I am posting my 2026 Master List in May, which honestly feels pretty appropriate for this year! But it's sunny and warm out, so maybe this is the start I actually need for this project this year.
I also didn't read a ton of books in the first third of the year, largely because all of my narrative brain space was taken up by two television shows I remain obsessed with, the writing I want to do for both of them, the Olympics, and two other ongoing sports leagues. To put it bluntly, my ability to focus on new books was pretty bad, but less because of everything going on in the world in 2026 and more because I had too much else to focus on. So! I'm not mad about that, even though I do want to read a lot more than I did in the first part of the year.
Other things! Last year felt like an off year for me reading-wise, but I read 45 new books and 6 rereads, and that's almost one book a week! As is true most years, I read mostly in chunks, and about half of the books on my list were books that had already been on my list at the beginning of the year, and half of them were new additions. That doesn't bode well for the idea of me making a dent in my current list, but well that's the nature of this project. I am also getting better at not finishing books or even just taking a book off the list before even starting it if I feel like it's just not actually what I'm interested in anymore.
Anyway, here is this year's list! I'm starting with 238 books, and while I do not expect to get to bookcase zero by the end of the year, I would like to end the year with closer to a hundred rather than two hundred.
