50 Books Challenge 2026 Part One

[Southeastdweller]

Welcome to the first thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2026, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

If possible, please can you embolden your titles and maybe authors as well of books you've read or going to read? It makes it much easier to keep track, especially when the threads move quickly at this time of the year.

2.The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse
Great historical fiction story, 3rd in a series of 4

@SheilaFentiman I remember reading the LShaped Room as a young teenager in the 70s. It seemed dated then but an unusual topic for the time. It was made into a film IIRC.

Hello, have been following this thread so thought I better comment! I think my reading taste is a bit different to many here, but thought I would let you know my reads anyway:

1. The Will of the Many by James Islington the first in an epic fantasy series, thoroughly enjoyed this, looking forward to book 2!
2. Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett got an e-arc from NetGalley, thought this was great and a nice cosy fantasy.
3. Whisky and Roses by Bella James I am trying to read more indie authors, this was a fun romance set in Scotland.
4. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson I am also trying to read more series that are highly recommended, I thought this was great, parts definitely took me by surprise. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.

A few of us reported back on The L-Shaped Room when we read it for the Rather Dated Book Club here. If anyone's interested, here's the link to the thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5088059-rather-dated-may-lynne-reid-banks-the-l-shaped-room?reply=135755671

I think we're hoping to get the Rather Dated brain cells firing up again in 2026 so if anyone wants to join and has suggestions, please feel free! There’s a thread for that too:
www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5029141-the-mumsnet-rather-dated-book-group-all-welcome-to-join?page=5&reply=149699771

Thanks @Terpsichore !

Welcome @OkyDoke - all kinds of readers here, I'm partial to crime fiction myself

Welcome @OkyDoke I have The Will of the Many on my tbr. Glad to hear a good review of it.

@OkyDokeI read Mistborn last year but haven’t touched the sequels. I don’t know if I ever will. I have The Will Of The Many on my Wishlist even though I’m not a big fantasy reader

Hello, I was on one of these threads a few years ago and really enjoyed it, so going to jump in again if that's OK. I didn't record my reading at all last year and missed doing so, so hoping to do better this year. So far, I have read:

1. Gabriel's Moon by William Boyd Not my usual type of book, but I rather enjoyed this. Cold-war spy thriller.
2. Nesting by Roisin O'Donnell Daughter bought me this for Christmas - it's the story of a woman and her two small children and what happens after she leaves her emotionally abusive husband. Quite a tough read, really tense and claustrophobic in places, but beautifully written and insightful.
3. The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters This was a bit of a slow burner, but by the end I couldn't put it down. It's the story of a Canadian Indian child who is kidnapped by a white American woman and raised as their own (though the reader knows from the start what has happened). Also the story of her family and particularly one brother who are left behind.
4. Waist Deep by Linea Maja Ernst Something of a random Goodreads recommendation - Danish novel about a group of millenial friends who go away to a forest cottage for a week. It's pretty self-indulgent and navel-gazey, but also genuinely moving and thought-provoking about the great discrepancy between who you want to be at 18 and who you grow into.

I have just started Culpability by Bruce Holsinger (trying to read more men this year, as I seem to read a lot of female writers).

Welcome @thedoofus ! you are certainly not alone in reading more female than male authors - 65% female for me in 2025 and 83% in 2024.

(It is not obligatory to keep stats... I just like spreadsheets )

2. Nesting

Snap @thedoofus
I enjoyed this too and agree it was a tense read. Real page turner near the end.

Funnily enough I'm also reading Gabriel's Moon

5 Claimed in Shadows by Lara Adrian vampires
6 Aloneby Lisa Gardner a murder mystery thats been sitting on my kindle for years. I didn't guess the killer
They were both great fun

4.Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Polar Explorer Robert Walton rescues Victor Frankenstein from Arctic conditions. As his health returns, Victor shares the story of how his scientific experiments led to the creation of an monster, and how the monster's pursuit of him brought him to his current circumstances.

