Hi and welcome to a new Top Ten Tuesday post! Each week, we create lists around a bookish theme. This week we will be discussing our bookish goals for the year 2026. I always try to set achievable goals for myself, I don’t want to feel pressured or push myself too hard. If I do so, reading, and blogging with it, becomes a chore and that’s exactly not what you want for a hobby to become. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the bookish goals I’ve set myself this year!

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

1. Read 50 books

I’ve set this number for two years straight and I met this goal halfway through the year for two years straight as well. So, it’s time for round three. Do I want to increase it after meeting this number? No, not at all. I don’t fancy challenging myself regarding the amount of books I read, I think quantity is not what really counts. The years I could read tons of books are behind me and I simply don’t care anymore. This is part of maturing and becoming more picky I guess. Moreover, I only set myself a reading goal for the end-of-year wrap ups and statistics, that’s the nicest reward for me. I will get those anyway, no matter if I set my reading goal at 1 or 100, so 50 is a good number in the middle which is definitely manageable.

2. Choosing quality over quantity

This has been an ongoing goal for the past few years as well and is related to my previously mentioned one. No matter the number of books you read, quality is what matters. Always. If you read books just for the quantity, you risk needing to put more books aside because the quality is not what you’re looking for. You might just not enjoy the books picked. Unfortunately, I find the quality of today’s books rapidly declining, especially of the popular ones. Popularity does not always mean quality and it’s a nice reward when you just find that gem that decided to stay hidden for a long, long time.

3. Exploring more genres

Another goal that’s linked to my previous one, because choosing quality over quantity might mean giving up on genres, whether it’s entirely or partially. In order to find new books to read, it’s time to branch out and explore. I have a much better understanding of what genres do and do not work for me, so I try to branch out and explore more, but within a certain frame of what piques my interest. Reading the blurb helps me a lot, maybe even more so than reading reviews. I’m sorry to everyone who puts their hard work and best effort in writing those.

4. Reading as diverse as possible

Another ongoing goal of mine is to read as diverse as possible. In the past year, I shared two lists with books to diversify your reading, as I find those books really helpful in A) finding more quality stories and B) getting a better understanding of marchinalised groups and so forth. If you are curious for my lists, here you are. Part 1 and part 2. I think there will be at least a part 3 in the near future, just wait and see.

5. Stop anticipating new releases and focus on the backlog instead

One of the “ dangers” – definitely disadvantages – of being active in bookish spaces such as the blogging world and social media, is the huge influx of new releases thrown at you every single day. They trigger curiosity and push the backlist books further down that TBR. These older books get overlooked pretty easily, even though there are some gems out there. In recent years I discovered a few of those gems that have been sitting on my TBR for ages, all pushed back by new releases. Moreover, I have been disappointed way too often by books I’d anticipated lately, so in order to avoid such disappointments and slumps, I decided to not anticipate new releases that much in 2026. Of course I will keep an eye out for those, but not that long in advance probably.

6. Declutter my TBR

I think everyone reading this can relate to this goal, because our TBR’s are giving out under the heavy weight of all these books they have been carrying. Some even for years. I’m setting decluttering my TBR as a 2026 goal once again, just like I did in 2025. I think I did a good job by having read a lot of backlist books last year (more on that next week), but that TBR still keeps growing and growing. Of course you keep finding new books to add, whether it’s a pretty shiny new release or a book that has been out in the world for years. However, there are also books that have been on the TBR for ages and I simply forgot about them or lost interest in them. I keep them on this list for now, because what if… Fear of missing out is a thing. In 2026, I should give that shelf a good clean at least twice, to check whether the books on there still resonate with me or if I just should let them go. Others I will be knocking off by reading them as part of my goal to focus more on the backlog.

7. Buy less books

Another relatable goal I guess, but buying less books is definitely something I should try this year. This in relation to try and declutter that over flooding TBR of mine. However, when it’s a backlist book I still do not own, I should make some exception to the rules. Or whenever it’s a next book in a series, or if the audiobook or whatsoever is unavailable. Okay okay, I already try to find excuses haha. Will this goal succeed? Hmmmmmm.

