A Round-up of What I Read in 2026
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| Image description: A scene from the miniseries Seeking Persephone in which Adam (right) watches as his best friend Harry reads a book. I thought this was fitting for today's post all about books, since not only is Harry, well, reading one, but because Seeking Persephone is one of the books I'll be discussing. Today is all about the stories I consumed in 2026, and let me tell you, I'm excited to discuss them. |
When I first started this blog, something I was extremely
excited about was the prospect of discussing aspec books and aspec characters.
As someone who has loved stories all my life, it was inevitable that books were
going to be an inherent, baked-in part of the work I do here, since I was an
avid reader and aspiring author long before I ever even knew I was aspec. But
as I’ve grown older and as I’ve settled more into my aspec identity, I’ve
noticed the sad trend of not being able to read as freely these days as I used
to, something which I’m sure I’ve mentioned on the blog before.
I know many adults – even adults who adore reading – don’t
have nearly enough time to sit down and enjoy a good book thanks to our busy
schedules and hectic lives; but as a sex-repulsed aspec person, I am hamstrung
even more by the fact that many books that are marketed to adults (or even
sometimes young adults) can be casually sexually explicit, making them
inaccessible to me personally. As such, I am stuck with always experiencing
trepidation about any new book, and this has significantly stymied my love of
reading, the frequency with which I’ve been able to read, and my ability to
share my love of literature with others.
It hasn’t been all bleak, of course. Thanks to this blog, I
have had a lot of opportunities to be exposed to great aspec stories and have
sincerely enjoyed doing reviews on all of those stories as part of my ongoing
analysis here. But what about in my day-to-day life? Researching a book
thoroughly to make sure it’s “safe” for me before reading it can be a
challenge, and not knowing what books are otherwise aspec-friendly even without
being aspec themselves is, quite frankly, exhausting. But every now and then, I
do manage it – whether through my own efforts or through the suggestions of my
dear friends – and in the process, I end up finding some incredible stories.
As an aspec person who has been struggling with this for
years, I can’t even begin to describe what a weight off my mind it is to read a
book that I know is going to be safe for me. As I’ve said on the blog before
with other pieces of media, I know that not every book is going to be free from
explicit sex scenes or things that would otherwise make me uncomfortable, and
that’s okay. They shouldn’t have to be, and it’s okay to acknowledge that some
things aren’t meant for me. But over the years, it has seemed like the
instances of “this is not meant for you” have been far, far higher than the
instances where I can read something in comfort and safety. When it comes to
something so precious to me like reading, giving up entirely is not an option,
and so I value these stories all the more when I find them, which is where
today’s blog post comes in.
Like I said, I do book reviews all the time, but those are
books that are undeniably aspec in some way – usually, they have aspec
characters, themes, or authors, and if these themes are not explicitly
highlighted in the stories themselves, they are at the very least often confirmed
by the authors themselves. But what about books that aren’t aspec, but which I
have found myself enjoying as an aspec person? I was really struggling to come
up with a way to talk about them, but earlier in the year, I came up with the
solution, which is the post you’re reading now: a round-up near the end of the
year where I discuss the books I’ve been reading over the past several months.
Although these are not aspec books, they are books that I
personally have enjoyed, and which I think other aspec people might enjoy too.
As with all such lists as these, the books I’m discussing here and my enjoyment
of them is highly subjective. Not only might your taste differ from mine, but
your idea of what constitutes a “safe” reading experience may be highly
different from mine as well – both due to your own aspec experiences as well as
other circumstances of your life. Whenever possible, I will try to add as much
information as I can about a specific book or author in order to help paint a
broader picture of what these books entail, but due to the nature of this being
a compilation post, I of course can’t be thorough in discussing these titles.
Whatever the case, I am extremely excited to talk about
these books with you today and have honestly been looking forward to this blog
post for the last several months at least. I do warn you that there will be
some minor spoilers for these books as I discuss them, although I will do my
best to keep this post free from as many major spoilers as possible; even so,
proceed with caution if you mind that sort of thing. Anyway, without further
ado, I’d like to introduce you to some of the books that have been keeping me
entertained and uplifted throughout 2026.
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The Red
Palace by June Hur
The Red Palace is a suspenseful work of historical
fiction following a young palace nurse named Hyeon during the Joseon era of
Korea, taking place in 1758. Hyeon has worked extremely hard to get her
position, but all that threatens to be turned upside down when she finds herself
unexpectedly drawn into the dark secrets of the palace after a series of
murders are committed. Much to Hyeon’s horror, her own mentor is accused of the
killings, and she takes it upon herself to prove her teacher’s innocence,
alongside a young police inspector named Eojin who is also on the case.
