Q1 & Q2 in Books
I got off to a slower reading start than expected, and for a while, things were looking grim—reading-wise, at least. Thankfully, I eventually found my groove again. And let me tell you: nothing makes you appreciate reading quite like spending a few weeks in a slump. The relief of stepping back into other worlds is unmatched, and I don’t take it for granted.
Like Jack Prelutsky, “my reading is extremely eclectic,” so the first half of the year brought a mix of literary fiction, romance (ofc), memoir, mythological retellings, rereads, and a few books that reminded me exactly why I love reading so much.
I’ve already shared full reviews of a couple of these books, which you can read here, but I wanted to do an official wrap-up of everything I read in Q1 and Q2 of 2026—the good, the bad, and the glad-I-only-have-to-suffer-through-this-once reads—with highlights on what they’re about, why I liked them, and why I think you might enjoy them too.
Q1 Books
A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen
A woman discovers that her marriage—and the “autonomy” she believed she had—are a sham, then leaves her husband and children to seek independence.
Ibsen’s riveting three-act play follows Nora Helmer, a seemingly carefree housewife who awakens to the oppressive nature of her marriage and patriarchal society. For me, the ending makes the play. So good!
I’ve got a lot of plays on my shelf that I want to read this year, and this was the first. I had fun with it.
It’s also pretty short, and I hope to see it performed live someday.
People We Meet on Vacation, Emily Henry
Alex and Poppy used to be best friends, but they’ve grown apart by the time the book begins. Their story unfolds through a series of flashbacks tracing their friendship over the years, alongside a present-day timeline in which they try to reconnect and repair their fragile relationship.
I tend to enjoy stories about relationships evolving over time because I like seeing how the characters and their lives change. Here, though, their lives don’t change very much. Still, the 12-year timeline gives the story some of that appeal.
Poppy and Alex are cute, but their story was a little less exciting than I expected. The book is more about two people who care about each other exploring the ins and outs of their relationship. There are definitely some contrivances designed to stretch the plot across the 12-year timeline, but whatever. Toward the end, especially, it dragged a little for me because it didn’t quite maintain enough tension to keep things interesting.
It doesn’t rank as highly for me as the rest of EmHen’s work, but I enjoyed it. I’m Emily Henry’s target audience, so of course it was a treat.
My current EmHen book ranking, based on how crazy I am about them, is Funny Story, Beach Read, Happy Place, Book Lovers, Great BBL, and now PWMOV.
Beverly Jenkins’s Destiny Trilogy
Three historical romances following three brothers and their love interests—cowboy and cowboy-adjacent stories set in the mid-1800s.
This was a good series. I loved how different the characters and stories felt across the trilogy, as well as the varied kinds of love each book portrayed.
A lot of Beverly Jenkins’s historical romances share that focus on love and care from family—blood-related or found—friends, and community. That feels especially beautiful and necessary in stories about people from marginalized communities during that period. Though, sadly, it could also be today.
If I were recommending a Beverly Jenkins starter kit, this isn’t where I’d begin. I was introduced to her work through Rebel and Wild Rain, so those two—along with Tempest and Breathless—are my starter kit recommendations for her historical romances.
How to Hold a Cockroach, Matthew Maxwell
A parable—or allegory—about perspective and finding freedom from personal suffering by changing the meaning we assign to life’s events.
The book argues that our experience of life is determined not by external “facts,” but by the meaning we choose to create from them—and that changing those meanings can lead to freedom and peace. Which is, of course, NOT always true. But for your own intrapersonal…idk…edification, I think it can be really helpful.
I probably enjoyed this more because I bought it blindly. It was such a random find, and I’m very picky about nonfiction and guidebooks written by men. But this was cute. I liked it.
If I Ruled the World, Amy DuBois Barnett
A young Black magazine editor must rebuild her career after a workplace scandal and navigate ambition, friendship, romance, and the realities of media culture.
One of my favorite reads of Q1. Fast-paced and compulsively readable. What stayed with me was the book's interest in exploring sovereignty: who gets to decide what success looks like for you, and what happens when you realize the answer is nobody but yourself.
Barnett captures the complexity of being an ambitious woman—particularly an ambitious Black woman—trying to build a life while making mistakes, disappointing people, changing friendships, and figuring out what you actually want.
The romance is lovely. The friendships are messy. The workplace politics are infuriating and unfortunately unsurprising.
Reel, Kennedy Ryan
A celebrated film director and an unknown actress fall in love while making a biopic about a legendary jazz singer.
My first reread of the year. Still incredible.
Kennedy Ryan understands tension better than almost anyone writing contemporary romance right now. This is forbidden romance done very well. But what elevates the novel is the way it layers multiple love stories together. As Canon and Neva's relationship unfolds, so does the story of the jazz legend they're bringing to life.
Romantic, cinematic, emotional.
One of my favorite contemporary romances, period.
Q2 Books
Bemused, Farrah Rochon
A prequel to Disney's Hercules following the five Muses before the events of the film.
I am exactly the target audience for a book about the Muses.
The adventure itself is fun, but what surprised me was how much affection I developed for the sisters individually. The film treats them as a collective, while Rochon gives each of them room to become distinct characters.
Part coming-of-age story, part fantasy adventure, part sisterhood narrative.
If you grew up loving Hercules, you’ll like this. It was delightful.
In Her Own League, Liz Tomforde
The first female owner of a Major League Baseball team falls for her team's longtime field manager.
The thing nobody warned me about is that Monty had quietly become a father figure in my head across the Windy City books.
So yes, there was an adjustment period.
