Books Read 2026

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11:08a, 7/30/26
AG
Piranesi - Susanna Clarke

A strange (at first) and interesting little book. Would call this Urban Fantasy / Mystery genre. You really aren't sure what's going on at first but the book unfolds and fills you in along the way. Pretty entertaining and a quick read at that.
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JDUB08AG
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In reply to YouBet • 11:11a, 7/30/26
AG
YouBet said:
JDUB08AG said:
Moving along in my year of Stephen King, I just finished the Stand (really enjoyed it) and moving into the Dark Tower series. I started the Gunslinger but man, I'm having a tough time getting into and honestly struggling to even piece together what is happening. I'll keep going, but curious if this book is more of a stage setter than anything.


Are you talking about the original Gunslinger book? Yeah, he wrote that in college before he really knew where he was going with it, ultimately. It's almost more of a high level framework than a novel. The next few books are incredible. Peak Cocaine King. Great stuff.

Yeah, the original. Now in the forward he does talk about how he made some moderate revisions to the original, but I assume its still largely the same. Good to hear on the subsequent books because so far its just...weird and almost non-coherent. Maybe I need to recalibrate my brain reading this a bit and I'm only about 25% through it.
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In reply to JDUB08AG • 11:16a, 7/30/26
AG
JDUB08AG said:
YouBet said:
JDUB08AG said:
Moving along in my year of Stephen King, I just finished the Stand (really enjoyed it) and moving into the Dark Tower series. I started the Gunslinger but man, I'm having a tough time getting into and honestly struggling to even piece together what is happening. I'll keep going, but curious if this book is more of a stage setter than anything.


Are you talking about the original Gunslinger book? Yeah, he wrote that in college before he really knew where he was going with it, ultimately. It's almost more of a high level framework than a novel. The next few books are incredible. Peak Cocaine King. Great stuff.

Yeah, the original. Now in the forward he does talk about how he made some moderate revisions to the original, but I assume its still largely the same. Good to hear on the subsequent books because so far its just...weird and almost non-coherent. Maybe I need to recalibrate my brain reading this a bit and I'm only about 25% through it.


Yeah, I would recommend just powering through it and think of it almost more as an introduction or forward to the rest of the series. He wrote that at a young age and then didn't return to it for many years after he was a very established and more mature writer.
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Pac1698
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In reply to JDUB08AG • 12:42p, 7/30/26
AG
I have about 20% left on the book Black House which ties in directly to the Dark Tower series (i'm trying to finish today since it's due back tomorrow). So far I've read all the tie in books and will jump back into the Dark Tower book 6 (Song of Susannah) tomorrow. Definitely stick with it, it makes way more sense the more you journey through the rest of series. And just like others have suggested, read all the tie in books, it's worth the time!!

Also I did stop many times throughout the series to ask AI questions about what was going on or about certain characters backgrounds and how they tie in to the greater story. Be sure to say no spoilers.
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BenFiasco14
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In reply to JDUB08AG • 4:16p, 7/30/26
AG
JDUB08AG said:
YouBet said:
JDUB08AG said:
Moving along in my year of Stephen King, I just finished the Stand (really enjoyed it) and moving into the Dark Tower series. I started the Gunslinger but man, I'm having a tough time getting into and honestly struggling to even piece together what is happening. I'll keep going, but curious if this book is more of a stage setter than anything.


Are you talking about the original Gunslinger book? Yeah, he wrote that in college before he really knew where he was going with it, ultimately. It's almost more of a high level framework than a novel. The next few books are incredible. Peak Cocaine King. Great stuff.

Yeah, the original. Now in the forward he does talk about how he made some moderate revisions to the original, but I assume its still largely the same. Good to hear on the subsequent books because so far its just...weird and almost non-coherent. Maybe I need to recalibrate my brain reading this a bit and I'm only about 25% through it.


You've already gotten good feedback but my two cents as someone who read the series in 2025.

Books 1 and 2 are essentially the introduction to all the major characters and where the plot is eventually going. Book 1 is about the hero and book 2 is about the hero finding his party members. In a nutshell. Both however can be slogs and I burned out on book 2 about 15 years ago.

