In order to push myself this year I’ve vowed to increase my habit of reading dramatically this year. I’ve found that in the past number of years I’ve been consuming a lot of social media, blog articles and news websites. I’ve promised myself to start reading a lot more literature and finally complete a lot of the books that have been sitting on my bookshelf for some time now.

I’ve only read 5 out of 30 books that I intend to finish in 2026.

Feel free to browse my wishlist.

Currently reading

Completed

Wonderful book; some really nice short stories. I especially liked Story of Your Life which is the short story that led to the Arrival movie. Huge fan.

"Similarly, knowledge of the future was incompatible with free will. What made it possible for me to exercise freedom of choice also made it impossible for me to know the future. Conversely, now that I know the future, I would never act contrary to that future, including telling others what I know: those who know the future don't talk about it."

Disappointing and self-indulgent. The book is bogged down by repetitive descriptions of his lockdown ramblings and hyperbolic comparisons between public schoolboys and authoritarian figures. If it’s a memoir he wants to write then he should write one. Brood less and carpe diem.

"The first and most important lesson was to not let that show. Being separated from the people who love you is traumatic. How did that feel at the time, and what sort of adult does it mould?"

"We learned to despise the boys who blubbed for their mummies. The cure was to stop crying and forget that life beyond the dormitories and classrooms existed."

A fascinating deep dive into what it means to be human—best experienced with fresh air and open trails.

"You could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven."

Returning to the land of Jordan for the final time. This time via audiobook.

"He was swimming in a sea of other people's expectations. Men had drowned in seas like that."

Conceptually brilliant, but emotionally flat. His vision of a future controlled by pleasure rather than pain is fascinating and terrifyingly relevant now more so than ever before. Essential reading but I just couldn’t fall in love with the story. Was a struggle to complete

"...Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution."