Wrapping up the year with a solid 125 books! Don’t ask me about the latest pop culture shows (other than CBS reality television), but I can hook you up with reading recommendations. I started this new habit as a doom-scroll replacement, so if you are also looking for escapism, come with me to worlds of cheesy romance, fun adventure, or dystopian worlds where the politicians are put in their place within 250-600 pages!

Here’s the wrap-up. First, the data. Then, the books!

Reminder/Disclaimer: These lists are based on my reading EXPERIENCE and all-out favoritism.

Favorite Reading Experience of the Year: It earns this award, because it’s rare that I get a read-aloud that works for my aging boys. We all laughed out loud. Then we watched the movie. Then we went to the play.

Best General/Misc. Fiction:

1.) Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley
2.) The Favorites by Layne Fargo
3.) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
4.) Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson
5.) The Big Fix by Holly James

Best Romance:

1.) Tangled Up In You by Christina Lauren
2.) Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto
3.) The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
4.) Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
5.) Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

Best YA:

1.) My Lady Jane by Cyntia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows
2.) Boy Band of the Apocalypse by Tom Nicoll
3-4.) The Hunger Games (reread) & Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
5-6.) Ruthless Vows & Divine Rivals (rereads) by Rebecca Ross

Best Children’s:

1.) The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon
2.) Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien
3.) Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt
4.) The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
5.) Katie the Catsitter by Colleen Venable

Sci-Fiction/Fantasy:

1.) Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
2.) The Martian by Andy Weir
3.) Tress of the Emerald Sea (reread) by Brandon Sanderson
4.) Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
5.) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Non-Fiction/Memoir:

1.) Destiny of the Republic by Candice Miller
2.) Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
3.) Big Dumb Eyes by Nate Bargatze
4.) In Gad We Trust by Josh Gad
5.) Your Story Matters by Richard Scrimger

Best Thriller/Mystery:

1.) Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano
2.) The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
3.) Happy Wife by Lavender/Shores
4.) The Woman in the Cabin by Becca Day
5.) Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

2026 TBR List

Okay, seriously, THIS year I’ll read it (maybe):

Coming-soon books that might distract me from the above list:

Are there any must-reads I’m missing? Send them my way. May all your 2026 reading goals come true.