Today’s guest has been participating in reading challenges for nearly a decade, and she’s putting a unique spin on this tradition in 2026 that I’m eager to discuss today. We take a flexible approach to reading challenges around here. They work great for some readers, not the best for others. The project you’ll hear about today just sounds like fun, and I thought it would help get you thinking about what you want from your own reading life in the year to come.
Callie Dean is joining me today from her home in Shreveport, Louisiana. She’s often found reading, of course, but also enjoys activities like playing the violin in the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, writing children’s books, and running and baking.
Callie’s challenge is both highly structured and incredibly flexible, because in the new year, Callie’s hoping to read one book that starts with each letter of the alphabet. And if you think, that sounds like a piece of cake, I thought so too. Until I figured out just how intense her guidelines really are.
We’ll talk all about the books Callie’s already identified for this challenge and where she could really use my help to fill in the gaps so she can strike a delightful balance of topics, genres, and authors in 2026. You know I’ve got ideas and I bet you do, too: please share those by leaving a comment below.
Connect with Callie at her website, on Instagram and Facebook.
Last minute gifts for your favorite readers
The end of the year is only weeks away, but we still have great last-minute gifts in our Modern Mrs. Darcy shop. Treat your favorite reader to a present inspired by your shared love of reading. A book journal, like My Reading Life, makes a great gift for any style of reader, any time of year, but especially with the new year upon us. And for the kids in your life, my book journal, My Reading Adventures, is perfect for the 8 to 12-year-old set or for kids at heart.
For those who need a truly last-minute gift with no shipping required, give a membership to the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club. Find out more and shop our in-stock selection at modernmrsdarcy.com/shop.
Books mentioned in this episode:
• My Friends by Fredrik Backman
❤ Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
• Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
• The Names by Florence Knapp
❤ A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna
• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
❤ The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon
▵ Come and Get It by Kiley Reid
• Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
• Soil by Camille T. Dungy
• Audition by Katie Kitamura
• Awake by Jen Hatmaker
• Babel by R.F. Kuang
• Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
• Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
• Quiet by Susan Cain
• X by Ilyasah Shabazz
• Lilith’s Brood: The Xenogenesis Trilogy by Octavia Butler (#1: Dawn)
• Zorro by Isabel Allende
• James by Percival Everett
• Erasure by Percival Everett
• Improvement by Joan Silber
• Mercy by Joan Silber
• Early Riser by Jasper Fforde
• East of Eden by John Steinbeck
• Dayswork by Chris Bachelder and Jennifer Habel
• Landslide by Susan Conley
• Dakota by Kathleen Norris
• Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
• Delicious! by Ruth Reichl
• Descent by Tim Johnston
• Eventide by Kent Haruf
• Plainsong by Kent Haruf
• Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal
• Painting Time by Maylis de Kerangal
• The Heart by Maylis de Kerangal
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
• Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
• Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
• The Guide by Peter Heller
• The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark
• Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
• Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
• Ghost by Jason Reynolds
• Ghosts by Dolly Alderton
• Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
• Ghosted by Rosie Walsh
• The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh
• Jubilee by Margaret Walker
• Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
• Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
• Shark Heart by Emily Habeck
• Next by Michael Crichton
• One on One by Jamie Harrow
• Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
• Orleans by Sherri L. Smith
• Open by Andre Agassi
• Oranges by John McPhee
• Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
• Passing by Nella Larsen
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
• Piglet by Lottie Hazell
• Possession by A. S. Byatt
• Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
• Priceless by John Shiffman
• Pride by Ibi Zoboi
Also mentioned:
• Dayswork event in the Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club
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