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diff --git a/src/assets/reading/head-first-software-development.jpg b/src/assets/reading/head-first-software-development.jpg
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diff --git a/src/assets/reading/just-for-fun.jpg b/src/assets/reading/just-for-fun.jpg
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diff --git a/src/assets/reading/os-three-easy-pieces.jpg b/src/assets/reading/os-three-easy-pieces.jpg
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diff --git a/src/assets/reading/personal-mba.jpg b/src/assets/reading/personal-mba.jpg
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diff --git a/src/assets/reading/philosophy-of-software-design.jpg b/src/assets/reading/philosophy-of-software-design.jpg
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index 0000000..d4c608d
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diff --git a/src/assets/reading/refactoring.jpg b/src/assets/reading/refactoring.jpg
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index 0000000..1aeab8b
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diff --git a/src/assets/reading/the-c-programming-language.jpg b/src/assets/reading/the-c-programming-language.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0d92ff
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diff --git a/src/assets/reading/theory-of-computation.jpg b/src/assets/reading/theory-of-computation.jpg
new file mode 100644
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diff --git a/src/components/svelte/BookCard.svelte b/src/components/svelte/BookCard.svelte
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6d91c60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/svelte/BookCard.svelte
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+<script lang="ts" module>
+  export interface Book {
+    title: string
+    author?: string
+    isbn: string
+    status: 'reading' | 'finished'
+    /** Resolved cover URL (Astro-optimized local image, or a remote fallback). */
+    coverSrc: string
+    /** Reading progress, 0–100. Only rendered for `status: 'reading'`. */
+    progress?: number
+  }
+</script>
+
+<script lang="ts">
+  import IconBook from '~icons/lucide/book'
+
+  interface Props {
+    book: Book
+    /** 'cover' = vertical cover tile (grids); 'row' = horizontal card (teasers). */
+    variant?: 'cover' | 'row'
+  }
+
+  let { book, variant = 'cover' }: Props = $props()
+
+  let errored = $state(false)
+
+  const showProgress = $derived(
+    book.status === 'reading' && book.progress != null,
+  )
+</script>
+
+{#snippet coverImage()}
+  {#if errored}
+    <div
+      class="flex h-full w-full flex-col items-center justify-center gap-1 p-2 text-center"
+    >
+      <IconBook class="size-5 text-primary" />
+      <span class="line-clamp-3 text-[10px] font-medium text-foreground">{book.title}</span>
+    </div>
+  {:else}
+    <img
+      alt={`Cover of ${book.title}`}
+      src={book.coverSrc}
+      class="h-full w-full object-cover transition-transform duration-500 group-hover:scale-105"
+      loading="lazy"
+      onerror={() => (errored = true)}
+    />
+  {/if}
+{/snippet}
+
+{#snippet progressBar()}
+  {#if showProgress}
+    <div class="mt-1.5 flex items-center gap-2">
+      <div class="h-1.5 flex-1 overflow-hidden rounded-full bg-secondary">
+        <div class="h-full rounded-full bg-primary" style={`width: ${book.progress}%`}></div>
+      </div>
+      <span class="text-[10px] font-medium tabular-nums text-muted-foreground">
+        {book.progress}%
+      </span>
+    </div>
+  {/if}
+{/snippet}
+
+{#if variant === 'row'}
+  <a
+    class="group flex h-full items-center gap-4 rounded-2xl border border-card-foreground/10 bg-card p-4 transition-all duration-300 hover:translate-y-[-4px] hover:shadow-lg"
+    href={`https://openlibrary.org/isbn/${book.isbn}`}
+    target="_blank"
+    rel="noopener noreferrer"
+    aria-label={`${book.title}${book.author ? ` by ${book.author}` : ''}`}
+  >
+    <div
+      class="aspect-2/3 w-14 shrink-0 overflow-hidden rounded-md border border-card-foreground/10 bg-secondary shadow-sm"
+    >
+      {@render coverImage()}
+    </div>
+    <div class="min-w-0 flex-1">
+      <h3 class="line-clamp-2 text-sm font-medium text-foreground">{book.title}</h3>
+      {#if book.author}
+        <p class="truncate text-xs text-muted-foreground">{book.author}</p>
+      {/if}
+      {@render progressBar()}
+    </div>
+  </a>
+{:else}
+  <a
+    class="group flex flex-col gap-y-2 transition-all duration-300 hover:translate-y-[-4px]"
+    href={`https://openlibrary.org/isbn/${book.isbn}`}
+    target="_blank"
+    rel="noopener noreferrer"
+    aria-label={`${book.title}${book.author ? ` by ${book.author}` : ''}`}
+  >
+    <div
+      class="aspect-2/3 w-full overflow-hidden rounded-lg border border-card-foreground/10 bg-secondary shadow-sm transition-shadow duration-300 group-hover:shadow-lg"
+    >
+      {@render coverImage()}
+    </div>
+    <div class="min-w-0">
+      <h3 class="line-clamp-2 text-sm font-medium text-foreground">{book.title}</h3>
+      {#if book.author}
+        <p class="truncate text-xs text-muted-foreground">{book.author}</p>
+      {/if}
+      {@render progressBar()}
+    </div>
+  </a>
+{/if}
diff --git a/src/components/svelte/ReadingList.svelte b/src/components/svelte/ReadingList.svelte
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4120527
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/svelte/ReadingList.svelte
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+<script lang="ts">
+  import BookCard, { type Book } from './BookCard.svelte'
+
+  interface Props {
+    books: Book[]
+  }
+
+  let { books }: Props = $props()
+
+  // Both lists render in the order they appear in reading.ts (curated by
+  // relevance — most relevant first).
