What Fiction are you reading this week, January 11, 2026? [View all]

[hermetic]

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I finished reading The First Gentleman, and I cried. Not because of something that happened at the end, but for all the things we could have had. We SHOULD have had, instead of the shitshow we now have. Adding to my despair, I listened to The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, a "fable" from 2006. A few months back several bookish sites asked readers what was the most stunning, unforgettable book they ever read, and this one kept popping up. So I got onto a waiting list and finally got it. Back in '06 it would have been sad. But now it is terrifying! This is what they want to do to us. Horrible. I think it should be required reading for every teenager in this country right now.

So, I had to get myself something less traumatizing. Now I'm reading Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. "Engaging and wildly entertaining," this 2024 novel is a "paean to how we spend our lives seeking meaning -- in faith, art, ourselves, others." Amazing.

Listening to Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor, the first in the Chronicles of St Mary's series. Fast-paced, witty and delightfully unconventional. At St. Mary's Institute they don't just study the past - they actually visit it.

Great books all, that's for sure.