Tammy posted this book tag over on Books, Bones & Buffy and I couldn’t resist joining in… what are your “firsts” for 2026?

First book read in 2026: vol 4 of Solo Leveling (Chugong)

It’s definitely the first book finished anyway — I suppose in theory I might’ve read a bit of something else before that, because I tend to dual-wield… or triple-wield… or — well, ahem, you get the picture.

First review of 2026: Fabulous Frocks (Jane Eastoe & Sarah Gristwood)

This wasn’t the first review I wrote in 2026, since that almost certainly hasn’t been published on my blog yet — I have somewhere around 60 reviews written and not yet posted, since I read more than a book a day on average, and try to space out reviews to give a variety (while frontloading reviews of ARCs). This was the first review posted, though, and you can find it here.

The first review I wrote for the year is hard to guess, since I read a lot of books at the end of 2025 and wrote reviews for them at the start of 2026. At a guess, though, it might’ve been for volume one of Mone Sorai’s Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide, a romance manga.

First debut read in 2026: The Iron Bridge (Rebecca Hurst)

It took me a bit to figure this out, because I don’t pay a lot of attention to stuff like debuts (and publication history for non-fiction writers can be weird), but I remembered I picked up this poetry collection because it in one of the prize categories at my library… and as far as I recall now, it was a prize for being an outstanding first poetry collection. My review is up already here!

The first book I was conscious of being a debut was Amy Coombe’s Stay for a Spell, which I received to review and is a fun and cosy romantasy. My review is coming up soon!

First “new-to-me” author of 2026: Adam Aleksic

This may well also have been a debut, but I deliberately skipped the non-fiction writers in the last question because it’s often harder to find out. I had caveats, but found it interesting all the same. My review is here!

First book of 2026 that slayed me: Guardian vol 1 (Priest)

The yearning, my goodness. My review isn’t up yet, but here’s an excerpt:

Shen Wei had been restraining himself for too long. In the perfect silence, he couldn’t help letting go for once. Lying there with Zhao Yunlan so tantalisingly near, his thoughts spun out of control. He imagined gathering that warm body close, pressing kisses to those eyes, that hair, those lips… tasting and partaking of every part.
He imagined possessing Zhao Yunlan utterly.
The fantasy alone was enough to make Shen Wei’s breathing unsteady. He yearned with the desperate fervour of someone dreaming of hot soup as they froze to death.
But he didn’t move a muscle. Just looking at Zhao Yunlan and thinking about him was seemingly enough.

I have my complaints about Guardian, but whatever’s going on between Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan has me hooked.

First book of 2026 that I wish I could get back the time I spent reading it: Longer (Michael Blumlein)

It was a book I’d received ages ago as an ARC and bounced off, so I gave it another shot. I did skim to the end because I don’t like reviewing ARCs without at least a solid feel for the whole book, but I regret every moment. My review is here.

I did rate a book as 1-star before that, but while I didn’t think it was very good (and I think it wasted the reader’s time a fair bit), I still thought it had some worthwhile bits. Still, it’s a runner-up: Megan C. Reynolds’ Like: A History of the World’s Most Hated (And Misunderstood) Word. My review is here!

First 5-star book of 2026: A History of England in 25 Poems (Catherine Clarke)

I had no 5-star reads in January, but February was a bit stronger. This was the first, though, and is in the running to be one of my favourite reads of the year. Obviously the year is young, though! I’ll be posting my review sometime in the next couple of weeks, probably, but the gist is that I found the selection of poems to discuss really interesting, and it engaged better with England’s colonialism than I’d feared, including understanding that Wales, Scotland and Ireland were also subject to England’s bad behaviour.

(It’ll be quick, I said. I’ll just knock it out and post it right away, I said. And then I got wordy. Oh well!)

What were your firsts of the year? Feel free to steal this tag just as I did, and drop the link in the comments so I can take a look. You don’t need to be as chatty as me, ahaha.

What have you recently finished reading?

Words and Rules, by Steven Pinker, which had a lot of overlap with his other book, The Language Instinct. Interesting stuff, but mostly I let it wash over me unless he’s talking about brain structures, which is more my field. Once that was finished, I also promptly read Sunbolt by Intisar Khanani, all in one go. Fun, but the last half of it reminded me so much of Robin McKinley’s Sunshine that I’m tempted to revisit that now…

Oh, and then later today I finished up reading Sean Stewart’s Passion Play, which was powerful and disturbing and I need to sit with it a bit longer.

What are you currently reading?

The New Scientist Instant Expert book on the human brain. My kinda thing, obviously, so I’ll probably enjoy it, though it’s more basic than I might hope.

What will you read next?

Goodness knows. Whatever comes up next on my Kindle when I can’t sleep, probably!

Shush, it’s Wednesday. Totally.

What have you recently finished reading?

