JANUARY 1 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2026
CONTINUED FROM 2025 READING DIARY PART 2
Reminder: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases via the Amazon links included below – not that anyone read this except for me, but that’s ok – this diary is really just for me.
Book 1: King Sorrow (2025) by Joe Hill was my last book started in 2025. I had heard great things about this, and having enjoyed Full Throttle, one of his short story collections last month, I decided to give this a go. It took me a few days to get into it due to some lack of reading time mostly, and then… I was totally and completely hooked! (Read between December 31, 2025 & January 9)
Book 2: The Strength of the Few (2025) by James Islington is the second book in James’ Hierachy series. I really enjoyed the first book, The Will of the Many (2023), and felt ready to reenter that world – correction – those worlds. It was slow going for a few days, but a break from work is coming up. After a few chapters, I decided to refresh my memory by rereading the last few chapters of first book and I skimmed through some summary/recap videos, one of which oddly was full of fake details. And this was an odd reading experience as I did enjoy it once I refamiliarized myself with the characters, the world, and recent events, yet my reading pace was excruciatingly slow. Looking back, it wasn’t the content of the book as there were really no lulls in the narative and each of the plot strands held my interest equally well. And there were more than a few “Wow”! moments through reveals and actions, and sadly one death in particular. Now that it is all said and read and done, I can certainly say I am looking forward to the next two books in what is envisaged as a quartet. (Read between January 9 & February 6)
As I reflect on the above slow pace, a few things come to mind: I have continued working through the winter vacation and I have also recently felt burned out from teaching too much. Also, my poor little heart has been a little bit broken as January became February. Another reason is perhaps I need a break from long books as this and the last two books I read were 736 pages, 887 pages, and 928 pages. What I need is a shorter book from an author who has proven their worth to me, and the next book fitted that bill perfectly.
Book 3: How to Stop Time (2017) by Matt Haig was the right choice although I went into the book totally blind just having found the title interesting and also having loved the two other books by him that I have read: The Humans and The Midnight Library. And it was just the quick and very nearly unputdownable book that I needed to both get my reading mojo back and help me get closer to reading goal of 50 books this year; I’m still behind, but I can catch up. Thank you Matt! (Read between February 6 & 8)
Book 4: Revenant-X (2024) by David Wellington is the second in his Red Space sci-fi horror trilogy. The first book, Paradise-1, was an action-packed page-turner with cliffhangers ending most of the relatively short chapters. Hence, I expect to finish it in relatively quickly. This is strange, I do have good memories of the first book, but I struggled for most of the first half of the sequel. I found I just didn’t really care for the characters, and the robot was a little annoying. Having said that, as I passed that magic 55% mark, my interest returned as I prepare to race towards the finish. And I read that last 45% within 24 hours. Although that won’t be in my top 10 books I read this year, I will certainly finish the trilogy just to see what happens next when the last book is released. (Read between February 8 & 13)
Book 5: Sea of Tranquility (2022) by Emily St. John Mandel was next as Station Eleven was one of my favorite books last year. And this did not disappoint. It’s just beautiful writing with characters I care about. Almost everything that my previous read wasn’t. And around 30 hours after starting it, I’m past half-way. And I finished it quick smart. In some ways, it was everything that my previous read wasn’t: characters I cared about and a rather unique plot with a moving twist/reveal at the end. (Read between February 13 & 14)
Book 6: Lives of Bitter Rain (2025), a novella from Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Tyrant Philosophers series is next as I just realized he has several books out this year, and the number of his books that I haven’t read is both growing and concerning. Hence, I think I will focus on his books in the short term. (Read between February 14 & 15)
Book 7: The Heart of the Reproach (2025) by Adrian Tchaikovsky is a short story set in the same world and in same city and in the same creepy and odd part of that as the first book, and that will be the setting of the final book, which I am now looking forward to with much anticipation and glee! (Read February 15)
Book 8: The Testaments (2019) by Margaret Atwood is the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, which I read in 2019, and I was surprised to realize so much time had passed as a lot has happened since then both in the real world and the hundreds of books I’ve read since, yet my memories of that book, including some specific scenes, live vividly in my memory. And this will be abother such book. I don’t know why I waited six years to read this! And it was particularly interesting to read it as I dive deeper into the world of the Moonies – too many similarities, unfortunately. (Read between February 15 & 20)
Book 9: Reaper Man (1991) by Terry Pratchett is his eleventh Discworld novel and the second to feature the character of Death, the grim reaper. This is my thirteenth Discworld novel out of a staggering total of 41. I want to savor this utterly nique, hilarious, and insughtful series, so I tentatively plan to read about two a year. At that rate, I’ll finish all of them by about 2040. (Read between February 20 & 25)
Book 10: Iron Gold (2018) by Pierce Brown (Read between February 25 & March ….)
Book 11:
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CONTINUED IN PART 2, 2026
Book ??: Cujo (1981) by Stephen King as it’s time time read that one Stephen King novel I have yet to read. And after binging most of the Murderbot series and after the life, times, and music of John Williams, it feels like the right time to finally cross this book off my TBR (To-Be-Read) list. (Read between …)
