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’m not sure this counts as true RWYO as it’s a reread and for me RWYO is books I haven’t read before. It’s a keeper anyway so failed on both counts, but for some reason it’s been sitting in my TBR drawer for ages. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Shorter than I remember but a joy.

Oh, you can't dispose of THHGTTG, that would be unreasonable

Oh no, it’s staying!

I've managed 3 more - all 2024-5 buys though so not terribly old:
The Fertile Earth - Ruthvika Rao
The City of Last Chances - Adrian Tchaikovsky
Rapture - Emily Maguire.

I really enjoyed them all - reviews on 50 books thread.
I'm going to go for an older one next, though am also reading Wuthering Heights which is a paperback edition that cost £1 and has tiny text so assume it's been on my bookshelf (unread) for many years. Suspect it may date back to the 1990s.

I've just finished a helpful book about dyslexia which I bought several years ago and then failed to read despite really wanting to learn more about it so I can support my daughter..
Sadly I want to keep it for future reference so it won't be reducing my bookshelves overload issue but I am glad I read it I don't think it added a lot new as I have read various articles over the years now but it did give me reassurance and feels like a handy guide to go back to

To my shame between reading Kindle books and reading books I then decide to keep I am not really making any impact on my bookshelves ( worsened by a trip to a charity shop where I accumulated more books than I dropped off!).

I think next year I might have to set myself a challenge solely focused on reading books to give them away!

And another one off the Kindle unread list : The Lock Up - John Banville which apparently I bought almost exactly two years ago. Undemanding - review to follow on 50B thread.

I have finished four more RWYO - a self help book, a memoir of writing and depression: From my Life, I write to you in your Life by Yiyun Li, a fairly pacy thriller : A Spy Alone by Charles Beaumont, and The Plague by Albert Camus which was excellent, particularly the opening part when the rats start dying. Books on the go now down to 6.

Finished a 2022 purchase : Malibu Rising - Taylor Jenkins Reid. Easy read - review on 50B thread.

I've got this on my kindle too!

I enjoyed this, very readable!

Finished another one All Her Fault by Andrea Mara. A surprisingly enjoyable family crime thriller/drama. Lots of twists and turns, tightly plotted and kept me reading.

Next up, I think, will be The Daughter by T M Logan.

Finished another one Miss Benson’s Beetle by Rachel Joyce - on my kindle since April 2022. It was fine, enjoyed the second half more than the first.

I’ve finished one more- The Little Stranger by Sarah Perry- I’ve also had a mini flurry of book buying and library borrowing between the Women’s Prize Fiction Longlist coming out and a trip to London. Normal service should soon resume!

I have read a few off my Kindle - Frankie by Graham Norton, The Heather Blazing by Colm Tobin and You Are Here by David Nicholls. Enjoyed them all. Had a flight to Australia so got quite a bit of reading done.

Am staying with a friend and am about to start a book of hers which doesn’t help my RWYO aims but at least I haven’t bought it! Although did succumb to two Kindle 99p deals just now……

I have The Heather Blazing on my kindle- glad to hear it’s worth a read. I used to live in Australia and loved the journeys over and back because I’d get so much uninterrupted reading done’

@ÚlldemoShúl- yep I love that too about the journey!

I think we’ve spoken about Colm Tobin books before. I used to go to that area of Wexford as a child. He mentions so many places I remember.

I think half of Ireland is living here now. Was in Coles yesterday and could as easily have been in SuperValu with the amount of Irish people in there!

I mostly lived outside the big centres- summer in Tassie, winter in NQ sometimes FNQ (DH is a nurse and did short term contracts so we moved with his job) but any time we visited the bigger cities it was Irish people galore! We get everywhere lol

@ÚlldemoShúl - we do indeed! I bought a packet of Tayto in Coles yesterday…..

Finished The Daughter by T M Logan. Not really my cup of tea. It was one DH bought and read last year. Seem to recall him saying it wasn't that great. Some really improbable eye roll moments, felt over-stuffed with too many action-packed moments.

It's taken me a while but I have finished The Beautiful and the Damned - F Scott Fitzgerald. It's a double whammy for me as I seem to have bought it twice and have two different editions on my Kindle - both of which I bought in 2024. Will put review on 50B thread.

How is everyone going? My audio reads are currently Women’s Prize for non-fiction nominees from the library and I’ve bought 5 books this month but I’m currently reading oldies on kindle and physical. Book prize season and 50 booker recommendations I find hard to resist! My actual reading so far has been 7 owned and 2 new (with another 2 owned and 1 new close to finished)

I’m currently reading the John&Paul book I bought this year, so not a RWYO. But I suppose it’s good I’m reading it within a month or so of buying it rather than leaving it to become next year’s RWYO 😂

I also bought and read Heated Rivalry and its sequel last month. And used my audible credit on The Correspondent (I’ll use my credit every month but really, my library is already over full with stuff I’ve not listened to - it usually takes me much longer to get through an audiobook).

I’m listening to Braiding Sweetgrass currently, which I bought in September last year so technically could be a RWYO if I’m counting anything bought before 1st Jan this year. I’m not getting very far with it at all. I so want to like it.

Totals so far - read 10 books, 8 of which were RWYO. 6 of those were on kindle and 2 from the physical pile. No audiobooks completed yet.

Good point on next year’s RWYO
September’s last year definitely counts!
The Booker, International Booker and Women’s Prize Fiction could damage me but I’m determined to keep trying at least (and I’ll still have plenty to read when I’m a pensioner )

I’m still distracted by binging a TV show. @AliasGrape I really enjoyed the Correspondent

What’s the tv show @EineReiseDurchDieZeitand would you recommend?