26ish books 2026

Book 10 finished - This must be the place by Maggie O’Farrell. I enjoyed it but didn’t love it. Think the bar was set high to me by Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait and this was nothing like them. I did however love the main female character, Claudette. She became a bit of a recluse in her house in the middle of the woods and her life style really resonated with me.

Book 11 will be Wilding by Isabella Tree about the rewilding of a working farm. I really want to work on rewilding our garden so I’m hoping this will be inspiring.

Book 10 The Matchmaker by Aisha Saeed. This was from the Goodreads Valentine's selection - I don't actually read much romance - I do listen in bed but read this on Kindle. It was fun and not too gory OR too soppy.

Was in a big reading slump over the last few weeks, just not feeling any book that I picked up.

Finally finished with Eurotrash, by Christian Kracht.

Bit odd in that he used his own name for the character, and it finished quite suddenly after taking a while to get going.

I wanted to expand my reading this year, so it was chosen for being an International Booker longlist book, which sounded better than it was.

3. The Poisonwood Bible. Barbara Kingsolver.

well I loved this, not at first though. The first 200 pages I wondered why this was rated as a favourite by so many, but a slow burn, it them kicked in. Amazing book with such beautiful writing, wonderful characterisation and a lot of food for thought. Not a book I will forget. 5 stars from me.

Book number 7, Amy and isabelle by Elizabeth Strout, finished today. This was the last of her books I hadn't read, and conversely the first she'd written. It was a delight, a story about everything and nothing at the same time. Really beautifully crafted novel. I know Elizabeth Strout has a new book coming out later this year and I can't wait.

Slightly unsure what to read next, tbh

4: The Fraud by Zadie Smith
Was a bit disappointed by this. It seemed promising at first and then for me just tailed off and I found I was really distracted. I wanted more of Eliza Touchet's story and less about the wretched Tichborne Trial.

Totally agree re Intermezzo

5 - Night Swimmers - Roisin Maguire
absolutely loved this. A quiet novel with incredibly good language and characterisation. Really sad in places but just beautiful.

Number 6 Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney.

Finished book number 6 - I am I am I am by Maggie O'Farrell A memoir which takes us through the author's life and brushes with near death. Beautifully written. Each chapter was a standalone scenario, so it was a good book to pick up and put down in a busy week.

5: Manners and Mischielf by Lady Anne Glenconner (audio, I love her voice). A short collection of thoughts and experiences from Lady Anne, regardless of what you think of the aristocracy she has lead a long and fascinating life, enduring some terrible tragedies and an abusive marriage. Huge respect to her for making a totally new career as an author in her late 80s.

I’m on book #6 which is Wellness by Nathan Hill. It was a random Christmas gift and I’m usually not keen on these if I don’t know the writer but this got good reviews on goodreads, and I’m loving it so far! It’s a long one (almost 600 pages) and I’m about a third of the way through. It’s about a couple who met in their 40s looking back over their 20 year marriage, with each of them doing a deep dive into themselves (all the way back to their childhoods) as they are struggling with their marriage, parenthood, sense of self… seeing how certain incidents have shaped them
and their current behaviours and patterns is fascinating and really well portrayed. I’m not describing it well but it’s really readable, edging towards literary - I will report back when I’ve finished!
Also though, I still can’t stop thinking about my #3 book Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee - really recommend for a near-future climate disaster novel

2 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A children's classic that I actually didn't read as a child! I really enjoyed it :)

@PineWow your reviews were very interesting. I had the misfortune to read Intermezzo for a book club, I did finish it but it was dull, very worthy and not nice or good. I have been wondering if I would enjoy Flesh and you have spurned me on to give it a go. It will have to wait a bit as I am currently reading Middlemarch. Thank you!

I haven't read Huck Finn and it didn't matter. I did find myself looking at a map of the states in the book online though.

I don’t think so. My memory of Huckleberry Finn is from a dim and dusty past but as you’ll be aware, the concept of James is taking a secondary character from HF and foregrounding them.

New to this thread, and motivated to join because I saw someone mention Rohinton Mistry's 'A Fine Balance' which I loved loved loved. (I hope I'm on the right thread!)

