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Read What You Own 2026

832 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:
SheilaFentiman · 06/01/2026 10:14

@AliasGrape I enjoyed the first. Then Kindle lied and said blueyedboy was the second. It isn’t- though it is set in the same universe but should really be read after the second. I have now read the second and own the third, which I will read some day

ÚlldemoShúl · 06/01/2026 10:48

Yes I have the third too- the first is worth going back to- decent read.

OP posts:
BookWurmple · 06/01/2026 11:30

You're all flying!

Finished The Women by Kristen Hannah.

My other aim I forgot to add earlier is clearing my Netgalley backlog and getting my score up. It's a website where you get free copies of book to leave a review. However when I joined I had no idea they'd say yes to the majority of my requests and I got swamped.

Tarragon123 · 06/01/2026 11:45

@AliasGrape – I’m the world’s worst for buying kindle books and then realising that they are book 2 of a trilogy!

I’ve finished The Feud in the Chalet School, book 48 in the series and onto book 49.

noodlezoodle · 06/01/2026 18:10

I finished In the Shadow of the Mountain, by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, the first Peruvian woman to summit Everest. Very interesting but quite harrowing. Been on my bookshelf for a couple of years and now in the donate pile.

I'm now onto a library book - I'm assuming we don't record anything that is NOT RWYO on here?

FrostyFlo · 06/01/2026 18:21

CatWithThreeLegs · 05/01/2026 18:33

@FrostyFlo I hope you enjoy it, although "enjoy" is maybe not quite the right word here. I thought it an incredibly good novel, but hard-hitting and quite upsetting.

I've read it now , a very different book , in a good way , but in my opinion a disappointing end .

Tarragon123 · 06/01/2026 18:30

noodlezoodle · 06/01/2026 18:10

I finished In the Shadow of the Mountain, by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, the first Peruvian woman to summit Everest. Very interesting but quite harrowing. Been on my bookshelf for a couple of years and now in the donate pile.

I'm now onto a library book - I'm assuming we don't record anything that is NOT RWYO on here?

No, we dont. If you'd like to join us on the 50 bookers, you'd be very welcome 😁

noodlezoodle · 06/01/2026 18:39

Tarragon123 · 06/01/2026 18:30

No, we dont. If you'd like to join us on the 50 bookers, you'd be very welcome 😁

I am already there! My favourite place on Mumsnet Grin

Raven08 · 06/01/2026 18:55

I wish I could get my reading mojo back 😕
I used to read every day.
My attention span is just shot 😕

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 06/01/2026 20:32

@Raven08start by goal setting. I once went a 2 year period of no reading at all (mental health) I started back with a goal of 50 pages a day, absolutely forcing myself to do it. I was back in no time.

Raven08 · 06/01/2026 21:25

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 06/01/2026 20:32

@Raven08start by goal setting. I once went a 2 year period of no reading at all (mental health) I started back with a goal of 50 pages a day, absolutely forcing myself to do it. I was back in no time.

Thank you.
I'll try this.

Boudy · 06/01/2026 21:42

I have looked at NetGalley😜I might have actualy 'more than looked!'

Boudy · 06/01/2026 21:43

..still sticking to my original pledge. I just signed up. That is all😆

Flowers90 · 06/01/2026 22:18

I've just cleared my kindle of all the rubbish i downloaded over a year ago on one of the "fill your kindle days" I felt like it had got overwhelming and I was never using it as a result. Still have over 50 physical books ive brought some as far back as 2020

CatWithThreeLegs · 06/01/2026 22:24

Finished Bob The Robin by Tony Putman today.

It was a charming little tale of the author's growing friendship with the robins living in the garden where he works as a gardener. He spent the longest time with one he called Bob - several years, taking photographs and building a following on social media. The photographs are delightful.

Currently re-reading Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell ahead of (hopefully) going to see the film soon.

BookWurmple · 06/01/2026 23:18

Boudy · 06/01/2026 21:42

I have looked at NetGalley😜I might have actualy 'more than looked!'

Haha I did think "should I mention it"

They do approve quite a lot of requests so let my downfall be a warning...or an encouragement!

IlovetoKnitandRead · 07/01/2026 09:10

My first RWYO for 2026 was The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. It was a 3 read for me. I found it interesting *but not gripping, just a bit flat and mediocre. It certainly didn't leave me 'gasping for air' (one of the reviews on the back cover😂)

Peridot1 · 07/01/2026 11:38

@WinterFrogs - have just looked at Bookworm by Lucy Mangan. It sounds right up my street. Very tempted to buy it. Which is not what I’m supposed to be doing!

I finished Vince and Joy by Lisa Jewell. Quite enjoyed it.

Have just started one of the books DS gave me for Christmas- Golden Hill by Francis Spufford. Might be my first DNF of the year. Not enjoying it so far. Thought I would like it as it’s set in New York in 1746. One of the reviews on Good Reads sums up just how I’m feeling about it 66 pages in.

FrostyFlo · 07/01/2026 12:08

BookWurmple · 06/01/2026 23:18

Haha I did think "should I mention it"

They do approve quite a lot of requests so let my downfall be a warning...or an encouragement!

I've been on NetGalley since lockdown and have in the past fallen down the hole of requesting more than I can read .
I'm now auto approved for quite a few and get send invitations and for awhile that also made me accept too many .
I now only request my favourite authors or if one in a series I've read gets released .

CatWithThreeLegs · 07/01/2026 13:22

@Peridot1 I didn't even get that far with Golden Hill before DNF'ing it. I realised it was just not my cup of tea after just a handful of pages. Sometimes a book is just not meant to be, but someone else will probably love it.

WinterFrogs · 07/01/2026 13:27

@Peridot1 I have had Bookworm on my wishlist since I heard the author on a podcast some years ago. I'd downloaded and read the sample, and when my daughter bought me the paperback for Christmas I decided it well and truly qualified as a 'what you own'. (Who doesn't love a bendy rule?)

It's really inspired me to carry on reading, as I was such a bookworm pre internet!

WinterFrogs · 07/01/2026 13:34

Raven08 · 06/01/2026 18:55

I wish I could get my reading mojo back 😕
I used to read every day.
My attention span is just shot 😕

I've struggled too, and I have found revisiting old favourites has helped. I started with Pullein-Thompson pony books, a bit of Enid Blyton and then moved to who-dunnits by the likes of MJ Aldrige. It's really helped to form a new reading habit.

Peridot1 · 07/01/2026 14:42

@CatWithThreeLegs - glad it wasn’t just me. Well I know it wasn’t by the reviews TBH.

@WinterFrogs - I’m definitely tempted! Might put it on my wish list. I think my sister would love it too so might buy the paperback and then I can pass it on.

AliasGrape · 07/01/2026 17:32

I remember struggling with Golden Hill a few years back, I did finish it but I had to force myself. I can’t remember a thing about it now beyond that, but then I can’t remember a thing about most things I’ve read these days, my memory has disappeared to the same place my attention span buggered off to it seems.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 07/01/2026 17:49

I also read Golden Hill didn’t rate it and can’t remember a thing about it

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