Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

26ish books 2026

671 replies

Tinkhasflown · 01/01/2026 16:26

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.

OP posts:
Clairedebear101286 · 03/05/2026 08:20

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

Latest book

(12) The Book of Lost Names' by Kristin Harmel

Description taken from goodreads

Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?

As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.

An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.

It was a nice easy read - enjoyed it!

Happy reading everyone :)

ItWillBeDone · 03/05/2026 11:52

I can finally add another one!

  1. The Bee Sting, Paul Murray
  2. The Outsider, Stephen King

I found the Outsider a bit too strange for me. Want to find something a bit more light hearted for my next read.

EnchantedDays · 03/05/2026 11:56

13: Down Cemetery Road by Mick Herron. I'm a big fan of the Slough House books, this is the first in his previous series. The start was a bit unconvincing and the whole thing somewhat far-fetched but it did grip me and I rattled through it, will follow on with the next in the series.

LemonPandaCub · 03/05/2026 17:48

Book 11: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
I quite enjoyed this although I guessed part of the twist quite early on which is unusual for an Alice Feeney book as she usually plays some blinders with crazy twists imo.

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
Dont Let Him In

Illbefinejustbloodyfine · 04/05/2026 13:58

Ive been a bit awol, reading has dropped off somewhat. Im curreny reading I who have never known men. Its take a little bit of getting into but Im really enjoying it. I can't see a happy ending happening!

Yuja · 05/05/2026 09:51

13 - The Lincoln Highway - Amor Towles I absolutely loved this - the characters are brillianty portrayed, vivid and memorable and the storytelling is exceptional. I couldn’t stop reading yet never wanted it to end. I adored A Gentleman in Moscow by the same author and this book comes close to matching its brilliance! Defo my book of 2026 so far and it would take a lot to beat it!

MonkeyTennis34 · 05/05/2026 11:31

@Yuja
Another huge fan of the Lincoln Highway here.
Loved all the characters. Have you read The Rules of Civility?

Yuja · 05/05/2026 12:17

MonkeyTennis34 · 05/05/2026 11:31

@Yuja
Another huge fan of the Lincoln Highway here.
Loved all the characters. Have you read The Rules of Civility?

No I haven’t yet - it’s on my list. I can only imagine I will love it based on how much I love both Gentleman in Moscow and Lincoln Highway. Did you like it?

MonkeyTennis34 · 05/05/2026 13:58

@Yuja
Although I love all of Amor Towles’s books, Rules of Civility is my favourite.

Pigtailsandall · 05/05/2026 19:29
  1. So thrilled for you by Holly Bourne

An easy read, given to me by a friend but I didn't really care for it. Certain segments went on and on and I skim-read a lot. The characters were all lifted from SATC, even up to the names in some cases, and I found the attempt for humour to be quite tragic at times. Probably my least favourite read of the year so far.

Orangebadger · 05/05/2026 22:39

9) The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald.
Unbelievable to some but I did not know this story at all. I had heard of it, knew of the movies and play and that is was set in the 1920’s but that was it.

I really enjoyed this book despite its pretty dark ending. Now to watch Robert Redford play Gatsby.

Illbefinejustbloodyfine · 05/05/2026 22:48

Book 12 I who have never known men.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this book, it took me a while to get into, but once I did I was completely hooked. Its such an unusual premise. I did have to suspend disbelief a bit (to believe that someone could learn to write so well) but, I dont know, I just really loved it

Illbefinejustbloodyfine · 05/05/2026 22:50

@Orangebadger The Great Gatsby is one of my all time favourites! The Robert Redford film is just gorheous but I also love the modern version too. Unusual for me to like any film of a book

beginwithasinglestep · 06/05/2026 15:11

14: The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino

Eighteenth century Italy: a young nobleman rebels against parental authority by climbing into the trees and remaining there for the rest of his life. Critics described it as a 'truly delicious fantasy'. I loved it for the first half, then got quite bored.

