2026 mid-year book round up!

One of my resolutions this year, as mentioned in my previous blog post, was to start reading again consistently and form the habit of always having a book on the go. Welllll.. I'm pretty pleased to report I think I've accomplished that goal! I mean, the year isn't over yet, so who knows, maybe I'll fall off completely- but so far I have read a whopping 19 books!!!!!!!! Like brooo, idk I think that's kind of crazy!! If you'll recall (I think I mentioned this in my new years post), I read literally like 1 book last year. Now I've read 19 times that haha!!! But yeah, it wasn't really about reading a LOT of books, just making reading a habit. But like when you do the math it turns out if you read on a consistent basis you'll end up reading a lot of books. So I ain't mad.

SO I wanted to do a little check in of the books I've read so far and give a brief rating and review. I will TRY to keep it brief at least. I'll go through the books chronologically, and if you see a "✨" in the title that will indicate that it's a book that I LOVE <3 :) Just in case you want to skip through to the ones that are actually good, because I did in fact read some stinkers. But of course this is all just my opinion!

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, 5/5

Jennette McCurdy's memoir.

• I had been interested in reading this for a while so I figured it was a good book to start with, and I was right! It's a very interesting memoir and extremely easy to read.

• I'm giving it 5/5 because it's a memoir about Jennette's life and idk rating it the same as I would a fiction book doesn't make sense to me.

• But yeah- very interesting, sad, and complex. The writing was very simple- like reading a journal, which I liked for her voice in the book. And some chapters were like 3 pages long, so I just breezed through this thing.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter, 1/5

Crime thriller about a estranged sisters, one of their husbands dies... or does he?????!!

• yall I HATED this book

• Deals with some very heavy subject matter (SA, torture and killing of women), and personally I think it didn't handle these topics well.

• I didn't know what to read next and this was $1.99 on the Kobo Store LOL but damn yea

• Book was full of twists and turns and yet none of these moved me at all

• I couldn't suspend disbelief to care, The story was horrific, yes, but also stupid? So the whole thing felt very icky to me.

• The villain was so comically evil it became stupid

• Weak characterizations of the lead characters- Claire and Lydia. No depth.

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, 1.5/5

Ok I'm sorry this one might be a little ranty.

• I KNOW THIS IS CONTROVERSIAL. I'm sorry guys but this book PISSED ME AWFFF. I'm giving it a 1.5, but it is a bad book in a very different way from the Pretty Girls listed above.

• This book reads like FANFICTION. And I mean that in a bad way!!!! There is great fanfiction out there though.

• Too many characters being brought up and somehow connected to the plot, just to make you point at the book and be like I know that guy!! I know this won't bother some, but it became so ridiculous at a certain point to me and so distracting.

• People were being name-dropped for literally like no reason. Suzanne why are you even mentioning that Otto Mellark runs a bakery down the road. WHY?? Just so we can be like Mellark??? As in... PEETA MELLARK?? Like bro Burdock Everdeen, Mags, Wiress, Betee and FCKIN Effie had at least some plot relevence. But she just can't resist also bringing up all sorts of other randoms too.

• And also, if Burdock Everdeen was once one of Haymitch's best friend why would he NEVER bring that up to Katniss? Oh right, because it's RETCONNED.

• Only good characterization in my opinion was Maysilee

• Writing was a bit juvenile- at best, not evocative enough and at worst SO CORNY. I'm not kidding, I wrote this down, but Wyatt- the son of the gamblers in district 12- said, in like his first line of dialogue "you sure BET need me". Haha. Bet. Because like his family make bets and gamble and stuff. I'm sorry who TALKS LIKE THIS.

• Lenore Dove- her name is stupid, I'm sorry. "Dove" is not a universal colour we all recognize no matter how much Suzanne wants me to think it is. Yes, I know it's a shade of white. But she acts like it's a very specific colour we could all recognize if it wasn't on an actual Dove. Like when is it Dove and when is it just like off-white?? Or milky white?? WHEN SUZANNE???

