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.

6 - A Little Trickerie - Rosanna Pike
I loved this! It was sad and funny, and I rooted for the main character Tibb all the way through. Lovely cast of characters

Finished book 9, Gliff by Ali Smith. It's my first ever Ali Smith book amd tbh, I'm not sure what to make of it. I need to digest it a while.

I'm currently reading this book. Really enjoying it.

@GreenSalon I loved Hagstone, just the right side of a bit nuts and I liked that the central female character was a bit unusual.

@icedpuddles A Jonathan Coe I read last year (Middle England I think) has a cancellation over trans issues plot and I wondered how it will age. It's very real and relevant now but not mainstream and I wonder if readers in, say, 10 plus years will be a bit bemused. That's the danger of writing very contemporary fiction I suppose - the period aspects might date quickly and you don't know how it will pan out.

5. The Christmas Clue by Nicola Upson.
I read this the wrong time of year. I was good but would have been even better in December. Great Christmas gift or for an old fashioned crime fan.

Set in 1940s. The main characters are the couple who invented Cluedo and in the novel their inspiration comes from a murder that takes place in a snowy little village they are stay in over Christmas. I thought it would be fluffy and light weight fun, and it was an easy read but the aspects around the murder are quite dark, and the twists are pleasing.

I need to update my list a little more regularly!
Book 6 Bel Canto - Ann Patchett, I didn’t love it, I just felt it was a bit far fetched. I felt the characters all carried on like they were at a holiday camp rather than being held hostage...

Book 7 Wild Dark Shore - Charlotte McConaghy absolutely loved this, would recommend!

Book 8 All the Good Things You Deserve - Elaine Feeney I had been recommended this author by a friend and got this on Borrowbox. I didn't realise it was a book of poems, but I found some of them quite powerful. I was hooked on her writing. I will seek out her novels.

Book 9 All the Broken Places - John Boyne The sequel to the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I really enjoyed this book. Another I would recommend.

4 Rosarita by Anita Desai

Not sure what to think of this short novella. It read like a fable - but feel I was maybe missing something?! Really well written though, I like her style and can see why she's been a Booker shortlisted author several times.

3 stars out of 5

Just finished number 6 Mythologies by Roland Barthe - a collection of essays by a French critic. I'll be honest, a lot of it went over my head and it reminded me why I hated anything philosophy adjacent at university. But there were some good nuggets in there and it's good to push your comfort zone out a bit sometimes!

Finally finished There Are Rivers in the Sky, going to try to get another, already started book finished before my book club book comes in. Knowing my luck my library reserve will come in on the same day!

I finished Don't Let Him In and then read book no.8 The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson. Which was really interesting because they are very similar stories but set 300 years apart.
Con men conning through the ages!

I also finished book no.9 When The Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker.

I think I'm going to read The Light A Candle Society by Ruth Hogan next.

Got Bridget Jones's Diary finished, did not get the love for it. Maybe if I'd read it in my twenties I'd see it differently, but no I didn't enjoy that one.

Finished book 6 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie which I love and have read many times before. Muriel Spark is so good at saying a lot in a very slim book.

Finished book 8 The Lying Game by Ruth Ware. It was pretty good.
Book 9 The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory.

7 - The Mourning Necklace by Kate Foster
thoroughly enjoyed this historical fiction. Set in 1700s Scotland with the story centring around the Fisherrow/Musselburgh area of Scotland. It is based on the true historical figure Maggie Dickson - a young woman who survived her hanging for supposedly murdering her baby. It’s a beautiful tale with many harrowing parts around the unjust and unfair treatment of women in that time. It’s extremely well written with vivid descriptions. I would strongly recommend this if you enjoy historical fiction.

Finished book no 8 - The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I think it was recommended on this thread.

I really enjoyed this read; it was something you could pick up and put down without losing the plot. The character, Nora, wanted to end her life, but instead entered a world in a library, that was between dying and death. The library was full of books that had alternative versions of her life, depending on the choices she made through life. It was a really reflective read.

Reading has slowed down a bit this month as I’m spending more time outside sorting the garden.

Book 11 finished - wilding by Isabell Tree
So much thought provoking information so I took this one slow to absorb it all. It has definitely changed how I view the rural landscape around me. I did enjoy reading it and learnt a lot about different species and considerations when rewilding a space, but I did struggle with the authors total dismissal of any opposing opinions to hers. She came across quite condescending at times which I found annoying.

I’m really enjoying the nature themed books at the moment so I have a few more lined up. I’m continuing my interest with book 12 - The Accidental Garden by Richard Mabey

Just finished book 10 You Are Here, by David Nicholls. Very easy read, wth dome lovely scenery and a sweet, funny dialogue. And the first book by a male author I've read in absolute ages.

I haven’t updated for ages. Seem to have been reading a lot of non-fiction so going to choose a novel for my next read.

3. Those Were The Days - JP O’Neill
4. How Does It Feel - Mark Kermode
5. Abroad in Japan - Chris Broad (audiobook)
6. Fingers Crossed - Miki Berenyi

I’m also listening to the Brontë BBC radio collection - all of their novels dramatised. I’ll count it as one book when I’ve finished!

4) The Glass blowers by Daphne Du Maurier. I love Du Maurier books and enjoyed this one. A fictional book based on her French ancestors who were glass blowers and their lives through the French Revolution. Not my favourite book of hers but enjoyed it and found the history fascinating as I know very little about the French Revolution.

5: The Life Impossible by Matt Haig
Just found it a bit odd really. On the plus side it was a light, easy read.

Finished number seven: There Are Mountains in the Sea by Ray Nayler. I really really enjoyed this one - not normally a sci fi fan but this was so interesting in its exploration of language and culture and also humanity's propensity to destroy. I think it is my first 5 star of the year!

Book 10 Walk the Blue Fields - Claire Keegan a collection of short stories. Really liked this book.

book 10 - Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov

might need a second read, very interesting premise and beautifully written but it lost me about 2/3rds in and though I finished I struggled to reengage

@Tinkhasflown
Have you read Antarctica? Another book of short stories by Clare Keegan. It’s excellent.