2026 Reading Log
Books I read in 2026.
You can also browse this list on my bookshop.org affiliate page:
https://bookshop.org/lists/2026-reading-log
I’ll earn a 10% comission if you buy something form there, but feel free to pick your favorite local bookstore from the top right corner instead!
January 2026
The Wondeful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
A delightful, short, and easy fairy tale that created a new universe of over 40 books, a hit movie, and Wicked — an even bigger hit musical based on fan fiction. This is the book that started it all. It’s fun to read even thought it contradicts both the movie and Wicked all over the place. This book really made me appreciate the power of retelling, reinterpreting, and remixing classic works.
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February 2026
Время секонд хэнд by Светлана Алексиевич
An oral history of the end of the Soviet Union. I read this in English a few years ago but wanted to get some more Russian immersion so I listened to the audiobook this time around. It is as insightful and depressing as I remember it being, lots of the words hit harder in the native language.
Love in the Big City by San Young Park
I asked Claude for some book recommendations of LGBT books based in Seoul by a Korean author and it gave me this gem. Finished in a few days and loved all of the stories here.
Korea: The Impossible Country by Daniel Tudor
Another Claude rec, wanted a light history of Korea and got this. Overall I liked the book and learned a lot but one of my bigger annoyances is when writers use the third person to refer to themselves and this author does this at least once in every chapter.
The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin (translated by Ken Liu)
One of my favorite science fiction books, reread it after a few years and its even better than I remember. Liu is a masterful story teller and I still aspire to be able to read this book in Chinese some day.
April 2026
Чернобыльская молитва by Светлана Алексиевич
Another depressing oral history by Svetlana Alexeivich, this time focused on the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl. I enjoy her story telling approach, but this one was even harder to listen to than the one about the fall of the Soviet Union.
June 2026
Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
I have listened to David Sedaris read pretty much all of his stories, overall I find him insufferable. In particular his liberal use of voices that imitate other races feels like an out of touch relic of the 70s that he can’t seem to let go of. In this collection his takes on chinese cuisine and just straight up ignorant. However, there are always a few gems sprinkled in. His observations on people at airports caused me to laugh out loud. I keep listening hoping to catch these, I’ll probably keep listening.