The Beauty of Books! +Reading list of 2026

My bookshelf (So far! I change it around often, especially when getting new books!)

2026 has only been around for 3 months, yet it feels like so much has happened! At the same time, March of 2025 seems like yesterday; isn’t it an odd feeling, “time”? But, there is hope… in a world shaped by “time”s cruel urge to inflict confusion and bewilderment on the human mind, I think reading can turn your time around.

Reading is one of the most purest joys of humanity. Personally, I love reading anything with words; the big textbooks regarding fauna and animals were always found in toddler hands, along with the studies of animal behavior. Books about science always fascinated me, espesically if they had pictures of something like nebulas or fungi. They are like a guidebook to nature. When I see the tall trees, that is the act; when I read the books that regard their scientific names, history, the animals that inhabit them, that is the preparation for the act.

Anyways, I am going on and on… the point is, I even like textbooks. Why? Well, even textbooks tell something of a story. Story! Yes. Thats what I’ve always loved about books. There is nothing like the beauty of books. I’ve grown up in a family who sees art in everything, and I see something alongside that. I see stories in everything.

The biographies of people always struck me as something great and insightful; the eye of someone’s mind on paper. Hearing someone speak of the things they’d done and seen strikes me the same way. Everyone has a story. Every place, every rock, every tree! Those great, big textbooks even tell the stories behind the sciences of everything, the past, present and future of what we know.

And of course, we have to move the real stories aside, despite how beautiful and tenderly history is. When we hear the word “books” we think of many things… possibly you may think of a great library filled with facts and information, possibly you may think of a recipe book, and possibly you may think of a storybook, or a tale of fantasy and adventure, or a comic.

Those are the books that are my favorite; the books that are made up. The books that tell a story birthed in the mind. I don’t care if said story takes place in the real world, with characters traversing through the details of a historical event so delicately researched and honorably written. I don’t care if it is a completely different universe, different planet, different world, different everything. Someone made something up in all those words, and that is beautiful. Someone imagined an idea that plays on the real world; to shine a light on the real world, translate their own experiences (or someone else’s) through the light of fantasy.

A lot of books are supposed to be made up, aren’t they? They may serve the purpose of escapism, or they may serve the purpose of truth.

Alright, you get the point. I love stories, and the idea of storytelling. Thats why I love to write, and that’s why I love to read. (I’m intending on making a blogpost about the beauty of “storytelling” soon.)

Let’s move onto a shallower topic regarding books; the actual act of reading. Surely the story is beautiful, and you may get lost inside its depths that the surroundings about you will drift into someplace lost. But what about your surroundings? That matters too, no matter how many times they drift away.

One of my favorite things about reading is that you get to curl up in a cozy corner, usually with a blanket, and possibly a dim lit, warm, light and just…be there. It might be quiet, or maybe you have some faint music playing in the background. The paper crinkles under your fingers; maybe there’s that faint, old book smell that reminds you of dust and mold, but in a cozy way.

When you read, time doesn’t go by slow and it doesn’t go by fast. Time passes as it passes in the story you have engulfed yourself in. You can distract yourself and get to know yourself at the same time.

In simpler terms, (a bit hilariously), I don’t feel like I’m wasting my time while reading. So, I’ve made it my mission to read as much as I can this year! (And forever, hopefully.) A specific goal of mine is to collect and read as many classics as possible. Classical literature has always pulled me in, especially because I’m a writer. I yearn to read “the greats” as much as possible in order to soak up the beauty and skill of the pioneers. Specifically, 19th century literature is my absolute favorite.

When it comes to 19th century literature, honestly I just like the style the best. The word choices, the way of description, the common use of the semi colon; (which I use way too much myself; this blogpost is a good example of that..). Maybe it is because of the great achievements in the 19th century. The 1800s were a time for social change, for scientific discoveries, for evolution, for invention. 19th century literature literally wrote the future. (Pst…HG Wells?)

So far this year, I’ve almost read fifteen books. (I’m reading my fifteenth book right now.)

While setting my goals, I found there’s a lot of readers out there who probably have read a lot more books than me right now. The thing is though, my goal is prominently based around classic literature. (Although I do still read modern literature as well). Usually classics are harder and lengthier, especially because of the language. So, I set myself a modest, but still slightly challenging, goal of at least FIVE books a month. This equals 60 books by the end of the year!

So far I have read….

1984 by George Orwell (later 2025-early 2026)

The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald

The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Earthsea Book 1 by Ursula Le Guinn

Earthsea Book 2 by Ursula Le Guinn

Earthsea Book 3 by Ursula Le Guinn

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guinn

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Susanne Collins

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

The Island of Doctor Moruea by H.G. Wells

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (currently reading)

Although, I’ve tried not to just read novels. I love poetry and short stories. Occasionally I will add “brief readings” to my book list. Some of these are…

-The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (re-reads)

-M.S. In a Bottle by Edgar Allan Poe

-Mary Oliver’s poetry

-Idylls of the Kings by Alfred Lord Tennyson

-Wildgoose Lodge by William Carleton

-Irish Poetry such as The Wild That Shakes the Barely by Robert Dwyer Joyce, The Stolen Child by W.B. Yeats, etc

I have really enjoyed all the incredible books, poetry and stories I’ve gotten to read so far. Out of all of these, there’s a few that stand out the most. 1984 may be one of my favorite books ever. I read it during Christmas time…dystopian does not go along with Christmas, but, the time I read it still stands out to me. Another one of my favorites is Wuthering Heights, the iconic of goth literature. The Lathe of Heaven really stands out as well; Ursula Le Guinn’s ideas go beyond the level of genius! The Book Thief has been on my list for a while now, and it didn’t disappoint; it made me cry multiple times, and the beautiful story telling left a profound impact on me.

I know 2026 has many more amazing reads to come! I am excited for all the stories (real or made up) that will serenade me in a cozy corner.