+  const currentlyReading = $derived(books.filter((b) => b.status === 'reading'))
+  const finished = $derived(books.filter((b) => b.status === 'finished'))
+</script>
+
+<div class="flex flex-col gap-y-12">
+  {#if currentlyReading.length > 0}
+    <section aria-labelledby="currently-reading-title">
+      <h3
+        id="currently-reading-title"
+        class="font-custom mb-6 text-xl font-bold text-foreground"
+      >
+        Currently Reading
+      </h3>
+      <div class="grid grid-cols-3 gap-4 sm:grid-cols-4 md:grid-cols-5">
+        {#each currentlyReading as book (book.isbn)}
+          <BookCard {book} />
+        {/each}
+      </div>
+    </section>
+  {/if}
+
+  {#if finished.length > 0}
+    <section aria-labelledby="finished-title">
+      <h3 id="finished-title" class="font-custom mb-6 text-xl font-bold text-foreground">
+        Finished
+      </h3>
+      <div class="grid grid-cols-3 gap-4 sm:grid-cols-4 md:grid-cols-5 lg:grid-cols-6">
+        {#each finished as book (book.isbn)}
+          <BookCard {book} />
+        {/each}
+      </div>
+    </section>
+  {/if}
+</div>
diff --git a/src/consts.ts b/src/consts.ts
index 643310c..10c2d1d 100644
--- a/src/consts.ts
+++ b/src/consts.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ export const NAV_LINKS: SocialLink[] = [
     href: '/blog',
     label: 'blog',
   },
+  {
+    href: '/reading',
+    label: 'reading',
+  },
   {
     href: '/#contact',
     label: 'contact',
diff --git a/src/data/reading.ts b/src/data/reading.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9cbd2c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/data/reading.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,189 @@
+import type { ImageMetadata } from 'astro'
+
+import devopsHandbook from '@/assets/reading/devops-handbook.jpg'
+import osThreeEasyPieces from '@/assets/reading/os-three-easy-pieces.jpg'
+import cleanCode from '@/assets/reading/clean-code.jpg'
+import refactoring from '@/assets/reading/refactoring.jpg'
+import philosophyOfSoftwareDesign from '@/assets/reading/philosophy-of-software-design.jpg'
+import architecturePatternsWithPython from '@/assets/reading/architecture-patterns-with-python.jpg'
+import fluentPython from '@/assets/reading/fluent-python.jpg'
+import effectiveTypeScript from '@/assets/reading/effective-typescript.jpg'
+import headFirstDesignPatterns from '@/assets/reading/head-first-design-patterns.jpg'
+import ooThoughtProcess from '@/assets/reading/oo-thought-process.jpg'
+import dockerUpAndRunning from '@/assets/reading/docker-up-and-running.jpg'
+import theCProgrammingLanguage from '@/assets/reading/the-c-programming-language.jpg'
+import codePetzold from '@/assets/reading/code-petzold.jpg'
+import theoryOfComputation from '@/assets/reading/theory-of-computation.jpg'
+import headFirstSoftwareDevelopment from '@/assets/reading/head-first-software-development.jpg'
+import docsForDevelopers from '@/assets/reading/docs-for-developers.jpg'
+import justForFun from '@/assets/reading/just-for-fun.jpg'
+import algorithmsToLiveBy from '@/assets/reading/algorithms-to-live-by.jpg'
+import personalMba from '@/assets/reading/personal-mba.jpg'
+import fastAPI from '@/assets/reading/fastapi.jpg'
+
+export interface ReadingEntry {
+  title: string
+  author?: string
+  isbn: string
+  status: 'reading' | 'finished'
+  /**
+   * Local cover image (optimized by Astro). When omitted, the cover falls back
+   * to the Open Library Covers API by ISBN, and then to a title/author card if
+   * that's unavailable too. To add a missing cover, drop a JPG in
+   * src/assets/reading/, import it above, and set it here.
