I am writing this entry as a companion post to my recent (and only) Month in Books entry for 2026, which listed down all the books I’ve read so far. Recapping these things has always been a pleasure. This time, I added a couple of highlights to note down. I’ll think of some more and get them ready for my annual reading recap, which is (*looks at calendar*) almost 5 months away (!!!). I can’t believe we’re way past the mid-point of the year. Time flies so fast!
A little insight as to my reading life this year so far: it has been pretty chill. It’s not exactly news given the number of books I have been reading lately. But I am just glad that I already got into a (I think) healthy point where I am just taking my own sweet time. I know which books, authors, and genres I gravitate towards. Sure I follow the occasional trend here and there, but I do not feel (overwhelmingly) pressured to keep up with any of it. Compared to before? I definitely changed. I post whenever I want (I stopped caring about algorithms altogether lol). I read whenever and whatever I want. I honestly love this era for me.
My 2026 Reading Challenge Update
I am writing this in the tail-end of July so my Goodreads stats have already updated but as of writing, I’m more than halfway my planned number for the year. Last year, when I did a similar mid-year check-in (which I published in the beginning of July), I was only at a 10-book count so this year was definitely an improvement. I’ve read a total of 15 books from January to June and finished an additional one so far, Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash, ever since my last update. It’s nice to be on track for once. I think 24 is really the sweet number for me. It has been my target for 5 years now (including this year).😊
READ: My Months in Books: All the Books I’ve Read in the First Half of 2026
Mid-Year Favorites
- The Wedding People by Alison Espach – 5/5☕
- Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ translated by Lin King – 4.5/5☕
- Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong – 4.5/5☕
Listen, I know I have other books that I tagged as 5 out of 5 but these 3 here are my personal favorites for the first half of 2026. These are books that meant so much to me on a personal level — that I still spend moments thinking about long after I finished them.
The Wedding People will probably be my new Anxious People, it holds so much of what I feel at the moment in this stage of my life. This made them tangible, in words I can actually read — and for that, I love this book so much. This was my first 5-star read of the year, and it was very much deserved. The emotions I have gone through reading this book is a lot — laughing, crying, falling in love. I will forever cherish experiences like this. I am still tabbing this book at the moment (I finished this in audio) but I think this is a nice candidate for a Reading Diary entry for my journal.
I spent a lot of time with Taiwan Travelogue. I traveled with it in various places and I savored its contents. I associate reading this book to a lot memories that are dear to me. When you move with a book like this in your life — one that is both comforting AND uncomfortable at times — it stays with you. But on the other hand, reading this was a nice surprise as well content-wise. This year’s was the first International Booker Prize that I closely followed — in fact, the reason why I knew of this book in the first place was because it got longlisted (at the time) and I saw it in the list. When it won, my heart swelled with pride as if I have a hand in the makings of it.
And finally, Night Sky with Exit Wounds is the first poetry book I’ve read in a while and there was just something about it that I found deeply affecting. Much so that I got motivated to actually edit in Canva, which I don’t usually do. I find that books that inspire something in me enough to fuel my creativity is not something I encountered all the time but this one did. It made me inspired to seek more poetry collections in my TBR list. Last year introduced me to Ocean Vuong on my a much deeper level because of Emperor of Gladness. Now, I am scouring interviews of him just because I loved listening to him talk. Poetry is him at his best.
A Couple of Highlights to date
- Translated books read: 2 out of 15
- Books written by women: 12 out of 15
- Fiction: 10 out of 15
- Non-fiction: 5 out of 15 (is Night Sky non-fiction?)
- Most surprising read: The Wedding People by Alison Espach
- Book I never thought I would read but did: Yesteryear (mostly because it is a thriller)
- New series started: Noodle Shop Mystery Series
- Best sequel I’ve read so far: When the Crow’s Away
- Best book I’ve read so far (if I have to choose): Taiwan Travelogue
- Least liked book I’ve read so far (it’s not too bad, but if I had to choose): The Daisy Chain Flower Shop
What I’m Looking Forward to
I’ve already listed what I am currently reading this July. And I barely had any progress in my 2026 Reading Resolutions so I’m not even gonna take stock of my progress in that. However, I wanted to list down additional things that I am hoping to do before the year ends (aside from the resolutions I set at the beginning of the year):
- Of course, finish my 2026 Reading Challenge (a target of 24 books this year)
- Post about at least one bookish place I went to recently (I’ve had so many travels I wanted to share recently that it’s a shame if I don’t put it in my own personal space in the internet)
- Do more book photoshoots (I honestly miss my pandemic days of obsessing over flat lays and just book photography in general)
- Get back to posting more often in this blog (reviews and whatnots, other than Month in Books entries)
HOW ABOUT YOU? What was the highlight of your year so far?
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P.S. All other photos used in this post’s graphics came from my archives of when I visited Livraria Lello in Porto last December — a gift to myself for my last birthday. I’m trying to compile and process them at the moment so I hope I’ll be able to share those in this site in the near future. ✨
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