Books in Review: What I’ve Read in 2026 So Far
Last year I made it a goal to read more. This January I found myself up multiple times every night rocking my son back to sleep. It turns out all you need to be able to read more is a fussy baby and a kindle! When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right?
January’s reads included a nonfiction book perfect for anyone in a “pivot” or “intentional pause” stage of life, a literary sci-fi mystery fusion, a moving tale of love, life, loss, and grief, and an entertaining fictional dive into the world of influencers. While I would certainly love to get more sleep soon, I hope I can keep this reading momentum going for the rest of 2026. Here’s the breakdown of the January books and my reviews…
January Reads
Becoming You was a very thought-provoking read for me. It delivered on its promise of helping me think through my own values system and how that system shows itself across different career paths. It’s a great read for anyone considering a career pivot or starting a “second chapter” of life. I am very much in a stage of life where my future could move different ways, so I enjoyed this read.
Grab your copy here.
The Library of Fates and its librarian can help you discover who you are and who you could become. When its librarian suddenly and mysteriously dies, her protegee and her son must work together to solve the mystery and keep the library going.
I am not usually a fan of thrillers or science fiction, so this book was a stretch for me. I enjoyed it, which proves to me that it was very well-written. I give this one 3/5 stars because it just wasn’t the right book for me. It would be a great read for someone looking for an engaging mystery.
If you love a good mystery, grab your copy here.
Hamnet is the story of William Shakespeare’s wife and family. The story centers around the love and loss of their son Hamnet. It explores the different ways that grief manifests itself in different people’s lives, as well as the ways that life inspires art. Maggie O’Farrell’s writing is exquisite, and I was particularly impressed the way the prose seems to move at a different (slower) pace than life (and many books) today. This book sits in grief, and I found it beautifully done. It is very much worth the read. You can grab your copy here.
Everyone is Lying to You is a highly entertaining read. The story centers around Bee (now an incredibly successful influencer known as Rebecca Sommers) and her old friend Lizzie (a struggling magazine writer). It opens a window into the dark side of the influencer world while exploring themes of friendship, loyalty, and truth. It is a fun, page-turning read that had me equally wanting to build up my own influencer world and completely remove myself from social media altogether. Jo Piazza’s writing made this an extremely enjoyable read, and it would make a great vacation read because the plot keeps you flying through it. I highly recommend it, and you can grab your copy here.
February and March Reads
February and March seemed very busy in my house. There were multiple snow days, sicknesses, and maybe I just slept more. For whatever reason, my reading speed and breadth slowed down, so I am grouping these reads together. I still managed to read some great ones, and there were I few I decided weren’t worth finishing. I’m sharing my honest thoughts on all of them below.
The Dutch House is a riches to rags story about two siblings who form an indelible bond that remains strong through the many upheavals in their lives. I am always down for a story that explores family relationships, and this book had that in spades. It also explores the way our pasts define us and what happens when we can’t let it go. I have yet to find one of Ann Patchett’s books that I haven’t loved. This was no exception. It is a beautifully written, thoughtful story that I greatly enjoyed. You can grab your copy here.
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makka lived up to the hype. The story centers around the AIDS epidemic in Chicago in the 1980s. It explores themes of friendship, love, and loss in such a moving and yet realistic way. I loved the character development, and these characters will stay with me for a long time. This was another book I highly recommend. Grab your copy here.
My Friends was another excellent read. Frederik Backman is one of my favorite authors, and this book reminded me why. He has a way of making me laugh out loud and feel deeply moved in the span of two pages. My Friends is the story of two artists whose lives intertwine unexpectedly and who inspire one another in unexpected ways. The friendships formed between the first artist and his friends in their youth is so powerful that it changes the life of an aspiring artist twenty-five years later. At its heart, this story is a reminder that there is still hope in our broken world. Grab your copy here.
Books I Didn’t Finish…
There were three books I started but decided not to finish for very different reasons…
The 5 AM Club: Own Your Morning, Elevate Your Life by Robin Sharma
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Laws of Love and Logic by Debra Curtis
I enjoyed what I read of The 5 Am Club, but I was mostly reading it while rocking my son back to sleep between 4 and 4:30 in the morning, so after a week or so I got annoyed by the advice to wake up at 5. I agree with the things the book says, and I generally do wake before “the rest of the world,” but this was not the right season of life for me to love this book.
The Underground Railroad was very well-written, and despite not finishing it myself I would recommend it to others. The author did not shy away from the grotesque brutalities of slavery in the United States. While I appreciated that, I found it too hard to read in this season of life. I am a huge believer in protecting my peace so that I can bring peace to my family, and I couldn’t do that while reading this book and managing night wakings. I look forward to diving into again one day because I do believe it is a great book.
I absolutely hated Laws of Love and Logic. I made it about a third of the way into the book at which point one of the characters who had been constantly described as Catholic and faithful somewhat flippantly had an abortion. I lost all interest in reading the rest of the story because the book no longer made sense to me. Can I imagine a world in which a high school aged girl gets pregnant and gets an abortion? Of course I can. In fact, I don’t have to imagine that. It happens all the time. But I found it hard to believe that this deeply faith-filled character wouldn’t struggle at all with that decision. So, for me, this book was not worth reading. (As a side note, Tom Lake by Ann Patchett includes an abortion and feels like an authentic and empathetic look at women who find themselves in similar situations. I do highly recommend that one.)
As always, happy reading!
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