2026 Holiday Reading Challenge | The Running Bibliophile

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Who doesn’t love a good challenge, especially when it pushes you to read outside your comfort zone or discover a new author? I’ve always wanted to join a reading challenge or reading bingo, but so many of them feel repetitive. So, I decided to create something a little different. It doesn’t mean a challenge like this isn’t out there; I just haven’t come across one myself. Introducing The Running Bibliophile’s 2026 Holiday Reading Challenge, a fun and unique way to expand your reading list while celebrating the spirit of the year. This challenge features 14 books of your choice, with one key twist: each book’s plot must revolve around the specific holiday mentioned. The challenge runs for January 1 through January 31, 2026. To keep things exciting, you may not duplicate any books on the list. By the time you've completed the challenge, you will have read 14 new books to diversify your reading list. To kick things off, the first prompt is simple: choose any holiday-themed book as l...
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Book Review: The Mall by Richie Tankersley Cusick

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YA Book Review of The Mall by Richie Tankersley Cusick
He's everywhere . . . Trish thinks he's  just a weird customer at Muffin-Mania where she works, but suddenly, Trish thinks she sees him everywhere. She has no one to confide in and no where to hide in The Mall by Richie Tankersley Cusick.

The Mall by Richie Tankersley Cusick is a book I read in high school, and I remember being completely creeped out by it. I swore I'd never work in a mall . . . little did I know that I would several years later. I thought I recalled who the mystery man was, but my recollection was completely wrong.

Rereading this book as an adult, I was still completely unsettled by the storyline, and I wish there had been a thunderstorm while reading it so I could have had that extra creepy feeling. It's great that a young adult book can still have the same affect on me as an adult that it did when I was a teen . . . that just shows what a talented writer Richie Tankersley Cusick is. It was even better than I remembered.

There is nothing negative I can say about the book, and I think tweens and teens of today would enjoy it, even if there is some dated material in it like there being pay phones. Five out of five stars is what I give The Mall by Richie Tankersley Cusick.

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