2026 - Your Best Five Reads of Q1 (January - March)

That went by fast!
Please share five of your favorite books you've read in the last three months.
How did you kick off your reading year?

Happy list making!

I only read 4 books this quarter. 1 5 stars, 1 4.5 stars, and 2 4 stars. In order of favorite to least favorite (but still enjoyed):

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan
A Girl Is A Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (probably would have been 5 stars if I realized there was a cast of characters and their relationship on the LAST page)
The Lost Spells by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

This turned out to be one of the weaker quarters that I've had in awhile in regards to my choices. However, here's my top five.

Orbus.
Appeasement.
Engineering America.
Inventing the Renaissance.
A Mouthful of Dust.

The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays
Atlas Shrugged
Uncle Tom's Children
Afghan Tales: Stories From Russia's Vietnam
Brilliant Orange

I started the year binge reading a lot of UK police procedurals; then I moved to Scandi Noir. In March and April, my reading has gotten a little more varied. I suspect the book I am reading now Sharyn McCrumb's The Ballad of Tom Dooley would bump off #5. Here they are in reverse order
5. Arnaldur Indri∂ason--Jar City
4. Anthony Horowitz--The Word is Murder
3. Anthony Horowitz--The House of Silk
2. Alex Landragin--Crossings (really finished in April)
1. Nnedi Okorafor--The Death of the Author

I'm late to this party, but I thought I'd contribute anyway.
I'm not including re-reads.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy
How High we go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Killing Moon by Jo Nesbo

This was actually really difficult to narrow down but...

5. Hunger and Thirst
4. The Graceview Patient
3. Dungeon Crawler Carl
2. You Weren't Meant to Be Human
1. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

>6 ahef1963: I loved Wild Dark Shore SO much. I know that's not a unique opinion but I just love when it's mentioned.

>6 ahef1963: >7 sublunarie: Late responses always welcome!

Thank you everyone for sharing!