But as Hyeon begins uncovering secrets, all signs point to
the Crown Prince himself as the killer, and she finds herself drawn deeper into
the dangerous and hidden world of secrets that surround the royal family. Soon,
Hyeon and Eojin come to rely on one another as they come closer and closer to
uncovering deadly secrets long since buried, their trust and reliance on one
another deepening as the danger mounts. It’s a suspenseful, perfectly spooky
tale of two young people determined to find the truth, no matter the cost, with
memorable characters and just a dash of romance between our two leads.
While of course no characters in this story are explicitly
aspec, I can tell you that I enjoyed it deeply as an aspec reader because the
romance was light, sweet, and subtle – present enough that it provides a little
respite from the more chilling parts of the narrative, but in no way
oppressive. The development of the romance between Hyeon and Eojin feels
natural and it neither takes away from the story, nor does it detract from the
characters themselves or their mission. In fact, something that I appreciate
about the romance between the two is that it is, by necessity, built on the
basis of trust and understanding above all. As I said, I love Korean media, and
something I’ve discussed many times before on the blog is that I love the way
Korean dramas do romance; I could definitely see shades of those same strengths
here.
There is a lot in this novel that appeals to me. I love a
good mystery with well-written characters and impactful prose, and I love a
sweet and subtle romance built on trust and mutual appreciation. But I also
love history and historical fiction in particular, and this novel plays with
its historical setting brilliantly. Although characters like Hyeon and Eojin
are fictional, several characters in the novel were actual figures in
Korean history, including the Crown Prince and his wife, Lady Hyegyong.
Something I’ve loved about getting into Korean media is getting to learn about
Korean history too, as I often look up things that are mentioned in my favorite
historical K-Dramas, and I love that this book allowed me to do the same.
In fact, looking up the historical figures in this book led
me down a rabbit hole. As I said earlier, eventually Hyeon and Eojin come to
suspect the Crown Prince of the murders – in the author’s historical note, June
Hur makes it clear that this is Crown Prince Sado, who was exactly as
terrifying as the story makes him out to be, if not more so. Through a modern
lens, we can surmise that Prince Sado suffered from debilitating mental health
struggles and deteriorated over a period of years thanks to personal tragedies
and the pressures placed upon him by his father, the king. Eventually, the king
ordered his son to be executed by being locked in a rice chest in the heat of
summer, where he eventually perished from lack of food and water, a horrifying
and tragic end to an equally horrifying, brutal, and ultimately tragic life.
However, the idea of Prince Sado being condemned to the rice
chest made me immediately think of something. Anyone who knows me or who reads
this blog knows that I’m an ARMY – a fan of the Korean group BTS – and my ARMY
brain immediately turned to a line from a song by group member Suga under his
alternate alias Agust D. In his 2020 song “Daechwita,” a song heavily saturated
both visually and lyrically in references to Korean history, there is a line
that references the death of Prince Sado by remarking “shove the past into a
rice chest.” At the time “Daechwita” came out, I remember reading the
historical context behind this line, but didn’t think much of it; as I was
reading this novel, I even felt like something about the Crown Prince seemed
familiar. When I got to the historical note, I immediately went to check if
Prince Sado was the prince referenced in “Daechwita” and sure enough, it was,
something which adds extra layers of interesting context to both the music
video for the song and for the novel itself.
Even without that layer, however, The Red Palace was
a terrific read, and definitely cements my decision to dive into the rest of
June Hur’s work. I’m sure when I do this post next year, I will have a few of
her novels to discuss – and, I hope, a few more Korean novels as well. Whether
or not you’re familiar with Korean media, I highly recommend this novel, and
especially recommend it if you are. Like many of the books I’ve read and
reviewed on the blog before, it’s considered a young adult novel, but its
themes and the way it’s written make it a worthwhile and refreshing adult read
as well.
My first foray
into the novels of Brandon Sanderson
Last year, I had the pleasure of getting together with my
best friends for a girls’ trip here in my home state of Florida. While we were
together, two of the girls were avidly discussing the works of science fiction
and fantasy author Brandon Sanderson. I’d heard of Sanderson before, but really
had no frame of reference for his work and had never read anything by him;
however, my friends mentioned I would probably enjoy his work thanks in no
small part to the fact that his novels do not contain explicit sex scenes.
