Hey all, Sam here.
As we reach the end of the year, I’m definitely looking forward to next year, and trying to plan out what ideas or goals I want to focus on. I’ll have a full post on my goals up at the beginning of the year, but for now I want to focus on one of my reading goals for 2026.
Okay, so I have a nice long history of reading and reviewing either books that feature characters playing a TTRPG/MMORPG OR fantastical books inspired by/with the vibes of a TTRPG.
I’m talking books like: Homerooms and Hall Passes by Tom O’Donnell, Role Playing by Cathy Yardley, Strength Check by Katherine McIntyre, Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce, Who We Are in Real Life by Victoria Koops, Table Titans Club by Scott Kurtz, The No-Girlfriend Rule by Christen Randall, Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth, Taking Initiative by Elle M Stewart, Love Across the Tabletop by Kait Disney-Leugers, The Last Session by Jasmine Walls, Dozerdraws, and Micah Myers, and Roll for Romance by Lenora Woods.
Or books like: The Last Available by Sean R Frazier, Wicked Saints by Emily A Duncan, The Adventurers Guild by Zack Loran Clark and Nick Eliopulos, and First Watch by Dale Lucas.
And that doesn’t even account for the official D&D, Pathfinder, or Critical Role books and comics I’ve read over the years.
The point is….I love books that help me bridge that time when I’m between sessions in my current D&D campaigns at home. And so, I’m always looking for more to read. I’ve decided that in 2026 I’d like to focus on a few more of these books. So I went on my Threads and asked for some recommendations, and I also started looking through my lists on Storygraph and Goodreads, to see if I could compile a list of books to try and focus on through the year.
Date Knight by Sam Parks
Spark of the Divine by Louise Holland
When Life Gives You Legends by Luna Ryder
Song of Mirth and Mayhem by Kathy Hurley
The Dancing Dragon by Autumn Kaufer
Die Vol 1 by Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, and Clayton Cowles
The Demon of Elderstay by I. Ribbon
Paladin and Necromancer by Adrienne Miller
The DM Sighed: A Tale of Poor Decisions by The Blink
The Cave of Swords by Taylor Lust
Now, this is a loose TBR. I fully expect to add other books to this TTRPG novel TBR (especially because I expect Aimee Donnellan to release a novella or novel or more at least next year–speaking of, I plan to reread her novella series and get reviews up for them all in 2026 as well). Oh, and if you have any books that fit the vibes of this post, please recommend them in the comments. I’d love to read as many of these books as I can.
All right, I do believe that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
Free State of Geek 