Book List

Let's face it, if you're a reader then you're in the market for book recommendations.  I write about the books that I'm currently reading in my weekly posts and do a "best of the best" list in my year end wrap up, but after accidentally writing an "everything I read in 2022" post I thought it would useful to keep a live page of this year's books.

Here is the real time list of what I'm reading in 2026.  I'll keep this page updated and then archive it into a regular post at the end of the year.

Just want to see a spreadsheet instead of my ramblings?  Here is my 2026 books spreadsheet.

How I rate books

100% based on emotion.  My scale is:

DNF: did not finish.  This doesn't mean that it was a bad book, just that it was the wrong book at the wrong time for me.  My goal in life is to DNF anything that doesn't work for me ASAP in order to make room for the right book to come in.

Skim: again, this does not mean that it was a bad book, it just means that I got bored or had some other issue but chose to skim rather than DNF.

Meh: I finished it.

Good: means exactly what it says, this is a good book that I would recommend to others.

Love: I adored this book.

OMG 😻😻😻: this book gave me all the feels and made my toes curl.

Disclaimer about DNF's and negative comments: it takes two to tango.  If I didn't like a book, that's a reflection on both the book and me.  I used to avoid saying anything negative about anything, but I think that it's helpful for you to see what I don't like so that you can assess how well my reading tastes line up with yours.  I just want to be very clear that because I don't like something at a particular moment in time doesn't mean that it's bad or that it won't work for you.  I also like to point out that my number of published books is zero, so it's at least one less than any author whose work I don't like.

2026 Booklist

Best Laid Plans: A Simple Planning System for Living a Life That You Love by Sarah Hart-Unger.  The title says it all.  I've been listening to the Best Laid Plans podcast for a few years, and this book is a "one stop shop" of  the author's planning principles that have made it possible to be a physician/spouse/parent/blogger/podcaster/author/and all of the slashes to come.  I finished the book, but I am not "done" with it and will be referencing it again.
  • How I heard about it: technically I heard about it on the Best Laid Plans podcast, but this one justified adding a new source category to my spreadsheet: I know the author!  I had the pleasure of having lunch with SHU last year.
Discontent by Beatriz Serrano.  When work is a little much, so you get through the day by watching YouTube videos and popping pills.  This book was a delightful ride.
  • How I heard about it: Newspaper book review (either NYT or WaPo).
The Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. Collins (audio).  A rundown of everything that ya oughta know about money, including that it's not difficult.  I've heard the author on a billion podcasts and read his blog, and this is one of the money books that I recommend when people ask me about my own investing journey.  This is how I would have done things if I had it to do all  over again.
  • How I heard about it: Purple (someone who read the book and did the thing).

Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton.  Kinsey takes on a cold case as a favor to a friend, and finds that the path leads close to home.
  • How I heard about it: continuing the series.
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague by Geraldine Brooks (audio).  When it's the 1660s and you're a young widowed mother and you wish you could time travel to 2020 and go through COVID instead.
  • How I heard about it: book club
The Pelee Project: One Woman's Escape from Urban Madness by Jane Christmas (audio).  When you need a break so you spend the winter on a small island.
  • How I heard about it: I went to Pelee Island in the summer of 2023, so when I saw this book mentioned on the Pelee Island Facebook page I dropped everything to snap it up.  I'm glad that I didn't know about this book before I went, because I can tell that a lot of things changed on the island between when this book was written in 2001 and 2023.
Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny.  When you're new in town and you meet the man of your dreams...and everyone else in your town thinks so too.
  • How I heard about it: repeat business for an incredible author!
Heart the Lover by Lily King.  When you're a college senior living in a dump with no heat and you meet two guys who are living in a professor's house with a bunch of heat and then some.  I'm working out my feelings on this book: it did not make my toes curl and it's not the best book that I ever read, but I did like it a lot and found myself on Libby checking out Writers and Lovers (same characters) immediately on finishing it.
  • How I heard about it: everyone has heard of this.  It's the hot It book of the moment.
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.  When you're trying to mind your p's and q's and fit in with Society but your fiancee's Cousin With a Past rolls into town.
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (audio).  Lol, I know that I am very late to this party, but I'm here now.
  • How I heard about it: everyone has heard of this.  It's a formerly hot book that I finally got around to.
Lovers and Writers by Lily King (audio).  When all of your peers have moved on but you're still leading the starving artist life.
  • How I heard about it: same author as Heart the Lover, which is a kinda sorta prequel.
Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson (audio).  I tried, but there were too many moving pars, too many characters, and too many intergenerational jumps.
Inhale, Exhale by Nicole MacPherson.  When the divorce was a long time ago and it's time to start dating again.  
Don't Call it a Comeback by Keira D'Amato (audio).  The author is a great podcast guest, but something about her memoir rubbed me the wrong way.  DNF.
  • How I heard about it: formerly hot book that I finally got around to.
Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone.  When your life was destroyed by your best friend's death, and a babysitting assignment turns everything around.
Family of Spies by Christine Kuehn.  When you find out that there's a reason why your family never talks about the good old days.
A Thousand Naked Strangers by Kevin Hazzard (audio).  When you're looking to do something meaningful with your life so you go to EMT school and become a paramedic.
Sky Daddy by Kate Folk (audio).  A reread of my favorite book of 2025, but this time on audio.  It was twice as nice the second time around!  
  • How I heard about it: Kim!
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian.  A woman dies during a home birth and the midwife gets the blame.  Very early on I got the "this is a book about women written by a man" vibe which made it an automatic DNF.
  • How I heard about it: book club.
The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty.  After visiting Welty's home on a trip, I just had to read something by her.  I appreciate the craft with words, but this story of going back home after the death of a parent left me flat.
  • How I heard about it: travel
Half His Age by Jeannette McCurdy.  When you're hot for teacher and it turns out that teacher is hot for you.  I would have enjoyed this one so much more in high school.
  • How I heard about it: it's a hot book of the moment.
The Far Country by Nevil Shute.  If you were going to force me to pick a favorite book of all time, this would be it.  When post WWII England has you down so you go to Australia where adventure awaits.
  • How I heard about it: reread of one of my all time favorite books.
How to Survive in the Woods by Kat Rosenfield.  When you go hiking with your husband and best friend and things do not turn out as planned.  This book was described on a podcast as "Sleeping With the Enemy Meets Heartwood" but once I started reading my thought was "Sleeping With the Enemy Meets Heartwood Meets Diabolique".  Too much inspo, not enough story.  I was not thrilled by this thriller.
Always Pack a Candle by Marion Crook.  I adored this memoir of a young nurse starting her career in remote BC in the 60s.
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden (audio).  When you're rich and have the same old problems as folks with a fraction of your net worth.  I almost passed this one up because I'd read one divorce memoir too many.  The hype is justified.
  • How I heard about it: Sarah's Bookshelves (and everywhere else but the chat on Sarah's podcast is what made me pick it up).
More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen.  I liked this book, but I got a bit behind in updating the books page and now I can't remember what it was about.  So if you're looking for a "here today gone tomorrow" kind of a read, this should do it.
Follow the River by James Alexander Thom (audio).  When it's 1755 and you get kidnapped by the Shawnee and taken hundreds of miles away but you know that getting home is just a matter of following the river.  If you need a killer audiobook for a road trip, or just want to hear a fictionalized account of a "stranger than fiction" true story, this is your book.
