26ish books 2026

Just finished my 38th this year, ‘Everything was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt’. I really enjoyed it, wasn’t a long read (well listen, as I use audible) and although wasn’t the cheeriest of stories it was an interesting read.

my favourite so far this year was ‘My dark Vanessa’ - a very uncomfortable read but so wonderfully written and narrated

@sleepfortheweek love my dark Vanessa too - I read it, I imagine it’s very tough to listen to!

33 Girl, Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen

cant even tell you how many times I’ve read this but the last was quite a long time ago. Re-read because my 14yr old just read it then we watched the film together and she wanted to discuss further with it fresher in my mind. My main thoughts now really are that I’m so impressed at the film they managed to make out of it and how borderline personality disorder in her words does sound like what I and a lot of my female friends went through in adolescence. Very interested reading with the perspective of a woman in her 40’s compared to the severely depressed teenager I was when I first read it

@sleepfortheweek
I also “enjoyed” reading My Dark Vanessa. An extremely dark subject matter portrayed so realistically. My DD was roughly the same age as the main character when I read it, it really affected me.

🏊27 - Slow Horses by Mick Herron I’m in a spy fiction phase so enjoyed this! Lots of twists and turns and double bluffing which kept me hooked. Will read the next one in the series at some stage

40 - Pen Pal by G.T Geissinger
2.5 ⭐️

This has been in my TBR for a long time but the cover put me over. However, I’ve read a lot of raving reviews which specifically said ‘don’t let the cover put you off’ so I gave it a go.

Unfortunately this book didn’t live up to the hype for me at all. What was it? Psychological thriller? Ghost story? Romance? I thought the sex scenes were just too much and it totally distracted from the story.

29 Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd - I prefer some of his other ones though I can understand why people really like it. Some of it had the slightest shade of Iris Murdoch whose writing I can't stand. It is an interesting study in ambition. Around page 260 I couldn't understand how it was going to fill another 140 pages with plot but wow he does and what happens is very well written.

30 Love is Blind by William Boyd - a very good book. Following Brodie Moncur a scottish piano tuner around Europe/the world. Some of the scottish characters are very interesting and well written, it has a wide and interesting span. Very well written.

31 My Friends by Fredrik Backman - I did not like the writing style. Looking on Amazon I can see he is wildly popular but not for me. I found the style poor, it was also repetitve, the art thing was over done as was how amazing the kids were; lots of full of golden light, too special for this earth on repeat. It had a few wonderfully insightful lines here and there that almost made it worth reading but I would not have finished it if I had not read it over the course of some long and delayed train journeys. It was a bit twee too.

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
(23) Us by David Nicholls

Latest book....

(24) You are here by David Nicholls

Enjoyed this - it's to be made into a mini-series on bbc so looking forward to watching that -
Happy reading everyone. 😀

15 Wild Dark Shore, Charlotte McConaghy

I didn’t make time for reading in the last couple of months. I was back to overdoing doomscrolling too. This book helped me read again. I found it very engaging. I expected a certain ending because of something I saw in an online review. Luckily, it didn’t spoil it for me. 4 out of 5 stars.

1. The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman
2. Life Impossible, Matt Haig
3. Atomic Habits, James Clear
4. The Unfinished Business of Eadie Browne, Freya North
5. Thinking 101, Woo-Kyoung Ahn
6. One of Us, Elisabeth Day
7. You’ve Got This, Michaela Dunbar
8. James, Percival Everett
9. Manifest, Roxie Nafousi
10. We Are Here, David Nicholls
11. How to Focus, Thich Nhat Hanh
12. True Love, Thich Nhat Hanh
13. An Artist of the Floating World, Kazuo Ishiguro
14. How to talk to absolutely anyone, Mark Rhodes

14 Hex by Jenni Fagan

A powerful, fictional retelling of the North Berwick witch trials in 100 pages.
An ok read though I expected more from this award winning author.

2 stars out of 5

41 - Between you and Me - Lisa hall

Pretty much guessed it from the start, maybe because I listened to it rather than read it? Wasn’t a huge fan of the book. 3 ⭐️

42 - The Devoted Wife (audible exclusive) - Sarah. A. Denzil

Again, I had an idea of the outcome from early on. Not a bad story but fairly predictable. The narration was good. 3 ⭐️

Book 35: Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister
I thought this started off strong but the middle dragged, I don’t think it helped that I had a week without being able to read and I’m not good at picking books back up. Saying that it kept me intrigued and guessing but the ending was a little disappointing, felt rushed and was unrealistic. I’ve heard that Wrong Place, Wrong Time is good so I’ll try her again.
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
Everyone Here Is Lying

So I think these are
56 Crook o Lune by ECR Lorac. Classic mystery set in the fells in my neck of the woods. Gave it to my dad to read next, he's read EVERYTHING and hadn't heard of it so that was a bonus.
57 An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi. Most of this was very interesting but the ancient history of North Africa dragged a bit. Apparently there was a TV series so I'll have to see if it's on iPlayer.

