Over at BookTok they are doing a half-year yes, no, maybe review for all of the books they have read so far in 2026. I thought I might do something similar. And so here are the books I did read cover to cover in 2026 that I did not get around ro reviewing at the time

​Perla the Mighty Dog by Isabel Allende – Yes. Little kids will enjoy it, and they are the target audience.

​Woman Down by Colleen Hoover – No. Started out plausible, and I was intrigued. But the romantic hero in this book soon began to grate on my nerves. Why the heroine couldn’t see his true colors sooner, I don’t know.

​The Last Party by A.R. Torre – No. The mother is a complete sociopath. Not a fun read.

​Cackle by Rachel Harrison – Yes. Well-written, with believable supernatural elements and good advice on how women need to learn to stand up for themselves.

​The Vampyre by John Polidori – No. I wanted to like this because Dr. Polidori was a friend to Lord Byron and was present during that famous weekend in Geneva when Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. The vampire in the novel is a stand-in for Lord Byron, whom Polidori had issues with, but the novel itself isn’t particularly well-written.

​The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly – Yes. This is the second novel in Michael Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer series. Connelly writes wonderfully about crime and the law. This is also the novel where Mickey Haller meets his half-brother, Detective Harry Bosch.

​Wieland by Charles Brockden Brown – No. I wanted to like it because Charles Brockden Brown is regarded as the first major novelist in the U.S. and certainly the first American Gothic novelist. However, Wieland didn’t really hold my interest—though I’m glad I read it for historical reasons.

​Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall – No. Others may enjoy it, but for me, the ending tied up too many storylines with nice little bows, and that’s not how life works.

​Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston – Yes. It’s a gripping, page-turner that stays plausible all the way through to the end. I was hooked; in fact, it’s the best thriller I’ve read this year.

​The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths – Yes, but with a caveat. Griffiths made a choice in this first book of the Ruth Galloway series: the two leads, Dr. Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson, meet to solve a murder and become a couple. That’s fine, except there is already a Mrs. Nelson. Call me old-fashioned, but you get a divorce first, and then you begin dating. Also in subsequent books I want to focus on the mystery without all this “when will DCI Harry Nelson’s wife find out” subplot.

​These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean – Yes. It’s an interesting family drama centered around an inheritance. A billionaire dies, and in his will, he asks each of his children to complete a task within a week of the funeral if they want their share of his money. The tasks are well-chosen for each child—specifically because they are things they really don’t want to do.

So, this is the list of books I read that I never got around to reviewing. If I had to recommend one of these novels above all, it would be Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston.