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.

14 Fourteen days by multiple authors

a novel set in Covid times, residents of an apartment block in NYC gather on the rooftop each evening to cheer the key workers and share stories. Each chapter is written by a different author including Margaret Attwood, Celeste Ng, John Grisham, Tess Gerritsen, R L Stine.

I loved the idea of this and I really wanted to like it but I really struggled through it. Some of the stories were great but others were just a bit odd. If it wasn’t a read for book club I think I would have given up.
such a shame. It had the makings of a great book!

2026 reads so far

1. What a Way to Go - Bella Mackie
2. All the Colours of the Dark - Christopher Whittaker
3. The Briar Club - Kate Quinn
4. The Names - Florence Knapp
5. None of this is True - Lisa Jewell (audio)
6. A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J Maas
7. James - Percival Everett
8. Daisy Darker - Alice Feeney
9. Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir
10. A court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J Maas
11. A Good Girls Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson
12. A court of wings and ruin - Sarah J Maas
13. The Cut Throat Trial - The Secret Barrister

10: We Solve Murders by Richard Osman. I DNF the Thursday Murder Club when it came out, but I do like crime and I thought I'd give this one which is the start of a different series a try. As with TTMC there are a central group of characters and about 20 minor ones, lots of twists and turns but it all turned out well in the end, even the bad guys were portrayed as not that nasty, just people who carry out crime for a living.

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

I enjoyed the present day stuff more than the flashbacks, but it's one that relied heavily on Lolita to tell the story.

29 Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson.
A really interesting and quite believable premise. Interesting and thoughtful but not too hard a read.

7 You Are Here by David Nicholls

A nice, gentle read. Maybe didn't live up to the hype for me but I did enjoy it. A solid 3 out of 5.

Just finished Crow Lake by Mary Lawson. Great read had me hooked from the start, didn’t want it to end.

Finished book no 12 - How to stop time by Matt Haig

I loved this book, it was a nice gentle read. Complete fantasy story about a man who didn't age - he was over 400 years old but his body was that of a young adult. Each chapter was moving between different times, as he tried to not attract attention to his oddity. A really intriging book.

10.The House Man by Tatiana de Rosnay

The idea was interesting. How it must have felt to lose your home while Baron Haussmann was demolishing and rebuilding his fabulous avenues in Paris. A woman writing and reading letters to/from her dead husband and to other people while waiting to die rather than leave her house. I didn't connect with main character really and thought (a bit like her practical daughter who'd moved out of Paris) that it was just bricks and mortar (harsh, moi!). A "twist" at the end felt a little shoehorned in. 3/5

11.The Lost Vintage by Ann Mah

Set in Burgundy, a Master of Wine candidate renews ties with her mother's family in Burgundy (and with an old flame). She uncovers stories of her family's activities during the Occupation. This novel was enjoyable, although it mixed a quite heavy WWII story with a fluffy romance. Far too much French sprinkled through to remind us that the characters were in France (OK, we get it!). 4/5

12. When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén / Alice Menzies translator from Swedish / Ifan Huw Dafydd narrator

Oh, my! 89-year-old Bo is on his last legs and his son wants to take his dog away. Sixten is my new favourite dog after Six-Thirty! Haven't sobbed so much in years. Recommended if you like slow, insightful, thought-provoking. (Reminds me of the film The Father.) Narration was excellent. 5/5

2) Matt Haig ‘The Life Impossible’

This book reminded me a bit of the Paulo Coelho books I used to read it my early twenties, although it’s more fantastical, than mystical.
It started well but then I had big breaks from reading it as it didn’t keep my attention enough. Anyway, I persevered and although not as good as his ‘Midnight Library’ I’d recommend as a light, holiday read - full of sunshine and warmth.

10. The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier.
Bit of an odd one. Jumps about in time from 1480s but following the same glassmaking family on Murano, and they don't age accordingly. For example we might skip on 120 years but all the characters only move on 4 years. It works pretty well overall and means that so much history can be packed in - such as trade, slavery, plague, wars, industrialisation and it's woven in neatly. There's something a bit odd about the writing style, a bit stilted and formal, and the use of odd bits of Venitian / Italian dialogue was a bit pretentious but I found it a very interesting read and was very invested in the characters.
I will say I am quite interested in glass making and there is a lot of description about how glass and beads are made. I know someone who isn't interested and got very bored with those passages and just wanted to crack on with the narrative.

6 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.

I had been wanting to read this for a while, now I finally finished it 5 weeks later. It was a long hard slog. In 2 minds, parts were brilliant and other parts dragged. Some parts very difficult to determine what was actually going on and so many characters!!! But overall enjoyed. Now going to watch the TV series.

Has anyone here ready the sequel Bring up the bodies? No plans to read just yet but curious is others found it easier to read than Wolf Hall?

I am currently listening to/reading two books about time travel (The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, and The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley). Both due back at the library soon so I'm persisting but I'm confused!

I think it is similar but it was a few years since I read it. Worth it though as is the third in the series.