+   */
+  cover?: ImageMetadata
+  /** Reading progress, 0–100. Only shown for `status: 'reading'`. */
+  progress?: number
+}
+
+// Order matters: books render in the order listed here, curated by relevance
+// (most relevant to my work first).
+export const reading: ReadingEntry[] = [
+  // Currently reading
+  {
+    title: 'The DevOps Handbook',
+    author: 'Gene Kim',
+    isbn: '9781942788003',
+    status: 'reading',
+    cover: devopsHandbook,
+    progress: 55, // update as you read
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces',
+    author: 'Remzi H. Arpaci-Dusseau',
+    isbn: '9781985086593',
+    status: 'reading',
+    cover: osThreeEasyPieces,
+    progress: 30,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Effective TypeScript',
+    author: 'Dan Vanderkam',
+    isbn: '9781492053743',
+    status: 'reading',
+    cover: effectiveTypeScript,
+    progress: 45,
+  },
+
+  // Finished — ordered by relevance
+  {
+    title: 'Clean Code',
+    author: 'Robert C. Martin',
+    isbn: '9780132350884',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: cleanCode,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Refactoring',
+    author: 'Martin Fowler',
+    isbn: '9780134757599',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: refactoring,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'A Philosophy of Software Design',
+    author: 'John Ousterhout',
+    isbn: '9781732102200',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: philosophyOfSoftwareDesign,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Architecture Patterns with Python',
+    author: 'Harry Percival, Bob Gregory',
+    isbn: '9781492052203',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: architecturePatternsWithPython,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Fluent Python',
+    author: 'Luciano Ramalho',
+    isbn: '9781492056355',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: fluentPython,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Head First Design Patterns',
+    author: 'Eric Freeman',
+    isbn: '9781492078005',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: headFirstDesignPatterns,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'The Object-Oriented Thought Process',
+    author: 'Matt Weisfeld',
+    isbn: '9780321861276',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: ooThoughtProcess,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Docker: Up & Running',
+    author: 'Sean Kane, Karl Matthias',
+    isbn: '9781098131821',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: dockerUpAndRunning,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'FastAPI',
+    author: 'Bill Lubanovic',
+    isbn: '9781098135508',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: fastAPI,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'The C Programming Language',
+    author: 'Brian Kernighan, Dennis Ritchie',
+    isbn: '9780131103627',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: theCProgrammingLanguage,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software',
+    author: 'Charles Petzold',
+    isbn: '9780137909100',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: codePetzold,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Introduction to the Theory of Computation',
+    author: 'Michael Sipser',
+    isbn: '9781133187790',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: theoryOfComputation,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Head First Software Development',
+    author: 'Dan Pilone',
+    isbn: '9780596527358',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: headFirstSoftwareDevelopment,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Docs for Developers',
+    author: 'Jared Bhatti',
+    isbn: '9781484272169',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: docsForDevelopers,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Just for Fun',
+    author: 'Linus Torvalds, David Diamond',
+    isbn: '9780066620732',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: justForFun,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'Algorithms to Live By',
+    author: 'Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths',
+    isbn: '9781627790369',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: algorithmsToLiveBy,
+  },
+  {
+    title: 'The Personal MBA',
+    author: 'Josh Kaufman',
+    isbn: '9781591845577',
+    status: 'finished',
+    cover: personalMba,
+  },
+]
diff --git a/src/lib/data-utils.ts b/src/lib/data-utils.ts
index f59a7c6..b66eeb6 100644
--- a/src/lib/data-utils.ts
+++ b/src/lib/data-utils.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 import { getCollection, type CollectionEntry } from 'astro:content'
+import { getImage } from 'astro:assets'
+import { reading } from '@/data/reading'
+import type { Book } from '@/components/svelte/BookCard.svelte'
 
 export async function getAllPosts(): Promise<CollectionEntry<'blog'>[]> {
   const posts = await getCollection('blog')
@@ -92,6 +95,23 @@ export async function getFeaturedProjects(): Promise<CollectionEntry<'projects'>
   return projects.slice(0, 4)
 }
 
+export async function getReadingList(): Promise<Book[]> {
+  return Promise.all(
+    reading.map(async (entry) => ({
+      title: entry.title,
+      author: entry.author,
+      isbn: entry.isbn,
+      status: entry.status,
+      progress: entry.progress,
+      // Local covers get Astro-optimized to WebP; everything else falls back to
+      // the Open Library Covers API by ISBN (and then a title/author card).
