Mid Year 2026 Reading List

Matt Franz

Matt Franz

— 3 min read
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Mid Year 2026 Reading List
My wife's debut fiction release sold out at the Bird & Hand in Baltimore this week!

(A shameless plug, buy my wife’s book at https://www.ameliafranz.com/)

Mid Year 2026

As we approach the middle of the year in the first year past the decade’s midpoint, change continues to accelerate. One graduation last week. Another this week. One child returns, another leaves in the Fall for college. The oldest re-evaluates their life and career choices. With our youngest out of high school and her book published, my wife wife re-enters the workforce in her 50’s.

In a month, I will take a road trip with my parents to help them move to Texas. My brother has already moved. Oh, how the roles reverse—having lived in Texas from 1989 to 2006.

In my last post I discussed writing poetry again. That did not last. I started a new job in mid-October and the frenetic pace of AI adoption in personal and professional projects has not slowed.

But I also have not stopped reading.

Yes, the “books in progress” metric is too high.

Some other firsts.

Baseball. I’ve been doing Raven’s games for the last few years, but my youngest and I went to an O’s game. It has probably been since the 1980’s since I went to a baseball game. Maybe it was even Memorial Stadium.

I actually enjoyed it. After 15 years, starting to feel like a native.

O’s vs. Red Socks: a real home run derby

Beer brats. While my wife was away on her book too in Mississippi, we made some dad food! And, yeah, I probably used too much beer.

The beer brats were a hit with the “boys”

But here is the list.

History and Politics

  • King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution: A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation by Scott Anderson (2025)
  • General and the Jaguar: Pershing’s Hunt for Pancho Villa: A True Story of Revolution and Revenge by Eileen Welsome (2009)
  • The Hour of the Predator: Encounters with the Autocrats and Tech Billionaires Taking Over the World by Giuliano da Empoli (2025)
  • Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham (2024)
  • Tunisgrad by William Collin’s (2026)
  • The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought to Fix Their Democracy, 1865-1915 by Jon Grinspan (2021)
  • Road of Bones: The Siege of Kohima 1944 – The Epic Story of the Last Great Stand of Empire by Fergal Keane (2013)
  • Bernardo de Gálvez: Spanish Hero of the American Revolution by Gonzalo M. Quintero Saravia (2018)
  • Washington’s General: Nathanael Greene and the Triumph of the American Revolution by Terry Golway (2006)
  • The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780 by Rick Atkinson (2025)
  • Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory by David W. Blight (2002)

Tech

  • Vibe Coding: Building Production-Grade Software With GenAI, Chat, Agents, and Beyond by Gene Kim and Steve Yegge (2025)

Fiction

  • The Longest Man-Made Beach In The World: Biloxi Stories by Amelia Franz (2025)
  • I Am a Cat: A new translation of the original Japanese cat classic by Natsume Soseki (Author), Nick Bradley (Translator) in 2005.

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