Throughout the trip, my bestie Lilly told me that, if I read
absolutely nothing else by Sanderson ever, I would probably love his novella, The
Emperor’s Soul. She described it to me in detail, and I agreed that it
sounded like just my cup of tea, so I made it my mission to read the story in
the new year. Come January of 2026, I decided to do exactly that, and not only
was Lilly completely right that I would love the story, but she might have even
underestimated how much I would enjoy it.
The story follows Shai, a talented young forger who is
caught swapping a priceless artifact for one of her own incredible works of
forgery, and is facing execution for her crime. However, she is given a second
chance – a way to use her talents to potentially save not only her life, but
her kingdom. It is revealed to Shai that the emperor of their kingdom has been
incapacitated by an assassination attempt, one that has left him comatose and
clinging to life. If it comes to light that the emperor is essentially
brain-dead, the kingdom will doubtless fall into deadly political in-fighting, and
eventually into chaos and ruin. Thus, Shai is called upon to forge a new soul
for the emperor, an incredibly complex work that would require her to study and
completely understand him in order to craft soul-stamps that will allow him to
be as he was… and she is charged with doing this insurmountable task in only
one hundred days, with failure resulting in her death. And so, Shai sets to
work on this impossible goal, all while trying to come up with a plan of escape
in the event she should fail.
The story, being a novella, moves extremely quickly, but
everything about it is fascinating – from the unique magic system, to the
political intrigue bubbling under the surface, to the character of Shai
herself. And all of this is made even better by the fact that the story has
absolutely no romance whatsoever. Instead, the story focuses almost entirely on
Shai’s skill and passion for her work, showcasing how she becomes invested in
the challenge of this impossible forgery and determined to save the emperor’s
life. It’s rare to find a story like this, and that incredible combination made
me not only a massive fan of this work, but catapulted me into the world of
Brandon Sanderson almost immediately.
As soon as I finished The Emperor’s Soul, I needed
more, so I immediately messaged Lilly for another recommendation. She gave me a
few, and I was intrigued by the idea of one of Sanderson’s “secret projects,”
so I found myself next reading one of his novels, the light-hearted but deeply
intriguing Tress of the Emerald Sea. This novel is very different from The
Emperor’s Soul, but they do share some similarities – chiefly a terrific
female protagonist, an incredibly unique magic system, and an intriguing plot.
And, although this was obviously much longer than the novella was, it also
shared the same unputdownable quality that drew me into Sanderson’s work in the
first place.
Tress, we soon learn, is in love with her friend, Charlie –
the son of the island’s Duke. Although these feelings are reciprocated, the
Duke disapproves and intends to take Charlie from the island in order to find
him a royal marriage somewhere across the sea. However, Charlie vows to resist
all of these attempts no matter what so that he can come back and be with
Tress. When the Duke’s family finally returns, however, it is without Charlie,
and Tress soon learns that her beloved was kidnapped by a sorceress in one of
the far-off seas. Determined to save him, she makes plans to set off on a
journey and soon finds herself with more adventure than she ever could have
bargained for.
Right off the bat, as my description makes clear, there is
indeed romance in this story; in fact, it is the thing that kicks off the
entire plot. However, because Charlie is missing for nearly all of the book, I
would say that the romance is actually somewhat in the background of things,
despite being the motivating factor for Tress’s quest. Furthermore, although
her love for Charlie and her desire to save him are the things that inspire
Tress to leave on this adventure, there is so much that happens on her journey
and she meets so many people that eventually her mission becomes about all of
them too.
While on the journey, she meets an incredible cast of
characters, all of whom have their own things they need and desire, and through
their friendship with Tress, these characters are able to grow, and so is she.
While the story may start as one girl’s quest to save the person she loves, Tress
of the Emerald Sea quickly becomes a story about a determined girl who
unlocks the potential in herself and who finds a sense of purpose in the work
she must do in order to reach her objective. The way Tress comes to believe in
herself and in her work, the friends she makes, the way those friends come to
believe in themselves too – these all make it so that the romance is only one
part of a much larger, broader, and more diverse whole. Plus it’s a very sweet
and chaste romance too, making it all the better.