That aside, this was a genuinely enjoyable romance. Reese is the standout character here, and I appreciated how much time Tomforde spends exploring what it means to be a woman occupying space in a male-dominated industry.
Not enemies-to-lovers. I reject the allegations.
Fun. Fast. A good time.
The Tiny Things Are Heavier, Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo
A Nigerian graduate student in Iowa struggles with displacement, grief, identity, and family obligations after her brother survives a suicide attempt.
Quiet. Thoughtful. Full of longing.
This is one of those novels where very little appears to happen on the surface while everything is happening underneath.
I especially appreciated how it explores immigration not through ambition or achievement, but through emotional displacement. The tension of existing in two places at once. The guilt of leaving. The burden of continuing.
Beautifully written literary fiction that never feels self-conscious about its beauty.
One of the strongest debuts I've read recently.
Simply More, Cynthia Erivo
A memoir about ambition, self-expression, creativity, and refusing to shrink yourself.
A lot of celebrity memoirs can feel polished to the point of feeling distant. This doesn't. Erivo is sincere and unpretentious.
She writes openly about becoming comfortable with her own ambition, her creativity, her queerness, and her desire to take up space in the world.
The central message is simple: stop apologizing for being too much.
A quick read.
On Rotation, Shirlene Obuobi
A Ghanaian-American medical student's carefully structured life begins to unravel after academic setbacks, family pressure, and an unexpected romance.
This was a slow start for me, but I liked this much more than I initially expected to. The romance is charming, but the book's real strength is its portrayal of perfectionism and burnout.
Angie confronting the possibility that she may not be who she thought she was—and may not become who she expected to be is admirable, inspiring and painfully realistic.
A thoughtful coming-of-age story disguised as a romance.
Rewind It Back, Liz Tomforde
Childhood sweethearts reunite years after a devastating breakup.
Alas, I am helpless against a well-executed second-chance romance.
This explores the hidden sacrifices people make for the people they love, the consequences of growing up too quickly, and what it takes to rebuild trust after years apart.
It was a satisfying conclusion to a series I've thoroughly enjoyed.
The Close-Up, Kennedy Ryan
A crossover novella connecting Kennedy Ryan's Hollywood Renaissance and HOOPs worlds.
The literary equivalent of a perfectly timed snack. This was exactly what I needed when I needed it.
Short, romantic, and responsible for dragging me out of a mid-Spring reading slump.
Score, Kennedy Ryan
A second-chance romance between an award-winning screenwriter and a world-renowned musician reunited while working on a Harlem Renaissance biopic.
Kennedy Ryan continues to be excellent.
Verity and Monk’s romance is sizzling, but what stayed with me were the exploration of grief, sexuality, identity, mental health, and the long shadows cast by old wounds.
Worth the wait after Reel.
Bayou Dreams Series, Farrah Rochon
Small-town Louisiana romances centered around family, community, and second chances.
Comfort reads.
Warm, easy to binge, and full of the kind of community-centered storytelling that makes small-town romance work when it's done well.
Perfect palate cleansers between heavier books.
The Morning Gift, Eva Ibbotson
A marriage-of-convenience romance set against the backdrop of Austria's annexation by Nazi Germany.
This book drove me slightly insane or maybe my attention span is really shot to shit. There are a thousand side characters, dozens of narrative detours, and sentences filled with enough subordinate clauses to put you to sleep.
And yet…
Somewhere around the hundred-page mark I realized I was completely charmed.
The romance is predictable. The plot is delightfully ridiculous. The writing is gorgeous.
A deeply old-fashioned novel in the best possible way.
Re-reads
Stay With Me, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
A Nigerian couple grapples with infertility, family pressure, and devastating secrets.
Every two years or so I revisit this book just to make sure it's still as good as I remember.
Spoiler alert…it is.
Devastating, beautifully constructed, emotionally precise. Stay With Me is still one of my favorite contemporary Nigerian novels.
Funny Story, Emily Henry
Two people become roommates after their respective partners leave them for each other.
As far as Emily Henry goes, this remains second only to Beach Read for me. Miles and Daphne’s love story is still excellent.
Funny, warm, romantic, and surprisingly tender beneath all the banter.
I LOVE this book.
If Love Series, Ana Huang
Four interconnected contemporary romances.
Book 1 follows a 19-year-old aspiring interior designer who falls for a former college football star while studying abroad in Shanghai for a year. In book 2, the couple reconnects five years after their painful split in a second-chance romance. Book 3 features an opposites-attract, fake-dating dynamic in which a wealthy heroine strikes a deal to seduce her father's fiancée. Book 4 rounds out the series with another second-chance, roommates-to-lovers romance focused on emotional healing and growth.
This is my favorite Ana Huang series.
Maybe it's nostalgia. Maybe it's primacy bias because it was my introduction to her work. Whatever the reason, nothing else she's written has hit quite the same for me.
Dramatic? Yes. Over-the-top? Occasionally. Highly bingeable? Absolutely.
Currently Reading
Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
Still in progress.
Every time I sit down to finish it, another book appears and distracts me.
I will return…eventually.
In Love With Love, Ella Risbridger
A nonfiction exploration of romance as a genre and cultural phenomenon.
I suspect part of the reason I haven't finished this yet is because I don't actually want it to end.
One of the smartest books about romance I've read in years—curious, thoughtful, deeply informed, and genuinely fun to spend time with.
Highly recommended for romance readers and romance skeptics alike.
I’ll be travelling a lot this summer and hosting family, so I’m expecting a lighter reading season—but a fun one nonetheless.
Wish me luck, and happy reading!
xo, Igho