Currently reading Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and loving it.

drspouse · 06/05/2026 16:55

32 The House at Sea's End by Elly Griffiths.
I like the Ruth Galloway mysteries, though they are quite flimsy, there were some interesting thoughts on motherhood in this one.

LemonPandaCub · 06/05/2026 22:28

Book 12: Someone In The Attic by Andrea Mara
this was a good read, it started quite dark and not a book I should’ve started just before bed 😆 I do enjoy Andrea Mara’s writing style and the amount of detail she puts into
her books, this one had a few twists and it kept me guessing

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
Dont Let Him In
Daisy Darker

h0rsewithn0name · 07/05/2026 19:10

Finished book no 14 - Dominion by C J Sansom

This was a beast of a book - 700 pages! A really fascinating read, the author assumes that Britain lost the war at Dunkirk in 1940 and there followed German 'input' into British life. It follows a group of people from the resistence movement, as they try to protect someone who has massive war weapon knowledge. The book is so informative and brings into it some famous politicians who we've all heard of. Would recommend if you like a bit of 1950's politics.

Scout2016 · 08/05/2026 08:54

11. Lethal White by Robert Galbraith.
Really enjoyed it until about the last 6th when the convoluted reveal was being spun out and it all got very clichéd itv crime drama. Also I realised I didn't really care who did the murder or why and how, probably because the victim and suspects were all fairly horrible people. But crime novel wise it all hung together OK rather than being a ridiculous big twist for the sake of it.

There were some satisfying elements but I don't want to give any spoliers. I liked the peripheral characters, such as the new hires to the agency, and I rated the plot in general.

MonkeyTennis34 · 08/05/2026 10:22

@Scout2016
I love the Strike books but I’m also not as concerned with the crime-solving element. It’s all about the Strike/Robin dynamic for me!

ItalianChineseIndianMexican · 08/05/2026 13:55

8 The Street Lawyer by John Grisham

My second JG book (first was Bleachers which I loved). This was good but I didn't enjoy it as much. I love his writing style but maybe this was too 'lawyer - ry' for me! Still a page turner though and a solid 3 stars out of 5.

PinkOrangeRed · 08/05/2026 15:35

21 Quantum of Menace by Vaseem Khan. This is a new James Bond mystery spin-off series, featuring Q (Major Boothroyd). Q has been made redundant from MI6 and investigates the mysterious death of his scientist friend, Peter Napier, who worked on advanced quantum computing.

Well plotted and enjoyable, with very short chapters. Though I'm not sure if I would read any more in the series. I prefer his Malabar House books, set in 1950s Bombay, featuring Persis Wadia, India's first female police detective.

LemonPandaCub · 09/05/2026 22:50

Book 13: The Tenant by Freida McFadden
I didn’t find any of the characters overly likeable but enjoyed the twists and the chapters from different characters perspectives. I feel Freida McFadden sometimes has a very one dimensional and simplistic writing style, (and she could do with some new descriptive words) but as always it makes it easy and quick to read!

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
Dont Let Him In
Daisy Darker
Someone In The Attic

drspouse · 09/05/2026 23:04

That sounds really good @h0rsewithn0name - I'm reading a 600 page book at the moment so maybe I'll look into it next year!
@PinkOrangeRed I think I remember reading about Vaseem Khan - must try the Bombay ones.

beginwithasinglestep · 10/05/2026 08:48

15: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Loved this, the kind of book that you don't want to end (just like the hostages in the story didn't really want their captivity to end). After Tom Lake and now this, am thinking Patchett might become a favourite author.

Desc from Amazon: a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening—until a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers.

EnchantedDays · 10/05/2026 12:27

14: Peter Kay’s Diary. A lighthearted trip down memory lane with Peter, not a memoir as such but a set of reminiscences and anecdotes from his childhood onwards based on calendar months. Slightly puerile (toilet humour) in places. Amusing, simply written, I probably won’t remember much of it in a year’s time, but it was a pleasant enough read.