Over the last few years I stopped quantifying my yearly reading challenges, focusing more on enjoyment than numbers. For 2026, I’m bringing structure back—not to race through books, but to balance library reads, long-neglected TBR shelves, and a few intentional discoveries along the way.

Reading Challenge Book Categories From My Local Library

My 2026 Reading Challenge will be divided into two main groups. First will be books from my local library. I propose to read two books per month from the library from my favorite Mystery/Thriller series. Additionally, I would like to discover new series throughout the year. Maybe one every other month so I added 6 books to that category.

Finally, I would like to keep up with the world around me so I propose to read new non-fiction. Again at the rate of one every other month or 6 non-fiction books. That’s a total of 36 books from the library.

Reading Challenge Categories from My TBR Shelves

Now I really do need to start reading books from my To Be Read (TBR) shelves. I’ve set my target a 30 books from theses shelves, The books include: 6 Sci-Fi books, at least one e-book a month or 12 e-books, and again more non-fiction every other month or 6 books. I have a variety of history and self-improvement books on my shelves that need to be read.

Proposed January 2026 Reads

Here are my proposed January 2026 Reads. I’m not including the book I started back in December and finished yesterday which was Little Black Dress by Loren D. Estleman. However, I will use it for my overall total of books read in 2025!

So here’s what category these proposed read fall into:

From the Library Book Category

New Mystery Thriller Series

Blind to Midnight (Nick Ryan #2)- Reed Farrel Coleman

While Reed Farrel Coleman is not a new author to me I read Redemption Street the second book in his Moe Prager series back in 2010. I haven’t read a Moe Prager since then, although I wish I had. Hopefully I won’t make the same mistake with this series!

Favorite Mystery Series

The White Crow (Philomena McCarthy #2) – Michael Robotham

When I read I read When You Were Mine by Michael Robotham in 2022 there was not a Philomena McCarthy series but now there is and this is book 2! Robotham’s books are always great!

Apostle’s Cove (Cork O’Connor #20)- William Kent Krueger

As are the Cork O’Connor books from William Kent Krueger. I’m sure this one will be great as well!

From the TBR Shelves Category

Non Fiction

Unworthy Republic : The Dispossession of Native Americans and the road to the Indian Territory – Claudio Saunt. A 2020 National Book Award Finalist.

I recently picked this book up at Barnes & Noble. I’ve read several books about the Indian Wars in the west, but very little about what came before. So far it’s interesting how integrated some tribes were with the whites in the south in the 1820s.

E-Book

Head Cases (Head Cases #1) – John McMahon

I loved John McMahon’s Detective P. T. Marsh series (which I hope at some point he returns to) and I hope that this series is just as good!

The post Reading Challenge 2026 to 66 and Beyond! appeared first on .

While on many days in August it was too hot to run, I did get a lot of books read! I read six books in August and while that’s not a lot for many readers it’s a good amount for me.

One of the questions I like to ask, when I’m summarizing the books I’ve read is: “where did my reading take me?”. Well in August it was to a variety of locales, including outer space. My first stop was southern Spain!

A Silent Death – Peter May

Goodreads   Amazon

I requested this book from my library in January of 2020. Thanks to Covid 19 and the subsequent closing of the library, the book didn’t become available  until July. Which is why it is an August read.

About A Silent Death

In A Silent Death Peter May took me to Spain. The book opens with John Mackenzie – an ingenious yet irascible Glaswegian investigator being sent to Spain to transport a known ex-pat fugitive Jack Cleland back to the U.K.

Cleland had been living in Spain under an assumed name. He was captured when police arrived at his home, they thought someone had broken in. When the police arrive and  they enter the house the Cleland accidentally kills his pregnant wife. He then blames the young female arresting officer and vows revenge!

Prior to MacKenzie’s arrival Cleland escapes while being transported and vows to destroy the young officer Cristina Sanchez Pradell and her family.

An important member of Cristina’s family is her Aunt Ana. Anna has been deaf-blind for the entirety of her adult life: the victim of a rare condition named Usher Syndrome. Ana is the centre of Cristina’s world therefore  a key paw  in Cleland’s cruel plan.

Mackenzies quest becomes thwarting Cleland’s plan before he destroys Christina life and that of her beloved Aunt.

Thoughts About Peter May and A Silent Death

Peter May is one of my favorite authors. I particularly liked his Lewis Trilogy set in the Outer Hebrides Islands of Scotland. As well as, his more recent stand alone novels. His writing is always terrific and his stories original and exciting. Additionally his characters always memorable. John Mackenzie, Ana and to a certain extent Cleland join that group.

I enjoyed A Silent Death a lot. However, I would say it ranks below a few of his other stand-alones like Runaway, Entry Island and Coffin Road in my opinion. Of course, if I think about it longer, I’ll probably change my mind!

The bottom line any book by Peter May is well worth reading. So  Check it Out!

