2026 RATB Challenge - The Teen Years

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

This year, our RATB Challenge turns 13! It's officially a teenager!!
That means it is now legally allowed to roll its eyes at authority, declare everything "sooo embarrassing," and alternate between wanting to be left alone and demanding the spotlight.

Expect dramatic plot twists, sudden bursts of brilliance, and maybe a few mysterious mood swings - because if there’s one thing a 13 year old does best, it’s keeping you on your toes. Welcome to the angsty, awesome, and utterly unpredictable era of Read All The Books!

*If you are new to the club, this challenge is intended to motivate you to read books from the SFFBC bookshelf. All past 439 past BOTMs would count towards this challenge as well as all the books yet to selected in 2026.

Sign up for the challenge here on January 1st.
Other challenges in here.
Personal challenge threads here.
Find all the different ways to see what's on the group shelf in Current Events.
Challenge on TSG: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading...

[CBRetriever]

This is gonna be a tough one to fulfill as I read so many last year. I'm at 8 in my TBR pile with two maybes so far

[HeyT]

I am so hype for this. I love watching the numbers go up because I definitely want to read ALL the books! (I honestly don't know what I'll do when I read them all.)

I went back to my records and I only started getting really serious about this goal in 2020. So that was year 7 of the challenge.

[Saar The Book owl]

I'm in for this! I never made it to the completion of the challenge, but it's fun doing this. I'm gonna read them all, sooner or later...

My 12 year old will be 13 this Sunday, so I know what the post is about, haha.

[Meredith]

I'll probably aim for 12 -15 and then be very pleased with myself if I read more than that, following the "under promise, over deliver" school of thought. I usually sign up for way too many challenges and this way at least one has a reasonable goal.

[Michelle]

Meredith wrote: "I'll probably aim for 12 -15 and then be very pleased with myself if I read more than that, following the "under promise, over deliver" school of thought. I usually sign up for way too many challen..."

I started doing that a couple of years ago!

[Meredith]

Michelle wrote: "Meredith wrote: "I'll probably aim for 12 -15 and then be very pleased with myself if I read more than that, following the "under promise, over deliver" school of thought. I usually sign up for way..."

I like when I have completed 110% of my reading goal! 🤣

[Melanie, the neutral party]

I always pick 25 so I at least make some progress towards completion. 24 new books get added every year, so I don't think I'll ever hit 100%

[Meredith]

I try to keep increasing my percentage read of the bookshelf. So, I try to read a percent of the new reads each year that is more than my overall percent of the bookshelf. That way I always feel like I am making progress on the group shelf, even when it's a small percent increase.

[Kaia]

I'm going to aim for 13, both in honor of the year and because it will put me at just over 200 book club books read. After my first year choosing 30 books as a goal for the challenge, I have also joined team "under promise, over deliver." :-)

[Hank, Hankenstein's Modster]

200 is a great number. I got crazy into the book challenge for a few years and have been trying to keep the momentum. I usually try for 20 a year.

[Netanella]

I read 31 books this year from the group's shelves - mostly the current ones for the battle challenge, which rocked! So, I'm going to set my goal to 32, since I'm still planning on reading Saga.

[Becky]

SFFBC wrote: "All past 440 past BOTMs would count towards this challenge as well as all the books yet to selected in 2026."

I went to count how many I've read, and see that there's actually only 439 books on the shelf. Is there a book missing?

[Melanie, the neutral party]

It's 439. I forgot to subtract the title row when I looked at the spreadsheet. Why is it an odd number? IDK.

[DivaDiane]

I usually try to read at least 12 books, either from current group reads or books I already own that are on the shelf. But naturally, I’ll aim for 13 this year!

They will be chosen from among the following and from any current BOTMs that really interest me and I can get in time to read it without buying it (except for using an Audible credit):
Catfishing on CatNet (owned hardcover)
Blood Over Bright Haven
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Planetfall
The Calculating Stars
The Raven Tower
Mistborn: The Final Empire
The City & the City
The Two Pearls Of Wisdom (aka Eon: Dragoneye Reborn)
The Collapsing Empire
Elantris
The Sword of Kaigen
The Book of Koli
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
Blindsight
Reap the Wild Wind
Gardens of the Moon
The Dragonbone Chair
The Pomegranate Gate
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
Iron Widow

[Becky]

Melanie wrote: "It's 439. I forgot to subtract the title row when I looked at the spreadsheet. Why is it an odd number? IDK."

Okay no worries! Just wanted to make sure. As far as why it’s odd, as I was looking through them, I found that the number of BOTM reads per month fluctuated… most months had 2, but some months had 1, and some had 3.

