26ish books 2026

Finally finished There Are Rivers in the Sky, going to try to get another, already started book finished before my book club book comes in. Knowing my luck my library reserve will come in on the same day!

Just finished number 6 Mythologies by Roland Barthe - a collection of essays by a French critic. I'll be honest, a lot of it went over my head and it reminded me why I hated anything philosophy adjacent at university. But there were some good nuggets in there and it's good to push your comfort zone out a bit sometimes!

4 Rosarita by Anita Desai

Not sure what to think of this short novella. It read like a fable - but feel I was maybe missing something?! Really well written though, I like her style and can see why she's been a Booker shortlisted author several times.

3 stars out of 5

5. The Christmas Clue by Nicola Upson.
I read this the wrong time of year. I was good but would have been even better in December. Great Christmas gift or for an old fashioned crime fan.

Set in 1940s. The main characters are the couple who invented Cluedo and in the novel their inspiration comes from a murder that takes place in a snowy little village they are stay in over Christmas. I thought it would be fluffy and light weight fun, and it was an easy read but the aspects around the murder are quite dark, and the twists are pleasing.

@icedpuddles A Jonathan Coe I read last year (Middle England I think) has a cancellation over trans issues plot and I wondered how it will age. It's very real and relevant now but not mainstream and I wonder if readers in, say, 10 plus years will be a bit bemused. That's the danger of writing very contemporary fiction I suppose - the period aspects might date quickly and you don't know how it will pan out.

@GreenSalon I loved Hagstone, just the right side of a bit nuts and I liked that the central female character was a bit unusual.

Finished book 9, Gliff by Ali Smith. It's my first ever Ali Smith book amd tbh, I'm not sure what to make of it. I need to digest it a while.

6 - A Little Trickerie - Rosanna Pike
I loved this! It was sad and funny, and I rooted for the main character Tibb all the way through. Lovely cast of characters

Long train journeys meant I could finish two this week.

8 - Project Hail Mary by Andy Keir.
I read this after seeing it mentioned here a lot and having watched the trailer for the forthcoming film. Weirdly, I like sci-fi films just not reading them. Overall, I found it quite well-plotted but skimmed through most of the lengthy technical stuff. My biggest problem was understanding how Grace could have become such a senior person in the project in the first place. And Rocky was just able to fix everything. I will go and see the film though.

9 - The Killer Question by Janice Hallett
I've read all of her books but found this one the least enjoyable. I think it's because the format she uses is getting rather repetitive and this one was quite hard to follow in terms of all the characters. I did guess what happened though. Why introduce the actors without bringing them back at the end? Hopefully no spoilers!

Next is Jess Kidd's new one, Murder at Gull's Nest. I'm interested to see what she does with the format.

3 Queen B by Juno Dawson

'The story of the original covenant and the beautiful and bewitching Anne Boleyn, Witch Queen'

I really enjoyed this novella. Not my usual read about witches and history but I flew through it.

3.5 out of 5.

1. The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith.
   Enjoyable enough. I kept wanting to go back to it and the short chapters made it an easy read. Ending clever without being bloody irritating, so an improvement on the first book!
   I hadn’t planned to read any more Strikes after book 1 but my head was mashed with an accumulation of life shit and something familiar, daft and easy was actually really appreciated. Will probably read another at some point because it was a good antidote to life stressors.

2. Death Of The Heart by Elizabeth Bowen.
   I loved the writing - some fantastic passages of character description for example, which were so pleasing - but the bloke the teenage protagonist falls for is such a gaslighting narc it was incredibly infuriating and also very uncomfortable. Normally I love "a bit dated" novels with people behaving terribly and maybe on a sunny day this would have landed differently.

3. A is For Alibi by Sue Grafton.
   Again, an easy and enjoyable enough read but unsatisfying and I was dissapointed because I have heard such good things on here about the series I am in the market for a crime series. But this won't be it. I can't say what one of my main issues was because it would be a huge spolier.

4. The Mothers by Brit Bennett.
   Fantastic - I'd very much recommend this. Not as complex as The Vanishing Half but again serves rounded characters and a well plotted, paced and plausible story. Themes of motherhood (obviously) and to lesser extents religion, race and just general struggles around how to be an adult and who to be full stop. Would be a brilliant day off / flight / holiday read. If I could have binged this I would have, whereas with The Vanishing Half I felt breaks were needed.

I did like it, but agree it got a bit slow in the middle and then seemed to wrap up aggressively quickly. I really enjoyed The Bastard of Istanbul and 7 minutes 38 seconds in this world (rough approximation of the title!) so I do generally like the author.

I read it for book club last year and didn't love it, it started well but failed to hold my interest, if it hadn't been for BC I probably wouldn't have finished it.

Book 5 was a short one, "Going Back" by Penelope Lively. She's one of my absolute favourite authors and if you've not read anything by her (Moon Tiger, which is superb, won the Booker many years ago) this is a good introduction. Recommended.

Well others loved it so I am a lone voice!! Let us know what you think

Oh don't say that, I have that one to read as well. Friends really hyped her up to me, so I'm giving them a go.

I absolutely hated the island of lost trees!! So haven’t read any others of hers.

I'm currently listening to this on audiobook, but I'm not loving it as much as I'd hoped.

Book 6: Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeney - I really enjoyed this, I’ve read it in 2 days which is v unusual for me! Some loose ends left but I really enjoyed all the twists and turns, a much better read than Beautiful Ugly which left me slightly annoyed

2026 books so far:
then she was gone
beautiful ugly
the intruder
the shadowman
the family upstairs

Have just finished number 5 There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak. It was a good read, interesting in how it weaved together the different timeframes and I enjoyed the water symbology. Not my favourite Elif Shafak novel but better than The Flea Palace which I read last year and really didn't like! The Island of Missing Trees is one of my favourite novels ever so I think I hold her to a high standard.

I did enjoy the book and I think it's really well written, but there is no denying it's a hard read. The content is quite brutal at times and the book can be quite dark but it's balanced with the portrayal of the women in the tale and their resilience individually and collectively. Not the most uplifting book if you have had a rough time though!

13 The Wife's Tale by Aida Edemariam. Lovely book about the author's grandmother and her long life from the early 20th century in Ethiopia. So much life and so much change. I put it down and picked it up about 3 years later and I'm glad I did.

3- the moon sister lucinda Riley.
Again I enjoyed this, im determined to finish the 7 sisters series this year although not sure im going to read anywhere near 26. Enjoying the recommendations though.