It’s Kinda Chic To Finish Your Reading Goals Early
Twenty-five.
I know. You are probably judging me already. How can an English teacher only read 25 books in a year? Well, friends, let me tell you that this is actually a higher goal than my usual. As you know, my summers are for reading. Ditching lesson planning and grading really opens up hours of my life. Throw in my commute up and down I-5 and I have significant chunks of time to escape into an audiobook. Even with that time allotted, I typically read 7-10 books in July & August and another five or so the rest of the year.
In January, I aimed high and set my goal at 25, fingers-crossed I could reach that by 2026. My TBR is stacked with recommendations from students, colleagues, Instagram, and of course my favorite bookseller, sweetpea Flaherty. If you haven’t listened to our conversation about books, I recommend opening your podcast app of choice and checking out any of these episodes: Ep 214: Shelf Awareness,Ep 196: New Year Fresh Reads, Ep 186: Pumpkin Spice & Bookish Advice, Ep 184: Hot & Steamy Summer Reads
Although I’m still vehemently against this stupid war on Iran, it’s had two surprising outcomes on my habits. First, I’ve made time to write daily and publish more regularly. Second, I’ve increased my consumption of books. Both habits seem to help me be a little more regulated, more informed, and also offer opportunities for escape.
With that as context, I’m proud to say I’m zooming on by my reading goals and am here to tell you all about it. You may note what I’ve read this year is wildly all over the place–as the cortisol spiked and the spirit led.
If you want to analyze my list indepth, befriend me on Story graph @espionfire. On to the highlights:
For the Job:
I was looking for a short text to bridge a short story unit and a more massive novel study while leveraging the Odyssey film hype. Unfortunately, there are way more sexual escapades in that text than I remembered. Not feeling the labor of modifying my lessons.
The Metamorphosis byFrank Kafka
The audiobook was all of two hours and perfect for the drive from Dubai to Abu Dhabi. Engaging from the jump, the book maintains a little creepiness and gives a bit of realistic horror. The whole thing could be a metaphor for any social issus: our attitudes towards immigration, our treatment of the elderly or disabled, and of course all the ills of capitalism grind.
Young Adult Gems:
Grown and The Scammer byTiffany D. Jackson
I forgot how much I loved Jackson’s writing. Most of her books are oriented towards young adult readers. She keeps you on the edge of your seat with her compelling characters and plots that take surprising turns. She centers the experiences of young Black women and sprinkles in social issues like the high rates of missing Black girls, grooming behaviors of older men, and how easy it is to be manipulated by the system. Read anything and everything she’s written.
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute byTalia Hibbert
If the cover wasn’t enough, the title says it all. Fun read with two protagonists you can’t help root for.
For My Spiritual Journey:
Love is the Resistance byAshley Abercrombie
This was a re-read for me. I wanted to see if it was still relevant a few years out from publication. Sure enough, love is the resistance. One thing I appreciate about Abercrombie (I know her name throws me off too) is that she doesn’t sugar coat the problems within Evangelicalism. She’s a justice-oriented white woman and I want to see more of these types using their platforms to say something real.
My Body is Not a Prayer Request: Disability Justice by Amy Kenny
Some of you know I’ve made an intentional effort to expand my knowledge around disability justice and interviewed Carrie Griffin Basas a few times on the podcast. My conversations with Carrie have me rethinking what it means to be justice oriented in world built for/by able-bodied people.. Along those same lines, this book popped up as a rec and I finally cracked it open. Challenging my notion of disability justice in the church, this book forces you to consider the ways we design our religious services and community events to be inclusive or more often than not exclusive. I definitely sent a handful of texts to all my friends and pastor-types who are in church leadership. Why are we not using closed captioning (esp in the world of AI we have no excuse really)? Why are all the ramps located in the back of buildings? What does that casually say about how wheelchair-bound, walker users, etc. are welcomed in the church? I believe in healing, but why do we always act like folks need to be fixed “in Jesus name” rather than seeing disabled people as another manifestation of the image of God equally as valuable as someone able-bodied? As you can see, I have a lot of feelings about this book.
The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr
Smart, challenging, intellectually engaging, Barr walks readers through her own journey of leaving a complementarian church (and accompanying theology). This book sits perfectly at the crossroads of history and Biblical theology. If you’re paying attention, it will debunk your notions of “Biblical womanhood” (aka, Evangelical portrayals of womanhood that aren’t really that Biblical). Granted, I’m already a Jesus feminist, but this book gave me more language to make my case. Grab your highlighter and be ready to.
Inspired, Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans
Evans makes a case for why we should read the Bible, even if you are questioning your faith or don’t know if you believe in literal or figurative interpretations of the text. Amongst many of the things I enjoyed about this book, was the way she grouped books of the Bible thematically such as “origin stories”, “deliverance stories”, “wisdom stories, and “resistance stories”. These categories forced me to rethink the purpose of each book of the Bible, reimagine what additional context or framing might be missing in the way we re-tell these stories, and why they are still relevant today. Again, grab a highlighter and your journal.
Because I Like Provocative Stories
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
Okay, technically I read this at the cusp of 2025-2026. But I’m mentioning it here anyway because I can. Recommended by a trusted source, I was intrigued by the premise and the blurred lines that exist in conversations about creativity, originality, and intellectual property. Is there such a thing as an original idea? Maybe. If someone has a good idea and dies, can you steal that idea with little consequence? I guess. Kuang develops a protagonist that you kind of want to root for because they’re in a messed up situation. However, they continually make selfish (albeit sort of understandable) decisions that are borderline morally and ethically wrong. Just when you think she’s going to take the moral high ground and maybe you can cheer her on, she does something stupid. That ebb and flow of disdain and hope you feel for the protagonist is manipulative. And good writing.
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Trad wife content meets time travel? Sounds perfect for the host of the IWL podcast. Recommended by a close friend? Deal sealed. In contrast to Yellowface, I think most of us pick up this book and pre-judge thus pre-hate the protagonist. With time, you kind of get why she is how she is. And I think you realize that everyone in the story is a bit problematic and probably a villain in their own way. While promoted as satirical fiction, I’d classify this more like unsettling documdrama.
The Conspiracists: Women, Extremism & The Lure of Belonging by Noelle Cook
In the same vein as the fiction mentioned above, this is about crazy white women. Just kidding. Kind of. Cook writes a sociology text of sorts that tells the story of two middle-aged white women involved in the J-six insurrection. I appreciated that she is open about her biases going into the research and how she completely changed her mind. She writes these stories from a place of empathy. This book reminds readers that given the right stress, the right influences, and the human need to belong, anyone is susceptible to manipulation. We are just clicks away from a conspiracy spiral. You could think you are buying supplements and next thing you know you’re reading about starseeds. Read this book and then check out our podcast conversation with Noelle.
And Dark Things:
Where All the Light Tends to Go by David Joy
There’s a really bad movie version of this book I watched this summer which motivated me to grab the book. David Joy is one of my fav crime writers. He makes you care about a random kid in a small town in North Carolina. This story in particular captures the tension between autonomy and destiny. Can a teenager with few options, no money and a family business of crime actually do something different?
A Violent Masterpiece by Jordan Harper
NGL I pre-ordered this book and had to wait for the perfect time to read it. Author of one of my recent favs, She Rides Shotgun (novel turned movie that was of comparable quality to the book), Harper is that guy. The prose are just [insert chef’s kiss emoji]. This book is dark. And powerful. And haunting. Highly recommend it but read at your own risk.
In this category, I’ll give an honorable mention to Kills Well With Others, the sequel to Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. This series doesn’t really belong here except that it’s murder related. If you’re looking for something more like Agatha Christie but with sixty year old former assassins, this could be your jam.
To Escape (or Combine with Your Melatonin for Sweet Dreams):
Ali Hazelwood is the queen of STEM romance and I can’t get enough. Ridiculously smart women. Way too many dudes pinching the top of their noses and wearing henleys. I’ve read at least six of her books but so far this year just these two: Two Can Play and Love on the Brain.
Jasmine Guillory. This author was recommended to me by a few of my trusted reading nerd friends, when I asked for more romance books with central BIPOC characters and story lines. Again, I’ve probably read most of her catalog and this year made it through By the Book, Flirting Lessons, While We Were Dating, and Party of Two
Jackie Lau writes some fun, escape romances. The names and covers were enough motivation for me to download and read. They are very much beach/pool-side escapes. I’ve read Donut Fall in Love and Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie
Abby Jimenez is always on deck in this category as well. I checked off The Night We Met and I’m one of a bajillion people waiting for a copy of TheSituationship.
And I DO read Nonfiction:
This year I think real life was life-ing a little too hard so I’ve read fewer NF than I usually do. But I still have a few months left to improve this. That said, I highly recommend Mohammed El-Kurd’s Perfect Victims & The Politics of Appeal. He reads the audiobook and you feel every word. I had to continuously pick this up and put it back down. It’s alot. Maybe even keep tissues nearby. But if you care even a little about the genocide in Palestine, you need to read this book.
I’ve Got Until December:
I am slowly making my way through We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates using my new kobo reader! I just started Mickey 7 (the Edward Ashton book the movie Mickey 17 is based on). I am re-reading There There by Tommy Orange. I downloaded The Odyssey but haven’t had the mental bandwidth to dig into it. I want to dive back into Krakauer’s work with Into thin Air and Under the Banner of Heaven which are “available soon” according to Libby.
Once again, I’ll be swimming in choices. So many books and so little time.
