too! :)

>27 Cecilturtle: I love that you could read it. I actually prefer La montagne ensorcelée to Gouverneurs de la rosée I think. It's much darker! But both are good reads!

>28 lowelibrary: That's one of our historic "gingerbread" houses. Unfortunately a lot of them have either burned or been otherwise destroyed.

Happy new year. Looking forward to seeing your reading adventures.

>32 Helenliz: Thank you!

Glad to see you here again, and I love the Francophone theme!

Thank you! This is my LT home. Every now and then I browse through some other groups, but I can't really afford to spend any more time here, so I prefer to focus my energies here. This is such a friendly, laid-back group!

I finished my second book of the year, Audre and Bash are just friends. So far I haven't found a book that's wowed me, but it's early. I just started Run for the hills and I really like it so far.

I used Run for the hills for the road trip square. I really enjoyed it. One thing that struck me as odd. The characters kept commenting on the father's use of nicknames for the kids, like it was a quirk of his. But I feel like nicknames are a very American thing. It wasn't weird to me that he would shorten names like Madeline and Pepper. There were also quite a few typos in the book, supporting my theory that presses have fired all the copyeditors. But overall, a very fun and quick read!

>37 purpleiris: That’s on my TBR—I hadn’t thought of using it for the road trip Bingo square. As a former copyeditor and proofreader, it makes me so sad when publishers cut corners on the quality of the text, especially when they spend money printing fancy edges on the pages.

I feel like there is a noticeable difference between books published over twenty years and now when it comes to copyediting. Did you enjoy the work? I've always thought it's something I would enjoy doing.
And yes, definitely use the Wilson novel for the road trip square. It's a very explicit/prominent part of the plot.

I feel like there is a noticeable difference between books published over twenty years and now when it comes to copyediting. Did you enjoy the work? I've always thought it's something I would enjoy doing.
And yes, definitely use the Wilson novel for the road trip square. It's a very explicit/prominent part of the plot.

>39 purpleiris: I loved the work, but I hated the pay. Where I live (central Illinois) isn’t exactly a hotbed of the publishing world, though there are a few publishers and a university (but two or three of my clients have since gone out of business). Between the lousy pay and the steadily decreasing volume of work, I decided to change careers (to accounting) so that I could eventually have enough to retire on.

>41 Charon07: That's too bad about the lousy pay and the decreasing volume of work. Accounting seems like a very different field!

I just finished I'll be you I enjoyed it. Nothing earth-shattering. I am using it for my "new to you" square since this is my first time reading Janelle Brown. I doubt I'll seek out her other works but will read one if I come across it.

I finished Le mirador aux étoiles today, but it doesn't fit any of my challenges. I am now remembering that I wanted to keep a general list of everything I read this year in my thread. Oops. I do log everything, though, so I can find the information.

I was just reading the descriptions for the Bingo Squares and it says the middle square is for a CAT or a KIT. Since there is a family secret at the heart of Le mirador aux étoiles I am using it for my free square.

I did not love Where the rhythm takes you, but the cover is beautiful so that's a Bingo square!

I just finished Désorientale which I really enjoyed. I added it to my list last year based on the recommendation from someone in this group, but I don't remember who -- thank you! It won a lot of prizes, so I am using it for the award square and it allows me to finally get started on my personal challenges.

>45 purpleiris: I remember really enjoying and learning from it!

I haven't updated this thread since last month, but I have been reading! I really like Carla Bastone's Ready or not, which has trees on the cover. I started my non-fiction reading with Erica Caple James' Life at the Center. It is a microhistory of a the Haitian Multiservice Center in Boston and its relationship to the Catholic Church. I honestly thought I would like it much more than I did. I feel like the information was interesting, but the book was not well organized. Also, there was a bit too much Catholicism for me, although it is in the title, so that's on me. Anyway, that's two bingo squares!

I also read Next of kin which doesn't work for any of my challenges or Bingo. I did not like that one.

I am using the book I just read for the great first sentence square. The sentence translates to: "Even today, no one can say for sure when or why Pastor Beard lost his head for real."

Unfortunately, the book itself is not great. This is the third or fourth time I've read it and I think it will probably be my last. I usually like this author and his portrayals of childhood, but this one doesn't work for me.

I finished another nonfiction book today. It's one I read last year, but had to read again for work this time. I appreciated it more this time around. I've made progress on all of my challenges except recent Haitian fiction.

Hi there, just wanted to let you know that your reviews are not showing up for me in this thread. I'm seeing a box with "Review by purpleiris" at the top, but then the box itself is empty. Not sure if this is just me? I don't seem to be having the same problem on other threads, but it could well be user error on my part!

Same! Maybe it's because your library is private?

