26ish books 2026

[Tinkhasflown]

A shiny new thread for 2026.

All welcome and note 26 is just a number. Everyone can set their own target and you are welcome here even if you only read 2 books a year.

I personally count the larger novel style books I read to my children and audio books I listen to. Others don't and there are no rules.

I look forward to all your suggestions again this year.

@Bruisername I would give Still Life by Louise Penny a miss. It was universally hated in my book club and I dont think any other book has been. I was probably most favourably disposed to it but, still, I wouldn't bother. You can tell it is a first novel and you can see she has potential as a writer but isn't there yet. I was told the series gets better at about book 5.

🤣 my mil loves Louise penny and gave it to me for my birthday so I’m obliged to read it!!

Oh well! There is a good bit when she explains about what she means by "still life"

Well I ended up distracted by a book I’d thought I’d abandoned but I’d just shoved the bookmark back in and it took me a few pages to realise I’d already read it

have started The Animals in that Country by Laura Jean McKay - will save Louise Penny for holiday!

@MonkeyTennis34 wild dark shore was one of my top books of 2025

@icedpuddles that is genuinely the most honest and fascinating review of hee sting that I’ve seen

#7 Yomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow

loved this book, a friend has been recommending it for ages and I’ve held off a bit because DH works (and is obsessed with) video games but I found it very easy to read, very intriguing in terms of world building and story telling (I also work in games but don’t play them and it made me want to) and I just adored all 3 central characters which is rare, is it the greatest piece of literature ever? No. But it moved me and I scribbled out various brief statements that rang very true.

Book 5 finished.
1 Last One at the Party by Bethany Clift
2 God of the Woods by Liz Moore
3 A Time for Mercy by John Grisham
4 The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden
5 His and Hers by Alice Feeney

Not sure what to try next. The names has been mentioned a lot. And another poster recommend Claire Douglas to me.

@Citygirlrurallife that is very kind of you!

1.One of us by Elizabeth Day.
2.The Backpacking Housewife by Janice Horton.
3.The Hike by Lucy Clarke
4.Postcards from a stranger by Imogen Clark
5.Introducing Mrs Collins by Rachel Parris
6.Remarkably bright creatures by Shelby van Pelt
7.Sleeping Tiger by Rosamund Pilcher

1. When the cranes fly south by Lisa Rizden

I really struggled to move on from book 8, started a few other books but couldn't get past first chapter.

9.A midlife holiday by Carry Hanson, light hearted chick lit
10. Nesting by Rosie O'Donnell another highly emotional book and a woman trying to leave an abusive relationship.

I’ve finally finished book 4! I was on a roll but halfway through this book I lost my mojo and struggled to pick it up for a while - not because the book didn’t hold my interest, I’ve really enjoyed it, I will look to get the 3rd book in the Connie Woolwine series as I’m interested to see how the story arch develops and I did enjoy the institution when I read it.

1.Then she was gone - Lisa Jewell
2.Beautiful ugly - Alice Feeney
3.The Intruder - Freida McFadden
4.The Shadowman - Helen Fields

I need to decide what to start next, I’ve a big pile to choose from but I do get decision paralysis so I might have to try pick at random

4.Close to Home by Michael Magee
Listened to this on audible.
I’m still not sure how I feel about this book.
The writing is excellent, spare yet powerful and heartbreaking in some places, genuinely funny in other places.
I felt for the main character but I got equally frustrated with him and the constant benders.
I was praying for a hopeful ending…

6. Glorious Exploits - Ferdia Lennon
Latest book club read. We all enjoyed it and felt the contemporary Irish vernacular used didn't detract from the ancient Sicilian setting at all. Reminded me of Roddy Doyle's The Commitments. Learned a lot about Euripides! However, we didn't find it as funny as some of the reviewers have said & wondered why it had won the Wodehouse prize for comic fiction.

4: Column of Fire by Ken Follett. The third in the Kingsbridge series of epic historical tales woven around real life events (Pillars of the Earth being the first), this one in and around the time of Elizabeth I. I didn't feel as engaged with the main characters as in the previous books, there was not enough tension. On the plus side, the first book shows its age (pub. 1989) by the way the female characters, while strong and independent, are described in ways more suited to 90s tabloid newspapers, which grated when I re-read it last year, This one (pub. 1917) is better in that respect.

Book 5 Completed
Opal by Patricia Wolf
This is the third book in an Australian outback set detective series. Had forgotten about having it on my kindle but still ill and wasn’t able to concentrate so this was an easy read. It was disappointing as I liked the first two but this didn’t grab me as much.

