After having my second child, I really got back into reading as an adult, but I felt like I’d run out of books. I was rereading Brandon Sanderson books and every once in a while, I’d find a gem at the library, but I was floudering. I asked my Facebook friends for suggestions and got a few good ones.
A few months later, I joined BookTube. Now, three more kids and eight years later, I have so many books on my TBR that I could not possibly read them all in my lifetime. It’s a problem I’d much rather have than the one I was having in 2016!
With the influx of book ideas, though, I wanted a way to really pick and choose some of those books to focus on, to get to books I wanted to prioritize. That’s when I started doing my yearly TBR list. At the beginning of each year, I pick 33 books out of the thousands on my TBR list and read about 3 a month. I aim to pick a variety of genres and have books that span middle grade, YA, and adult (though no explicit content).
My goal is to at least try each book. I’m allowed to DNF a book if I’m not loving it, but then it goes on my DNF’d list instead of my TBR on Goodreads. I’ve read some of my absolute favorite books because of this list!
Here is my list for 2026:
Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly
Song for a Whale is a middle grade contemporary and I know a lot of people who loved it. It follows a deaf girl who, while amazing with computers, is misunderstood at school because of her deafness, but connects emotionally with a whale whose song can’t be heard by his species. This book sounds like an emotional and beautiful read!
I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang
I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is a YA romance that is an enemies to lovers (my favorite!) and has To All the Boys I Loved Before vibes. It follows a girl who vents out all her frustrations with people around her by writing them emails she never sends. She doesn’t hold back, because no one will ever read them–until they get sent out. I am very excited to try this book, especially with how beautiful the cover is.
The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley by Courtney Walsh
When my mom recommended this book to me during one of her recent visits, I immediately put it on my TBR list for this year! The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley is a clean adult romance that follows a rule following professor who delves into a research project on how to be happy. This has all the makings of a book I love, I can’t wait to read it!
The Accidental Beauty Queen by Teri Wilson
The Accidental Beauty Queen is a closed door adult romcom involving two twins who lead polar opposite lives and end up needing to switch places. I’m not expecting anything life-changing out of the book, but it sounds cute and fun.
An Improper Proposal by Audra Wells
An Improper Proposal is a regency romance with a marriage of convenience trope (one that I tend to love, especially in regencies!). I also love the cover on this one.
A Proper Scandal by Esther Hatch
A Proper Scandal is a regency romance (I love reading at least a few a year!) following Grace, who has been shuttled from place to place until arriving with her aunt, who gives her two weeks to find a husband before being kicked out. The premise sounds unique and delightful.
Better Left Unsent by Lia Louis
Lia Louis was on my 2025 TBR as well, but because I read the book (The Key to my Heart) in December and I made the list for this year in October, I didn’t realize it until making this blog post. I loved The Key to my Heart, so I’m doubly excited to read this one. Better Left Unsent is an adult contemporary romance following a girl who (just like I Hope This Doesn’t Find You) vents her frustrations in unsent emails until (just like I Hope This Doesn’t Find You) all the emails get sent accidentally. It will be fun and interesting to see the difference between the two books that have such similar premises, especially since one is a YA and the other an adult book.
The Star that Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson
The Star that Always Stays is a middle grade historical fiction inspired by the author’s family history. It’s set in 1914 and follows a girl who moves from the country to the city, but needs to hide who she is and where her Native American origins are from. I love including some historical fiction each year.
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter is a YA historical mystery/fantasy that incorporates various classics. It follows the daughter of Dr. Jeckyll, looking into the mysterious past of her father and his friend Mr. Hyde, with the help of Sherlock Holmes, and along the way, she meets different women like Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherin Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein. It sounds like it’s doing a lot, so I think I’ll either love it or hate it.
Buffalo Flats by Martine Leavitt
Buffalo Flats is an LDS young adult historical fiction set in Canada in the late 1800’s. There is romance, history, and friendship as the book explores the hardships faced by pioneers and explores what life was like for early latter-day saints.
Mrs. Porter Calling by AJ Pearce
When I put Mrs. Porter Calling on my list, I didn’t realize it was third in a series. I read Dear Mrs. Bird, a WWII historical fiction following a lady who has a secret advice collumn, a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I saw this by the same author and added it to my list–then realized it was the third book after the one I’d read. It’s already in my bullet journal and I do want to read it, so I’ll just need to read the sequel (Yours Cheerfully) before I get to this one.
The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore
The Woman They Could Not Silence is a nonfiction about the life of Elizabeth Packard, a lady in the 1800’s who was wrongly committed to an insane asylum by her husband and her fight against it. I’m a little wary going in to a book like this (sometimes books like this can feel sensationalized), but it also sounds very interesting!
The Third Gilmore Girl by Kellly Bishop
The Third Gilmore Girl is a memior about Kelly Bishop, a famous actress. I know her from her role in Gilmore Girls. I am excited to learn more about her life.
Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Wait Till Next Year is a memior of Doris Kearns Goodwin, focused on a love of baseball and her family. I’ve heard from people who don’t follow baseball that they loved it, so even though I’m not a huge baseball fan, I’m excited to read this one.
Alone by Megan E. Freeman
Alone is a middle grade dystopian, following a girl who wakes up one morning completely alone. Throughout the book she has to not only surivive, but find a way to deal with her intense lonliness. I am not the biggest “survival book” reader, but my kids love them (especially my oldest). If I don’t love it, then I’ll be able to pass it on to them after reading it if I think it’s a book they’d enjoy.
