Irene (atozgrl) Reads in 2026 - Part 3

Welcome to my third thread for 2026.

I'm Irene, retired librarian, and I've been on LT since 2008. I joined to catalog my book collection but still haven't finished that project, although I continue to work on it sporadically. I did not get involved in the social aspects of LT until a few years ago, when I returned to the site after a long absence to track the books I've been reading since I retired. Fortunately, I found the 75ers at that time. This is such a wonderful group, and I have been blessed by meeting so many people here and sharing our love of books.

I'm married, living in central NC. I enjoy watching sports, especially baseball, and I am a big Cubs fan. No cats, unfortunately, because my DH is allergic. But we enjoy feeding the birds in our backyard. I hope to make a big dent in the clutter around the house this year, a project I did not succeed with last year.

My work in the library was mostly with systems and websites, not so much directly with books. I also worked for a government library, not a public library, so I don't know as much about current fiction as the public librarians do. I didn't actually have much time to read books while I was working, so I have a lot of recent fiction to catch up on. I've got a large collection of nonfiction, mostly history, that I've collected over the years, and I'm trying to concentrate on reading much of that. I enjoy a wide range of genres but especially enjoy historical fiction. Growing up, I loved reading classics, some for school, but most for my own enjoyment. I also read a lot of science fiction and fantasy when I was young, but haven't kept up with it over the years, so I've got a lot of catching up to do in that genre. I have also realized there are some classic children's books that I somehow missed while growing up. I have made a start, but still have more that I need to read.

I currently belong to two RL book clubs. The first one is a general interest book club, and members suggest titles and vote on the books to read. The other one reads books that have been challenged for one reason or another. I was able to keep up with the two clubs for the previous two years; I hope I can still do that this year.

Last year was a good year for my reading. This year I hope to tackle more of my ROOTs and clear off some of the books already on my shelves. Quite a few are chunksters, so I may not get to 75 books read this year either. (I have yet to meet that mark. But the point is not the total books read, but reading good books and enjoying the reads.) As always, I am looking forward to a good year of reading!

The last couple of years, I have participated in a number of challenges here on LT. I will try to continue with some of them this year, but I will probably be less diligent in trying to pick a book for each month of the various challenges. For example, I will continue with Reading Through Time and will definitely read something for each of the quarterly challenges, but I may or may not do the monthly challenges. The reason for this is that I want to try to do better reading more of the books on my own shelves this year, and sometimes I have had to get a book from the library to meet a challenge, or even purchase a book (though sometimes I had planned to buy the book eventually anyway).

@ArlieS mentioned Tsundoku on her thread. Wikipedia says it's "the phenomenon of acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in a home without reading them. The term is also used to refer to unread books on a bookshelf meant for reading later." I have too much of that, so I need to tackle my ROOTs.

The ROOT challenge
Link to my thread there: https://www.librarything.com/topic/377366

ROOTs Counter



 
The Big Fat Book challenge (BFB)
Link to my thread there: https://www.librarything.com/topic/377716

Reading Through Time

Quarterly Challenges (RTTQ)
January-March 2026: 19th Century - EXCLUDING the Americas
Zorro : a novel by Isabel Allende
The ghost map : the story of London's most terrifying epidemic--and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world by Steven Johnson
Sonnets from the Portuguese : a celebration of love by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

April-June 2026: 19th Century Americas - EXCLUDING the Old West
The righteous killers : the John A. Murrell Excitement and Southern mob law, 1835 by William J LaFrankie
61868::Glory Road by Bruce Catton
Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Isaac's storm : a man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history by Erik Larson

July-Sept 2026: The Old West

 
Monthly Challenges (RTTM)
January: Retellings of Classics
Zorro : a novel by Isabel Allende

February: Agents of Change – natural disasters, epidemics, etc.
The ghost map : the story of London's most terrifying epidemic--and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world by Steven Johnson

March: Antebellum South
The righteous killers : the John A. Murrell Excitement and Southern mob law, 1835 by William J LaFrankie

April: Spring
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

May: It Happened in May
Patrick Henry : first among patriots by Thomas S. Kidd

June: Love and Marriage
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

July: The Lives of Wives
The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel

August: Let's go on vacation!

NonfictionCAT (NFCAT)
January: Science
What an owl knows : the new science of the world's most enigmatic birds by Jennifer Ackerman

February: Medicine & Disease
The ghost map : the story of London's most terrifying epidemic--and how it changed science, cities, and the modern world by Steven Johnson

March: I Want to Learn About ...
The Martians: the true story of an alien craze that captured turn-of-the-century America by David Baron

April: History & Ancient History
Glory Road by Bruce Catton

May: Archaeology
ran out of time to read anything

June: Animals
Cat wars : the devastating consequences of a cuddly killer by Peter P. Marra and Chris Santella

July: Disasters
Isaac's storm : a man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history by Erik Larson

August: Biographies

Other LT Shared Reads and Challenges that I may dip into as I have interest and time

2026 Nonfiction Challenge (75 Books Challenge) (75NF)

January - Prize Winners (prizes that are off the beaten tracks; including nominees)
What an owl knows : the new science of the world's most enigmatic birds by Jennifer Ackerman

February - All That Jazz
did not read anything

March - Off the Beaten Path Religious Sects
Jesus and John Wayne : how white evangelicals corrupted a faith and fractured a nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez

April - Internal Matters - The Human Body

May - Travel, Tourists, and Tourism - the impact on the planet, economies, etc.

June - Who Built That Beautiful Building and Why?
did not read anything

July - US revolution years from 1760 to 1788

 

British Author Challenge (BAC)
January: Cressida Cowell & Richard Adams
Watership Down by Richard Adams

April: Kit de Waal & Stephen Fry
Mythos: the Greek Myths Reimagined by Stephen Fry

 
Roads Less Travelled: The Americas Off the Beaten Track (RLT)
January: Chile
Zorro : a novel by Isabel Allende

 
LT Shared Reads
August? with Mark @msf59 et al: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
?November with @bell7 and @alcottacre: Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin