rabbitprincess dusts off the stacks of ROOTs in 2026

Back for another year of ROOT reading!

I define a ROOT as "any book I own". Whether I bought it last week or last decade, whether I've read it once or 50 times, if I read it this year, it's a 2026 ROOT.

Now that the lion's share of the work on my master's degree is done (I do need to work on it some more in January), I can set a more ambitious goal of 60 ROOTs, and this time I won't be padding the numbers with journal articles :)



I will also be participating in my personal 2-for-1 TBR challenge. Basically, for every book I buy, I read two books I already own to "pay off" the book I bought. Rereads don’t count for me, but gifts and gift-card-purchased books, duplicate/replacement copies of books I already own, own copies of books I’ve read from the library, and freebies don’t count against me :D (Even with these generous allowances, and even with counting the individual books in an omnibus separately, it’s still a hard slog…)

Last year's ticker started at 147. This year's ticker is starting at 199. The increase is mostly attributable to a couple of ebook bundles from Humble Bundle.

2026 Reading List
Italics = books off the shelf. Bold = Favourite book of the month. (Parenthetical notes) = audio, rereads, and other relevant information.

January

1. Pizza Witch, by Sarah Graley and Stef Purenins (3.5 stars)
2. The Diary of River Song, Series 7 (Big Finish audio drama) (2.5 stars)
3. Doctor Who: Evolution, by John Peel (3 stars)
4. Physics for Cats, by Tom Gauld (5 stars)
5. A Man and His Cat, Vol. 14, by Umi Sakurai, translated by Taylor Engel (4.5 stars)
6. 111 Places in Edinburgh That You Shouldn’t Miss, by Gillian Tait (4 stars)
7. Endurance: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Legendary Ship, by John Shears and Nico Vincent (4 stars)
8. The Crystals of Z’leth: A 5E Survival Solo Adventure, by Daniel Howard (3.5 stars)
9. Doctor Who: The Time Meddler, by Nigel Robinson (3 stars)
10. Shadows of Self, by Brandon Sanderson (3.5 stars)
11. The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle (4 stars) (reread)
12. Penelope’s Bones: A New History of Homer’s World Through the Women Written Out of It, by Emily Hauser (4.5 stars)

February
13. Iconic Transit Maps: The World's Best Designs, by Mark Ovenden (4 stars)
14. The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk, and Luck, by David Spiegelhalter (3.5 stars)
15. The Bands of Mourning, by Brandon Sanderson (4 stars)
16. The Cracked Mirror, by Chris Brookmyre (4 stars)
17. The Black Swan Mystery, by Tetsuya Ayukawa, translated by Bryan Karetnyk (1.5 stars)
18. Murder After Christmas, by Rupert Latimer (3 stars)
19. Queen Macbeth, by Val McDermid (1 star)

March
20. Dragons of Autumn Twilight, by Margaret Weis (3.5 stars)
21. Murder by the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles, ed. Martin Edwards (3 stars)
22. The First Rule of Safety Culture: A Counter-C-Word Manifesto, by Carsten Busch (4 stars)
23. Doctor Who: The Gods of Winter, by James Goss (audio, read by Clare Higgins) (3 stars)
24. Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock, by Jonathan Gould (4 stars)
25. The Lost Metal, by Brandon Sanderson (3.5 stars)
26. Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne, translated by an uncredited translator (3 stars)
27. Tress of the Emerald Sea, by Brandon Sanderson (5 stars)
28. Gideon’s Lot, by J. J. Marric (2.5 stars)
29. The Dark Wives, by Ann Cleeves (3 stars)
30. Cat Massage Therapy, Vol. 3, by Haru Hisakawa, translated by Anh Kiet Ngo (3 stars)
31. The Children of Jocasta, by Natalie Haynes (4 stars)
32. Rear Window and Other Stories, by Cornell Woolrich (4.5 stars)
33. Preparing for the Perimenopause and the Menopause, by Dr Louise Newson (3 stars)
34. Karla’s Choice, by Nick Harkaway (4 stars)

April
35. Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, by Brandon Sanderson (4 stars)
36. The Masquerades of Spring, by Ben Aaronovitch (3.5 stars)
37. Catland: Feline Enchantment and the Making of the Modern World, by Kathryn Hughes (3 stars)
38. The Forgotten Sense: The New Science of Smell and the Extraordinary Power of the Nose, by Jonas Olofsson (3 stars)
39. We Solve Murders, by Richard Osman (4 stars)
40. The Ultimate RPG Game Master's Guide: Advice and Tools to Help You Run Your Best Game Ever!, by James D'Amato (3 stars)
41. Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, by Paul McCartney with Ted Widmer (4.5 stars)
42. The Sunlit Man, by Brandon Sanderson (3 stars)
43. Artemis, by Andy Weir (3.5 stars)
44. The Noh Mask Murder, by Akimitsu Takagi, translated by Jesse Kirkwood (2 stars)
45. The Dragonet Prophecy, by Tui T. Sutherland (3 stars)

May
46. Final Orbit, by Chris Hadfield (3.5 stars)
47. Great Tales of Detection, ed. Dorothy L. Sayers (2.5 stars)
48. The Puzzle of the Happy Hooligan, by Stuart Palmer (1 star)
49. Don’t Make a Sound, by David Jackson (3 stars)
50. A Song for You and I, by K. O’Neill (3.5 stars)
51. The Lie Maker, by Linwood Barclay (4 stars)
52. Retro: Popular Music in Canada from the 60s, 70s and 80s, by Judith Klassen (2 stars)
53. Killed by a traffic engineer : shattering the delusion that science underlies our transportation system, by Wesley E. Marshall (4 stars)
54. Dancing at Lughnasa, by Brian Friel (2.5 stars)
55. Fire Eaters: The People and Aircraft Combatting Wildfires Over the Last Century, by Peter Pigott (1.5 stars)

June
56. Quand sort la recluse, by Fred Vargas (3 stars)

July

August

September

October

November

December

Glad you are back with us!

>1 rabbitprincess: I define a ROOT the same way as you do. I figure that if I invested in a book by buying it or picking it up at a free library then it is mine and considered a ROOT. Glad to see I am not the only one applying that definition.

Congrats on your master's work and good luck on your 2026 goals!

Hiya, Princess! Happy ROOTing!

>3 cyderry: Thanks for setting up the group! It's always so much fun :)

>4 Kyler_Marie: Thanks! I wanted to make sure my definition included making time for old favourites as well as the new and shiny. Good luck with your goals this year as well!

>5 mstrust: Hi Jennifer! Happy ROOTing to you as well!

Happy ROOTING in 2026, RP

>7 Robertgreaves: Thanks, Robert, and the same to you!

Hi RP. Glad to see so many familiar names here. Happy ROOTing.

>9 connie53: Thanks, Connie, and to you as well!

Congratulations on progress toward your master's, and enjoy those ROOTs.

Happy New Year! Good luck reading your ROOTS and achieving your goal!

>11 detailmuse: Thanks, MJ! Almost done!

>12 Carmenere: Thanks, Lynda, and the same to you!

Happy New Year, and congratulations on your progress toward your Master's! It's nice to be so close to finishing it. Good luck with your ROOTs. 60 is an ambitious goal.

Good to see that you've gotten so far with your masters degree, RP. A goal of 60 is ambitious if you keep reading those Fantasy tomes. Best of luck in 2026!

>14 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene! Good luck with your goal as well!

>15 Familyhistorian: Thanks, Meg! I'll have to balance out the chunky fantasy novels with comics and graphic novels. Have a great reading year!

Great to see you’re here again, RP!

>1 rabbitprincess: Hello and happy new year, may it be full of books!
I finished my Master's just over a year ago, so I fully understand (and commiserate). I don't think I've read more than five non-related books during the last year of writing my thesis...

Happy ROOTing in 2026, RP!

Congrats on getting over the hump of the work on your Masters - hope the going is good for the rest and you have a great year ahead.

>17 MissWatson: Thanks, Birgit! Great to see you as well!

>18 zuzaer: Thanks, zuzaer, and the same to you! Last year I was really only reading books on the bus; at home, if I wasn't working on my thesis, I was playing video games. Looking forward to getting more actual reading in for sure.

>19 floremolla: Thanks, Donna, and happy ROOT reading to you as well! I took next week off so that I could work in depth on the examiner's comments, but I'll hopefully start picking at them in a couple of days (once I work up the nerve to check my messages haha).

Finally managed to finish an audiobook I'd been working on for over six months.

ROOT 1 of 60: The Diary of River Song, Series 7
Source: Big Finish

ROOT 2 of 60: Doctor Who: Evolution, by John Peel
Source: By the Lake Books

>21 rabbitprincess: Weeping Angels - ugh! They are by far the most scary opponents in the Doctor Who universe IMO.

>23 Henrik_Madsen: I completely agree! I still haven't been able to finish the Thirteenth Doctor's "Flux" season because they're the main monster. I watched the first episode of that season on my tablet (my parents have cable, so they recorded it and I had remote access to their recording) and had to hold the tablet face up to the ceiling so that the Weeping Angels couldn't see me, haha.

>1 rabbitprincess: how do you have the discipline to pay off the books you buy? oh boy i could never lol

>25 handshakes: Ha, I've never come close to paying them off fully! It does help me think carefully about how many books I'm buying when I go to used-book sales and such.

>1 rabbitprincess: Congrats on being mostly done with your Master's! I like your 2-for-1 challenge. I am going to track books that come into my house each month and the plan is for the completed books to be a much bigger figure than the new ones coming in... we'll see!

I hope the end of the Masters goes well and you are happy with a job well done! (as well as with a bigger selection of non-academic reads :D)

>27 LisaMorr: Thanks, and good luck with that challenge!

>28 Jackie_K: I'm getting very close to the finish line. Took last week off work to address the examiner's comments. I still have some work to do over the next couple of weeks, but it was good to have some focus time off :)

It must feel good to see the end in sight, RP. Even better to have more time for extracurricular reading.

>30 Familyhistorian: Definitely! Although now the danger is feeling like I'm done before I'm actually done; there's still a bit of work to do!

ROOT 3 of 60: Doctor Who: The Time Meddler, by Nigel Robinson
Source: Book Bazaar

ROOT 4 of 60: Shadows of Self, by Brandon Sanderson
Source: Tor.com

ROOT 5 of 60: The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle
Source: apparently a Christmas present (Christmas 2012, so Sherlock was still airing)

The "Attach Review" function doesn't allow me to attach older reviews, so here is the old-fashioned (!) copy-paste.

My original review from 2013: After "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", this is probably my favourite Holmes story. Sending Watson down to Dartmoor with Sir Henry is an excellent way of building up the suspense, and his descriptions of the bleak moors, tors and mists sent chills down my spine. And even though I'd read the story before and knew on some level whodunnit, the exact mechanics behind the crime were still a surprise. A delightful treat for Holmes fans and a pretty good introduction to the great detective. The TV tie-in edition also features a nice introduction from Sherlock himself, Benedict Cumberbatch.

My reread from 2026: I have the feeling that many of the adaptations leave out the fact that Dr. Mortimer is obsessed with the shape of people’s skulls. That was weird in a bad way. But the rest of the story is good, and I once again laughed at Benedict’s introduction. I could hear his voice as I read it!

