Books I Read This Year

Books I read in 2011
Books I read in 2012
Books I read in 2013
Books I read in 2014
Books I read in 2015
Books I read in 2016
Books I read in 2017
Books I read in 2018
Books I read in 2019
Books I read in 2020
Books I read in 2021
Books I read in 2022
Books I read in 2023
Books I read in 2024
Books I read in 2025

2026 is a disaster for reading. I simply have not found my groove. I finally managed to absorb a book when my neighbor, who has little boys, began reading the Wings of Fire series and talked me into it. I decided to go for it, since I knew a children’s book would be an easy dip back into the written world. I’m listing each one individually, since I’m so embarrassed of myself this year. I retain hope that I will read more in the future, as I try to write my own novel, I keep telling myself that good writers must also be readers.

When I initially began this project, my intent was to try to fit more books into my busy life and to gain a little encouragement by seeing my lists grow. It was more successful than I expected it would be, and I have been reading many more books than I expected to be able to. My second goal was to help gain a better breadth of genres, so I will continue to try to improve that aspect. Since 2020, I’ve focused on Black writers with themes important to Black authors, and I’m always interested in Native stories. Please drop a recommendation into the comments if you know of a book that should be read!

Full disclosure:

Most of the time I read audio books on my iPhone. I love you, audible.com! Though I value holding a book above all other forms of reading, it isn’t practical in my life.  Always the multitasker, I read stories (and listen to APM, BBC, and other podcasts) while washing dishes, working in the garden, driving, mowing the lawn, going for a run, folding clothes. An unexpected bonus is that I now look forward to folding the laundry and washing dishes! Another bonus is that I am able to enjoy the impressive voice talents of many narrators. It adds an important dimension to books that I haven’t experienced before.

The following are books I read so far this year. If you want to see what I read in other years, hit the links above.

1. Wings of Fire novel series. The Dragonet Prophecy. Book 1 The Dragonet Prophecy by Tui T. Sutherland. This is a children’s series about a world that is run by dragons. Humans are there, but they are insignificant like mice, and barely noticed by the dragons, who think they are unable to communicate or think critically. In the first book we are introduced to the world in the midst of dragon war, and to the prophecy, which promises that five amazing dragonets (young dragons) are going to unite the tribes and stop the war. We especially learn about the dragon named Clay, the biggest and strongest who is supposed to be the mean muscle protecting the group and supposed to be the fiercest warrior, but he has a gentle heart and loves his team.
2. Book 2 The Lost Heir by Tui T. Sutherland. In this book we learn more about the dragon named Tsunami. All five dragonets are from a different tribe, were kidnapped as eggs, and raised the first few years of their lives together in a cave under a mountain and never allowed to see the light of day or any other dragon except their three mentors. Clay was a Mudwing dragon, who loves wallowing in mud and eating livestock. Tsunami has the heart of a warrior and she is from the Sea tribe. She’s blue and green and has glowing spots on her scales like lights. She loves to swim and can hold her breath underwater much longer than Clay. She finds out she is the daughter of a queen, but it’s not as great as she was hoping.
3. Book 3 The Hidden Kingdom by Tui T. Sutherland. Glory was a last-minute addition to the dragonets and their mentors have always conflicted about her, since she was not actually in the prophecy but they needed a fifth dragon. Glory is colorful and beautiful and loves her team, but has a lot of self-doubt about how helpful she will be since she’s not supposed to be there anyway. She is a Rainwing dragon and is thrilled to go home and learn how wonderful life is when she’s in the right environment, but she is disappointed that her tribe is not more capable, like the team she belongs to.
4. Book 4 The Dark Secret by Tui T. Sutherland. Starflight the dark dragon of secrets and power has always had self-doubt like Glory has. It’s because the Nightwing dragon tribe is supposed to have mind-reading powers but Starflight’s powers haven’t manifested yet. He is extremely smart and reads everything he can find, which often comes in handy for the group, but he can’t help but think he is ruining the prophecy because he can’t read minds. The dragonets manage to find his tribe, living under a volcano, and Starflight learns that they are capturing innocent Rainwing dragons.
5. Book 5 The Brightest Night by Tui T. Sutherland. Sunny has always been treated as the mascot of the group. Sunny is thought of as a Sandwing, but she is not built like a typical Sandwing. She is small, has no tail stinger, and constantly finding the bright side of what’s going on, so no one takes her seriously. Sunny always has creative ideas and suggestions, and the group always ignores her. But she loves them all so much, and believes in the prophecy so much, she has never wavered in her determination. Under the volcano, the group got the truth out of one of their mentors that the Nightwings made up the prophecy, and now Sunny’s faith is shaken. Then she finds out her parents were not both Sandwings. All would be lost, except Sunny’s mother is the first parent out of all the dragonets who turns out to be more wonderful than imagined, which gives her courage.
6. Wings of Fire novel series. Jade Mountain Prophecy. Book 1 Moon Rising by Tui T. Sutherland. I began reading this and got about halfway through. The dragon war is over and a new school has been opened, to teach dragonets from all dragon tribes together. Moonwatcher, a Nightwing, actually does have mind-reading powers. After the Nightwings were exposed for lying all these years, Moonwatcher doesn’t know what to do with actual powers – if anyone would even believe her. I couldn’t finish the book. The story is not as interesting, and it is a children’s book after all. I stopped reading.
7. Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. On the 50th anniversary of the publication of this novel, I finally read it. I’ve got many of her books on my shelves, having picked them up at some yard sale somewhere at some time. But never read a word. I did see the movie, with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, after the scandal of her hating the casting choice made me curious. The book is good. I can see how it was genre-building, despite some plot lines clearly being more scandalous in 1976 than in 2026. The main character is Louis, the one narrating the story to a young reporter. Louis explains how one becomes a vampire, and how he at first idolized Lestat, the one who made him a vampire. Over time, he came to realize he was the more mature, thoughtful, and wizer of them. Lestat is driven by insecurity, and in a desperate attempt to keep Louis in his life, turns a child into a vampire and tells Louis they are now a family. The child is called Claudia by Lestat. Claudia may have the body of a child, but her mind grows up, and eventually she and Louis escape Lestat by killing him (they think) and try to find a new home. They travel around the world and learn awful truths about vampires and then Lestat hunts them, once he recovers.
8. Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. This one has been sitting in my audible queue so long that I have no idea why I chose it, or if it was recommended to me. It’s the oldest of my unread books, so I pressed play. It begins pre-WWII, and follows two couples through their lives. The four people; Cal, Becky, Margaret, and Felix, come from different beginnings with different families and different ambitions. Like all young people, they have expectations about what life will be, and readers get to follow them as they negotiate the obstacles that take them off the paths they were expecting.