Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate
Pocket Bear is a pretty cute story about toys and belonging. The only issue is it drags on occasion. The ending is very sweet and makes it worth the time it takes to read it.
4 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2026: 90
Pages Read in 2026: 30,099
Speak Up, Santiago! by Julio Anta and Gabi Mendez
Speak Up, Santiago! is a graphic novel with a sweet story addressing the difficulty of being part of a culture, but not fluently knowing the language and feeling anxious about that. The pictures are beautiful, too.
5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2026: 89
Pages Read in 2026: 29,835
Debut
Picture to Burn: Features a breakup – Miss Match by Lindzee Armstrong
A Place in This World: Finding yourself – The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
Mary’s Song: Childhood sweethearts – ASAP by Axie Oh
Fearless
Fifteen: Young Adult – A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
The Way I Loved You: Binge in one day – Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood
Superstar: Book with a lot of hype – Devout by David Archuleta
Speak Now
Back to December: Takes place in December – The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson
Dear John: Age gap romance – Half His Age by Jeannette McCurdy
Long Live: Features royalty – A Game of Noctis by Deva Fagan
Red
The Lucky One: Features a disappearance – Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
Everything Has Changed: Dual POV – The Liars Society by Alyson Gerber
Ronan: Made you want to cry – The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
1989
Welcome to New York: Set in NYC – Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
Out of the Woods: Involves a car accident – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Clean: Features an addiction – Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella (shopping)
Reputation
…Ready For It?: Dark Romance – Our Strange Duet by Erin A. Craig
I Did Something Bad: Getting revenge – The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Getaway Car: Involves a heist – A Fortune of Sand by Ruta Sepetys
Lover
Cruel Summer: Takes place in the summer – Zane and the Hurricane by Rodman Philbrick
Paper Rings: Includes a wedding – Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot
Soon You’ll Get Better: Features an illness – Invisible Isabel by Sally J. Pla
Folklore
My Tears Ricochet: Features a betrayal – The Midwife’s Revolt by Jody Daynard
Invisible String: Fated mates – Nimbus by Jan Eldredge
Hoax: Cover has shades of blue – Alice With a Why by Anna James
Evermore
Willow: Features a witch – Holding Pattern by Jenny Xie
Cowboy Like Me: Cowboy romance – Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage
Marjorie: Deals with grief – XOXO by Axie Oh
Midnights
Anti-Hero: Features an antihero – The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall
Midnight Rain: Main character is famous – Home Work by Julie Andrews
Question…?: Title is a question – Seriously Mum, Where’s That Donkey? by Alan Parks
The Tortured Poets Department
Down Bad: Science Fiction – The Torchbearers by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs
So Long, London: Set in the UK – The Names by Florence Knapp
How Did it End?: A character dies – Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
The Life of a Showgirl
The Fate of Ophelia: Shakespeare retelling – Tastes Like Shakkar by Nisha Sharma (Much Ado About Nothing)
Father Figure: Mafia romance – Ruthless People by JJ McAvoy
Wood: Tree on the cover – The Bright Side Running Club by Josie Lloyd
Filed under Reason: Taylor Swift
Ruthless People by JJ McAvoy
Ruthless People is a mafia romance and that turns out to be really not my genre. The violence was extremely graphic. I was going to give it three stars because it did keep my attention, but there were just so many typos especially in the second half. Often there were words missing completely and I’d have to read the sentence again to make it make sense which pulled me out of the narrative. It made it very frustrating to read.
2 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2026: 87
Pages Read in 2026: 29,299
Out of My Dreams by Sharon M. Draper
Of all the Out of My Mind series, my favorite is Out of My Dreams. So much happens throughout the book that there is never a dull moment. Melody’s character development is very well done. I found myself looking forward to when I’d continue reading it next, but also not looking forward to the end since it would mean a final goodbye to Melody and Mrs. V.
5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2026: 86
Pages Read in 2026: 28,927
Our Strange Duet by Erin A. Craig
Our Strange Duet is an absolute masterpiece of a book. The author wove in lyrics from the musical but still made the story sound fresh and authentically Christine’s point of view. She truly captured the late nineteenth century feel. The whole thing had an almost dream-like quality to it. It was one of those books where I didn’t want to read too fast because it deserved extra time and attention and I didn’t want it end.
5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2026: 85
Pages Read in 2026: 28,601
Gabby Torres Gets a Billion Followers by Angela Dominguez
Gabby Torres Gets a Billion Followers is a sort of hybrid written story plus pictures and graphic novel bits. It’s fun and reads fast and also has an excellent lesson about being kind, telling the truth, and using social media. I can see why it was chosen as a Bluebonnet winner.
5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2026: 84
Pages Read in 2026: 28,207
The Guncle Abroad by Steven Rowley
I found The Guncle Abroad to be even more entertaining than the first Guncle book. The author excels at showing character growth. While it wasn’t a “can’t put it down” book, I didn’t avoid reading it and finished it in just a few days.
5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2026: 83
Pages Read in 2026: 28,062
Never Say Match by Lindzee Armstrong
I very much enjoyed Never Say Match as I have all the books in the series. They read fast and are the perfect formulaic mind vacation. While all the books have characters from previous books and connect in some way, they can be read as standalones or in any order.
5 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2026: 81
Pages Read in 2026: 27,370