• Haymitch and Lenore's romance felt a bit superficial and underdeveloped. All we know is that they really, really, love each other. I'm being told it's deep, but not shown.

• OK. THIS I FEEL, IS A LEGIT PLOT HOLE RATHER THAN ME JUST BEING A HATER- If the footage of Haymitch's games were edited so much, why would they not also do that for Katnniss'? Like say... when she made a grave to memorialize Rue which started an uprising in district 11.....

• My general grievance with this book: All the unnecessary connections in this book make the whole series weaker. It would be more realistic to me if every person with a name that appeared in the Hunger Games didn't somehow meet one another in this book. The randomness makes it more believable.

✨ Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven, 4.5/5 ✨

A themepark called Fantasticland (on a similar scale to Disney or Universal- a competitor to those) gets hit by a hurricane and a bunch of staff are left stranded after taking shelter in the tunnels below. Lord of the Flies-esque brutality ensues.

• Awesome concept and execution, very interesting and immersive from the jump.

• There were some questionable choices and plot points, but it was so interesting that it didn't take away from the story for me! A good example of me being able to suspend disbelief, unlike SOTR.

Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie, 2.5/5

Written from the perspective of found footage, we follow the crew of a TV show similar to Close Encounters who investigate ghosts. They go to a house and things get spooky!!!

• Except not really because I found this book pretty boring.

• Didn't really care or like any of the characters.

• The ghostly stuff didn't go where I was expecting and actually went in a direction I didn't really love... it wasn't for me, but not a terrible book overall.

✨ The Pisces by Melissa Broder, 3.5/5 ✨

A woman with a love and sex addiction meets a merman. They fuck a lot and our MC navigates this spiraling relationship while also dealing with her own very messy life.

• The more I thought about this book, the more I liked it. It's peak weird girl lit. Girl-failure lit.

• The main character is so insufferable and annoying, but it was like a trainwreck, I couldn't take my eyes off her. Somehow she ended up still being enjoyable for me to read about.

• Ok spoiler warning but- there is an animal death that was pretty dreadful leading up to it, and I had to look it up and spoil it for myself just to confirm what was going to happen so I could stop stressing out.

• Writing was a bit obnoxious at times, but it suited the main character I guess.

• Lot's of sex, a bit uncomfortable at times, but that was kind of the point.

✨ Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman, 5/5!!!!!!!!!!! ✨

A disgraced knight meets a young girl who leads him on a big prophetic journey to stop the devils in Hell from taking over the Earth (kinda, there's way more to it than that).

• I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!!!!! One of my favourite books this year!!!!

• An amazing epic journey, gritty and dark and so immersive.

• Amazing characterization and development, I was so invested!!

• I had to read a bit slower to understand the writing at times, but it was beautifully written nonetheless.

• Perfect combo of medieval horror and adventure fantasy!! GO READ IT!

Feed by M.T. Anderson, 3.5/5

A book set in a dystopian technological future where everyone had feeds implanted in their brains. Basically like having the internet in your brain- ads and all. We follow teenager Tidus, who meets Violet. After an accident, Violet's feed starts malfunctioning.

• Re-read. I first read this as a teenager.

• But god damn does it hold up. When I read it the first time the commentary was apt, and reading it now, the parallels to the future of AI were so relevant...

• It's quite a depressing book. But it's good!

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, 3/5

It's the same as the movie lol. I LOVE the movie Fight Club!!

• In fact, I like the movie better I think!

• Listen, the story is like, basically the same in the book, but seeing it visually in the movie is, I think, more compelling.

• The writing is very stream of consciousness-y which was honestly a little difficult to get though at times.

• But it's a good story. Satirical, black comedy vibes, while also tackling themes of classism, manhood, anarchy and the mundane.

The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman, 1.5/5

Follows a group of vampires who live in the subway tunnels of New York city in the 1970s. They come upon a group of child-vampires who can't quench their appetites, and try to help the kids while also figuring out who turned them so young.