I finished Killing Gravity, by Corey J. White last night. It’s basically if River Tam was a lot more active about chasing down the people who messed with her brain, and a bit more sane. I love the idea of voidwitchery. I do wish it hadn’t ended there, though; I want Mookie to be safe!

What are you currently reading?

Within the Sanctuary of Wings! I’m sort of pacing myself with it, because I don’t want it to be over. Also, I got to a certain bit in the middle and just… yelped and immediately laid hands on copies for my wife to read. Like, now. Now. Why isn’t she reading them???

What will you read next?

I don’t know. I’m thinking maybe Martha Wells’ Tor.com novella, All Systems Red. I wanted to read Sean Stewart’s Passion Play, but the Kindle version from Netgalley is just a mess, missing all kinds of punctuation and the middles of some words. Whaa.

What have you recently finished reading?

I just finished a reread of Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice, yesterday. I actually liked it more this time — I think because I wasn’t thinking about the clever treatment of gender as much, but just about revisiting the world and story. And it did help that I knew what to expect; I’m one of those people who likes spoilers.

What are you currently reading?

Catherynne M. Valente’s Radiance. It’s my book club read on Habitica (in the Legendary Book Club guild, if you’re a member). I didn’t actually expect to get sucked into it so quickly — I tend to struggle with Valente’s work because the imagery is just so dense and I’m not visual at all. I thought that’d go double for a book revolving around cinema. But no, I’m intrigued and eating it up.

What will you read next?

I’d like to read Within the Sanctuary of Wings, and maybe start rereading City of Stairs and City of Blades, ready to read City of Miracles once I get back to Britain and my copy has arrived. But knowing me, I might get distracted by something else. I have some books due back at the library, after all.

What have you recently finished reading?

I juuust finished The Vital Question, by Nick Lane. I’d like to read some papers on this kind of thing, rather than a pop science book; he seems so certain about how life evolved and why life anywhere in the universe is probably under the same constraints! And the best bit is, this is kind of my field, so I probably can follow up on some of it. It does give me that wonder-of-science feeling.

What are you currently reading?

I just started The Furthest Station, by Ben Aaronovitch, and other than that I think Samuel R. Delany’s Nova is next on my list to finish.

What will you read next?

I haven’t really decided that yet… I have a new method which my wife taught me. I pick five books out that I’d like to read, she picks two of them, and then I pick one of those two. It seems to be working surprisingly well so far. And I should do that now, probably.

What have you recently finished reading?

T. Kingfisher’s Summer in Orcus! For which I have many hearts, as it is the kind of self-aware portal fantasy that I needed right now. I love Reginald and Glorious and even the Antelope Woman, and I want to wander through Orcus and see the birds dancing.

What are you currently reading?

Um, well, I might still be partway through more or less the same books as last week: After Atlas, The Dragonbone Chair (reread), The Stars are Legion… I think that’s it. Probably.

What are you planning to read next?

Probably a couple of ARCs — Kiernan’s Agents of Dreamland is next up on the list, I think. After that, some non-fiction. A friend told me that Nick Lane’s The Vital Question is a difficult one, so now I’m curious.

What have you recently finished reading?

Francis Pryor’s Britain AD, with which I had a lot of arguments. I don’t dispute his understanding of archaeology, but I’m not sure about his grasp of linguistics, genetics or literature, which unfortunately come into this somewhat and appear to counter some of his theories. But I have a whooole post on that coming in… uh, April. So I’ll stop now.

What are you currently reading?

I’m still reading Ellen Klages’ Wicked Wonders, rereading Tad Williams’ The Dragonbone Chair, and I’ve started on On the Origin of Species — Darwin, of course. It’s a little slow going, but as a biologist in the making, I feel like I really should read it — and he argued his case very, very well. I’ve also still got The Stars are Legion…

What are you planning to read next?

I’m trying not to plan what to read next! I need to get some of the books I’m already reading squared away. I’m going to focus on Wicked Wonders next, I think.

Every time I firmly promise myself I won’t miss this again, something comes up and I miss it for weeks. Sorryyy.

What have you recently finished reading?

I finished up a reread of Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon — and have raided the library here in Leuven for the next few books. It’s better than I remembered, actually; the alternate history is careful and clever, and Laurence’s relationship with Temeraire is sweet. Things which are meant to be emotionally affecting really, really are. And corners are not cut just to give you a nice ending to a story arc.

What are you currently reading?

The Burning Page, by Genevieve Cogman. I’ve nearly finished it now, which is both exciting and a little daunting. There are going to be more books, right? Right??

What are you planning to read next?

I’m not sure. I might try and finish Dark Sky, by Mike Brooks, as I am enjoying it and I’m not sure why I put it down. I’ve also been meaning to reread The Summer Tree, by Guy Gavriel Kay, or possibly his Sailing to Sarantium. Hmmmm, so many choices…