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I switched away from Goodreads over to Storygraph this year. I’ve been meaning to make the move for a few years, but it was tough to give up a platform that I’ve been using since 2011!! But after giving up social media this past fall, and realizing that was not as difficult as I had anticipated, I decided it was time. So I started 2026 on Storygraph, an independent, Black woman-owned company! It felt good to move away from one of the billionaire-owned platforms (fuck Bezos and the rest of them!) and I looooove the data that Storygraph provides. I mean, check out my 2025 reading wrapup!!! So cool.

I also really like that it prioritizes data about a book instead of stars and reviews (you have to click twice to get to the actual reviews), and that it uses an AI to provide a personalized description of the book to help you decide if you want to read it. The more books you read, the more data you input into the platform, the better these personalized recs become. And the more interesting your graphs become!

Anyway, if you’re on Storygraph, let’s be friends! And if you’re still on Goodreads, I encourage you to check out Storygraph. Let’s support more indie sites and stop giving the billionaires all of our time, attention, data, and letting them earn money off of us! Power to the people!!

Now, without further ado, here are my monthly reading recaps for your pleasure. If you read any of these books, let me know in the comments! I love chatting books with fellow book nerds! (And just FYI, I wont stand for any comments suggesting that listening to books doesn’t count as reading. Read this and this and this and watch this. Plus, fwiw, humans have been telling stories orally for a longer than we’ve been writing them down.)

Monthly Reading Recaps

I am a multi-reader, meaning that I read MANY books at one time. Some books I get hooked on and can’t stop reading, others I take my time with. Some I read for book clubs, reading a few chapters every month, and some I read straight through in a few sittings.

For that reason, each month I will only share the books that I *finished* during that month. I will also specify if I read with my eyeballs or listened to the audibook with an icon by each book cover.

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January

This is my new religion. In all seriousness, The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life by JL Collins is the first book I recommend to anyone interested in improving their relationship with money or understanding the principles of Financial Independence. I actually read the sequel first (Pathfinders) and went back to this after devouring everything on his website. JL Collins has such a down to earth, approachable style, he has demystified complex subjects that used to intimidate me. I have been following his blog for a couple years, as well as reading other FI/FIRE related books, but this man is the OG. I will def be revisiting this and spreading this gospel.

How Not to Travel the World: Adventures of a Disaster-Prone Backpacker by Lauren Juliff exceeded expectations! I went in with low expectations on this one and was pleasantly surprised! She’s such a great writer, I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I read it over the course of two travel days. I won’t critique someone’s own story but I did relate to much of anxiety and was impressed by how she pushed herself to overcome it all. While I dont share the same anxieties, I find her story inspirational. I also thought a lot of it was fun and funny enough to now follow her blog!

The Joy of Connections: 100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life by Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer was delightful. Short and sweet, packed full with practical advice. Would recommend this to anyone living alone in a place where they feel they are lacking community.

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February

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong was FASCINATING. I started listening to it hoping for a boring read to fall asleep to but it ended up being tooooo interesting that I saved it for daylight hours haha. I learned so much and had such fun while doing so! Highly recommend this to anyone interested in our relationship with the natural world and what we can learn from the animals and trees.

Lord of Blade and Bone by Erica Ivy Rogers was a beautiful conclusion to a duology by a dear friend. This is not my usual cup of tea — historical fantasy! — but I loved it. I was impressed by how she pulled off a few things in the end, notably making the central romance feel earned. I love love loved the lore and mythology around the world, and felt that it was a strong ensemble.

I did not expect to love Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. This is also not my usual cup of tea and belongs to a new genre of books I had never heard of — LitRPG. But yeah, Im hooked. Gonna just keep listening to these. Absolutely absurd premise. Feels like the hunger games, squid games, and the running man (in terms of brutal plot) mixed up with Hitchhiker’s Guide and What We Do in the Shadows (in terms of humor/tone). Technically sci fi but full of fantasy elements (due to specific plot points). Funny, relatable MC. And LONG LIVE PRINCESS DONUT!!!!!!! The audibook is superb. Jeff Hayes is a voice genius. (Search YouTube for some of his cold read clips. Amazing work by a narrator with incredible range.)

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March

The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England by Ian Mortimer was delightful! I loved the use of second person, preparing the reader for their upcoming time travel trip back to the time period. It made it very relatable and immersive. Super fun. I wish there were more of these books for history!

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman, the second in the series, was just as unhinged and fun as the first. Im having a blast with this series. This one was even more batshit crazy and absurd and funny than the first one! I did not expect to care this much about a VELOCIRAPTOR. But long live Mongo!!!! If anyone wants to get me Princess Donut and Mongo stickers, I’ll DM you my address lol.

