50 Books Challenge 2026 Part Eight

The Correspondent Virginia Evans

Well reviewed already on this thread, so I won't be too detailed, but for those who have not read it or missed the other reviews, this book is about at 70-something Sybil living in Maryland who writes letters (and occasionally emails) to her friends and family, writers she likes and various others. There is pain and trauma in her life that slowly unravels through her correspondence.

I really liked this, I do like the epistolary form anyway and it makes for easy reading and putting down/picking up because how long is the average letter. I agree Sybil isn't very likeable and I still didn't really like her at the end, but I liked what Evans did with the letters and I think she writes well and the character's voices were well differentiated, though sometimes I needed a good few sentences to see who the letter was from.

The negatives for me were the tidy ending - but it came with book club questions at the end so perhaps it needed that. I found the 'family' thing a bit far fetched and that she overcame things.

I'm glad I read it, but if it wasn't for book club I probably would have waited for a 99p deal.

Haunted Tales by Adam Macqueen
I’ve been tidying up my Kindle by finishing short story anthologies. This one is full of vaguely unsettling stories with subtle nods towards established authors in the field (nothing too overt or annoying, though). Perfect now the nights are drawing in,
I must have come across Macqueen in another anthology, I think and on the basis of this book I’d be interested to read more of his fiction so I’ve put it on my Wish List. He also writes for Private Eye but I’m less interested in his books about politics.

@Arran2024 best wishes for a full and speedy recovery to your DH.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie for a journey, I find a Lee Child book makes a good travelling companion. 61 Hours starts with a bus journey rather than a train one, but there's lots of snowy action.

@cassandre I agree that wax fruit isn't the best way of connecting to the past, even when lusciously described.

Finished Mother Mary Comes to Me, by Arundhati Roy and like many on here, I was impressed at the story she has to tell, from her hardscrabble youth to her politically engaged present. I feel like it was a real insight into India.

@MaterMoribund I enjoyed Beneath the Streets. Hadn't realised it was the first in a series - I will put the second one on my wishlist.

Fans of MQoS books might enjoy this tour:

https://www.fane.co.uk/suzannah-kate

@bibliomania I’ve not read anything by Lee C. Will try some samples.

Shroud of Darkness is entertaining me nicely at the moment.

DNF: A Throne of Glass, Sarah Maas

Second attempt to read Sarah Maas, second DNF (the first was ACOTAR). I know people love these books and I have tried but I got a few chapters in and I just couldn't care about any of it. Life is too short to read books that you're not enjoying IMHO.

71 Pagans, James Alistair Henry

A recommendation picked up here. Police procedural-slash political thriller set in an alternative version of the present day, where the Norman Conquest never happened, and Britain is split into three kingdoms (the Saxon East, Celtic West, and Norse Democratic Republic of Scotland, which is comparatively prosperous and exists behind a border wall separating it from England). Beyond Britain, the big superpowers are the Pan-African United States, the Mughal Empire of India and the European Islamic Caliphate - North America remains uncolonised. In London, our mismatched detectives are reluctant nepo-baby Aedith, a tough young Saxon woman with a VIP politician dad, and mysterious Celtic Drustan, sent by his superiors to involve himself in Aedith's murder case for reasons that he is not entirely ready to disclose.

Interesting exploration of ideas of identity, prejudice and nationalism with many contemporary issues from our current real world explored through this fictional one. Plenty of jokes and clever references - it helps to know a bit about Saxon and Celtic culture, and about London geography. Thrillers aren't really my thing but this one rollicked along satisfactorily.

72 28 Summers, Elin Hilderbrand

Will Jake leave her?
No.
But he wants to.

I did a panic Google while in the library, asking for which EH to read first, and this was its suggestion. I'm not sure it was a good one as the reviews are pretty mixed and I have to be honest, I wanted to love it but I didn't.

In the opening chapters, Mallory does that thing that escapist beach read heroines do, and inherits a beautiful ramshackle cottage on Nantucket from an aunt (who of course, she loves, but equally, has zero grief for when she dies, because that would interfere with the plot). Her brother, Cooper (see footnote), comes over for the weekend with two buddies and events unfold leaving Mallory alone with Cooper's friend, Jake.

It becomes clear to Mallory and Jake that they Love Each Other Very Much but also.... they can't be together? For reasons that are unclear. Jake has a girlfriend but they are on-off and don't seem to like each other very much - nonetheless he goes on to marry her. And Mallory and Jake start an arrangement where they meet once a year, in complete secret, at Mallory's cottage, to spend Labor Day weekend together. They eat the same food, watch the same film and listen to the same music.

Usually I eat up a they-love-each-other-but-ugh-they-cant-be-together romance. The yearning! The stolen moments! But this one failed because I just couldn't see why Jake didn't do the decent thing, tell his girlfriend he'd met someone, and give it a go with Mallory. Or not. But make a decision other than being a spineless cheater for 28 years. So unromantic.

On the plus side, Nantucket sounds lovely. There were lots of descriptions of delicious-sounding food. And EH's writing (as in her use of the English language, rather than her ability to write plot) was good enough not to intrude on my reading. On that basis, I'm ready to give her another try if anyone has any particular recommendations?

Footnote: Yeah, everyone in this book has these rich white American frat-boy names. The one thing going for Jake is that he is called Jake and not Trey, Link, Bayer or Trip. That alone makes him actually the most attractive man in this book.