Book 6
I discovered that I have Hagseed by Sinead Gleason on my kindle. Only 7 chapters in but absolutely loving it so far.

I've finished book 5. Brimstone by Callie Hart. A bit sad because I was enjoying it even though the main character can be quite annoying.

I am moving on to The Girl With The Louding Voice.

@RightOnTheEdge I really enjoyed the girl with the loading voice

Finally finished my third book of the year

3.The Briar Club by Kate Quinn.

I’m a huge huge Kate Quinn fan, but this one felt quite different from her other novels and took me a while to get into, something not helped by the extremely long chapters. That said, once I reached the second half, I was completely hooked. It’s an historical murder mystery with Kate’s signature weaving of reallife stories, and it ultimately becomes a fantastic tale of strong women, their secrets, love, and resilience.

This was heading toward a three-star rating (my lowest ever for a Kate Quinn book!), but the ending—along with Kate’s legendary Historical Notes—pushed it up to a solid four stars.

On to the next read: The Names by Florence Knapp

I loved The Trees! James is on my list but I haven’t read Huckleberry Finn. Do you think you need to before reading?

New to this thread, and motivated to join because I saw someone mention Rohinton Mistry's 'A Fine Balance' which I loved loved loved. (I hope I'm on the right thread!)

I used to be a voracious reader but have got out of the habit since Covid and kids.

Going in reverse order, most recently read first:

1 Intermezzo by Sally Rooney.
I'm not a huge SR fan generally, but picked this one up at the charity shop and thought I'd give it a go. The first half was readable -- I just wanted to keep turning pages, learning about Ivan and his brother... but then I got a bit fed up with them all. So a guilty DNF for me, although I keep feeling I should go back to it and see it through to the end.

2 Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. A re-read.

Next: I'd like to read the Booker-shortlisted 'The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny' by Kiran Desai, but I'm not sure I want to shell out for the hardcover.

I read some of the Booker shortlist last year, so these don't count towards my 2026 goals, but I thought I'd put them here as a sort of 'note to self', and by way of getting acquainted with you all!

Flesh, by David Szalay. Loved this, finished it in two days. Thought it was very original and surprising. A worthy winner, and I want to read his earlier books now.

Audition by Katie Kitamura. I know people who loved this, but it 100% was not for me. I forced myself to finish it and then felt like I'd wasted several hours of my life.

The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovitz. This seemed an unpopular choice for the shortlist, but I quite enjoyed it, and would read more by him. I didn't know anything about basketball and I enjoyed learning about it. I found the character's health problems quite worrying - the puffy eyes and the various things he suffered from sounded terrible!

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood. Started and put it down, but might return to it.

Love Forms by Claire Adam. I have an adoption history in my family and this was an emotional read for me. The ending just ... broke my heart. In fact, thinking back to the ending now, my heart is breaking again. And now I have to go away and have a little cry....

I don’t think so. My memory of Huckleberry Finn is from a dim and dusty past but as you’ll be aware, the concept of James is taking a secondary character from HF and foregrounding them.

I haven't read Huck Finn and it didn't matter. I did find myself looking at a map of the states in the book online though.

@PineWow your reviews were very interesting. I had the misfortune to read Intermezzo for a book club, I did finish it but it was dull, very worthy and not nice or good. I have been wondering if I would enjoy Flesh and you have spurned me on to give it a go. It will have to wait a bit as I am currently reading Middlemarch. Thank you!

2 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

A children's classic that I actually didn't read as a child! I really enjoyed it :)

I’m on book #6 which is Wellness by Nathan Hill. It was a random Christmas gift and I’m usually not keen on these if I don’t know the writer but this got good reviews on goodreads, and I’m loving it so far! It’s a long one (almost 600 pages) and I’m about a third of the way through. It’s about a couple who met in their 40s looking back over their 20 year marriage, with each of them doing a deep dive into themselves (all the way back to their childhoods) as they are struggling with their marriage, parenthood, sense of self… seeing how certain incidents have shaped them
and their current behaviours and patterns is fascinating and really well portrayed. I’m not describing it well but it’s really readable, edging towards literary - I will report back when I’ve finished!
Also though, I still can’t stop thinking about my #3 book Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee - really recommend for a near-future climate disaster novel

5: Manners and Mischielf by Lady Anne Glenconner (audio, I love her voice). A short collection of thoughts and experiences from Lady Anne, regardless of what you think of the aristocracy she has lead a long and fascinating life, enduring some terrible tragedies and an abusive marriage. Huge respect to her for making a totally new career as an author in her late 80s.