If you had asked me when I was little if I would grow up to be a book person, I would have laughed in your face. Reading for pleasure? Not likely. Books felt like homework — something you did to write a book report at school or to earn a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut.
That said, I do remember a few moments where a book actually pulled me in. Those rare times when reading felt more like an escape with its comfort, immersiveness, and a way to step outside of my own life for a bit. Books have saved me and my nervous system the past few months.
If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, you know I tend to share what I’ve already read. But what I haven’t talked about is what I’m looking forward to reading in 2026.
So imagine this: all of these books stacked over a foot high on my nightstand, next to an oversized water bottle, a Tempur-Pedic eye mask I’ve had in rotation for 20 years (not the same one), and my Brick so I don’t get distracted and start scrolling.
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke — A tradwife influencer with 8 million followers wakes up in 1855, forced to actually live the life she has been selling. Darkly funny and completely unhinged in the best way. Cannot wait to read this one!
Kin by Tayari Jones — The story of two women, cradle friends, and whether that kind of bond can actually hold when life takes you in completely different directions.
Famesick by Lena Dunham — Lena traces her rise from Girls to now and asks the question a lot of us are afraid to answer: was it worth it? Raw, honest, and highly recommended to me by one of my savviest friends.
Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden — Her husband of twenty years left without warning or explanation. This is the memoir she wrote trying to understand how she missed it, and who she became on the other side. Everyone is talking about this one.
How to Read a Book by Monica Wood — Three people connected by the same crime find each other in a Portland bookstore. A quiet, hopeful novel about second chances and what books do to us. This isn’t new, but I will read it this year.
Go Gentle by Maria Semple — A stoic philosopher with a perfectly curated life meets a man at the ballet and suddenly nothing is curated anymore. Funny, smart, and a little chaotic. I loved her other book, Where’d You Go, Bernadette.
Dear Monica Lewinsky by Julia Langbein — A woman in her 40s realizes her own college affair mirrored the Lewinsky scandal she never bothered to defend. Monica shows up, literally, to help her reckon with it.
Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser — The Cinderella retelling we actually needed, told from the stepmother’s point of view. She is not wicked. She is just a woman trying to keep her family alive in a world that is not set up for her.
The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson — An outsider falls into a tight coastal friend group, a pregnancy blows everything up, and suddenly everyone’s secrets are surfacing. Saving this one for summer.
The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett — Mississippi, 1933. A group of women who have nothing decide to take everything back. Stockett’s first novel and not yet out! I have already preordered at the library.
What would YOU add to this list? Tell me in the comments. Also, are you on Good Reads? Let’s be friends!
XO, KBW
Loved Strangers and Famesick and almost done with Go Gentle and really loved all three for different reasons. Adding the others to my TBR - will look for you on GR!
Just finished Strangers and yesteryear and famesick are next on my list! Saving all of your other recs!