Here we are, over a week into 2026, and I’m continuing my tradition of rounding up my favourite reads from the last year. As with previous years, this is a list with very few rules: it’s not a top 5 or top 10 etc, it’s just however many I feel like mentioning, and it does not include re-reads or books from a series I’ve already listed in a previous round-up. And that’s it!

Without further ado:

Novels & Short Stories

• Frankenstein (1818 text) by Mary Shelley
  • I’ll admit it: I read this after watching Guillermo del Toro’s new Frankenstein film; prior to that I knew very little about the story, only cliches from pop culture. I didn’t know the novel was structured with Victor Frankenstein’s story, followed by the Monster’s story, and bookended by time in the Arctic Circle.
    I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this book was to read and get lost in – and I didn’t expect Victori Frankenstein to be such a… hyperfixated early university student in his 20s who kinda sucks at things that aren’t his scientific niche? Pop culture did not prepare me. Overall, very enjoyable and lots to chew on – I can see why we’re still talking about it over 200 years later!
    Fun fact: I’ve been to the Frankenstein castle in Germany. The tour guide told us it’s where Mary Shelley heard the name, supposedly.
• Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
  • A grieving mother creates a monster by cutting out a part of her deceased son’s lung and feeding it – and then it begins to grow.
    This would have been an interesting one to read after Frankenstein, but that wasn’t the case. Having now read both, Monstrilio reads like a counterpoint: what if Victor had actually cared for and nurtured his creation, what would happen?
    The tension underlying this novel had me hooked the whole way through. I enjoyed the structure, with each section having a different narrator, and time skips in-between. I didn’t love all parts equally, but even then it never felt like a slog.
• Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
  • My first novel by this author – I loved her short story in the anthology mentioned a few items down, and quickly sought out a novel. I also read Hemlock & Silver, which I enjoyed, but Nettle & Bone moreso. Components I loved: third person fairytale narration. Jumping between past and present. A motley cast of characters: our 35 year old protagonist, two old magical women (one a cheery fairy godmother, the other a sharp Dust Hag (she was my favourite)), and a 40-something outcast knight who was rescued from enslavement in a secret fairy market. Oh and animal companions too. The plot was very fun, and very satisfying.
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
  • First, I listened to the audiobook, and Charlie Thurston did an outstanding job.
    This is a book with plenty of hype, and it was that good. Really enjoyed the characters, their journeys, and the insights into life in the rural South. I’d group this with Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend and Madeline Theins’ Do Not Say We Have Nothing – novels rooted in a rich setting, populated with complex characters, resulting in an immersive story you can get lost in.
• Gliff by Ali Smith
  • New Ali Smith? Of course I read it right away and it ended up on this list. This one was darker and more dystopian than I’m used to with her work, and it kept me on-edge and hooked. Though eyes of two children, siblings, who only have each other, you experience a dark, authoritarian world state that feels part parody, part to close to reality. And all in Ali Smiths usual beautiful prose.
• New Adventures in Soap Opera edited by Jonathan Strahan
  • I found this one by searching “Seth Dickinson” in my library’s database. It popped up, I saw he AND Becky Chambers, another favourite, were in it, so I placed a hold immediately. Little did I know, I was in for a treat! This anthology represents what I love about si-fi: the weirdness, the what-ifs, the imagining alternative realities, societies, ways of being. I also learned of new (to me) authors to look up, and it was how I discovered T. Kingfisher, who I included earlier in this list.
  • Favourites:
    • Metal Like Blood in the Dark by T. Kingfisher
    • A Good Heretic by Becky Chambers
    • A Voyage to Queensthroat by Anya Johanna DeNiro
    • Morrigan in the Sunglare by Seth Dickinson
      • I also borrowed The Year’s Best Military & Adventure SF 2015 (also because it came up in the library database “Seth Dickinson” search), which had the same story but an earlier version – it was interesting to compare the two, each edited differently and in the new version his voice/style felt more developed (New Adventures in Space Opera is from 2024)
  • More special mentions:
    • All the Colors You Thought Were Kings by Arkady Martine
    • A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime by Charlie Jane Anders
    • Immersion by Alienate de Godard
    • The Last Voyage of Skibladnir by Karin Tidbeck
    • Planetstuck by Sam J. Miller

Graphic Novels

• Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls
  • I love an memoir graphic novel, and this one ran deep as it wove the author, her mother, and her grandmother’s stories together. It was also educational, especially in the beginning which focused on her politically outspoken Grandmother living in and escaping from communist China. Excellent storytelling, and beautiful drawings, with visual metaphors running throughout.
• Spent by Alison Bechdel
  • This one was more light-hearted, and very funny! Overall a reassuring read that follows fictional Allison Bechdel, her partner, and her friends – who are older versions of characters from her Dykes to Watch Out For strip – as they navigate difficult political times and relationships.
• My Favourite Things is Monsters (volume 1) by Emil Ferris
  • This one was a fun, though at times very sad and heavy, read. The art is absolutely stunning, and all drawn in ballpoint pen. Sadly the sequel was not very satisfying, with the ending feeling very rushed. I read a rumor online that the author will continue the series through a different publisher, which I hope its true. It would be nice for this story to have a more satisfying and thorough conclusion.

Non-fiction

• The Social Safety Net by Nora Loreto
  • A must-read for my fellow Canadians! I’ve followed Nora Loreto’s journalism and podcasts for years, and am thankful for her work in breaking down the history that has led to our current cultural and political moment. I’m planning to read the next book in her Canada in Decline series this year.
• Empire of AI: Dream and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI by Karen Hao
  • Another informative read. The chapter on the human labour behind training and moderating large language models, including interviews with workers, really stuck with me. I also appreciated the chapter on environmental impacts, though that was a side of generative AI that I was already somewhat familiar with. I listened to the audiobook, read by the author, which was well done.