My February To Be Read Pile – 2026

In 2026, I plan to read at least 52 books, for one per week. I finished 12 in January, instead of the 7 I originally picked, so there’s only 40 to go.

I exceeded my reading goal in January, but it doesn’t look as easy to do in February. It’s a short month. I have travel planned. I have writing planned. And my team is in the Super Bowl. (Go Hawks!) As a result, I decided to create a tiered reading list and focus first on my priority reads. If I get to the lower priority stuff, that will be awesome, but I am not expecting it will happen.

So what’s on that priority list?

This is my top priority book because it’s what my fantasy book club is reading this month. The main character has the opportunity to check out alternate lives she would have had if she’d made different decisions. It sounds very bittersweet ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ It’s a bestseller. It’s an award winner. But I am hesitant. It may be ‘fantasy,’ but by and large, I think it is literary fiction. I have a love-hate relationship with lit fic. There are some lit fic books out there that are A-mazing (Remarkably Bright Creatures is one). And then there are amazing lit fic books that I can’t abide (Poisonwood Bible, I am looking at you.). This one, apparently starts with the death of the MC’s cat (ominous for me as an ultimate cat lover who’s gone through that trauma multiple times, and as someone who seriously struggled with books featuring animal death–The Zookeeper’s Wife, I am looking at you) and then it goes on to feature *I think* the attempted(?) s****** of the MC. Yikes. I reserve the right to DNF this one if it gets too heavy. Not every book is for every person. That said, I hope it isn’t too heavy and that I love it.

This is the second book in The Lavender and Time Series, which is a young adult time travel fantasy series, and it releases on February 23. I have pre-ordered in anticipation. I love anything Avis writes. I’ve had some sneak peaks ahead of publication on this one, and I know that the full experience reading it will be a treat. In this story, two teens end up back in time in 1920’s London trying to save one girl’s family.

This is a re-read for me. It’s book 1 in The Lavender and Time Series. I read it when it came out, but I want to refresh my memory on all the fun details surrounding ‘the bricks’ that create the magic in these stories before book 2 comes out. In book 1, the girls are in the tunnels in 1901 Portland trying to save the other girl’s family. Oh, and there’s a cat.

This is a fantasy adventure where a magic cloak chooses it’s own wizard. Its new owner isn’t happy about that, but starts getting noticed by all the bad actors due to her powers. It looks like a fun, whimsical choice. This book also releases on February 23, but because I have an advance reader copy, I intend to get it read prior to release, so I can put a review out.

I met Heidi at a writer’s retreat last year and I got to hear a lot about this book. It sounds fantastic. It is book one in the Life’s A Rodeo Series. I’ve been wanting to read it for a while now, and this month seems like a good time. It is women’s fiction, but there’s a romance element. The MC has to manage threats against her business balanced against the personal life she never has time for. I don’t read a lot of romance and romance is typically a B plot for me, so it’s nice to get a little taste in February for Valentine’s Day.

If I get through all of these books, I move on to Tier Two.

This book was on my January list, but the release date got moved to February 8, so now it’s on my February list. It’s book 5 in a series. I can’t wait to catch up with what his FBI team is doing now. I’ve met DD Black at a writer’s conference and I enjoy his two crime thriller series set in the Pacific Northwest. Reading about the PNW is nostalgic for me a year out from my move away. It will be a quick escapist read for me. I never miss a book by DD Black, and I highly recommend him.

This is a cookbook. It’s on my list because I have a goal to read through 12 cookbooks that I own this year and find recipes I can use to help me eat healthier. My word for the year is ‘nourish,’ after all. I am excited about this cookbook for a couple of reasons. It was written by the same author as Crossfire, and I heard a lot about the cookbook from her at my retreat also. In addition, it speaks to me because my husband is a super taster, someone with genetically enhanced perception of taste, that makes most vegetables bitter and unenjoyable for him to eat. This cookbook talks about ways to ‘hide’ vegetables in other recipes so that picky eaters and super tasters still get the health benefits without the unpleasant tastes. This is exactly the cookbook I need for healthier eating this year. If you or a family member have a picky eater, it may be right for you too.

I think most people have heard of this one. I read it years ago, and it is on my list to reread because I promised myself I would read more poetry in 2026. The presentation at the Kauai Writer’s Conference that advocated reading and writing poetry to improve your writing craft was one I found impactful. I read a book of haiku in January, and now I am on to poetic essays. I think it will be a quick reread as it is fairly short.

Now we’re on to the Tier Three books. It seems pretty unlikely I will be able to get to these with the robust list above, and everything I have going on in February. But you never know. These are included because they meet prompts for some of my reading challenges.

I picked this up at the Kauai Writer’s Conference. Butler was one of the faculty at the conference and this book looks fun. It’s a mystery thriller and it involves a book club solving the murder of one of their members. I think it will be a fun escapist read if I can fit it in. It is also on my 26 books in 2026 list.

This is a medical thriller that has been out for a while. It was blurbed by Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl. It’s about a community where an outbreak seems to be attacking teenage girls. Is it hysteria or is it a real hazard? I picked this up via a promotion. I can’t remember if it was a deeply reduced price or free, but it looked intriguing, and reading it will help draw down my unread electronic book backlog.

This is book 2 in The Poe Prophecies Series, about a teen who attends a paranormal academy centered around prophecies in the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe. I read book 1 last year and it was fun. Paranormal isn’t my top genre, but it’s fun when it’s done this way with puzzles to decode–the prophecies hidden in poetry. (There’s that poetry theme again. Maybe I need to read Poe in October.) I picked this one to continue the series, and because it’s a novella, which meets one of my prompts. It’s only 150 pages, so if I get to it, it should be a quick read.

Last on my list, is Carrie’s memoir specifically about her time filming Star Wars. This book meets a couple of prompts (has a bookface cover, has a related movie to watch) and it will allow me to geek out about behind the scenes Star Wars facts. I haven’t read any of Carrie’s books, but this is the one that would attract me the most. I hope I have time to get to it.

Here’s a graphic with the covers if you want to take a look.

That’s all I have planned to read in February. With 12 books, I seriously doubt I can add anything additional, because this is already too ambitious.

If you have a favorite read to recommend for March, or a favorite book challenge for 2026, be sure to comment!

Thanks for reading!

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