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.

Finished book number 6 - I am I am I am by Maggie O'Farrell A memoir which takes us through the author's life and brushes with near death. Beautifully written. Each chapter was a standalone scenario, so it was a good book to pick up and put down in a busy week.

Number 6 Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney.

5 - Night Swimmers - Roisin Maguire
absolutely loved this. A quiet novel with incredibly good language and characterisation. Really sad in places but just beautiful.

Totally agree re Intermezzo

4: The Fraud by Zadie Smith
Was a bit disappointed by this. It seemed promising at first and then for me just tailed off and I found I was really distracted. I wanted more of Eliza Touchet's story and less about the wretched Tichborne Trial.

Book number 7, Amy and isabelle by Elizabeth Strout, finished today. This was the last of her books I hadn't read, and conversely the first she'd written. It was a delight, a story about everything and nothing at the same time. Really beautifully crafted novel. I know Elizabeth Strout has a new book coming out later this year and I can't wait.

Slightly unsure what to read next, tbh

3. The Poisonwood Bible. Barbara Kingsolver.

well I loved this, not at first though. The first 200 pages I wondered why this was rated as a favourite by so many, but a slow burn, it them kicked in. Amazing book with such beautiful writing, wonderful characterisation and a lot of food for thought. Not a book I will forget. 5 stars from me.

Was in a big reading slump over the last few weeks, just not feeling any book that I picked up.

Finally finished with Eurotrash, by Christian Kracht.

Bit odd in that he used his own name for the character, and it finished quite suddenly after taking a while to get going.

I wanted to expand my reading this year, so it was chosen for being an International Booker longlist book, which sounded better than it was.

Book 10 The Matchmaker by Aisha Saeed. This was from the Goodreads Valentine's selection - I don't actually read much romance - I do listen in bed but read this on Kindle. It was fun and not too gory OR too soppy.

Book 10 finished - This must be the place by Maggie O’Farrell. I enjoyed it but didn’t love it. Think the bar was set high to me by Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait and this was nothing like them. I did however love the main female character, Claudette. She became a bit of a recluse in her house in the middle of the woods and her life style really resonated with me.

Book 11 will be Wilding by Isabella Tree about the rewilding of a working farm. I really want to work on rewilding our garden so I’m hoping this will be inspiring.

All you guys on book 10/11 are you on the right thread? Surely the 50 a year will more apt seeing as you’re over a 3rd off 26 by mid Feb.

I read about 5 of them in the Christmas holidays.

I always read more in winter than summer, so it averages out to around 26

Finished Beautiful Ugly already. Quite liked it, found the end a bit annoying though.
Number 7: Local Girl Missing by Claire Douglas
I'm looking for some recommendations for something a bit different after this though. I've read a few thriller with a twist types recently.
Recommendations I've seen on mumsnet before that I read and loved but would never normally have chosen, were Fingersmith, American Dirt, Lessons in Chemistry. If anyone can give me some titles of non twisty thrillers I should try then I would be grateful!

7. Persuasion - Jane Austen
A re-read after having watched the dire but well acted film version on Netflix (modern slang, breaking the 4th wall!). Such long sentences though.
I've just seen that the 1990's Amanda Root/Ciaran Hinds BBC version is available on iPlayer so will watch as a comparison.

@PinkOrangeRed The Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds version is my favourite of all the JA adaptations.

8 North Woods - Daniel Mason. A re-read from last year as it was chosen for book club, didn’t love it the second time around either. Too many stories that move on too quickly and quite a few annoyed or bored me. Solid 2.5/5

9 The Life Impossible - Matt Haig. Needed an easy to listen to audiobook while sick last week and it’s narrated mainly by Joanna Lumley, who I adore particularly doing audio drama. She was fab and well suited but the book itself was too fluffy and repetitive for me

re number of books, when I first started on this thread I think I managed 12 books that year and it’s steadily increased so now I average around 40, but the pace suits me here and people on the 50 book thread read more like 100!! I can’t keep up at all so I miss recommendations whereas I get a lot on this thread and I especially love it when there’s a flurry like a few years ago quite a lot of us did some Daphne du Maurier re-reads which I loved!

I read about 40 per year too.

Afternoon👋 Finished book five....
(1) The French for Christmas by Fiona Valpy
(2) The Outside Boy by Jeannie Cummins
(3) Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
(4) All the Broken Places by John Boyne
(5) A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Description taken from Amazon:

Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism.

Such a brilliant book which had a profound effect on me - so sad and scary to think that the horrible events which take place in the book are taking place again due to the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the the whole world is sitting back and allowing it to happen.

A book that everyone has to read!

Onto the next...

Happy reading everyone :)

@Clairedebear101286 that's my all time favourite book too - despite the anguish at reading it. It has stayed with me.

No 7 - Lord of the Flies by William Golding. My first time reading this book and I wanted to read it before watching the TV dramatization. I can't believe it's passed me by. Such a well written and frankly believable book about a group of boys stranded on an island and how they quickly turned to savages. Great characters in the story.

I have that on my TBR pile too - must get to it!

I’ve just finished book 5: The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell - I didn’t want to put it down, great book, good rounded characters with lots of twists and really well written

2026 books so far:
then she was gone
beautiful ugly
the intruder
the shadows

I am listening to (but not counting in my books) The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell.

Finished book 7 Local Girl Missing by Claire Douglas. It was ok, read it pretty quickly.
Looking for something a bit different now.

4 The Names - Florence Knapp

following the alternative lives of a family upon making one single decision and how that can change the course completely.

I wasn’t expecting the heartbreaking story in this book at all. The first few chapters were an extremely hard read for me. That said it was fantastically done and so powerful.

I did struggle a little bit with the back and forth and found myself a little confused by all the different characters but I enjoyed it. I gave it 3.5 stars (but upped to 4 on GR which is unlike me as I usually round down on a half) I felt it deserved more than a 3 but not as good as the 4s I’ve read recently.

book club tomorrow so my next read is a complete surprise