On the topic of Coventry, Sarah Moss' novel The Tidal Zone is set in Coventry and has interesting things to say about the cathedral.

There's also the Coventry Transport Museum if you're into cars (which as a non-driver I'm not!) 😂

Ha @cassandre - I was going to add that besides the cathedral (which is well worth a visit), there is the car museum which I enjoyed not least because it had the same Hilllman Imp I remember being driven to nursery school in back in the 1970s. I seem to recall it's quite an eclectic collection.

I’ve managed to get through a few on my RWYO list.

87 The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker Loved this one.
88 Women of Troy by Pat Barker Good, but not as good as the previous in the trilogy*
89 The Voyage Home by Pat Barker Least favourite of the three, I really wanted to hear how the story of Briseis ended.
90 Dark is the Grave by TG Reid Not great. Horrible, narky detective, stupid mystery and resolution. I won’t carry on with this series.
91 The Fold by Peter Clines Starts off as an intriguing sci-fi mystery and I really enjoyed the first 2/3 but then it morphed into to some kind of horror / chase thing which was just awful. A waste of a good story.

Just catching up on the thread.

@Arran2024 sorry to hear about your DH, hope you are all doing ok now.

I also liked Last One at the Party, it wasn’t quite a bold and it took me a while to get over finding the main character very irritating but I thought it was pretty good overall. Interesting you referring to it as part *chic@Tarahumara as I wouldn’t have classified it as that at all.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I was debating whether to get Other Worlds Than These now or wait to ask for it for Christmas, sounds like I’ll be ok waiting for that one. Not like I don’t have plenty of books to keep me occupied!

I actually really like Alison Weir’s books, although I haven’t read the Mary and Lord Darnely book. That said I studied History at uni so might just be that I got used to a dry historical book!

Speaking of History my specialism was the lead up to the Norman Conquest so I am desperate to get tickets to see the Bayeux Tapestry.

@Sosorryaboutthis while I did enjoy The List of Suspicious Things I also thought the shoehorning of social issues was clumsy and agree Miv was a bit irritating. In fact as I’m writing this I’m struggling to remember why I did end up liking it.

Partita (new from Barbara Kingsolver) is the new radio serial) and a copy is "in transit", so hopefully on its way to me

@VikingNorthUtsire I will de-lurk to reveal myself as the wolf-themed reader of a few years ago and I love that you remember! I also have an almost Pavlovian response if I come across a book with the word wolf in the title. I read a lot of them. I might do it again next year. I do lurk about on here but stopped posting because I kept falling off the thread but honestly, this is still the best place on Mumsnet and I have so many books on my TBR thanks to this thread. Maybe I should post here again. Anyway, as you were 😊

Do come back @whippetwoman ! I don't feel that I've been posting much myself recently but I feel like this thread offers an ongoing welcome for us all.

@MaterMoribund I laughed at your opinion of The Familiars - I read it a few years ago, and quite enjoyed it, but understand your opinions 100%. I feel the same about Ken Follet Circle of Days

I’ve just started this, very early days

I totally agree with sentiments about this thread. Its one of the nicest places on the Internet. Ive been here many years under several previous names and I do drop off when life gets busy but you can always slip straight back in with some friendly book chat. Ive also got so many recommendations over the years. Currently enjoying The Pretender based on chat on here. Id never have found it otherwise

There are some excellent books with "wolf" or "wolves" in the title!

It's you! Honestly I think of you frequently 😂

Christie exhibition, Golden Age fans!

events.bl.uk/exhibitions/agathachristie

Lovely looking shop, but they wanted a tenner apiece for second hand copies, so I didn’t indulge! Loved this cover though.

Thanks for the heads up @SheilaFentiman, that looks really good.

I agree this is a lovely thread with excellent recommendations. I don't post much because life but never feel like I can't because I haven't kept up with it or because I might not make 50 but having just finished no 44 I might still have a chance!

The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah

Without giving too much away (and I know some on this thread have read it already) it's the story of a teenage girl growing up in Alaska with an abusive father who would now be diagnosed with PTSD after the Vietnam War.

There are beautiful descriptions of the scenery, but also the hardship of an Alaskan winter. The plot is good - though it slumps a bit in the middle (I did get a bit bored at one stage and barely picked it up) - but that's countered by the last third or so, through which I cantered in the last two nights as it was so gripping. The end is a bit abrupt and there's a ridiculous bit I didn't like but overall it's worth a read.

I think someone has previously said Hannah is just short of writing a great book and I think that's exemplified here.

I have some annual leave over the next few weeks so the Agatha is high on my list. @RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie if there is one thing you and I have in common it is loving those early book covers. I collect them and the one you have there is wonderful, I don't have that yet.

If any fellow Christie fans are heading to the exhibition alone and want company DM me (I think some of you prob still have my email from meetups). Might not work out, but you never know.

The Agatha Christie exhibition sounds fun, although the price is pretty steep. I can't commit to a specific date at this point, although it would have been nice to go with you, @AgualusasL0ver ! On the subject of Christie, I'm on the waiting list at the library for The Agatha Christie Cure: What Reading the Queen of Crime Taught me about Life, by Cathy Retzenbrink, which sounds right up my street.

I had all those versions of the Agatha Christie novels - the artwork was beautiful. Of course I got rid of them all years ago. One, Two Buckle my Shoe was my favourite