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If you read my post last week, then you already know my favorite books of the year. You also know I've only read 20 books in 2026. This is going to be a short list because choosing 10 favorites is too generous for my cold, dead heart.
Here are my 5 favorites of 2026 (so far). I organized them countdown style for unnecessary drama.
Drumroll please . . . .
Best Books Of 2026 (So Far)
5. Building A Second Brain: A Proven Method To Organize Your Digital Life And Unlock Your Creative Potential by Tiago Forte
Self-Help Nonfiction
For the first time in history, we have instantaneous access to the world’s knowledge. There has never been a better time to learn, to contribute, and to improve ourselves. Yet, rather than feeling empowered, we are often left feeling overwhelmed by this constant influx of information. The very knowledge that was supposed to set us free has instead led to the paralyzing stress of believing we’ll never know or remember enough.
Now, this eye-opening and accessible guide shows how you can easily create your own personal system for knowledge management, otherwise known as a Second Brain. As a trusted and organized digital repository of your most valued ideas, notes, and creative work synced across all your devices and platforms, a Second Brain gives you the confidence to tackle your most important projects and ambitious goals.
Why I recommend it: Modern humans learn tons of new information every single day. We put pressure on ourselves to remember the information, form an opinion about it, organize it, solve problems, etc. It can be overwhelming.
This book outlines a digital notetaking system that helps the reader reduce information overload. Basically, you use a notetaking app to build yourself a second brain. The author teaches the reader how to choose which bits of information are important and how to organize your notes so they're easy to find when you need them. I like the book because it's straightforward and actionable. Building a second brain feels like something I can accomplish.4. Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History And Persistence Of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green
Science Nonfiction
Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is seen as a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.
In 2019, author John Green met Henry Reider, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, preventable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing over a million people every year.
In Everything Is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world—and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.
Why I recommend it: The first half of the book feels fast paced and a bit directionless. It's history + interesting facts about tuberculosis. If you love history as much as I do, then you'll probably find the historical parts of the book fascinating. Even though I've had tuberculosis tests done on myself at the doctor, I didn't know much about the disease. This book taught me about how tuberculosis damages the body and how our attitudes toward the disease have shifted throughout history.
The second half of the book is about present day. It's a lot more focused. Tuberculosis has been curable since the 1950s, but every year, over a million people die from it. That's because those people don't have access to the cure. They live in places like Sierra Leone, where medical care can be difficult and expensive to access.I like this book because it brings awareness to a problem that humans can solve. Tuberculosis is curable. A million people do not have to die from it every year. I hope the book bumps tuberculosis up humanity's priority list. We have to figure out how to get the cure to the people who need it most.
3. The Faithful Executioner: Life And Death, Honor And Shame In The Turbulent Sixteenth Century by Joel F. Harrington
Biography
In the late 1500s a Nuremberg man named Frantz Schmidt began to do something utterly remarkable for his era: he started keeping a journal. But what makes Schmidt even more compelling to us is his day job. For forty-five years, Schmidt was an efficient and prolific public executioner, employed by the state to extract confessions and put convicted criminals to death. In his years of service, he executed 361 people and tortured, flogged, or disfigured hundreds more. Is it possible that a man who practiced such cruelty could also be insightful, compassionate, humane—even progressive?
In his groundbreaking book, the historian Joel F. Harrington looks for the answer in Schmidt’s journal, whose immense significance has been ignored until now. Harrington uncovers details of Schmidt’s medical practice, his marriage to a woman ten years older than him, his efforts at penal reform, his almost touching obsession with social status, and most of all his conflicted relationship with his own craft and the growing sense that it could not be squared with his faith.
A biography of an ordinary man struggling for his soul, The Faithful Executioner is also an unparalleled portrait of Europe on the cusp of modernity, yet riven by conflict and encumbered by paranoia, superstition, and abuses of power. In his intimate portrait of a Nuremberg executioner, Harrington also sheds light on our own fraught historical moment.
Why I recommend it: The premise caught my attention immediately. In 1500s Nuremberg, a man named Frantz Schmidt began keeping records of his job. Frantz spent 45 years as a public executioner. The Nuremberg government paid him to extract confessions and publicly execute criminals. Frantz also had a side hustle: He ran a very successful medical practice. He killed people and he healed them! Frantz was a Christian and a father who wanted to give his children the best life possible. How did he reconcile all the conflicting parts of himself?
This biography is a dense and detailed reconstruction of Frantz's life. It took me weeks to read, but it was worth it. I learned a lot about 1500s Europe and the complicated values of the people who lived there.Here's a fun fact: If an executioner botched a public execution, the crowd would turn against the executioner. Riots would break out. Several executioners were murdered by angry mobs after messing up an execution. It seems like the spectators were okay with watching a person be killed, but they had zero tolerance for watching a person suffer before death.
If you're interested in European history, you need to read this biography. Frantz's life is both mysterious and endlessly interesting.
2. The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C. Sheriff
Adult Science Fiction
Why I recommend it: This science fiction book was originally published in 1939, and I don't understand why it isn't more popular. Edgar is a very average dude who is living through a very extraordinary moment. The world needs heroes. Edgar is not a hero.
I don't think I'll ever forget this novel because it so quirky. Pompous Edgar only cares about his prize-winning chickens. Then the moon crashes into the ocean, and he's forced to become part of a human community. It's somehow funnier and more tragic than I expected. I loved it.
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1. Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
Memoir
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Based on his own experience and the stories of his patients, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. At the heart of his theory, known as logotherapy, is a conviction that the primary human drive is not pleasure but the pursuit of what we find meaningful.
Why I recommend it: I am searching for a self-help book that actually helps. A librarian at my local library recommended Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl.
I think this book could be helpful! Even if it's not helpful, it's a fascinating story. The author was an Austrian neurologist, psychologist, philosopher, and Holocaust survivor. In the first part of the book, he shares stories from his life and explains how the events shaped the way he thinks. The author believes that the search for meaning is what keeps humans motivated. If we lose our desire to find meaning, then we lose our will to live.
This idea resonated with me because I was a severely depressed teenager. Every time I made a plan to kill myself, I would stop and think, Wait . . . if I'm dead, I'll never be able to write a book. That thought is literally the only reason I'm alive right now. The belief that I could write a book someday was my meaning. My meaning was stronger than my depression. I think Viktor Frankl does an excellent job of exploring this concept.
I also appreciate how the author approaches his life story. It's balanced and compassionate. He looks at all the people involved in an event and tries to figure out what was driving their behavior. It feels grounded. The author is examining people's actions instead of instantly judging the actions as right or wrong. He wants to know the "why" behind them.
I recommend this self-help book. I think it could help!
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What's the best book you read in 2026?
Wow, these sound so interesting!
ReplyDelete