8. Writing my reviews as soon as possible and finding a review format that works

When you have been blogging for as long as I do (this February it marks 9 years on and off), you have written tons of reviews. Lately, I notice myself struggling with these as I often don’t know what to say. Furthermore, the imposter syndrome kicks in, because of all the other reviews I see on my daily round of bloghopping. Is that “the format”? How do other people enjoy reviews to be like when reading them? I’ve tried different things, but I’m not sure what format suits me best. Is it my good old format I have been using for at least 3 years but feels somewhat stiff to me, or is it time to find something fresh and new? As I struggle with this question, I notice myself postponing writing my reviews, which isn’t too beneficial in the long run. I should try and figure this out as soon as possible. I think I just give up on cross-posting my reviews though which has been another goal in the past few years, because I keep forgetting that anyway. Besides, what’s the point? I have my blog, so why bother with posting them to platforms such as Goodreads and The Storygraph? Sometimes I do, but most times I forget and that’s okay.

9. Make a decision about my Dutch blog

I put this goal on my 2025 list as well, but I ended up extending my Dutch blog for another year. So the question is on the table again: to keep my Dutch blog or to let it go for good? I just don’t know what I want for myself. Yes, keeping up with two blogs is a hell of a job, but Dutch is my first language and writing reviews in that language is easier for me. However, I know that it hardly gets read anymore. I asked the question on Instagram and in a Facebook group if people still read book blogs and literally all responses were “no”. So, is it still worth the investment? I have been seeing a shift in the Dutch blogosphere for a few years now, many bloggers post less and less or quit entirely. Many move over to social media, which is logical in this day and age. But, it doesn’t give you the space you have on a blog. As the Dutch equivalent of Goodreads (where I still do post my reviews) is undergoing some major changes, I’m definitely not sure what to do. Stick or go and focus more on my Dutch blog? Yes I Know, I ramble too much now about it.

10. To rebrand or not rebrand my Bookstagram

This goal is connected to my previous one. As the Dutch reading community is mostly on social media, mainly Instagram, I have to decide in what language to post in. My current feed is an utter mess, with Dutch, English and bilingual posts alike. I think I should get more consistency and decide on one language. I have English speaking followers, bookish and non-bookish alike. But most people who interact with my content are Dutch. However, I don’t want to shut out the people who don’t speak Dutch. So, here’s another dilemma LOL. 

So, these are my goals for this year. Do we have similar ones? Or what do you hope to achieve in the bookish year of 2026?

Hi and welcome to this week’s Top Ten Tuesday post! Whereas I looked back on my favorite books of 2025 last week, it’s time to look ahead now to my 2026 plans. The actual topic for this week is Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026, but as one of my goals for 2026 is to not anticipate books too much in order to protect myself from being disappointed too often (yes, that happened a lot in the past few years), I will be looking into the backlist books I want to read this year. I do this every year since 2023 and it gives me the opportunity to highlight the older books that are overlooked after all these new releases being published. Furthermore, this holds me accountable to indeed read these books that have been on my reading list for forever. So, what backlist books do I hope to pick up this year?

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

1. A Song To Drown Rivers by Ann Liang – I bought this book last year with the intention to read it pretty soon after. Guess what? I haven’t picked it up. I hear so many good things about this which makes me quite nervous, as I have been disappointed so often lately.
2. This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang – Yes, I have another Ann Liang book on my backlist. I also bought this last year, but that’s because I have the Dutch version which only got published last year. So technically it’s a backlist book, but not that far on the backlist if this makes any sense. This is such a beloved author, I really have to give these books a try.
3. The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic – Not truly a backlist title for me as, again, this book got published in Dutch last year. However, it’s originally from 2012 or 2013, so definitely on the backlist!
4. Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin – This book has been on my TBR for several years, so I really have to give this one a try. It’s originally published in 2009, but the Dutch version much later, in 2023.
5. All the Feels by Olivia Dade – I kind of enjoyed Spoiler Alert, but still wanted to give this author another chance. So, this is truly hit or miss for me.
6. Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez – Yes, I’ve been saying it multiple times by now, but I still have to read this book. Putting it on this list of backlist titles definitely means that I need to held myself accountable and finally read it.
7. Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh – Another book I meant to read years ago, but didn’t. So, 2026 should be the year, shouldn’t it?
8. Shiny Broken Pieces by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton – This year marks five years since I read Tiny Pretty Things, the first book in this duology. I really enjoyed it back then, but never picked up the sequel. It’s YA and I hardly read those books these days, so this will be interesting…
9. The Ravens by Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige – It has been years since I tried and DNF’ed The 100 by the first author, and I never read anything by the second one. However, Kass Morgan came to YALFest either in 2018 or 2019, can’t really remember. However, this book piqued my interest all those years ago, but ended up on my never ending TBR like many others. I wonder whether it will still hold my interest or that I should let it go. It has flown under the radar though. So much so that the final book in this duology isn’t even translated to Dutch.
10. The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston – Do you also keep mistaking this title for The New Romantics? You know, that song by Taylor Swift on the 1989 album? No? Just me? Okay… Anyway, I bought this book sometime last year as it was translated to Dutch before The Seven Year Slip was. However, I picked up that one first and forgot about this one. I wonder if it’s able to equal or top that book, because it was one of my most surprising reads of 2025. I really should find out, shouldn’t I?

