26ish books 2026

Book 34: Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena
I enjoyed the story, I’ve been reading a lot of books that have been narrated by characters so it felt a little off to read one that was written in third person, I did find it a little slow and it felt dragged out at the end. I was intrigued by what happened and it kept me reading

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
It’s Not What You Think
Watching You
The Last Party
I Let You Go
The Sleeper Lies
The Couple At No.9

15. A court of thorns and roses by Sarah Mass

Continuing with a lack if inspiration with books went for a different genre this time of fantasy. I have read a few fantasy books but really not my go to books. This was OK, not great but readable. Maybe a 3/5. Undecided if i will continue with anymore of the series yet.

20. Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner.
Crime novel, first in a series. Female detective in a very "modern life" way - Internet dating, text messages, hangovers. I wasn't at all arsed about the crime aspect other than plot involving the detective, if that makes sense, but that didn't matter. Not violent or gory. Easy read.

There's a companion book to that, Malibu Rising, which features some of the same characters. Not sure if companion is correct, but I'd you wanted to read another by her that is a good one to go for.

@Tinkhasflown I read Flesh a few months ago and I had similar views. It just didn't seem worth bothering about. I was a bit surprised it had such good reviews.

24 Carrie Soto is Back - Taylor Jenkins Reid
Having loved Atmosphere I decided to give another TJR a go and was not disappointed! I thought I might find the tennis setting a bit dull by my heart was in my mouth reading each match. Carrie is an interesting main character - difficult to like at first but when you understand her complexities you start to love her. Interesting exploration of her developing friendships and relationships too. A most enjoyable day binge reading this.

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
(20) One Day by David Nicholls
(21) Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
(22) My Brother's Secret by Maggie Hartley

Latest book...

(23) Us by David Nicholls

Just want to say thank you to everyone for the recommendation - I loved this book - made me cry.

Onto the next - another David Nicholls - bought 4 for about 12 pounds - love worldofbooks!

Happy reading everyone. 😀

I loved this too!

28 The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

This book blew me away, it was superbly written and I loved it. It was set in the depression years in Kentucky and the core story was that of a group of women who set up a horseback library, taking books to the rural communities. It was so much more though, touching on racism, domestic abuse, feminimism and a whole range of issues. The main character was an English woman who had married an industrialist American, another core character was a free spirited American who faced the courts for the murder of a man who had a feudal relationship with her ancestors. It really tugged at my heartstrings. I hear they are making it into a film and I'll definitely be looking out for it.

23 - Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid finished this in just over a day and absolutely loved it, not many books make me well up but this really did. I’m sure that scientifically it’s inaccurate in places for those who know about space science but for me the setting, story and characters were all just lovey.

I'm another one waiting longingly for Land in paperback...

@drspouse
I recently listened to Land on Radio 4. Loved it.

@drspouse i cannot WAIT for Land to come out in paperback

I have finished two more books!
51 The American No by Rupert Everett
52 Land by Maggie O'Farrell.
The latter did not disappoint.

I've just seen there is a drama of this on channel 4, so I might give that a go, to see where I went wrong.

25 Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd. I enjoyed this one, a bit of a spy story and an ending which I think you can interprete a few ways. It starts of in Vienna for which I have a soft spot and he always writes period detail well.

26 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey. I thought this was a first novel as it was uneven but the writer showed promise. It turns out it is the author's ninth book! I did not think it was that great, it had some 80s cultural detail and at times some detailed descriptive prose but was really a light beach read. Fundamentally, I like literary novels so it was not for me. As I said an uneven writing style, I felt the plot was a bit thin, how one thing was dealt with I thought was ridiculous and some of it just didn't hang together.

31 Raising Hare - Chloe Dalton

i don’t usually read non-fiction nor “cosy” books so this was a nice diversion. I did find the depth of knowledge fascinating especially as told in an engaging way and I genuinely felt connected to the Hare. It was a bit long for me though, her pontificating about life and nature repetitive at the end. Really enjoyed the rest of it though and empathised with the found-love of the countryside

Book 21 - Entitled by Andrew Lownie (audiobook)
This was a spur of the moment click into my audible account. An unusual choice for me as I'm a republican at heart. As you'll all know already nobody comes out of this well, including his adult daughters, the King, the late queen and some other public figures. I was left thinking that the king needs to do more to deal with this truly entitled younger sibling.

Book 33: The Couple At No.9 Lies by Claire Douglas
This was a very intriguing story, I found the first chapters a little slow but once it got going it just gripped me. Lots of different characters interwoven and although I kinda guessed the big twist it was still a super ending
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
It’s Not What You Think
Watching You
The Last Party
I Let You Go
The Sleeper Lies

19: Chance - the science and secrets of luck, randomness and probability (New Scientist)
This has been on my to-read list for an absolute age. Very interesting but some of the essays went way over my head. Fascinating subject though.

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
9.A midlife holiday by Carry Hanson
10. Nesting by Rosie O'Donnell
11. I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou
12. Ripeness by Sarah Moss
13. Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
14. The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah
15.Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth
16. We begin at the end by Chris Whittaker.
17. Until Next Weekend by Rachel Marks
18. Two Lives Together by Lauren Ho
19. What will people say by Sahaj Kohli
20. Strangers by Belle Burden
21.Yesteryear by Caro Burke
22. Table for one by Emma Gannon
23. Tilt by Emma Patte
24. The court of thorns and roses by Sarah Maas
25. We are here by David Nicholls
26. Honey by Imani Thompson
27. The way back by Sara Cox
28. The rest of our lives by Benjamin MarKovits
29. Why fish don't exist by Lulu Miller

I enjoyed Honey which was a happy place book club read I pitched up after listening to podcast so am trying Queenie by Candice Carty Williams because there current book is here sequel but I hadn't ever read the first.

Why fish don't exist was mentioned in Instagram and I found it really interesting not like anything I've ever read before. It's narrative non fiction with a memoir, a biography and non fiction science info all interwoven. Lots of information and US history of eugenics movement that I didn't realise predated Nazi Germany.

@Citygirlrurallife
I have also avoided the tv adaptation of ATLTCS.
Is it any good as I read the book over 5 years ago so could probably give it a go.