Welcome to Quick Lit, where I share short and sweet reviews of what I’ve been reading lately on (or around) the 15th of the month, and invite you to do the same.
I hope your reading year is off to a good start! Over the years, I’ve noticed I tend to consistently read 4–7 books in the holiday week between Christmas and New Year’s. This year my family was under the weather during that time, which was overall a drag but did ensure I spent plenty of time on the couch with good books (and a few good and not-so-good movies). This year I wanted to spend the period from mid-December to mid-January, and especially that holiday week, reading a pleasing mix of backlist titles and forthcoming-in-2026 selections for the Summer Reading Guide and, to a lesser extent, the Spring Preview Library Chat we’re hosting on February 7 for MMD Book Clubbers and our WSIRN patrons. (We’re doing it a little bit different this year—and it will be decidedly lower-key—so no a la carte this time.)
I so enjoyed what I picked up. In today’s edition of Quick Lit, I’m happy to share three backlist titles that are 10+ years old (Carson McCullers and two by Anne Tyler) as well as two newer books published in spring 2025 that I listened to on audio (Happy Land and The River Has Roots). I can see it appears that I read largely older selections this month, but in fact my books during this time period were mostly new-in-2026—I just won’t be talking about them for a little while. (But I can assure there is good stuff on the way!)
I hope you enjoy the variety of this month’s selections, and that you find something that looks intriguing for your TBR here (and in these comments). I look forward to browsing your recent reads below, and picking up suggestions for my To Be Read list. Thanks in advance for sharing your short and sweet book reviews with us!
Welcome to January Quick Lit
The Beginner’s Goodbye: A Novel
A Spool of Blue Thread
The River Has Roots
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter
Happy Land
What have YOU been reading lately? Tell us about your recent reads—or share the link to a blog or instagram post about them—in comments.
65 comments
It’s been an interesting start to 2026 with my reading! A few five star books and some less than stellar reads. Find out which to read and which to skip!
https://neverenoughnovels.com/2026/01/15/january-2026-book-reviews/
I’m listening to The American Queen which is about Happy Land as well. I had never heard of this until recently. Will add Happy Land as a companion read!
Have you read The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler? I remember reading it many years ago and loving it.
No, that one is high on my Anne Tyler list but I haven’t read it yet. Thank you for the nudge!
The end of December and the beginning of January is always my best reading time. Goals (and diets) go out the window and I just do what I want. This year was no different. Here’s my list:
https://www.allthebooksihaventread.com/blog-1/2026/1/15/show-us-your-books-january-2026
i’ve been reading Confessions by Catherine Airey and am really enjoying it!
* The Sensible Shoes series
* A unique look at hospitality as spiritual practice
* John Grisham’s latest
https://lindastoll.substack.com/p/a-guide-to-deep-mid-winter-reading
Linda, I absolutely love the Sensible Shoes series. It motivated me to find a similar spiritual formation small group called JourneyMates.
I ended 2025 on a good reading streak and am carrying that momentum into 2026. My favorites so far in 2026 –
The Future Saints by Ashley Winstead
The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller
https://ourlittlebookcollection.substack.com/p/december-reading-recap
https://ourlittlebookcollection.substack.com/p/spring-2026-childrens-book-previews
Member of the Wedding I recall as pretty great and sure it’s bleak but not devastating(? It’s been a while)
It’s been years since I read it but my memory matches yours.
PS am loving ‘Sonia and sunny’ and I LOVED the land in winter.
I see you have two books by the same person on your list—don’t you love when you find an author that you never seem to get tired of? I have two books by the same author on my list this month as well!
Here’s what I’ve been reading: https://readeatrepeat.net/2026/01/books-in-progress-january-2026/
Jordan, it’s so funny you said that about two books by the same author. EVERY TIME I read an Eleanor Lippman book, I immediately read another because I want to keep hearing her voice. I stop at two, and don’t do it intentionally! Just a random phenomenon of my reading life!
Maybe I’m just noticing it more, but I keep seeing more books with Rivers as a theme. Love it! Thanks for these recommendations.
I’ve been reading books by Brené Brown, Diane Chamberlain, and Ruth Ware – all good!
