With the New Year, I decided to journal about the books I’ve read. I started a spreadsheet, listing book, author, review, rating, and recommendation. My reviews included a synopsis, the major characters and my thoughts on the novel or essay collection. Several of the books I’ve read were for a book club. I joined the Blacksburg Science Fiction and Fantasy (SFF) Book Club about two years ago. My journaling now helps me prepare for club meetings. The Blacksburg club is a mix of different ages, genders, and professions. I appreciate the members’ perspectives of a book. Several times I learn about a point I totally missed. When I reflect on it, the light bulb comes on, “Oh yeah.” People either love the book, hate it, or they are ambivalent about it. We express what we may have loved about it as well as share what didn’t work for us. And we respect each other’s opinions.
Let me share with you my evolution as a reader. Second grade comes to mind. There was testing and decisions made during this time. I was deficient in my reading skills for my age and grade. A decision was made that I needed reading lab. What did this entail? I put on head phones and followed the text in the workbook with the voice on the recording. This went on for weeks if not months. I don’t remember. I always read the books assigned in class and even chose certain books from a list to read. I remember reading some anthology related to the Twilight Zone. I don’t remember the title, but I do recall some of the stories including a ghost story about the Battle of Ticonderoga during the French and Indian Wars. I read several novels in my father’s collection of Edgar Rice Burrough’s, mostly his Science Fiction novels centered around the Red Planet, Mars. During this time, I read many H. G. Wells’ classics like The War of the Worlds. I turned to reading the now classics of Science Fiction by Arthur C. Clarke (Rendezvous with Rama, Childhood’s End) and Isaac Asimov (Foundation). In high school, I discovered Stephen King’s The Shining. I already loved horror movies. This was right up my alley.
As of today, June 22nd, 2026, I’ve read twenty-one books, for the year, of which nine were Sci-Fi, five each in the Horror and Fantasy categories and “other” for the rest. I use a five star rating system: five stars, exceptional; four stars, good or a “Grade B” effort; and three stars for what I consider a “D”. There was only one book that I gave three stars, so far. I almost DNF it if it had not been assigned as reading for one of my book clubs. My low rating was not because it was poorly written, filled with grammatical errors, misspellings, or typos. The prose was fine. The characters were flat and two dimensional, that’s one criticism. My contention was the first one hundred pages were a needless slog. The author used confusing cryptic terms that were not explained until page one hundred. Now, other fantasy and science fiction novels at least provide a glossary, and while I cringe having to use it most times, IT WOULD HAVE HELPED HERE. This alone tempered my enthusiasm for Part I and almost caused me to put this down, FOREVER. Twelve hours I’ll never get back. The novel in question you may ask, William Gibson’s The Peripheral.
This is my opinion of this novel, accent on “my.” I’m sure other readers loved this book. No one in our book club cared for it. Some never finished it. But others may have a different perspective. I love the film adaptation of Starship Troopers. In fact, I’ve seen every film in the franchise. Yes, I’m well aware of the criticisms, from stilted performances to terrible dialog, and I agree. I still love Starship Troopers because I love the special effects and the campy dialog, whether it was intentional or not. The Peripheral is not a bad book. I just didn’t care for it, and I may not understand its nuances or themes. Fair criticism of me as a reader.
Returning to my journaling of the twenty one reads, there were thirteen gems, five stars. Three of these were classics: Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea; Bradbury, The Zen in the Art of Writing; and C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters. The five star status is my assessment, not my conformity to what other’s expect. Four others were by “giants” in the realm of Science Fiction: Octavia Butler’s Fledgling; Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle; Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park; and Ursula Le Guinn’s The Lathe of Heaven. Fledgling was my choice, the other three were selected for book club. The rest rounding out my list were: Zachary Pike’s Orconomics; Christopher Moore’s Practical Demonkeeping; Christopher Buehlman’s Between Two Fires; Charles Yu’s How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe; China Mieville’s The City and the City; and Daniel Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon. So far, my best reads for 2026, and remember we’re at the half way point for the year, are: Flowers for Algernon, The Lathe of Heaven and Between Two Fires.
Why I gave these books five stars is varied. I loved the humor of Orconomics, Cat’s Cradle, and Practical Demonkeeping. There’s a mix of humor, sweetness, and sadness in Charlie Wu’s How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. The contemplation of “other” or “them” in the world’s us versus them dichotomy in Fledgling, The City and the City, and Orconomics. Man playing God was the theme, in my estimation of Jurassic Park. Others have more complex themes: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions (The Lathe of Heaven); memories defines self and its loss destroys self (Flowers for Algernon); selfless versus selfish, the road to Heaven versus Hell (The Screwtape Letters). Some I loved because it was a well-paced, great story: Jurassic Park, Between Two Fires, The Lathe of Heaven, Orconomics, Practical Demonkeeping, Cat’s Cradle, and Flowers for Algernon.
My final seal of approval is who might enjoy reading this book? Since the Pandemic, I send physical books to family or friends that I think might also appreciate the story as much as I. Our library at home is just that, shelves of books meant to be read and shared. I’m not a collector, just a reader. The form I chose to read, between hardback, paperback, and e-books, is a matter of price point. Unfortunately, it’s harder to share e-books. I save up the read books and magazines before I head to the post office and ship them off. As for the physical books that I didn’t care for? I sell them at the local used and new bookstore, Blacksburg Books and use my store credit to purchase an interesting new or used book.
So, you may ask, what’s your favorite read in 2026? The contenders are, so far, The Lathe of Heaven, Between Two Fires, and Flowers for Algernon. The winner is Flowers for Algernon. Of course, we’re still in June and we still have six more months. I’ll let you know my final pick for the year 2026. Until next time.