Did you want to read more this year, but you have no idea what to read or where to begin? We interviewed Ms. Burch, Ms. McPhie, Mrs. Miller, and Ms.Hampton to see what books they would recommend. 

Mrs. Burch

Mrs. Burch is a History and social studies teacher and her favorite genre to read is fantasy. She specifically likes “fantasy that stars women, female lead or written by women”. The one book she would recommend is Babel by R.F Kuang. It’s a dark academia fantasy novel that is set in alternate reality exploring topics such as colonialism, racism and revolution. The main character, Robin Swift, is a Chinese Orphan who is brought to London and is preparing to enroll into Oxford University. The reason for this recommendation by Mrs Bruch is because “as a history teacher I think it would open people’s eyes. Also the book draws comparisons between our world and the book world.” 

Mrs. McPhie

Mrs. McPhie is an English teacher and her favorite genre to read is Literary fiction. One author she wishes more people knew and read is Julia Armfield and she writes dystopian novels. A book she would recommend is Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Garbille Zevin. It’s about two friends who come together as creative partners, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy and a kind of immortality. 

Mrs. Miller 

Mrs. Miller is the school librarian and her favorite genre is to read his urban paranormal.  One author she wishes more people knew and read is Jim Butcher. A book from that author she would recommend is Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The Dresden Files is a series with the most recent book Twelve months published in January 2026. If that is not your cup of tea then she would also recommend Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie which is a cozy mystery story. 

Mrs. Hampton 

Mrs. Hampton is also a History teacher and she likes to read Horror with elements of coming of age and transformation. One author who she wishes more people read is Haruki Murakami. A book she recommended from that author is Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami. It blends romance, mystery and surrealism following a college student. Mrs. Hampton is also looking forward to reading this year is Strange Pictures by Uketsu. It’s a Japanese Psychological horror-mystery where there are these drawings by children, a pregnant woman and murder victim  that hold clues about dark family secrets. Students and reporters work together to piece the visual and figure out the story and what happened. 

With these book titles and authors who should look out for hopefully can achieve your 2026 reading goal or get you out of the reading slump!