Here are all 10 books I recommend this month:
https://lisanotes.com/book-recommendations-stories-responsibility-fairness/
At the end of 2025, when everyone was posting their favorite books of the year, I kept coming across mentions of the Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower. I had never heard of them before and the wait for the physical copies from my library system was epic but, all 8 audiobooks were quickly available on Hoopla so I decided to dive in. I ended up abandoning every other book in my queue to binge the whole series (24 are planned) and they have turned out to be exactly the gentle Victorian coming of age start I needed for 2026! Epistolary novels are often my favorites and these are primarily journal entries mixed with some correspondence including notes passed under a wall. It’s witty, ever so slightly magical, mysterious, includes a beloved collection of quirky characters, is filled with literary references, and there is even a colorful little map of Emma’s town, St. Crispian’s. I loved the audio but was so sad not to have been able to annotate that I just ordered the whole set and imagine I will start back from the beginning once I have the physical copies. What a surprise and a treat!
Michelle – You made my day! I have loved this series, currently on Vol. 8, and I am thrilled to hear there will be more. Yay!!! I have listened to them on Hoopla as well, but may have to splurge and buy the physical books.
My mom, my daughter, and I are all in love with Emma!! I’m dying for Vol. 9! Audio all the way!
I’m reading an Anne Tyler book for my book club right now—“Clock Dance”! Enjoying it so far!
Clock Dance was my introduction to Anne Tyler, and what I came on here to suggest as well. I’ve since read a ton of Anne Tyler and she’s a comfort/favourite to come back to.
If I recall correctly, Member of the Wedding is from the POV of a lively and amusing child…I remember it being witty and observant, not bleak. But thank you for the heads up on her other book! 😬
I can’t seem to get off a Lily King high since reading Heart the Lover and rereading Writers and Lovers recently. So I am taking your suggestion and devouring Five Tuesdays in Winter. I adore Anne Tyler too and did some backlist reading last summer. Breathing Lessons is one I would suggest if you have not read it. Completely deserving of its 1989 Pulitzer prize in Fiction. I am also currently reading our January MMD pick Sipsworth and enjoying it so much.
A Spool of Blue Thread has been on my TBR for a while. Thanks for the nudge. I also had Happy Land on my Kindle and haven’t gotten to it. But when you said Bahni Turpin narrates the audio, I immediately bought it. I have loved all of Dolen’s books.
I have 11 books I’ve read since mid-November to share, including some middle-grade and young adult titles as well as fiction, a holiday romance, and historical fiction.
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
The Mountains Sing
The Tree that was a World
My Name is Lucy Barton
Lovely War
The Christmas Box
The One Year Bible
Wreck
One Night, Two Holidays
The Hundred Dresses
Scattergood
https://www.sincerelystacie.com/2026/01/quick-lit-january-2026-edition/
I also made great use of that holiday week for reading! So many audiobooks and puzzles that week. https://cocoonofbooks.blogspot.com/2026/01/what-ive-been-reading-lately-quick-lit.html
I felt similarly about The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter but I read The Member of the Wedding many many years earlier so I don’t remember it nearly as well, but I don’t think it’s quite as bleak. Maybe more melancholy.
From the week between Christmas and New Year’s until 2 days ago, I’ve read and thoroughly enjoyed:
Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree
Bright Lights, Big Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews
Murder Most Royal by S.J. Bennett
I’ll Be Home for Christmas by Jenny Bayliss
This Princess Kills Monsters by Ry Herman
A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna (I wish this one had gone on forever – it was so enjoyable and comforting!)
For years and years Anne Tyler has been one of my very favorite authors. I don’t reread many books, but hers I do. I particularly recommend The Accidental Tourist, Breathing Lessons, Saint Maybe, Ladder of Years (this might be my favorite), and Digging to America.
Thank you for these recommendations! (The Accidental Tourist was the first Anne Tyler I read and I thought it was a lovely introduction to her work.)
Anne Tyler is one of my must-read (and re-read) authors. Ladder of Years is my favorite too. It really spoke to me the first time I read it, as a young mother, and I still enjoy it. My daughter now lives in Delaware in a town which reminds me so much of the one where most of this novel is set.
Oh my goodness, I have read many Anne Tylers, but I have NOT read Ladder of Years or Saint Maybe, so now I’m excited to pick up those two next!! I had not heard any recommendations for Ladder of Years previously! Thank you!
My first book of 2026 was The Correspondent: A Novel on audiobook. A 5 star read (listen?) for sure. I decided to see what ChatGPT had to say about what my next listen should be so I plugged in some of my favorite books and audiobooks, it gave me recommendations – many (most?) of which I’d already read – and then I spotted Excellent Women by Barbara Pym. I was not familiar with her work but my goodness, I adored that book on audio! Will read more of hers but I don’t like to read author’s books one after another.
Currently listening to Strangers: A memoir of marriage and reading Something in the Heir which is a lighthearted regency. Strangers is almost painful to listen to but I’m invested because I read her viral Modern Love submission several years ago. Something in the Heir is a bit of a palate cleanser for an easy breezy read that is fun.
I’m listening to Strangers right now, too! (And wow do I see what you mean about “almost painful.”) But I didn’t know about the Modern Love column. Thanks for mentioning it; I’m off to look it up. 🙂
I was coming back (as I listened further) to say, Anne, you’ll love hearing about her mother’s work in urban planning! Fascinating.
I love Anne Tyler, and those are two I haven’t read. Thanks for the recommendation! I read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter a few years ago and liked it more than The Member of the Wedding, which I read with a book club ages ago.
Here are some books I recently enjoyed:
https://carolinestarrrose.com/quick-lit-what-ive-been-reading-lately-49/
Ok, who else just learned that Carson McCullers was a woman?
…raises hand
It wasn’t quite the finish to the reading year that I had planned – sadly, I left a favorite reading challenge unfinished – but overall still a good one. I wrapped up the year with some popular books that were hit (loved Wild Dark Shore!) and miss (All the Colors of the Dark) for me.
https://avikinginla.com/2026/01/what-ive-been-reading-lately-november-december-2025/
WILD DARK SHORE a book with a plot & characters I’ll not forget! a lovely example of agape love.
The start of 2026, I’ve been working my way through some of my TBR list. I’ve finished Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and A Heart for Christmas by Sophie Jomain which was a gift from a friend.
My favorite read so far has been Battle of the Bookstores by Ali Brady – it was cute and witty and jsut enough spicy for the winter months lol
I’m currently listening to Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell and reading The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner.
Looking forward to a very bookish 2026!
If you like Historical Fiction, give The Witch of Godstow Abbey a try. Set against the backdrop of Godstow Abbey near Oxford, the novel explores the collision between superstition, faith, and power in medieval England, and features strong female characters.
Meanwhile, I am thoroughly enjoying listening to The Correspondent.
Hello! I haven’t read The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, and after Anne described it as “desolate,” I feel less compelled to read it. I read Mudbound late last year, and that book was desolate and depressing… My recent reads are:
* The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James – 3 stars. This was a read for my book club and it was just too cute and cliched for me.
* The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison – 4 stars. I almost stopped this book about 50% of the way through as it felt very predictable, but I was encouraged to keep going and I’m glad I did. The second half had a great twist and the story ended up very differently than I expected, and I am still thinking about it.
* Heartwood by Amity Gaige – 5 stars. The hype is well-deserved for this gripping book.
* The Correspondent by Virginia Evans – audiobook, 5 stars. I read this in print back in 2025 and I FINALLY made it to the top of the holds list for the audiobook. Absolutely fantastic in this format.
Current reads are:
* The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 8 by Beth Brower – I have loved this series and will be sad to finish this one. Maybe there will be a Vol. 9??
* The River of Doubt by Candice Millard – This has been on my TBR for ages, and I recommended it to a co-worker who was looking for good nonfiction read based on reviews and a short synopsis/excerpt of the book I read a while ago. I decided I would read it too so I could discuss it with co-worker who is reading it too. I’m about 2/3 of the way through, and this is an amazing story. After reading this I’ve decided I will never venture into the Amazon forest… What a cautionary tale about the perils of a lack of knowledge, experience, and planning.
Happy Reading!
Oh, please do NOT read The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter right now. Tremendously sad, I read it in my teenage years and it even broke through the narcissism of an adolescent! It’s very powerful.
I’m reading and loving Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield. It’s a beautiful story about a young girl, apparently drowned in a river who comes back to life. But it’s a book about the power and magic of storytelling as well.
Forgot to mention how much I enjoyed Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. I started this and found it completely absorbing and so well-written.
I LOVED Buckeye as well! That was my last read of 2025 and the perfect was to end the year.
Anne Tyler has long been a slump buster for me. My favorites are French Braid and A Spool of Blue Thread. Breathing Lessons, The Accidental Tourist, and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant are also outstanding.
Interesting. I am in the process of reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
December Reading Wrap Up… https://readingladies.com/2025/12/31/december-2025-reading-wrap-up-amreading-blogger-bookblogger-bookx-booksky-decemberreading-readinglife/
I just finished “Wild Dark Shore” by Charlotte McConaghy. My first complete book of the year, and it will probably end up on my best of list at the end of the year. (I am a little behind the others.)
I read “”Circle of Days by Ken Follet over a busy holiday season and into January. Do I count it for 2025 or 2026? I am a fast reader, and my ego was a little bruised that it took me so long, but it was an interesting and immersive read.
My favorite book so the new year so far has been Home of the Happy by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot. It is a beautifully written story of family with a mystery and some history thrown in. Absolutely loved it!
I started 2026 in the middle of a reread of East of Eden, which I used to claim was my favorite book (I don’t think it is anymore). I also read We are All Completely Beside Ourselves which Anne recommended to me in a Patreon episode and now I’m reading the Kite Runner for the first time! Trying to make my way though some the books I own before the year picks up more.
Finally read (and loved) The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue during the week after Christmas. Just finished, On Muscle: the Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters by Bonnie Tsui. I don’t read a lot of nonfiction, so the fact that I found this book fascinating and easy to read says a lot. I’m currently listening to The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters. Totally invested!
Oooh a beautful list, carson mccullers, anne tyler and all! thanks for sharing. my quick lit list is here: https://theparteveryoneskips.com/posts/011526-modern-mrs-darcy-quick-lit-short-and-sweet-reviews-jan/
I think I finished my favorite book of the year on the New Year’s morning!! Lincoln in the Bardo-George Saunders. It was my 3rd or 4th try. I always thought it was gonna be hard that maybe I wasn’t smart enough for it. Now loving it, I would not say it is hard. I would say there is a lot going on and the author does ask you to pay attention and make some of your own decisions. This time I did a tandem read and it was amazing!! The audio is simply incredible!
Anne, The Accidental Tourist and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant were my first and remain my favorite Anne Tyler books.
I’ve been on a poetry-reading kick! Rachel Joy Welcher isn’t famous, but her collections “Two Funerals, Then Easter” and “Sometimes Women Lie About Being Okay” are lovely. And Daniel Mitsui’s “The Wretch on the Gallows Tree” (rhymes and carols) is unique and thought-provoking.
“That Way There: Eight Years in a Big Rig” (Sterling Q. Abram) is a quirky memoir of a retiree who took up trucking for a season. I’m working my way through Andrew Osenga’s new book, “How to Remember: Forgotten Pathways to an Authentic Faith,” as well as Fleming Rutledge’s “Means of Grace: A Year of Weekly Devotions.”
I’m also wrapping up Christmas books (including Jenny Colgan’s newest).
For some reason, I always turn to Anne Tyler in the winter time and just yesterday I started reading “The Accidental Tourist”. I read it years ago and am enjoying reading it again. A few months ago, I read “Digging to America” for the first time. I love how her books tell stories about ordinary people and observations of normal human behavior that we can all relate to.
My final book of 2025 was Theo of Golden, and my first book of 2026 was Theo of Golden. Yes, I listened to it the first time and read it the second. And…just wow! It will go down as one of my favorite novels EVER!
Ha! Anne, I’m delighted that you picked up The Beginner’s Goodbye because of my comment! Made my day!
