Books I read in January, 2026
I’m really trying to cut back on screen time. Numerous timers on various social media apps (Instagram, Substack, etc.) and a Focus Mode in the Morning so I can‘t bedrot in the morning. I know it‘s a popular topic and somewhat trendy on how to cut back on the phone but it really does start to encompass your time and encroach on the things you WANT to spend time on.
I took a look at the time spent on my phone and decided that it’s enough and I have set myself up to better use my time for reading instead. I have an old Google play account where I purchased books quite a while ago so those are my “phone’ books, I have 2 kobo readers. One is set up with a stand in my bedroom for evening reading in bed before going to sleep and one is called my “Baby” book that rides with me in my purse. I have also thrifted a ton of physical books over the past few years so I have usually have two of those books next to the couch: a novel and some sort of graphic novel or trade paperback and I alternate reading those.
It has definitely helped. I read 7 books last month and I don’t think I’m going to get more than that this month (also with it being such a short month, I can already feel it ebbing away so quickly) but I am reading a long Stephen King novel and sometimes he is a monster with that page length.
I haven’t been rating my books on StoryGraph but I do track them there. It’s a great app and wonderful alternative to GoodReads.
“Soul Music” by Terry Pratchett : a reread from the past. I stumbled on to an excellent humble bundle of his books and I’ll be picking my way through his collection as the year progresses. Soul Music is an old favorite.
“Forrest Gump” by Winston Groom : I hated this. Words cannot convey the hate read this turned into. Watch the movie instead. As soon as I finished this it went into my get rid of bag.
“The Virgin Suicides” by Jeffrey Eugenides : mostly read because it gave me a good excuse to watch the film.
“Gunsmith Cats” omnibus Volume 3 By Kenichi Sonada: just rebuying my childhood but maybe this one should’ve been a bit later in life. IYKYK.
“Hogfather” by Terry Pratchett: I really wanted to finish this in December for Christmas but it just didn’t happen. We will be watching the 2 part TV movie by the end of February!
“The Prairie Wife” by Arthur Stringer: a book I thrifted and got a very good deal on which is good because it’s not making the cut on the bookshelf. It was fine but I’d rather read Laura Ingalls Wilder.
“Cat’s Eye” Omnibus Volume 1 by Tsukasa Hojo: I recently bought and watched the anime of this and fell in love with it and was very excited by the announcement that there was going to be a new release of the manga here in the states. I will be purchasing the rest as they come out and I highly recommend the anime. It has one of the best endings in my opinion.