January recap: 5 ROOTS pulled (YTD: 5)

The Diary of River Song, Series 7 (Big Finish audio drama) (2.5 stars)
Doctor Who: Evolution, by John Peel (3 stars)
Doctor Who: The Time Meddler, by Nigel Robinson (3 stars)
Shadows of Self, by Brandon Sanderson (3.5 stars)
The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle (4 stars) (reread)

ROOT of the month: The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Hi RP! I like your ROOT of the month idea - will have to 'borrow' it...

>36 LisaMorr: Hi Lisa! Borrow away :)

>35 rabbitprincess: >36 LisaMorr: I like that idea too! I will also borrow it.

>38 atozgrl: It's a useful reminder for me of all the great books on my shelf; sometimes the overall book of the month is a library book, and having a separate ROOT of the month really showcases the great stuff I'm reading!

ROOT 6 of 60: The Bands of Mourning, by Brandon Sanderson
Source: Tor.com and Indigo (I bought a print edition of the Mistborn Era 2 because it was taking me too long to read the ebooks)

>40 rabbitprincess: I've been meaning to read more Barndon Sanderson since he finished Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series so well. Would you recommend starting with Mistborn?

>41 LisaMorr: Yes! Brandon Sanderson himself recommends it as a good starting point. It's a nice short book and is faster paced than the Stormlight Archives.

>42 rabbitprincess: Thanks RP!

ETA: I just visited his webpage and I really like how he's set up a whole page on how to start reading his work.

>43 LisaMorr: Yes! I also admire his project management skills and how he keeps everyone up to date on his progress.

For the Cosmere books, I've been following the reading order recommended by The Quill to Live, which starts you off with Mistborn as well. https://thequilltolive.com/2025/07/25/cosmere-reading-order/

The only deviation I've made is that I'm skipping White Sand for now; once I finish The Lost Metal, I'm moving on to Tress and the Emerald Sea. White Sand is hard to get a hold of in print, so I ended up buying an abridged audio dramatization, and I'm slow with audio and already behind the group read. Once I get The Lost Metal and Tress read, I should be caught up with them again :) I'll read White Sand separately.

February recap: 1 ROOT pulled (YTD: 6)

The Bands of Mourning, by Brandon Sanderson (4 stars)

I guess this is my ROOT of the month then! Haha.

>44 rabbitprincess: Thanks for sharing that link - I'll check it out!

>46 LisaMorr: Enjoy!

ROOT 7 of 60: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Source: Humble Bundle of Dragonlance ebooks

ROOT 8 of 60: Murder by the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles, ed. Martin Edwards
Source: Christmas present

ROOT 9 of 60: The First Rule of Safety Culture, by Carsten Busch
Source: bought new online

ROOT 10 of 60: Doctor Who: The Gods of Winter, by James Goss, read by Clare Higgins
Source: Big Finish

ROOT 11 of 60: The Lost Metal, by Brandon Sanderson
Source: bought new in a box set with the other three books in Era 2 of Mistborn

Hi RP, just popping in to see what you have been reading and waving at you!

>53 connie53: Hi Connie! Still a lot of Brandon Sanderson haha. I ordered the paperback copy of Wind and Truth so should be getting that at the end of the month. Hope you're doing well!

>54 rabbitprincess: Nice to have a big fat pile of books for a Spring snow storm :P

Seeing as you are a big Doctor Who fan - were you aware of this recent discovery ?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g7kwq1k11o

>56 Ignatius777: I had seen a headline but not taken the time to read more about it, so thank you for sharing this! That's exciting news indeed :D

ROOT 12 of 60: Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne, translated by an uncredited translator
Source: it was one of my childhood books and I don't remember how I got it (whether as a gift or bought with my pocket money)

>55 Cecilturtle: That was a lot of snow on Saturday! And tomorrow it's a high of 14 and a risk of thunderstorms! Wacky weather.

ROOT 13 of 60: Gideon's Lot, by J.J. Marric
Source: Bought on a trip to Wigtown, Scotland, in 2014. Last of the books from that trip to be read!