• Oh Chris.. Christopher... what was this book...

• So meandering. The main story with the kid vampires was interesting but we kept diverging so Joey (the main character) could go do his random side missions.

• Like there is a CHAPTER where Joey just goes and plays soccer???? Pages of him playing soccer WHAT IS HAPPENING...

• Also, I just didn't like the subway tunnel setting, I had a really hard time picturing it.

Nestlings by Nat Cassidy, 2.5/5

A struggling young couple just had a baby. The birth left the mother paralyzed from the waist down and newly disabled. They win a sweepstakes to move into a luxury condo in upstate New York... and things get a little fweaking spooky...!!!

• Yeah idk, i just thought it was mid. I liked about as much of this book as I didn't.

• I kept oscillating between finding it interesting and not very interesting.

• I don't think its objectively badly written or a bad plot- just something I didn't personally find myself that invested in.

• The horror was not very scary to me, but it could possibly resonate with others.

• Somewhat anticlimactic ending imo.

Strange Houses by Uketsu, 2.5/5

The narrator solves a mystery of an odd building with an odd floorplan that we see 100 million times.

• Not as good as Strange Houses.

• It just felt gimmicky in this one idk!! Like it's an Uketsu novel so there's going to be images, but it's literally like the same floorplan a hundred times. And only sometimes are they pointing something out to you, otherwise like yeah, it's just the damn floorplan.

• There was this part near they end where a character is explaining her family tree and for some reason we... don't get a photo breakdown of that??? Like a diagram?? It would have been very useful then!

• Easy to read though, which is nice.

✨ Sky Daddy by Kate Folk, 5/5!!!!!!!! ✨

The main character, Linda, is sexually obsessed with airplanes, but leads a pretty normal life. Things begin happening in her life that seem to be leading her towards her dreaming of "marrying" an airplane (aka dying in a plane crash, merging their souls forever in Linda's eyes), but it all eventually spins out of control.

• Don't let the premise of this book, the title or the cover fool you- this book is actually very wholesome!!!!!!!!!! It is not weird and overly fetishistic at all.

• I loved itttt :)

• Linda is a sweet character, and we do get a glimpse into her fantasies, but this book is more about isolation and friendship (her friendship with the character Karina) than it is about a woman who is sexually into planes.

• Super well written, so interesting and a surprisingly really tender story!

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell, 4.5/5

Jumping between Vanessa in 2007 when she meets and begins and relationship with her English teacher Strane, and 2017, where 10 years later Vanessa is still very much affected by the relationship.

• Extremely hard read, but a good book. Felt like a very harrowing, realistic, and in a way refreshing take on the student/teacher relationship.

• Like this is just full grooming yall not some Ezra/Aria bullshit.

• Vanessa is NOT a perfect victim at all, and I think that was one of the strongest things about the book. She's actually pretty unlikeable as an adult in 2017, but you also just feel so fucking bad for her.

• The first time she sleeps at Strane's house... HORRID. Unfortunately one of the scenes in the book I will probably never forget.

• Had a hard time finishing it because it was so depressing, but glad I read it.

✨ Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte, 5/5!!!!!!!✨

A bunch of short stories about different people across modern society who face... rejection!

• This was so fucking good. So funny and so REAL, like you know these people!!!!! You've seen these mf'ers online!

• I say modern society, but we're talking like dating apps, incel forums, reddit posts, onlyfans, twitter beef. Lots of modern day platforms act as sort of like the setting for these stories.

• All the stories were interesting because frankly all the main characters were somewhat deranged. Like in a way that it was so interesting being in their minds because of how deranged they are, I couldn't look away.

• I particularly liked The Feminist, Pics, and Ahegao.

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, 2.5/5

A 36-year-old Japanese woman has worked at a convenience store for like 15+ years, and loves it. It's her purpose. But societal and familial pressure to "grow up and join society" begins to mount, causing her to feel like she should leave the only thing she cares about behind.

