What Axios Detroit is reading
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Your Axios Detroit co-authors have thoughts on our 2025 reading journeys and our plans for 2026:
Annalise: This year has been a strange one for me, reading-wise. I got deeper into horror, while still keeping up with some silly LGBTQ+ romcoms and fantasy. I also delved for a moment into philosophy.
- It's not quite the end of the year, but so far I've read 37 out of my 40-book goal.
- Of those, 11 were physical books and the rest were audiobooks.
Some highlights:
👻 Shirley Jackson: The author of "The Haunting of Hill House" (1959) has my heart for her darkly compelling narratives of women. I'm trying to learn more about how to write horror, and she's a master.
🏫 "The Reformatory": Though disturbing, I'd recommend this wonderfully told Jim Crow-era epic to just about anyone. The horrors in this one are entirely real, but the familial love and loyalty are, too.
🦴 "What My Bones Know": A must-read memoir about trauma, healing and psychology.
Joe: The truth hurts — I didn't read as many books this year as I would've liked.
- Reading in my free time was mostly spent consuming news about the economy, artificial intelligence and the Trump administration's governance. You know, the fun stuff.
My 2026 reading list:
👻 "Hell Bent": The sequel to "Ninth House," Leigh Bardugo's riveting tale involving Yale's secret societies, dark magic and a campus murder mystery.
🗂️ "Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy": I started reading about the Kennedy assassination last year with Jim Garrison's "On the Trail of the Assassins."
- "Crossfire" is another highly regarded examination of the events that unfolded in November 1963.
👮 "Gotham Central": This acclaimed graphic novel series focuses on the police department investigating the dangerous criminals in Batman's world.