What is a book that completely surprised and shocked you with how good it was? How about what is the most disappointing book you have read (this doesn’t mean it was bad but just didn’t live up to what you thought it was going to be)?

i've realized that i haven't added a lot of soon-to-be-released 2026 books in my tbr, even though the excitement of seeing upcoming books are one of my favorite feelings when the year comes around.

since i want to know everyone's opinions to share some excitement (and some book recs), please let me know any 2026 anticipated books you're looking forward to and why you're so excited!

I was just talking to my brother-in-law, and he told me he wrote a book. I was happy for him! That's an amazing accomplishment, and he's written books before so I knew it was something he enjoyed doing.

That is...until he told me that while his ideas were all his, he used AI to "pad out the chapters". His rationalization was that he would disclose that he used it, and that so many Amazon best-sellers are all AI-generated, and he was using it as an aide. While I think that him disclosing is the right thing, I wanted to address with him how AI use is criticized in literature today. He can still publish it, but he should understand that there is a specific type of criticism he would receive without even reading his book.

So, I would like a little input from people who are also in this bookish world. How IS AI viewed in literature?