March and April 2026's Tops and Bottoms

Another few months has passed so it is time for a reading wrap up. I will admit that I am surprised that, over the past 2 months, how many rereads I have done (4), how many reads I have quit (too many to count) and how most of my reads throughout March and April have been audiobooks. 

Now, in case you don’t know what Tops and Bottoms are, I “borrowed” this idea from Winn from Literary Diversions where you chat about the best books you read and the worst (I say worst, but it mght just be "meh" read). You can be a vague or detailed as you like and any “meh” or DNFs (did not finish) reads you can ignore. Let me pop a video here and then, we can start. 

Oh, I will try and put affiliate links to Bookshop.org, so you can see the books yourselves… I will put a * next to the titles for ease and transparency.

The Joy of Rereads

There's something really joyful about reread books or audiobooks, isn't it? Whether you reread because of comfort and familiarity to the world/characters/story, getting a deeper understanding on the story and/or the author's writing, emotional connection or just because, I've never heard of anyone who doesn't like a good reread. (Am curious on why you, dear reader, reread?)

And seeing as, a few weeks ago, I went "Let's try and do some rereads this year" and accidently went down a rabbit-hole on some titles, I thought I would look at some rereads on my radar and hope you guys keep me accountable on sticking to reread these before the end of the year. I did chat about a few of these titles in my Neverending Reread TBR post back in September of last year.

Did I stick to my Reread TBR? No. As I said in another post (Rereading Surprises), I only reread 3 books last year: The Diviners by Libba Bray, Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve and We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. 

Not sure what was the shift in me wanting to reread came from. I know that both The Woman in Black by Susan Hill and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins came about as I saw both their stage productions and I wanted to refresh my memory over the original text, but the other books I have reread so far/am currently rereading/planning to reread are very impulsive. 

Reads I Quit So Far in 2026

We're not at the end of March and I have quit so many reads. I didn't finish *deep breath in* Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien, Tea & Alchemy by Sharon Lynn Fisher, Domination by Professor Alice Robert, Hidden in Snow by Viveca Sten (with Marlaine Delargy as translator) and, a few days ago, Thirty Love by Tom Vellner. 

Now, I have written blogposts about my decision to quit Wuthering Heights and Fellowship of the Ring. The others, not so much. The first three of these four (Tea & Alchemy, Domination and Hidden in Snow) were impulse audiobook reads that intrigued me, but the stakes were low. I tried, I went "Not my cup of tea", returned audiobooks back to library or Kindle Unlimited and moved on with my life. 

But the last one - Thirty Love - really annoys me. I preordered this and had such high hopes. I saw the cover and read the blurb and went "This is gonna be a good! A steamy MM romance set in the world of tennis. Sign me up!". And I gave it a good go - 44%. But this was just meh, and not exactly what the blurb promised. 

I was expecting heat, passion, longing. Instead I got a slow burn romance. A slow, slow burn. Our two leads were beginning to become more civil to each other (they are tennis rivals after all), but also, this is more weighty than I was expecting: our lead's dad (who is his coach) has MS and there is another medicinal situation, we see homophobia, sexism. 

So yeah, this is a little dry and not hitting that sweet spot for me. It's heavier than I was expect and I want heat, passion, hot yet tender moments. Oh no, am that gif from Grey's Anatomy.

What annoys me is I have several preorders on Audible and Amazon (I know, am a monster) and this is making me second guess myself. Do I still trust myself over my upcoming preorders (Seek the Traitor’s Son by Veronica Roth, Massif by Garth Nix, The Open Era by Edward Schmit, Andromeda by E.S. McLeod and The Shadow Friends by Tess Gerritsen)? Hopefully not as most of these are from authors I trust, but when you go through a lot of quitting reads/audiobooks, it makes you doubt yourself…

Hopefully, over the next few weeks, I will get my groove back. I do want to try A Court of Thorns and Roses but might hold fire for a niceness in deep with my crime reading… I shall report when I do a reading wrap-up/update! 

Beth is Dead - 2026 Book Review

Today is the anniversary of Louisa May Alcott’s death, the author of Little Women. And, because of this, I thought it would be perfect to talk about this reimagining, even through most of us only know one real thing about Little Women:

I should attempt to read Little Women (but me attempts to read classics in 2026 have ended with me quitting them so maybe not). So, let's chat about Beth is Dead by Katie Bernet!

