National Year of Reading 2026: Libraries Unlimited Staff Share Their Must‑Read Books
2026 is the National Year of Reading! The theme for the year is Go All In! If you love it, read it. Reading allows us to explore new angles and perspectives on the things we love.
With your library card, you can reserve books online and pick them up from your local library. Our staff often curate displays in the library to let you browse exciting themed collections – check them out in your local library!
Here's a little taster of Libraries Unlimited staff recommend reading for the National Year of Reading 2026.
Dan from the IT & Digital Team recommends:
Travels with Boogie by Mark Wallington
"Once at a turning point in my life, I picked this up. A story of a Londoner and a street dog who decide to walk the SW coast path, primarily to impress a potential girlfriend.
It's all learning about who they both are as they go, and the hilarity of the situations they find themselves in along the way. Brilliant and two weeks later, I sat on a train with a road map, half a bottle of Bourbon and a carrier bag and started my walk around Cornwall (the wrong way around). Changed my life."
Borrow from the library catalogue here.
Kayleigh from Okehampton Library recommends:
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
"Lessons in Chemistry is one of my favourite books of all time. We follow Elizabeth Zott, a protagonist who is unashamedly herself as she grapples with being a chemist in a world that doesn't like women who go against the norm. In a bizzare turn of circumstances, she ends up working as a host of a TV show called 'Supper at Six', and uses her platform to encourage women to challenge their own ideas about who they can be in a society that pushes them down. It's heartfelt, brilliantly written and just a joy to read.
I was lucky enough to meet Bonnie Garmus, and the way she speaks about writing is incredible – I really can't wait to see what she does next. Crowned the winner of the Libraries Unlimited Book Awards, too, it's one you don't want to miss."
Borrow from the library catalogue here, or on BorrowBox here.
Agnes from the Marketing, Communications & Fundraising Team recommends:
Notes Made While Falling by Jenn Ashworth
"An incredibly modern book, this is a new genre of hybrid memoir. It's part memoir, part criticism that explores how we process trauma. This is through the lens of birth trauma, which we are increasingly addressing as a society, and it's refreshing to have these stories heard. I love Jenn Ashworth's writing style, her visceral honesty and humour."
Borrow from the library catalogue here.
Frances from Honiton Library recommends:
You Are Here by David Nicholls
"A walking journey across the North of England… Marnie and Michael are strangers when they meet, then as the walk progresses their initial hesitation develops into friendship and maybe more… a wonderful, warm read with likeable characters."
Borrow from the library catalogue here, or on BorrowBox here.
Dora from the School Literacy Network team recommends:
"It was an A-level set text that I enjoyed so much, it made me want to take English further. In a diary style, telling a chilling tale from the point of view of a victim and then the perpetrator."
Borrow from the library catalogue here.
Isabelle from the Marketing & Communications team:
"A fascinating memoir exploring the unique life and work of a forensic ecologist, botanist, and palynologist. It sheds a new light on the invisible world that surrounds us and how it can be used to solve crimes. It's a book I find myself returning to again and again."
Borrow from the library catalogue here, or on BorrowBox here.
