2026 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge

JUST FOR FUN!

This is my favorite Challenge!

The Alphabet Soup Challenge means that by December 31, 2026
Your bowls must be filled with one book for each letter of the Alphabet.

Each Letter Counts As 1 Spoonful

Details

This challenge will run from January 1st, 2026, until December 31st, 2026.

You can join anytime. You do not have to post a review of the book. Books can come from any genre.

Children’s Books and Novellas are acceptable, but they need to be over 50 Pages.

You do not need to link up each spoonful.

Grab a notebook, make a page, a post, or a GoodReads shelf to keep track of your spoonfuls. I keep track of mine on my Reading Challenges Page.

Crossovers to other challenges are allowed and encouraged!

It’s an alphabet challenge!!! The challenge is to read one book with a title that starts with every letter of the alphabet.

You can drop the A’s and The’s from the book titles as shown below.

The First Main Word Needs To Be
The Letter You Are Counting

Except for that pesky Q, X, AND Z titles, then the word that starts with the challenge letter can be the first letter of any word in the title. This year, I will continue to allow book titles starting with EX for the X prompt.

So there are two different ways you can set up your own A-Z Reading Challenge.

A – How I plan to do it: Make a list from A-Z. Throughout the year, as you go along, add the books you are reading to the list. Towards the end of the year, you can check and see which letters you are missing and find books to fit.

B – Make a list now of 26 books, picking one for each letter of the alphabet, and check them off as you read them.

For example:

A –Anatomy of an Alibi: A Novel by Ashley Elston

B – A Bitter Cut (A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber

C – The Crossroads by C. J. Box

D-Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden

As requested, the 2026 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge has been added to Storygraph as another way to keep track of your reads.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/6cf5d67b-ad85-4139-ba04-801b20bd648c

Books can be read in any order and all formats – print – e-book – and audio – are acceptable for this challenge!

Bloggers grab the image below and make a post about the challenge to encourage others to join!

Non-bloggers you can join too! Just keep track any way you wish. You can even set up a special shelf on Goodreads.com to help you keep track! It is super easy. Just click the MY BOOKS tab at the top of the page. When that page opens, just click – ADD A SHELF in the left-hand sidebar. Title it Alphabet Soup Challenge, and you are all set.

If you post about your books on Social Media, please use this hashtag #AlphabetSoupChallenge

Follow Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book, as there may be special announcements made about the challenge.

There is also a very active group on Facebook where you can share your books read and converse with others taking part in the challenge. Alphabet Soup Challenge

You can share your accomplishments throughout the year there. Right now, they are finishing this year’s challenge, but it will switch over to the new year on January 1.

I am asking everyone to sign up using Google Forms. Sign Up Here. This way, I have your emails in case I need to contact you about any changes to the challenge or about special events.

In 2021, we added Monthly Mini-Challenges that have been a lot of fun!

If you would like to take part in these mini-challenges, be sure to join the Facebook Group!

IMPORTANT – You must fill out a form to join the challenge before joining the Facebook Group and be sure to answer the group membership questions completely or your request for membership to the group will be declined.