Obviously Frankenstein's monster is omnipresent in popular cultural, but it occured to me that I'd never read the book, and wanted to do so before watching the del Torro version. It took a while to get going, and when it did the narrative flipped to the monster's point of view, which while suggesting reasons to have sympathy for the monster, was a bit dull. But there's so much to think about in terms of the ethics of science and the relationship between the creator and the created that it's still a really thought provoking read. I'll look forward to watching the film at the weekend.

Popping in to get a bit of 50 Booker solace. Been rather stressed recently, which has lead me to comment on a whole variety of stuff in the wilds of mumsnet beyond this thread. Not sure that this has in anyway improved my mental state, but I do like it when I come across a '50 booker' elsewhere. It is a bit like being a kid and seeing your teacher in Tescos ( I am pretty sure that only makes sense to me ....)
Anyway, I have several books on the go, but not finished any of them. Would recommend The Cut Out Girl by Bart Van Es that was mentioned upthread. It is one of the best nonfiction books I've read

Jane Gardam mentioned above sounds my type of thing - might search out a second hand copy.

Off to read something - not doom scroll.

@StrangewaysHereWeCome i haven't seen the del Torro but I can highly recommend the NT version of Frankenstein which is available on demand. Jonny Lee Miller is imo better in both parts but he's a fantastically emotional Creature so I'd suggest watching that one. I find it mesmerising.
www.ntathome.com/frankenstein-with-jonny-lee-miller-as-the-creature

Sending 50B strength to you @Owlbookend

@Owlbookend I know exactly what you mean about seeing a 50booker elsewhere.

• The Stolen Crown - Tracy Borman

Apart from the title 😀 this was very good. A thorough and engaging examination of the various possible successors to Elizabeth I and how her decision never to name her choice impacted on her life and theirs. Borman has great expertise and this is a bold for me.

Sorry you’ve been having a stressful time, @Owlbookend. I’d definitely recommend the Jane Gardam - I came across my copies of Bilgewater and A Long Way from Verona just recently and thought I must make some time for a re-read.

sorry things have been so stressful, owl.
I've hidden virtually every topic on mn now - it was either that, or delete my account altogether.

re frankenstein - I actually think the creature's narrative contains some of the best writing. I always think that for a short book, it feels horribly long in places.

sorry for no capitals - I'm finding using the laptop very tricky - phone is better.

Sometimes I go on Baby Names @Owlbookend - mine are late teens now, but I find opining on “what should Morgan and Bella’s baby brother be called?” oddly soothing.

Hope you feel better soon Owl 💐

This irritated me this morning. A thinly veiled promotion for a lot of products including a scented candle, that will allegedly help you read 50 books a year:
https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter-us/2026/jan/14/how-to-read-more-books

If they don’t cite this thread, it’s not worth the pixels it’s written on 😀

The Power of Geography - Ten Maps that reveal the future of our world by Tim Marshall

A couple of years ago I read Prisoners of Geography and I recall it as mind blowing. It was entirely new to me that the success of your nation was based on navigable rivers and a fertile land, and a deep water port helped. This kind of shows it's not American exceptionalism that made the USA prosper, they got lucky.

So I thought I would read the follow up. I sort of wish I hadn't bothered, it was quite a slog. Each chapter about a country felt like a long list of 'then this dude invaded and ruled, then there was civil war, then this empire spread blah blah blah' and whilst I felt it's good information the huge amount of it meant it went in one ear and out the other.

The final chapter is on geopolitics in space, which again was a fresh idea to me and meant the book was worth reading. Marshall is an optimist suggesting it's possible the world works as a global team and I love this, but he does acknowledge so far we are heading down the familiar route of wanting to win and then position lasers.

Overall, I don't particularly recommend this but instead I recommend Prisoners although I think a large amount of regulars here picked it up before me anyway!

Hope you’re OK @Owlbookend