Title and Author: Beth is Dead by Katie Bernet

Publisher: Scholastic

Buy from (Affiliate Link): https://uk.bookshop.org/

We start at that moment: Beth is discovered dead after a New Year’s Eve party. But she didn’t die of natural causes. Beth is murdered. The Marsh family are in shock over the news - who would kill their sweet, little sister and for what possible reason? They’re all determined to find the killer, but with each sister having their own motives, is one of the Marsh sister’s a murderer? And does it have anything to do with their father's latest novel, entitled Little Women?

January & February 2026's Tops and Bottoms

Am going to try something a little different with my reviews. Am hoping this idea (which I am "borrowing" from Winn from Literary Diversions - hope you don't mind...)

No, I am not going to do their Bingo Board of Hell (my mood reading brain is my worse enemy on that front)! Instead, am doing their Tops and Bottoms. It's a Ronseal (it does exactly what it says on the tin) - basically, instead of writing up my thoughts on EVERY BOOK AND AUDIOBOOK, I pick a few and go "Here are the best and worse over the past few months. If I can sum these up in a few sentences/a Gif, I will, but not all. You can go to my Goodreads/Storygraph for that! (oh, I need to update reviews on these platform!)". 

So, let's start with some VERY basic stats: over the course of January and February, I have:

• Read 6 eBooks
• Listen to 4 Audiobooks
• Did Not Finish (Quit) 4 Audiobooks

I DNFed Wuthering Heights

I had such plans. Such plans. 

Ok, let me rewind and get you up to speed. Last month, on impulse, I decided that I should be less scared to read classics and make an effort to push myself out of my comfort zone. You see, like most people, classics felt out of reach for some unknown reasons. I wouldn’t be smart enough to understand the delicate butter of why these cough have survived and remained so well-loved. 

So, I went “Just try one. Any one will do”, and I decided to requested several from my library and whichever came first, I would listen to. I requested Dracula, Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights. Wuthering Heights came to me first and so, I went in. 

2026 Reading Resolutions

Happy 2026! 

How is everyone enjoying their 2026 so far? 

Sorry for being away for the past few months for an improv blog break. It seemed to happen without me knowing, but it was nice to read without worrying about finding time to blog and just pop a sentence or a gif on my Goodreads/StoryGraph/Instragram (hence I do think this will be my last year book blogging and ease into different ways of reviewing as, come on, it's been over 15/16 years and as much as I like reading proofs from publishers, I miss reading books/audiobooks where I spend my actual money on and purchase!)

So yes, that's on the horizon. But you've not got rid of me just yet. 

I have some reading resolutions/plans for myself. The main thing is keeping my reading casual.

"But, Andrew," I hear you cry, "isn't that your normal when it comes to reading?"

Well, yeah, but the last few years, I seem to enjoy going towards books (I use this term loosely to include ebooks and audiobooks) that don't exactly fit my Go-To genres (fantasy, crime/thriller/mystery, teen), so I want to do some exploring of these, as well as not rushing.

I think most of us who blog (again, loose term that covers BookTok, Booktube, Booksagram, Bookcasts and other forms) worry that we're not reading enough so we power through the story. So, I want to not worry so much about deadlines (I have this as I have several VERY long titles that I want to read this year that I keep putting off... yes, Priory of the Orange Tree. I am talking about you.)

And now that I'm reading back my own writing, I've realised that my resolution is basically "remember why you read: enjoyment". So yes, this year's reading resolution is to enjoy myself with it comes to my reading/audiobooking. 

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EDIT: Ok, I have just read the above a week or two after I wrote that and yikes. That reads a tad portentous, doesn't it? "Keep reading fun". Isn't that why we read? For enjoyment and pleasure?  

So, let me be clear and actually say "Here's my reading resolutions" so you can see what I'm planning on the reading front to keep it fun and casual (and this might help me chatting more on the blog while I wind this down over the next 12 months while upping my Goodreads/StoryGraph/Instagram - to keep that side light and fun). 

Like I said earlier, I want to branch out in my reading and read stories that aren't exactly in my Go-To genres and maybe try new genres (does that mean I might go near the dread Classics shelves in Waterstones and Foyles? We shall see... I have ideas and plans…)

And I want to tackle my magpie-mess of a To Be Read stacks of my physical, ebook and audio. They are all, individually, long lists so I would like to get my groove on and get a few of them read or DNFed. 

Basically, am going to try and... hang on, Jennifer Coolidge might be able to say it better...