[Anna]

The reason is that "extra summer series" read from 2012. It's a trilogy.

https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

[Becky]

Anna wrote: "The reason is that "extra summer series" read from 2012. It's a trilogy.

https://www.goodreads.com/group/books..."

Ahh that’ll do it. Thanks Anna!

[Anna]

You have no idea how many times I've cursed those three books XD

[CJ]

I'll be at 151 when I finish the 2 I'm currently reading for the Books by the Dozens challenge. Just over 1/3 of the bookshelf, so not bad. Looking forward to next year! There's about 25 on the bookshelf I'd like to get to plus whatever we get for the Books of the Month.

[Kaa]

My goal is 13 books for year 13. I managed 15 plus 4 re-reads this year - Booklover's Combat was really motivating - but I am also joining team "under promise, over deliver". I just need 5 more books to get to 200.

[Ellen]

I like team "under promise, over deliver". I'll set my goal for 12 but will try for more.

[Juliana]

I'll try this time. 12 to see if I at least manage to keep pace with the additions to the bookshelf. :)

[Steve]

I'll go for an initial 12, much of these are bookshelf picks I didn't end up reading in 2025!

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke (re-read)
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
Sabriel by Garth Nix
Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Mickey7 by Edward Ashton
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

I'll extend if I end up reading more!

[Steve]

Happy New Year and happy reading all!

[Banshee]

I'll go for 13 and see how that turns out. I have The Incandescent reserved at the library for now, though I doubt it will be my first book for the challenge, given that there's another 10 weeks waiting time.

[Megan]

I've decided to swing big and aim for 26 in '26. The most I've done in a year was 25 (plus re-reads), and this is the only reading challenge I'm planning to participate in this year, so this feels doable.

There are a lot of books on our list that I want to get to, a few that've been sitting unread on my actual literal bookshelves for nearly two decades (looking at you, A Canticle for Leibowitz!), and I also know from experience that there are books on our club shelves that I assume Aren't For Me but that turn out to be something I really enjoy. So I'm not aiming too hard at specific books (except the aforementioned Canticle, lol), but I'm looking forward to a mix of intentional reads and whims and surprises.

[〰️Beth〰️]

My first time trying this challenge. I already have four on my small tbr for the year but there are so many i have not read. The trick will be how many i get as digital loans from the library .

I was going to go for 25 but i like Megan's idea of 26 in '26 so i will borrow her idea and aim high at 26.

✔1. Soulless 💖💖💖💖 1/31/26
✔2. Planetfall💖💖💖 3/2/26
✔3. Red Rising 💖💖💖💖💖 2/24/26
✔ 4. Annihilation💖💖💖💖💖 3/12/26
✔5. The Graveyard Book💖💖💖💖 3/21/26
✔6. Iron Widow 💖💖💖💖💖 4/11/26
✔ 7. Dungeon Crawler Carl💖💖💖💖4/20/26

[Dianbees]

This is my first attempt as well! I'm trying to be more active in the group and read a ton more this year than I did in 2025. I'll aim for 13 for this one, since I'm already doing a different challenge

Completed:
1. Piranesi

[KelB]

2026 Read All The Books

Progress: 4/10

✅ 1. Touch -- 1/24/26
✅ 2. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter -- 2/4/26
✅ 3. The Power -- 3/26/26
✅ 4. All Systems Red -- 4/10/26
5.
6.
7.
8. The House of the Spirits --
9. The Killing Moon --
10. Memory of Water --

[Becky]

SFFBC - RATB - The Teen Years - Aiming for 1 per month:

Completed: 1/12
9. The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith

To Read:
1. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik
2. Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
3. The Poppy War by RF Kuang
4. Jade City by Fonda Lee
5. Severance by Ling Ma
6. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison
7. The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley
8. The Echo Wife by Sara Gailey
10. The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
11. An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
12. Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

[HeyT]

Finished my first SFFBC RatBC read for the year which brings me to 321 off the shelf.

The Accidental Time Machine

[April]

Has taken me a minute to figure out how this works... I will try to fill this up and play along this year.
Placeholder post

Oh quick question, if anyone sees this and knows. Is there a quick way to add the group book reads to my own goodreads library?

[HeyT]

I've finished my first two books of this challenge for the year.

The Accidental Time Machine
Annie Bot

Currently listening to Shards of Earth and have placed a request for Way Station so one of those will most likely be my next.

[Melanie, the neutral party]

April wrote: "Has taken me a minute to figure out how this works... I will try to fill this up and play along this year.
Placeholder post

Oh quick question, if anyone sees this and knows. Is there a quick way ..."