+      coverSrc: entry.cover
+        ? (await getImage({ src: entry.cover, width: 400, format: 'webp' })).src
+        : `https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/isbn/${entry.isbn}-L.jpg?default=false`,
+    })),
+  )
+}
+
 export async function getProjectsFeaturedTags(maxCount: number): Promise<string[]> {
   const projects = await getAllProjects()
   const tags = new Set<string>()
diff --git a/src/pages/index.astro b/src/pages/index.astro
index 4956338..d48bf47 100644
--- a/src/pages/index.astro
+++ b/src/pages/index.astro
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import Skills from '../components/svelte/Skills.svelte'
 import { buttonVariants } from '@/lib/button-variants'
 import Logo from '../components/svelte/Logo.svelte'
 import Layout from '@/layouts/Layout.astro'
-import { getRecentPosts, getFeaturedProjects } from '@/lib/data-utils'
+import { getRecentPosts, getFeaturedProjects, getReadingList } from '@/lib/data-utils'
 import { SITE } from '@/consts'
 import ProjectCard from '../components/svelte/ProjectCard.svelte'
 import IconGit from '~icons/simple-icons/git'
@@ -19,9 +19,14 @@ import EducationItem from '../components/svelte/EducationItem.svelte'
 import { education } from '@/data/education'
 import ContactForm from '../components/svelte/ContactForm.svelte'
 import IconMail from '~icons/lucide/mail'
+import IconBookOpen from '~icons/lucide/book-open'
+import BookCard from '../components/svelte/BookCard.svelte'
 
 const blog = await getRecentPosts(3)
 const featuredProjects = await getFeaturedProjects()
+const currentlyReading = (await getReadingList()).filter(
+  (book) => book.status === 'reading',
+)
 const currentUrl = Astro.url;
 const turnstileSitekey = import.meta.env.PUBLIC_TURNSTILE_SITEKEY
 ---
@@ -157,6 +162,39 @@ const turnstileSitekey = import.meta.env.PUBLIC_TURNSTILE_SITEKEY
       </div>
     </section>
 
+    {currentlyReading.length > 0 && (
+      <section class="flex flex-col gap-y-4" aria-labelledby="reading-title" role="region">
+        <div class="relative">
+          <h2
+            id="reading-title"
+            class="font-custom text-foreground text-2xl font-bold flex items-center gap-2"
+          >
+            <IconBookOpen class="size-5" />
+            Currently Reading
+          </h2>
+          <p class="text-muted-foreground text-sm">
+            What's on my desk right now.
+          </p>
+        </div>
+        <div class="grid grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-3 gap-4 mt-4">
+          {currentlyReading.map((book) => (
+            <BookCard book={book} variant="row" client:load />
+          ))}
+        </div>
+        <div class="flex justify-center">
+          <Link
+            href="/reading"
+            class={buttonVariants({ variant: 'ghost' }) + ' group'}
+          >
+            View full reading list <span
+              class="ml-1.5 transition-transform group-hover:translate-x-1"
+              >&rarr;</span
+            >
+          </Link>
+        </div>
+      </section>
+    )}
+
     <section class="flex flex-col gap-y-4" aria-labelledby="education-title" role="region">
       <div class="relative">
         <h2
diff --git a/src/pages/reading/index.astro b/src/pages/reading/index.astro
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6b8449a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pages/reading/index.astro
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+---
+import Breadcrumbs from '@/components/Breadcrumbs.astro'
+import PageHead from '@/components/PageHead.astro'
+import Layout from '@/layouts/Layout.astro'
+import ReadingList from '@/components/svelte/ReadingList.svelte'
+import { getReadingList } from '@/lib/data-utils'
+import { Icon } from 'astro-icon/components'
+
+const currentUrl = Astro.url
+const books = await getReadingList()
+---
+
+<Layout canonicalUrl={currentUrl}>
+  <PageHead slot="head" title="Reading List" />
+  <Breadcrumbs
+    items={[{ label: 'Reading', href: '/reading', icon: 'lucide:book-open' }]}
+  />
+
+  <section class="max-screen mt-12 px-4 md:px-6">
+    <div class="mb-12">
+      <div class="flex w-fit items-center gap-2 text-primary">
+        <Icon name="lucide:book-open" class="h-4 w-4 text-primary" />
+        <p class="word-spacing font-mono text-sm uppercase leading-none text-primary">
+          What I'm reading
+        </p>
+      </div>
+      <h2 class="font-custom text-foreground mt-2 text-4xl font-bold">Reading List</h2>
+      <p class="text-muted-foreground text-md mt-3 max-w-2xl">
+        Books I'm working through and ones I've finished — mostly software
+        engineering and computer science, with the occasional detour.
+      </p>
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="mb-16">
+      <ReadingList books={books} client:load />
+    </div>
+  </section>
+</Layout>