• Re-read. Not as good as I remembered unfortunately! Not that bad though.

• A very easy to read book and pretty short.

• It just felt a little surface-level. The main character is so peculiar and interesting but I didn't feel like we got very deep, the plot just kind of went along.

✨ Hooked by Asako Yuzuki, 4/5 ✨

Eriko is a 30-year-old Japanese successful business woman, who is a huge fan of a blog run by a 30-year-old Japanese housewife name Shoko. Their lives intersect for better or for worse, and they both grow from the experience.

• I enjoyed this a lot. The chapters alter between Eriko and Shoko, and we spend a lot of time in the mind of each of these women as they try to understand themselves.

• They are both deeply flawed and are trying to navigate their issues. Their flaws are brought out by one another. It touches on feminine and masculine roles and relationships (in Japan), isolation, loneliness, and communication.

• I felt like this book went deep, but I didn't really know what conclusions to draw from it all! Because the book was so enjoyable, I didn't really mind this though.

• Only downside was their internal monologues could be a bit repetitive between chapters.

✨ Out There by Kate Folk, 5/5!!!!!!!!!!!!! ✨

A bunch of contemporary literature/sci-fi short stories. Don't know how else to describe it other than, it felt like reading a bunch of Black Mirror episodes.

• loveeeed this book. So good Kate Folk you've done it again.

• The stories take real feelings, issues and insecurities we all face, and manifest these things through some kind of sci-fi element.

• So the main characters and me as the reader get to explore these topics through the metaphor or the sci-fi aspect, while it also being a very literal thing for the characters in the book. Does that make sense???

• It's just really good guys just go read it I swear.

✨Everything You Ever Wanted by Luiza Sauma, 5/5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!✨

The most recent book I read!!

Iris is 29, works a job she hates, is generally unhappy and unfulfilled, and feels lost. She is going through the motions of life. That changes when she is selected as 1 of 100 people to travel to a new planet called Nyx and live among the first settlers on the planet. The catch is, if she chooses to go, she can never return to Earth again.

• Ok listen... this book is really fucking sad. BUT IT'S SO GOOOOOOOOOOOD.

• I found it so deep and touching. You'll read this book and feel grateful to be alive.

• So Iris is extremely depressed on Earth. She has been coping with some form of escapism her whole life- be that suicidal ideation as a teen, or alcohol and pills as an adult. Then the ultimate form of escapism is granted to her- travelling to Nyx- so of course she takes it, thinking that it will give her purpose.

• But (SPOILERS!!!) of course it doesn't. Yes, it's fun a first, but she ends up missing so much about Earth- simple things like the wind and the water (the atmosphere on Nyx is inhabitable, so she lives EXCLUSIVELY in a large facility called "The Hub"), but also her family, her sister, her friends.

• This really kind of just goes exactly where you think it does, like of course she regrets going. If you've seen the movie Melancholia or Aniara it's a very similar bleak vibe to those films.

• And yet, idk... the book was depressing but I loved it. I really felt for Iris, she was really well developed.

• To me, Nyx felt like a metaphor for suicide. Iris basically ended her life on Earth, but was still alive to live with the consequences on Nyx. It felt like the right idea in the moment, but she knew later on it was a mistake.

• I feel like having suicidal ideation may seem rational at the time it's happening, but many who move past it can understand it's a selfish irrational thing to do, and there's many people and things about life to be grateful and happy about.

• Iris unfortunately realized this when it was too late, and she could never return to that live. Like it gives me chills!!!!!!!! It's such a well done exploration into this theme.

• I'm writing a lot because I just read it and it's still on my mind lol. But yeah it is pretty bleak as I mentioned, so if you think that will be too tough than it might not be the book for you.

Okkkayyy that's it for now! I'm gonna keep reading and probably make a follow-up at the end of the year :) Special shoutout to my Kobo who I love so dearly. Go out and read some books!