2026 Nonfiction Reader Challenge at Book'd Out

 It's that time of year to think about the 2026 Nonfiction Challenge hosted by Shellyrae at Book'd Out.  Count me in this year.

Here is the signup intel and here are the categories below which I shamelessly copied from Shelleyrae's blog. 👇

Choose a goal:

Nonfiction Nipper: Read & review 3 books, from any 3 listed categories

Nonfiction Nibbler: Read & review 6 books, from any 6 listed categories

Nonfiction Nosher: Read & review 12 books, one for each category

Nonfiction Grazer: Read & review any nonfiction book. Set your own goal, or none at all, just share the nonfiction you read through the year.

Categories:

History
Memoir/Biography
True Crime
Science
Health
Food
South East Asia
Humour (Humor)
Lost or found
Television
Subculture
Published in 2026

I have a few books in mind for next year:

Wild Ride: I.V. Drips and Rocket Ships by Halley Arceneaux

A Time Remembered: American Women in the Vietnam War by Olga Gruhzit-Hoyt

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove by Barbara Demick

A Bunker in Kyiv: The Astonishing Story of the People's Army Defying Putin

I'd love to know some of the nonfiction titles on your radar.  This year I am signing up for the Grazer but hope I can manage 12. Join in, it's always fun!

Armchair travel to Northern England and Korea this week

 Posted this week / Mailbox Monday where I shared my library haul of 9 books and a DVD.  We watched Chernobyl, vey grim but fascinating.  I've read two of the books so far and also made a recipe from the air fryer cookbook.

Books read /  Seascraper by Benjamin Wood.  This very short book was a buddy read with Susan.

This is a short novella which packs so much in.  I know the term atmospheric tends to be overused these days in describing a book but this one places you directly into the cold, damp and often gloomy seaside. 

Our main character Thomas Flett is 20 years old but has the aches of an old man.  His love is music and his secret desire is to play guitar and write songs.  This he keeps hiden from his mother and everyone else he encounters.  This is set in the 1960 time period in Longferry England

His sad fate is taking over the shrimp harvesting as it was his father and grandfather's way to make a living.  He must support his mother ( who incidentally is only 15 years older than Thomas) by heading out to the shore early in the mornings and sometimes again in the evening, throwing nets to harvest shrimp to sell.

Then Edgar Acheson arrives.  Edgar is an American film maker who wants to hire Thomas to show him the shore and landmarks, safely get him around and make a film based on a novel.  Their interactions are interesting - Thomas suspicious at first and Edgar full of excitement about the perfect place to film. I liked the turn of events at the end. 4.5 stars

The Second Chance Convenient Store by Ho-Yeon Kim.

This isn't my typical genre but the short 206 page story was a nice read.  Set in Korea, Mrs. Yeom is traveling and realizes she has lost her wallet and valuables. 

A man named Dokgo calls her to say he has found her wallet and she arranges to meet him.  He is homeless but with an interesting back story as to why he ended up that way.  Mrs. Yeom owns convenience store and grateful for his kindness she offers him help by feeding him.  While Dokgo doesn't accept at first, his character development shows us about trust, forgiveness and kindness.  

Currently reading / Well, I started Horse by Geraldine Brooks and it pulled me in. But it's a physical book with smallish font and I am considering waiting until my Kindle hold for this title comes in. 

That's all I have for this week.  Maybe make some bread for the neighbors who are down with the flu and plan a safe handoff :-)

Linking up with:

Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Joy for British Isles Friday

Monday Mailbox - a plethora of library books

 Mailbox Monday is hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach.  I have been absent in participating because I have been reading from what is on hand.  

But - our library now has the extended holiday checkout period of 6 weeks so, I loaded up!  One book arrived in the mail and is a complimentary copy of Cecile Pin's upcoming release Celestial Lights.

The mini series about Chernobyl

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood

The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-Yeon

Loved One by Aisha Muharrar

The Ship Beneath the Ice by Mensun Bound

Swallow by Natsuo Kirino

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Also some foodie books.  Hope I can read them all before they are due!

Linking up with Monday Mailbox.

Hello Sunshine 🌞

Happy Saturday! We had rain for days on end, steady and solid without breaks.  It was no fun trying to get Loki out to do his business. Thankfully we have a break for now and the skies are blue.  Here is a photo of a little shopping area 2 miles from our house.  They have a lovely tree decorated in the middle of the square and there are so many restaurants here, all decorated for the holiday. 🌞

While I was inside a few days I finished a dog themed puzzle which was fun.

📚 Book Chat 📚

Earlier this week I posted my 2025 Nonfiction Reading Challenge wrap up.