Was the payoff worth it? Absolutely imo, especially as a King fan and a fan of the Stand more specifically.
CNN is an enemy of the state and should be treated as such.
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FancyKetchup14
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4:17p, 7/30/26
AG
Lonesome Dove - 10/10. Have not had a book that made me want to stay up all night to read, but also toss the book across the room and then stubbornly get up and finish it.

What a ride. I'll be chasing that high for a while, fruitlessly I am sure.
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TX AG 88
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In reply to TX AG 88 • 1:26p, 7/31/26
AG
Just finished A Parade of Horribles, the eighth book of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman

It was okay. It got tiresome thru the middle, but somehow it redeemed itself at the end. More in the DCC thread:
https://texags.com/forums/13/topics/3483915/replies/72654649

I'm now starting on The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke, another dual Hugo/Nebula winner.

So far in 2026:

The Algebraist by Iain Banks (started in 2025)
Man Plus by Frederik Pohl
* The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
* Gateway by Frederik Pohl
Beyond the Blue Event Horizon (HeeChee Saga book 2) by Frederik Pohl
* Ringworld by Larry Niven
* Neuromancer by William Gibson
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
A Parade of Horribles, by Matt Dinniman

* = dual winners of both the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award
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jkag89
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6:18p, 7/31/26
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling - Had no plans rereading this series this year but happy I did.

The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton (B-) - The collection of the first 12 of Chesterton's Father Brown "detective" short stories. The most of the mysteries/crimes to be solved as is common with this genre are rather contrived but that is part of the fun.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling - Never read this before but it was among the books that my sister loaned me for my reread of of the series. It is presented as a translation by Hermione Granger from the copy bequeathed to her by Dumbledore in the Deathly Hallows with additional commentary by Dumbledore found in the Hogwarts archives. It is a fun companion book to the series. Has anyone read the two other companion books, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages? Are they worth reading?

Now that I'm finished with Harry Potter I can continue with earnest with Children of Dune and Packing for Mars.

Audiobooks
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (A) - Still understand why as a teenage I hated this novel but the much older me now understands all the praise. The images Hemingway produces with his sparse prose are amazing, he puts you on the boat with the old man. I now with a lot life behind behind me I understand the motivation the old man and the boy's devotion to his mentor. Oh and the Great DiMaggio.

The Pearl by John Steinbeck (A-) - Excellent well written story with a dark ending which is par for the course with the other Steinbeck novels I've read, Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.

Next listen, Steinbeck's East of Eden.

January
1) A Team For America: The Army-Navy Game That Rallied a Nation at War by Randy Roberts (B)
2) Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert (B+)
3) What Christians Believe: Understanding the Nicene Creed by Bishop Robert Barron (A)

February
4) A Gentleman in Moscow by by Amor Towles (A)
5) The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams by Adam Lazarus (C)

Audiobooks
1) The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien - A mixture of listening and reading the text in an attempt to actually finish the book after many failed attempts in the past. I think listening to the stories comes across as the telling of lore instead of a dry history.
2) Frankenstein (or, The Modern Prometheus) by Mary Shelley (B)

March (Not a good reading month of reading for me)
6) The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins (B-)

Audiobooks
3a) Don Quixote Part 1 by Miguel de Cervantes (A-)

April (All three of these book are rather short, so another not particularly good reading month for me)
7) Daybreaks: Daily Reflections for Lent and Easter by Amy Welborn (B)
8) The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel (C-)
9) Night by Elie Wiese (A)

Audiobooks
4) The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (A)
5) The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (C+)
6) All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (A)

May
10) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
11) Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis (C+)
12) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by by J.K. Rowling

Audiobooks
3b) Don Quixote Part 2 by Miguel de Cervantes (B)
7) Hitler's Last Soldier in America by Georg Gaertner, Arnold Krammer (B+)

June
13) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
14) Perelandra by C.S. Lewis (B)
15) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Audiobooks
8) Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain (B)
9) The Colour Out of Space and Others by H.P. Lovecraft (B)

July
16) True Grit by Charles Portis (A-)
17) The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobel (C)
18) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
19) In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick (A-)
20) That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis (B+)
21) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
22) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
23) The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton (B-)
24) The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

Audiobooks
10) The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G. K. Chesterton (B)
11) The Napoleon of Notting Hill by G. K. Chesterton (C+)
12) A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (A-)
13) The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (A)
14) The Pearl by John Steinbeck (A-)
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The Marksman
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In reply to jkag89 • 6:20p, 7/31/26
AG
Quote:
Has anyone read the two other companion books, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages? Are they worth reading?

