What are you reading in 2026?

[ewomack]

I have just started my 5th book this year:

Finished since 1/1/26:
1. Mencius (ancient Chinese Confucian philosophy)
2. Nietzsche's Human, All Too Human by Ruth Abbey
3. The Laws of Thermodynamics by Atkins
4. The Triangle of Power by Alexander Stubb (the current president of Finland)

I'm about 1/2 way through Tippi Hedren's memoir from 2016.

I read 37 books in 2025, which was a slightly slow year for me (I'm usually in the mid-40s, but 2025 ended up a rougher and more distracting year than most). But I try not to let numbers drive my reading. After all, I'm reading to comprehend, not to accumulate statistics. Quality over quantity.

[hana]

The Broken System: A Budding Scientist in a Fantasy World by Acaswell

Alice has to make the sudden turn from theory to practice when a major event happens earlier than thought possible, and learns the hard way she can't save everyone. She has to travel to find resources and leaves Illivaria for the first time while dodging assassination attempts and learning more about magic and humanity's relationship with it.

[littlebittybobby]

okay---just learned a sad fact. One author who wrote at least 3 non-fiction books that i've read, passed away two years ago. That's the bad news. Good news: he wrote 24 or 25 books, so i've got some more reading material, on account of him. The authors' name is Stephen Singular. I will have to check around for some copies o' summa the titles i haven't read, yet. But yeah---too bad about Mr Singular; he was a very fine author. Yup. Edited to add: I just found a nice lirrrarry-surplus copy of Singular's book about the Aurora, Co. theater massacre on ebay. Can't recall the title, but there is a spiral notebook depicted on the cover. But yeah: should be good. Hope that helps you some.

[hana]

Just finished The Valentine Caper by Anna Elliott and Charles Veley. The Homefront Sleuths have two assignments infiltrate the Norwegian embassy to investigate a suspected spy in the Norwegian government in exile, and coordinate catering and security for a group wedding in a nearby military installation. Things get complicated as the new curate, Rev Vale is murdered in the church and all records of the weddings he performed are stolen as is a holy relic related to St Valentine. Decrypted notes gathered from the embassy seem to mention Rev Vale often, and the crew suspect the two cases may be one. Throwing in another complication is Rev Vale's notes mention he suspects something is wrong with the records for the upcoming weddings, and there will be a very important guest present at the ceremony.

A very fun who done it, read the historical notes at the end. The authors cite the people, events, and tech that inspired the stories.

[rosarugosa]

A little bit late, but here are my reads for January:

• You Like it Darker by Stephen King - a decent collection of short stories. If you like him, you would probably enjoy the book. There was one story where i thought of you Rogar, as I was thinking "please don't let something bad happen to the dog." It didn't!
• The Caretaker by Ron Rash - I really enjoyed this one. It was a fast read, with well-drawn characters, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, in a way. I plan to seek out more by this author.
• The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell - I wanted to like this one, but overall, I found it kind of tedious. Fantasy is not my favorite genre. I enjoyed the beginning, with Holly's teenage angst, and I rather liked the end, which was kind of a post-apocalypse, dystopian story. I didn't really enjoy the bulk of the book, the middle part. It felt like some characters were developed at great length and then they didn't even play any part in the story. The epic battle between good and evil was - yawn. I was not fan.
• Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - this magnificent novel won the Pulitzer in 1972. The back of the book describes it as the story of a disabled man writing his grandmother's biography from her letters and documents, which didn't sound the least bit promising. How did this book manage to get onto my list? Much to my surprise, I absolutely loved it. It was so well written! The grandmother's story was fascinating and compelling. The disabled man was so well drawn that I cared deeply about him, in fact I WAS him as I was reading the story. I was sorry to learn after the fact that the author was guilty of using letters from a real woman without appropriate attribution, so this certainly diminished my respect for his accomplishment, but the book is still an excellent read.

[pinkytoe]

Enshittification. Woe is us...

[catherine]

I love your reviews, rosa. I'll check out Angle of Repose. Regarding Stephen King, I should put this on the "what are you watching" thread, but we are watching the series 11.22.63 and we love the premise. It's Oliver Stone's JFK meets Back to the Future meets The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The series is based on the novel by Stephen King, and I wonder how closely they stuck to the novel.

[Rogar]

A little bit late, but here are my reads for January:

• You Like it Darker by Stephen King - a decent collection of short stories. If you like him, you would probably enjoy the book. There was one story where i thought of you Rogar, as I was thinking "please don't let something bad happen to the dog." It didn't!
• The Caretaker by Ron Rash - I really enjoyed this one. It was a fast read, with well-drawn characters, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, in a way. I plan to seek out more by this author.
• The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell - I wanted to like this one, but overall, I found it kind of tedious. Fantasy is not my favorite genre. I enjoyed the beginning, with Holly's teenage angst, and I rather liked the end, which was kind of a post-apocalypse, dystopian story. I didn't really enjoy the bulk of the book, the middle part. It felt like some characters were developed at great length and then they didn't even play any part in the story. The epic battle between good and evil was - yawn. I was not fan.
• Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - this magnificent novel won the Pulitzer in 1972. The back of the book describes it as the story of a disabled man writing his grandmother's biography from her letters and documents, which didn't sound the least bit promising. How did this book manage to get onto my list? Much to my surprise, I absolutely loved it. It was so well written! The grandmother's story was fascinating and compelling. The disabled man was so well drawn that I cared deeply about him, in fact I WAS him as I was reading the story. I was sorry to learn after the fact that the author was guilty of using letters from a real woman without appropriate attribution, so this certainly diminished my respect for his accomplishment, but the book is still an excellent read.

The story I loved from Some Like It Darker was the one about the two hunters who rescue the injured alien and when the aliens depart they ask if they can have the empty beer cans as souvenirs. As I remember anyway. I've been meaning to re-read it. Many years ago a read maybe half of Stegners books. It's sort of sad he has faded into relative obscurity. I could re-read one or two again and I'm sure they would be like new. His non-fiction, Beyond the Hundredth Meridian survived multiple book purges until just recently.

[rosarugosa]

Catherine: I loved King's book 11/22/63, and it is widely regarded to be one of his best, even by those who aren't particularly fans. I really want to watch the series, and I just need to set down my book (currently Solito) long enough to do so. I thought of you and your love for The Dollmaker as I was reading Angle of Repose. They are very different, but still some similarities. I think you would like it.

Rogar: I had never even heard of Stegner before this. I should probably seek out more by him.

[KayLR]

Angle of Repose is now on my Libby list, thank you.

Now reading "#sayhername" by Kimberlé Crenshaw and the African American Policy Forum.