The Books of 2026: 11-14

OK, I just lost the post part way through, so if this is a little terse, I don't mean to be. I'm just trying to get done before A.I. and Blogger strike again. Bastards.

11. King of Ashes - S.A. Cosby. Novel. Brutal, violent, gritty. Enjoy seems like the wrong word, but I couldn't tear myself away until the last page. Read this for book group, and many of the members didn't like situations served up so viscerally. My son, who also found King of Ashes compelling, thought the author was influenced by The Godfather. He was drawn into the Cosby universe, and went on to read his whole canon.

12. Razorblade Tears - S.A. Cosby. Novel. Out of the two S.A. Cosby novels I've read so far, this is my favorite. Two fathers, ex-convicts, team up to get revenge for their murdered sons. I soon discovered that one of the fathers, Ike, makes a cameo appearance in King of Ashes. Although Razorblade Tears is just as gritty and violent, it has humor and a sentimental streak that seems organic and not at all contrived.

13. Circle of Days - Ken Follett. Novel. Audiobook. This novel, about the building of Stonehenge, takes place in the good old days BCE. I really enjoyed how Follett researched and developed how tribes of people lived in the pre-Christian era. Reading about how people had to reckon out concepts like engineering and counting time and distance engaged my nerdy brain. However, once Stonehenge is completed (?), and the bad guys are defeated, the writing gets a little lazy until the ending about 100 pages later. But because of Follett's devotion to world-building, I harbor great affection for this novel.

14. True Grit - Charles Portis. Novel. This was a re-read, done for book group. My favorite novel, no contest. Mattie Ross, the remorseless 14-year-old, who seeks to avenge her father's death, is my favorite heroine of all time.  True Grit just gets better and better with each reading. This time, I read it savoring the perfection of the language.

Well, I was going to go to book #20, but the two aforementioned villains are doing their hell dance on this post. If I see the suggestion "Help you write?" ONE MORE TIME, I will scream. And no thanks to choosing emojis, although I have an idea or two about just where you can stick them.  I can't believe it's become such a struggle to type up a simple blog post. I'll gather up the shards of my patience and work on this list again soon.