I read 100 books this past year, and wound up with many, many favorites that I’m already recommending to people in my library. As usual, most of the books I read were YA titles, but I also read quite a few nonfiction and middle-grade fiction books, as well as some adult books. These were nine of my favorites–a bit more about each below.

• Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout: graphic novel with beautiful artwork and dual timelines (WWII and 2011) about the Dutch resistance in Amsterdam
• My Friends by Fredrik Backman: another hit from the author of Beartown with one of the best first lines out there
• Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins: even more fabulous than the rest of the books in the Hunger Games world
• Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Education of an Artist by Daniel Pollack-Pelzner: excellent biography focusing on Miranda’s thirst for learning
• This Thing of Ours by Frederick Joseph: realistic YA about a sidelined basketball player who has to reinvent himself with the help of some new friends and an amazing English teacher
• Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley: another novel set in the world of Firekeeper’s Daughter and I don’t know how she manages to make each book better but she does
• Everything Is Poison by Joy McCullough: historical verse novel about women helping women in their apothecary in 17th century Rome
• A Most Perilous World: The True Story of the Young Abolitionists and Their Crusade Against Slavery by Kristina R. Gaddy: nonfiction loaded with engaging prinmary sources about four children of famous abolitionists (two young men, two young women, two white, and two Black)
• Under the Neon Lights by Arriel Vinson: verse novel about gentrification, roller skating, family, friendship, and just the right amount of romance

Then there was my tippy-top favorite: The Leaving Room by Amber McBride. I always love her books, but this one is somehow even more gorgeous, even more deep and meaningful. I wish I would’ve had as a teenager obsessed with death and love and everything in between. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy!

Here’s to many more great reads in 2026!