  • How I heard about it: tour guide at the New River Gorge Bridge.
In an Instant by Suzanne Redfearn.  When you're a 16 year old girl who is a fatality of a family car accident and you get to watch the aftermath.  This was a perfectly fine book that is fading in memory quickly.
  • How I heard about it: book club
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke.  When you get to party like it's 1855.  This book is not everyone's cup of tea, and I understand the opposing view, but I loved it.
  • How I heard about it: it's the Hottest of Hot It Books of the year.
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama.  A collection of loosely related short stories that everyone needs to read.  
  • How I heard about it: SHU
The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives by Elizabeth Arnott.  When it's the 1960s and you have your girl squad.  I enjoyed the reading process and then felt meh at the end.
Lake Effect by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney.  When it's the 1970s and one of the moms gives everyone a copy of The Joy of Sex.
  • How I heard about it: unknown
R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton.  When you're a PI assigned to keep a rich kid just out of prison on the straight and narrow.
  • How I heard about it: continuing the series.
Whistler by Ann Patchett.  When you're an adult and you have a chance meeting with the man who was briefly your stepfather and you have no idea why your mom divorced him and he fell out of your life.  Not only was it an instant 😻😻😻 but it was my first successful Ann Patchett!
  • How I heard about it: OMG, everyone has heard of this.  
Big Time: A Simple Path to Time Abundance by Laura Vanderkam (audio).  Time, we've all got it and this book is a nudge on what to do with it.
  • How I heard about it: favorite author
Show Boat by Edna Ferber.  When you grew up on a Mississippi Show Boat and you learn that you can take the girl off the boat and the boat off the girl, but why would you want to?
  • How I heard about it: a reread from long ago inspired by a movie watching binge.
No One’s Coming: The Rogue Heroes Our Government Turns to When There's Nowhere Else to Turn by Kevin Hazzard (audio).  The true story of a mission to rescue two US medical providers who contracted Ebola.
Dissection of a Murder by Jo Murray.  When you're a barrister in the UK and you get your first Big Deal Murder case and have to work through a few complications: the defendant won't tell you what happened and your husband is the prosecutor.  I loved the first 80-90% of this book until it switched gears and decided to become a thriller with The Twist!  And Another Twist!  And the The Twist that No One Saw Coming! 
State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Clinton.  A perfectly fine political thriller that I came across at the wrong time and became disinterested in pretty quickly and DNF'd.  The length of the book also motivated me to bail early.
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (audio).
  • How I heard about it: lol, didn't we all hear about this one at birth?  I've read the series many times but this listen was inspired by visiting The Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum in Manfield, Missouri.
Unguarded Moments: Stories of Working Inside the Missouri State Penitentiary by Larry Neal.  Neal worked at the notorious maximum security prison for 20 years and wrote the stories of his time there after the prison closed.
  • How I heard about it: I took a tour of the prison where Larry was the guide!
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett.  My recommendation is to skip this and read Whistler;-)  A DNF at 50% after the slow pace of the story and lack of interesting characters killed off my interest.
  • How I heard about it: well known book by a well known author
A Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides by Gisele Pelicot (audio).  A memoir by the woman who learned that her husband had been drugging her, raping her, and having anyone he could find come to their house to rape her for years.  Initially my thought was "I don't want to read about that" but once I started listening I found myself applauding her on every page.  Definitely go for the audio with this one, since Emma Thompson is the narrator.
The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff.  When you're parents with young kids on the verge of divorce and then the house burns down.
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett (audio).  I previously DNF'd this TWICE in the first few pages, but I really wanted to give Patchett another chance so I tried it on audio this time.  I have mixed feelings: yes I finished it, yes large chunks of the book were powerful, but also...look just read Whistler if you want the Patchett experience.
  • How I heard about it: big deal book by a big deal author
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder (audio).  Continuing on with the series.
  • How I heard about it: haven't we all?

Currently Reading

The Blank Wall by Elizabeth Sanzay Holding.  When it's WWII and your husband is at war and you're trying to keep your elderly father and two teenage kids in line and your daughter just brought home an awful boyfriend and you have to figure out how to deal with all of this while writing cheerful letters to your husband to keep his morale high.
  • How I heard about it: newspaper article about great mystery and suspense novels.
Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan.  When you've got a lot on your plate including a gig as a pretend girlfriend for a millionaire.  I don't usually read romance, but the hype on this one made me pick it up and I'm enjoying it.
  • How I heard about it: it's the Hot It book of the summer

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