50 Books Challenge 2026 Part Eight

Thanks TimeforaGandT Glad to hear I should enjoy the continuations a bit better!

Thanks for the recommend! The copy I read was a library book, but if my thoughts keep returning to it I might get my own for a reread.

Book 55, Come and Get It by Kiley Reid. A library loan since I enjoyed Such a Fun Age by Reid.Reading about Gen Z college students in a small, non-descript university in Arkansas was a nice shift away from my previous book of Our Evenings which was heavy, epoic and spanning decades.

A college professor on a transfer year and a group of young women in a dorm come to a head in kind of a fun, delicious way in many tangled relationships and allegiances. I loved the vernacular, and how Reid really gets young people and the subleties of financial priviledge and race without being preachy or downbeat. It was an enjoyable, fun book that I read over 4 days which is generally pretty quick for me. I nearly went to uni in the States instead of UK so it was kind of a fun glimpse into the dorms and sororities. The only thing I didn't like was the book's title; it didn't really link with the stories told.

The Woodward and Bernstein book, All the President's Men, is 99p today

@PermanentTemporary I have been meaning to read a Rosamunde Pilcher (I feel like I read a couple in my teens but none since) and you have talked me into The Day of the Storm

Easily influenced, me :)

DNFed Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky and How To Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie this week.
I’m not averse to sci fi if it grabs my attention and initially AC did, but by half way I just didn’t care about what was going on, who was doing it or why.
I think CJ Skuse should be cross about this blatant rip off of the Sweet Pea books. It has none of the panache or charm and the sentences are far too long. I ditched it in the middle of the wildly improbable plans to use the Internet Of Things to murder someone.

I’m obviously having a Hard To Please week after the joy that was Gentle Things!

@MaterMoribund I was surprised by how popular How To Kill Your Family became, it felt like it was one of the books of the year a few years back. It's quite silly and definitely not brilliantly written, but I persevered mainly because some of it is set near my house.

109. Country People - Daniel Mason. This is the newest book from the author of North Woods, which I really liked but think was pretty divisive on here. This is about a family who move from California to Vermont. Mother Kate is a professor specialising in Milton and Blake and has been offered a year's teaching post there. Father Miles has been doing a dissertation for 14 years which has moved from Tolstoy to Russian folklore. I think he's meant to be charming but I couldn't help hearing MN shouting "cocklodger"! It's never clear what Kate sees in him as we don't hear her perspective. They also have 2 children, 12 year old Wesley fulfilling the child genius role and 9 year old Olive, oh and an Italian truffle hunting dog Giuseppe. There's not much plot, it's basically about how Miles tries out various country pursuits, meets the quirky locals and eventually gets involved with a group of Hollow Earthers. Although Miles is incredibly annoying, I did quite like this as a bit of whimsical escapism which is gently funny, a bit like the old TV show Northern Exposure, which I loved. But definitely not for anyone seeking plot.

Sorry I am late with this. My husband had a stroke (!) and I had to abandon reading for a while (he is better now).

Here is my list so far

1 The Sleepwalkers by Scarlett Thomas
2 Hitler's People by Richard Evans
3 Malice by Keigo Higashino
4 The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits
5 Never A Dull Moment 1971 by David Hepworth
6 Murder at Mount Fuji by Shizuko Natsuki
7 A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering by Andrew Hunter Murray
8 The Party by Tessa Hadley
9 Gabriel's Moon by William Boyd
10 Place Brugman by Alice Austen
11 A Quiet Place by Seicho Matsumoto
12 Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto
13 Murder on Line One by Jeremy Vine
14 The Names by Florence Knapp
15 Point Zero by Seicho Matsumoto
16 Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
17 Imperium by Robert Harris
18 A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor
19 Arthur and George by Julian Barnes
20 Wise by Frank Tallis
21 The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski
22 Geneva by Richard Armitage
23 The Vipers by Katy Hay
24 The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke
25 The Long Shoe by Bob Mortimer
26 The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor
27 By Your Side by Ruth Jones
28 Felicia's Journey by William Trevor
29 The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
30 Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
31 The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
32 YesterYear by Caro Claire Burke
33 Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomiso
34 Universality by Natasha Brown
35 The Cut Throat Trial by the Secret Barrister
36 The Truants by Kate Weinberg
Hitler, Stalking, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein
37 Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seicho Matsumoto
38 The Spy and the Traitor by Ben MacIntyre
39 In Sickness and in Health by Fiona Sussman
40 Silent Bones by Val McDermid
41 Fair Play by Louise Hegarty
42 Story of a Murder - the Wives and Mistress and Doctor Crippen by Hallie Rubenfold
43 The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
44 The Lovers by Paolo Cognetti
45 Chinese Parents Don't Say I Love You by Candice Chung
46 The Blame by Charlotte Langley
47 A Rebel and a Traitor by Rory Carroll
48 Dead Heat by Sabine Durrant
49 Heart The Lover by Lily King

50 Swallows by Natsuo Kirino
My 50th! And it is one of my favourites of this year.

A huge hit in Japan, where it has been made into a TV adaptation, it concerns a young woman, Riki, and her journey as a surrogate mother for a rich couple in their 40s. It covers so much ground - class, gender, tradition, power, family, fertility, inequality.....

