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.

I'm a bit behind on posting although thankfully not on my reading!

Book 16 was Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. It deals with immigration to America and the opioid crisis and themes of identity and womanhood and I thought it was a wonderful read although finished up very abruptly.

Book 17 was Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri. I really loved this book, a series of vignettes of a woman and her life in an Italian city, where she lives alone. A great portrait of solitude (I don't think it often fell into loneliness), very evocative and spare in the prose.

Book 18 was Hera by Jennifer Saint, a rewriting of the story of Hera the goddess. It was an enjoyable read but covered a lot of ground very quickly and I thought it wasn't as strong as, e.g. Circe by Madeline Miller.

6 You've got this by Michaela Dunbar
A quick audiobook to help with some self reflection.

10. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

I absolutely loved this book having loved half of a yellow sun and purple hibiscus. Fantastic writing, wonderful characters that you can really feel. But mostly an important insight into race in America and some aspects in the UK and the many layers of living somewhere where you have to consider race as part of your identity. Be this very explicitly or in a more nuanced way. 100% would recommend.

@Orangebadger I loved this book too. I didn't like the more recent book Dream Count quite as much but it was still worth a listen.

My post
Clairedebear101286 · 18/05/2026 09:53
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
(12) The Book of Lost Names' by Kristin Harmel
(13) The Room on Rue Amélie by Kristin Harmel

Latest book....

(14) The Names by Florence Knapp

A tough read that will stay with me for years.

Onto the next - determined to still read for pleasure even though I am about to have 200 A-level maths papers to mark 🙃

Happy reading everyone :)

Loving reading everyone's lists and views.
My seventh book (very slow year as work is busy and exhausting) was Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. It was recommended by my daughter. I really enjoyed this book. It's an easy read and is about four generations of a Korean family who live in Japan. It's a subject I knew nothing about and I found it fascinating. Recommended.

13: The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
This book was fantastic, and I am sure I put it on my list from a MN recommendation. If you liked Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, I think you will also like this.

yes this had been recommended I think last year or the year before. I loved both of them both.

I loved The Mercies - recommended it to my aunt too!

Same

Kiran Millwood Hargrave has a new book out as well kiranmillwoodhargrave.com/book/the-dance-tree/

36 How to say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair. Really amazing book, her life was very unusual (but very recent events) and in a culture I knew nothing about.
37 The World's Greatest Detective And Her Just Ok Assistant by Liza Tully. Average murder mystery, slightly cozy/rich people problems.

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
8.When the cranes fly south by Lisa Rizden
9.A midlife holiday by Carry Hanson
10. Nesting by Rosie O'Donnell
11. I know why the caged bird sings by Maya Angelou
12. Ripeness by Sarah Moss
13. Three Days in June by Anne Tyler
14. The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah
15.Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth
16. We begin at the end by Chris Whittaker.

17. Until Next Weekend by Rachel Marks, this was a bit bland and predictable but was a nice holiday read.
18. Two Lives Together by Lauren Ho another romantic-ish easy read.

Neither of these last two reads were inspiring and I need to find something with more substance and story for next.
I tried to read The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji but that was a DNF for me, I got about a third through and might go back sometime as it's annoyed me I didn't either give up earlier or finish but I just didn't enjoy it.

I have been listening to The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah (I'm staying to realise her genre is tough women in inhospitable environments with unsupportive men) on audiobook which I wish I had read instead of the three I chose as actual books.

16 - A Better Life by Lionel Shriver

This was such a compelling book! It's about an American woman who takes in an immigrant on a government scheme. I won't give the plot away, but suffice to say it didn't end well. LS is such a brilliant writer, I can't get enough of her books. I find her vocabulary pretty challenging - sometimes I have to reread a page as I can't keep up, but her books are just top notch.

It's been a while tried to read The book of two ways by Jodi Picoult but I gave up as too heavy.

1. Silence of the girls
2. By Any Other Name - Jodi Picoult.
3. We live here now - Sarah Pinborough.
4. Lone Wolf - Jodi Picoult.
5. We begin at the end - Chris Whittaker
6. Things we do not tell the people we love - Huma Qureshi
7. Names - Florence Knapp.
8. I have never known men - Jacqueline harpman

Now reading Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy.

And Away, Bob Mortimer

I'm trying to read more non fiction this year, and this was a lovely biography to read. You could really hear his voice in it.

22 Sister in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami

it ended up taking me ages to finish this after rattling through the first 2/3rds, it dragged in the last few pages particularly but otherwise I really loved this, second book by this author this year, she’s a very fresh voice in the better known male dominated Japanese literature (not including all those cosy books about cats and coffee shops)

Book 16: No One Saw A Thing by Andrea Mara
My Andrea Mara craze continues! I really enjoyed this, I was apprehensive at first as some of the characters seemed a little OTT in their characterisation but it was fast paced and everything unraveled nicely, an easy not too deep 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
The Tenant
One Click
The Other Side Of The Wall

Book 8. The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue.
Easy read, bought for me as a present by a kind friend. Lots and lots of characters which did mean I needed to do a bit of flicking between pages to check who was who. Glad I read it but will probably offer it to a friend rather than keep it.
Books I read tend to fall into four categories once read- so good I can't bear to lend them in case they're not returned/ happy to lend but will pursue to get back if the friend forgets / will happily give because it's good but friend can pass it on / charity shop as someone else will enjoy it because we all have different tastes. There's also the Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle category but better not to speak of that...
Anyone else have passing on categories?

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
6 Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
7 Local Girl Missing by Claire Douglas
8 The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
9 invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
10 The Cut Throat Trial
11 Death Row by Frieda McFadden
12 The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
13 She Didn't see it coming by Shari Lapena
14 My Husband Next Door by KL Slater
15 Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
Next is Andrea Mara, The Roommate

23 Writers and Lovers by Lily King

So, I had this book on my bookshelf and I was convinced I had read it. But after reading Heart the Lover, I picked this one up and leafed through it and realised that I hadn't. That's possibly the downside of a busy life and a large bookcase!

Anyway, I really enjoyed this - King's storytelling flows so easily. There was a little narrative trap which didn't align with Heart the Lover which annoyed me. The protagolist sometimes feels like an outline, I found it hard to conjure her up. All in all, a beautiful book about what we love and who we are.

6-heart the lover lily king.

I really enjoyed this, found it easy reading after a difficult few months and it flowed well

38 The People You Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry.
I am not sure how but I've ended up reading or listening to about 5 Emily Henry books recently. This was fun and a lot like the rest of them!

Didn't realise The Roommate was a short story! So I've read that already and now onto The Woman Who Lied by Claire Douglas.

@Philandbill
Through bitter experience I now only have 2 post-read routes for my books.
The Keepers are books that I’ve loved and have stayed with me for a long time so…they get to stay with me on my bookshelf.
The Also Rans. Books that I’ve either disliked or thought were just ok. They end up at the charity shop.
I still lend books to my parents who I can trust to return!
I’ve lent books to friends and then they’ve either forgotten to return them or I’ve forgotten that I’ve lent them!