The Toy Car

 Book 20 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read on February 15

The Toy Car

by Rose Tremain

published 2025

3 stars

I read this short story on an e-reader through Amazon Prime Reading.  Although it feels weird to classify a short story as a book, it's listed individually on Goodreads so it counts for my reading challenge.

The story was fine.  I wish he had given London more of a chance but the story arced in a way that made sense.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 20th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- Title starting with 'T' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

Free for All

 Book 19 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from February 12 - 14

Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas 

in the Public Library

by Don Borchert

published 2007

4 stars

Although the technology and policies have changed since this book was written in 2007, the people stay the same.  I miss the reference desk - the Internet has made many of them obsolete.  And although self-check is fine, I prefer to have an actual person check out my books whenever possible; even a sentence or two from a fellow reader makes the library experience even better.

I worked at our public library for over 5 years.  What was my most random item returned in the drop?  A fish (a real fish).  Our library is near a walking trail with a pond and someone put a fish in one of our reusable bags and put it in the drop.  The fact that it was an actual library bag made it even more memorable because whomever did it really wanted to catch us off guard!  I could tell the bag felt squishy when I picked it up so I took a peek inside and immediately handed it off to someone else.  The fish was dead but they took it back to the pond to complete the circle of life.

Maybe this book is niche but for those in the demographic, it was an enjoyable read.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 19th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- Title starting with 'F' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write

 Book 18 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from February 7 - 11

100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write

by Sarah Ruhl

published 2014

2 stars

I added this book to my TBR after seeing a friend's post about it on Facebook.  I didn't realize that all the essays would pertain in some way to plays: writing, acting, directing, watching, etc.  That topic doesn't hold my interest for an entire book and that's the way 2 star reviews usually go for me; I personally found it boring but it wasn't bad and I can see why other people may enjoy it more.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 18th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- Title starting with 'O' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

The Little Princesses

 Book 17 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from January 26 - February 5

The Little Princesses

by Marion Crawford

published 1950

4 stars

Typically I don't research a book prior to reading.  I'll see whatever review or cover that caught my eye enough to add it to my TBR, I'll read the book, I'll write and post my review, and then I'll read others' reviews (especially 1 star and 5 star reviews) to see what else is being said about it.

This book is an exception.  The text of the book was published in 1950 but my edition had a forward from 2002 with information and I also read other articles about it because I was curious.  So to add context to the book, the author was completely shut out by the Royal Family after its publication.  She had to move out of the home she had been gifted by the King and was never spoken to again.  After decades of service to them, I'm sad that nothing softened with time (she didn't die until 1988) but I also understand how the book could feel like a breach of privacy even if it was mostly positive.

As for the book itself, it was a fascinating look behind the scenes at a different time.  The author humanized the family which doesn't sound like a bad thing but felt intrusive to them.  Now they may strive for "authenticity" but that was definitely not the case back then.  

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 17th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- A book I received for Christmas 2025 (my goal is to read all my Christmas 2025 books by the end of 2026)

- Title starting with 'L' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

The Devil in Oxford

 Book 16 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from January 25 - 30

The Devil in Oxford

by Jess Armstrong

published 2025

3 stars

After reading the first two books in this series after seeing them while browsing at the library, I sought this third one out to read shortly after.  Now I'm reminded why I don't read new books very often...I now have to wait to see if/when there will be a continuation of the series.  The good news is this didn't end on too much of a cliffhanger.  In all 3 books the main mystery of each book was solved in that book and the continuing questions are from the characters' personal relationships and lives.

For this particular book, I didn't like the mystery as much.  Characters withholding information made it longer and muddier than it needed to be and I didn't fully understand the ending; lots of moving pieces had to come together for it to work out the way it did and there were too many coincidences.  This felt less like detective work and more like 'right place right time' (or 'wrong place wrong time' depending on which character you were).

Quote from the Book

"A sense of unease settled in my chest....Not that I had any reason to be unnerved - only a murderer on the loose, multiple people following me, hallucinations of spectral dogs, and I'd accidentally fallen in love with a man I'd utterly rejected. Truly, my life was going precisely to plan."

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 16th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

- Title starting with 'D' (I'm doing an A-Z title challenge)

My Lady's Choosing

 Book 15 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read on January 27

My Lady's Choosing

by Kitty Curran & Larissa Zageris

published 2018

3 stars

I'm new to the "interactive" genre but I checked this out from the library after enjoying my first interactive book Can You Solve the Murder?  This book is a romance, not a mystery, and I read it through 4 different paths to see different options.

Overall, I'm definitely seeking out more interactive books, although I think I prefer mystery to romance.  The benefit of romance is that I didn't have to pay as close attention and the stakes felt lower but the downside is the choppiness of the paths meant it went from "nice to meet you" to "ok we're having sex" pretty quickly which could be jarring.

For this book, I appreciate the options of male or female partners for the female main character.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 15th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)

The Secret to Superhuman Strength

 Book 14 of my 2026 Reading Challenge

read from January 24 -26

The Secret to Superhuman Strength

by Alison Bechdel

published 2021

3 stars

Making a memoir in a graphic novel format makes difficult topics more accessible.  That's not as much of a theme in this book compared to her other books but there were still struggles sprinkled in.

I thought it was fine but it felt a little long; I would've liked the focus to stay more on her with deeper dives.

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Ways This Book Met my 2026 Reading Goals:

- 14th book read in 2026 (my goal is 100)