Tag: reading challenges

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My 50 State Road Trip Challenge

Exploring the United States via books is an excellent way to leave home without leaving the comforts of home. The 50 State Road Trip Reading Challenge that I have mentioned in a previous post has been one of my favorite yearly challenges. Not only have I discovered authors I haven’t read before, I have explored the US from East to West and North to South. I have even traveled to Alaska and Hawaii, as well as some of the U.S. Territories.

The Goal

The goal is simple: to read a book set in a specific state and to travel all 50 states and Washington, DC thru books. For example: I chose the entire McMurtrie and Drake Legal Thrillers because the entire series is set in Alabama. However, if a book has several settings, you can check off each state the book has a scene in.  Example: Identity by Nora Roberts has scenes set in several states and I chose to check those states off. That particular rule has helped me more than once when I was having difficulty accessing a book for states like Delaware, North/South Dakota, Nebraska, etc.

This is my completed 50 State Road Trip Challenge list for 2026:

Alabama McMurtrie and Drake Legal Thrillers Bailey, Robert
Alaska Northern Lights Roberts, Nora
Arizona A Different Dawn Maldonado, Isabella
Arkansas The Witness Roberts, Nora
California Implied Consent Powell, Keenan
Colorado Not Our Daughter Zunker, Chad
Connecticut Peg and Rose Solve a Murder Berenson, Laurien
Delaware The Innocent Coben, Harlan
Florida The Whistler Grisham, John
Georgia High Noon Roberts, Nora
Hawaii Aloha Alibi Webb, Jasmine
Idaho Chasing Fire Roberts, Nora
Illinois Digging In Nyhan, Loretta
Indiana Cold Cold Heart Hoag, Tami
Iowa This Is How I Lied Gudenkauf, Heather
Kansas The Winter Widow Weir, Charlene
Kentucky The Queen’s Gambit Tevis, Walter
Louisiana Identity Roberts, Nora
Maine Homeport Roberts, Nora
Maryland Identity Roberts, Nora
Massachusetts Three Sisters Island Trilogy Roberts, Nora
Michigan Sniffed Out Benning, Patti
Minnesota Cold Cold Heart Hoag, Tami
Mississippi Cemetery Road Iles, Greg
Missouri Identity Roberts, Nora
Montana Chasing Fire Roberts, Nora
Nebraska Identity Roberts, Nora
Nevada Identity Roberts, Nora
New Hampshire Catch of the Day Bennett, Virginia K.
New Jersey Year One Roberts, Nora
New Mexico The Law Is a Lady Roberts, Nora
New York The Second Son Gervais, Simon/Steck, Ryan
North Carolina Under Currents Roberts, Nora
North Dakota Paradise Valley Box, C. J.
Ohio Year One Roberts, Nora
Oklahoma Killers of the Flower Moon Grann, David
Oregon Her First Mistake Elliot, Kendra
Pennsylvania The Key Trilogy Roberts, Nora
Rhode Island Every Precious and Fragile Thing Davis, Barbara
South Carolina Identity Roberts, Nora
South Dakota Black Hills Roberts, Nora
Tennessee Between Black and White Bailey, Robert
Texas Not Our Daughter Zunker, Chad
Utah The Secret Witness Methos, Victor
Vermont Identity Roberts, Nora
Virginia The Widow Grisham, John
Washington River’s End Roberts, Nora
West Virginia No Filter Gilbert, Heather Day
Wisconsin Buzz Off Reed, Hannah
Wyoming Angels Fall Roberts, Nora
Washington, DC The Night Agent Quirk, Matthew

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Reading Challenges Helped Expand My Reading Book Selection

Reading challenges have helped me expand my reading habits over the last few years. Being a Kindle owner, I found the Kindle Reading Challenges by accident while scrolling down the home page looking for books to read. It started with simply wanting to get credit for reading each day. Then I started wanting all the “virtual bookmarks” associated with their challenges. All of a sudden, I was participating in the yearly challenges in the group I joined on Goodreads, as well as the Goodreads yearly challenge.

A – Z Book Title Challenge

This yearly challenge opened me up to authors and genres I would never have tried before because I had to actively seek book titles beginning with each letter of the alphabet. That’s more difficult than you might think for certain letters. As a result, I found myself giving thrillers, dystopian and fantasy titles a chance.

A- Z Author Challenge

Another yearly challenge that I had to actively think about. Of all the challenges I participate in each year, this one that truly opens me up to new options. I now have a list of authors that I truly enjoy and authors I won’t ever read again and that’s ok.

50 State Road Trip Challenge

So this particular challenge is rewarding and irritating for me at the same time. And this may be the last year I participate in it. Have I complete this challenge before? Yes, I have completed this challenge for the last 5 years. However, if it weren’t for the fact I can use the same book for more than one state, I doubt I would have been able to complete the challenge. My favorite part of this challenge is the 2026 Reading Map I created in Google Maps to keep track of all the place I visit in books.

I’ve covered the three main yearly reading challenges I participate in every year. Do you participate in reading challenges? If so, what challenges do you participate in each year? Have they helped you expand your reading preferences? Let me know. And come back for a more in depth post on each individual challenge I am participating in this year and how I keep track of all my reading.

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The Crimson Moth Duology: A Review

As a rule I do not like “retellings” or “reimaginings” of the classics. I don’t need an updated version of classic literature. However, every once in a while I will give a “retelling/reimagining” a chance. The Crimson Moth Duology by Kristen Ciccarelli was one of those “reimaginings” that I took a chance on and I’m glad I did. I enjoyed the story very much.

The Scarlet Pimpernel For A New Generation

There is absolutely no mistaking that Heartless Hunter and Rebel Witch are an updated version of The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy for those of us that have read those stories. With that being said, I did like how Ms. Ciccarelli swapped the genders of the two main characters. Instead of Sir Percy Blakeney, we get Rune Winters. Citizen Chauvelin is replaced by Gideon Sharpe.

Rune is a beautiful young woman with a secret. In public she is a socialite with nothing more on her mind than the latest fashions and gossip. In private, she is “The Crimson Moth”, a witch helping other witches escape being purged. Gideon Sharpe is the most successful witch hunter of the Republic. But one witch continues to evade capture, “The Crimson Moth”. So it is one adventure after another as each tries to get the upper hand in a dangerous game.