riida's 2026 TBR challenge

sooooo....im quite late uploading my list this year...but its not yet the Chinese New Year, so that counts, right? ^_^

anyways...i'm still finishing off a book from my list last year, but i'm also about to finish one book from my list this year...so i thought i might just as well 'officially' start my 2026 challenge...

as always, i want to finish off 12 from this list:

DNF(0/0)

FIN (5/12)
The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford (4/5)
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Høeg (3.5/5)
Sistersong by Lucy Holland (5/5)
Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson (4.5/5)
Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee (5/5)

2026 TBR (19/24)
A Sleight of Shadows by Kat Howard
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
I Am A Hitman by anonymous
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Lost Acre by Andrew Caldecott
Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal by Jeanette Winterson
Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
The New Woman by Charity Norman
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett
Stephen Fry: Troy by Stephen Fry
Domina by L. S. Hilton
The Dying of the Light by Derek Landy
The Goddess Chronicles by Natsuo Kirino
The Magician by Lev Grossman
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North

An interesting mix! I have a few of these on my own TBR, so I’ll be interested to hear what you think if you get to them (Why Be Happy and Stephen Fry’s Troy in particular).

Better late than not joining us!

Gosh - 24 titles looks more intimidating when it's all one big list.

So happy to see you back for another year! Definitely some interesting titles on your list. Can’t wait to see which ones you get to in 2026.

>2 Charon07: >3 Cecrow: >4 LittleTaiko: thanks all ^_^

yeah....i seem to have composed a very 'eclectic' list :p i wonder what that says about my current state of mind...i guess my ADHD is showing ^_^

i finished my first book this year!! ^_^

The Pursuit of Love
4/5

>6 riida: I've understood it to be a thinly veiled memoir, did you get that sense from it?

>7 Cecrow: really!? wow...now i gotta find out!

update: wow, so it is!

i've heard of the mitfords when i was living in the uk and had the impression they were like the 30s/40s british kardashians :p i actually thought at first that pursuit of love was a memoir before i started reading it :p

but i did not really get that sense that the book was heavily based on nancy's real life family and experiences. also, it seems the real life mitfords were more scandalous than their fictional counterparts...i wonder how this will affect my 2nd reading ^_^

Popcorn meets fancy dish sounds like my kind of book!

just finished:
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow
3.5/5

Read it several years ago and I remember being very impressed with Smila, but I can't recall many details anymore. Timely reading now, with Greenland having been in the news lately.

>11 Cecrow: yes...it was quite illuminating to learn more about Greenland i havent picked up from history lessons from school

just finished:
Sistersong
5/5

Ah, happy and sad tears are the mark of a really good book.

just finished:
Good Girl, Bad Blood
4.5/5

>15 riida:, not all the relevant clues ... exactly how I felt about The Murder Room.

>16 Cecrow: i think detective mysteries shouldnt "cheat" us like this...but to the Good Girl, Bad Blood's credit, i really did not notice until some hours later! my thinking brain shut off and just got swayed by the drama :p

just finished:
Jade Legacy
5/5

>15 riida: - I just read Not Quite Dead Yet by this author which I overall enjoyed. Seems like I should explore this series based on your reviews.

>19 LittleTaiko: oooh, i havent heard of this one yet! how was it? i think id like to read more of her works after im done with this series

>20 riida: - It was pretty good - my dad loved it while I couldn’t quite rate it as a love. There was a lot of suspending disbelief with the premise but it was definitely a new take on the thriller genre.