26 Books I Actually Want to Read in 2026 📚 | Realistic vs Aspirational vs Delusional

Let’s talk about 2026 reading plans 📚✨
In this video, I’m sharing 26 books I want to read in 2026, broken into three very honest categories: realistic, aspirational, and delusional.

Some of these books feel completely doable, some feel like a stretch, and some… well… I just need to believe in myself a little more. I’m heading into 2026 excited, motivated, and very ready to leave 2025 behind — I need this combination of 2 0 2 5 to be done. It’s been done with me.

From fantasy series I swear I’ll finally start, to emotional reads I’m saving for the “right moment,” this video is equal parts planning, manifesting, and a little optimistic delusion. There are just so many books I’m excited about, and I really want to start the year off hot — on such a good note.

If you’re thinking about your own reading goals for the new year, or you love watching people make ambitious book plans they may or may not survive, I hope you enjoy this one 🤍

📚 Books Mentioned:
Realistic Reads
Crooked Kingdom — Leigh Bardugo
Our Perfect Storm — Carly Fortune
Legendborn — Tracy Deonn
Us Against You — Fredrik Backman
Before I Let Go — Kennedy Ryan
Atmosphere — Taylor Jenkins Reid
Lady of Darkness — Melissa K. Roehrich
The Vanishing Half — Brit Bennett
Throne of Secrets — Kerri Maniscalco
Gifted & Talented — Olivie Blake

Aspirational Reads
Throne of Nightmares — Kerri Maniscalco
Just Friends — Haley Pham
Any book by Nora Roberts
The Winners — Fredrik Backman
The Fifth Season — N. K. Jemisin
The Poppy War — R. F. Kuang
The Secret History — Donna Tartt
A Darker Shade of Magic series — V. E. Schwab
The Atlas Six — Olivie Blake

Delusional Reads
Red Rising — Pierce Brown
Yours Truly — Abby Jimenez
The Legacy Series — Melissa K. Roehrich
Ninth House — Leigh Bardugo
A Little Life — Hanya Yanagihara
Things I Wish I Told My Mother — Susan Patterson & Susan DiLallo
The Will of the Many — James Islington

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0:00 Intro
1:05 Realistic reads
12:22 Aspirational Reads
19:18 Delusional territory
25:22 Outro
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