My reading list (2026)
2026 is shaping up around Joe Abercrombie. The First Law trilogy has been the throughline (The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged done, Last Argument of Kings currently on the go), and they’re as grim and funny as the reputation promised. A Robert Jordan detour via The Eye of the World and the New Spring prequel kept the fantasy shelf busy.
Outside the epic fantasy, the reading’s been all over: Joe Simpson’s mountaineering nightmare Touching the Void, Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others (the source behind the film Arrival), Huxley’s Brave New World, Harari’s Sapiens, Rufi Thorpe’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles, and Richard Beard’s grating Sad Little Men.
So far: 13 books against a target of 30. More to come.
Feel free to browse my wishlist.
Completed
Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan
In a culture historically defined by what is left unsaid, her sparse prose speaks volumes. What would I have done? Would I have looked the other way to protect my own? I grew up in Ireland during this time, beside a convent. The book hit a nerve.
“As they carried on along and met more people Furlong did and did not know, he found himself asking was there any point in being alive without helping one another? Was it possible to carry on along through all the years, the decades, through an entire life, without once being brave enough to go against what was there and yet call yourself a Christian, and face yourself in the mirror?”
Kerr brings 1936 Berlin to life with chilling, gritty detail. You can feel the tension, paranoia, and shadow of the Nazi party looming over every street corner. I’m not sure i’ll continue on the series.
“I made an appointment to see him and then ordered another beer. While I was drinking it I did some doodling on a piece of paper, the algebraic kind that you hope will help you think more clearly. When I finished doing that, I was more confused than ever. Algebra was never my strong subject.”
Robert Harris does a brilliant job of making the complex traditions of the Church easy to understand, turning them into a high-stakes puzzle. Smart, highly entertaining, and keeps you guessing right up until the shocking final twist. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a clever, character-driven drama.
“Any man who is truly worthy must consider himself unworthy.”
Touching the void - Joe Simpson
Great read. He’s a natural storyteller. You have one man suspended in the void, calmly resigning himself to his fate, while the other is pushed past his absolute physical limits, forced to make the agonizing choice to cut the rope to survive. It’s a stark reminder that high-altitude climbing is brutally unforgiving.
“There was no sudden flash of a whole life passing before me, no dramatic climax. Just a cold, rational acceptance that I was going to die.”
Wheel of Time #1 - Robert Jordan
I’ve read this book too many often, this time, in an audiobook as I drift off to sleep.
“The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again.”
Before They Are Hanged - The First Law #2 - Joe Abercrombie
A nice sequel to The First Law. The characters seem like old friends at this point, though not the most trustworthy of friends.
“We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged.”
Margo’s Got Money Troubles - Rufi Thorpe
A fun read. Quite enjoyable.
“Love was not something, I realized, that came to you from outside. I had always thought that love was supposed to come from other people, and somehow, I was failing to catch the crumbs of it, failing to eat them, and I went around belly empty and desperate. I didn’t know that love was supposed to come from within me, and that as long as I loved others, the strength and warmth of that love would fill me, make me strong.”
The First Law #1 - The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
I find myelf repeating this on a regular basis:
“Stairs. Why does it always have to be stairs?”
True words indeed:
“The more a man has, the more he has to lose. And the more he has to lose, the more easily he can be led.”
Stories of Your Life and Others – Ted Chiang
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.”
Sad Little Men - Richard Beard
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.”
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Noah Harari
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.”
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
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.”