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First Reading Choices 2026

Sometimes we make choices without really thinking about them. Other times we agonize over a choice or decision, wanting to be sure to make the best one. I wanted to do that with my reading list for the year. So many books and so little time. Yet, almost without realizing it, I made my choices. Some of them I started last year and carried over to finish.  

I wonder if anyone else is like me. I figure probably not. Most people probably just pick up a book and start reading. Oh no. I have to make a production out of it in my head. I mean I can’t just grab a book. What if I grab the wrong one? Then the whole year is off on the wrong foot, and the tone is set. It must be just right, see. The right book can set the tone for the whole year of reading. Anyone with me? No? I was afraid of that.  

Of course, your reading plan can go off the rail at any time. Last year I started with Killing the Witches by Bill O’Reilly. I usually like this series and looked forward to reading this book. I was disappointed. As I was by The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. That ending, really?  Big disappointment there. I was also disappointed by The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden. So much so, I didn’t even finish it. My year was redeemed with other books such as Little Buried Secrets by Cheryl Bradshaw, Soulbound by Bethany Adams, When Birds Fall Silent by Shana Frost, Raven Black by Ann Cleeves and the four books I read by Brandon Sanderson. I’m not going into a review of each of the books, but I enjoyed them and would read another by each of the authors.  

My beginning list contains authors I have never read or heard of before, except for one, I have heard of Robert Whitlow but am not sure I have read any of his books, so it will be fun to read his newest, Witness Protection.   

So, here are my first five selections for the 2026 reading year. 

Death on the Doorstep by Mary Lancaster 

Codex Arcanum 1888 by Tasmin Turner 

Witness Protection by Robert Whitlow 

Super Moon Protocol by J.T. Fluhart 

Piper at the Gates of Dusk by Patrick Ness 

Of course I have already finished Death on the Doorstep, by Mary Lancaster and you can find my review here on All for One. Not on the list is the third Mistborn book by Brandon Sanderson, Hero of the Ages. I started it last year and need to finish.  I usually read a couple of chapters in bed before I turn out the light, which is why it has taken me so long to finish. I am currently reading Codex Arcanum 1888 by Tasmin Turner and Super Moon Protocol by J.T. Fluhart. I am enjoying both books although they are very different in tone and structure and language. I am enjoying one more than the other but more on that later. I will give my review on both when I have finished them.  

How do you select your books? Do you line them out for the year? Or do you wait and see what comes out and go from there? Maybe a mix of the two?  

What makes the grade? Are there any topics or genres that are off limits? What sections do you pass right over in the bookstore?  

I hope all of us say that the one book above all others that is on the list without question is our Bible. May you be blessed as you read the Word of God this year. If you need ideas where to start, there are abundant options online to choose to get you started. The Bible app always has some good reading plans. If you are new to Bible reading, then I hope is the year you start.  

Let me know your choices. I look forward to hearing from you. 

All for One 

Angela 

Posted on by Angela

Reading Goals – More Than Just Books on a List

Welcome to 2026! I hope the new year has already been a blessing to you. Let’s talk reading. My first year of All for One didn’t show much in books or reading. When I set out to write a blog, I had originally planned a book blog. What I wrote was something very different. Yet still I love books and reading. So, this year I want to add more book reviews to All for One as well as the content you are used to seeing. I have been on a more consistent reading basis since 2021. Each year I set my goal just a little higher. Sometimes I make it and sometimes I don’t.  

I didn’t meet my goal in 2025. I got hung up on Brandon Sanderson’s cosmere and because of the length, two of his Stormlight books should have counted as two normal books, but here I am keeping my low count again this year. 

I deliberately keep my book count goal low.  So, my count this year is 35.  I started at twelve and feel pretty good about my count of 35. I made it to 22 last year. I know there may be some of you who have busier lives than me, and you are reading into the hundreds, and I am super proud of you. Maybe one day I will reach that level. Each reader must read what they are able and what their life will allow. I got five books read in January and thought yesss this is going to be an awesome year. Then I learned that reading is more than books on a list. Reading is also about a connection. This happened when my son introduced me to Sanderson.  

There is a story here. He was never much of a reader. So, when he came to me and said, “you have to read this”, I dove in. Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn books and Stormlight books had been on my reading list for a while. So, when he got into them and wanted me to read them, it seemed like a good time. I don’t regret reading them and if you are looking for something to add to your own list, I would recommend his books but be prepared for a commitment where Stormlight is concerned.  I ended up reading Way of Kings and Words of Radiance from the Stormlight series and the first two Mistborn books. I am still working on the third one.  

While reading is a solo endeavor, it doesn’t have to be isolated. Books profit by being shared. This is why book clubs are so important and popular. My son and I have had countless conversations over Sanderson’s books this year. I don’t regret that my book goal was not reached. I was introduced to a new author and my son and I built a new connection – over books. That is the power of reading and books. So, I will gladly keep a low reading goal if I can have that kind of result with my family or another person.  

