As we head into June, as the months become hotter and sunnier, as my life changes (hopefully for the better), and as I settle in from one of the best trips I’ve ever taken, I’m taking the time to slow down and reminisce on all the great books I’ve discovered and re-read this year.

2026 has been a great year for books. (And movies and music, and while I can’t wait to talk about that, I’ll leave it for another post). Some months have been better than others, some I didn’t read at all. But overall, the books I’ve chosen to add to my collection this year have been pretty amazing.

So far I have finished a total of 16 books and my stats, according to StoryGraph, can be summarized as follows:

• 16 books, 6,323 pages
• Moods: dark, emotional, adventurous, mysterious, tense
• Pace: 63% medium, 31% fast, 6% slow
• Page number: 300-499: 69%, Under 300: 25%, 500+: 6%
• 100% of the books have been fiction
• My biggest genres have been: Literary, Fantasy, Historical, Romance, and Contemporary
• Print: 75%, Digital: 25%
• I’ve read 15 books in English and 1 in Spanish (yikes, just one?)
• I read the most in January, with a total of 7 books that month
• In May, I didn’t finish any books

May has been the slowest reading month for me and I’m excited to get back into my reading and my writing and I thought a great way to do this would be by reminiscing over the books that I have had the pleasure of reading so far this year.

My 5 favorite books of this year are…

In no particular order:

• The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
• Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
• Her Hidden Fire by Cliodhna O’Sullivan
• Storm Over Camelot by Sophie Keetch

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

A historical fantasy novel set in medieval Russia, and which reads like a fairytale, about a young girl named Vasilisa who is tied to the forest and to the very Earth itself. Enchanting, magical, lyrical, and wild.

I know I said my list wasn’t in any order but THIS ONE is possibly my favorite read of 2026, so far.

If you liked Uprooted by Naomi Novik, and you enjoy a book that weaves magic and religion into its very roots, you might love this one.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Another historical novel, this one set in Afghanistan and spanning across two decades. It details the lives of two women who are forced to share a household during the rise of the Taliban, and the bond that deepens between them as they navigate womanhood, war, starvation, destruction, and love.

A beautiful, yet incredibly gut-wrenching recollection of the unbreakable bond between humans in the most uncertain and heartbreaking of situations.

Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh

Um, this book as actually insane. Actually, no. I expected insane. This was something I cannot describe. Every page led to something I was absolutely not expecting.

It tells the story of a boy named Little Marek, who lives in a village in medieval times, alongside his shepherd father. That is all I will say…

It was disturbing, bleak, horrible, sad, and kind of gross. But um, I really liked this book. It always feels strange giving so much praise to a book that deals with horrible subject matter, because what am I supposed to say? I loved it? It feels quite unnatural to say that. But this book was just very well written. And it didn’t sugarcoat an era that is known for being horrid and just plain difficult.

If you enjoyed something like Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman (which, if you haven’t, please go read that one immediately), like medieval horror, or just dark and disturbing books in general, you might like this one.

Also, if you enjoy Ottessa’s work, an you haven’t already, you should really read her novella, McGlue, another dark, historical story, this one about a sailor.

Her Hidden Fire by Cliodhna O’Sullivan

I didn’t tend to read a lot of YA fiction, at least not before reading this one. But something about the subject matter in these books seemed very cozy and nostalgic to me. I think it’s because I used to read so much YA when I was younger, and naturally, as I grew, my reading tastes and interests pulled me away from that section at the bookstore. I think also, at the time I picked this one up, I had been reading A LOT of darker books (ahem, Lapvona), and I wanted something refreshing. YA seemed perfect.

So I picked up Her Hidden Fire.

And it was exactly what I wanted. There’s dragons (LOVE), a magic school, romance, competition. But it also deals with some deeper topics, as this is a world that, much like ours, caters to the elite in monstrous ways.

Storm Over Camelot by Sophie Keetch

Now, this last one I had been waiting for MONTHS ever since reading the first two books in this series. When I tell you I finished the first one and immediately ran to the store the next day to pick up the sequel, I am not exaggerating.

This trilogy centers one of my favorite characters in one of my favorite topics, Arthurian legend.

The great Morgana Le Fay, known by many different names. Sometimes a friend, others a foe. Always a sorceress.

I have read Morgana’s story an unhealthy amount of times, but Sophie brought such a fresh take on a story I already knew so well and which I love deeply.

The conclusion to this trilogy was everything I wanted, and if you love Arthurian legend or are interested in getting into it, I recommend this series wholeheartedly!

Here’s to another seven months of great books!