26ish books 2026

No 5 - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I know this is a very popular book, but it took me until I was half way through, to really get into it. The sheer number of characters in the book was overwhelming and of course, you don't know when you start a book which characters are significant.

However once I got into it, I found it a fabulous read.

Yes, I enjoyed American Dirt a lot but agree that this one really dug deep for me. It brought up a really vivid memory of the old Traveller woman that used to come round in the 70s when her family stayed in the area. She would have a basket of stuff to sell and my mum would always buy something (even though she didn't have much herself ). She wore a long black drindle skirt and a shawl. I was always fascinated with what was in her basket.

I loved this also - looking forward to reading other books by this author - I have read her most widely known book 'American Dirt' but this book had more of an impact me :)

10 Outside Boy - Jeanine Cummins.

I loved this. Think it may end up as one of my favourites this year.

I've been off sick this week so
Book 8 It's Elementary by Elise Bryant - fun rom-tective.
Book 9 James by Percival Everett. Would give 100 stars if I could. Amazing book. Read it now. If you haven't heard of it, it's a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of Jim, the Black man he travels with, but including times James is on his own. I won't say more.

Book 5 Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
My second time reading this and I liked it much more this time, I think because I wasn't wondering what was going to happen and could concentrate on what was happening at each point in the story.

Thanks for the tip!

@MakingDoNicely Ive also chosen 1984 as my next read, i have read it before but when i was much younger. I do have Raising Hare waiting too so that might be next.

1.One of us by Elizabeth Day.
2.The Backpacking Housewife by Janice Horton.
3.The Hike by Lucy Clarke
4.Postcards from a stranger by Imogen Clark
5.Introducing Mrs Collins by Rachel Parris
6.Remarkably bright creatures by Shelby van Pelt
7.Sleeping Tiger by Rosamund Pilcher
8. When the cranes fly south by Lisa Rizden read this since yesterday as I couldn't put it down, had me in tears throughout

Book 7 finished - Raising Hare.
Loved it, and it followed in beautifully from my previous David Attenborough read. I learnt a lot I about hares and love reading books that make me feel more connected to the natural world.

Book 8 started this morning - George Orwell’s 1984.
Again influenced by a thread on here. One I have meant to read for a long time but never have.

I’ve just finished my #4 and #5 this week
4. The Children Act by Ian McEwan, read for a book club - I am a fan of his but hadn’t read this before, I mostly really enjoyed it and am looking forward to discussing it so was reading it with that in mind, which is a bit different to jus reading for pleasure it’s it? (I don’t usually do a book club!)
then in wasn’t quite ready to dive into a new novel yet so I picked up and finally finished:
5. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert - I know she’s a bit marmite but I restarted this before Christmas, having bought it when it came out and never finished it for some reason! I’m not very good with non fiction though I love lots about this book and it got me all fired up to start writing again (not that I’ve actually done that yet, it just made me want to 😜).
have a bit of a pile to choose from next but I’m not sure what I feel like reading. To be honest I’m still not quite over my #3 book Dreamland - those who read very quickly, how do you find transitioning between books? I have to feel in the right mood to start a new book, and struggle a bit after reading something very memorable to find the right thing! Sounds silly but it’s only this challenge that’s made me aware of it really, and I wondered how others approach it. For example, after the dystopian, quite dark Dreamland I don’t want to read another dystopian book in my TBR list (fair enough) but nor do I feel like the first Slow Horses book, or one of the slightly random punts by unknown authors I received for Christmas… was glad of the book club option as it got me over that at least!

Book 7 Come and Get It by Kiley Reid, who wrote Such a Fun Age. Mildly disturbing but really very good and readable.

@Citygirlrurallife I didn’t realise you could search by narrator - thanks again

I read this a couple of years ago. Took me a while to really get use to the writing style but once I did I loved it. I thought the way she did not actually name people but described them in NI terms actually helps clarify the trouble in NI so to me that helped. Maybe i am older than you so come from a different baseline, I was born in the 70’s so grew up very aware of NI. But I certainly learnt a lot more about living in NI during that era as opposed to the politics.

Try books by Claire Douglas - very similar to Frieda McFadden but far superior in my opinion :)

I have started book 6, Milkman by Anna Burns. Stylistically I love the stream of consciousness but I feel like I know embarrassingly little about the troubles in Northern Ireland to get some of the nuances

I read James last year & loved it - one of my favourite books of the year. I didn't know the story of Huckleberry Finn & Tom Sawyer, other than having heard their names, and I don't think you need to, to be able to enjoy this book.

5. The God of the Woods - Liz Moore
An excellent character driven mystery thriller. Set in the Adirondack Mountains, it's about a wealthy banking family who own a large plot of land, including a summer camp for teenagers. When their 13-year-old daughter Barbara goes missing from her cabin in August 1975, history seems to be repeating itself – her older brother Bear vanished without trace in 1961, aged 8.
It's very well written and told through multiple points of view over different timelines. Reminded me of the Australian crime writer, Chris Hammer, whose books I also enjoy.

1.One of us by Elizabeth Day.
2.The Backpacking Housewife by Janice Horton.
3.The Hike by Lucy Clarke
4.Postcards from a stranger by Imogen Clark

1. Introducing Mrs Collins by Rachel Parris

Glad I'm on this thread as my kindle died and I didn't charge it for a week as kept forgetting which can often go on for weeks or months for me and I just forget to rest but this thread motivated me to get back as when in doing it I love reading

Book 3. The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell. I did enjoy the book but I think I read it too close in the heels of The Marchessa by Sarah Dunnant which is just so much better and also centres the d’este family.

Totally depends on your taste and what you like to read/listen to! But you can do an audible search by narrator

Late to join. I managed 14 last year, i think my goal was 12 to 15 so i am happy with that, especially as i had about 3 months of no reading. It also took me AGES to read Orbital, despite how short it is!

So, for 2026 i will aim for 15 to 18. I am 2 in so far

1. The September house - Carissa Orlando. Recommemded on a book group i am on (online) i mostly enjoyed it but thought the ended was ridiculous.
2. Our endless numbered days - Clare Fuller. An easy read, generally enjoyed it and read quickly. Not outstanding though.

Now looking for book 3....

Book 3 read. A very short Nevil Shute book called "The Seafarers". I'm counting it as book 1 was very long indeed! I really enjoyed it, it was the last Nevil Shute book for me, I've read all of his other books. They're really dated now and some of the language is very offensive but in their time they'd have been thought very progressive. Thank heavens times change! I enjoyed this one for the characters who are typical Shute characters; decent people trying to do their best.

@CitygirlrurallifeBrilliant, thank you! That’s a great place to start - any particular books to look up from those??

Book 6 finished - My Friends by Fredrik Backman. Another one of his I’ve enjoyed. As always I liked how he developed the characters.

Book 7 is Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. This one has come up loads of times in my book searches and prompted by another thread on here I’ve finally bought it.

I’ve read 7 books already but some moths I read loads and other months I hardly get chance at all so it won’t always be this many.