Overall, there is so much to love about this story, from its
sense of adventure, to its spectacular characters, to the intriguing way it
weaves together science and magic to create the unique powers of the spores and
how to harness them. It has both tense edge-of-your-seat action and sweet
moments of thoughtful character development; it’s a proper swashbuckling
adventure and also a moving tale of friendship. And, of course, I would be
utterly remiss if I didn’t mention that it’s also laugh-out-loud funny. There
are few times in my life where I have actually started cackling aloud while
reading a book, but Tress of the Emerald Sea made me do so more than
once.
If I had to levy any criticism of the book at all, it would
be that sometimes it maybe gets a little too lost in that humor, and that
sometimes the humor doesn’t land for me personally. Something I’ve come to
learn about the style of Sanderson’s humor is that sometimes he leans a little
too heavily on toilet humor for my liking, and that is something that happens a
few different times in this book – such as in an entire chapter dedicated to a
metaphorical story involving a tosher (aka, someone who works in a sewer).
While these sorts of instances make me roll my eyes a bit, they don’t really
distract from the overall experience, and I had so much fun with the story
otherwise that it was easy to overlook.
Overall, this was absolutely another win for me. As many of
my favorite pieces of media will doubtless tell you, I love it when a piece of
media has a strong ensemble cast of characters and makes you fall in love with
the stories of each and every one of them. It’s been over eight months since I
finished the novel, but I still think about these characters and their stories
with extreme fondness – not just Tress and Charlie (although I love them and
their dynamic), but everyone Tress meets on her journey, especially her friends
Fort, Ann, and Salay, who are the crew of the pirate ship she eventually find
herself on. Each one of these characters is so unique and their stories are so
well told that even the familiar tropes they represent feel new and fresh.
I read both The Emperor’s Soul and Tress of the
Emerald Sea in the first quarter of 2026 and I was very clearly hooked,
ready to continue reading Sanderson’s stories in the months ahead. These two
stories demonstrated to me that not only did I enjoy his writing style, but I
enjoyed the worlds he crafted – something which is deeply important to me as a
fantasy reader. I sincerely appreciated his unique magic systems, his
believable and rootable female protagonists, his fascinating ensemble casts,
and the way he managed to make familiar and even tired tropes his own through
his clever writing and storytelling. Of course, as any Sanderson fan can
probably tell you, all of those attributes I just listed are also found in the
series that, by his own admission, is what made him a known writer. That would
be the Mistborn series, and let me tell you, if I thought I was hooked
before, I wasn’t at all prepared for what came next.
The Mistborn
series by Brandon Sanderson
The Mistborn series is a series of seven fantasy novels, split into two eras. The first era consists of the original Mistborn trilogy – The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages – published through 2006 and 2008; The second era consists of four novels – The Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, The Bands of Mourning, and The Lost Metal – the first three of which were published from 2011 to 2016, with the fourth book appearing in 2022. There are also short stories that are part of the Mistborn universe – chiefly Mistborn: Secret History – which can be found in compilations of short stories by the author.
That may seem like a lot, and I admit I was a bit
intimidated at first, especially because the first book is such a slow burn.
However, I’m so glad I stuck with the series, because I have become a huge fan
of this body of work. I’m especially fond of the characters, many of whom have
become some of my favorite characters of all time and who are involved in some
of the most memorable stories – with some of the most memorable plot twists –
that I have ever read. When I started the series, my bestie’s husband (who was
responsible for getting her into Sanderson’s works) told me he was so jealous
of me getting to read these books for the first time and that he wishes he
could go back and read them for the first time all over again.
Having finished both eras, I completely understand that
feeling – and for that reason, if I could give you one piece of advice if you
were to likewise start reading Mistborn, it’s this: do not read the
descriptions of the other books before you start them or you will spoil
some of the greatest plot twists I’ve ever experienced. This is something that
both my bestie and her husband cautioned me about when it comes to looking
things up online too, as spoilers are everywhere, even in things like fan art.
I was very lucky that I managed to avoid almost all major spoilers for this
series while reading it, and so I feel it is my duty to pass that same
knowledge on to all of you. Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
If I were to discuss Mistborn simply, a pithy
explanation of these two eras would consist of stating that the first era is
about magical heists in aid of a rebellion to overthrow a dictator, while the
second era takes place three hundred years later and explores a more Wild West
inspired setting where the magic of Era One meets technology such as guns,
trains, and eventually skyscrapers. However, describing Mistborn in
these simple terms feels far too incomplete to actually get to the core of what
makes the series special and to properly convey why I fell in love with it. In
fairness, that in general is a much bigger conversation than I can have in this
post, regardless of how I choose to describe the novels – so much so that I’ve
already resolved to have one of my posts in 2027 be all about Mistborn
and my experience of reading it as an aspec fan, so stay tuned for that. But
for now, suffice to say that no short description can do these books justice,
but I will do my best here for the sake of my topic.
