january 2026 reading journey
I had a positive reading experience to kickstart the year, especially since none of it felt forced. There were some books that I knew were waiting to be read because they were built into my personal curriculum coursework, but I also made time for three books just for fun. In winter, I work longer hours for a shorter semester and there was a lot of down time. Since I wasn’t quite in the headspace to write, reading was my activity of choice.
1. Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson
This is a great first entry into an iconic series. I love our introduction to all of these major characters (minus a few who will make an appearance a bit later on) and the themes about community, environment, and danger are prescient. If you have never read any of the Moomin books, I really do recommend starting with this one!
2. What It’s Like to Be a Bird by David Allen Sibley
This was such an unexpectedly entertaining read. It’s more like a reference text, for a general audience, about different aspects of bird biology and behavior and I ate it up. The best part was coming to work each day to tell my co-workers different facts about birds that I had learned. Turns out, birds are as bizarre as they are beautiful.
**3. A Pirate’s Life for Tea by **
I enjoyed this second entry into the Tomes and Tea series equal to the first and was delightfully surprised by the inclusion of a bonus spicy one-shot at the end, which happened to feature tropes that I enjoy. The enjoyed the new romance that was introduced, and the hurdles that Reyna and Kianthe worked out together. Even though the stakes were often resolved rather quickly, that didn’t bother me since this is meant to be a “cozy fantasy” — though I can understand if that makes it less interesting overall to some readers.
4. Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson
There are so many iconic stories in this collection that I was grinning from ear to ear the whole way through. The overarching plot with Snufkin has always been one of my favorites and that was no different this time. It’s had a lasting impression on me and I might end up revising several passages for my final project.
5. Model Home by Rivers Solomon
This book was a brutal family horror story tackling race, queer/trans identity, abuse, and trauma. The last third is very heavy and I would encourage those sensitive to any of the previously mentioned topics to read more specific trigger warnings in advance; it’s not a book I would recommend blind reading if that applies to you. I copied so many passages into my journal for additional analysis because the haunted house as a stand-in for generational trauma was so well explored. It shocked me that a lot of people had a much more negative response to the writing style, structure, and themes - some even claiming that this isn’t “really” a horror story. I thoroughly disagree with the latter complaint in particular and it reminds me that I need to get back to an essay concept I had in mind about that subject a couple years ago.
6. The iPhone Photography Book by Scott Kelby
Even though I do not want my phone to be my primary camera, I appreciate how many new tips I learned from reading this to improve my photos (particularly composition and editing) when I don’t have my digital camera on me. If this is your sole camera, and you want to take better pictures, this is a good read - very approachable, well organized, and clear.
7. Puppetry 101: Creating Film and Television Style Puppetry by Adam Kreutinger
If you have not watched any of Kreutinger’s YouTube videos on puppetry, I highly recommend them. He had such an infectious passion for the craft - making, performing - and when I learned that he had written a book, I wanted to read it straight away. Drafting my Puppetry 101 course was a great reason to finally pick up, but I am sad that I waited too long to send some kind of thanks to him personally before he passed. I’ll surely be engaging with more of his online materials, videos and podcasts, as I make my way through the remainder of my course.
8. Depression and & Other Magic Tricks by Sabrina Benaim
Last year, my goal was to read more non-fiction and poetry, and while I did by technically (even one is more than zero!), I’m surprised that I have started off 2026 much more committed to that goal even though I didn’t consciously re-assign it to myself. I watched some of Sabrina’s spoken word poetry competition videos many years ago, and I’m glad to have finally set aside time to read one of her collections. I related a lot to the subject matter (depression, grief, shame, heartbreak) and will read more of her work.
9. Moominpappa’s Memoirs by Tove Jansson
This was my pleasant surprise of the month because I remembered really not enjoying this book much at all when I first read it to a point that I skipped it during my re-reads. Coming back to it years later, I appreciate it so much more.
10. To Be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
About a third of the way into the book, I knew I needed to buy a copy of this to reread for closer analysis. I marked so many passages, fully immersed in the characters, settings, and themes. It’s a quiet, melancholic bit of science fiction that feels so relevant to life right now. The way it is so tempting to detach from all of the horrible things happening in the world that we can lose sight of what we love and want to preserve about the humanity in ourselves and others. This has cemented Becky Chambers as one of my favorite authors.
Thank you for reading! ʕᵔᴥᵔʔ
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