I mentioned this here https://www.librarything.com/topic/377695#9118053, where the new private library/public reviews feature was announced, but maybe it should be a bug report too.

Oh no! Thanks for letting me know. I saw that thread >52 Charon07:, then forgot to follow up. I will switch my profile back to public for now.

>53 purpleiris: That seems to work, I can see the reviews now.

Wonderful! Thanks for putting up with my flopping back and forth!

I finished a couple of books this week: a YA romance that I didn't love (Love me tomorrow) and La maudite québécoise which I found fascinating. I was able to use one for bingo (the girl's grandfather is an important character in Jean's book) and one for my personal challenges. The only one of my personal challenges I haven't started is recent Haitian fiction. I will start by next month for sure!

>56 purpleiris: Gabrielle Roy writes so beautifully, a real classical style!
She's most known for Bonheur d'occasion, set in Montreal, (it's bleak!) which is on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die, but I also really enjoy her short stories which are inspired by her own life growing up in the Manitoba prairies, then later as a young teacher (La Petite Poule d'eau and Ces Enfants de ma vie, if memory serves).
I'd recommend Rue Deschambeault but it comes with a warning of themes of colonization and racism by modern standards (written in the 1950s it reflects the mentalities of the day).

>56 purpleiris: >57 Cecilturtle: I thought La Petite poule d'eau was great (in English)! It's much lighter than Bonheur d'occasion, which was much more bleak, but definitely worth reading.

I appreciate all of these suggestions! I am a big fan of short stories, so that seems like a good choice. Although my daughter has two copies of La rivière sans repos for some reason, so maybe that's a sign I should start there. Decisions, decisions!

I finished a couple of books this past week. I did not really enjoy Promise me sunshine which surprised me since I loved Ready or not. I just did not connect with the characters at all, but I will try another book by Bastone since I like her writing. It was fun to see one of the characters from Ready or Not make a cameo in this one.

I also finished Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native children and the construction of American racism. A tough read, but I am glad I read it.

I finished People we meet on vacation yesterday, but it doesn't work for any of my Bingo squares. I am trying to avoid using people for the "something living on the cover" square.

I've finally started my recent Haitian fiction challenge. Kettly Mars hasn't published in a while so I was happy to read her latest. It was good, but not as strong as some of her other novels in my opinion.

I finished The education of Kia Greer and loved it. Unfortunately, it does not fit any of my challenges or my bingo card!

Just finished Sara Sans-Souci for my recent Haitian fiction category. I'm not sure why the touchstone's not working. Maybe because I only just added the book to my catalogue.

I keep reading books that do not fit my challenges! And how is it April already? I really enjoyed The Night we met. I liked it a lot more than the previous one in the series.

And the streak continues! I finished Just like mother yesterday. I had been reading it off and on for several weeks. I found it underwhelming, unfortunately.

I did just start Aid State which will at least work for my nonfiction challenge.

I finished The Starter Ex, another book that doesn't fit any of my challenges!

I finished The Power which does not fit any of my challenges.

I finished Happy Ending yesterday and I was excited to finally be able to use something for my Bingo card, but I went to the Bingo planning thread and per my own description, the square has nothing to do with the word "ending" in the title. Although... there are marriages ending in the book, so I think I will go ahead and use it. I need to feel like I am not too far behind!

It feels good to finally be moving forward on my challenges again. I finished Aid State today.

Finished Zoune chez sa ninnaine today. It was published in 1906, so well before I was born!

Also finished Pugs and kisses yesterday which features dogs on the cover.

Finally got a line on my Bingo card. I finished De femmes et d'ailes, a book of poetry today.

>73 purpleiris: Félicitations!

>74 Cecilturtle: Merci!

I finished Mornings in Jenin and used it for my classic from another literary tradition, giving me another completed Bingo line. Such a hard read, though!

I am finally reading things that work for my challenges. I feel like I had stalled for a while, but I was able to add one nonfiction, although it was a reread and I read a memoire of a woman who lost her hearing in Haitian Creole.

I am working on 1984 which must be in some Legacy Libraries and Everything is fine here has a green cover.

I finished Everything is fine here which has a green cover. I really liked this coming-of-age novel and its approach to homosexuality in Uganda.

I read The Shippers which is set on a cruise ship for the set at sea square. It was fun, but stretched belief a bit too much.

I finished 1984 over the weekend, which is in several Legacy Libraries. I enjoyed it, although maybe a bit less than the first time I read it. I also finished The Sexual Politics of Empire for my nonfiction challenge. I feel like I am doing pretty well keeping up with my challenges this year. I am about to start teaching an intensive summer course, though, so we'll see if I can keep it going!

>79 purpleiris: Fair points about The Shippers! I agree, it's not one of Center's best.