I am putting together this reading list for 2026 not out of self-improvement panic or New Year optimism but out of a quieter, more stubborn need to stay awake. Half of it is fiction, because understanding people matters just as much. It is not a cheerful book, but it is a clarifying one, and clarity feels like a civic duty now. The ability to finish a thought, a book, or a commitment is a defiant statement in a culture engineered to pull you elsewhere. Reading it feels like an ethical act, a refusal to turn away from despair simply because it is uncomfortable.

Source: Philippine Star December 27, 2025 23:26 UTC