Have I already read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir? Yes. I will probably read this book every year. It’s in my top five books of all time (alongside Hitchhikers Guide, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Lamb). We saw the movie opening night, and I immediately started relistening to it post movie. A perfect book. This audiobook is one of the best (long live Ray Porter!!!!!!). Might have to relisten again this year. Comforting, cozy, wholesome, funny, fun reads like this are my jam!!!!!!! You can read my previous reviews of the book here.

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April

Um, somehow I totally missed my friend’s book being released, so when I passed it on a shelf in the library, I gasped and immediately checked it out. Luminous Beings by David Arnold is beautiful and creative. So cinematic that I’m convinced this began as a screenplay and later became a graphic novel; it read like a film and could easily work as storyboards. Fun, fast, funny, weird, sweet. Read it in one sitting. 

Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson is part of one of my faaaaaavorite mystery series ever. I had put myself on the waitlist the DAY it entered our library system and I tore through this book fast. (And it was a literal, physical book! Not a kindle copy haha.) Looooooved this roller coaster. This hit me exactly when I needed it so my rating and review are prob skewed a bit because this served me exactly the meal I wanted. It was twisty, it was funny, it was meta and self aware. It made me laugh and cringe and turn the pages very quickly. It also made me gasp a couple times — there’s a big moment about halfway through that really shocked me and made me gasp audibly — unexpected! And somewhere near the last 40 pages a real rollercoaster began. It was a missing persons case, multiple murder mysteries, and several robbery and heist stories all rolled into one. SO FUN!!!! BRING ME MORE ERNEST CUNNINGHAM!!!!! When does the TV series launch?!

So I finally got around to reading this book that everyone has been raving about since it came out, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. The reason? The trailer for the Netflix adaptaion just dropped haha. The movie looks great! So I figured, time to read it now. What a beautiful, lovely story. Excellent audiobook narrators. Im so glad I listened to this before the movie comes out (funny though that the narrator’s voice for Tova sounds weirdly like Sally Field!). Im going to miss Michel Urie’s performance of Marcellus, but Alfred Molina will bring an older, wiser energy, less snarky, which can also work for the character. Anyway, now I kind of wanna hang out with an octopus.

Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Joe Dominguez, Vicki Robin is another great entry in the FI book library. Nothing new here for me (all of the FI books essentially say the same things, explaining the principles and strategies in different ways) but I enjoyed her tone and style. If this had been my first exposure to the FI principles, I think it would have been an easy sell! If you are curious about how to do more with the money you have and how to change your relationship with money, I would always recommend JL Collins “Simple Path to Wealth” first, but this would also be a great starting point. 

Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America by Jeff Ryan was SOOOOOOOO interesting. I started listening to it simply because Ray Porter narrates it and it was free in the Audible library, but then I got totally hooked and sucked into the history and cultural impact of Nintendo. It completely reshaped my view of the Mario universe and makes me really glad that my kid loves playing the old school games that defined not only a generation but a whole new way of gaming. I did not want this book to end, and now I need to find something that speaks to the last 15 years (since this was from 2011). This was a super fun microhistory!!!!

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May

May was a book-heavy month! I have never read this many books in one month — at least not since college or some time in my youth! What a joy and delight it has been to have so much leisurely reading time.

My book club read My Parents Are Dead: What Now? since we’re all in our early 40s and are starting to deal with aging parents, so as good eldest daughters and planners, we want to know what we will have to deal with in 10-20 years. If I could give this 10 I would! A wonderfully compassionate and self-deprecating approach to the unwieldy logistics of death. I read this for book club and will probably need to buy a physical copy at some point (FAR in the future I hope) because it is such a helpful resource. Highly recommend. 

I really enjoyed Yesteryear, but I think some people will be annoyed by the ‘reveals’. For me though, the journey was engrossing. I tore through it in 2 days! It had a lot to say. And was a super fun ride. Well told. Loved the alternating timelines. Loved the epilogue. Really fun, satirical, dark, mysterious. What a debut! 

I’ve been revisiting a lot of old movies, and Chicago was the movie that made me want to edit video. So it was fun to revisit this book, Chicago: The Movie and Lyrics, which I had read 20+ years ago. This movie changed me, and watching it again reminded me just how masterful the craft of this film is. The book seems like it only touches the tip of the behind the scenes iceberg tho, and I want morrrrrrre. I think I spent more time watching behind the scenes videos online than reading the book haha.

