"Do You Ever Get Burnt Out Reading Books?", he asked.
I do not. A book list for 2026....in June.
“Do you ever burn out on reading books?”, he asked me in an Adirondack chair on the front porch.
“I really don’t, reading is a ritual for me, it is how I relax” I responded in my hanging egg chair that floats in the corner. I took a moment to think more on this. Reading is how I know myself, expand my overthinking brain into chapters, continue my learning. I did add, “I can burn out on a genre, though. But never books entirely, I am, in a word, obsessed with reading”.
He nodded and the conversation continued into what it means to truly be obsessed with something and how and why we stay with a job, hobby, geographical location, et al. And I went meandering through my Substack posts to see if I had made my reading list for 2026, and I found this post
and this post:
oh and I loved writing this one:
And I realized I had only posted my TBR for 2026 on Instagram and just a month ago, I went feral and deleted all my posts and started over a bit because, gestures to life, I needed to simplify. So, it is June and here are the books I have read thus far and my TBR for the rest of the year. Tell me, what are you reading and what have you loved this year?
Have read thus far (note: I did not hyperlink so you can go to your local bookstore and grab, wink):
The Will of the Many by James Islington
On Our Best Behavior by Elise Loehnen
Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole
Glow of the Everflame by Penn Cole
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Loose Woman by Sandra Cisneros
How About Now: Poems by Kate Baer
Mary Magdalene Revealed by Meggan Watterson
I, Medusa by Ayana Gray
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
Babylonia by Costanza Casati
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Women on Platform Two by Laura Anthony
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa
A Court of Thorn and Roses (re-read) by Sarah J. Maas
The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
DNF:
Throne of Nightmares by Kerrie Maniscalco (I literally have like three chapters left….)
Briefly Perfectly Human by Alua Arthur
Currently Reading:
Yesteryear by Caro Clare Burke
A Court of Mist and Fury (re-read) by Sarah J Maas
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Will read:
Mestra by Madeline Miller
The Strength of the Few by James Islington
the will to change by bell hooks
Against Breaking: On the Power of Poetry by Ada Limón
How to Be a Rich Old Lady by Amanda Holden
How to Kill a Witch by Zoë Venditozzi
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Kin by Tayari Jones
A Court of Wings and Ruin (re-read) by Sarah J Maas
A Court of Frost and Starlight (re-read) by Sarah J Maas
A Court of Silver Flames (re-read) by Sarah J Maas
Heat of the Everflame by Penn Cole
Burn of the Everflame by Penn Cole
The Great Cosmic Mother by Monica Sjoo and Barbara Mor
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Considering:
A couple more, has anyone read Matt Haig’s new book, Midnight Train? Shall I embark on a whole new world and read When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker? Send me all the poetry you love. I have a book by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer I will read soon! I feel like my fiction choices, when not romantasy, are so sad. Why is that? Send me your favorites!
And I have not forgotten this vote a while back when I was considering my next retreat spot and theme, pondering:
Eh, I tried When the Moon Hatched-couldn't get into it. Loved The Midnight Library and The Impossible Life and have The Midnight Train on my library ebook app! Can't wait to read it :) Just finished The Short History by Donna Tartt and have started The Little Friend by her :)
I just read The Serpent and the Wings of Night and I am not a vampire girly, but I LOVED it.