Has a book helped you make a connection with someone? What was it? Was it one you liked or hated? Was it a series or a stand alone?  

What does your reading life look like? Do you enjoy reading? Do you have a reading book goal for 2026?  

Oh, and while you are adding books to your reading list for this year, don’t forget to add the best-selling book of all-time – the Bible. Make sure to read it each day.  

Share your thoughts with me in the comments. I would love to hear from you.  

All for One 

Angela

Posted on by Angela

My “To Be Read” List

I am a list maker. I can’t help it. I think in lists. I make a to do list, content list, book list, reading list, a list on lists. I probably should see someone about it, but I would need to make a list first. Oh well, the truth is that to some extent my lists help keep me on track.

This is especially true when it comes to my reading list.  I have a list of books I want to read, my TBR list.

I set up All for One into themes. The theme for August is Back to Basics. So, I wanted to include this theme into my reading. My reading list for August needed to reflect this. I haven’t chosen doctrinal books, but rather classical Christian literature. We are already into mid-August so even I realize I probably will not be able to read all of these before we get to September. But a goal is something to strive toward.

I wanted to share my August list with you. If you are looking for something to read this August, grab one of these classics and dive in.

  • Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
  • The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
  • The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer
  • Crazy Love by Francis Chan
  • The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
  • Miracles by C. S. Lewis
  • Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan

So, you see the only modern book is by Francis Chan and even it is not that recent. It came out a few years ago. My husband loved the book, and I never read it, so now is a good time to get into it. If you have never read C. S. Lewis apart from the Chronicles of Narnia, his nonfiction reminds me a lot of the writing of the apostle Paul. Very intellectual, very deep, but worth the read. The Screwtape Letters is another of Lewis’s fiction. I have actually read this book, but many years ago and it is time for a new read. I remember reading some of The Pilgrim’s Progress when I was much younger so with this one also it is time for a fresh look. Tozer is a short book that shouldn’t take long to read. So, here they are the August book challenge for me and you if you don’t already have something on your TBR list for August.

I have a much longer list of books I would like to read but let’s not get into that craziness. What about you? What is on your TBR list for this month? Have you selected one or do you just read as the mood hits you?

Be sure to let me know in the comments what you are reading and if you are taking the August challenge or have one of your own. I would love to hear from you.

Don’t forget to like and subscribe so you don’t miss new content when it drops. I don’t fill your inbox with unwanted emails, and I don’t give away your address. I don’t like it done to me and I won’t do it to you.

Angela

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WHAT I’M READING NOW

When I began All for One, I intended it to house a page for book reviews. If you drop by often, you have no doubt noticed there is one lonely book review. I rediscovered my love for reading and found there were some really good books out there and some really not good books out there. I thought I would give my reviews on them. I set myself a reading goal for each year and started reading. Then this year hit, and my son introduced me to Brandon Sanderson the author of the Stormlight series. These books are not small. I have read the first two books; each book has upward of 1200 pages. So, every other book I have planned to read fell away. I have now taken a break and have about three books going at once.

I read digital and print and enjoy both. There is something about the feel and smell of paper that you don’t get from a Kindle or tablet. I use a tablet and have several reading apps. My favorite reading apps are Kindle and Apple. I have Nook and Google books and some others, and I will use them but don’t enjoy them as much. I really don’t like Google books and use it the least. It just doesn’t seem as user friendly as the others. Maybe it is the user. Plus using digital you can have an almost unlimited number of books at any time so there is space saving advantage. Yet I love walking into bookstores and seeing the stacks of books and breathing in the scent. I am almost immediately at ease. Bookstores are my happy place. Whether I buy a book or not. Of course, I usually buy at least one. After all you can never have too many books, right?

What does your reading list look like? Do you read one book at a time or several at once? I usually have several books going at once. I somehow manage to keep them straight. My husband and son are the opposite. They each read one at a time finish it then move on to the next one. I drive my husband crazy because I might have a stack of books close by. My son is in his twenties and is discovering reading for pleasure after school and college. So, for him one at a time is good. Plus, he is reading Sanderson.

Right now, I have three going. I am reading Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, and Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson (much shorter than the Stormlight series). I look at my list and realize there is not a mystery among them. Mystery is my favorite genre. I try to balance my reading with some nonfiction which is why there is C.S. Lewis. I also will cross genres, I don’t want to miss any good books, Atwood’s dystopian, and Sanderson’s fantasy. So, I imagine after these I will be ready for a good whodunit.

What are you reading now? Are you like my family and read one book at a time? Or are you like me and have several going at once? I believe there is no wrong way to read if you read. There are a lot of books out there. Pick one, or two, and settle in. Let me know in the comments what you are reading now.

Angela