Next Year for Sure was unique! I couldn’t put it down! It’s not a plot-heavy book but there was something about the way it was written that made it so easy to keep turning those pages. The simple, effective prose is written in that somewhat detached manner, where everything is 3rd person, dialogue doesn’t use quotation marks, and it feels on the edge of literary, but it was unpretentious and captivating. Overall it is a positive, love-filled story about flawed, messy people in an open/polyish situation. The ending however didnt entirely work for me. It felt VERY abrupt and like maybe it was missing some pages? I was also unclear on what I was supposed to take away from it. It almost felt separate from what I’d just read. I am not sure I interpreted things the same as other readers, based on comments, and I really dislike unclear endings. 

The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook (Book 3 of Dungeon Crawler Carl). Im loving this series, but I did find this one a bit hard to follow at times. Turns out I was not alone; the Iron Tangle confused a lot of readers. Interesting also that most folks rate this book as the lowest in the series? I mean its still super fun and wild and ridiculous and such a unique story! I loved every minute spent with Carl and Donut and Katia and Mongo! But Im glad to be done with this floor and cant wait to start Book 4!! 

I usually love Mike Chen’s stuff, but A Quantum Love Story disappointed me from a plotting perspective. No critiques of his writing (always lovely) or his ability to get inside his characters’ heads (especially impressive for the lead protagonist), nor his portrayal of time travel. But I went into this thinking it was going to be a cute cozy time loop love story… and it was for the first half. The second half……… did not give me what I wanted, and actually filled me with rage at several moments. While I understand what he was doing, I hated every part of it and wished it had gone in a different direction. I wont get spoilery except to say if you wanted to see the protagonists end up happily ever after, this aint it (or at least not in the ways you expect or want). 

Who Needs Friends made me feel so grateful to be a woman 🤣😝😝 This insightful, at times sad, yet ultimately hopeful exploration of male friendships and loneliness in America takes the author on a cross country trip. What a great angle for a travel memoir! I had no idea this actor could write. I really enjoyed his style. And will def plan to listen to another! Excellent writer and good narration.

There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids is one of my favorite reads this year and goes into the ranks of my favorite parenting books. The American way is not the only way, and while we cant change the system we live in, we can adopt habits and mindsets that let us empower our kids the way that other cultures do through time in nature, and unstructured and minimally supervised play. So many things to think about from the lack of nature in our lives, how kids arent good at playing like kids outside like we did in our youth, how its us adults who have become so wimpy when it comes to weather. I want to adopt this attitude! I can still go for walks even if its HOT or COLD or a little drizzly. Just dress for it!

If you do not understand investing or why it’s important, read Why Does the Stock Market Go Up? As part of my ongoing financial education, this book was fabulous and I wish I’d read it sooner. A really wonderful explainer. Simple, not condescending, perfect for anyone who wants to FINALLY understand the stock market, how to invest (and why it should be in index funds). Highly recommend. Super fast read!

The last two books on my list give me pause at even including them, because to me, neither of them are truly a “book”. They are both available as Audible exclusives however neither of them is an audiobook. To me, there is a distinction, however blurry, between an “audiobook” and an “audioplay”. I feel like we’re at a weird place in the history of audio entertainment and literature, but can it be a BOOK if it does not exist in a written format?? I personally a define an audiobook as a a BOOK that was recorded by a limited number of narrators, reading the exact words on the page aloud. This new trend of full-cast, immersive audio experiences — WHICH I FREAKING LOVE!!!!!!!!! — aren’t really books, though. They did not begin as a book, in a written format. They only exist in this particular audio format. An audiobook needs to be a book first and an audio experience second. An audioplay is an audio experience through and through, from its nascence. SO, I would call both of these 10-episode audio experiences either an audioplay or an audioseries.

The first is Murder at the Patel Motel. I loved this 10 episode miniseries/audiobook/whatever the hell you want to call it. Super fun. Twisty enough but not convoluted. Great characters! Excellent voice acting. (Though I do have questions about casting an Aussie to play Gareth, whatever.) Great score!!! Fun story with plenty of suspects, good pacing, and lots of family drama. Very fun and funny, and a few legitimate surprising moments INCLUDING how the romance resolved! Not what I thought would happen.

The second one, Underdogs: A Musical, I really enjoyed despite it feeling a bit long and repetitive at times; a solid hour could probably be trimmed. It was a funny satire of the musical theatre world, specifically that in a high school with a serious theatre department. There were so many sly and overt references that only mega broadway nerds would catch. The songs were all fun sendups of Broadway standards or styles. Alan Cumming was clearly having the time of his life in his performance. Gaten Mattarazzo was charming and engaging. Cute story. Felt a bit “we’ve seen something like this before” but given the format, it also felt new. Mix Glee with Schmigadoon and you have the style and tone. Super fun. Not life changing. Not top of its class. But the class is new, so it is at least at the head of the line. On a separate note: I would absolutely love listening to full musicals in this format. Yes they’d be super different but it would be better than transferring to film for many of them!

