26ish books 2026

just something about it made it sound like it could have been autobiographical. It's a dream to do something like that which made me wonder

Sorry should have said - fiction
Edited to add - as far as I know, not sure of author's background but it's not promoted as autobiographical.

is this fiction or based on reality?

@Yuja I enjoyed John of John too - though it wasn't quite as good as Shuggie Bain and Young Mungo for me
@icedpuddles I felt very similarly about A Suitable Boy - the last part lost me completely which was a shame because I loved so much of the earlier sections. It really is about 3 books in one!

28 Quarantine - Jim Crace
Picked this up at the oxfam bookshop as I wanted something suitably hot to read. It's set in the Judean desert where a merchant nearly dies and is felt behind by his tribe with just his long suffering pregnant wife who he abuses, and 5 other characters who have come to spend 40 days fasting to atone and prayer for various things. Interesting cast of characters but almost felt spooflike in some parts. Relatively short and easy to read

16. Amy and Lan by Sadie Jones. I really enjoyed this and the set up - some adults with notions of rural and lefty ideals bought a farm with a number of houses on it. So a sort of commune but not all in one house. The story joins them many years in and is told by two of their children so you just get snippets of what's going on with the adults. I loved the children's take on it all and how the tone shifts as they go from 7 years old at the start to 13ish by the end and they have more understanding. In real life a lot of the adults would get on my nerves, but in small dose anecdotes through the eyes of a child they are well drawn and the story moves along well. The children's world is great too; their excitement at holding a chicken, attempts to build igloos, love of a rescue calf who lives in the spare room...

18 What We Can Know by Ian McEwan. Meh. I can see that it's very clever etc etc. but I just didn't like it. The characters were almost all horrible people and the literary London / Oxford setting of the book was frankly up itself. My first novel by McEwan, I'd been intending to try one for years. I shan't be reading a second, life's too short.
I read A.S. Byatt's "Possession" years ago, that's also a literary/history mystery but it's superb.

23 The Predicament by William Boyd. The second book in the series after Gabriel's Moon. I thought this one was even better than the first, some very clever and insightful writing including some brilliant characterisation of a cat. Partly set in East Berlin during JFK's visit which was interesting.

24 A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth A very long book at 1500 pages which is why I on this thread not the 50 bookers! It was very enjoyable but a rage enducing ending. By the end I did not really care about Lata as so much time had been spent on other characters and events. It was very interesting and insightful, I enjoyed the political parts, the bits about land reform and rural life. If the bits about classical Indian music were later in the book I would have skipped them. Some brilliant characters too. You have to accept that at time the author basically goes I am now going to present a new tableau to the reader. I enjoyed that and it is par for the course with such long books. I would recommend.

20 - John of John - Douglas Stuart finally I read something amazing after a run of not great books. Beautiful story and beautiful writing- I found it a tiny bit slow to start but once moving I loved it- really fell in love with the characters and their complexities

Nope - first book by the author - thank you so much for the recommendation - will see definitely give it a go ☺️

Agree with this. You Are Here is a lovely read.

@Clairedebear101286 Have you read his latest? It's called You Are Here and it's excellent.

@Clairedebear101286 I read one day a few years ago and loved it.

Morning :)
Books read so far:
(1) The French for Christmas by Fiona Valpy
(2) The Outside Boy by Jeannie Cummins
(3) Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
(4) All the Broken Places by John Boyne
(5) A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
(6) Crooked Branch by Jeannie Cummins
(7) Nesting by Roisin O'Donnell
(8) Never Lie by Frieda McFadden
(9) All Her Fault by Andrea Mara (Audio book)
(10) The Locked Door by Frieda McFadden
(11) All the Light We Cannot See by By Anthony Doer
(12) The Book of Lost Names' by Kristin Harmel
(13) The Room on Rue Amélie by Kristin Harmel
(14) The Names by Florence Knapp
(15) The Stationary Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
(16) Her Husband's Lover by Patricia Crouch
(17) Here One Moment by Liane Moriarity
(18) The New Neighbours by Claire Douglas
(19) Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

Latest book.....

(20) One Day by David Nicholls

15th July 1988: Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways.

So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that?

And every year that follows?

I loved the Netflix series and the film bought the book and never got round to reading it - made a point of taking it away on holiday with me and I absolutely loved it!

So proud of myself that I have read 20 books! I just love reading 😄

Onto the next,
Happy reading everyone. 😀

16 The liars by Katherine Fleet.

A surprisingly good read! I picked it up as a stop gap (avoiding the tbr pile) but really enjoyed it. I liked how it went from past to present throughout and wouldn’t have guessed the ending.

I started The book thief by Markus Zusak this morning (making the most of insomnia and rest day from the gym) which I’ve never read before. I already like the style.

17: Martyr! by Kaveh Akhbar
Enjoyed it but the ending was ambiguous and so I keep mulling it over. I wasn't ready to read this one yet but it was an ebook through the library that I had had on hold.

Book 16 The List of Suspicions Things by Jennie Godfrey I read this really quickly and enjoyed it but I don't think I'd read anything more by this author. Finished it early this morning.
Book 17 The Names by Florence Knapp. I've spent most of today reading this. We've been on trains all day, including Eurostar, so I've had plenty of time to read. I can't remember the last time I had the luxury of reading all day. I enjoyed this but it was sad. It reminded me of Versions of Us by Laura Barnett which I read and enjoyed few years ago. That's less tragic though.
I've got Demon Copperhead and Ian McEwan's What We Can Know in my case and am I sure what to start. What I really want to do is wrest "Yesteryear" from DD2's hands but she's not putting it down...