Okay, this was my deep dive into my backlist for 2026. Do you want to focus on your backlist this year as well? 

Hi and welcome to this first Top Ten Tuesday post of 2026! Even though the year has been six days old by now, we can’t officially ring in the new year with our new resolutions et cetera before listing our 2025 favourites. So, that’s exactly what I’m doing today! I’ll make this a whole 2025 wrap up post. Instead of 10 books, because that’s just not enough, I will do the same I did last year and curate my favourites list by picking one for each month. It’s a tough job, but it’s less of a “kill your darlings” thing than whenever I only make room for 10 books. I’ve started drafting this post already back in October, so I could pick my favourite books for the first months of the year and only had to add the additional ones later. I therefore didn’t have to think about drafting this post amidst all the holiday and new year chaos. Okay, I’m yapping too much once again, let’s take a look at my favourite books of 2025!

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

January

When looking back on January, the first month of the year was quite mixed reading wise. I had some good reads, some surprises, but also some emergency rereads to do. Onyx Storm got published, but I found myself not remembering one single bit of the previous books in this series. Oh well. This aforementioned book is not my monthly favourite, because A) I didn’t finish it before the end of January and B) my opinions on this book are still very conflicted. The spot for my monthly favourite is a tie between my first read of the year and a book that has been on my TBR for seven years, but I finally chose Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett in the end. This was my first read of the year and the audiobook captivated me from start to finish. I finished a good portion of this story within one day, but the last bit took me a bit longer. In my monthly wrap up, I wrote that I had a nasty head cold, so that would be the reason.

• Click here to read my full January wrap up

February

Compared to January, the shortest month of the year wasn’t particularly a good reading month. It took me long to finish a book and most of the books aren’t too memorable. I was slogging through Onyx Storm at snail’s pace and this caused some kind of reading slump for me. I have to pick a favourite however, and that book was pretty surprising considering it’s a Booktok romantasy hype. I’m talking about Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole. I read the sequel this year as well and I have to admit that this didn’t give me that magic spark its predecessor did. It was just the quick and easy romantasy I needed at that point. The audiobook was an easy listen too.

• Click here to read my full February wrap up

March

This month was quite difficult for me. I got a stomach bug that didn’t leave me alone till well into April. It left and kept on returning. Thankfully, spring sprung early this year and I therefore was able to sit on the balcony with a book several times. This is pretty rare in March! This reflects back on my reading, because I read a total of 12 books, the most in the year so far. However, I ended up putting 2 of them aside.  The other ratings for this month weren’t too great either, but there are three books I absolutely enjoyed. And just one of them stood out. Of course, that one is Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, a book many people – including myself – were eagerly awaiting. This author still didn’t disappoint, even after returning to this universe she created nearly two decades ago!

• Click here to read my full March wrap up

April

Another beautiful month regarding the weather and the ability to sit outside with a book, because I did that a lot in April. However, the books themselves were not too great. I had to test Kobo Plus, so I reread several old favourites. They still remain my favourite, but to claim these my monthly favourites would be too easy. Most new books were just 3-star reads however. I also had another DNF. If I had to pick one standout for April, it’s a book that hasn’t been translated to English. It’s originally French (I read the Dutch edition). It’s called Tout le bleu du ciel and is written by Mélissa da Costa.

