Reading Projects to Tackle in 2026
America's having a big birthday next summer.
Me and my brother in 2003, for no reason.
2025 is the 16th year that I’ve kept a running list of the books I’ve read, in order, more or less. I’ve refined the process over time and it’s helped me to take stock of where I’m putting my efforts, and what I’m getting out of it.
In 2009—the first year of this effort—something like 90% of my reading was just fluff. Light entertainment that I’ll never read again. Cheap, disposable fantasy and similar genre pieces. I’m not opposed to this category on its face, but I also don’t want to give it such an outsized portion of my attention. Nowadays I do a lot more heavy nonfiction, a lot of classics, and things that I’m likely to read again.
The years since have been more productive. What I read has greatly improved my writing, and that’s one of my main goals for reading. Enlightenment, entertainment, enhancement of skill. Last year I did a deep reading of THE SILMARILLION and this year I did the same thing for WITCHY EYE.
I really loved both of those efforts and I want to expound upon them for next year. With the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence coming, picking a theme will be really easy.
Like anything I undertake, though, it’ll be just as easy to get bogged down in feeling like I Have To Do This, so I’ll keep the goal modest and attainable. Here’s what I’m looking to do next year:
Deep-Dives:
These readings will include posts here on the Stack, and long videos at the end that sum it all up.
D.J. Butler’s WITCHY EYE is getting a video on the channel soon, so next year I’ll do WITCHY WINTER.
I wanted to read The Iliad this year but it got away from me. Next year Christopher Nolan has his Odyssey movie coming out so I can grift the algorithm by reading and covering that here instead.
And I’m well overdue to read the copy of Herodotus’ Histories that my brother got me several years ago. I started it in 2016 and never finished it. Now that I’ve developed this method I can start over and share some great details with you guys.
Series Recaps:
My Eragon recap is my second-most popular video on the channel, and it was a lot of fun to read and commentate on. (That’s a word now, I don’t care.) I want to do more of those.
Larry Correia’s Monster Hunter has two new installments coming in 2026, so a series recap is perfect for that.
Blaine Pardoe’s Land & Sea books continue to expand with new installments and new writers. The books can be a little outsized at times so if I reread them and break them down, I think it’ll help more people get into them. They’re mecha, so I want that.
I’m keeping a third slot open for another series. I will most likely do a recap video for Engines of Liberty so people can get into those, and hopefully drive sales of HOWLING WILDERNESS. But
Seasonal Reads:
I’m completely open to recommendations for fiction and nonfiction about the year 1776, the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers, etc. I’ll keep refining this list in the coming weeks, hit me if you’ve got a suggestion.
I will of course have some Halloween books next October, new Mayflower/Pilgrim/Thanksgiving books in November, and Christmas/Winter books for December. But since we’re only wrapping October this week, I’m not going to name anything right now.
So stay tuned.