The Girl Who Kept the Castle by Ryan Graudin
In The Girl Who Kept the Castle, Wizard West has died but his ghost lives on and hosts a tournament to find his successor. The groundkeeper’s daughter must make the tournament a success using magic she shouldn’t be using in order to save everything she loves. It’s a quirky, cozy, middle grade fantasy and right up my alley.
The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni
The Prison Healer is a YA romance fantasy (I double checked that it is clean, as I’ve had some surprises with YA romantasy in the last little while) taking place in the death prison of a fantasy world. When the rebel queen is captured, the main character is tasked with keeping her alive and volunteers in Trials in place of the queen. If succeeds, she and the queen both get their freedom, but no one has ever survived them before. This book has had a lot of hype and I’m excited to read it.
Fireborne by Rosaria Munda
Fireborne is another YA romantasy (again, double checked to make sure it’s clean), this one is supposed to lean more into the romance than The Prison Healer. It follows two orphan friends who are now competing with each other for the top spot in the dragonriding fleet. It also has a lot of political intrigue woven throughout. This sounds like the kind of fantasy book I’m really going to enjoy.
Of Blood and Fire by Ryan Cahill
I love Brandon Sanderson, but I have a hard time getting into other epic fantasies. I don’t know when I’ll give up on them and stop choosing one for my yearly TBR list, but apparently it isn’t this year. Of Blood and Fire sounds like your typical epic fantasy, but has really good reviews and is supposed to lean into the characters, which is something I really like. It also has dragons. I guess we’ll see with this one.
The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young
The Unmaking of June Farrow is a fiction with magical realism that takes place in North Carolina. The main character June is attempting to solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance years before and uses her ability to see and hear things that aren’t there to do so, falling in love along the way.
The Queen’s Gambit by Beth Brower
Like many others, I’ve been very into Beth Brower’s Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion. I’ve heard her other books are equally good and am very excited to try this one. The Queen’s Gambit is a YA science fantasy with a slow start, but the same writing style you’ll find in the Unselected Journals.
Olivetti by Allie Millington
Olivetti is a middle grade mystery from the perspective of the family’s typewriter. I’ve heard it has some hard hitting family drama and lots of emotion, just up my alley (especially when it comes to middle grade). When Olivetti, the typewriter, learns that the mother of the family has mysteriously gone missing, he believes he can help find the mother and begins communicating with the mother’s boy. I tend to love middle grade books dealing with grief, so I think this one will be a book I love, though I’m not sure how I’ll feel about the type writer being the main perspective.
A Study in Scarlet by Stephanie Baudet
This is a middle grade adaptation of Sherlock Holmes A Study in Scarlet. I’m excited to start this children’s collection of Sherlock Holmes and to see if it’s a series I would want to read with my kids.
Blood in the Water by TIffany D Jackson
Blood in the Water is a middle grade thriller, a genre I’m not sure I’ve ever read before. The main character Kaylani is from Boston, but is spending her summer on Martha’s Vineyard when a body shows up at the beach. Kaylani is determined to solve the mystery and change her life in the process. I love thrillers and murder mysteries and I love middle grade, so I’m really excited for this one.
The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
I really loved The Inheritance Games and am excited to be reading another book by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. The Naturals is a YA thriller following a seventeen year old girl who can read people exceptionally well. She gets recruited by the FBI to help them with cold cases with a group of other young people–which turns into a game of cat and mouse.
We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
I own The Thursday Murder Club and plan to read it this year as well, though when I added this book to my list, I didn’t realize they were by the same author. We Solve Murders follows a retired investigator and a private security officer team up to solve a murder in a race around the world. The description is a little vague, but it sounds fun and has a lot of good reviews.
Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston
Anatomy of an Alibi is an adult thriller that sounds so fun. Two women help each other out to spy on a man named Ben to get some answers–only he ends up dead. They both need an alibi, but only one of them has it. This one has really good reviews and I’m excited to read it this year.
The Redgraves Murders by Al Sowards
The Redgraves Murders is an adult historical mystery. The main character starts looking into her family’s past when someone attempts to kill her or her father–and has she uncovers more secrets, it only gets more dangerous.
Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza
Everyone is Lying to You is an adult thriller described as a tradwife murder. This thriller has social media influencers, murder mystery, and secrets from the past as the main character’s college best friend goes missing.
How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristin Perrin
How to Solve Your Own Murder is a cozy mystery about a woman who tries to prevent her own murder only to be murdered 60 years later. The book follows her great-niece as she tries to solve her aunt’s murder, even if it means putting herself in danger.
The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter
The Blonde Identity is an adult mystery book following a woman who wakes up in Paris with no memory of who she is or how she got there. As people keep trying to kill her, she discovers she is the twin sister to a rogue spy. This book is supposed to be a lot like Donovan Finlay, which I really enjoy.
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T Kingfisher
A Sorceress Comes to Call is a retelling of the fairy tale Goose Girl (I love the retelling by Shannon Hale!). This is a YA horror fantasy, a genre I’ve been dabbling in recently (fantasy with horror elements isn’t generally too much for me the way adult horror books can be). I plan to read this in October for Halloween vibes.
Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan Henry
Once Upon a Wardrobe is set during the time that CS Lewis lived. It follows two siblings, a younger brother who is homebound with illness and wants to know if Narnia is real, and an older sister who finds CS Lewis to find out for him. It interweaves real stories from Lewis’s life with the sibling narrative. I’ve heard it is charming and I can’t wait to read it (I’m saving it for Christmas time)!
So that’s my TBR list for 2026! I am very excited for my reading this year and all the books ahead of me. What are you planning to read in 2026? I’d love to chat about books in the comments section below!
