2026 Reading List

My reading list, the evolution of my book club, and what comes next

Dear readers,

I’m ready to launch my year of reading.

This post includes a list of all the books I’m going to read. If you’d like to read any of them with me, join my IRL book club or chat about them on this Substack or on my Instagram.

To get ahead of the questions:

• “How will you read all these books in 2026, Katya?”

  1. No promises I will!

  2. Read my last post for context

  3. I read every day, often a little of many books at a time, and I don’t make myself finish books

• Can I come to your book club IRL?

  • Sure! But I’m trying out a new format for the next few months.

  • The book club will be tentatively called “Beyond the Page Collective“ and it’s not a book club, it’s “a space for deeper reading and creative response.”

  • That’s all I’ll say for now. I’ll write more about it later, but please let me know if this sounds interesting to you…

• But didn’t you have a joy-themed book club before?

  • Yes! The Joy Reads Collective. With every book I read, I’ll still ask: “Does this book leave me feeling more joyful in any way?” If so, I’ll add it to my Joy list.

• But don’t you host reading parties?

  • Yes, I will be helping out with many reading, literature, writing, and crafting events in 2026. Stay subscribed to get invites!

Katya’s 2026 TBR

Physical books I have

Nonfiction

• Wintering by Katherine May

• Get the Picture by Bianca Bosker

• The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

• Conversations with People Who Hate Me by Dylan Marron

• I Might Regret This by Abbi Jacobson

• One Bad Mother by Ej Dickson

• A Guide for the Perplexed: A Practical Guidebook for Creating Meaning in the Present Day by Leah Kraft

Classics

• Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

• Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Love & Culture

• Stranger by Belle Burden

• Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su

• Heart the Lover by Lily King

• Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

• The Wedding People by Alison Espach

• The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

• Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

• Flat Earth by Anika Jade Levy

• Girls Our Age by Phoebe Thompson

• Summer in the City by Alex Aster

Literary Speculative Fiction

• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

• House of Day, House of Night by Olga Tokarczuk

• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

• If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino

• Vigil by George Saunders

Sci-Fi

• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell by Susanna Clarke

• A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Surreal / Mystical / Psychological / Dark Literary Fiction

• The Vegetarian by Han Kang

• Loneliness & Company by Charlee Dyroff

• Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

• The Eyes Are The Best Part by Monika Kim

Historical Fiction

• When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-yi Lee

• The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

• Babel by R.F. Kuang

Pure Fantasy (is it time??)

• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

• All the books by Sarah J. Maas

Cozy

• A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

(Yes, I am trying to get off Goodreads.. Feel free to yell at me! )

(And yes, this is a never ending list that I’ll keep updating).

(And yes, I will try to be on top of publishing reviews).

Let me know if you’re interested in any of the above

Yay I am excited! Please comment if you’re also excited & also I’d appreciate if you took the interest form where we vote on what to read.

Best,

Katya