Reading list — Q2 2026
A rolling list of what I'm reading this quarter — fiction, essays, and a few technical books for balance 
.
"The best books come back in seasons."
Fiction — Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Strange, luminous, a house that won't leave my head.
Essays — The Crack-Up by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Thin volume, sharp teeth.
Technical — Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann. Slow re-read; new footholds every pass.
Memoir — H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. Grief and goshawks.
Fiction — Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Still the post-apocalypse I reach for first.
Favorite so far: Piranesi — the house is the book is the protagonist.
"The Beauty of the House is immeasurable; its Kindness infinite."
— Piranesi, on the only world he knows.
Why I picked these
Two novels for the shape of a world. An essay collection when I want teeth. A technical book to keep the craft muscle honest. And a memoir to remember a book can be one person holding a bird.
Title | Genre | ★ Rating |
|---|---|---|
Piranesi | Fiction | ★★★★★ |
The Crack-Up | Essays | ★★★★ |
Designing Data-Intensive Applications | Technical | ★★★★★ |
H is for Hawk | Memoir | ★★★★ |
Station Eleven | Fiction | ★★★★ |
Happy reading 
