Mid-Year Check-In 2026

The start of July marks the half-way point of the year. That means it’s time for my semi-annual check-in post. If you’ve been here before, you know the drill: 20 questioned, originally inspired by the Midyear Book Freak Out Tag, but adapted to fit my reading a bit better. I will try to give as many unique answers where possible, but it’s unavoidable that some titles will appear on multiple questions. Also, since I was so late with my Q1-wrap-up, there is bound to be some overlap there as well.

1.        How has your reading year been so far?

Pretty good overall! After a rough personal time in 2025 and the early months of 2026, I’m finally getting my groove back. with that, so comes my ability to enjoy my hobbies, including reading. So far, I’ve read 60 books and am likely to finish my 61^st later this week.

2.        Top 3 favourite reads of the year? I have full reviews for each of these up, so I’ll keep it brief:

- Hemlock by Melissa Faliveno A blend of disorienting queer magical realism and horror, that explores the feral nature of trauma and a powerful journey of healing through immersion in (one’s own) nature. Full review here - An Impossibility of Crows by Kirsten Kashock A gothic folk-horror novel with themes of Frankenstein, motherhood, and the cyclical nature of trauma and abuse, about a female scientist obsessed with the idea of breeding a crow large and intelligent enough to carry her daughter to a freedom she has never known herself. Full review here. - The Iron Garden Sutra by A.D. Sui A sci-fi meditation about life, death and grief, following a space-traveling Death-monk tasked with delivering funeral rights to the victims of the Counsel of Nicaea - a generationship, found adrift and abandoned without a living soul aboard. Full review here.

3.        Favourite fantasy novel?

The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula. Mostly because it was a unique-feeling historical fantasy, somewhere between Emily Wildes Encyclopedia of Faeries and Our Hideous Progeny. It because it brought me joy and is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a cozy fantasy that isn’t all about the romance. Mary Anning wants to be a geomagician—a paleontologist who uses fossils to wield magic—but since the Geomagical Society of London refuses to admit women, she’s stuck selling her discoveries to tourists instead. When an ancient egg hatches in her hands, revealing a loveable baby pterodactyl Mary names Ajax, she knows this is the kind of scientific find that could make her career—if she’s strategic.

4.        Favourite horror/thriller?

I was already gripped by this authors debut last time, but The Caretaker by Markus Kliewer exceeded expectations and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. This follows a young woman, who accepts a caretaking job from Craigslist, in a desperate attempt to pay the rent and keep food on the table for herself and her younger sister, for whom she’s the sole provider. Only to discover the position has consequences far greater—and more dangerous—than she ever could have imagined... This one has gotten mixed reviews, but personally, I thought it was not only a powerfully suspeseful story, but a great metaphor for mental healthy, grief and obsessive-compulsive thought-patterns as well.

5.        Favourite YA or coming-of-age novel?

This was almost a winner by default, as I barely read any YA anymore. Still, the quality of this horror novel stands well enough on its own to deserve a place here. Hold Back the Tide by Melinda Salisbury is a YA-creature horror set on the edge of a Scottish loch in an undefined but historical time period. I picked this book up on a whim on a library sale and went in completely blind. For me, that was the perfect way to approach this story, so I’d urge you not to read any descriptions and just go off that single line I just gave you. To keep it spoilerfree: I thought the story was going to be one thing, but it revealed itself to be something else entirely, and that twist was a great moment in my reading-experience.

6.        Favourite childrens/middle-grade novel?

There were quite a few strong contenders this year, and I’d like to give an honorable mention to Candle Island by Lauren Wolk and The Edge of Tomorrow by Meghan P. Browne for almost making the cut. In the end, I’m giving the honours to The Mossheart Promise by Rebecca Mix; a fantastic(al) middle grade fantasy about a society of fairies, living inside a life-size terrarium. But for years now, the terrarium has been neglected and is slowly dying, being overtaken by rot and mold. Twelve-year-old fairy Canary Mossheart, granddaughter of the chosen-hero that saved the fairies decades ago from a similar disaster, embarks on a dangerous quest to find answers and save her people. This has a great take on (and jab at) the chosen-one-trope, and presents a story that’s whimsical, adorable, fun and yet packed to the brim with important messages about friendship, trust, and responsibility.