26 Blow your house down by Pat Barker
Gosh this was gritty and graphic. It follows the lives of a group of prostitutes when there is a serial killer on the loose. It's set in the 80's so has Yorkshire ripper vibes. I'm glad I read it, as it's a subject I knew nothing about, but maybe when I'm not on holiday!

This marks my 26 - I'm well chuffed. Obviously I will keep going, especially as this thread gives so many great recommendations. I'm having a break for a couple of weeks, while I knit some poppies, then I'll be back. Favourites are marked with a *.

1. The tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris*
2. James by Percival Everett*
3. The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden*
4. As long as the lemon trees grow by Zoulfa Katouh*
5. To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee*
6. I am I am I am by Maggie O’Farrell
7. Lord of the flies by William Golding*
8. The midnight library by Matt Haig*
9. All the broken places by John Boyne*
10. Cilka’s journey by Heather Morris*
11. The outside boy by Jeanine Cummins
12. How to stop time by Matt Haig*
13. All her fault by Andrea Mara
14. Dominion by C J Samson*
15. The light between oceans by M L Stedman*
16. A better life by Lionel Shriver*
17. The husbands by Holly Gramazio
18. Small pleasures by Clare Chambers
19. The list of suspicious things by Jennie Godfrey*
20. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah*
21. The Beekeeper of Aleppo*
22. None of this is true
23. Trespasses
24. The Names*
25. These days
26. Blow your house down

19 Exciting Times - Naoise Dolan Not very exciting despite the title! I found this to be self indulgent and meandering, with an unlikeable protagonist. Quite well written but not what I would consider a great read. I’ve had a run of mediocre books on holiday so hoping for my next read to be a good one

Yes I was a blubbering wreck too!

25 These Days by Lucy Caldwell

This is a difficult one. I loved the book from a social history point of view; it was set during the Belfast blitz and was about a family going through it. It was well written and I'm glad I read it. But I would have like a bit more of a story to go on...

Book 28: It’s Not What You Think by Clare Mackintosh
Clare Mackintosh is a new author to me, I enjoyed her writing style and the perspective from the detectives. I’ll definitely look for more reads by her.

2026 books so far:
then she was gone
beautiful ugly
the intruder
the shadowman
the family upstairs
Rock Paper Scissors
The Family Remains
The House we Grew up in
It Should Have Been You
Dont Let Him In
Daisy Darker
Someone In The Attic
The Tenant
One Click
The Other Side Of The Wall
No One Saw A Thing
Ward D
My Husband’s Wife
The Silent Patient
The Night She Disappeared
The Divorce
Hide And Seek
None Of This Is True
I Found You
Such A Nice Girl
The Couple Next Door
It Could Have Been Her

9 the sun sister.

I've been slowly making my way through these since last year. Found the contents around this particular sister difficult at times and took me a while to get through

18 - The Kindness of Strangers - Emma Garman downloaded as an easy holiday read - readable enough but a murder mystery type thing that I wouldn’t normally go in for. Okay for chilling by the pool!

49 Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. I really liked it, more than the film, there was so much more she could say on the page.
50 That Summer by Jennifer Weiner. Not as light and fluffy as some of her work but absolutely excellent, I'd say it's chick lit for grown up women. Not as madly funny as Marian Keyes but in that vein.

Morning :)
Books read so far:
(1) The French for Christmas by Fiona Valpy
(2) The Outside Boy by Jeannie Cummins
(3) Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
(4) All the Broken Places by John Boyne
(5) A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
(6) Crooked Branch by Jeannie Cummins
(7) Nesting by Roisin O'Donnell
(8) Never Lie by Frieda McFadden
(9) All Her Fault by Andrea Mara (Audio book)
(10) The Locked Door by Frieda McFadden
(11) All the Light We Cannot See by By Anthony Doer
(12) The Book of Lost Names' by Kristin Harmel
(13) The Room on Rue Amélie by Kristin Harmel
(14) The Names by Florence Knapp
(15) The Stationary Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
(16) Her Husband's Lover by Patricia Crouch
(17) Here One Moment by Liane Moriarity
(18) The New Neighbours by Claire Douglas

Latest book....

(19) Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

Description taken from the internet....

Three women are connected by one man in this kaleidoscopic thriller.

He’s the perfect man. It’s a perfect lie.

Nina Swann is intrigued when she received a condolence card from Nick Radcliffe, an old friend of her late husband, who is looking to connect after her husband’s unexpected death. Nick is a man of substance and good taste. He has a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a knack for putting others at ease. But to Nina’s adult daughter, Ash, Nick seems too slick, too polished, too good to be true. Without telling her mother, Ash begins digging into Nick’s past. What she finds is more than unsettling…

Martha is a florist living in a neighboring town with her infant daughter and her devoted husband, Alistair. But lately, Alistair has been traveling more and more frequently for work, disappearing for days at a time. When Martha questions him about his frequent absences, he always has a legitimate explanation, but Martha can’t share the feeling that something isn’t right.

Nina, Martha, and Ash are on a collision course with a shocking truth that is far darker than anyone could have imagined. And all three are about to wish they had heeded the same warning: Don’t let him in. But the past won’t stay buried forever.

Nice, enjoyable holiday read!

Onto the next,
Happy reading everyone. 😀