For my reading month, I had some winners and some…not as great ones. I reread The Correspondent just 6 months after I first read it, and yup, it’s still the best! Now, to write a handwritten letter to Virginia Evans….
I read Wreck, and didn’t like it AS MUCH as Sandwich—honestly, she was worrying about possible cancer most of the book and it made my stomach very tense and almost queasy! I felt very uncomfortable reading this book, I was feeling for her!
I read The Ghostwriter and that was good. Good twists, info on ghostwriting.
I read Jeannine Cummins next book (“I’ll fix everything everyone criticized me for in my last book”)—Speak To Me of Home. I have to say, it did not engage me very much and I had trouble picking it up. American Dirt it was NOT.
And for January, I read The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell. I either love or hate Maggie O’Farrell, and this was a LOVE! I had not heard of it, but it was offered cheaply on Kindle, so I started it, and I was engrossed! It was so well done, the two timelines/stories coming together!! Awesome!
And finally, Port Anna, by Libby Buck, set in Maine and VERY authentic—it’s an area I know well (Blue Hill), but the story was filled with all the cliches and tropes….too much packed in.
I love Anne Tyler and A Spool of Blue Thread may be my favorite of hers. But they are all excellent!
This month I’m reviewing a little parenting, a lot of theology, and two novels that totally surprised me but had me completely riveted.
https://kendranicole.net/quick-lit-january-2026/
My reading between Christmas and the New Year were novellas that had been on my TBR for awhile. I fell in love with Love & Saffron and Small Things Like These. I’ve been reading The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion beginning in the month they begin,so I will see if I can wait until March for the next one.
A long roadtrip had myself, my teenage daughter, and my husband enjoying four of the Murderbot books on audio.
Hm… it seems like Anne Tyler is the common theme. I listened to and enjoyed Three Days in June the first day in January. Three other books that really made an impression are My Friends by Fredrik Backman ( I was on my Libby waiting list since October!), Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon (which reminded me of Dandelion Wine, Stand By Me, and The Sandlot), and The Names by Florence Knapp (difficult but compelling). Finally, I can’t help but recommend to readers of middle grade fiction The Labors of Hercules Beal by Gary D. Schmidt.
I also like Anne Tyler and have added many of the above mentioned titles to my TBR.
December was a great reading month for me as the holidays were not busy but quiet. I think all were recommendations from WSIRN and MMD, with the exception of Lisa Jewell’s book.
Slow Horses by Mick Herron
The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen
When We Were the Kennedy’s: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine by Monica Wood
Metropolitan Stories by Christine Coulson
Us by David Nicholls
Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell
I haven’t read much Anne Tyler so I checked out The Beginner’s Goodbye and am really enjoying it. I went to our weekly library book sale yesterday and found The Accidental Tourist, A Spool of Blue Thread, Digging for America, and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant. All trade paperbacks in excellent condition 50 cents each on a bargain cart. I have too many books and try to limit my visits 🙂
I am also reading Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home by Stephen Starring Grant, It’s All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree by A J Jacobs, and Pastorale by Andre Alexis.
I read I Don’t Care if We Never Get Back:30 Games in 30 Days on the Best Worst Baseball Road Trip Ever by Ben Blatt and Eric Brewster from Anne’s list of books about baseball. Loved it.
Thanks to everyone for all the great book recommendations. I look forward to emails from Modern Mrs. Darcy.
What an Aha moment! I have had this “Reader’s Journal” for years, but its format was too restricting for my “I Have Read” books.
But it is perfect for my TBR list!
Thanks!
Read the following so far in 2026:
The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian
Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino
Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About: A Memoir by Isabel Klee
999: The Extraordinary Young Women of the First Official Jewish Transport to Auschwitz by Heather Dune Macadam (for a book discussion)
First Lie Wins for Ashley Elston (reread for a book discussion)
Audiobooks: The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi
Currently listening to The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah and reading The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer
I’ve been working on my reading goals and it’s been going great so far. I’ve been meaning to read more Anne Tyler, so I may pick up Blue Spool!
Books #5-14 of 2026
https://thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com/2026/01/reading-update_19.html
Comments are closed.