7.        Favourite non-fiction?

A Flat Place by Noreen Masud is a memoir that deserves a full review for how much I loved it, but I need some time to collect my thoughts before committing them to paper. This reminded me a lot of one of my favourites of 2023 Some of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better. What Polly Atkin did in exploring chronic illness reflected through bodies of water, Noreen Masud does for trauma through flatlands. It’s nature-writing combined with memoir and academic backgrounds on cPTSD and childhood conditioning. Packed with beautiful prose, clear observations, striking vulnerability, and a journey that’s relatable and cathartic without sugarcoating the (emotional) landscape through which said journey takes place. Highly recommend if you’re interested in the subject matter.

8.        Favourite poetry?

I rarely give 5-star ratings to collections of poetry or short stories. Usually there are some parts of the collection that I enjoy, but others that don’t, which leads to a sort of “middling out” of the rating.

A Suit or a Suitcase by Maggie Smith - a second win for this author - is one of those rare exceptions. Her poetry on body and loss resonates with me in a way that few contemporary poets can match, and this collection might be my favourite work of hers to date. I will happily shelve this besides her previous collection Goldenrod, among my favourite pieces of poetry.

9.        Best debut?

Enter my first repeat-mention on this list, but this could go to no other book than Hemlock by Melissa Faliveno. 

Honorable mentions go to: Kirsten Kashock as An Impossibily of Crows is her debut into fiction from poetry, Kenan Orhan with The Renovation as her debut novel following a collection of short stories, Jennifer Mandula with The Geomancer and Meghan P Brown with The Edge of Forever. I hope to see more from each of these authors.

10.   Best sequel or series-continuation?

This one easily goes to The Ghostwings Lie by Rebecca Mix, the sequel to The Mossheart Promise, which I mentioned as my favourite middle-grade. This story takes off immediately where the first one left us, so I can’t give a full plot synopsis without spoiling things. What I cán say, is that I loved this book at least equally to (perhaps even more so than) the first one.

Without spoiling any plot points, I think this book truly shines in the way it incorporates the events of the first (including the traumatic impact of some of them on the characters) into the narrative. Ary and her friends don’t just “shake-off” these happenings, but instead, Rebecca Mix makes their healing journey part of the story, without weighing it down. It’s equally fun, equally adventurous, but carrying even more heart since we’ve already gotten invested in the characters.

11.   Favourite adaptation (movie, game, etc.)?

I feel like everyone and their mother, their dog and their pet-rock-alien is going to have the same answer for this question: it’s Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. I had never read the book before, so I squeezed it in my schedule just before seeing the film in cinema. Both were brilliant and I actually left the cinema with an almost childlike giddiness that I haven’t experienced in a long time.

Project Hail Mary is a science-fiction novel following the sole survivor on a space-ship that was sent out on a mission to safe the Earth. What follows is very “The Martian-coded”, but with a far more “hope-core” twist. Just like in The Martian, the cynical, self-deprecating but hypercompetent protagonist is the star here, and I have to say that I love how Ryan Gosling brought the character to life on screen, just like I’d imagined him in my head whilst reading the book.What can I say: often I like my sci-fi cerebral and realistic. Other times I just want hope-filled Robinson-Crusoe/Castaway in space…

12.   Biggest disappointment?I could go one of three ways here. If we’re talking “book I took the most personal umbrage with”, I’d have to go with either Counting Backwards by Binnie Kirschenbaum or This is Body Grief by Jayne Mattingly, full reviews for which you can find here and here respectively. If we’re talking “biggest gap between expectation and reality”: The Body Builders by Albertine Clarke and Vigil by George Saunders. Both had excellent premises, but took it in uninteresting and strange directions. One of them overexplained everything, the other insisted on staying so vague and stuck in its own dream logic that there was little coherence to be found. Neither worked for me. If finally, we’re talking “was actually fine, but I was hoping for/expecting great”: We Burned so Bright by T.J. Klune. Review for which can be found here.

13.   A book that made you happy? This has to go to Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir as well. Like I said under question 11: I left the theatre almost giddy and filled with a sense of hope and connection, and had the same experience during the book on multiple occasions. This was almost certainly a “right-book-at-the-right-time” moment for me, but judging by the packed movie theatres and glowing reviews, I’m not alone in that sentiment.

