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| Some of the Book I hope to read before end 2026 |
The missus is having a nap so I'll start this tonight. If I complete the post, good enough. Otherwise, I'll get back to it tomorrow sometime.
Books Completed (4 books completed since my last update, for a total of 6 in October so far)
1.
Frostbite; A Graphic Novel by Ian Boothby, illustrated by
Pia Guerra (YA / Hor / 2026)
"Frostbite: A Graphic Novel by Ian Boothby and illustrated by Pia Guerra was a nice quick little horror story for YA in a graphic novel format. The teaser sort of says it all, ‘Beware the Dead of Winter’. It starts off with a busload of young players trying to get home in the night. The driver and coach are lost. The bus skids off the road. The coach and driver head off to see if they can find help. They see a cottage in the wood. The driver sinks into the snow. The kids run to the cottage but…… all of them disappear.
Move ahead a few years and we meet Jen and Dante. The are teenage influencers, traveling on a chopper to find a location to snowboard. The chopper flies ahead to meet them. Bev is dropped off to film them coming down the hill. Dante has his ankle slashed somehow. They proceed to the chopper but…. No crew!
The trio make their way into a small town and their gear is stolen by a guy on a snowmobile. The trio with the help of two young people from town head off in chase. They arrive at the river, but they’re not supposed to go over it. The land beyond is a forbidden zone. But, hey, guess what, they go anyway and that’s where they meet… well, now you have to continue, don’t you.
It’s an entertaining, fast paced story and well drawn by Boothby’s wife Pia Guerra. Not a lot of time developing the characters, it’s the setting and the story that is most important. It was enjoyable, not too terrifying or graphic, just enough to hold your interest. (3.5 stars)"
2.
Heart on my Sleeve; Stories of a Life Well Worn by
Jeanne Beker (Non Fic / 2024).
"Heart on My Sleeve: Stories from a Life Well Worn by Jeanne Beker is a memoir by a Canadian fashion icon. Jeanne Beker was one of the first VJs on Canada's Much Music and reported on music. She also was a fashion reporter on various publications and TV shows.
Jeanne tells the story in a unique fashion. Each chapter features a piece of clothing from her life and how it relates to her life at that time and how it relates to her life in general. The chapter called Itsy-Bitsy Bikini is about her interview with Andy Summers of The Police, which he wanted conducted in a bubbly bath surrounded by candles. Jeanne was game and wore the 'itsy bitsy bikini'. She also saved Andy when his hair caught fire from the candles. (The video of that interview is still on You Tube if you're interested in seeing it.)
Jeanne has had an interesting complete life. She's interviewed and made friends with many Canadian stars; Toller Cranston, Gordon Lightfoot, Linda Evangelista and also international celebrities. She's fought breast cancer (Lost and Found), married a few times, raised to lovely daughters, was awarded to the Order of Canada.
Her life seems so fascinating and she tells the story in an easy, informal, light style. Considering that I grew up during this period, it made it even more interesting for me. As the title of the book says, Jeanne lived a life well worn. (3.5 stars)"
3.
Tuck Everlasting; the Graphic Novel by Natalie Babbitt, illustrated by
K. Woodman-Maynard (Fiction / 2026)
"I have never read the original Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt but I had heard of it. A couple of years ago, I discovered Tuck Everlasting: The Graphic Novel, adapted and illustrated by K. Woodman-Maynard, the cover was so appealing that I thought I should check it out. Over the past few years I've begun to really explore the world of graphic novels, including those adapting classic novels.
Right from the get-go, this story dragged me in. In its most basic, it's an exploration of life and death. Young Winnie Foster lives a protected life with her parents and gran. She spends most of her time in conversation with a toad. She decides to run away from home but is hesitant to do so. One night a man in a yellow suit visits. This is after a strange music is heard from the forest that is owned by the Tucker family.
The next morning, Winnie decides to explore the glade, even though it's forbidden to her. She sees a young man, Jesse Tuck, drinking from a spring. When he sees her, he hides it, even though Winnie is thirsty and wants a drink. Jesse's mother, Mae Tuck and his brother Miles Tuck spirit Winnie away as they are worried about what she's discovered. The man in yellow sees this and follows.
The Tuck family promise to send Winnie home but they need to explain about the spring and the dangers of its life-changing powers. She ends up spending the night with them and each member of the Tuck family tells how dangerous the spring is and how its impacted their lives. Meanwhile, the man in the yellow suit has gone to the Foster family and says he'll get Winnie back, but the family has to sell him the grove first.
I think I'll stop there because you really should read the rest for yourself. The story moves along quickly but for its speed, it provides so much thoughtful conversation. The characters are all well-crafted and relatable. There is a strong tension to the story as the yellow-suited man and police approach the Tuck's farm. There is also a sadness that's unexpected at the end. It's a unique story and at the end there is an interview between Natalie Babbitt's daughter and K. Woodman-Maynard that provides more insight into the story and Maynard's interpretation. Beautifully drawn and colored, it's an excellent adaptation. (4.0 stars)"
4.
