This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is about the books we’re looking forward to in the first half of 2026. I’m not always great at keeping an eye on this kind of thing, but it turns out I do have some books I really, really want.

1. Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter, by Heather Fawcett. I actually have an ARC of this one, so I have to get round to it as soon as possible! I’ve enjoyed Fawcett’s other books, though this one basically had me at “mystical cat shelter”, to be fair.
2. Nightshade & Oak, by Molly O’Neill. I really liked Greenteeth, so I’m quite hopeful about this one too, especially since it sounds like it has similar roots. I just got a copy of this from Hachette yesterday morning, so I’m going to dig in soon!
3. Strange Buildings, by Uketsu. I enjoyed Strange Pictures and especially Strange Houses, so I expect to have fun with this one as well. Maybe I’d better see if I can wishlist it at the library, because Strange Houses was in high demand when it came out.
4. Charlotte Brontë’s Life Through Clothes, by Eleanor Houghton. I’m not interested in fashion or clothes per se, but more in what clothes and fashion can tell us about the people who wore them, the times when they were fashionable, etc. I like some of the Brontës’ work, and especially Jane Eyre, so I’m interested both as someone mildly interested in the Brontës and as someone interested in the history of clothes.
5. Star Shipped, by Cat Sebastian. I love Sebastian’s work (and feel it seems to keep on getting better), and I’m very amused by the setting of the two characters being stars in a sci-fi show. Looking forward to this!
6. Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die, by Greer Stothers. I know comparatively little about this one, but it sounds like a fun romance.
7. The Lost Book of Lancelot, by John Glynn. It was high time someone played with ‘The Book of Galehaut’ (there was a retelling that was almost a translation, which I don’t count), because Lancelot and Galehaut’s relationship in the Vulgate Cycle is heckin’ intense, and it’s quite the addition to the Arthurian legends… but sadly ignored. I’m not sure how close a retelling this is going to be, but I look forward to seeing what the author does with it, all the same.
8. Solo Leveling (manhwa), vol 14, by Dubu etc. This contains side stories for Solo Leveling, so I’m verryyyyy curious. As people on my blog know, I’ve got very into both the manhwa and the novels, though I’m close to finished with the novels, so it’s nice to have something new to look forward to from the manhwa.
9. After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine, vol 1, by Li Gou Hua. This danmei isn’t from one of the authors I’ve read before, so I don’t know a lot about what to expect, but I like the idea of the premise (professor ends up transmigrating to the past and discovering that a weird thesis he read is true, and he’s living it). It’s a familiar sort of theme for light novels and I’m enjoying the many permutations of it immensely.
10. Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (novel), vol 3, by singNsong. I’m reading both the manhwa and the novel, and I am very excited to dig in and get to the next bit in the novel. By that time I think I’ll have read just past it in the manhwa, but it’s always interesting to see how manhwa adapts the stories and sometimes places slightly different emphases. And of course, sometimes there are slightly different translations or notes on translations too.

Quite a weird mix, I’m sure, and also no doubt I’ve missed loads of stuff I’d be interested in. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s lists!

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday theme is all about new books added to your bookshelf. Obviously I talk about those in my Stacking the Shelves post, but I thought I’d highlight some of the ones I’m most excited to get round to — some of which I didn’t showcase yet in my last post, since I split my Christmas haul into two posts!

Without further ado and in no special order, let’s go…

1. Solo Leveling (light novel), by Chugong. I’ve actually got all eight volumes, between Christmas presents and using my trade-in credit at Bookshop.org. I’ve started on these already (I’m onto volume three today), and I’m tearing through them. I know the story from reading the manhwa, but it’s fun to see it fleshed out a bit and presented in a different format.
2. The Wolf and His King, by Finn Longman. This is a retelling of the lai ‘Bisclaveret’, by Marie de France. I studied it during my first undergraduate degree, so I’m really excited to see someone playing with it. Maybe I’ll even try to email the lecturer who introduced me to Marie de France’s work and ask if he’s checked it out! It sounds like it should be great fun for fantasy fans in general, as well.
3. Craft Land: In Search of Lost Crafts and Disappearing Trades, by James Fox. I happened across this and was curious about it, and then saw someone else’s review on Litsy, so I ended up adding it to my wishlist, and someone got me it for Christmas. I’m pretty eager to dig in, it looks like fun.
4. The Isle in the Silver Sea, by Tasha Suri. This is getting great reviews, and promises a Sapphic Arthurian story? I’m in, in, in. Funnily enough, I bought this for my sister for Christmas, while my wife bought it for me. We even unwrapped them at pretty much the same time.
5. After Hours at Dooryard Books, by Cat Sebastian. I love Cat Sebastian’s work in general, and seeing the enthusiasm of several friends about this one makes me think I should jump in sooner rather than later.
6. Like: A History of te World’s Most Hated (and Misunderstood) Word, by Megan C. Reynolds. Linguistics isn’t necessarily my thing, but I’ve enjoyed books like Because Internet, and this one sounds interesting. I try not to be prescriptivist about it, even while I find some of our verbal tics pretty lazy.
7. Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It, by Cory Doctorow. It’s been a while since I read anything by Doctorow, but this seems like an important one right now, with enshittification hitting so many of the apps and services people use.
8. The Keeper of Magical Things, by Julie Leong. I loved the other book in this world — it was one of my highest rated books of last year — so I’m eager to get to this soon as well. I hope it’s magical in just the same small sort of ways…
9. Brigands & Breadknives, by Travis Baldree. I could’ve got a review copy, but I knew I wouldn’t get round to it in time. Now I can hopefully dig in guilt-free when the right moment arrives! I’ve loved the other two in this series, though Legends & Lattes was the favourite.
10. Cat Tales: a History, by Jerry D. Moore. Digging into the history of the relationships between cats and humans sounds like a lot of fun. It was a bit of an impulse add to my wishlist, but I’m glad I got a copy, I’m really curious now!

That’s just a taster, of course — I was really spoiled this Christmas. Looking forward to see what other people have been snagging for their shelves!