PolyWogg’s Reading Challenge for 2026: Non-Fiction
| R | E | A | D | I | N | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writing | Astronomy | Exercise | Mental Health | Retirement | Finances | Career |
| Goals | Business | Women | Recipes | AI | Creativity | Software / Tools |
PolyWogg’s Reading Challenge for 2026: Fiction
| R | E | A | D | I | N | G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banned book | Childhood favourite | New release (2026) | Best of 2025 | Infrequent genre | Canadian author | Canadian setting |
| Award winner: 1950s | Award winner: 1960s | Award winner: 1970s | Award winner: 1980s | Award winner: 1990s | Award winner: 2000s | Award winner: 2010s |
| Classic | Bestseller list | Legal | Police | Amateur sleuth | P.I. | Vampires |
| Fantasy creatures | Romance | Science fiction | Star Wars | Star Trek | Time travel | Fantasy adventure |
| Personal discovery | Rebel | Serialized novel | Western | Edith Wharton | Writing under an alias | Brothers |
| Sisters | Spring | Summer | Fall | Winter | Humour | History |
| Women | Mystery | Geography | Indigenous | Series | Gift / Loan / Recommended | Holiday themed |
What books am I considering?
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- All’s Fair in Love and the Nuclear Apocalypse by Jacob Horton et al
- Make: Getting Started with 3D Printing (2nd Edition) by Liza Wallach Kloski and Nick Kloski
- The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters…from a classic list
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green…from a classic list
- Something Wicked by Carolyn G. Hart…from Agatha awards
- Lost Little Girl by Gregory Stout…from Shamus awards
- Beat Not The Bones by Charlotte Jay…from Edgar awards
- The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley…from Edgar awards of sorts, this is book #1 of a two-book series
- A Case of Loyalties by Marilyn Wallace…this might be hard to find though, from the Macavity list of winners
- The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton…from a classic list
- Rabbit, Run by John Updike…from a classic list, but frequently referred to by Lawrence Block
- The Postman Always Rings Twice by James W. Cain…from a classic list
- Neuromancer by William Gibson…from a classic list, a rare sci-fi style story
- Still Life by Louise Penny…the first of the series;
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid…from the popular seller’s list
- Next book in the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch
- Stephanie Plum book by Janet Evanovich;
- Margaret Atwood – The Blind Assassin
- Lawrence Block – Writing the Novel: From plot to print to pixel
- Paulo Coelho – O Alquimista (The Alchemist)
- William Faulkner – The Sound and the Fury
- Diana Gabaldon – Outlander series
- Kazuo Ishiguro – The Remains of the Day
- Donald Jack – Three Cheers for Me
- Stuart Kaminsky – A Cold Red Sunrise
- L Harper Lee – To Kill a Mockingbird
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez – 100 Years of Solitude
- George R.R. Martin – Game of Thrones series
- Vladimir Nabokov – Lolita
- George Orwell – 1984
- Paul Quarrington – Whale Music
- J.D. Salinger – Catcher in the Rye
- Leo Tolstoy – War and Peace
- Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez – The Dirty Girls Social Club
- E. B. White – Charlotte’s Web
- Lu Xun – Diary of a Madman and Other Stories
- Richard Yates – Revolutionary Road
- Carlos Ruiz Zafón – Shadow of the Wind
Master Sources
- There is a website called The Greatest Books which is a compilation of lists of great books — 2073 titles in total.
- Governor General’s awards (Canadian)
- National Book Awards (American)
- Pulitzer prizes (American)
- Man Booker awards (English-speaking)
- Agatha awards (mystery)
- Shamus awards (mystery)
- Macavity awards (mystery)
- Edgar awards (mystery)
- Hammett awards (mystery)
- Abe Books’ list of Top 100 Fiction Books to Read in a Lifetime
- Radcliffe Publishing’s 100 Greatest Novels
- Modern Library’s Fiction or Non-fiction lists
- BBC’s 100 Greatest British Novels
- Guardian’s 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of All-time or 100 Best Novels Written in English
- Time Magazine’s All-Time 100 Novels
- NY Times Best-Seller list
- Project Gutenberg (United States, Canada)