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| Image description: The books of Mistborn Era One |
Enter in the enigmatic Kelsier, a thief who has become
almost legendary for his nearly miraculous survival after being condemned to
the Pits of Hathsin, a place of dangerous toil where he and his wife were
consigned after being caught by the Lord Ruler himself. Kelsier barely survives
the brutality of the Pits – his wife does not survive – and the trauma and
grief of the experience causes him to develop his powers as a Mistborn. In this
world, some individuals possess a power known as Allomancy, the ability to
consume and burn metals, yielding unique powers. Most people can only control
one metal and thus one set of powers – for instance, someone who can use pewter
can enhance their strength and stamina while someone who can burn tin enhances
their senses. However, Mistborns can control all the metals and are thus not
only very rare, but very powerful.
Kelsier escapes the Pits using his new abilities, and when
the novel opens, we see he is in the process of putting together a thieving
crew with a dangerous and lofty goal: to overthrow the Final Empire in service
of the skaa rebellion. It’s at this time that he and the crew encounter a skaa
girl named Vin, whom they soon realize is also a Mistborn. Raised on the
streets and barely surviving in a crew of thugs, Kelsier’s team brings Vin into
the fold, with Kelsier himself training her in the ways of Allomancy. Soon, she
becomes a central part of their plan, poising as a young noblewoman as they
scheme to overthrow the oppression of the Final Empire and bring an end to the
Lord Ruler’s tyranny once and for all.
I can’t get into too many more details about the trilogy
without spoiling things, but suffice to say that the plan to overthrown the
Final Empire is more complicated than Vin or anyone on the crew could ever
possibly imagine, and although the first book’s ending left me with my jaw on
the floor, it’s really just the beginning of what’s to come. Characters who are
already incredible in The Final Empire continue to grow and evolve in
the next two books, plotlines and mysteries continue to unfold, and by the time
the ending came and the final plot twists of the trilogy were revealed, I found
myself deeply moved in a way I simply hadn’t been expecting. Like I said, the
first book is a bit of a slow burn, and I read it in tiny bits over the span of
a few months; however, once I finished it, I then read the next two books in a
single month. I was desperate to find out what happened next and even more
desperate to keep going, something which continued into the second set of books
as well.
Without spoiling too much, Era Two of Mistborn
focuses less on heists and more on mystery – picture all the intrigue and
energy of a crime thriller mashed together with the tropes you’d expect from an
action-packed Western movie. All of this is couched in not only all the same Allomantic
magic we’ve come to know from the first era, but also expanded powers,
different abilities, and new ways to use those powers as technology expands. These
novels focus primarily on two lawmen named Wax and Wayne, who have left “the
Roughs” (essentially the same type of lawless wilderness/frontier towns you
might expect from a movie set in the Old West) and have come back to the big
city, where new dangers and problems lurk.
Wax is a bit more strait-laced and is carrying a tragic loss
with him when he arrives in the city, while his friend Wayne is undoubtedly the
comic relief. However, even the jocular Wayne has demons in his past, and
together the pair are not only an extremely effective duo of lawkeepers, but a
fascinating and endearing duo of friends. To that end, just like in Era One,
the second era is full of memorable characters, jaw-dropping plot twists, and slowly
unfolding mysteries that not only touch on questions from the first era, but
set up the future eras that are still to be written. As different as they are –
just like the other works of Brandon Sanderson are very different from one another
– they complement each other terrifically. And, as is true of Sanderson’s
overarching “Cosmere” plot, a lot of these stories are more connected than you may
think.
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| Image description: The books of Mistborn Era Two |
However, for as much as I absolutely love Mistborn,
there are definitely some issues with it that I will doubtless unpack when I do
that future post – things that have not aged well or that I feel the need to
point out as an aspec writer and a woman. Sometimes these moments are
relatively minor, such as some occasionally off-color jokes from Wayne in Era
Two. While I don’t really have the time or the space to fully discuss the more “problematic”
elements of the series here in great detail, something that I feel is
absolutely essential to mention is that, for all the other things the series
does well, one major black mark against it – especially in Era One – is the
prevalence of sexual violence.
