What are the Librarians Reading?: Fall 2026

This article is from the fall 2026 issue of Hearsay, the semi-annual newsletter of the Wheat Law Library.

I am finishing up the latest short story collection from Stephen King titled “You Like it Darker.” This book had works ranging from thrillers to family dramas to stories with a science fiction bent. The feature story is “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,” about a small-town Kansas man whose first ever psychic vision about a murder victim nearly destroys his life and that of those around him. The town of Lawrence even has a brief cameo. An unexpected sequel to Cujo involving snakes had lots of surprises. The final story, “The Answer Man,” was sad and philosophical, but I think it was an appropriate conclusion to this collection. For readers who find the size of King’s novels a bit daunting, I would suggest diving into his short stories. You might like it shorter.

Blake Wilson is reading “The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook” by Matt Dinniman. This is the third book in the author’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Encountering enthusiastic praise for the first book was what piqued Wilson’s curiosity. He also mentioned that he “grew up during the era when Dungeons and Dragons was having its cultural moment, so the premise felt oddly familiar.” With reading for work requiring a lot of focus, Wilson liked that this book was entertaining while not requiring much from him mentally. When asked for further comment, he said, “There is something wonderfully refreshing about reading a book that has absolutely no interest in being respectable. It knows exactly what it is, commits completely to the premise and somehow manages to be both absurd and surprisingly well constructed.”

In a fascinating coincidence, Trenton Keim is also reading a book from Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series, except he is on the fourth book titled “The Gate of Feral Gods.” Law student Sam Mousa recommended the series, which Keim says has been enjoyable so far. Keim is also reading four non-fiction books, the first of which is Ruby Tandoh’s “All Consuming: Why We Eat the Way We Eat Now.” Sharp-eyed readers may recognize Tandoh’s name from when she was a finalist on The Great British Bake Off (aka The Great British Baking Show). Keim is reading the book to try to understand how food became commoditized and why human interaction with it has changed. Sophie Smith Galer’s “How to Kill a Language: Power, Resistance, and the Race to Save our Words” is another book on Keim’s list. An attempt to answer his question, “How do we save something we didn’t know needed saving?” was what prompted him to pick up this title. “Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs” by Rakesh Khurana attracted his interest because he wonders why CEOs are viewed like celebrities. The author tries to answer this question in addition to explaining why boards think their struggling companies can be saved by one person. Finally, Keim is rereading “Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster” by actress Kristen Johnston. As a fan of her work in the sitcom Third Rock from the Sun, Keim was quite proud to reveal that he has a signed and kissed copy of this memoir.

Neal Axton is rereading “Neuromancer,” after first reading it in his mid-80s youth. Axton was inspired to pick up the book again when Apple TV announced its adaptation of the novel would premier in January 2027. “Neuromancer” won the Hugo, Nebula and Philip K. Dick awards, and created interest in AI before the existence of the internet. Axton believes that author William Gibson “is an important voice in science fiction, even a visionary.” “Neuromancer” and its sequel, “Count Zero,” had a strong impact on Axton’s decision to pursue librarianship and made him an AI enthusiast. After enjoying Amazon Prime’s 2022 miniseries based on Gibson’s novel “The Peripheral,” Axton is cautiously optimistic about the upcoming adaptation of “Neuromancer.”

Didem Blum is reading “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is her first time reading anything by the author, and her curiosity about his work led her to pick up the novel at a book sale at the Lawrence Public Library. Blum described “Never Let Me Go” as “science fiction that doesn’t feel like science fiction.” She appreciated that the narrative focuses on the characters’ thoughts and feelings as opposed to technology, which helps Ishiguro’s message to shine through. Time magazine named the book as the best novel of 2005, and it was adapted into a 2010 film. Blum hopes to explore more from the author in the future.

Rebecca Orozco is reading the final book in the Daevabad Trilogy by S. A. Chakraborty, which includes the following titles: “The City of Brass,” “The Kingdom of Copper” and “The Empire of Gold.” Describing it as “brain candy,” Orozco says she chose this fantasy read as an escape that’s far removed from everyday life and has a unique cultural setting. “It is fun to imagine possibilities of magic and otherworldly beings sometimes,” she said. Her willingness to suspend disbelief and to see things for their entertainment value has enabled Orozco to find enjoyment in this set of books. She also added, “If you like the fantasy genre, give this trilogy a try.”

Melissa Doebele
Technical Services Manager