18: The Accidental Footballer
19: Football and How to Survive it
Both Pat Nevin (audio).

Pat never wanted to be a footballer despite loving playing the game and being excellent at it. But ended up playing at international level for Scotland. These books are the story of his football career, his other interests and his family life, interesting and entertaining.

20: Sober by Tony Adams.
More football but also the story of Tony's life since becoming dry and overcoming the alcohol addiction that was destroying his life, also of the charity he founded to help other players with addiction issues.

21: The Last Voice You Hear by Mick Herron

The second in the Zoe Boehm detective series. Started well, but by the final third or so I was losing interest rapidly.

28 - The Mercy Strep - Marcia Hutchinson this was such a moving read. The main character Mercy is constantly let down by the people who should love and protect her - she is so tenacious, funny and resilient in the face of all of this and I loved reading her journey from birth to 11. I’m hoping for a follow up one day about mercy’s life as an adult!

29.The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

I loved this book, which was a series of letters written by a prolific letter writer. As the book develops, the trials and tradegies of life unfold. A great read and would definitely recommend.

17. The distance between us. Maggie O’Farrell.

Chatiry shop find and working my way through all of her books. Loved this. I really liked the main characters and as ever how she weaves the story in such a clever way.

29 - The Midnight Train by Matt Haig I was looking forward to this as really enjoyed the midnight library. I did enjoy it, was very well written with some lovely, reflective moments. It was, however, somehow a bit samey and also very clichéd! Kept me reading though and I got quite invested in the characters.

34 A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham

picked this up at a friends house and I really enjoyed it. Follows mostly the narrative of two boys who grow into men together, who have a sexual relationship as teenagers then grow apart when one moves to NY for college and stays, the other moves into his friend’s home and becomes almost a surrogate son for his parents, then follows to NY and they create a sort of family with their female roommate mate. Follows the AIDS crisis on a very small, localised level but mainly just a story of people trying to find their way in world that doesn’t quite fit them. Gorgeous writing

Book 36: The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell
I found this quite a sad book, i enjoyed the story but found the main character Adrian to be quite annoying and self entitled, I don’t know how they put up with him! No big twists and definitely not a thriller.

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
Everyone Here Is Lying
Famous Last Words

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
30.Queenie by Candace Carty Williams
31. Queenie is working on it by Candace Carty Williams
33. Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
34. Good People by Patmeena Sabit

@Yuja recommended Good people in the thread and it is a really interesting narrative technique

35 The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa

a collection of short stories, all quite unsettling but intriguing and unputdownable

now have to prep a book for work but don’t count those

30 Butter by Asako Yuzuki
Finally got around to reading this from my book shelf. I think the UK publishers got their marketing totally wrong. I was expecting a crime thriller but it really wasn't - more about being a woman in Japan, the cultural expectation that you remain thin, and the experiences of women in the workplace. An interesting read, but too long I felt.

31 Children of Radium by Joe Dunthorne
As recommended by @Philandbill earlier. Excellent and very thought-provoking.

32 Witch Trial by Harriet Tyce
A court room drama that centers around the death of a teenager in an Edinburgh park and the trial of her two best friends. Harriet Tyce used unique aspects of Scottish law so that you didn't know what was going to happen in the trial. Enjoyed this book and surprisingly did not guess the ending, which was so not what I was expecting.

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
30.Queenie by Candace Carty Williams
31. Queenie is working on it by Candace Carty Williams
33. Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
34. Good People by Patmeena Sabit
35. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
36. Here one moment by Liane Moriaty

I agree about Butter @PinkOrangeRed I also found it too long and in fact DNF although the topics were interesting it was not as marketed

32 Children of Radium by Joe Dunthorne I think others on here have read it. It is a family memoir with the slant that the great grandfather who is the focus of the book was involved in chemcial weapons and a jew. I didn't find the bit in Germany that interesting but the rest was very interesting and thought provoking. I like a family memoir. A short book at 300 small pages with wide margins.

33 Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier This was a very good book. I had avoided it as I get a bit queasy about fiction based on real people. It seems like an infringement of their self. It tells a life story based on fossil finding in Lyme Regis and a friendship between two women. It subtly highlights all the restraints on women at that time (1800/1820) such as a lady not being able to even walk down the street in London alone. It includes how fossils were slightly dangerous because they challenged the world view that god created everything in 7 days and nothing would be extinct becuase god didn't make mistakes.

Book 37: The Girls by Lisa Jewell
I really enjoyed this book and the doubt that was spread about the integrity of some characters as more things happened. I was super frustrated at the ending though and how no one was held accountable for what happened.

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
Everyone Here Is Lying
Famous Last Words
The Third Wife