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My Year in Books 2026
31 items
By
Rebecca Markus
Every year my reading goal is to read at least as many books as I read the year before. In 2025 I read 28 books. Let’s see if I can beat that.
11
Sections
3
Five Stars
Four Stars
Three Stars
Five Stars
My favorite book of the year so far.
Yesteryear: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Novel
I started the year off strong with a five-star book. It was reflective, melancholy, and somewhat mysterious.
How to Stop Time: A Novel
I’m not a fast reader but I read this in two day. I couldn’t put it down.
Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy
I will read anything Rachel Hawkins writes. This one did not disappoint.
The Storm: A Novel
A queer-coded 1940s noir detective novel.
Fortune Favors the Dead: A Pentecost and Parker Mystery
The second book in the series is as good as the first.
Murder Under Her Skin: Pentecost & Parker
I read this book when I was 12 and it always stuck with me so I decided to read it again.
A Ring of Endless Light book by Madeleine L'Engle
Four Stars
If you love old Hollywood you’ll love this book.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Novel
I’m excited for the rest of this six-fi cozy murder mystery novella series.
Murder by Memory (Dorothy Gentleman, 1)
About a witchy and sometimes toxic friendship.
Cackle
A graphic novel about a world without men.
Woman World
Pretty interesting look into the life of a paparazzi.
Waiting for Britney Spears
Another spooky mystery from Simone St James
The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James
My second read in this series. Fun and fast.
How Not to Date a Rock Star
Interesting if you’re a fan of Steve Martin.
Number One Is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions
My favorite thing about this book is its presentation as a creek IKEA-style catalog
Horrorstor: A Novel - Amazon.com
I’m enjoying this sci-fi novella series so much.
Nobody's Baby (Dorothy Gentleman, 2)
An interesting and brief look into the Harlem Renaissance
Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance
Imagine being trapped in Ikea overnight with demons.
Horrorstor: A Novel - Amazon.com
Disappointed by the ending.
A Box Full of Darkness
Three Stars
I had high hopes but the book was historically inaccurate and not well written.
Meet the Newmans
Meandering and slow. But I got through it.
Vintage 1954
A fun read about the TV life of Betty White.
Here We Go Again: My Life In Television
More Nicholas Sparks than M Night Shyamalan. The dialogue was wooden and there were loose ends that weren’t resolved.
Remain: A Supernatural Love Story
If you love— I mean really LOVE— boy bands you’ll like this book. Otherwise there’s not much story going on.
American Fantasy: A Novel
The pacing was slow and there was so much backstory.
The Hitchcock Hotel
Incredibly boring. I only finished because it was gifted to me from the publisher.
Room 706: A Novel
Interesting, but annoying that there was no resolution.
The Night Guest
Too much backstory. Very little suspense.
The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth
Written in 1975– full of misogyny and racism. Just skip it.
The Monkey Wrench Gang [50th Anniversary Edition]
The humor was a little too on the nose for me.
The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie by Freida McFadden