Surrogacy is illegal in Japan so, would you believe, the commissioning father has to divorce his wife, marry the surrogate, then divorce the surrogate and remarry the wife!!

I thought it finished a bit too suddenly, though, and I didn't see the ending coming at all. Having explored so many themes relating to surrogacy, I was surprised that the needs/rights of the child weren't covered. It was all about the adults.

Anyway, I would highly recommend it. The reviews are great and thoroughly deserved imo.

Sorry to hear about DH @Arran2024

Congratulations on reaching 50.

Glad to hear DH is on the mend @Arran2024 that must have been scary.

You’ve got two books listed at number 36 in your list so I think you may have already hit the magic 50 and Swallows was no. 51.

Good news that your DH is recovered, @Arran2024 - worrying times for you both, though 💐

Wishing you and your DH well @Arran2024

Glad to hear DH is on the mend @Arran2024

48… The House on Half Moon Street – Alex Reeve

The second book in a row I’ve read entitled “The House…” and starting off in a brothel. I think it’s a coincidence...

An accidental reread, this is a Victorian murder mystery set in the lower classes of 1880’s London, with an unusual main protagonist. No spoilers, but Leo is a fascinating character, flawed, impetuous, not always likeable, but pulls the story along and I raced along with it.

Glad to hear DH is getting better @Arran2024 . And congratulations on the 50. I am adding it to my TBR. It sounds fascinating.

107. The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness - I enjoy a bit of YA occasionally but this was my first Patrick Ness. Interesting but slightly gimmicky premise in that it's about the other teenagers who live in the town where the chosen ones fight the zombies/vampires/aliens etc. So young people going through the ups and downs of life while other teens are dying, random fires, explosions, and suspicious goings on are happening in which they are only peripherally involved. The characters are very good though and there is a chapter at the therapist that is excellent. Essentially a story questioning what ordinary even is. I raced through it and liked it but it hasn't really left much residue. I doubt I will remember reading it in 6 months time.

Very sorry to hear about your DH @Arran2024 I hope he is ok

There are better Patrick Ness books @SpunkyKhakiScroller he is lovely, I’ve met him

Glad your DH is on the mend @Arran2024 That must have been really frightening for you both 💐

Swallows sounds interesting. I've added it to my TBR list.

I’m sure that must have been frightening @Arran2024glad to hear he’s on the mend.

I’m so sorry @Arran2024 , glad to hear your DH is recovering well.

I enjoyed this article - I’m adding the book to my wishlist https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/oct/16/book-film-adaptations-shining-trainspotting-bridget-jones-godfather-clockwork-orange-silence-lambs

Very pleased to hear that your DH is recovering @Arran2024💐

@Stowickthevast- relieved to hear that I’m not the only one whose views of book characters are influenced by MN advice!

97 . Part of your world by Abby Jimenez - a rich city doctor meets a younger rural carpenter. Romance where good things happen to nice characters and the rest get their comeuppance! Sometimes I just need to read books like that. The only bit I didn’t like was despite being a book concerned with coercive control, it provided instructions on how to do something potentially blackmailable.

98 . Ross Poldark by Winston Graham - a man returns to Cornwall after fighting in the American War of Independence to find his father dead, his estate neglected and his fiancée set to marry his cousin. This was in the deals and was a teenage favourite of mine & was interesting to reread after seeing so many pictures from the TV series. Despite the swooning reputation of the series, the appeal of the book is that it’s about disappointment and restraint focussed on a man out of sympathy with his own class (most of whom behave badly in various ways) and who tries to make the most of a bad situation to benefit himself and his dependants. I do like how vivid both the minor characters are and the depiction of life in Cornwall at the time (one of the most memorable sections is when the servants are talking about how Ross insists that they get rid of lice). Oddly, given that it was seeing part of an episode of the original series that led me to discover the books, other than that I’ve not watched either series. A bold.

99 . Life’s too short by Abby Jimenez - a woman thinks she is dying, fosters a baby and persuades her handsome neighbour to adopt an incontinent dog. As bad as it sounds.

Which one would you suggest? I have heard so much about A Monster Calls that I am saving it for when I am feeling strongminded. Glad to hear he's a nice man, he seemed like a very emotionally literate one from the book.

@SpunkyKhakiScroller I really thought highly of his adult book The Crane Wife but A Monster Calls is of course wonderful

@SpunkyKhakiScroller The Knife of Never Letting Go is a great YA dystopia series which my DC loved when they were 11 or 12. Dc2 had to read his latest book as part of the Carnegie awards earlier this year and wasn't particularly impressed by it though, something about a lizard that had France on its knee.

I really like this series.