• Click here to read my full April wrap up

May

We have had a pretty good year when it comes to the possibility of sitting and reading outside in the sun, as May was no exception. Some colder days though, but that’s spring. I went to London this month but still managed to read a good amount of books. Most of them were just satisfying, not much else. I had one huge disappointment, but most books were again 3 stars. However, there is one exception to this rule. Caught Up by Liz Tomforde stood out for me this month, which was well-expected, even though the main couple wasn’t my favourite.

• Click here to read my full May wrap up

June

This was another month where I managed to read a lot of books outside in the sun but wasn’t too fond of many of these. They were summeresque and mostly okay. There were surprises, pleasant and unpleasant alike. However, there were two books that stood out to me, so it’s a tie between The Rule Book by Sarah Adams and Play Along by Liz Tomforde. If I really have to pick one, I would say Play Along by Liz Tomforde as this romance explores some heavier topics and captures just a little more character growth than the other one.

• Click here to read my full June wrap up

July

Another pretty average month in terms of books. Nearly all books got 3 stars or lower, I even had one DNF. There are two books that stood out for me this month and one of them only got 3.5 stars. But it is one of the better books I read this year. However, my monthly favourite has been sitting on my TBR for years and I really scolded at myself for not picking this up sooner. My very alternating past reading experiences with books by this author made me hold back a bit. The book I’m referring to and pick for my favourite for July is The Pearl that Broke its Shell by Nadia Hashimi. This book made me feel all the emotions: sadness, anger, but also hope. If you want to read a book with lots of deeper layers, I strongly recommend this one.

• Click here to read my full July wrap up

August

Oh well, and here we are. At the hardest month to pick a favourite book for, because I encountered a, for these days, rare phenomenon. I read 2 5-star reads and that’s really uncommon in this day and age. I even read those back-to-back! I was expecting to add a third to this list, but that didn’t work out the way I’d hoped. Anyway, the rest of the books I read this month were okay, some better than others. I unfortunately had to DNF Katabasis by R.F. Kuang, an occurrence I had foreseen though. When it comes to my favourite, it’s a real tie between Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid and The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston. I therefore blindly picked one and that’s the first of these two. I won’t say too much about it, because that might give away too much.

• Click here to read my full August wrap up

September

The first weeks of the month were still pretty summeresque and I was on my summer break. I was away for a week, and had the best weather of the entire month, even 30 degrees Celsius on the weekend. It was therefore possible to go to the beach even. My reading slowed down a bit, because I didn’t really feel the urge to pick up a book. I therefore opted for some easy Dutch non-fiction audiobooks, alongside fiction. These were fine. When looking into my fiction picks, there are three books that stood out to me. When the Fireflies Dance by Aisha Hassan, The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr and The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi. Out of these three I have to pick one favourite and that will be The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, even though The Death of Vivek Oji comes pretty close. This book is strongly unrecommended for people who are less experienced readers, because it’s challenging in terms of storytelling.

• Click here to read my full September wrap up

October

And here we are, the month were it all went downhill… I’m known for slumping good and hard in October and November, but stubbornly I hoped this would have been a different story in 2025. Nope, not this time. This month I only finished 4(!!!) books, can you believe it?! And I barely enjoyed any of them. They were 3 stars at best. However, I have one book that stood out to me, and funny enough it’s a memoir, a genre I barely read and definitely don’t rate. However, amidst all my slumpiness, I read Finding My Way by Malala Yousafzai and finished it in one day. This hasn’t occurred to me in a long, long time! So if I really have to pick a favourite, I think I have to go with this book.

• Click here to read my full October wrap up

November

Compared to October, my reading sped up in quantity. However, it’s hard to pick a favourite book of the month since the quality wasn’t that great. From the 8 books I read in November, I can hardy remember one as none of them stuck out. I know what book surprised me, but picking a favourite is just so hard. I think I just have to go with This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan, as this is the best of the bunch.