Next stop the Mediterranean Sea and Greenland as James Rollins’ and his Sigma Force take me on  The Last Odyssey. Ok

Links for Further Exploration of the Books of Peter May

Author’s Website
Wikipedidia
Amazon

The post My August Reads Start in Spain with Peter May’s A Silent Death appeared first on .

After Dial D for Deadman, I reluctantly left the world of Dan Deadman and returned to Earth. I landed in Siglufjörðurhe a quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland. Here I met Ari Thor Arason In Ragnar Jonasson’s Nightblind.

Nightblind – Rgnar Jonasson

Siglufjörðurhe is an isolated village only accessible via a small mountain tunnel. The small close-knit town is one where no one locks their doors. In Nightblind their world is rocked when a policeman is killed at a quiet house with a disturbing past.

The murdered officer was Ari Thór’s partner. Thor would have been on-duty the night of the murder but he had called out sick. Thor and the town’s former police chief are tasked with the job of unraveling the mystery. It’s complex mystery involving the compromised new mayor.

Along the way the reader is also given glimpses of a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik where a patient writes about his confinement and the reason for it!

All in all, it was a good visit. I enjoyed both the plot and the characters. Nightblind is the second book in Jonasson’s  Dark Iceland series.and you can bet I’ll be visiting Iceland again

. First, to find out what happened prior to Nightblind in Snowblind and then after in Blackout! I can’t wait.

Noumenon – Marina J. Losteller

Following Nightblind,  I traveled back to space with Marina J Lostetter’s Noumenon.  More precisely I traveled wit a convoy to the anomalous star LQ Pyxidis and back. A book Kirkus reviews calls “A striking adventure story that could hold a galaxy in its scope’

Noumenon chronicles humanity’s first adventures beyond the solar system,  The story is chronicles the aforementioned mission to visit LQ Pyxidis. The mission was the brainchild of Astrophysicist Reggie Straifer. Starifer thousands of others join a convoy of nine ships on a mission to reveal the origins of this anomalous star.

Since the mission would take centuries, it was decided that the travelers would not be frozen. Rather the mission would be composed of clones of Earth’s best scientists.

The story is told through a series of vignettes each featuring a different set of lead characters at various points along the journey. The only consistent character, and maybe the most interesting, is the ship’s A1 or ICC, short for Inter Convoy Computing.

I didn’t like these vignettes t first. It seemed, I would just be getting to know and like a character and boom they were gone! However, as the book progressed and I became aware of the length of the journey I saw the need for different characters.

The bottom line is that I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to reading the next book Noumenon Infinity. Here is a great review of Noumenon from  BarnesandNoble.com.

Finally, I have caught you up on the six books that I read in  November. In addition, I’ve told you about all the great places I have visited without leaving the comfort of my home!

Next up my first two December reads!!

The post Where My November Reads Took Me -Part 2 -Reading Journeys appeared first on .

Where My First Three Reads in September Took Me…..

Ok so now that we are eight days into October I think it’s about time that I took you on a little trip. On the trip we will visit the places I was taken by the books that t I read in September.

New Orleans – Night of the Living Demon Slayer – Angie Fox

Our first stop is New Orleans, which was the location of  the seventh adventure of Demon Slayer Lizzie Brown chronicled in Night of the Living Demon Slayer. The adventure was put to paper by Angie Fox. In this adventure Lizzie’s is requested by a necromancer Evan Carpenter to go with him to New Orleans and aid in figuring out what voodoo bokor Osse Pade is up to. So because Lizzie owes Carpenter big-time she is off to New Orleans to face down Pade. And as always Lizzie’s grannie and her biker coven of witches go along to provide support. Lizzie also gets some aid from her shape-shifting husband, Dmitiri!  This is only the second book I have read from  Ms. Fox but they both have been a fun adventure!

Rating 3 stars out of 5. (Really liked it and I will read more when I need to escape from more grizzly adventures)

The next stop on my month-long adventure was Paradise Valley, Montana where Cassie Dewell and the Lizard King face-off in Paradise Valley, the fourth book of C.J. Box’s Highway Quartet. Cassie has been chasing the Lizard King, a long-distance trucker and serial killer for three years. The Lizard King, was so named because he preys on prostitutes on the nation’s highways. The prostitutes are known as lot lizards.

Cassie almost caught The Lizard King once but he got away. Now working for the Bakken County, North Dakota sheriff’s department she thinks she has created the perfect trap to catch him.But when things go south Cassie loses her job. Meanwhile, Kyle Westergaard, a troubled teen and a friend have finally taken off down river on their great adventure. Soon Kyle turns up missing and Cassie sets out to find him. However, it soon appears that the trail to Kyle may also lead Cassie to the Lizard King and back to Paradise Valley where the hunt began!

C.J. Box is one of my must read authors. I usually am quick to read the latest Joe Pickett novel! My hope is that we will hear more about Cassie Dewell!

Rating: Four stars – (really, really liked it!!)

Across America – White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson 

The next book White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson Ph.D.was my first of four non-fiction books that I read in September. This short book took me around America in time and space. While it is a short book it packs a lot of punch! Ms. Anderson traces America;s racial divide from the south’s Reconstruction period though the Jim Crow years and the Great Migration right up to the current events that seem to have widen that divide. Along the way she presented to me many things about the black experience in America that I didn’t know , or knew and forgot. This is a book that should be read in every high school and college across America! And maybe then we can take a hard look at ourselves and all work towards narrowing that divide!!

Rating: Five Stars out of 5! That means it was an amazing book! Read it Damn It!

The post Where My September Reads Took Me – Part I appeared first on .

The Texts in Learn German! Get Me  Writing – Ich heiss Edward!

Was Magst du? Wie heisst du?……

The other day I wrote about the materials that I am using to help me learn German, They include regular textbooks, one on verbs and one on grammar, As well as, a more traditional foundation text book. In addition I have also been using a book of story stories, titled German Short Stories for Beginners. I find that reading these short stories is a great way to see vocabulary and grammar put into use! And more fn than doing exercises in a textbook. (actually exercises do have their place, and I will continue to do them) With that thought in mind, I started to look for books with stories. I found Learn German! More than 100 didactic texts to learn and improve your German. Learn vocabulary and grammar while you are reading. by Dominik Waxenberger. I read the introduction yesterday and I when I read the following I agreed with what he was saying and he supported my thoughts about using children’s books as a place to start my study of German. Dominick writes……

….The problem of many students I met was that they didn’t know what to read or better which texts suited their level and wouldn’t make them feel frustrated. I always told them that I would try to find first children’s books, fairytales and suchlike in order to get used to the language and broaden my vocabulary and understanding of grammar. Then I would go for books for 10 to 12 years olds. After a while I would go for books for adolescents. At this point you have actually already won the match. But for many students it seemed harder to find and select literature than I thought. That is why I decided to write this book for them and everyone who would like to learn German

I read the first three texts that were Prasentation in the texts many questions are asked like How are you? Where are you from? Where do you work and What do you like? After reading the texts I immediately set out to write answers to his questions  and I found myself writing even more….. so here are my responses and an introduction to me in German……

Mir geht is gut. Ich heisse Edward Karn. Ich bin 64 jahren alt. Meine Frau ist Kathleen and wir haben vier kinder. Ihre Namen sind Nicholas, Andrew, Peter and Elizabeth. Wir haben zwei Enkelkinder, Zoe und Oliver. Wir wohnen in Riverside, N.J

Unsere Enkelkinder Oliver und Zoe

Mein Vaters Mutter and ihr Elter kam von Dresden. Sachsen. Sein Grosseltern kam von Hesse and Sweiz.

Meine Hobbys sind: Lesen, Sports, und anhoren von Musik.Ich mag lernen auch Ich mag sehr hot wetter nicht. Ich mag Rap Musik oder Tomaten nicht

Ich spreche Englisch and Ich lerne Duetsch!

Ich bin im Ruhestand. Drei Tage in der woche arbeite ich bei Target. Ich Babysitten oft meine Enkelkinder an meinen freien Tagen aus!

So the above may not seem like much but I did learn several things putting it together. I learned that the verb kommen is irregular and that kam is the past tense. Also that I am Ruhestand (retired). Plus I am still working on where to put words in sentences. So I admit to using Translators for the above!! But overall I think I’m moving along nicely!!

The post RGranddad learns German by Reading!! appeared first on .

So while I haven’t finished any books in a little while that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been reading and  out buying new books, much to the consternation of my better half. So what’s been happening. First I started to read the second book in the David Loogan series from Harry Dolan Very Bad Men, which I have checked out of the library. No, wait, first I started to read William Kent Krueger‘s latest Cork O’Connor book Windigo Island on the Kindle, then Very Bad Men. Then to compound everything,  I went to Dollar General where I  saw  Sanctus by Simon Toyne, which looked pretty interesting. From the cover: “Frightening, ruthless, and relentlessly entertaining” – Brad Meltzer “A cliffhanger ….. that aspires to towering heights” Kirkus Reviews So never being one to pass up a bargain book $3.00 for a $9.99 list book from 2011, I bought it and then started it. So now I am reading three books!! I am making progress in each one and right now, none of them have grabbed me to the point ,that I will only read that book!! Hopefully, one of them will!! Finally in the midst of all this, I went to the Dollar Tree the other night with my wife and much to her dismay I bought three more books! – At  dollar each how can you go wrong!!  The books are: Silent Screams – C.E. Lawrence The Coldest Fear – Rick Reed Delirious – Daniel Palmer Anyone have an opinion as to which of these I should read first?? Oh , the third Keye Street book from Amanda Kyle Williams is on my to  be read shelf, checked out from the library!! Can you say too many books, not enough time!!!  I wouldn’t want it any other way!! It’s time for me to crank up some jazz and get reading!!

The post Reading Three Books, added three to the “to be read” pile! Oh, my! appeared first on .