26ish books 2026

14. The Is Where The Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin. I persevered with this because a friend lent it to me but it didn't gel. Set over decades and following first an orphan, then a well off couple, then a servant living in Pakistan. It does all tie up but if any character had dropped dead next sentence I wouldn't have cared. I was reading it thinking "where is this going?" "How will these strands be tied up?" And the writing style didn't gel with me it was just awkward. All in all I wasn't absorbed by it or interested or invested.

That said I can fully see the merits and could easily imagine someone else loving it. Maybe I just haven't been in the right mood or frame of mind.

22 The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia This is quite a long book, it goes around in circles a bit. It is reasonable interesting but it lacked a little something for me and I had to push on to finish it. Many would find this very pleasant and enjoyable.

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

Latest book....

(17) Here One Moment by Liane Moriarity

Description taken from AI: During a delayed flight from Hobart to Sydney, a seemingly ordinary woman (later revealed to be Cherry) walks down the aircraft aisle and stops at each seat. Without asking, she bluntly informs every passenger of the exact age and manner of their impending death. While some dismiss her as a lunatic, the passengers are thrown into chaos when one of the chilling predictions tragically comes true!

I really loved this book - grew to care about each character and what would become of them - definitely recommend!

Onto the next

Happy reading everyone :)

23 Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

I tried, I really did, but I just couldn't get into it. I found the writing style really flat and it had my pet hate, no speech marks! Half the time, I couldn't even work out which character was talking. It had all the hallmarks of a good read, it was set in 1970's Northern Ireland where a Catholic woman had an affair with a married Protestant, but not for me I'm afraid.

I'm very excited now though to move onto The Names - it's been on order from the library for months.

Posted ages ago and disappeared.

1. Peaches for monsieur le curé by Joanne Harris
2. Allen Carr easy way
3. The sirens by Emilia Hart
4. The compound by Aisling Rule
5. Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth
6. Where the Crawdads sing by Delia Owens
7. The other wife by Michael Robotham
8. The life impossible by Matt Haig
9. For richer for poorer by Danielle Steel
10. The weekend by T M Logan
11. Wild by Kristin Hannah
12. Summer island by Kristin Hannah
13. The midnight train by Matt Haig

Currently reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah which I’m really enjoying.

21 Gabriel's Moon by William Boyd This is a spy thriller. I don't read many spy novels as I find they have tension but are quite boring. This one is pretty good. I am still working out Boyd's writing style. The main character is a travel writer and at times Boyd has another character taking the mick out of the character's very wordy and descriptive writing style. I found this amusing and wondered if Boyd was doing it to show he can write like that but choses not too (because Boyd's style is not flowery at all)?

I have that on my waitlist @Citygirlrurallife - but won't get it for ages - we'll see if I like it or not!

26 The Correspondent - Virgini Evans

i feel like this kind of central character is a bit overdone now, the stubborn, brilliant woman in her dotage who has to find the soft center of her heart before she dies. Reminded me a lot of the Lucy Barton series. But I still enjoyed this book, I liked the letter writing aspect and reveal of lifelong relationships, I especially loved how human and vulnerable the central character gradually became. Probably - 4 out of 5 for me (or a 3.75 if that’s a thing!)

@Twinsybalinsy last year I read everything I started but I regret finishing The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - according to Goodreads it was the longest book I read last year and it's hours I'll never get back 😫. I think that sometimes it's better to put a book aside and come back to it after a few months and sometimes you just really need to stop.

10 Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale
Cassandra gets dumped and fired in the same day - then discovers she has the power to time travel, to go back in time and change things...

I found this easy to read, light hearted and funny. Lots of references to autism - and Greek myth!
Nothing too radical or life changing but a good read.

3 stars out of 5

16 - One of us by Elizabeth Day
I enjoyed this very much, well written and easy to read with fictional political characters not too far removed from some of our own in very recent history! An interesting look at revenge, desire for power and complex relationships

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

Latest book....

(16) Her Husband's Lover by Patricia Crouch

Description taken from Amazon:

A woman has to stop her rival from ruining her life in HER HUSBAND'S LOVER, the stunning new novel from the acclaimed Julia Crouch. 'Psychological thrillers don't come much better than this' Clare Mackintosh

She stole her husband. Now she wants to take her life.

After the horrors of the past, Louisa Williams is desperate to make a clean start.
Her husband Sam is dead. Her children, too, are gone, victims of the car accident in which he died.
Sam said that she would never get away from him. That he would hound her to death if she tried to leave. Louisa never thought that he would want to harm their children though.
But then she never thought that he would betray her with a woman like Sophie.
And now Sophie is determined to take all that Louisa has left. She wants to destroy her reputation and to take what she thinks is owed her - the life she would have had if Sam had lived.
Her husband's lover wants to take her life. The only question is will Louisa let her?

Entertaining enough and easy to read if completely unrealisitic lol

Onto the next!

Happy reading everyone :)

Book 22 was Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro. I love Kazuo Ishiguro's books and this book, a collection of five short stories, was no different. It wasn't my favourite book of his, but it broke me out of my Yellowface induced reading slump!

How often do you not finish books? I don't often do it but I have two books sitting staring at me from my bedside table unfinished and it makes me uncomfortable 🥴

Book 26: The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
I found this hard going with the writing very stilted, I’ve persevered to find out what happens but tbh I’ve skimmed it, I picked up another of her books at a charity shop so I’ll give the author another go at some point.

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

24 Universality - Natasha Brown

Read this on BorrowBox as it was available to borrow immediately. I was a sucker for the cover initially, but then really enjoyed it. Very well written and compact. Where else would you find anarchists, an amoral banker, a sensationalist columnist and a violent assault with a gold bar?

Sorry! I looked it up to check the author, got the name wrong and a band called Neon Dreams came up instead. Realised my mistake and then clearly repeated it on here. Duh!
Hope you enjoy it anyway. Of the two that's far more "holiday!"

Although it’s actually called Neon Roses 😁

@Scout2016 thank you! I’m on holiday and needed another book, I’ve downloaded Neon Dreams.

Thank you for the recommendations @Scout2016, I've just ordered Blow your house down from the library. Something to look forward to.

Missy and @h0rsewithn0name Can I recommend Pat Barker's Blow Your House Down and Rachel Dawson's Neon Dreams? Very different (Barker's is grittier) but both evoke the first half of the 80s; the politics, culture, life for women in the margins and domestic lives.

45 The Cut by Chris Brookmyre. Thriller about a horror film fan and a special effects artist.
46 Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. I had watched the TV series but only remembered a little about it. It was really well written, very rich. Quite long but I am on camp supervising DS who doesn't really need supervising.

I've looked at the trailers @MonkeyTennis34 but I loved the book so much that if they deviated from it I think I'd feel really disappointed.

@Philandbill
If you get a chance, you should watch the tv adaptation of Station Eleven. It’s beautiful.

Book 13 The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel
I loved this, it's by the author of Station Eleven which I read last year.

22 - None of this is true by Lisa Jewell
A real page turner, full of lies and questions about a woman who grooms a journalist in a stalker kind of way. It reminded me of the Bea and Honey scenario in Eastenders.

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