Fourth Wing by
Rebecca Yarros (Fan / Empyrean #1 / 2023)
"I started reading Fourth Wing the 1st book in the Empyrean fantasy series by Rebeca Yarros about 4 months ago. I readily admit that its size was kind of intimidating. But every time I put it down, no matter how many other books I was working through, when I would pick it up next, I found it so easy to get back into the flow of the story, to remember the excellently constructed characters. And when I finally settled down to complete it, it took no time at all. Just an excellent, entertaining story.
Violet (sometimes nicknamed Violence) Sorrengail had planned to become a Scribe like her dead father, to spend her life in the vaults of books in the kingdom of Navarre. But her mother, the commanding general, had other plans. She assigns Violet to the Rider Quadrant where she will follow in the footsteps of her brother Brennan and her sister Mira. What you have to know is that Riders in fact ride dragons. Yup. And as they progress through their first year at the Rider Academy, a dragon will eventually bond with one of the students.... or maybe just kill him / her.
This is not your standard first year at college. You either pass or fail and, by fail, I mean, die. And you can kill your fellow 1st years. The less there are to compete for a dragon bonding, the better the odds of survival. Violet makes an especially tempting target. She's the commanding - general's daughter. She's not very big and prone to injury. And there are a number of 'marked' students, the children of a traitorous uprising whose parents were executed by Mom. They tend to bear a grudge against Violet.
Mira is completely against Violet being assigned to the Rider Quadrant but when she can't persuade dear Mom to change her mind, she equips Violet as well as she can, with a special dragon skin armor and other things. Violet's best friend, Dain, a 2nd year and also a flight commander constantly encourages Violet to sneak to the Scribe Quadrant, but Violet refuses.
There are people who especially hate Violet; I mentioned those kids of the executed parents.. Well, Xaden Riorson's father led the rebellion and he's now Violet's boss, Fourth Wing Commander. There is also Jack Barlowe who really wants to make a name for himself by killing Violet.
So the stage is set and Violet needs to survive to be bonded with a dragon. She does have some friends, especially Rhiannon who helps her with her battle training and things like that.
The story moves along at a steady pace and Violet proves she's no push over and isn't beyond a bit of trickery to help her defeat her opponents (a touch of poison anyone?) She eventually bonds with a dragon... no wait, not just one. But I won't go any further with that part, just know that she continues to progress. She starts to realize that who might be her enemy, might not be and who she thought of as friends, well, they might not be so friendly.
The longer she lasts, the stronger she gets and finally, as all dragon riders do, she finds out her powers (you either get the power or you die because it basically eats you up)
There are intrigues within the Rider's Quadrant and it seems that the students aren't being told everything that is going on in the outside world.
It's such a rich, fantastic story. The world Yarros has created is cleverly opened up to our view. The characters are all so well-developed that you grow to like or hate them as you learn more about them. The developing relationship between Violet and Xaden is surprising and neatly handled. Personally, I could have done without the description of the physical relationship, but I can see its importance to what happens later in the story. All in all, a great start to a series and I may have to get #2. (4.5 stars)"
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| The other books I've set aside to read by end 2026) |
Currently Reading (started since my last update)
1.
Case Pending by
Dell Shannon (Lt. Mendoza #1 / 1960). I have read one other book in this crime series. It was most enjoyable.
"A murdered girl, a missing doll, an illegally adopted child - a trilogy of mystery for Lieutenant Luis Mendoza."
2. The Motive (also Death of a Nymph) by Evelyn Piper (Mys / 1950). I have read Bunny Lake is Missing and The Nanny, also by Piper."Shirley Kolp was not an easy person to understand. Someone really had to know her to want to murder her.
Evidently, someone did.
But who?... And why?"
3. Driven by Mason Coile (Hor / 2026). I've read books by Coile under his real name, Andrew Pyper.
"Jamie Newcross wants to disappear. His wife and baby girl have abandoned him, and his only wish is to retreat from society. Because, as it turns out, Jamie Newcross is also being haunted. Every house, condo, or apartment he moves into is plagued with ghosts—at the end of the bed or when pulling back the shower curtain. He hasn’t been able to sleep in weeks.
But Jamie has a plan. He posts queries online and finds someone wanting to get rid of their Lion—the world’s most advanced self-driving car—a sleek, private, contained vessel that is one-hundred percent safe. Or so he thought.
Because now, Jamie has woken up to the Lion speeding down a dark road, the hood is dented—wait, is that blood?—and the car will not respond, or stop, or let him out.
As the miles rack up and Jamie becomes increasingly complicit in his car’s choices, he's forced to face the tragic past he has kept buried. Driven is a taut, near-future fever-dream. Mason Coile delivers another one-sitting read that blends science fiction and psychological horror to explore loneliness, grief, and the things that make us human."
