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: Modern Love (Video High, #1) by Marilyn Kaye

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modern love video high marilyn kaye

Modern Love (Video High, #1) by Marilyn Kaye is a young adult book where a high school receives a grant to start a teen television show. The students decide to discuss controversial topics and current events related to them and their peers.

This is a book that I first read as a teenager, and I remembered loving it, so I decided to reread it as an adult to see if it held up the test of time. I enjoyed it just as much as I did as a teen even though it was a little juvenile for me as an adult.

What I loved about Modern Love (Video High, #1) is that it deals with subject matters that should be important to teenagers and shows two sides to the controversy. In this book, the big controversy is providing condoms for free at high school clinics, which segues into whether or not teens are having sex. The thing I find most interesting is this is a topic that is still relevant for teens and parents today, and there is still a huge divide between the two camps of whether or not teenagers should be given protection and whether they should be sexually active.

The only negative thing I have to say about this book is that the characters are stereotyped and a bit pigeonholed in the way they act (i.e. the cheerleader, the nerd, etc.). With that being said, they are written very well as are the situations they get into.

I gave Modern Love (Video High, #1) by Marilyn Kaye five out five stars, and it's appropriate for kids aged thirteen through seventeen. If you liked this book, I recommend The Wind Blows Backward by Mary Downing Hahn.

 

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