I recommend using the group bookshelf.

[Anna]

April wrote: "Oh quick question, if anyone sees this and knows. Is there a quick way to add the group book reads to my own goodreads library?"

And I would recommend the mod account's bookshelves instead, but it depends on what you prefer? There's also a spreadsheet, you can find all ways at the bottom of Current Events.

[Bonnie]

I have a question.
Will changing the name of an old shelf break the old challenge, or do challenges stay linked to their assigned shelves?

When I first started doing these I named the shelf with the year first, so it would sort to the top. But now I have a big clump of those challenge shelves right at the top of my Bookshelves. So I would like to change their names. Will the associated challenges ride along, or will they break, or maybe I can input the new name on the Group Challenges page, manually?

https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/...

2024-sff-challenge
2023-sff-challenge
2022-sff-challenge

etc.

[Becky]

Bonnie wrote: "I have a question.
Will changing the name of an old shelf break the old challenge, or do challenges stay linked to their assigned shelves?

When I first started doing these I named the shelf with ..."

It will break it, but you should be able to update the shelf name in the challenge.

[April]

Ok, so is it usually 12 books? Oh, and that is the group suggested goal, but we can make it whatever we one right? Well, for now this is mine.

Ok, starting with a goal of 5, but I will probably find a few more. It is just that I am trying to expand my knowledge of these genres, but also too booked up to experiment with so many. 😅
Completed: 06/05 📚 -denotes current reads

1. ✔The Prisoners Throne Black, Holly ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2. ✔The Time Machine Wells, H.G. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Of Mice and Men Steinbeck, John
4. ❌Witch King Wells, Martha -dnf
5. I Who Have Never Known Men Harpman, Jacqueline

6. The Handmaids Tale Atwood, Margaret
7. Remnant Population
8. ✔Speed of Dark Moon, Elizabeth 2002 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
9. The Memory Police
10 The Island of Dr. Moreau Wells,
11 ✔The War of the Worlds Wells, H.G. 1898 ⭐⭐⭐
12 The Princess Bride
13 The Snow Queen Vinge,
14 Hyperion
15 Assassin's Apprentice
+. ✔dracula ⭐⭐⭐
+. ✔Six of Crows ⭐⭐⭐

(I feel like I have typed these out before 🤔🤦‍♀️)- Yep!
Draft(view spoiler)[


SFFBCReadAllTheBooks 26
Complete: 00/05
1. ✔The Prisoners Throne
2. The Time Machine
3. Of Mice and Men
4. Magpie Murders
5. ❌Witch King
6. I Who Have Never Known Man
7. The Handmaid's Tale
8. Remanant Population
9. Speed of Dark
10 The Snow Queen
11 The War of the Worlds
... (hide spoiler)]

[DivaDiane]

Bonnie, I just use the same shelf for the challenge each year. Since the books have to be read during the time period of the challenge it works just fine.

[DivaDiane]

April, I think many people choose to pledge the number of years the challenge has been running, this year 13. That has worked well for me the past few years, as I usually overshoot (last year I read 13 from the shelf), but in a couple of years I will struggle, I’m sure.

[CBRetriever]

read two books for this challenge

✔️The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

added

✔️Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty

[Kaia]

CBRetriever, we're pretty close in our reading for this challenge so far! :-)

I've read:

Station Eternity
The Memory Police
The War of the Worlds

[CJ]

In January I read for this challenge:

Nimona
The Memory Police
The War of the Worlds
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
Levithan Wakes

And I'm currently reading Klara and the Sun

[CBRetriever]

Kaia wrote: "CBRetriever, we're pretty close in our reading for this challenge so far! :-)

I've read:

Station Eternity
The Memory Police
The War of the Worlds"

I'm reading The Night Circus next for this challenge

[Kaia]

CBRetriever wrote: I'm reading The Night Circus next for this challenge

I'm probably going to read Godkiller next, but I have never read The Night Circus, and I am curious about it.

[CBRetriever]

I preferred Godkiller to Night Circus

[HeyT]

I read two more books for this challenge in January:

Way Station
Shards of Earth

Was pleasantly surprised by Way Station and enjoyed the audio for Shards of Earth.

[CBRetriever]

I finished a third book:

✔️The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

[P.E.N.]

Keeping it realistic this year 😅
Trying to balance darker/weirder reads with at least one classic fantasy comfort pick.

Planned:

His Majesty’s Dragon — Naomi Novik
The Fifth Season — N.K. Jemisin
Dead Silence — S.A. Barnes
The Memory Police — Yoko Ogawa
Jade City — Fonda Lee

I’ll adjust if something unexpected calls louder.