Mid-Year Top 10 Books Of 2026 | From Gritty Thrillers To Epic Portal Fantasy

I'm not going to give you a whole lot about it other than this sets us on a path to start resolving a lot of plot points that have been introduced in the series, and we're just again taking October Day slowly into a new era, and I'm here for it.

I am on the record of not liking Peace Talks or Battle Ground. I didn't like either of those books and I was for sure not coming back to the Dresden Files.

It's got amazing emotion, raging against the system, a nice animal companion and pepper who is this kind of math algorithm leftover code from the eight from like an 80s video game who gets kind of like animated by the AI and it's very cute, very wholesome and we've got found family, we've got friendships, we've got fighting against all the odds. It's wild, it's crazy and it's a ton of fun.

Now, caveat, I did finish a Sigma Force July 1st and I liked that one better than I liked the seventh plague. But, by a technicality, it doesn't make the list. So, technicality, this should have been Kingdom of Bones, but it is seventh plague due to it being read in the first half of the year.

It's not a whodunit cuz we figure out the whodunit very quickly. It's the why-done-it. And Kaga just keeps digging and digging and digging until he gets to the root of the problem to get to what is really going on.

I am on the record of not liking Peace Talks or Battle Ground. I didn't like either of those books and I was for sure not coming back to the Dresden Files.

It's an urban fantasy. I highly recommend it. it's on the grittier side.

So, I gave The Long Walk five stars. This is not going to be for everybody. I know many people who hate this book, and I understand, but man, like I loved it.

Gasp, this is The Seventh Plague and it put me back into Sigma Force. It was so good.

Oh, this book is so incredibly good. If you haven't read this one, it's a high recommend from me.

I did finish 12 Months and I loved it. I love the healing journey that Dresden is on. He is walking a path and it is agonizing.

It's so incredibly good. The just the class warfare that happens in here, fighting the nobles. Just the rising up of the goblins. OH MY GOD, I love this one.

I love this one. Very, very good classic horror thriller. , I recommend. Five stars.