Read What You Own 2026

[ÚlldemoShúl]

This is a brand shiny new thread for those of us who want to continue reading what we own in 2026.
My aims for 2026 are:

• At least half my reading will be from books I already own on 1st January 2026
• I will buy less than a quarter of my reading new including kindle deals😱 and book club books
• I will wait when prize lists are released to see if the books appear in the library within a week. I will not read full longlists unless I love the sound of each and every book on it.
• For the first two months I will only read what I own- focusing on the older books on my kindle while allowing myself to read newer (but already owned) physical books

What are your RWYO aims for 2026?

I have a bedding box full of books I still haven't read. Meanwhile, I continue to buy more books. I also have four bookcases full. I have physical books. I don't like Kindle.

I have been using an app on my phone. I think it is called Bookwise, but there are a few different ones. I scanned all my books into the app and can pick one from my TBR list on the app, rather than going through my physical books each time. You can record start and finish times. You can also put them in different categories. I have 'recommended' for books that I don't have but want to remember and look out for in the charity shop

I rarely read books twice. All my books are in perfect condition if I have bought them new. Unfortunately, most of our charity shops are not taking books as they are overwhelmed with them.

Raced through Free Country by George Mahood. An entertaining trip from Lands End to John O’Groats with no money and relying on the kindness of strangers.

Try a local school! :)

Or National Trust - a lot of their sites have secondhand bookshops and take donations.

Our local Tescos has a secondhand book stall too, fundraising for local charities. A local cafe has a book swap shelf too that I drop off a couple of books to from time to time.

So, worth having a look around for a few alternatives to charity shops if they're not currently taking book donations.

Anglo Collections will take books.

I use them for all sorts of donations - they even take toiletries that are up to half full.

You can choose which charity you want to donate to (I've chosen Together for Short Lives). They are very good.

https://anglodoorstepcollections.co.uk/what-we-collect/

If anyone does want to use them I can provide a referral link.

I finished reading The Language of Birds by Jill Dawson yesterday evening.

It was a fictional recreation of the events leading up to the murder of, and inquest into the death of Sandra Rivett at the hands of Lord Lucan, as told by a friend and fellow nanny. Names and some details were changed, but the novel was dedicated to the memory of Sandra Rivett.

A sad reflection on the way women have been mistreated by men over the years. Not just domestic violence but the not believing them when they were telling the truth about what happened, the belittling of them and dismissing of them, accusing them of being mentally unwell so that no-one will believe them. Rather downbeat and depressing, but very well written and good to see something from the pov of the victims rather than the murderer. Something I appreciated also with Halle Rubenhold's The Five.

Second RWYO completed, The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden. Enjoyable enough but not going to bother with book 2 in the series which is sitting on my shelf, so its another one down (kind of!)

Finished A Three Dog Problem by S J Bennett - I found it better than the first book in the series.

I’ve finished another RWYO - Different Class by Joanne Harris. Good fun mystery set in a private school.
That brings me to 12 books read in January which is less than usual but I’m happy with that. Of the 12, 11 were RWYO and 3 were 5 stars so a good reading month all round. I did buy 3 new books but as that’s only a quarter of what I read I don’t feel too bad about that. Aiming for nine bought next month though.

Finally finished Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors last night.

Liked the book but was struggling towards the end as the print seemed quite small. Went for an eye test this morning and I have reading glasses ordered. Already have distance ones. So until I get my reading glasses I will be using my kindle!

Will pick one later that I’ve had for a while.

@ÚlldemoShúl I'm also happy to read a bit less this year (average 20 books a month last year) - it feels a bit calmer!

Finished Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah. - I felt this was better than the first book in the series, but didn’t fully ring true to Poirot. I may give another one a go.

I dont think I'll finish anything else this month, so calling January as 24, however 12 were Chalet School, so its almost a 'false' 24. I finished 2 physical books, 5 kindles and 5 library books. So really, 19 in all. Pleased with that.

Had an awful few days, lots of stress. Hoping to get back to it 😕😬

Hope things start looking up Raven

FINALLY finished The Goldfinch. Ye Gods, it was so bloody long. Too bloody long.

I ended up hate reading The Goldfinch to get to the end. Having enjoyed The Secret History and The Little Friend, I loathed this one. Normally I would DNF a book I'm not enjoying, but stubbornly I persisted with it, thinking it would be worth finishing because it was Donna Tartt ... 🙄

I think what it did do was confirm to me that I really ought to have DNF'd it when I first thought it wasn't going well for me.

I will, however, hopefully finish Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I by Tracy Borman today. So far it's been a fascinating read. Good to be back in my favourite period of history.

Finished a couple of Netgalley ones, 12 experiments that changed the world and Soyangi Book Kitchen.
I will get my rating up to 80% eventually!

That’s exactly the same with me. I carried on because I thought it would be worth it be a use I loved The Secret History and The Little Friend. There were bits of this one I enjoyed but overall I was really not a fan and should have been a DNF.

My last completed book in January is Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I by Tracy Borman.

I really enjoyed this exploration of the connections between mother and daughter - how Anne's intelligent, well-educated, progressive mind influenced her daughter's reign.

Anne was often a difficult woman, argumentative and quick-tempered and easily made enemies at Court, which brought about her downfall, but no-one can say that her short reign as Henry VIII 's second wife was unremarkable.

Interestingly, our current royals are descended from her sister Mary, so we still have Boleyns ruling this country.

@CatWithThreeLegs i never knew that about the line of descent, google tells me it’s through the late Queen Mother. How cool!

4th RWYO, 6th overall. However I have a bunch of library holds which have just arrived so that will knock RWYO % down I fear.

4th book was 1 Dead in Attic, by Chris Rose, a collection of newspaper columns from the year following Hurricane Katrina. I bought it in New Orleans in 2017 so it's definitely one of my older books!

It is really fascinating to see how a family we think of as just being bound up with Tudor history is still relevant today. Prince William is descended from Mary Boleyn on both sides because the late Princess Diana was a descendant too. I really love this little snippet of history.

Finished another - All the Rage by Virginia Nicholson- history of the politics of fashion 1860-1960. More interesting that I expected.

Finished A Voyage Around The Queen by Craig Brown.

Turned out a bit of a slog in parts, which was not in anyway the fault of Craig Brown, just that the Queen was genuinely not a very interesting person.

In contrast his book about Princess Margaret was awesome.