Newest Arrivals
1. Treat Them as Buffalo by Blair Palmer Yoxall (Indigenous / Hist Fic / 2026).
"A gripping historical novel about the mysterious kidnapping of Métis boys, the women who search for them, and a town set on edge, told against the backdrop of the North-West Resistance of 1885
During a game of buffalo hunters, young Nikosis Eriksen’s cousin goes missing in broad daylight, leaving nothing but scuff marks in the muddy spring snow. It’s the first in a series of kidnappings of local Métis boys that sets the town of Lac-aux-Trois-Pistoles, Saskatchewan, on high alert. As the new detachment of North-West Mounted Police drag their feet, the women of the Eriksen-Desjarlais family—Niko’s Nimama, Auntie, and Chapan—take on the desperate search for Cousin.
Gunslinger Kate McCannon and her band of women and children have been living in a camp outside town while the family men have joined Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont in the resistance. News of the victory at Duck Lake arrives in the camp as McCannon and the women join the search for the missing boys.
When a boy is recovered alive yet badly wounded, the need to find Cousin becomes all the more pressing. It isn’t until Niko discovers the truth about the man responsible for the kidnappings that he is forced to grapple with his own identity and resolves to bring Cousin back, no matter what.
Told in the unforgettable young voice of Niko, Treat Them as Buffalo is a remarkable debut novel about the violent events of 1885 and the survival of a people when threat comes from every direction.
2. Peck & Peck by Bonnie Garmus (Fic / 2026). I enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry so very much. I'm looking forward to trying this.
"Batter Gray is worried about his future. Even when he was eleven, his classmates seemed to have settled on a goal: doctor, lawyer, broker, engineer. Good jobs that automatically command respect, security, 401Ks. Now Batter is in his early twenties, living in New York City, and he wants something different; something that alienates some readers and bores most. Poetry. And yet—to him and exactly thirty-nine editors at a company called Peck & Peck—poetry not only represents the power of humanity but holds the key to its survival.
Batter is named after his mother’s heroic dog. An identical twin who lost his brother at birth, he finds himself confronted by the everyday dualities that make up life: right vs. wrong, truth vs. lies, rejection vs. acceptance. It’s almost as if his dead brother is a reminder: there are always two sides to every story.
No, wait. Make that three."
3. How to Eat an Elephant; One Voter at a Time by Sarah Longwell (Non Fic / 2026). Jo and I enjoy watching the Bulwark online and Longwell is the founder.
"The playbook for consigning MAGA-style politics to the ash heap of history (where it belongs). Featuring a foreword by Jonathan V. Last (AKA JVL).
After Donald Trump won the 2024 election, Sarah Longwell did what she's done nearly every week for the past eight years: She sat down with voters. She conducted hundreds of focus groups, listening to thousands of ordinary Americans—Republicans, Democrats, and the politically homeless—with the goal of understanding politics through the eyes of the people who will decide our country’s future.
American voters, and what they want for their country, are at the heart of How to Eat an Elephant. Longwell, the founder of The Bulwark and one of the sharpest political communicators of her generation, lays out the playbook for building a coalition big enough, bold enough, and tough enough to defeat authoritarian populism for good. Not with a single election. Not by doing another poll or debating the benefits of being more progressive or more moderate, but by building something new: A modern pro-democracy movement that can create its own communications infrastructure—just like the right has done for decades—achieve narrative dominance, elevate more compelling leaders, and talk to voters like adults.
Drawing on her own unlikely political journey from a lesbian Republican operative to the vanguard of the anti-MAGA movement, Longwell delivers a book that is equal parts war manual and pep talk—with her personal and professional story woven throughout. With her trademark bluntness and humor, she explains exactly how we got here and, more importantly, what we must build next—all while directly quoting the most important but overlooked people in the country: the voters themselves.
She answers the question: How do you eat an elephant? One voter at a time."
4. The American Way of Killing; The Invention of an Epidemic by Malcolm Gladwell (Non Fic / 2026) I've read a couple of other books by Gladwell and he is always interesting and informative.
"Malcolm Gladwell’s most urgent book yet: a provocative investigation of America’s epidemic of gun violence.
The United States has far more homicides than any of its peers around the world. Why?
In this groundbreaking book, Malcolm Gladwell explores the American “peculiarity”—how the world’s wealthiest country came to suffer from a problem typically only seen in the world’s poorest countries.
Drawing on original interviews, archival and social science research, and his trademark insight, Gladwell approaches the American paradox through a series of stories. What can we learn from the miracle of a young gunshot victim in Washington, D.C.? How have the legal troubles of a seventeenth-century English knight influenced American attempts at gun control? Why would a European police chief be baffled by the graduation ceremony at any American police academy?
In a sweeping narrative, Gladwell travels from a shooting range in North Carolina, to the South Side of Chicago, to an old plantation house in Alabama, painting a picture of a country that does not understand its most pressing social problem, and as result, does not understand how to fix it."
There you go. See any books that tweak your fancy?