14.   A book that made you cry? No physical tears were shed over any book, but the one that made me feel most melancholic and mournful was probably The Renovation by Kenan Orhan. This is a magical realism novel about memory, political exile and displacement, in which a Turkish-American woman, who’s become the full-time care-giver to her father suffering from dementia, makes a baffling discovery during her home-renovations. Instead of a new en-suite bathroom, the builders have installed a Turkish prison cell.It was the themes, and specifically the metaphors surrounding caregiving and the sense of displacement that comes with (taking care of someone with) Alzheimer’s.

15.   A book outside your comfort zone?

This year, I’ve been trying to sneak the occasional Dutch book, by Dutch or Flemish authors, into my usual English mix. Although Dutch is my mother-tongue, I’ve been accustomed to reading in English since I was about 12, that Dutch literature still feels out of my comfort zone. Probably more so due to the style than the language itself. My answer for this question therefor is Wilgenkind by Josha Zwaan; a Dutch novel about a woman who becomes the primary caregiver of her terminally ill father. This confronts her with half-buried memories from her childhood, specifically surrounding her mother, who passed away when she was 14. This really exceeded all my expectations and struck an emotional note with me. unfortunately, no English translation exists, but I can highly recommend it to those of you who read Dutch.

16.   A book you can’t stop thinking about?

I feel bad for teasing all the American readers with this book, as they have to wait until October for its release. Yet no other book has occupied so much rent-free space in my mind as Solace House by Will MacLean. This is only fitting as this book is largely about rent-free spaces… This was “House of Leaves meets The Secret History”. I didn’t think that combination would ever work, but somehow Will MacLean pulled it off with this puzzle box of a novel. Full review can be found here.

17.   Favourite reread?

There were two very memorable rereads, each of which would make for a fitting answer to this question. First was Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris, an eco-horror novella about centering grief that was in my favourites of 2024 and 100% held up.

Second was The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, a book that I’ve considered an all-time-favourite since my first reading at age 15, but had never revisited since. Sadly, this did not fully hold up, and I ended up with a lot of mixed and complicated feelings. On the one hand, I still love some of the images and quotes in here, but on the other, I’m much more sensitive to how culturally poorly this aged in some aspects and how naïve and almost childish the protagonist is. Clearly 15-year-old me did not pick that up the way I did now… Regardless, it made for a great re-reading experience, comparing my thoughts from 10 years ago to my thoughts now, and seeing how I’ve grown and changed as a person. I still think The Bell Jar deserves a spot among my all-time favorite books for what it meant to me at the time, but if I’d read it for the first time today, I’d probably feel very different about it.

18.   Most beautiful cover design?

A book I haven’t gotten to yet, but which has a cover that’s been screaming my name ever since its release is Canon by Paige Lewis. Tagged as: Two unlikely heroes embark on quests to win God’s favor in this outrageously entertaining, profoundly heartfelt novel that announces an ingenious new voice in the tradition of Chain-Gang All-Stars, No One Is Talking About This, and Martyr. I’ve heard mixed reviews, so I’m hoping to get to this one via my library.

19.   A 2026-release you haven’t gotten to yet, but want to prioritize?

Land by Maggie O’Farrell. I’ve loved this authors previous work, so I absolutely want to read whatever she does next. I’m currently waiting for my library hold to come through, but since I’m likely to be in line behind half of the Dutch population, this might take a while… Let me know if you’ve read it; I’d love to hear some opinions.

20.   Most anticipated releases for the second half of 2026?

This one is easy, as my top three most anticipated novels of the year have yet to release: - Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel; a literary sci-fi novel of doubles, shadow worlds, and fractured timelines as a man disappears from a glittering Los Angeles party, and a woman—a gunrunner, an art collector, an operative of the State—searches for answers. This one is by the author of Station Eleven, The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility. - Children of Owl by Darcie Little Badger; an indigenous middle-grade novel about three cousins and the world of creatures, ghosts, and murderers that surrounds their trailer park, from the author of Elatsoe. - A Trade of Blood by Robert Bennett Jackson; the third book in the Leviathan Wakes series following an eccentric detective and her magically gifted assistant solving mysteries in the elite governmental ranks of a fantasy world. 

If you'd like: feel free to let me know your favourite book of the reading-year so far, and the book you're most excited to get to before the year is up. Happy reading, and until next time.