Book 10: Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell - superb book, lots of twists and i enjoyed that different chapters were told from the perspective of different key characters, didn’t see the ending coming at all.

2026 books so far:
then she was gone
beautiful ugly
the intruder
the shadowman
the family upstairs
Rock Paper Scissors
The Family Remains
The House we Grew up in
It Should Have Been You

Book 15 was A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman. I absolutely loved this and bawled my eyes out at the end - very gentle read, understated and poignant.

18 The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes
This was our latest book club choice. A short novel about memory, time and regret. Well-written. Reminded many of us of "On Chesil Beach".

19 Fates and Furies - Lauren Goff
A DNF for me. Had chosen this as it was previously Barack Obama's book of the year in 2015. It tells the story of a marriage, seen from both sides. Unlikeable and unrealistic characters. Overtly flowery language. Gave up after 80 pages.

Such a lovely book. I read this and have gone in to read quite a few of his books. I have My Friends saved for my holiday reading.

Lovely book.

7.Nesting by Rosin O’Donnoll
Overall enjoyed this read. Parts harder to read, but not to the same degree as Shuggie Bain was.

Finished book number 13 - All her fault by Andrea Mara.

This followed the lives of several women, as they face the trauma of a missing child. Initially I didn't think the book would be too challenging, but there were plenty of twists and turns, and lots of suspense. Would definitely recommend.

@Orangebadger Personally I wouldn’t bother, just watch the TV series! You’re in for a real treat.

@drspouse I’m reading Ministry of Time and finding the writing quite irritating. It inspired me to start another thread about time travel books! I loved Doomsday Book as a teenager but re-reading it as an adult via audiobook I found the quality of the writing so poor it was almost excruciating listening to it being read aloud. It’s a brilliant story, though!

Morning :)

Books read so far:

(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
(6) Crooked Branch by Jeannie Cummins
(7) Nesting by Roisin O'Donnell
(8) Never Lie by Frieda McFadden
(9) All Her Fault by Andrea Mara (Audio book)
(10) The Locked Door by Frieda McFadden

Latest book....

(11) All the Light We Cannot See by By Anthony Doerr

Synopsis taken from google:

Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel All the Light We Cannot See (2014) is a historical fiction novel set during World War II, tracing the converging paths of Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a blind French girl, and Werner Pfennig, a bright German boy. The non-linear narrative explores themes of morality, humanity, and survival as they both experience the destruction of war before intersecting in the occupied French town of Saint-Malo.

Key Characters and Plotlines

• Marie-Laure LeBlanc: Growing up in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, she goes blind at age six and learns to navigate using detailed scale models built by her father. When the Nazis occupy Paris, she and her father flee to Saint-Malo to live with her reclusive great-uncle, Etienne, bringing with them a dangerous and rare jewel known as the Sea of Flames.
• Werner Pfennig: An orphan growing up in a German mining town, Werner develops an aptitude for engineering and radio technology. This talent earns him a spot in a brutal Hitler Youth military school, eventually leading him to the German army where his expertise is used to track down illegal radios.
• Intersection: The story alternates between the two characters as they grow up during the war, eventually culminating in their meeting in Saint-Malo in August 1944. Werner, tasked with uncovering the radio transmissions used by the French resistance (including Marie-Laure and her uncle), becomes conflicted in his loyalty to the Nazi regime after discovering Marie-Laure and recognizing her humanity.

I enjoyed this book - however I do not feel that I truly understood the message it was trying to portray - might have been too intellectual for me lol

Onto the next 'The Book of Lost Names' by Kristin Harmel - 43 pages in an really enjoying it so far!

Happy reading everyone :)

14. Daisy Jones and the six - Taylor Jenkins Reid

this follows the story of a fictional 70s rock band. Written in interview style with the different members of the band and people close to them.

this isn’t one I was desperate to pick up but I wanted a good audio and after a bit of research this one kept cropping up and I do like TJR.
im so glad I did! The audio is narrated by a full cast and is almost like a documentary series. The emotions of the characters really gripped me and I actually shed tears at the end. loved it!!

2026 reads

1. What a Way to Go - Bella Mackie
2. All the Colours of the Dark - Christopher Whittaker
3. The Briar Club - Kate Quinn
4. The Names - Florence Knapp
5. None of this is True - Lisa Jewell (audio)
6. A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J Maas
7. James - Percival Everett
8. Daisy Darker - Alice Feeney
9. Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir (audio)
10. A court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J Maas
11. A Good Girls Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson
12. A court of wings and ruin - Sarah J Maas
13. The Cut Throat Trial - The Secret Barrister (audio)
14. Daisy Jones and the six - TJR (audio)

I'm part way through Shuggie Bain. Not sure I can finish!

Book 19, Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon. I LOVED this book. It's set in Syracuse in 412BC, after the Syracusan victory over Athens. The POWs from Athens are held in a quarry, left to die, but two unemployed theatre-loving potters find actors amongst them and set up a play at the quarry, using the encaptured Athenians as actors.

I don't think I've ever read a book like this, it's something of a tragicomedy, but the language is in modern irish venacular which makes it just splendid and also, accessible. Big recommendation