Books are small universes—affordable and easily carried, filled with mind-expanding possibilities. Through their pages, I explore new experiences and worlds, meet unforgettable characters, and deepen my understanding of…everything.
These are the books I read in January 2026, listed chronologically, and graded by recommendation (highly recommend, recommend, and do not recommend).
Capital and Ideology
If I could make you read this book, I would. If I could make us understand it with a snap of my fingers, I would also do that. Cuz, oh man.
Capital covers heavy stuff; thousands of years worth of commerce, laws, capital gain/loss (get it??) and how they’ve shaped cultural mores, world history, and our current geopolitical landscape.
Notice that there are no identifiers around the last word of the book’s title. Just “ideology,” meaning ideology of all kinds and political stripes. Because, the point is: CAPITAL AND IDEOLOGY ARE INTERTWINED. Capital bleeds into everything, for good and for bad, and this book means to dispassionately list all effects.
If the author were American, the sections about Communism would be more…emotive (all that Cold War propaganda worked), but Piketty (French) merely lists the advantages and disadvantages of both. (And finds them both lacking, in these post-Fourth Industrial Revolution times.)
Please read this; highly recommend.
A Truce That Is Not Peace
“Why do you write?” A harmless but annoying question, one commonly asked of writers. Answering it is kind of a pain, but it shouldn’t be as paralyzing as Miriam Toews finds it.
She is asked as part of a conference. Her answers came stilted and a bit depressing, which her potential employers rejected (begging the question as a Toews fan, had they not read…anything she wrote, but particularly AMPS??), and eventually disinvited her.
But their loss is our gain, as Toews answers by the end of this memoir. It’s not a punchy answer, but it is a well-written, funny, and all-importantly, true one; highly recommend.
Blue Zone Kitchens One Pot Meal
While I’m no longer veganish, I still appreciate plant-based delicacies! And this simple(ish) cook book is full of them. I highly recommend the whole “Blue Kitchen” line, honestly.
Babylon
Elisabeth, a French woman in her mid-sixties, is throwing a dinner party. But she is no Mrs. Dalloway.
There’s no angst here. She is happy: to throw a modest dinner party, happy to chat with old colleagues and new friends, happy to consider the gathering a pinnacle of mid-life.
Too bad not all of her guests were so content. Or maybe, in the wee hours of that morning, Elisabeth wouldn’t be involved in hiding a body.
Babylon is a slow burn, more of a commentary on late 20th century society than a murder mystery; recommend.
I’ll Drink To That
I can’t remember what article or book mentioned the legendary Bergdorf Goodman (an iconic luxury department store) personal shopper, but I owe it a debt of gratitude.
It was interesting to learn how this rather spoiled and sheltered woman made a successful career from her innate talent of recognizing and arranging beautiful things on the human body.
And I don’t mean that in a snarky way, highly recommend.
Anne-Marie The Beauty
This novel? More like a stream-of-consciousness monologue spouting from a former film star, ready to lay it all bare.
Anne-Marie is darkly funny and wryly wise, ranting about losing her looks, the fickleness of popular culture, being second fiddle to a “real star” (Giselle), and the purpose of art.
For such a short book, it should have less plodding parts. That could be a translation issue, though; recommend.
Strong Ground
I’m not sure if I don’t remember much about this self-help book because I read it while sick or because it’s immemorable.
But. It wasn’t awful, and if you’re into Brown, I bet you’ll love it; recommend.
The Curated Closet
A self help book for your closet! This slick little treasure features helpful tips/information about fashions: what kind of fabric is what, what’s worth paying for, and how to structure outfits.
There’s a bummer takeaway: I have too many clothes. This guide will convince you of that too, highly recommend.
What We Can Know
I keep waiting for age to dull McEwan’s brilliance and he keeps being like, “nope!”
In the limited world of the 2100’s, scholars study the digital cloud of celebrated figures past. Thomas, an English literary scholar specializing in the years 1990-2030, is on a quest to find the famous corona poem by Francis Blundy.
The poem was read (and never published) at a soon-to-be-famous dinner, one referred to as “The Second Immortal Dinner” by 2020. Over the next hundred years, the poem had become a sort of Holy Grail, a stand-in for “simpler times” and symbol of lost genius. When a string of numbers is revealed to be degrees of latitude and longitude, rather than a phone number, a literal treasure hunt is on.
Not only is this a good story (interesting premise, adventure, dystopia), it’s a story that is written well (delightful sentence structure, beguiling facts, playful literary devices), making it the highlight of the month and earning a highly, highly recommend.
Conclusion
In the quiet company of these January 2026 reads, I found stories and echoes of the human experience: resilience in the face of despair, the enduring power of connection, and timeless wisdom woven into words.
I hope this bite size book reviews open up new literary adventures for you. What books are you reading? I’d love to hear!
Want More?
Check out more bookish content here:
Happy reading!
Love,