To be clear, the novel never glamorizes sexual violence, nor
does it offer excuses for it; in many cases, it was only discussed in the
background and, in instances when it was in the foreground, it was not
portrayed so much as discussed and alluded to. However, while it makes sense
that a place as brutal as the Final Empire would have issues with rampant
sexual violence, I found its prevalence in the narrative uncomfortable at times,
and I know some other readers – aspec and non-aspec alike – may find it to be
likewise.
Apart from some of these more glaring issues, I still found
myself deeply pleased to be reading a series where I knew there wasn’t going to
be graphic sex portrayed and that the romance would only be there to serve a
larger whole. Again, I really can’t emphasize what a weight off my mind it is
when I read to know that, even if a character is romantically involved, I’m not
going to have anything more graphic than that. I know this is a universe I’m
going to want to return to again and again, and the fact that I can do so means
the world to me.
I love that Mistborn not only engages in all of the
best parts of the fantasy genre such as incredible worldbuilding and sweeping
action, but also tells deeply thoughtful stories about faith, self-discovery,
and hope. The gritty and often violent world of the series is certainly not for
the faint of heart, but being able to approach it as an aspec reader is
something I deeply value. Even just being able to talk to my friends about it
is deeply exciting and gratifying, something I can’t wait to experience more
when I continue to dive into Brandon Sanderson’s works throughout 2027 and
beyond.
Seeking
Persephone by Sarah M. Eden
Given the fact that I’ve already obsessed pretty hard over
the series in that previous post (and because I plan on talking about it, or at
least its characters, in 2027), I won’t spend too much time talking about the
novels here. However, I felt I would be remiss if I didn’t at least give the
book and its sequels a mention here in this post, and felt it was a great way
to round out the list. If you didn’t read that previous post, allow me to
summarize. Seeking Persephone follows the titular eldest daughter of the
almost destitute Lancaster family, whose life is turned upside down when she
receives a marriage proposal from the wealthy but notoriously cold Adam Boyce,
Duke of Kielder. Wanting to save her family from financial ruin, Persephone
accepts.
Throughout the story, both we as the readers and Persephone
herself come to discover the reason for Adam’s coldness and his fearsome
reputation – the significant scars he carries, both physical and emotional, from
his traumatic childhood, during which time multiple surgeons attempted to
“find” and fix the ear he had been missing since birth. As time goes on, the
two leads begin to understand one another, and what follows is a sweet and
emotional story that borrows elements from not only Beauty and the Beast,
but the myth of Hades and Persephone, which is mentioned within the story
several times thanks to Persephone’s unique name.
While I admit that I perhaps like the miniseries a bit more
than the book, I still very much enjoyed the book. As I mentioned when
discussing the miniseries previously, I get aspec vibes off of Adam, and so
getting to see his story and his inner thoughts in greater depth was
fascinating as both a fan and as an aspec person. Despite the fact that this is
a romance novel, said romance is portrayed so sweetly – and with so little physicality
– that I could fully lose myself in it. There is, of course, no sex in the book
whatsoever, and very little kissing, so it’s the bond between Adam and
Persephone that gets to be on display more fully than anything else, and that’s
something I am really drawn to as an aspec person who nevertheless enjoys a well told romance.
In general, as stated before, Seeking Persephone is a
story that’s become incredibly dear and comforting to me. Although I have yet
to finish the Lancaster series, I have read the next two books in the series, so
my delight is even greater to know that I will be able to look forward to
adaptations of these two novels in the future as well. As is true of all the
stories I’ve discussed today, the characters of this world are so dear to me,
and I’m so glad to know that I don’t have to say goodbye to Persephone, Adam, Harry,
or any of the Lancaster siblings just yet. If anything, it seems like this is just
the beginning, and that makes me very happy.
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In looking back at these books and these stories, I find
myself getting excited by them all over again; in looking ahead at what I will
be reading in the coming year, my anticipation could not be greater. As I said
at the beginning of this post, trying to find books – and indeed, media of any
kind – that I can enjoy as an aspec person is not always easy, but doing this
post has reminded me that it’s not only possible, but so very worth it. I will
always love stories and get deeply excited by them, and I will always want to
celebrate the stories that touch me in some way. Getting to do it on the blog
like this and highlighting the stories that changed me in 2026 is extremely
rewarding, and I can’t wait to do it again next year.
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