I used to be a voracious reader but have got out of the habit since Covid and kids.

Going in reverse order, most recently read first:

1 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney.
I'm not a huge SR fan generally, but picked this one up at the charity shop and thought I'd give it a go. The first half was readable -- I just wanted to keep turning pages, learning about Ivan and his brother... but then I got a bit fed up with them all. So a guilty DNF for me, although I keep feeling I should go back to it and see it through to the end.

2 Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. A re-read.

Next: I'd like to read the Booker-shortlisted 'The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny' by Kiran Desai, but I'm not sure I want to shell out for the hardcover.

I read some of the Booker shortlist last year, so these don't count towards my 2026 goals, but I thought I'd put them here as a sort of 'note to self', and by way of getting acquainted with you all!

Flesh, by David Szalay. Loved this, finished it in two days. Thought it was very original and surprising. A worthy winner, and I want to read his earlier books now.

Audition by Katie Kitamura. I know people who loved this, but it 100% was not for me. I forced myself to finish it and then felt like I'd wasted several hours of my life.

The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovitz. This seemed an unpopular choice for the shortlist, but I quite enjoyed it, and would read more by him. I didn't know anything about basketball and I enjoyed learning about it. I found the character's health problems quite worrying - the puffy eyes and the various things he suffered from sounded terrible!

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood. Started and put it down, but might return to it.

Love Forms by Claire Adam. I have an adoption history in my family and this was an emotional read for me. The ending just ... broke my heart. In fact, thinking back to the ending now, my heart is breaking again. And now I have to go away and have a little cry....

I loved The Trees! James is on my list but I haven’t read Huckleberry Finn. Do you think you need to before reading?

Finally finished my third book of the year

3.The Briar Club by Kate Quinn.

I’m a huge huge Kate Quinn fan, but this one felt quite different from her other novels and took me a while to get into, something not helped by the extremely long chapters. That said, once I reached the second half, I was completely hooked. It’s an historical murder mystery with Kate’s signature weaving of reallife stories, and it ultimately becomes a fantastic tale of strong women, their secrets, love, and resilience.

This was heading toward a three-star rating (my lowest ever for a Kate Quinn book!), but the ending—along with Kate’s legendary Historical Notes—pushed it up to a solid four stars.

On to the next read: The Names by Florence Knapp

@RightOnTheEdge I really enjoyed the girl with the loading voice

I've finished book 5. Brimstone by Callie Hart. A bit sad because I was enjoying it even though the main character can be quite annoying.

I am moving on to The Girl With The Louding Voice.

Book 5 Completed
Opal by Patricia Wolf
This is the third book in an Australian outback set detective series. Had forgotten about having it on my kindle but still ill and wasn’t able to concentrate so this was an easy read. It was disappointing as I liked the first two but this didn’t grab me as much.

Book 6
I discovered that I have Hagseed by Sinead Gleason on my kindle. Only 7 chapters in but absolutely loving it so far.

4: Column of Fire by Ken Follett. The third in the Kingsbridge series of epic historical tales woven around real life events (Pillars of the Earth being the first), this one in and around the time of Elizabeth I. I didn't feel as engaged with the main characters as in the previous books, there was not enough tension. On the plus side, the first book shows its age (pub. 1989) by the way the female characters, while strong and independent, are described in ways more suited to 90s tabloid newspapers, which grated when I re-read it last year, This one (pub. 1917) is better in that respect.

6. Glorious Exploits - Ferdia Lennon
Latest book club read. We all enjoyed it and felt the contemporary Irish vernacular used didn't detract from the ancient Sicilian setting at all. Reminded me of Roddy Doyle's The Commitments. Learned a lot about Euripides! However, we didn't find it as funny as some of the reviewers have said & wondered why it had won the Wodehouse prize for comic fiction.

4.Close to Home by Michael Magee
Listened to this on audible.
I’m still not sure how I feel about this book.
The writing is excellent, spare yet powerful and heartbreaking in some places, genuinely funny in other places.
I felt for the main character but I got equally frustrated with him and the constant benders.
I was praying for a hopeful ending…