26ish books 2026

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...

26 Blow your house down by Pat Barker
Gosh this was gritty and graphic. It follows the lives of a group of prostitutes when there is a serial killer on the loose. It's set in the 80's so has Yorkshire ripper vibes. I'm glad I read it, as it's a subject I knew nothing about, but maybe when I'm not on holiday!

This marks my 26 - I'm well chuffed. Obviously I will keep going, especially as this thread gives so many great recommendations. I'm having a break for a couple of weeks, while I knit some poppies, then I'll be back. Favourites are marked with a *.

1. The tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris*
2. James by Percival Everett*
3. The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden*
4. As long as the lemon trees grow by Zoulfa Katouh*
5. To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee*
6. I am I am I am by Maggie O’Farrell
7. Lord of the flies by William Golding*
8. The midnight library by Matt Haig*
9. All the broken places by John Boyne*
10. Cilka’s journey by Heather Morris*
11. The outside boy by Jeanine Cummins
12. How to stop time by Matt Haig*
13. All her fault by Andrea Mara
14. Dominion by C J Samson*
15. The light between oceans by M L Stedman*
16. A better life by Lionel Shriver*
17. The husbands by Holly Gramazio
18. Small pleasures by Clare Chambers
19. The list of suspicious things by Jennie Godfrey*
20. The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah*
21. The Beekeeper of Aleppo*
22. None of this is true
23. Trespasses
24. The Names*
25. These days
26. Blow your house down

19 Exciting Times - Naoise Dolan Not very exciting despite the title! I found this to be self indulgent and meandering, with an unlikeable protagonist. Quite well written but not what I would consider a great read. I’ve had a run of mediocre books on holiday so hoping for my next read to be a good one

Yes I was a blubbering wreck too!

25 These Days by Lucy Caldwell

This is a difficult one. I loved the book from a social history point of view; it was set during the Belfast blitz and was about a family going through it. It was well written and I'm glad I read it. But I would have like a bit more of a story to go on...

Book 28: It’s Not What You Think by Clare Mackintosh
Clare Mackintosh is a new author to me, I enjoyed her writing style and the perspective from the detectives. I’ll definitely look for more reads by her.

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

9 the sun sister.

I've been slowly making my way through these since last year. Found the contents around this particular sister difficult at times and took me a while to get through

18 - The Kindness of Strangers - Emma Garman downloaded as an easy holiday read - readable enough but a murder mystery type thing that I wouldn’t normally go in for. Okay for chilling by the pool!

49 Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. I really liked it, more than the film, there was so much more she could say on the page.
50 That Summer by Jennifer Weiner. Not as light and fluffy as some of her work but absolutely excellent, I'd say it's chick lit for grown up women. Not as madly funny as Marian Keyes but in that vein.

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

Latest book....

(19) Don't Let Him In by Lisa Jewell

Description taken from the internet....

Three women are connected by one man in this kaleidoscopic thriller.

He’s the perfect man. It’s a perfect lie.

Nina Swann is intrigued when she received a condolence card from Nick Radcliffe, an old friend of her late husband, who is looking to connect after her husband’s unexpected death. Nick is a man of substance and good taste. He has a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a knack for putting others at ease. But to Nina’s adult daughter, Ash, Nick seems too slick, too polished, too good to be true. Without telling her mother, Ash begins digging into Nick’s past. What she finds is more than unsettling…

Martha is a florist living in a neighboring town with her infant daughter and her devoted husband, Alistair. But lately, Alistair has been traveling more and more frequently for work, disappearing for days at a time. When Martha questions him about his frequent absences, he always has a legitimate explanation, but Martha can’t share the feeling that something isn’t right.

Nina, Martha, and Ash are on a collision course with a shocking truth that is far darker than anyone could have imagined. And all three are about to wish they had heeded the same warning: Don’t let him in. But the past won’t stay buried forever.

Nice, enjoyable holiday read!

Onto the next,
Happy reading everyone. 😀

Just realised that the Nightingale was actually book 15 as I read My husbands wife by Alice Feeney just before. Great book to read on the train.

