WIN THIS COLLECTION – From the authors presenting at the 2026 Virtual Herbalism Conference.

Every year I tell myself I’m not going to make “rules” around reading… and every year I do it anyway. The truth is, I’ve really enjoyed my past reading challenges, not because I finished every category (I didn’t), but because they nudged me toward books I wouldn’t have picked up otherwise. The 2026 Reading Challenge is just that: a personal little nudge.

Every year, I approach my reading challenge with equal parts ambition and realism. Some books are carefully planned; others show up unexpectedly and end up checking off multiple prompts at once. This year was no exception. As I look back at my 2025 reading challenge so far, I’m pleasantly surprised by how much ground I covered—and how flexible this challenge allowed me to be.

In 2025, my goal wasn’t to shout louder. It was to be seen more clearly. That meant focusing my energy where it mattered most. SurvivingMexico.com became the main stage, while ceflores.com quietly stepped into a supporting role. After reviewing performance and profitability, I’ve decided to keep ceflores.com on WordPress’s free plan in 2026 and concentrate my efforts where growth has been steadier and more sustainable.

December is here, which means it’s time for my favorite (and occasionally humbling) year-end ritual: digging through a year’s worth of stats to see what actually happened in my little corner of the publishing world. This month, I’ll be taking a closer look at: • Website stats – Who visited? What were they looking for? And how many of them stuck around long enough to click something besides “back”?

Beautifully illustrated, , is written in English with select expressions in Spanish. For a full-immersion experience, check out the Spanish version.