My 2026 Reading List - How'd You Do?
I like to keep track of my yearly reading. Not only is it a nice way to look back and feel some accomplishment (especially when I look back over multiple years), it keeps my feet to the proverbial fire.
The competition for attention is at an all time. So-called purveyors of truth use rage bait tactics to get us to read their garbage on social media or the internet. I’m guilty of going down a rage-bait-inspired rabbit hole as much as anyone else. One minute of harmless curiosity turns into an hour of “how dare he/she/they?” anger.
Streaming services also compete for competition by feeding us exactly what they know we want. If all I was able to watch were romantic holiday movies, I’d cancel Netflix. Instead, it recommends a steady diet of stand-up comedians and action movies. Hand me the popcorn!
Even now, the regular football season is wrapping up. I love the drama of the game and the backstories of the players/coaches/teams. The rest of the sporting year is ho-hum, but football is must-watch TV.
All those entertainment choices reduce my time dedicated to reading which is why this list is so important for me.
A December, 28 2025, New York Post Article highlighted the accomplishment of Armah, a digital marketer and book content creator. She read 120 books last year, which is a major achievement. Of course, any accomplishment in the modern age is guaranteed to be met by scorn and judgement from keyboard warriors. Many of them cast scorn her way because many of the books were romances. They also derided her for reading eBooks and not reading self-improvement. One even suggest she go out with friends and see a movie instead of reading.
Screw those people.
Obviously, I want to use an expletive above but chose not to in case you’re a fan of my cozy mysteries. If you’re a fan of my police procedurals, please edit the statement to back to its F-bomb glory.
Reading 120 books is a great accomplishment, especially in a society where a significant portion will not read any for the year, let alone more than ten.
I set a goal every year to read 52 books, one a week. I managed to read 41 this year, well short of my goal. Still, I don’t consider it a failure. I read 41 books after all!
Here’s my list:
Fiction (in no particular order)
1. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe – Douglas Adams
2. Different Seasons – Stephen King
3. The Hunter (#1) – Richard Stark (umpteenth read)
4. The Man with a Getaway Face (#2) – Richard Stark (second read)
5. The Outfit (#3) – Richard Stark
6. The Mourner (#4) – Richard Stark
7. The Score (#5) – Richard Stark
8. The Jugger (#6) – Richard Stark (second read)
9. The Seventh (#7) – Richard Stark
10. The Green Eagle Score (#10) – Richard Stark
11. The Black Ice Score (#11) – Richard Stark (second read)
12. Dune – Frank Herbert
13. I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
14. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
15. Money Men – Gerald Petievich
16. Open Season – C.J. Box
17. The Door to Bitterness – Martin Limón
18. A Hard Favored Death – Frank Zafiro
19. The Delivery List – Frank Zafiro
20. Logan’s Run – William F. Nolan & George Clayton Johnson
21. Hell is Empty – Craig Johnson
Non-Fiction (in no particular order)
1. The Chaos Machine: The Inside Store of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World – Max Fisher
2. Endure: How to Work Hard, Outlast, and Keep Hammering – Cameron Hanes
3. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us – Daniel H. Pink
4. Real Artists Don’t Starve – Jeff Goins
5. Don’t Start a Side Hustle! Work Less, Earn More, and Live Free – Brian Page
6. The Dynasty – Jeff Benedict
7. Shut Up and Listen! Hard Business Truths that Will Help You Succeed – Tilman Fertitta
8. Big Money Energy: How to Rule at Work, Dominate at Life, and Make Millions – Ryan Serhant
9. The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy (umpteenth read)
10. Can’t Hurt Me – David Goggins (third read)
11. The Ransomware Hunting Team – Renee Dudley
12. Killers of the Flower Moon – David Grann
13. Buy Back Your Time – Dan Martell
14. Breaking Blue – Timothy Egan (second read)
15. Driving Loyalty – Kirk Kazanjian
16. The Fred Factor – Mark Sanborn
17. Inside Delta Force – Eric Haney
18. The Dictionary of 1980s Slang: Stranger than Fiction – Rick Calile
19. The Twelve Week Year – Brian Moran
20. For the Love of Cities: Revised – Peter Kageyama
Interested in the reading list from previous years? Here you go:
2024 Reading List
2023 Reading List
2022 Reading List
2021 Reading List
2020 Reading List
2019 Did not list (No idea why I didn’t)
2018 Reading List
2017 Reading List