Reading resolutions on steroids

One thing I've been wanting to do is stop the time-wasting activities (looking at you internet and my personal laziness) and more time reading. With that in mind I've made a couple of big commitments this year. First up: taking another shot at Read Christie. I tried this in 2024 but didn't make it all the way through, but I'm hoping for better results this time around. 

The 2026 theme is "Biggest, Best, Beloved" and here is the monthly schedule:

 

January (Best Opening): The Body in the Library (Marple)

 

February (Beloved Character/s): Mrs McGinty's Dead (Poirot)

 

March (Biggest Impact on You as a Young Reader): Murder on the Orient Express (Poirot)

 

April (Beloved in Your Collection): A Caribbean Mystery (Marple)

 

May (Best Short Story Collection): The Labours of Hercules (Poirot)

 

June (Best Read in One Sitting): The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Poirot)

 

July (Best-Kept Secret): The Rose and the Yew Tree (Agatha Christie writing as Mary Westmacott)

 

August (Beloved Duo): By the Pricking of My Thumbs (Tommy and Tuppence)

 

September (Best According to Agatha): Endless Night (Stand alone)

 

October (Best Cold Case): Sleeping Murder (Marple)

 

November (Biggest Inspiration): And Then There Were None (Stand alone)

 

December (Best Seasonal Read): Hercule Poirot's Christmas

 

2026 (Best Book About Agatha Christie): An Autobiography     

 

This means we have five Hercule Poirots, three Miss Marples, one Tommy/Tuppence, two stand alones, one of the novels Christie wrote under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and her autobiography. Of all of these, I've only read Roger Ackroyd and And Then There Were None, so this year promises lots of new experiences.

 

As if that wasn't enough, I also recently discovered the Hardcore Literature Book Club when the video announcing their 2026 schedule popped up on my YouTube feed. I was blown away by the sheer depth of materials they read and although it's hideously overambitious, I just couldn't help signing up.  

 

For January/February we're reading Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove and some ancient Greek tragedies, most of which I already covered in my Mythology class earlier this year. So that will involve revisiting material I've already read including Oedipus Rex, which was my favorite out of everything we read (which was saying a lot - I loved pretty much everything in that class). 

 

Just some of the works on the 2026 schedule are The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, along with The Bhagavad Gita and Beowulf. There will also be short stories and poetry, and a TBA surprise Dickens novel for the holidays. 

 

Wish me luck.