June

Long live Carl and Donut!!!! Book 4 in the Dungeon Crawler Carl, The Gate of the Feral Gods, delivered! I can’t get enough of this series.

Overall, really enjoyed Earthside: Quantum Earth #2 by Dennis E. Taylor. While I love the Quantum Earth duology, I also know that they are kinda middle of the road. The characters are all a bit flat (prob to help us remember them, as there are so many) and the character NAMES lol all just super basic white people names lol. The hopeful fantasy that is Rivendale is so unlikely in THIS universe but feels like a lovely escape so I loved reading about the logical, systematic way these kids went about rebuilding society, and how they handled the many obstacles along the way. Loved all of the details about that. Super fun. But is this really the end?! Is there going to be a third one?! This feels unfinished! I want more!

After The Fall gives us a unique and fun premise. Ieally enjoyed it! Would def read more by this author. Kept me super engaged and I read it very quickly because I wanted to know more about the world — but thats where I felt like things could have been better. I wanted MORE. I felt like not enough was doled out along the way, and Im still not 100% clear on the history of the planet and how we got to where we are when the story begins. The only other nitpick I have is that at times it felt like the main character was repeating a LOTTTTT about how unlike other grays Martok is. Like, its mentioned A LOT. I get it already!!! lol

All Fours by Miranda July. Wow. What a fucking book!! Wow! I couldn’t put this down!! Absolutely wild. Cringe and awkward, erotic and icky, sad and funny and slow but compelling. The deep insightful exploration of a woman’s mental breakdown and sexual awakening as she begins tk enter perimenopause. I loved so many things about this book. I feel so many things. I need to just digest it for a while tho. Wow. This will not be a book for a lot of people haha.

Kin: The Future of Family is an EXCELLENT treatise on the importance of chosen family and how we can all benefit from a more poly-approach to love and what we call “Framily” or what the author calls kin — the folks who are more than friends but not related by blood. The book encourages us to all think beyond the failure of the nuclear family and not just create a village but teach the village how to rely upon each other so we can all have the community we crave. Essential reading in these times, imo. Not just a hopeful wish for the future but also lots of practical advice that folks can start implementing now! Why not 5 stars? I felt the organization of material lead to a disjointed reading experience. I think it could have used a bit more structural editing help to make it flow better from section to section.

You & Me and You & Me and You & Me let me down. Writing/craft-wise, this book was great. Loved the premise and dueling perspectives. I can’t say much about what I didn’t like plot-wise, but I was emotionally disappointed. TBH, it was a similar problem to what happens in Mike Chen’s A Quantum Love Story, which I read a couple months ago. I was just so emotionally annoyed at the way it ended, even if it was intellectually absolutely the best way to do it. Ug. Not what I wanted haha.

I wanted to like Out of the Loop so badly and UGGGG it really disappointed me. wanted so much more out of this time loop story than I got. I wanted more mystery, less romance. I can’t say more without spoilers. Le sigh. Not the sci fi mystery I had hoped for. Characters were well written though, and David might be one of the best characters I’ve ever read on the page. His voice, dialogue, actions, everything were perfect and he came to life immediately. 5 stars to characters, 2 stars for plot.

I dont know how to review Strange Love, lol. It’s Sci Fi Romance (SFR) which is not a genre I have read a lot of so Im unfamiliar with the tropes and expectations going in, and I dont have a lot of patience for common romance tropes, but I read a lot of sci fi and I generally enjoy stories of people developing love over time despite appearances. I was not fully prepared for the fact that one of the people in this story was SO VERY UNHUMAN, and for how the human protagonist was almost instantly okay with the whole situation. Like, it’s totally cool that this bird-insect-alien dude just accidentally kidnapped me from Earth, and cant get me home, and my only real option for a future is to compete in a hunger games-esque right-to-marry contest so I can spend the rest of my life with my kidnapper. Okay. Stockholm syndrome aside, the love story part was actually very sweet and wholesome. The world building and culture on the alien planet were all very interesting. The other characters were fun (I especially liked the sentient plant creature and Snaps the dog). I enjoyed how light hearted and pacy it was, but then the intimate scenes…. huh…. lol. I couldn’t get into it and yet couldn’t look away. I think if the protagonist had maybe needed MORE TIME to warm up to getting intimate with a giant insectoidish creature then it would have been easier to believe. I just dont know that non-humanoid alien sex is for me LOL

July

Coming in August!

What are YOUUUUUUUU reading right now???????