26ish books 2026

Book 19 Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke.
DDs have both read this (young adults) and enjoyed it, and I saw the media hype about it and was sucked in. It's satire and quite well done and I zipped through it. Bits were disturbing and bits were funny. Worth a read but I'd have preferred to read it in paperback, there's a reason I never buy hardbacks (as well as the cost) - you bash your nose if you fall asleep when reading them...

26 Wild Dark Shore - Charlotte McConaghy
This is a climate-change thriller set on a sub-antarctic island, the location of a seed-bank being used to preserve the world's plants. The Salt family are caretakers on the island and are packing up the seed-bank due to rising sea levels. The book starts with starts with a body washing ashore. The woman is, remarkably, alive. But who is she? What does she want? And how will the small family living in this wild place react. Do they have secrets of their own?

I enjoyed this book and found it very well-written. It was long-listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2026 and is currently available on BBC Sounds in 10 episodes, as it was recently on Radio 4.

@Orangebadger I haven’t - I’m waiting for paperback but very much looking forward to it

14. A prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving I was feeling a bit uninspired with books to read so went for a re read and it didn’t disappoint! I first read this maybe 25 years ago and it has always held a place in my heart. But re reading it, it was even better. A very unique book set in New Hampshire in the 1950’s to late 60’s with some parts in the 80’s. It’s about 2 friends growing up together and basically explores fate, belief and if your life is already mapped out and all you do throughout your life has some kind of purpose. Or are you are in control of your own destiny? It’s not a quick read though, at 600+ pages which doesn’t seem too bad but it’s an intense read sprinkled with humour and loveliness too.

I don’t re read many books but i found i really had forgotten most of this one. So glad i went back to it.

@Citygirlrurallife love The disappearing act of Esme Lennox! Have you read Land yet?

29 The Disappearing Act of Esme Lennox - Maggie O’Farrell

picked this up in oxfam when I realised it’s one I haven’t read and it didn’t disappoint. Iris gets a call from a mental institution saying she is next of kin for a great-aunt she didn’t know she had, who has been institutionalised for 60 odd years. The story moves between several perspectives, Iris, Esme herself and the dementia ridden mind of her sister Kirsty as the unravelling of their childhoods and subsequent consequences take place

as ever brilliantly written, I boshed through it very quickly but didn’t want it to end. Does Maggie O’Farrell ever write anything not brilliant?!

21 - Good People by Patmeena Sabit
I think I just read my best book of the year so far. Incredibly unique book told in a unique structure from multiple viewpoints. All the way through you keep changing your mind about the truth, and it is an incredible exploration of Islamophobia, media circuses and immigrant communities. I just got up early today to finish it! Highly recommended

18: Mudlarking - Lost and Found on the River Thames by Lara Maiklem

Just finished this ahead of a little mudlarking trip that we have booked in the next few weeks. Very interesting read, focussing on different spots in the river and the kind of objects found. It looks at different historical periods as well as much more modern issues such as sewage and dead bodies found in the river.

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

Latest book....

(21) Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Description taken from amazon....

Will needed Lou as much as she needed him, but will her love be enough to save his life?

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun teashop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

A nice, enjoyable holiday read - need to watch the film again!

Onto the next,
Happy reading everyone. 😀

17. Cassandra Darke by Posy Simmonds. Graphic novel with a very cantankerous 71 year old protagonist, who takes in her ex husband's daughter and gets tangled in her messy personal life, in addition to the mess of her own making.

This has big chunks set at Christmas and would make a great gift I think. The edition I have is a decent size so you can see the fabulous illustrations.

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...