ROOT 14 of 60: Rear Window and Other Stories, by Cornell Woolrich
Source: Bought at By the Lake Books

>61 rabbitprincess: That's such a good name for a book shop, I had to look it up!

>61 rabbitprincess: Rear Window is my favourite film - how did I not know it's based on a short story?! I will put this onto my wishlist.

>62 Cecilturtle: It's a nice shop! Hoping to get back there for a visit soon.

>63 missizicks: Excellent! I love the film too (at least partly because of James Stewart).

>61 rabbitprincess:, >63 missizicks: you might enjoy Rear Window: The Making of a Hitchcock Masterpiece in the Hollywood Golden Age -- a comprehensive, engaging read.

>65 detailmuse: Thanks for the recommendation! Adding it to the to-read list :)

>65 detailmuse: That does sound good, MJ, thanks for the recommendation!

March recap: 8 ROOTs pulled (YTD: 14)

Dragons of Autumn Twilight, by Margaret Weis (3.5 stars)
Murder by the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles, ed. Martin Edwards (3 stars)
The First Rule of Safety Culture: A Counter-C-Word Manifesto, by Carsten Busch (4 stars)
Doctor Who: The Gods of Winter, by James Goss (audio, read by Clare Higgins) (3 stars)
The Lost Metal, by Brandon Sanderson (3.5 stars)
Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne, translated by an uncredited translator (3 stars)
Gideon’s Lot, by J. J. Marric (2.5 stars)
Rear Window and Other Stories, by Cornell Woolrich (4.5 stars)

ROOT of the month: Rear Window and Other Stories

I've read a lot of Cornell Woolrich, yet I haven't read Rear Window and really want to. I'm a big fan of the movie.

>69 mstrust: I think you'll find the story interesting then! :)

ROOT 15 of 60: The Ultimate RPG Game Master's Guide, by James D'Amato
Source: Humble Bundle of TTRPG books

>61 rabbitprincess: I also liked that bookstore name - and I was a little distracted by your March re-cap, where you listed Murder by the Book - which is the name of a great bookstore in Houston!

And I'll take a book bullet for Rear Window and Other Stories - certainly love suspense/thrillers!

>72 LisaMorr: Excellent, I hope you like it!

ROOT 16 of 60: Artemis, by Andy Weir
Source: Chapters/Indigo

April recap: 2 ROOTs pulled (YTD: 16)

The Ultimate RPG Game Master's Guide: Advice and Tools to Help You Run Your Best Game Ever!, by James D'Amato (3 stars)
Artemis, by Andy Weir (3.5 stars)

ROOT of the month: Artemis

ROOT 17 of 60: Great Tales of Detection, ed. Dorothy L. Sayers
Source: passed along by a friend

ROOT 18 of 60: Don't Make a Sound, by David Jackson
Source: bought from Book Depository

ROOT 19 of 60: The Lie Maker, by Linwood Barclay
Source: bought at a church used-book sale

ROOT 20 of 60: Dancing at Lughnasa, by Brian Friel
Source: bought secondhand

ROOT 21 of 60: Quand sort la recluse, by Fred Vargas
Source: Renaud-Bray

>80 rabbitprincess: I did find the idea of arachnophobia being an after-effect of childhood abuse most improbable

>80 rabbitprincess: >81 Robertgreaves: it wasn't my favourite of her books (and I'm a huge fan) but I like that Vargas always pulls from her medieval anthropology background which makes her stories so unique (for 15 years she was a researcher as an archeozoologist in France's most prestigious research centre).

>81 Robertgreaves: Yeah, I wasn't quite sure how that came about. I think I just chalked that up to the fact that I was reading in my second language and not looking up words as I went, so there was always the possibility that I was missing some context.

>82 Cecilturtle: Yes, she has unique storylines for sure! So far my favourite book of hers is Pars vite et reviens tard.

Hi RP. just popping in to see what you have been reading and see how far you are with your challenge. Keep on ROOTing.