14- The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.

I have never cried so much while reading a book. I think it may take a while to get over but I’m now trying Liars by Katherine Fleet (looks like an easy non heavy read which is what I need!).

Book 15 - The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
This was excellent. It needed a bit of understanding at first as you plunge straight into the story but once I'd sorted out who was who I couldn't put it down.

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

Latest book.......

(18) The New Neighbours by Claire Douglas

Description taken from the internet.....

She’s sure her new neighbours – the Morgans – are planning a crime.

Her family say she’s mistaken.
They are a lovely, friendly couple.
She should forget it.

Yet Lena can’t.

And the more she investigates,
the worse her suspicions.

But Lena hasn’t counted on one thing.

A secret from her own past. One the Morgans seem connected to.

And which puts Lena in terrible danger . . .

Meh - another easy to read unrealistic book - maybe I need to start reading some non-fiction books.

Onto the next
Happy reading everyone

15. The Boy From The Sea by Garrett Carr. This novel was incredibly satisfying, the type you itch to get back to then end up reading for longer than you intended. Set in Ireland in a small fishing community it starts in the early 1970s when a local man finds a baby on the beach. A couple with a young son take him in but the boys don't gel and the novel follows them over the next couple of decades. Also on the scene are maternal aunt and grandfather in the next house, and the chorus of locals. And the landscape.

Told from the perspective of an unamed narrator who is one of the locals it's beautifully written in a colloquial style, as if you are being sat down and told a long tale.

There are lots of funny turns of phrase too, such as grandfather whose daughters are not getting on going "into waiting mode". In the pub an "alternative lifestyler" "caused a terrible disturbance one evening by pulling a tin whistle from her sleeve and playing it. No offense was meant, she probably thought we liked that sort of thing. It drove Manus McManus to go sit in the lounge and later he returned like an explorer, telling us that the lounge was actually quite pleasant."

I was exactly the same with this book! Slogged my way through it over about 2 months. Wish I hadn’t bothered. Especially when the only likeable character was killed off! My DH really enjoyed it though 🤷‍♀️

25 The Hallmarked Man - Robert Galbraith
The latest Cormoran Strike. I wait until these come out in paperback, otherwise it would seem like lifting weights...
I don't think this was one of the better ones in the series but I will still read them, as it's their personal lives that I enjoy. I hate the phonetic dialogue, however, as well as the confusing nicknames they give their clients/targets. I also wonder why as a detective agency they seem so outdated in terms of technology - handwritten note taking, as an example.

DNF: Cop Town by Karin Slaughter - set in 1974 America this was very raw and brutal in the way it depicted the racism and sexism of the time, I found it a bit intense, I’m sure the story is worth reading as it has many great reviews

Book 27: It Could Have Been Her by Lisa Jewell
loved this, and the links to Don’t Let Him In. Really good well written characters with interwoven stories.

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

17 - Female, Nude - Rhiannon Lucy Cosett
I am on holiday and this was intended as a fairly easy read - which is was! The main character isn’t terribly likeable but some interesting themes are explored as well as some complex female relationships

Book 14 Midnight in Vienna by Jane Thyme. A thriller that did not thrill me. Unbelievable characters and unbelievable coincidences. I know you should suspend disbelief but this was tiresome. Only finished because I was on a five hour train journey and had nothing else with me.

I read this a couple of years ago, picked it up in a charity shop on holiday and it was such good fun. Passed it on to a friend who said the same. 😄

24 The Names by Florence Knapp

This has been recommended several times on this thread and I'm so glad it was. Loved this book, great writing and interesting story as a concept. It took several months to arrive at the library, but it was worth the wait.

11 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

A fantastic holiday read!
Covers the glitz and glamour (or not) of Hollywood and some deep topics such as sexuality, race and relationships.
love TJRs writing style (my first book of hers) - so easy to read and a great page turner.

A solid 4 out of 5

47 Lost Lambs by Madeleine Cash. A bit weird frankly though I liked some of the characters even though they were strange.
48 The River has Roots by Amal el-Mohtar. Too clever for its own good, very Emperor's New Clothes.