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Original poster

Read What You Own 2026

795 replies

ÚlldemoShúl · 30/12/2025 13:04

This is a brand shiny new thread for those of us who want to continue reading what we own in 2026.
My aims for 2026 are:

  • At least half my reading will be from books I already own on 1st January 2026
  • I will buy less than a quarter of my reading new including kindle deals😱 and book club books
  • I will wait when prize lists are released to see if the books appear in the library within a week. I will not read full longlists unless I love the sound of each and every book on it.
  • For the first two months I will only read what I own- focusing on the older books on my kindle while allowing myself to read newer (but already owned) physical books
What are your RWYO aims for 2026?
OP posts:
CinnamonSweet73 · 24/03/2026 22:05

I loved Dreamland @ÚlldemoShúl one of my standouts from last year!
No RWYO going on here, I'm on prize lists as well, doing the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Climate Fiction Prize. In both cases I already had a few read so a bit of a head start! And I'm getting most of the rest from library reserves so not buying!

Original poster
ÚlldemoShúl · 24/03/2026 19:58

SheilaFentiman · 24/03/2026 19:51

@ÚlldemoShúl the first - and I think the second - are a bit more like crime novels in the spy world than spy novels. I liked the book.

That’s good to know that I should like at least the next one as I have every last one on my kindle- hope I like the spy ones when I get that far too

OP posts:
SheilaFentiman · 24/03/2026 19:51

@ÚlldemoShúl the first - and I think the second - are a bit more like crime novels in the spy world than spy novels. I liked the book.

Original poster
ÚlldemoShúl · 24/03/2026 19:49

I read that last year @BuffysBigSisterit was a great book. Tough to read at times. I’ve finished two more Call of the Dead by John LeCarre- the first George Smiley and apparently very different from the others. I enjoyed it- fast-paced wee mystery more than espionage. I also finished Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee- a near-future dystopia set in Margate- very bleak and actually possible. Terrifying. Enjoying getting back to some RWYO amongst the prize lists.

OP posts:
BuffysBigSister · 24/03/2026 19:27

Just finished Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, based on the sinking of a small boat crossing the Channel and the drowning of 27 refugees. It was long-listed for the International Booker last year. It is a very thought-provoking work.

Original poster
ÚlldemoShúl · 21/03/2026 22:46

I enjoyed Parable of the Sower too Mama Newt Newt. I finished Death of a Lesser God by Vaseem Khan- 4th Malabar House- enjoyed it. You should definitely give them a go @SilverShadowNight
Next up for me is Call for the Dead by John le Carre - I have the full George Smilie series on kindle and haven’t read any of them. This is book one so hopefully I’ll like it! Still reading WP longlist along with it.

OP posts:
MamaNewtNewt · 21/03/2026 21:18

I managed to finish another book tonight, Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler. I’m really enjoying my reading at the moment.

MamaNewtNewt · 21/03/2026 19:13

I have a book or two by Alan Hollinghurst, which I’m sure I will get to at some point, but I get the feeling he’s someone whose books I feel I should like, rather than them actually appealing to me.

I’ve just finished the next book in the Ruth Galloway series (The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths). I am so far into the series I am going to finish, despite really disliking the two main characters

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 20/03/2026 19:18

Read “Our Evenings” by Alan Hollinghurst amazingly boring the most boring book I’ve read since the Lucy Worsley Queen Victoria book! Could contest it actually. Memorable because it was so dull

SilverShadowNight · 19/03/2026 18:16

Finished A Fatal Crossing - Tom Hindle
@ÚlldemoShúlI also have some of the Malabar House books on my TBR. Haven’t read any so far but now tempted to pick the first one as my next read.

CassandraWebb · 19/03/2026 12:04

I just read Purple Hibiscus, another book lurking on my Kindle for ages. I am so glad I read it. I won't risk any spoilers but the depictions of an outwardly respectable person who is also very abusive in private were powerfully resonant for me.

I am not managing to stop myself buying more books though, there are just so many I want to read!

TimeforaGandT · 19/03/2026 11:59

It's taken a while to get through but now finished Lessons - Ian McEwan which I bought in 2024. Not sure why it took me so long as not a difficult read.

Original poster
ÚlldemoShúl · 18/03/2026 21:22

You’re going great guns @MamaNewtNewt I’ve buried myself too deeply in long lists which I swore not to do this year and yet I find myself simultaneously reading the WP for non-fiction, the WP for fiction and the International Booker. Thankfully most of these are library books. Anyway I’ve burnt myself out and have decided to read what I want - which happens to be RWYO for me. So I’ll keep going with a few of the prize lists, but only the ones I’m in the mood for reading (and finishing the one I’m currently enjoying) The rest will be RWYO and first up on that list is Death of a Lesser God by Vaseem Khan because a Malabar House book will get me out of any reading overload situation.

OP posts:
MamaNewtNewt · 18/03/2026 20:43

I just finished another book Four Sisters. The Lost Lives of the Romanov Grand Duchesses by Helen Rappaport which was very good, if somewhat overlong.

MamaNewtNewt · 18/03/2026 17:41

Finished another: The Woman in Blue by Elly Griffiths which I quite enjoyed , despite disliking the two main characters.

SilverShadowNight · 16/03/2026 08:27

Finished Anthony Horowitz - The Twist of a Knife and Caroline Roberts - The Second Chance Supper Club

RomanMum · 15/03/2026 20:46

Finished Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace, a reread but from maybe 8-10 years ago. Lighthearted rom-com.

MamaNewtNewt · 15/03/2026 09:06

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 14/03/2026 08:41

Finished last night Last One At The Party by Bethany Clift, was really good

I read that recently and totally agree

AliasGrape · 15/03/2026 08:33

Finished For thy Great Pain Have Mercy on my Little Pain - Victoria Mackenzie. Loved it, 12th book overall and 9th RWYO

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 14/03/2026 08:41

Finished last night Last One At The Party by Bethany Clift, was really good

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 14/03/2026 08:40

@SnowFrogJelly yes and no, when it was focusing on the two main characters it worked but there were too many supporting characters that you really didn’t care less about given long POV chapters for no reason

SnowFrogJelly · 14/03/2026 01:31

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 12/03/2026 21:14

Completed another this evening as I was near the end of two Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors which I’ve had about 2 years

Did you enjoy? It’s been on my shelf about 2 years too!

SilverShadowNight · 13/03/2026 08:11

@SheilaFentiman I DNF’d Night Waking, just really didn’t like it.

AliasGrape · 13/03/2026 07:40

SheilaFentiman · 12/03/2026 18:13

Read and did not love Night Waking (bought it in 2012). But glad it’s off the TBR!

That’s on my kindle from a similar time too!

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 12/03/2026 21:14

Completed another this evening as I was near the end of two Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors which I’ve had about 2 years

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