I enjoyed both! They are short and fun.
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jkag89
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In reply to The Marksman • 6:51p, 7/31/26
Thanks
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Claude!
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In reply to jkag89 • 7:18p, 7/31/26
If you're enjoying Steinbeck, try his short novel The Moon is Down, about the occupation of a Northern European town by an unnamed army, clearly intended to be Nazi Germany. Steinbeck wrote it at the height of the war as a propaganda piece, but it's really quite good.
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G-Houston
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In reply to Claude! • 7:23p, 7/31/26
AG
A second for the moon is down! Great book.
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In reply to FancyKetchup14 • 7:31p, 7/31/26
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FancyKetchup14 said:
Lonesome Dove - 10/10. Have not had a book that made me want to stay up all night to read, but also toss the book across the room and then stubbornly get up and finish it.

What a ride. I'll be chasing that high for a while, fruitlessly I am sure.


Pretty much. Arguably the greatest novel of all time by an American author.
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birdman
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7:18a, 8/1/26
Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. It's a masterpiece. Story about Gilded Age in New York.

Society, class distinctions, romance. A group of rich friends with love triangle has been done endlessly. Never done this well. Truly exceptional novel.

I immediately put this in my top 25 novels of all time.
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In reply to birdman • 9:34a, 8/1/26
AG
I'm assuming the current show on this topic is based on this novel?
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AgHawkeye
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In reply to YouBet • 2:24p, 8/1/26
AG
YouBet said:
FancyKetchup14 said:
Lonesome Dove - 10/10. Have not had a book that made me want to stay up all night to read, but also toss the book across the room and then stubbornly get up and finish it.

What a ride. I'll be chasing that high for a while, fruitlessly I am sure.


Pretty much. Arguably the greatest novel of all time by an American author.


I too am struggling through a post Lonesome Dove lull.
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Philo B 93
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In reply to FancyKetchup14 • 3:17p, 8/1/26
FancyKetchup14 said:
Lonesome Dove - 10/10. Have not had a book that made me want to stay up all night to read, but also toss the book across the room and then stubbornly get up and finish it.

What a ride. I'll be chasing that high for a while, fruitlessly I am sure.


By now, one could make an argument that Lonesome Dove is objectively the greatest book of all time. You see it more than any other single book on most "greatest books" searches. I know because that's what I did for about 6 months after reading it.

Two that I saw a lot on those searches were 11.22.63 by Stephen King and East of Eden. I loved 11.22.63 a tiny bit less than Lonesome Dove. The other book is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I just finished that one, and I don't get the love for it. It's not bad, but it doesn't draw you in like Lonesome Dove. Steinbeck's prose is supposed to be great. I don't think I even know what prose is.
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texsn95
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9:20p, 8/1/26
AG
I'm about 50 pages into 1984, should I continue? Had no idea what to expect really...
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birdman
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In reply to YouBet • 10:04p, 8/1/26
YouBet said:
made I'm assuming the current show on this topic is based on this novel?

Probably. I'm not up to speed on most tv shows.

Scorsese this into a movie years ago. Big cast, supposedly a great film. But I've never seen it.
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birdman
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In reply to texsn95 • 10:04p, 8/1/26
texsn95 said:
I'm about 50 pages into 1984, should I continue? Had no idea what to expect really...

Yes. It's awesome.
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YouBet
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In reply to texsn95 • 10:49p, 8/1/26
AG
texsn95 said:
I'm about 50 pages into 1984, should I continue? Had no idea what to expect really...

Most depressing book I've ever read but you should finish it. Should be required reading.
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