I love to read. I also love the idea of creating a luxurious space with things that bring me joy to nestle into and get immersed in another world. A comfortable seat, a drink, incense and the right lighting creates the perfect space. I love to write and often those spaces look the same, to cradle my soul and inspire my spirit. We get busy. I got busy. I am busy. Working. Life is not all about working, said the Taurus. I need to be surrounded by a space that provokes and soothes and the same goes for the people that I love being around.
Right before we entered a new year, I felt inspired to read again. Like really read. To drown in another world. Rather than doomscrolling all night long, I wanted to imagine new people, new situations, new problems, new ideas in my mind. To exercise that muscle we call creativity.
So, I thought I would share with you what I have been reading this year and what I have on my list. It is not a 2026 Reading List. I would never be able to get through it all in a year. Rather, it’s a compilation of what I find interesting. And the list is fluid. I can change the order, add, delete, or reserve for later. I also jump from Kobo, hard copy and audiobook.
A lot of my time is spent driving to various site visits and client meetings. I enjoy listening to podcasts, but lately I am finding they exhaust me. They seem to be all the same content but with different lenses and voices. So, for now, I have swapped it out for audiobooks.
Let’s dive into the list.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman (Kobo)
The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt (Kobo)
The Best of Everything - Rona Jaffe (Kobo)
Under the Hawthorn Tree - Ai Mi (Kobo)
The Dud Avocado - Elaine Dundy (Kobo)
Even the Good Girls Will Cry - Melissa Auf der Maur (audiobook)
Then It Fell Apart - Moby (audiobook)
Famesick: A Memoir - Lena Dunham (audiobook)
You with the Sad Eyes: A Memoir - Christina Applegate (audiobook)
I adore odd characters. Eleanor Oliphant, The Dud Avocado and Lena Dunham, in her own memoir, are exactly that. Intriguing. Mysterious. Awkward. Listening to authors narrate their own memoirs - juicy and fascinating. If I had to recommend one to listen to; it would be Christina Applegate - she is mesmerizing. Moby and Lena - monotone and a bit boring, BUT fascinating stories so perhaps better to read them than to listen. The Goldfinch is where I lost myself to another world. Donna Tartt is not for the impatient. You must allow yourself to lean in and get swallowed. You must allow the book to unravel in its own time and way. The Best of Everything was frustrating as a progressive woman, yet the main character was ahead of her time.
In progress:
Sorrow and Bliss - Meg Mason (Kobo)
M Train - Patti Smith (hard copy)
Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life - Lulu Miller (audiobook)
I love a sad and tragic story. Melancholy is most comfortable for me. Thus, Sorrow and Bliss is a perfect nightcap for me. The iconic Patti Smith and her writing is THE perfect piece of art to pick up and put down whenever you feel pulled to dive into another life. And finally, Lulu Miller is an intriguing writer. I stumbled upon the recommendation and I can’t say enough about it; it’s memoir and science rolled into one. It’s perfection.
Coming up:
I can’t wait to jump into some lighter reading for the summer. This is the plan, but often while I am almost finished one book I am shifting what is next depending on how I feel.
Ghosts — Dolly Alderton
Really Good, Actually — Monica Heisey
The Rachel Incident — Caroline O’Donoghue
Bonjour Tristesse — Françoise Sagan
Standard Deviation — Katherine Heiny
If I want to stagger the light reading, I may return to my original list:
Ghosts — Dolly Alderton
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day — Winifred Watson
Bonjour Tristesse — Françoise Sagan
Less — Andrew Sean Greer
Cold Comfort Farm — Stella Gibbons
I also added some additional streams:
Nonfiction Lane
When I am out driving, walking or doing chores at home I like to listen to audiobooks. Topics range from: curiosity, history, religion, politics, the body, the universe, and general exploration - these tend to be the areas I love to dive into.
Body / Life / Universe / Philosophy
Why Fish Don’t Exist — Lulu Miller
An Immense World — Ed Yong
The Body: A Guide for Occupants — Bill Bryson
The Human Cosmos — Jo Marchant
The Order of Time — Carlo Rovelli
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics — Carlo Rovelli
Braiding Sweetgrass — Robin Wall Kimmerer
How to Do Nothing — Jenny Odell
The Book of Delights — Ross Gay
World Religions / History / Myth / Ideas
A History of God — Karen Armstrong
The Great Transformation — Karen Armstrong
The Lost Art of Scripture — Karen Armstrong
It should be noted that I studied world religion in University and continued throughout my life. Karen Armstrong is a favourite of mine that I return to often.
The Silk Roads — Peter Frankopan
God: An Anatomy — Francesca Stavrakopoulou
The First Signs — Genevieve von Petzinger
The Golden Thread — Kassia St. Clair
When God Was a Woman — Merlin Stone
The Myth of the Goddess — Anne Baring & Jules Cashford
The Swerve — Stephen Greenblatt
Politics / Power / Democracy
On Tyranny — Timothy Snyder
Doppelganger — Naomi Klein
The Shock Doctrine — Naomi Klein
No Logo — Naomi Klein
How Democracies Die — Steven Levitsky & Daniel Ziblatt
Poverty, by America — Matthew Desmond
They Thought They Were Free — Milton Mayer
Twilight of Democracy — Anne Applebaum
The Jakarta Method — Vincent Bevins
Prisoners of Geography — Tim Marshall
I do have more for autumn and winter. I will share those later as they may change. I collect future reading ideas from wandering bookstores, recommendations from friends, and listening to this podcast: One Nightstand.
This was a quick post. I suppose I am excited about reading again and wanted to share my list with you.
What’s on your nightstand? Where do you enjoy reading? What format do you prefer?
ELLASAID
great books!!