Bookmarked 2026 Week 16: Watching, Reading & Writing Books

How has your week been? What are you reading? A

What I Read

As I mentioned last week, I’m feeling in the mood to read more genre fiction books. Every January, author Seanan McGuire releases a new novella in the Weyward Children series. I’ve read them all – except this year’s release so I picked up her latest, Through Gates of Garnet and Gold.

This is the 11th book in the series, and I relished being back in this World where children find doors that open as portals into other Worlds. It was a quick read that I enjoyed – the imaginative World building was my favorite thing.

Then I listened to the audiobook of Mate (Bride #2), Ali Hazelwood. The genre is paranormal romance, in this case between Serena (a werewolf human hybrid) and Koen (alpha Were). Serena and Koen are both snarky and the banter in this book was funny. It was one of my favorite things about the book. I also thought the pacing was spot on – with the plot also giving us a good mix of mystery, action and romance.

I also loved the first book in the series, Bride – highly recommend.

Currently Reading

The Spellshop, Sarah Beth Durst is my choice for this month’s Key Word Reading Challenge (key word: Spell). It satisfies the requirement for the challenge and my need to read more genre fiction.

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz – a magically sentient spider plant – have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite. But when a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home.

Watching, Reading & Writing Books

⮕ What book to screen adaptation from LitHub’s The Literary Film & TV You Need to Stream in April is on your radar? I’m eyeing The Testaments which is based on The Testaments, Margaret Atwood (a follow up to The Handmaid’s Tale), but set 5 years in to the future. I’m probably one of few people who didn’t love the book The Handmaid’s Tale – much preferred the tv series. But I loved The Testaments and look forward to seeing it brought to life on screen.

⮕ If you’ve watched the movie Sinners, and you want to learn more about that era in African American history, here’s a ‘Sinners’ Movie Syllabus. “This syllabus delves into the multifaceted historical, cultural, and social contexts depicted in the film, providing audiences with a deeper understanding of its layered narratives.”

⮕ What Are the Routines of So-Called Super-Readers? I’m fascinated! Reading is definitely not a competition but it’s interesting to see how people fit in lots of reading in their day, or read faster than the average person.

⮕ These are some reading rules I can get behind … they are more like reading anti-rules … if there was such a thing. Like “Reading is morally neutral. Reading in your free time no more makes you a good person than watching Love Island on a constant loop makes you a bad person.”

⮕ Five of our greatest novelists on what it takes to write something true … Ottessa Moshfegh, Jhumpa Lahiri, Joyce Carol Oates, Jesmyn Ward and Margaret Atwood.

Bookish Events in April

⮕ National Library Week is Apr. 19-26, 2026. The theme this year is Find Your Joy. Take some time to go thank a librarian, take them a gift card and encourage a friend to sign up at the library.

⮕ One of the largest book festivals in the US, The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, is Apr. 18-19, 2026 … and general admission is free! There will be thousands of fellow readers there … this is Why We Still Need Book Festivals.

⮕ I went down the rabbit hole of celebrity book clubs recently, and came across RANKED: Celebrity Book Clubs. There’s not too many of these by guys … although not “celebrity” per se – but there’s The Boys Book Club, whose founders have “performative read-ins” at various locations. Love the concept. Read more about it on GQ (UK) – Meet the men doing the performative reading meme IRL

⮕ The championship match of the 2026 Tournament of Books finished at the end of last month. The finalists were The Passenger Seat, Vijay Khurana v. Flesh, David Szalay. Guess who won?! Go to the link to find out.

—- That’s it from me. Cheers to the week ahead!