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?

Just finished Death Around the Bend by TE Kinsey - bought in 2017. An easy to read mystery book with quite a bit of humour between Lady Hardcastle and her maid Florence as they investigate.

Finished two more recently: The Wah-Wah Diaries by Richard E Grant, on the making of his semi-autobiographical film in the early 2000s, and The Guest List by Lucy Foley, a whodunnit set at a society wedding on a remote island. Both readable but as I’m in a ruthless mood they’re both going.

Read The Truth about Melody Browne - Lisa Jewell which I bought in 2024. Enjoyed and will review on 50B thread.

I just finished Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson.. didn’t like at first but got much better as it went along

I finished Clown Town by Mick Herron. This just slipped into RWYO as DH got it for me for Christmas!

I also bought one book from my wishlist down to 99p - May we Feed the King by Rebecca Perry

ooh that's on my wishlist too and keep seeing it mentioned as a possible prize book.

I haven't posted much on here but have successfully RWYO 6 books in January. And this month's book club book is Wuthering Heights which my brother did at school so have found an ancient copy kicking around with tiny text.

This means I think I can treat myself to the Rebecca Perry ...

I have finished three more RWYO - Breathtaking by* Rachel Clarke, I* am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. I keep starting books without finishing others so am going to try and tackle that this month as I currently have 8 books on the go (although that includes three readalongs).

Finished another RWYO - Oh Miriam! by Miriam Margolyes. It's* *part two of her memoirs. Cheeky, rude, outspoken, very sweary, funny, and with lots of frank talk about her sexual exploits. She's unique, wise, and clever. I like her, despite the fact that some of her exploits made me cringe with embarrassment.

Just finished my book club read which I’ve had for quite a while as it happens- The Painted Veil by W Somerset Maugham

We are all going great guns! I’ve just finished another RWYO (When the Dust Settles by Lucy Easthop), and more importantly I’ve managed to extend my no book buying into Feb!

I've just finished Americanah. It was a kindle read so doesn't help with.my overcrowded bookshelves issue but I am glad I have read it

Finished Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys- book club buddy read which is also a RWYO- nice! Great read too.

@ÚlldemoShúl oh I loved Wide Sargasso Sea although it took me a while before I could decouple it enough from Jane Eyre so that it didn’t ruin my love for that book.

Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet
Another RWYO although, strictly speaking, bought in January as the premise of it sounded intriguing. It is a modern YA reworking of Little Women, where Beth is murdered and the sisters come together to work out who was responsible. Not bad.

Third RWYO of the year done - Literary Noir 1 by Cornell Woolrich which was a stand-out read for me. A short story collection of golden age detective fiction, I'd already come across a couple of the stories before but it was still a joy to re-read them.

Second RWYO finished - Perspective(s) by Laurent Binet. Bought this when I was on holiday in France last year. If you've read Dangerous Liaisons you might enjoy this.

And another one read from my Kindle: Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones. Apparently I bought it in 2020. Will review on 50B thread.

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, had for 5 years on Kindle did as audio book. Review will be on 50B later

Had a brief break from reading what I own to read Heated Rivalry and the follow up, after getting a little too into the tv series.

Back to it and just finished Step by Step by Simon Reeve which was good overall but I found the second half or so a bit of a slog. Love Simon but will stick to the tv shows.

Just finished Paper Cup by Karen Campbell which I really enjoyed.

The Glass Hotel - Emily St John Mandel I reviewed this on 60B and then realised it squeaked into my (personal) RWYO criteria as I bought it before the end of 2024. Enjoyed the characters but found the time jumps and viewpoint jumps quite confusing.

Have finished another three
Milly Johnson - The Happiest Ever After - love Milly’s books and she is really down to earth too
Frances Evesham - Murder at the Lighthouse
JM Dalgliesh - Kill Our Sins

5 . Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell - review on the 50B thread.

This concludes my Maggie O’Farrell backlog, which is good. I’m finding tackling my RWYO via themes a good way to make progress. Next step is to return to my 17th century backlog!

I’m halfway to my annual target, which is good!

I am so far behind you all!

I have just finished Brimstone by Callie Hart which is the only book I've bought so far this year, and now I'm dedicating myself to RWYO, so I'm going to go back to The Girl With The Louding Voice.
I started it quite a while ago but was struggling to concentrate and left it half read so now I'm going back to finish it.