It was more than a little jarring to me when I saw Celeste and Mehsi post the Quarter Year Crisis Book Tag because what do you mean a quarter of the year has already come and gone?! I had to sit with that fact for a bit and let my brain catch up to what it already knew, lol. 2026 has been… so weird and awful in so many ways, and I guess I’ve started blocking a lot out, which has made the year feel simultaneously too long and yet incredibly short. Sigh.
So I guess it’s time to look back on Q1 of my reading year! Surprisingly, it hasn’t been too bad in terms of numbers at least in comparison to last year. If you’re curious, you can view my past quarterly check-ins: 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022.
This tag was originally created by @Roisin’s Reading on BookTube.
How many books have you read so far?
I’ve read 35/100 books so far this year. This puts me “ahead of schedule” by 6 books, which is honestly refreshing to see considering my progress last year. I think it helps that I’ve also cut down my reading goal this year by 50 books— there’s enough pressure in other areas in my life and I don’t need reading to be one of them!
Have you already found a book you think might be a 2026 favourite? If not, what was your favourite book you read that wasn’t quite five stars?
Hmm, I think there are three books that I can think of that will likely be on in my top reads of the year. The only reason I would see these not making my top reads would be because of others that would knock them out of the running, but I don’t think they’ll get moved out of the running for Top 10.
Any 1-star books / least favourite book of the year?
I was so disappointed that I didn’t enjoy Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton because I had high expectations for it and thought I’d love it!
It wasn’t a 1-star (I gave it 2.5 stars) but it is my lowest rated read of the year so far.
Most read genre so far?
Unsurprisingly, fantasy is my most read genre with romance a close second—which is honestly kind of surprising since I feel like I’ve been reading a whole lot less romance this year! Looking at the chart from Storygraph, I’ve read 19 fantasy books!
A book that surprised you?
Ooh, this is a tough question to answer. I think the book that most surprised me was… What It Means When A Man Falls from the Sky by Leslie Nneka Arimah. This is a collection of short stories centering Nigerian and diaspora voices and experiences, some with a touch of magical realism. I was genuinely surprised by how much I loved this book and how many of the stories stuck with me.
A book that’s come out in 2026 already that you want to read but haven’t yet?
This could literally be all the books I’m anticipating this year because I’ve probably read maybe 2 or 3 new releases so far? Here are five that I’m pretty keen on:
One goal you made that you’re succeeding at
I’ve been tackling quite a bit of my backlist so far this year and I’m quite pleased by that. Not just my physical books but my digital ones too—and I’ve got so many books on my Kindle that need reading….
One goal you made that you need to focus on
On the same subject as backlists, something that I really need to work on is tackling my backlist ARC list. It’s been a very long time since I’ve really requested or received an ARC via Netgalley because holy granola, my backlist on there is kinda… Not great. 😅 It is definitely not something I’m proud of but it is the reality of being a extreme mood reader and waiting for the “perfect moment” to read something. Welp!
New to you Bloggers/Booktubers/ Bookstagrammers/Booktokers for 2026 you recommend?
I have to admit that I haven’t been very good with actively searching for or engaging with new creators in the book sphere of late. It’s a goal that I do want to work on this year, I just… Never really seem to have the energy after work + engaging on my own page. 😮💨 Off the top of my head though, there is one creator who immediately comes to mind and that’s Kenn @ Novelistic Pages. Not only is her blog aesthetic so freaking adorable, I always really enjoy reading her posts, so do go check her space out!
I’m not tagging anyone but if you’d like to do this, feel free to link back so I can see your answers!
And that’s it for the first quarter of 2026! What a time it has been… How has your reading been so far? Are you pleased with what you’ve read? Are there any books that you can’t wait to read? Are you happy with your goal progress?
dinipandareads 
Sorry this year has been beating you up a bit 😭 I am right there with ya. But at least you are on top of your reading goals haha. I was delighted to see The adventures of Amina elsarafi on there, that was such a shocking love of a book for me, I love the author already from her city of brass series, but Pirates aren’t usually my thing so I was like holy s*** I actually love this. Robert Jackson bennett! I’m going to read the second book in may, and book three comes out soon after 🙂 hopefully that will continue the trend of the series being great as well for us
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I can’t believe the first quarter of the year is almost over, either! I’m glad you cut back on your reading goal because this hobby shouldn’t be something that stresses you out. 🙂
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