• Click here to read my full November wrap up

December

The final month of the year and my reading unexpectedly slowed down again. I read 5 books and they were quite mediocre or underwhelming. Except for one… I already mentioned in last week’s post about books that surprised me, but For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn is – besides the most surprising book of the month – my favourite book of December. It’s quite unexpected as this is a Booktok hype and I often do not enjoy these too much.

• Click here to read my full December wrap up

These are my 2025 favourites. And now it’s up to you! What are your most favourite books you’ve read in 2025?

Hello and welcome to the final Top Ten Tuesday post for 2025! And what a surprise, but I am going rogue once again. This week’s initial topic is The Ten Most Recent Additions To Your TBR, but I feel like I’m repeating myself multiple times on this blog when doing this type of post. Not that I won’t be repeating myself this time, but anyway. As the year is coming to an end, it’s time to look back. I will be doing this next week with my 2025 favorites post, but among the 95 books I’ve read so far, there are also books that surprised me but aren’t necessarily a favorite. Surprises can go both ways. So today, I decided to list the books that surprised me in 2025. This time, links will direct you to the review on my blog instead of to the book page on Goodreads.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

1. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros – As I enjoyed both Forth Wing and Iron Flame, the previous books in the “The Empyrean” series, I was down bad convinced that I would fall head over heels for this newest addition to that series as well. Turns out I didn’t. Firstly, I had to do a massive emergency reread as I couldn’t remember a thing from the previous books. Secondly, the book itself was pretty messy and I still feel conflicted all those months later. Yes, I enjoyed my time spent with these dragons, but Violet and Xaden are getting a bit tiresome. Furthermore, I don’t understand what happens at the end and it was too long in general. So, this predicted 5 star read turnt out to be a 3 star read at best.
2. Beautiful Mess by Claire Christian – I left this book rotting on the TBR for seven (!) whole years before finally taking the plunge and picking it up. As I hardly read young adult books anymore, I was fully convinced this would become my first DNF of the year. I admittedly struggled at the start, but am glad I read this book after all.
3. Quicksilver by Callie Hart – In hindsight this might not come as a surprise, but I expected to enjoy this book. It has all the ingredients I typically love, so off I went. Well, I didn’t like it at all. This book has more flaws than strong points and these cons outweih the pros. I was just so bored with plot and characters alike and here is where it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it’s a Booktok hype. Enough said.
4. For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn – That a Booktok hype could work out differently is proved here. I went into this adventure with the lowest expectations, but I loved it so much. Surprise surprise, I didn’t expect this at all.
5. Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi – The announcement for this book was a surprise on its own and as I still admire the original “Shatter me” trilogy, I was pretty stoked for a new book set in this universe ten years later. I was wary too, because the second trilogy was not really for me anymore. I wanted to enjoy this new book and I did to a certain extend. However, it left me quite unsatisfied as well. Even to the point I’m not sure whether I will pick up the sequels.
6. The Girl Behind the Wall by Mandy Robotham – An unexpected find and I was captivated. Somehow expected because it’s historical fiction set in an interesting period in time, but finding this book alone was a surprise already.
7. The Most Secret Memory of Men by Mohammed Mbougar Sarr – This book had been on my TBR for a while before deciding it was the right time to pick it up. It’s complex and has the size of a brick, so I was pretty reluctant to start. I indeed had trouble at the start, but when I got the hang of it I just couldn’t put it down.
8. The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig – Admittedly, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the “Shepherd King” duology. Although I just can’t deny it’s atmosphere and craftmanship in worldbuilding. So, my expectations for this new book were pretty high, feed by all the positive reviews. Well, I didn’t feel the hype at all. In fact, I was bored. There was no atmosphere, the characters were dull and the plot itself was mediocre. Such a bummer.
9. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston – This book is very popular and this could either go right or wrong for me. Magical realism is not something I typically fancy, so I wasn’t too sure whether I would like this book or not. I decided to give it a go in summer and was pleasantly surprised. So much so that I rated it 5 stars in the end, whereas I expected either 3 or 4 stars. But will this be on my 2025 favorites list? You will find out next week.
10. Crossroads by Devney Perry – Another book I was convinced I would highly enjoy. Unfortunately, this cowboy romance didn’t deliver. The characters are a bit underdeveloped and superficial, the plot too formulaic. Such a bummer.

What books did surprise you this year?