What Is True Crime Literature?

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

I have several fancy literature degrees, and I'm not afraid to use them. Today, I'm going to answer questions about the true crime genre of books. Let's go!

I'm Not Dead—I Just Feel Like I Am

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The Best Books Of 2026 (So Far)

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

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 . . . .

The Sunday Post #403

 

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

Mid-Year Reading Check-In

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The year is half over! Can you believe it? How's everybody holding up? Are you doing okay?

I've read 20 books so far this year, which is disappointing. I wish I had more time for reading. I still haven't figured out how people have jobs, children, pets, and read 100+ books a year. It's a mystery.

Let's talk about the best and worst of what I've read.

The Books I Remember The Most: Nonfiction Edition

 

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Way back in 2024, I wrote a post about the best books I've read in the past 10 years. Looking back at my old favorites was interesting because the books I remember most weren't always the ones I chose as favorites. Sometimes a book isn't a top ten all-time favorite, but it still sticks with you.

I'm going to scroll through 10+ years of book reviews and show you the nonfiction books that haunt my brain. I'll do another post for fiction books because there are too many!

Books To Read In Summer

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Did I buy books just so I could write this blog post? Yes. I'll use any excuse for book shopping. Here's what I'll be reading in the next few months.

My Book Wish List

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

I'm such a nerd that I keep a Pinterest board for the books I want to read. Recently, I realized that there were nearly 700 books on my board. That's overwhelming. Do you know how many years it would take me to read 700 books? I don't even want to do the math.

So, I reread the synopsis of all 700 books on my board. I deleted the books that no longer interest me, and the giant books I knew I'd never be motivated enough to finish. I managed to cut my board down to 300 books. That's still too many, but it's better than 700!

Here are ten random books I "rediscovered" while ruthlessly culling my to-be-read list.

I Can't Believe I Haven't Read These Books

 

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

There's a list on Goodreads called Best Books Ever. Thousands of readers have voted for their favorite books. I decided to look at the top 100 best books and see which ones I haven't read.

Turns out, I've read 87 of the top 100. Here are the popular ones I missed for various reasons.

The Sunday Post #402

The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

The Books I Remember The Most: Young Adult Edition

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Way back in 2024, I wrote a post about the best books I've read in the past 10 years. Looking back at my old favorites was interesting because the books I remember most weren't always the ones I chose as favorites. Sometimes a book isn't a top ten all-time favorite, but it still sticks with you.

I'm going to scroll through 10+ years of book reviews and show you the young adult and middle grade books that haunt my brain. I'll do another post for adult fiction and nonfiction books because there are too many!

Books With The Best Side Characters

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Main characters are great, but sometimes the side characters steal the show. Here are ten books with secondary characters you'll never forget.

The Books I Remember The Most: Fiction Edition

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Way back in 2024, I wrote a post about the best books I've read in the past 10 years. Looking back at my old favorites was interesting because the books I remember most weren't always the ones I chose as favorites. Sometimes a book isn't a top ten all-time favorite, but it still sticks with you.

I'm going to scroll through 10+ years of book reviews and show you the fiction books that haunt my brain. I'll do another post for nonfiction books because there are too many!

I Need More Books From These Authors

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Have you ever read a book and loved it so much that you added all the author's other books to your must-read list? That happens to me all the time! This was a very easy list to make because tons of authors immediately popped into my head. Here are the first ten I wrote down.

Book Blog Bestsellers

 

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

If you've been on this blog before, then you've probably seen the Buy it on Amazon and Support Independent Bookstores buttons under whichever book I'm blathering about. Those are affiliate links. If someone clicks the link and buys the book, I earn a few pennies. I can't see who is buying the books, but I can see which books get purchased.

The most common question I get on Pinterest is "Do you actually make money from your affiliate links?" The answer is yes. I make money from them, but it's not a life-changing amount. There's no way I'm quitting my day job anytime soon.

Another common question is "Which books are people buying?" That's what we're talking about today! I crunched the numbers from last year and figured out the top 8 bestselling books on the blog. Why 8 and not 10 or another number? Because several books are tied for 9th place, and I have to draw the line somewhere.

Here's what bookworms are buying.

Funny Books About Distressing Subjects

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

I regret to inform you that the title of this post may be a lie. "Funny" and "Distressing" are both highly subjective. These books may not be funny or distressing to you.

I guess a better post title would be "Authors Who Use A Light Tone To Write About Serious Subjects," but nobody would click on that. It has too many words.

These books are about gloomy things, but they won't make you feel too gloomy. I thought they were funny!

Quarter Year Reading Check In

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The first quarter of the year is over! How'd it go for everybody? Have you accomplished anything awesome? Did you get a lot of reading done? I've read 13 books so far in 2026. Let's talk about the best and worst of them.

Books With Unique Settings

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

I had to dig deep for this one. I've read thousands of books in my life. Which ones have the most unique, most memorable settings?

Here are ten books to read if you like a weird setting.

The Sunday Post #401

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

Buzzwords That Make Me Read A Book

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

I try to read a diverse array of books, but I can't deny that certain words in a book's synopsis or reviews grab my attention. Here are ten words I can't ignore, plus book recommendations for each word.

Books To Read In Spring

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Spring is the perfect time to make a new reading list! The majority of the books I read come from the library and have waitlists. I can't guarantee I'll read all the books in this post, but the odds are good I'll get a few of them.

The Sunday Post #400

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

Green Book Covers

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Green is one of my favorite colors. Books are one of my favorite objects. Of course I'm drawn to green book covers! (Yes, I judge books by their covers.) Here are a few of my favorite green (and green adjacent) book covers.

Book Series I Want To Continue

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Friends, I'm so bad at series. I'll read the first book and go, "That was awesome! I need the second book right now." Then I get distracted by other books and don't continue the series. It's a chronic problem.

Here are the seven series (trilogies? Duologies?) I badly want to continue.

The Sunday Post #399

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

 

The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

What Is Gothic Literature?

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Today, we're trying something different. Instead of giving you a list of ten books to read, we're going to learn ten things about gothic literature. I have a literature degree, and I'm not afraid to use it.

The Sunday Post #398

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

Books Set Outside The USA

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

For mysterious reasons, I don't want to think about the USA right now. Here are 10 brilliant books that are set elsewhere.

The Sunday Post #397

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

What Would Make Me Enjoy A Romance Book?

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'm going to make a confession: I'm romance curious. Usually, I avoid romance novels like the plague STDs, but I can't help being curious about them. Romance is the highest selling book genre. I know lots of readers who only read romance. I want to know what inspires that kind of dedication.

Romance is a difficult genre for me because I'm dead inside. A book probably isn't going to hook me by provoking emotion. So, what would make me enjoy a romance? Let's figure that out together.

I Read 200+ "Best Books Of 2025" Lists

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

It took over a month, but I have searched the Internet and read, watched, or listened to over 200 "Best Books Of 2025" lists. Why would I waste my time doing this? Because I'm insufferably nosy and want to know what everybody is reading. I also have a bad case of FOMO. What if there's an awesome book in the world that everybody knows about except me? I can't let that happen!

While I was perusing the lists, I jotted down the titles of books that sounded intriguing. That's what I'm going to show you today.

Which book did I see most often on the lists? My Friends by Fredrik Backman was popular. Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins was definitely the darling of 2025. I saw it so many times! I also saw a lot of funny books. I'm highlighting a few of them in this post because we all need more humor in our lives.

Here's what I'll (hopefully) be reading in 2026.

The Sunday Post #396

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

the Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

2025 Reading Statistics

Welcome to my 2025 reading stats post! This is where I represent all the books I read in 2025 with pie (charts). Friends, last year kicked my ass. I only read 52 books, but that's okay because several of them were awesome. Here are the best books I read in 2025. You should read them in 2026.

Okay, let's make graphs. The color palette for my graphs is inspired by Pantone. I don't know if normal people pay attention to the Pantone color of the year, but 2026's color is Cloud Dancer, which is . . . white. Actually, it's off-white. Gray white? Beige white? It's boring white. It's giving "sad beige baby" vibes. I tried really hard to pair Cloud Dancer with colors that make it look less depressing.

Enough yapping. Here are my reading charts, inspired by off-white.

The Sunday Post #395

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

Subjects I Want To Learn About In 2026

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

I enjoy making New Year's resolutions, but I usually fail at them, and then I'm sad. I'm trying something new this year. Instead of resolutions, I'm choosing eleven subjects I want to learn about. If I learn one thing about each subject, then I have succeeded at my goal. I can learn one thing, right? RIGHT? I won't fail at this. (Please tell me I won't fail at this. It seems easy, but I fail at easy stuff all the time.)

Some of my subjects are lifelong interests. Others are things I'm currently curious about.

If you have book/TV/whatever recommendations, I want to hear them. I refuse to fail!

Best 2026 Book Releases (January - June)

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Welcome to 2026, bookworms! Here are some weird and wonderful books that are coming out in the next six months.

Note: Publishing is notorious for changing the release date of books. Don't come for me if the dates in this post are wrong. I'm trying my best! I promise!

The Sunday Post #394

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

Best Books Of 2025

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Welcome to my favorite blog post of the year! These are the best books I read in 2025.

I seriously debated how many books I should put on the list. I only read 52 books this year. That's not a lot for me. I guess I can't complain. I crammed a lot of life (and a shocking amount of failure) into 2025. I think 2026 is going to be the same. Reading is on the back burner. I miss being able to rot in bed and read for hours. Now I fall asleep if I stand still.

Putting 10/52 books on a "Best" list seems too generous for a cold-hearted witch like me. But, it's been a difficult year. Let's be generous. These books are excellent. I recommend all of them.

Here are my favorite books of 2025. I arranged them countdown style for unnecessary drama.

Drumroll please . . .