Atomic Books Blog

  (bookmark art by Jordan Jeffries)  We know people are into binge-reading right now - 1000 page novels, 15 800-page books in a series, etc. - but we think in 2026, we're going need more time to do other things. So, we've gone in the other direction - novellas and short books. But don't let the page count fool you - these books say more than most (and they do it with fewer pages!).  OUR 2026 LITTLE BIG IDEAS READING LIST January - Train Dreams by Denis Johnson Libro.fm Audiobook February - Hope In The Dark by Rebecca Solnit Libro.fm AudioBook March - All Systems Red by Martha Wells Libro.fm AudioBook April - Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King / Bilquis Evely May - Little Lumpen by Roberto Bolano Libro.fm AudioBook June - Faltas by Cecilia Gentili July - I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman Libro.fm AudioBook August - Jane: A Murder by Maggie Nelson September - The Employees by Olga Ravn October - Orange Eats Creeps by Grace Krilanovich Libro.fm A...

Baltimore has had a long and unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) rich tradition with crime. But we've also had a strong connection to crime literature. Edgar Allan Poe, inventor of the detective story, died on our streets (Yay us! We killed Poe!). Dashiell Hammett, creator of Sam Spade, was from Maryland. And of course, Baltimore, via David Simon, has given the world the books Homicide and The Corner as well as the NBC series Homicide and the HBO series The Wire . And Laura Lippman's beloved investigator Tess Monaghan wanders our streets even when Laura's off in New Orleans. As a city, crime is in our blood. So this year our book club's theme is downright criminal! We're reading books about crime. January - We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver February - Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb / Tim Sale March - Under The Banner Of Heaven by Jon Krakauer April - The Big Con by David Maurer May - Devil All Th...