Books read / Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

What an emotionally charged memoir. So raw, so honest about how she experienced the pain, loss and how she kept it inside while dealing with the many aspects of an unexpected death of a loved one.  Keeping it together for her children, figuring things out on her own without allowing herself to mourn was heart wrenching to read.  Finally she gave herself time to think about everything and get away from everyone on Flinders Island where she could grieve and be alone.   Highly recommended memoir that packs a punch.  5 stars

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch

We start this story with Heron (real name Henry) receiving the awful news he has cancer.  He has a 44 year old daughter named Maggie and is trying to decide how and when to tell her about his health situation.  He has brought Maggie up on his own and she never knew what became of her mother Dawn. So many unanswered questions.

Maggie's thoughts on hearing her father has cancer:

She cannot say, you cannot die, not now, because I will sometimes want to call you, to tell you a joke I read in the paper, or that I saw a famous person on the platform at London Bridge. You cannot die, because you will be missing from the photographs of all the days that haven’t happened yet—

The story is set in Ireland, switching back and forth between two timelines - 1982 and 2022. Maggie is obviously devoted to her father as all they had were each other.   

The sad thing is why Dawn wasn't part of Maggie's life growing up. You learn about archaic practices/laws in place in 1982 which tore a family apart.  This short book of 240 pages intensifies near the end when Maggie, now a 44 year old mother, discovers why her mother was absent in her life all those years. 

Currently reading / The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-Yeon. Translated by Janet Hong.

Coming up is the 2026 Nonfiction Reading Challenge hosted by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out and more book chat.  Wishing you a happy and healthy week.

Linking up with:

Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Joy for British Isles Friday

The 2025 Nonfiction Reading Challenge Wrap-up

 The 2025 Nonfiction Reader Challenge is hosted by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out.   I signed up for six categories but completed nine.

 

Categories completed:

History

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

Memoir/Biography

 Olive, Mabel and Me by Andrew Cotter and Be Ready When Luck Happens by Ina Garten

True Crime 

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

Health

The Story of a Heart by Dr. Rachel Clarke

Food

What I Ate in One Year {and related thoughts} by Stanley Tucci 

Travel 

Hidden Libraries by Lonely Planet

Garden

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan

Myth, Legend and Folklore

Vanishing Cornwall by Daphne du Maurier

Published in 2025 

On the Hippie Trail by Rick Steves

It's always fun making the lists of books.

Check out the challenge link at Book'd Out. You will get many great ideas for titles and I am already in process of list making for the 2026 challenge.

Thank you for hosting, Shellyrae! 💓😍

  

Hello December....❄

Hello world. I've been absent for a bit but probably haven't missed anything crucial.  I guess.  Life got mad at us in November.   Earlier in November my husband had to go to the emergency room. They transported him to a larger hospital and kept him a night so that was stressful all the way around, for all of us. He is doing well now.  Then I was violently ill from some stomach bug. Knocked me for a loop.  Also had other things come up and frankly, besides a little bit of reading and starting a puzzle - nothing worth getting on the keyboard to share.

Apologies for my lack of visitation and response. Hope to catch up soon.

Thanksgiving was quiet as it's just the two of us.  We were able to talk to our son for a bit and hear how his turkey roasting was going.  Doug and I had meatloaf, potatoes and gravy, veggies and I had also made a pumpkin pie.  You can't beat Libby's recipe for pumpkin pie.  I hope you all had a nice holiday if it's one you partipate in.

Books //   Recently I finished  The Art Thief by Michael Finkel and it was a buddy read with Susan.  (Review in link)

Also read a novel by John Boyne which was well done, in my opinion.  Review of All the Broken Places HERE on Goodreads with spoilers mentioned but hidden. I will be looking for more John Boyne novels in 2026.

I was reading The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller.  This is set in 1962, rural west England shortly after WW II.  Apparently there actually was a severely frigid winter in that year.  It's slow but I thought it would pick up soon with some revelations about our main characters. Perhaps I am an unsophisticated reader as it was nominated for book awards but...just didn't resonate with me.  The extreme detail and minutiae in some passages had me wanting to flip ahead.  But again, I am probably in the minority about this book.

As I get older I tend to DNF something I'm not loving because i have so many other books I want to read.

Currently reading Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks. Sad and absorbing, can't put it down.

Watching / We finished season one of Bad Monkey starring Vince Vaughn. A good mixture of crime, drama and humor.  

Also finished season 5 of Slow Horses.  Love Gary Oldman.

First Christmas movie of the year was It's a Wonderful Life and that was a treat for me.

Wishing you all well, good health and plenty of whatever makes you happy. 

Sharing with:

Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Joy for British Isles Friday  for Slow Horses